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Chapter 67
Chapter 2 — Expand, my world! • Episode 2-Leisure • Earth
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Doppelganger, who was killing time in the coffee shop connected to the ground floor of the Magic Bureau, sat down after receiving a call from Crosseau. It was earlier than she had planned, but the other party was a Witch. She expected that it was not a simple matter after all, and she went to the tea room to comfort her junior who had worked so hard.
However, when she opened the door, she unexpectedly found Crosseau in a good mood, enjoying tea alone. Originally, Doppelganger was supposed to meet with her after the discussion was over, so her absence would not have gone as planned.
「You look happy, Crosseau. Did you have a good day?」
「Yes. Sylph-san was a very nice girl, easy to talk to. She seems a little fidgety, but not enough to bother me.」
Crosseau, who always tends to give a cold impression with her expressionless, flat tone of voice, says with happy, relaxed cheeks.
Today was the first meeting between the newly appointed witch, Tyrant Sylph, and Wigs Crosseau, who is in a position to oversee the Witches. Doppelganger was waiting at the Magic Bureau in order to be introduced if the matter ended amicably, or to intercede if it did not end amicably.
Judging from Crosseau’s good mood, it seems that Tyrant Sylph was a very easy Witch to deal with.
The position of overseeing Witches is a role that doesn’t require a lot of authority, but it does place a heavy mental burden on the person in charge.
The Sleeping Witch, the number one on the pecking order, has never awakened, so it’s no surprise that she is unable to speak; the Poison Witch, who basically never says a word and doesn’t know what she is thinking; the Ice Witch, who may or may not be acting; and the Gravity Witch, who is emotionally unstable and lashes out at the Rabbit Witch. There is the Pirate Witch who doesn’t listen well and acts selfishly; the Rabbit Witch who plots to overthrow the system; the Rigor Witch who’s a mercenary by profession and doesn’t show up well; the Shark Witch who’s basically unreadable, and the Expansion Witch who seems to be consumed by her powers. More than half of them are so unique that the word “individualistic” does not even begin to describe them.
For Crosseau, who was in a position to organize them, a Witch who could talk to them in an ordinary way was a very valuable existence.
「So, what’s up with the all-important little Sylph?」
「She was taken by Rabbitfoot-san.」
「That bunny is really…」
Doppelganger puts her hand on her forehead and shakes her head as if to say, “Good grief.”
She don’t know what’s wrong with her, but for some reason the Rabbit Witch has her eye on Crosseau. And Doppelganger who cooperate with her doesn’t make a very good impression.
Even as the Doppelganger, she had no intention of meddling in personal likes and dislikes, so she left it alone, but later learned that she had made the wrong choice. Before long, she had created her own faction within the Life Faction and was building a force powerful enough to divide the Life Faction in two. For now, Doppelganger still holds the reins of the faction, but she doesn’t know what will happen after she herself retires.
Maintaining the balance of power among factions is necessary to maintain order among Magical Girls, and therefore Rabbitfoot’s attempts to mischievously destroy it are a source of great concern to Doppelganger.
「I don’t know how she sniffed it out, but maybe you shouldn’t have just let her go. If something happens to take her in, it would be troublesome, wouldn’t it?」
「No, that will probably be fine. I tried to recruit her to the faction persistently to the point of being a little apologetic, but she didn’t come on board. Apparently, she’s not really interested in that sort of thing.」
「That’s fine, but either way, I think you should give her a little moxie on this one. I nailed you to stop doing unnecessary things, didn’t I?」
「In case you’re wondering, I was almost done with my story, so it wasn’t so much of a cop out as it was an omission.」
「You know…, Crosseau really has a soft spot for that bunny.」
「I don’t think that’s true.」
In handing over the task of putting the Witches together to Crosseau, there is one thing Doppelganger noticed. That said, Crosseau has been very lenient with a very small percentage of Witches.
As far as Doppelganger can confirm, two of them were Rabbitfoot and Red Ball. These two fight whenever they see each other, and even alone they have many problems.
They condemn problematic behavior that goes too far, such as the time they tried to start a duel with the Extend Traveler at the recent Tea Party, but they often don’t make an issue of it when the decision is left to the discretion of the individual. That’s just the way it is now.
Doppelganger is aware of the vicious falsehoods being written about Crosseau as an infantilist and an abuser on the Magical Girl anonymous message boards. Most of these posts are rootless rumors or caused by misunderstandings, but there are also cases where the facts are exaggerated.
It was obvious to the careful observer that Crosseau has a soft spot for children, if not infantile sexuality, and these facts are maliciously exaggerated.
「I don’t know how you tolerate them because they’re little kids, but too much and the rest of the Witches will be repulsed. Don’t go overboard.」
「I’m not aware of it, but if that’s what Doppelganger-san says, I’ll be careful.」
After patting Crosseau’s head, who replied with a sulky, discouraged expression, Doppelganger sat down in front of her.
Even as Doppelganger, she recognize Crosseau’s efforts. Even though she is not good at socializing by nature, she deserves praise for her strong sense of responsibility that led her to take on the role of organizing the Witches. That is why she feel it’s regrettable.
Crosseau is often mistaken for a cold person because her facial expression becomes stiff and her voice flat due to nervousness, but the real Crosseau is the one who is overflowing with emotion, which she can reveal only in front of those she gets to know. Doppelganger wants other witches to know these familiar aspects of Crosseau.
「Good. So much for the hard talk. How was it? Was she cute, Sylph-chan?」
「Yes, combined with the godliness of the costume, I thought an angel had unexpectedly descended!」
「I think Crosseau’s outfit is as good as it gets…」
「When Sylph-san drank her tea, she said, “It’s bitter,” and her brow furrowed and wrinkled, and I couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she was. But then Sylph-san got a little cranky. To make up for it, I tried skinship as Doppelganger-san had taught me, but she wasn’t feeling well or looking good. Sylph-san said she’s alright, but I’m worried.」
「I know you had a good time, so please calm down a little. You’re jumping all over the story and I can’t get it into my head at all. Take a deep breath, and when you calm down, talk in order.」
Then, after listening to the story that was roughly explained by Crosseau to Sylph and Sylph’s answer to it, one concern arose with Doppelganger.
「I’m sure it’s all right, but you didn’t make it sound like you were trying to scare her, did you?」
As mentioned above, Crosseau is often mistaken for a ruthless person, and Doppelganger follows up as much as possible to avoid prolonging the misunderstanding. That is why there are not many bad rumors circulating, but Doppelganger didn’t know everything Crosseau says and does. There are a few Magical Girls who are unable to follow through and are eyeing up Crosseau. Just like Rabbitfoot.
Doppelganger was concerned that Tyrant Sylph might have made such a mistake. There was a sincere desire not to have more Magical Girls stirring up the balance.
「I think it is safe to say that you have politely informed her that you were not a threat. In the meantime, I’m going to talk to the Magic Bureau to see if we can postpone the training in case it’s not possible.」
「You’ve already applied for a schedule, haven’t you? Talking to a regular fairies probably won’t work. If you’re serious, you should go directly to Earth, but… I don’t like that person.」
Immediately after Doppelganger muttered as if to throw up, the light of the transfer magic circle appeared in the air, and the voice of a young, elderly man echoed through the room.
「Hey–hey, what a terrible thing to say to the Director General.」
When the light subsided, there was a globe floating there, about the size of a two-handed globe. The source of the man’s voice, which sounded somewhat flirtatious, was that globe.
He is Earth, the highest ranking fairy who stands at the head of the Department of Magic and manages a large number of Magical Girls.
The position of overseeing the Witches is not a very powerful position, but it gives her the right to speak directly with this highest ranking fairy. Although they may not always be able to talk to her, and they may not always be able to listen to her requests and needs, the ability to communicate directly with the highest authority is still an appropriate reward for the role of organizing the Witches.
「You’ve been listening to us from the beginning anyway. So what do you think?」
「I came here to have fun, so let’s have a chat first!」
「No one asked you to come. Just answer the question.」
「Haah～ good grief, impatient women are not popular, you know? That’s why you’ll never get a boyfriend.」
「I don’t know if you old guys with fungus in your heads know this, but nowadays that kind of thing is called sexual harassment. Maybe I should sue you.」
「I’ll always be a young, young, young man. Of course I know that, but there’s no such law on this side of the world～」
「I see that the two of you are getting along well, so can we get down to business, please?」
「Crosseau-chan, this is not what I would call being friendly.」
「Well, we’re mavs, aren’t we? Hateful words are a sign of friendship.」
「You shut your mouth.」
「I don’t know if I should shut up～ I think I’ll just go home～ ——Wait a second! Don’t try to chant! All right, all right, let’s leave the tomfoolery at that. Bottom line, the answer is no. We ain’t involved in your self-imposed rules.」
「Then why did you come all the way out here?」
「What’s that? I’m going to play with you——」
「Octopus.」
Eight giant octopus legs rushed to the globe in mid-air, obscuring it, but Doppelganger was untouched. They must have escaped by shifting before the direct hit. The usual flow of the event was to be agitated and encouraged, and finally to shoot magic, which is fast becoming a beauty of style.
Doppelganger did not enjoy it at all, and on the contrary, Earth seemed to be enjoying it wholeheartedly, which was totally vicious.
「Same as ever.」
「I’m just annoyed that you’re following me around.」
This is not the first time Crosseau has seen this exchange. She was surprised at first when she took over as the organizer, but she got used to it after seeing it repeated so many times. Now she could only feel that it had started again, and that they were as close as ever.
「You were Sprite-san and Doppelganger-san’s fairy when they were new.」
「He’s been the director of the bureau since then, though.」
Monarch Sprite, the Lightning Witch, retired on her 20th birthday just a month or so ago. She is a veteran Witch who has been fighting with Doppelganger, who is also her real-life friend, since she was a first grader about 13 years ago, and is a skilled Witch who held the second place in the pecking order even as she neared retirement.
Earth was the fairy who recruited Sprite and Doppelganger to become Magical Girls and taught them basic knowledge. He was gone when they had grown up as Magical Girls to some extent, and they were reunited when they became Witches. At the time, Doppelganger remember that they didn’t believe that the head of the Department of Magic was assisting them, and were astonished, along with Sprite.
「That’s not important. Anyway, do you want to tell Sylph-chan about the mission, just in case? I tried to change it, but I couldn’t.」
「As long as the situation hasn’t changed, I don’t think we should do this, as it would only be patronizing.」
「Really? I hope that’s okay with you, Crosseau-chan, but…」
Doppelganger, who was not present at their conversation, does not even know what the atmosphere was like at that time. Hence, she was convinced that if Crosseau, with whom she was actually communicating, said it was okay, then it must be okay, and did not pursue the matter further.