Chapter 29: Magical Girl Magical Isis (3)

The recruitment of Isis, the new magical girl, as an ally was successful.

When incorporating a secondary protagonist, if the narrative is poorly constructed, many people tend to reject it.

Fortunately, Isis’s story seemed to resonate with people fairly well.

“From now on, this place is under Isis’s faction! Mari’s faction, get out!”

“What did this brat just say? How dare an upstart like you challenge your senior’s position?”

The problem was that it resonated too well.

The character Isis was well-received by the audience, which was a good thing, but it became an issue because it was too well-received.

I understand.

Isis is a character with a surprising amount of gap moe.

She’s not the type to be sociable, yet she has a lot of inner worries and communicates well with close friends.

In other words, she’s a cool-dere.

Naturally, this unique charm drew people in, since they’d never seen anything like her before.

But that doesn’t mean Mari’s appeal was lacking.

Mari was an all-around beauty, admired by everyone, lively, sociable, and thoughtful.

If Isis attracted people with her mysterious charm, Mari was the kind of energetic girl who healed people just by being around.

Lively versus cool.

This was a matter of taste, not something that could be decided by who was objectively better.

It was a preference that couldn’t be reconciled, even in previous lives.

Because of this, an impromptu debate was being held in front of our clubroom.

“The 17th debate: Who is the true protagonist, Mari or Isis?”

Good grief, why are they holding this debate in front of our clubroom?

The debate club from the Political Science department even brought podiums and desks over, setting up a full debate right there.

Although the debate somewhat diverted the energy of the people constantly protesting for the next episode, it didn’t provide any real comfort.

“Look at Isis’s outfit! She used to be all covered up, but after awakening the power of a magical girl, she’s now wearing something far more revealing! This means she secretly wants to be more open with people! Now, compare this to Mari! Mari’s outfit, apart from the top, is completely modest! This implies Mari is hiding something from others, so how can you call her charm ‘honesty’?”

“Ridiculous! Where do you get off trying to guess her feelings based on her clothes? And even if that were true, it doesn’t diminish Mari’s appeal! True honesty isn’t about revealing everything, but about being sincere and dealing with others in good faith! Even if she’s hiding something, we call that courtesy in civilized society!”

“That’s nonsense! Isis is the true protagonist!”

“Not a chance! The foundation is with Mari!”

Their madness was cloaked in passion, but should I be pleased with that?

Thanks to all this, the reputation of our club was being tarnished in real-time.

Meanwhile, a few new factions occasionally raised their heads.

“Hehe. Just enjoy both of them-”

Snap.

Wow. Turns out you can snap a person’s spine in half without magic if you gather enough people.

The ruling and opposition factions did not tolerate the emergence of a third party.

While the two-way battle continued, a faction I thought had died quietly protested in the corner.

“I believe there’s a secret society at work here. And here’s a list of studios that only release one episode a week!”

Here comes the doomsday prophet again.

However, none of these factions could compare to the fear instilled in me by the final group.

“Mr. Allen, this is a small token of appreciation from our fan club.”

“…What is it that you want?”

“Well, we’d be really grateful if you could increase the screen time for Lirpin and Kled.”

“And, though it’s not me personally, some in our fan club would be willing to offer more support if you could give them clothes or make them bigger-”

“I’m not doing that.”

“Please forget that last part! Just the screen time, then!”

“…Fine. I already planned a filler episode with only the mascots for a break, so let’s leave it at that.”

Let me make it clear, I didn’t cave in for money.

It was just the desperate look in the eyes of the fan club president’s entourage that made me realize negotiations were my only option to avoid a bigger mess.

Thus, I had no choice but to yield to the pressure of a suspiciously well-funded fan club.

Despite the occasional chaos, Magical Mari was sailing smoothly.

The audience’s response was good, and the storyline was solid.

Everything was progressing smoothly.

“Brother, is it true the next guest is from the magic tower?”

“Yeah. You might even know them. This wrestler, especially among beastmen, wants to break the stereotype that they can’t use magic.”

Wrestlers didn’t use magic due to their profession, but some among them were perfectly capable of wielding it.

It’s just hard to use it effectively within the wrestling rules, but it’s a misconception that they’re magically vulnerable.

“Why? Do you need another intro?”

“Yeah, but please make it a little less intense than Scapul’s.”

“Hmm. It’ll take a bit of time.”

Ironically, it’s more challenging to tone things down and control the intensity than it is to go all-out.

After an hour of wrestling with the script, the first draft was finally done.

“How about this?”

“Is this really toned down?”

“It is!”

“That’s too amazing.”

“Ugh. I can’t hold back my strength any longer.”

“Hyung-nim. It sounds really weird when you say things like that with just the two of us.”

“Hey, you punk. Now that you’ve pointed it out, I understand too!”

In the end, the next villain’s entrance scene was toned down to some extent after Nicole and I coordinated it.

I feel sorry for that wrestler, but it couldn’t be helped; the character had to be somewhat weaker in terms of story compared to Scapul.

We took the completed script and immediately started preparing for filming.

Alright. It’s time to write a new history.

“By the way, just asking, but we’re not going to get caught for copyright, right?”

“What copyright? We’re the first in the world to do this, right?”

“Why? I feel like those guys might sue us from another dimension.”

“Come on, no way… Just in case, let’s add a bit more adaptation.”

After Isis became a companion, Ceres’ daily life changed dramatically.

First of all, she gained a friend named Aisys.

(Oh, by the way, Aisys is the name Isis goes by when she’s in her civilian form.)

Since the Opthepe family was quite a big name in the education field, transferring Isis to Hetairo Academy in the form of a transfer student wasn’t difficult.

Aisys moved into the house next door to Ceres, and they started going to school together every day, quickly becoming close.

After spending a few months together, Ceres found out that the Isis she knew was a girl with a lot of problems in many ways.

Her survival skills, financial sense, and social skills were all at zero.

Having grown up so sheltered and lived in the underworld, she knew nothing outside of that.

Furthermore, with her knowledge so heavily skewed toward that side, every word she spoke was shockingly ruthless.

“Hmm… You could combine cement and oak barrels for just 10 silver coins. Why should I put up with their bullying?”

“Isis! You can’t say things like that!”

She was also terrible at studying.

“I accepted reality back then. I realized I couldn’t study, so I gave up.”

She said that with a shameless look on her face.

In her hand, she held a report card with a score of 30.

The ferret proudly puffing out its chest beside her was a bonus.

“Weren’t you supposed to overcome reality?”

“Ugh.”

Aisys was dragged away by Ceres and forced to study.

Still, when it came to getting by in life, looks were half the battle, and her mysterious beauty quickly gained her popularity among the students.

But if only they knew.

That the cool and aloof prince they admired actually had a rotten personality inside.

In any case, Isis was slowly but steadily inching closer to her dream of being a normal girl.

The next major change in Ceres’ daily life was meeting the previous owner of her Heart Gem.

“Hehe. I look forward to working with you.”

Surprisingly, the Eternum Being Research Institute was extremely, extremely friendly to Ceres.

How friendly, you ask? They showed her all their confidential research data the moment they met her and even decided to move their entire operation to Hetairo Island just to support her.

Their attitude made sense, though. The power that the Heart Gem showed when it met Ceres was the key to unlocking infinite energy.

The institute had witnessed the Heart Gem drawing out magical power in response to Ceres’ will, transforming her into a magical girl, and they desperately wanted to research her.

So, in exchange for making equipment for the magical girls, they were allowed to extract data from that equipment.

“What does this feature do?”

“It’s a multipurpose gauntlet! It has a knife, fork, spoon, corkscrew, and about 38 other functions built into it!”

Sometimes they made useless things, but thanks to their support, the magical girls’ combat capabilities increased significantly.

As they lived their mostly peaceful lives, with occasional monster attacks, a new enemy appeared before them.

“Good morning, ladies. I hope you’re having a pleasant day.”

His appearance was sudden.

As they were heading to school as usual, a man in a white suit wearing a white smiling mask suddenly appeared next to them.

Anyone could see he looked suspicious, so Ceres and Aisys immediately raised their guard.

The man in the suit opened his palm, looking disappointed by their wary expressions.

“It saddens me to see you on guard like this.”

“Who are you?”

“Oh, my apologies for the late introduction. I’m just a humble magician.”

He pulled a card from his pocket.

After rubbing the card a few times, the image on it changed from a clown to the eight of clubs.

All the while, no magical energy could be felt.

His simple performance was somewhat impressive, and it seemed to ease their tension a bit.

Seeing that their guard was down, the man prepared to start his show…

But no performance followed.

After all, they were on their way to school.

“Sorry! We’re in a hurry!”

“Not at all, ladies. In fact, I’m sorry for holding you up.”

The man graciously let them go on their way.

After that mysterious encounter, the man frequently crossed paths with them.

Once on the way to school, once on the way home.

Twice a day, the man in the white suit would show them performances, and soon enough, he became a familiar face to all the students.

At some point, he became known among the students as the “Tall Gentleman.”

Then one day, during class, someone pointed toward the window.

“Huh? It’s the Tall Gentleman.”

With that comment, everyone looked out the window.

Outside, the Tall Gentleman was waving at them.

They were used to seeing him perform curious magic tricks, so they were about to wave back.

But there was a problem.

They were in the meditation room.

A place with no windows.

“Isis!”

“I know! kled, get ready!”

Siiik.

Although he was wearing a smiling mask, it seemed like he was smiling.

When he took off the hat he usually held and tapped it with his cane, flowers burst out like fireworks.

The flowers filled the windows and then quickly fell away.

When they looked out the window again, the meditation room was right in the middle of a flower garden.

Amidst the silence of the people, the gentleman stretched out his arms and shouted,
“Welcome to the Land of Pleasure!”

“Cough!”

It’s chilly.

A dagger flies into my chest.

“No, that’s not it!”

The gentleman pointed at the narrator.

“I’ll do it again, so watch closely.”

The gentleman, who was awkwardly floating in the air, cleared his throat once more and stretched out his arms again to shout,
“Welcome to the Land of Pleasure!!!”

Soon after, a lively melody followed.

Upon closer inspection, the flowers at his feet were playing a trumpet.

The gentleman danced happily with a cane that seemed to come from nowhere.

Then, when he pointed his cane at the professor, suddenly the professor’s clothes changed, and he began to play the saxophone.

“Put in a bit more swing!”

Bam bam bam~!

The flowers sang along to his song, and countless dazzling lights illuminated him.

In the midst of it all, the gentleman sang while shaking his body.
“Come to the Land of Pleasure!”
“A place where a joyful festival is held!”
“A dreamland where you can achieve everything you desire!”

When he pulled his cane, it turned into a string with fluttering flags.

With a flick of his wrist, he spread it in the air, and it became countless light bulbs that filled the ceiling of the meditation room.

“Say your wish!”
“We can grant everything here!”

He snatched the rug the students were sitting on.

Then, the students spun around and floated into the sky.

In the meantime, the gentleman shook the rug and placed it in the air, turning it into a tablecloth.

After stopping the students floating in the sky, he seated them at the table.
“Delicacies of the world! Tell me what food you want! I’ll serve it all up!”

When he rang the bell, black gentlemen who looked exactly like him appeared from the air and brought the menu to the table.

But before the students could place their orders, the waiters began to sing in unison as if they didn’t care.
“This kind of paradise doesn’t exist anywhere!”

Before they knew it, the place had turned into the middle of a ballroom.

In the center, the gentleman danced, and the spotlight shone on him.
“Want a poignant romance? There’s nothing you can’t do here!”

As soon as those words finished, gentlemen and ladies in black outfits with masks appeared behind the students.

When they reached out their hands to the dancers in surprise, they led the students and danced artistically.

And the stage reached its highlight.
Fireworks exploded from all sides.

When they came to their senses, they found themselves on a ship in the middle of the ballroom.

The black figures stopped dancing and threw the students into the sea.

The students, unable to resist, looked around at the sea below.

Strangely, they could breathe even underwater.
“Adventure? Great! Should I show you the underwater world?”

This time, the sea flipped upside down and fell from the sky.
“Or I could show you the sky island!”

The students fell onto a pile of treasures stacked on the sky island.
“Money! I don’t know if you need it here, but if you want it, I have to give it!”

While the students sat on the pile of treasures, the gentleman excitedly crossed his legs and tap-danced.
“What’s my purpose?”
“Who am I?”
“My goodness! You’re only asking that now!”
“If you’re curious, it’s only natural to answer!”

“A legendary adventurer from tales never visited, Iggzo!”
“The mischievous one of music and the unidentified poet, Gno!”
“A natural dancer, Nois!”
“I have many names, but here I’ll introduce myself like this!”
“I present to you! The Pleasure of the Twilight Council!”
“Iggnos!”
Bam bam!

Fireworks burst behind him.

Before they knew it, the students were enthralled and applauding him.
“Mari, what are you doing?”
“Isis. Get your head together.”
“Oh.”
And so did the magical girl.