Hagakure Sakura does not lament – Chapter 6

TLN: In this chapter, I will be referring to her as “Sakura” and using female pronouns when transformed and “Tsugumi” and male pronouns when not. So don’t forget that Sakura is Tsugumi and vice-versa!

Chapter 6 – A feelings problem

—The demonic beast was furious.

It does not know right from wrong, it only has it’s pure desire for destruction.

The demonic beast was, so to speak, a conceptual body that acts as a terminal for a real body existing in another world. Demonic beasts gather energy by destroying things, harming people and exhausting the land. After performing their sabotage, they disappear in a mist to return the energy they have gathered to the main body.

For demonic beasts, destruction was the act of satisfying one’s own desires–similar to eating a meal. The『Magical Girls』who attempt to stop this are the first obstacle to be overcome.

Besides, a『Magical Girl』is also a mass of high-density energy. Killing one magical girl is far more efficient that 100 ordinary humans. Either way, killing remains a high priority.

The woman who had escaped the tree–the magical girl, had not been found yet.

No, in truth she had been found. But every time the demonic beast attacks the position she’s in, her presence disappears for some reason. It was extremely annoying.

Low-ranking demonic beasts aren’t very intelligent, this is because their energy isn’t focused on getting smarter. Therefore the boar just repeatedly rushes at the tree where the woman is, however those pointless attacks are about to come to an end.

—Ah, found you.

The demonic beast had finally discovered the figure of the woman. Perhaps she had decided to stop hiding and come out.

The woman stood calmly on a tree that had fallen sideways, pointing her index finger as if to provoke the demonic beast. Her reddish-brown eyes were seemingly shooting through the it.

The demonic beast noticed that the woman was trying to do something, but it didn’t care about it.

—It put strength into it’s hind legs, in an instant it was surrounded by a silver light.

A shock wave was produced from the rapid increase in fighting spirit–this was the only attack the demonic beast could use. There was no strategy for low-ranking demonic beasts, they just tried to kill, that was all.

The woman didn’t run away, she just slowly turned her hand that was pointed towards the beast, upwards.

The demonic beast started sprinting.

It launched itself like a bullet, moving above the speed of sound. The giant beast was like a cannonball that destroys everything it hits. No matter how strong a magical girl was, if this attack hit her, she would not survive.

—Got you!!　

At the moment when the demonic beast was convinced of that, the woman swung her arm down as if wearing a kasaya. (TLN: A kasaya is a Buddhist monk’s robe)

—It’s field of vision blurred.

The demonic beast suddenly rolled on the ground for some reason and was looking up at the woman before it knew it.

It stood up and tried to attack, but it’s limbs wouldn’t move. Why?

The woman’s face distorted as she looked down on the demonic beast, her expression was as if she was enduring pain. Why does she look like that when she hasn’t suffered any injuries? the demonic beast didn’t know the answer to that question.

—Ah, but.

—Within it’s blurry consciousness, the demonic beast thinks of something.

—It felt like it’s stomach was full.

◆　◆　◆

「What’s up with your face? Everything went well」(Bell)

Bell asked in confusion.

Whilst looking down at the demonic beast whose limbs had been amputated, Sakura clicked her tongue.

「Ah, I feel sick」(Sakura)

Whilst saying so Sakura held up her right hand, innumerable threads were entwined there.

The knowledge of the skill thread manipulation had been given to Sakura. It was a versatile skill that could be used for attack, defense and sometimes intelligence gathering. As a weapon, it may be inferior to magical girls with large-scale annihilation skills like fire and thunder, but it was still an excellent skill.

Firstly, the thread was hidden with【Invisibility】then the delicate finger movements and swinging of her arm had easily cut off the legs of the demonic beast that had shot towards her like a bullet. Then, by instantly creating a wall of woven thread, she was able to receive the charge of the demonic beast.

As for Bell’s feelings, it must have been satisfying to watch for him. However he was annoyed at Sakura’s attitude, and spoke sarcastically to her.

「Feel? Are you saying that you’re not good with blood? Even though you’re not a pure innocent girl, you say such delicate things」(Bell)

「No, a pure innocent girl?….it’s not that, rather it’s a matter of ethics, I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong, but it’s the first time I’ve killed anything even animal-shaped, so I was thinking a little about it」(Sakura)

Sakura gently stroked her right hand. She could easily kill a creature with her power. That fact can be very scary, depending on how you think about it.

Well there was no room for ideas like that, so it wasn’t that serious.

「Well, you can’t quit now. Your fate is to be my possession–don’t forget that」(Bell)

In a strong tone, Bell rebukes Sakura.

In front of Bell, it would be difficult for Sakura to say「I quit」knowing how he feels.

—But that worry is meaningless.

「Don’t worry I won’t say I’ll quit. What I don’t like is the fact that I didn’t feel anything from what I did. I just felt a little sick at my heartlessness. Ah, is this the effect of the【Optimization】skill」(Sakura)

With that said, Sakura tilted her head.

If so, she felt that it was a very useful skill for a magical girl.

Normally, feeling remorse from your conscience is a demerit that was ridiculous. If you can instead get rid of monster happily with a smile on your face, that would be better.

However, although there was no way for her to know, the【Optimization】skill is originally a skill to assist with motion, it has no effect on mental state.

She doesn’t feel anything, so she feels bad. How amazing is that?

Even though hundreds of magical girls mentally break down and quit every year, Sakura doesn’t know how good her talent is. She likely won’t notice unless someone points it out.

「—But I’m sure that if I’m in this condition, I can be a magical girl」(Sakura)

With that said, Sakura looked at Bell and smiled. Her face had returned to a normal color.

Anyway, there is no choice but to continue as a magical girl. She’s died once already, so if she cares about these small details, it would negatively impact her life.

Sakura thought that continuing to work without hesitation wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Looking at Sakura, Bell smiled with satisfaction.

—He may have picked up a good thing.

Thinking like that, Bell squinted his eyes. if this girl continues to be an easy-to-use toy for him, he may soon become attached. That’s when things would become fun.

「By the way, how should I use the other skill【Gluttony】? It’s written that you should use it after the battle is over, so should I use it now?」(Sakura)

「…Who knows? Why don’t you try declaring it now?」(Bell)

【Gluttony】was a word quite familiar to Bell, but he had no intentions of telling Sakura that. It was a pretty unexpected event for Bell too.

「Fuun~ Then, activate skill【Gluttony】!」(Sakura)

The moment Sakura shouted that, the space around the demonic beast shook slightly. Then many large beast-like mouths appeared from the ground and ate the corpse of the demonic beast.

Honestly, for Bell it looked a little ugly. When he glanced at Sakura, she was covering her mouth with a deep blue face….she was more expressive now then when she had defeated the demonic beast.

The beast’s mouths that had appeared, had subsequently disappeared with satisfaction after eating all but the core of the demonic beast and the silver fangs.

At the moment, he was not sure about the effects of the skill, but he had felt the vessel of Sakura had increased in strength a little which was probably the effect.

Sakura slowly opened her mouth whilst rubbing her stomach with anxiety.

「Bell-sama, I might want to quit being a magical girl…」(Sakura)

「….It’s useless」(Bell)

「That’s right…haa」(Sakura)

As she said that, Sakura lowered her shoulders in disappointment. Her black hair that hadn’t been tied back, fell down.

Bell stared at Sakura’s figure. He hadn’t paid much attention to her until now, but she didn’t look bad.

—The way this magical girl defeats demonic beasts both gracefully and cruelly will surely be a spectacle to behold.

Thinking so, Bell laughed in satisfaction.

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