Vantage Point

(Bai Ziye)

Just after descending into the underground shelter with the other civilians, I took the elevator back to the first floor and found a secluded corner to transform.

The power of a magical girl has to be developed on one’s own; it’s not something you can use perfectly the moment you obtain it. A-Yao’s magic mechanism is incredibly complex—even more intricate than my own time-manipulation magic. It’s certainly non-offensive… and that worries me.

Right now, my mindset is close to that of a parent whose child is going to school alone for the first time. They say they’ll let the child go by themselves, but they end up following from a distance anyway.

Yeah, I’m her bodyguard tonight.

Even if Liaison Yin Lu hadn’t made that request, I would have kept an eye on A-Yao. After all, he’s the best friend I’ve grown up with.

“1.6 kilometers… a bit far.”

The flow of people on the streets was sparse. There weren’t many people evacuating because incidents of monsters breaking through blockades were rare. Most people believed that the magical girls would easily deal with the threat, so they simply entered the shelters attached to their own apartment buildings. Even if the building overhead became rubble, the underground shelter wouldn’t collapse. That was the safety standard for all modern construction.

I didn’t hide or sneak around. Appearing on the street openly as Miluno attracted the attention and cheers of many evacuees.

“It’s Miss Miluno! Give it your all tonight, too!”

“Please stomp the monster to death like you did this afternoon!”

“Ooh! Miluno-chan glared at me! I’m so happy!”

I accidentally locked eyes with a magical girl otaku and instinctively felt a wave of disgust. It’s exactly because fans are like this that I don’t want A-Yao to ever find out my identity!

Unfortunately for the crowd, their expectations will be dashed tonight. After all, the one responsible for the fight isn’t me.

Passing through the cordon set up by the armed police, I climbed the outer wall of a building a short distance from the holographic marker. This spot was higher than the others, and with the wind blowing past, I could look down on the entire battlefield—an excellent vantage point.

Sailuno, in her pink-and-white dress, was already in position. With that outfit, she certainly fit the classic image of a magical girl better than I did.

Soon after I reached the rooftop, a six-rotor drone flew over to me, carrying an earpiece in the mechanical arm beneath its body. I took it and put it on. The earpiece unfolded slightly, fixing itself firmly into my ear canal.

“Miss Miluno, good evening!”

“Miss Lu’er? Do you have something to tell me?”

“You’re so cold… I just came to say hello. It’s nothing important.”

I looked down at the street. Sailuno was also talking to someone—likely Miss Yang Yan, who was acting as her remote instructor.

“Since I’m supposed to be the bodyguard, shouldn’t you give me the newcomer’s data? Otherwise, I won’t know exactly when she needs my help.”

“Oh, of course. No problem. Wait a moment, I have Sailuno’s physical data from this afternoon.”

The drone hovered away for a moment, and then…

Buzz—

The low-frequency hum unique to a wormhole opening vibrated through the air. A towering blue beam of light summoned a humanoid calamity from another world.

It was a tiger monster with bull horns. Its massive body was bulging with muscle; it looked incredibly powerful. In contrast, Sailuno appeared tiny as she stood before her opponent.

“It’s a big one… but it’s a bit far. I can’t see the details clearly.”

Although magical girls have extraordinary physical abilities—and I’m among the best—improvements to vision and hearing are relatively limited. I still couldn’t see Sailuno’s movements on the battlefield with perfect clarity from this distance.

“The drone brought you a tablet,” Yin Lu’s voice chirped in my ear. “Not only can you check Miss Sailuno’s data, but you can also watch the live broadcast.”

The Association broadcasts magical girl battles worldwide via the internet, earning huge profits to cover their massive operating expenses. But the Association is a bottomless pit; the broadcast money alone isn’t enough to fill it.

On the screen, the tiger monster launched a surprise attack. Although Sailuno dodged, its brutal force was evident—an industrial air conditioner unit was crushed like paper in its claws. Even for a magical girl, if Sailuno took a direct hit, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, she had a countermeasure.

Bubbles.

Trapped in a zero-gravity environment, the tiger monster had strength but no leverage. Just as it seemed helpless, it suddenly opened its huge maw and spat out a golden lightning bolt. Sailuno rolled to dodge, but beneath my feet, I felt a violent shudder… the beam had actually hit the building I was standing on.

Below me, fires broke out and thick smoke began to rise, completely blocking my direct view.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. My tablet should have arrived by now.”

“Yours?” I glanced at the tablet the drone had delivered; there was a cute bunny sticker on the back. Since the drone had gone to Yin Lu to get it, that meant… “Are you near the cordon?”

“Yes, I’m with the armed police unit.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer if you stayed on the airship?”

“After the battle, I have to arrange the aftermath. I need to be on-site. In the end, us coordinators rarely get to just sit in the office.”

Silent dedication. Yin Lu and the other support staff of the Association have it tough, too.

I skimmed through Sailuno’s data. I didn’t expect it to be so detailed as to include her bust measurements… Wait, that’s way too big.

I quickly switched to the live footage.

On-screen, Sailuno coated herself in a magic membrane for defense. This was an application I had mentioned to her earlier; I didn’t expect her to put it into practice so immediately. Fortunately, the effect was decent—she took a hit from the tiger monster head-on and managed to stay on her feet.

As long as the bubble isn’t broken, the objects inside won’t be harmed. But that idiot A-Yao was grinning on screen; I wondered if she’d been knocked silly.

“…As expected, there are so many people watching.”

Although it was late at night, there were tens of millions of viewers watching the livestream, and the numbers kept rising. Magical girls have become the focus of the entire world—not just as heroes, but as idols.

“The viewership for tonight’s livestream is indeed high, and the revenue is considerable,” Yin Lu noted. “After all, it’s a new magical girl’s debut battle. Quite a few people are interested in this child.”

“I see. Then… what was the viewership for my debut battle a year and a half ago?” Curious about my own data, I couldn’t help but ask.

“Miss Miluno cares about such things? Let me see… um, it was one hundred and twenty thousand.”

“What? That low!?” I couldn’t help but lose my “Ice Queen” composure for a second. A worldwide livestream with only a hundred thousand viewers?

“Well, the entire battle lasted only twenty-seven seconds,” Yin Lu explained apologetically. “You didn’t give the audience a chance to pay attention before you finished off the monster… I think Miss Miluno is mostly responsible for that.”

Twenty-seven seconds. That was actually a relatively slow battle for me back then. At the time, I didn’t know my limits, so I only gradually increased my speed. Later battles didn’t even take that long; some monsters died by my sword before they could even show off their abilities.

“But the recording of that battle has been played millions of times!” Yin Lu added quickly. “Some fans even made a slow-motion version just to admire your face. If you’re willing, I can have the drone shoot a personal promotional video for you right now…”

“Not interested.”

“Oh…” My rejection was swift.