Spirits cannot generally interfere with the material world. All they can do is share their power with pure girls who have never been touched by external forces.

Only girls who have never been influenced by others can accept the power of the spirits, and even then, once they grow into adults, they lose that power.

The fact that spirits have such limited influence over the material world also means that there are very few ways for the material world to influence them.

"Mew, mew..."

"How about you give up and just talk?"

"I'll never give up... mew!"

Because spirits had lived their whole existence in the spirit realm, they had never experienced the pleasures of the material world—things like sumptuous feasts, steaks that humans crave, sweet chocolates, or soft, creamy desserts.

For a spirit, who had only ever consumed the flow of spiritual energy in the spirit realm, these foods delivered such intense pleasure that it felt like the synapses in their brain were exploding.

"Mew, mew!"

The spirit, force-fed these tiny morsels of food, trembled with pleasure as it experienced the overwhelming joy of flavors for the first time, then looked up at the grinning scientist and evil magical girl, trying to regain its senses.

It couldn’t afford to be swayed by temptation. After all, standing before it was the villainous organization, and with its magical girl already captured, the spirit had to flee to the spirit realm, alive and intact.

"Come on, Spirit. Say ‘Ahh.’"

"Ahh... Huff!"

Before it knew it, Mew had swallowed the dessert Aile had fed it, shivering as the burst of sugar and calories exploded within its body. And soon enough, it found itself following the commands of the evil magical girl without a second thought.

What a terrifying villainess! To break the spirit of a magical girl’s familiar so quickly...

Realizing too late what had happened, Mew licked the chocolate sauce from its lips and shouted.

"Mew! I will never submit to a villain! Never!"

"Is that so?"

Eight, who had been trying to coax the spirit with treats, sighed as he rose from his seat. If carrots wouldn’t work, it seemed the time had come to pull out the stick.

As he stepped outside and gestured, Aile, who had been holding the spirit, trapped it in a special cage designed just for spirits before leaving the laboratory.

Seeing them both leave the room without another word, Mew tilted its head in confusion. Then, a monitor flickered on in the corner of the lab.

[Ah, should I talk to this?]

The monitor displayed White Fang, wrapped in a towel and seemingly just about to take a bath. Even in this vulnerable state, she was still wearing her mask, clearly not wanting to reveal her face.

Waving lightly toward the screen, White Fang spoke.

[Mew, just hang in there a little longer.]

With that, White Fang submerged herself in the warm waters of a hot spring, the soothing heat wrapping around her body, easing all her fatigue.

After a long, relaxing bath, White Fang savored the feast laid out before her and even enjoyed a massage from a professional masseuse.

[Aah... This feels so good…]

"Mew, mew..."

While the spirit was trapped in a cage, tormented, White Fang was enjoying herself without a care in the world. A dark resentment began to fester in Mew’s heart. Whether White Fang knew this or not, she continued to push Mew's buttons.

[Mew, as long as you stay there, I can enjoy all of this for free. Just a little longer, okay?]

"Meww!!!"

Mew couldn’t stand it anymore. It wanted to enjoy such luxuries too—to eat delicious food, to relax in a hot spring, to receive a massage!

As the spirit fumed with frustration, the monitor switched again, revealing Eight’s face.

[Mew. As long as you keep quiet, White Fang will continue to live happily like this. Isn’t that great? Your sacrifice is making the magical girl happy.]

Mew’s anger only grew. There’s nothing more infuriating to a sentient being than someone else’s happiness.

Especially when it knows the pleasures it’s missing out on. Now that Mew had tasted such delights, watching its magical girl enjoy them alone was unbearable.

"F-fine! I’ll talk…!"

[What? I can’t hear you.]

"I’ll do anything! Just let me enjoy those things too...!"

Seeing the spirit finally surrender, Eight smirked. Shortly after, he returned to the lab with an armful of desserts.

As the pile of sweets dwindled, the spirit’s tongue loosened just as quickly.

"Earth? I don’t know of any world by that name... Mew."

"Really?"

Finally getting the spirit to talk, the answer Eight received was far from what he had hoped. But then again, how vast was the universe, and how many people lived within it?

Humans can’t even remember the names of all the countries on their planet, so expecting someone like this spirit to know the names of every planet seemed ridiculous.

"Mew. I could return to the spirit realm and ask the queen!"

"No need. I doubt that queen of yours is trustworthy."

"Meww!? Insulting royalty is a grave offense, Mew!"

The spirit, worried that I might stop feeding it snacks, looked at me in shock at my words.

But I had no intention of taking them back. After all, I had learned quite a bit about spirits through my research.

"There’s no such thing as pure altruism…"

Even Jesus, who preached love for thy neighbor, whipped the merchants in the temple. If even someone who promised to embrace all could act that way, why would a spirit from another world offer pure kindness without any ulterior motive?

As I fed the spirit another snack, I let out a chuckle.

"Alright, alright. Just eat this and keep it a secret, okay?"

"Mew... Normally I wouldn’t... but just this once, I’ll keep it a secret, Mew!"

"Thanks. Is it good?"

"Mew! It’s delicious! I had no idea the snacks magical girls eat were so tasty! I hope the others get to be this happy too!"

"Happiness, huh..."

I gave a bitter smile. What the spirit was consuming was, in fact, the very essence of spirits. Specifically, the reason they existed and continued to survive.

Spirits live off happiness. In other words, without happiness, they die. So for a spirit, happiness is an obligation.

"And the enemies of the world are monsters born from negative emotions…"

Spirits thrive on happiness. The world’s enemies thrive on misery.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that these two are so alike.

After all, how could the spirits always know where the world’s enemies would appear? The universe is vast, and it’s nearly impossible for one entity to keep track of it all.

Unless they knew where those enemies would appear in advance.

[City H is known for having the highest happiness index among the 26 cities!] [In this year’s national survey, City H ranks first in happiness...] [Everyone, are you happy? Let’s stay happy today.]

The radio and television continued to broadcast the city's happiness to the citizens. Hearing these messages, the people of City H began their mornings with smiles.

"Mmm! My tie is perfectly ironed! I’m so happy!" "Look at how well my makeup turned out! I’m happy!" "The bread I had for breakfast was delicious...!"

As people happily made their way to work, their good moods didn’t last forever. After all, they were still human, and dissatisfaction and complaints were bound to build up. Those feelings of discontent lead to unhappiness.

On their way home from work, society’s livestock—those burdened with anxiety and unhappiness—boarded the subway. Late at night, the stress gathered in the darkness like a powder keg, ready to explode with the smallest spark.

The rattling subway, the smell of sweat from the person next to them, the failure to get a promotion, a rejected confession.

The moment those little grievances piled up, they became appetizing enough for the creatures from another dimension to devour. As soon as those monsters consumed the emotions, the stress of the citizens vanished instantly.

"─Huh?" "Hm?" "Ah..."

The subway stopped, and the citizens walked home, all their worries and unhappiness completely gone, their hearts unburdened.

Once again, the citizens of City H were happy. Happier than any other city’s citizens. And maintaining that balance in this city...

Was the magical girl.