The Eyeball’s Hobbies

There were no streetlights in the suburbs at night, only moonlight occasionally leaking through gaps in the clouds, smudging rows of tombstones into blurred silhouettes.

The wind swept across the grass, raising a faint rustling sound.

“So this is where your organization is located? It’s really remote.”

Pushing aside the bushes, Flona asked the book in her hand.

Taking advantage of Kirishima Shiro falling asleep, she had quietly slipped out to investigate the monster organization.

Running all the way here from the city had taken quite a bit of her time.

She could only hope Shiro hadn’t drunk too much water and wouldn’t wake up in the night, otherwise she’d be questioned again when she got back.

An eyeball protruded from the cover, surveying the cemetery ahead.

Then the book flipped open on its own, rows of text appearing.

【I wouldn’t dare deceive you. The organization’s base is right here.】

【As long as we find the wooden cabin, we can enter the secret passage to the base.】

Flona looked around and soon spotted a lonely little cabin in the distance.

“Looks like there’s no need to go in. Your place already blew up.”

【？】

At her words, the eyeball typed a huge question mark onto the page.

You may be powerful, but you can’t just talk nonsense.

Wasn’t my base right there?

What do you mean it blew up?

“Didn’t you notice? It’s a little too quiet here.” Flona pointed out the eeriness of the cemetery.

Even though it was midsummer, there wasn’t a single cicada chirp or birdcall in the woods.

Even the rustling of leaves in the wind carried an indescribable dead silence.

If Flona wasn’t mistaken, this place was covered by an illusion.

Before the eyeball could respond, Flona stepped forward.

In an instant, a radiant magic circle surged up from beneath her feet.

Wherever the light swept across, the illusion peeled away layer by layer like bursting bubbles, revealing a desolate scene.

The ground that had been covered in wild grass looked as though it had been scorched by raging flames, charred and barren.

The stone tombstones had long since shattered into fragments, their remains riddled with jagged cracks.

And where the cabin had stood in the distance, there was now a deep crater, as if the place had been bombed.

It really had exploded.

Standing at the edge of the pit, broken walls lay scattered below, with a few dark embers flickering weakly, not a trace of life remaining.

“Burned nice and clean.”

According to the eyeball’s earlier account, this monster organization’s base should have been the largest in Qingting City.

Yet without anyone noticing, it had already been wiped out.

Flona glanced at the eyeball’s face full of disbelief.

For now, there was no point expecting it to know anything more.

When she touched the embers, the once-dull sparks suddenly erupted, surging into a pillar of pitch-black flames as tall as a person.

The flames carried scorching heat as they rushed straight at Flona, as if trying to reduce her to ashes in an instant.

Yet in the very next moment, the violent blaze seemed to slam into an invisible barrier.

In the blink of an eye, it was calmly pressed back down by Flona, shrinking once more into a harmless pile of embers.

“So much malice.”

Casually blowing the embers away, Flona frowned.

Was this related to a witch?

【This flame looks like Magical Girl Youbi’s fire!】

【But Youbi’s fire doesn’t seem this black.】

Just from the name, one could tell that Magical Girl Youbi specialized in fiery red themes.

“Magical Girl Youbi?”

【You’re a magical girl, yet you don’t know Youbi?】

Living in Qingting City, there should be no one who didn’t know Magical Girl Youbi.

Flona corrected calmly.

“I’m not a magical girl.”

【Right, right, I get it.】

In the eyeball’s view, if she wasn’t a magical girl, then could mere special abilities really grant such strength?

With power like that and a female identity, it had already classified Flona as the type of magical girl who hid her strength.

As for leading a magical girl into the monster organization’s base, did that make it a traitor?

This was clearly just knowing when to yield.

【Youbi is a magical girl who appeared in Qingting City before Silvermoon. She specializes in fire and close combat, and has killed three of our New Leaf–class monsters.】

“New Leaf–class?”

Seeing Flona’s confusion, the eyeball first showed an expression of surprise that said, “You don’t even know something this basic.”

Then it seemed to realize something and suddenly looked enlightened.

This must be a deliberate test.

If it answered incorrectly, Flona would probably execute it on the spot.

【If monsters are classified by level, the strongest at present are undoubtedly the Monster Kings who occupy entire cities.】

【They turn human cities into playgrounds for monsters, making it impossible for magical girls to gain a foothold there.】

As the text reached this point, it seemed tainted by the dreadful aura of the Monster Kings.

The handwriting suddenly grew wild and twisted, the ink gradually seeping into a glaring crimson.

“Get to the point.”

Flona tapped the page lightly with her finger.

The restless text immediately settled down, even appearing faster than before.

【From weakest to strongest, monster ranks are Seed, Sprout, New Leaf, Bloom, and Fruit.】

【Even a New Leaf–class monster can already serve as a cadre within an organization.】

【Following that logic, organization leaders are usually Bloom–class, while Monster Kings stand at the peak as Fruit–class.】

【The power ranking of magical girls follows the same standard.】

“Then if Magical Girl Youbi can deal with multiple New Leaf–class monsters, she should be Bloom–level, right?”

For Flona, this classification was easy enough to understand.

It was roughly the same as the D-to-S ranking system used by the Adventurers’ Guild in her world.

【……】

The text on the page tangled into a mess, as if carefully choosing its words, tinged with hesitation.

“Isn’t she?”

【Previously, that assessment would have been valid. But now, she can wipe out an entire monster organization on her own…】

It hadn’t even heard a whisper of it while carrying out missions.

Because of this, the eyeball couldn’t determine whether the Magical Girl Youbi who destroyed the organization was truly Bloom–class.

By common sense, a monster organization would have at least one Bloom–class leader, accompanied by several New Leaf–class cadres.

Even if a Bloom–class magical girl showed up, that lineup should have been enough to give her a hard time.

And so, the eyeball was puzzled as well.

How had Magical Girl Youbi become so strong in just a few short weeks?

Seeing the eyeball’s response, Flona understood immediately.

The dense malice permeating the surroundings strongly suggested that Magical Girl Youbi had most likely already become a witch.

A surge in power was only natural.

But she had blown the site so clean that Flona couldn’t find even a single clue.

Not to mention locating that contract sprite, Uru.

There wasn’t even a shadow of it.

Thinking of this, Flona felt helpless.

Had she really come all this way just to look at an illusion?

At that moment, a faint glimmer of light caught Flona’s attention.

She walked toward the center, her shoes crunching over fine sand.

Picking up the glowing object and brushing off the dust, she saw that it was a semi-transparent scale, its edges shimmering with flowing rainbow light.

Flona flicked the scale with her finger.

“This is the core that maintained the illusion.”

That’s right.

If Magical Girl Youbi specialized in fire and close combat, then who had set up the illusion?

Someone skilled in illusions, and accustomed to using scales as illusion cores.

A likely candidate formed in Flona’s mind.

“Eyeball, have you ever seen a monster that looks similar to a human woman, with demon horns on her head and small bat wings at her waist?”

【No. But the way you describe it sounds strangely familiar.】

Hearing the question, the eyeball silently repeated the conditions in its mind.

Female, demon horns, little bat wings.

Demon horns, little bat wings.

Little bat wings.

That, it knew very well.

It hadn’t seen such a creature among monsters, but it had seen plenty of them in other books.

Especially since creatures like that loved playing with tentacled monsters like itself, the eyeball had long wished such beings existed in reality.

But why was this lady, a woman herself, asking it such a question?

And then it noticed the title of the book it was parasitizing.

Citrus-Flavored Girls.

Could it be?

The eyeball felt as though it had seen through everything.

Lady Flona’s tastes were actually so similar to its own.

【Are you talking about a succubus, my lady?】

The text on the page was so lively it felt like it was about to leap right at Flona’s face.

“Uh… you’re mistaken. I was asking about a nightmare.”