Magical Girl Tyrant Sylph

Chapter 54

Chapter 2 — Expand, my world! • Episode 2-5 • Preparation ④

Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV

After much agonizing, I decided to put off thinking about returning to my original form for the moment. I don’t have any points accumulated anyway, so there’s no point in worrying about it now, and more importantly, I don’t have time to worry over it. It’s not too late to start worrying about getting Sakira Town back.

There is no change in my desire to protect Elephant-san. So for now, instead of turning over and worrying about useless things, I’m going to look forward and fight for Elephant-san.

One day, while continuing to train in this way, I received a notification of an outbreak of Earl-class Diest and was transferred to the Deception World, where three Magical Girls were already fighting. Those Magical Girls are the ones who attacked Elephant-san and her group.

For my part, I was happy whether those Magical Girls won or lost, so I decided to watch the battle without making any particular move.

A huge tree entangles and restrains the Giant Octopus-shaped Diest. A large amount of water and black shadows are attacking the opposing Diest whose movements are completely blocked, chipping away at the haze’s body. Looking closely, I can see that the giant trees aren’t just for entanglement, they’re also penetrating the Diest’s body. It looks like it was beaten to a pulp without being able to move.

I was told that Blade-san’s master uses Forest Magic, but the other two may be Magical Girls of Water and Shadow. Since they attacked us as the Natural Faction, their magical strain must surely be Natural Lineage. It looks like the two Magical Girls are also Phase 2 Magical Girls, as Extend-san said, since they are able to pass the damage properly to the Earl-class Diest.

And while I’m observing, the speed at which the Diest plays is slowly starting to slow down. Is it about time?

「Tornado Mixer.」

A single shot of Tornado Mixer is used to scrape away only the Diest so that I don’t accidentally hit the Magical Girls. At worst, one shot could have hit them as I think they could have claimed it was a misfire, but the three Magical Girls firmly avoided the tornado that suddenly came flying at them.

It’s originally illegal to enter the fray sideways, but this isn’t a rule set by the Magic Bureau, but an unspoken agreement made by the Magical Girls themselves. And tacit understanding naturally includes territory. They are the ones who break it first, so they can’t complain.

Now, here’s where the real work begins…

「Who are you people? Don’t you know that Sakira Town is the territory of I, Tyrant Sylph, the Wind Witch?」

I try my best to be cool-headed and arrogant in my speech and address the three Magical Girls.

Apparently, the trio, or rather Dryad-san, knows that Elephant-san and I are on a team, but she is aware that we are not that close.

Blade-san has been in touch with Dryad-san from time to time, and she seems to have talked about me that way. It’s not that we don’t get along, but as long as I have no intention of getting along, we certainly can’t be called a friendly team.

The strategy I have been entrusted with this time is to use this perception to gather information and also to try to create an impression.

Knuckle-san gathers her information from other sources, but there is never too much material to go around.

Knuckle-san is the planner of the operation, but she says there is no need to go too far. She said that the loss would be greater if my connection with Elephant-san and the others were exposed. They seem to think that if they find out that not only Extend-san but also I am on the shoulders of Elephant-san and the others, the worst that could happen is that the Ice Witch and the faction’s executive group could come out of the woodwork.

I think the takeover of the territory this time is not the consensus of the Factions, but the outburst of some extremists, but I don’t know how the Naturalists would react if they could get one more push for this delicious territory.

Ideally, as much as possible, we should let them think that these three Magical Girls plus mercenaries are large enough to handle the situation, and maintain a situation that can be settled by Elephant-san and her team.

「We are pleased to meet you for the first time. My name is Marine, a Magical Girl who belongs to the Natural Faction. This is Shadow and Dryad as well. We have been waiting to meet you impatiently, Wind Witch-sama.」

A Magical Girl in a bluish white dress and a see-through summer cardigan got down on one knee and bowed her head. The Magical Girl in the black dress and the Magical Girl in the white dress with woven ivy embroidery bow their heads to follow suit.

「Th— Hmm, and so?」

I almost responded with a polite “thank you,” but I cut through it by pretending to cough. Arrogantly. I am a Witch and I am to be respected. I play such a character.

…Be that as it may, what’s with these people? Why are they suddenly being so ostentatious?

「Please let us be under the umbrella of Wind Witch-sama and let us protect this land together.」

「Are you saying that as a Naturalist, am I correct? Perhaps, are you telling me that I should join the faction? Are you telling this Tyrant Sylph to do your bidding?」

I am bewildered, but I don’t show it in my attitude and continue to play the arrogant Witch.

…Hmm, Am I somehow pulled in by the ostentatiousness of the other party? That’s difficult.

「No!! That’s out of the question! We ask your permission for us to operate here! We have no objection to this land being under the direct jurisdiction of Wind Witch-sama! We just want a small percentage of it for our faction! We will never, ever inconvenience you!」

That said, if I were a magical girl who used Natural Magic myself, and this place were a hangout for Magical Girls who are Naturalists, people would naturally perceive me as a Naturalist myself. Why do Magical Girls like to go around in such a roundabout way?

「I don’t care what you do as long as you don’t get in my way. Do as you please. However, there is already another group of Magical Girls in this land. It’s just a formality, but they’re supposed to be a team with me. If you two decide to clash, I won’t get involved.」

Two of the things I wanted to do in this information gathering, and also in the impression-making process, are these:

One is to make the body unaware of the fact that Elephant-san and these Magical Girls have already fought once.

This is to convince people that we are not just a token team and that we don’t get along.

The other is to make it clear that I have no intention of getting involved in a conflict between Magical Girls.

To someone who doesn’t know what’s going on, it may seem like a minimal result if I told them to do as they please and get no backing, but this should be the answer these Magical Girls were hoping for.

The key is not to get involved. Let’s consider it from their point of view, shall we?

I don’t know much about the situation in other towns, so I don’t know much either, but I hear that Sakira Town has become a very delicious Hunting Ground in the recent past.

Some Magical Girls are wonderful, like Elephant-san, who protects the world with a sense of justice, but most are in it for the money and points. That is probably true for these girls as well.

If there is a good Hunting Ground to earn points, it is natural to want to work there, but Magical Girls have an unspoken understanding of territory. I don’t know what retaliation I’ll face if I break this. You protect yourself because the other party protects you. That is what rules are for.

However, if you belong to a faction, it is a different story. Retaliation for actions taken even by an organization is difficult only if it is an organization of equal power. In that respect, there are no Magical Girls in Sakira Town who belong to a faction, so there was little risk of attacking our territory as a Naturalist. Except for one thing: I, the Tyrant Sylph, was here.

I myself am a deterrent to defending my territory. I said they can’t mess with the Witch’s direct jurisdiction.

I don’t know what they thought the risk of my presence was that led them to attack me, but they would have been more than happy to hear from me that I would not be involved in a skirmish between Magical Girls. After all, I can take their territory without any fear of retrospection.

「We thank you for your generous treatment. We have already spoken with the Magical Girls in the area, so there is nothing to worry about. Please leave the Diest* eradication to me from now on.」

「Is that so? Suit yourself.」

Who’s that whom you talked to…!

I decided to walk away in transition, suppressing the feeling that I was about to bust out my magic.

As long as they are going with the setting of a token team that isn’t even really involved with the Magical Girls originally working here, it is unnatural to pursue them too much. Arrogant, cold hearted and uninterested in others, I think that’s what Tyrant Sylph have become in these girls after talking to them directly this time.

I didn’t gather much information, but that’s enough for now.

This also makes it almost certain that the goal is to take away the hunting ground.

I will definitely make them regret their foolishness.

「That’s the Tyrant Sylph, the Wind Witch… She didn’t seem as interested in other people as they said she was.」

「Are you always like that when you talk to Witches? Your acting was so bad I thought you were going to spew.」

「Then next time you speak!」

「Ihihi, I definitely hate that. You’re the leader, right?」

「How serious do you think she was about what she just said?」

Dryad asks Marine and Shadow, who started making a fuss as soon as Tyrant Sylph disappeared in the transition.

「Are you trying to tell us that she’s lying? …I don’t think so. If the Wind Witch is over there with them, there’s no reason why she wouldn’t attack us.」

「Two Witches are a force to be reckoned with, and we’re outgunned.」

「… I agree.」

Dryad nodded in agreement, though she seemed unconvinced by the two girl’s words.

If, as Marine and Shadow said, Tyrant Sylph and Extend are all working with Elephant’s group, Dryad will pose no chance, no matter how much they say they have hired Simeracres. That is obvious to any Magical Girl in terms of the composition of the force.

But it is not without possibility. For example, if Extend and others are wary that there is an ambush on the side of Dryad, or if they are waiting for the contract with Simeracres to expire to be more certain.

Dryad thought that at least they would naturally take those factors into account before making a decision, but still came to the conclusion that they would soon regain their turf.

Time is not infinite and they don’t know which side they are on. Then they should make a move while the advantageous situation is almost certain.

It wasn’t impossible, but very unlikely.

In the normal course of events, Tyrant Sylph is not lying. There is no reason to stall the fight until she does so.

Still, there was something that stuck with Dryad. However, since she doesn’t know the reason for the snag, she can’t say anything that would create confusion for the other two, so she kept it to herself.

The person she used to be, she wouldn’t have kept it to herself. Dryad muttered unconsciously, aware of her own change.

「It’s too late to regret it now. It’s just the way it is now…」

The muttering, which was incredibly weak and feeble from those who knew the normally stout-hearted Dryad, fortunately or unfortunately did not reach anyone’s ears and disappeared into the wind.