Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duties

39 – Revolution

Magical Girl Brown Bear.

Real name, Ma So-yeon.

Rank, Magical Lieutenant Colonel.

And today’s Magical Duty Commander.

Instead of complaining endlessly, overwhelmed by the fact that she had been assigned as Magical Duty Commander—

‘W-what is this…?’

—she was simply bewildered.

The moment she opened the door to the Magical Duty Commander’s office, her vision was filled with countless magical girls.

And.

“Magical girls of all nations, unite!”

Because of one man leading them.

She knew who he was.

Impossible to forget, no matter how much she wished she could, he was too famous.

“Magical girls have nothing to lose but their chains, and a world to win!!!”

His name was Kim Si-yul.

A deserter who escaped capture during the kaiju invasion and was finally dragged in as a magical girl.

A schizophrenic who claimed to have spent ten years in another world.

A madman who insisted he was a Lunar Warrior.

“And therefore!!!”

He was currently inciting the magical girls.

“We shall be masters of this world today!”

Right there, before the Magical Duty Command Office.

Wielding magical scythes, the kind used for Magical Weeding.

‘What in the world!’

Thanks to that, Maso-yeon’s confusion only deepened.

But, Kim Si-yul addressing her happened a fraction faster than she could pull herself out of the fog.

“Let’s go!”

“Uh, where to…?”

Maso-yeon cast a doubtful gaze.

Kim Si-yul, with even more resolve than before, declared,

“Where else but the Magical Lieutenant General’s private quarters!”

Maso-yeon, only the Magical Officer of the Day for today, couldn’t understand any of it.

Why the magical girls were suddenly here.

What resolve they had made, their eyes burning with it.

But.

“Wh-why are we going *there*!”

“To ‘protest’, of course!”

Just one thing had become clear, just now.

This situation wasn’t just about magical girls gathering to protest to the Magical Lieutenant General.

In the dead of night, when everyone else was asleep.

The entire magical girl force.

Suddenly paying a visit to the Magical Lieutenant General’s personal rooms.

Each clutching their personal magical wands and razor-sharp magical scythes so hard their veins stood out.

If that was the case.

When one factored in all these elements, wasn’t there only one conclusion to draw?

A rebellion, with a dash of force.

‘C-c-c-c-crazy!’

In other words, a Magical Coup d’état.

“Th-this isn’t a protest, it’s a coup!”

“If you please, use the more magnificent and crimson word: revolution!”

A madness.

How dare this self-proclaimed magical girl even conceive of a coup? Utterly sacrilegious.

And the target of their coup wasn’t some middling entity either.

Magical Girl White Phoenix.

The strongest magical girl of all time.

A spinster magical girl harboring 47 years of resentment.

Her magic triggers Magical Disaster Alerts, a living calamity who slaughters grotesque beings bare-handed.

And they were planning a coup against *that* existence.

“I will *not*!”

Ma Soyeon shook her head with all her might.

Only then could Ma Soyeon assess the current situation with a touch more composure.

The magical girls gathered here were all of the Magical Soldier rank. Not a single Magical Executive-level girl among them.

Which meant Ma Soyeon, a lieutenant colonel, was the highest-ranking person present.

To summarize, the magical girls here were trying to launch a Magical Force Coup.

With Ma Soyeon, a Magical Lieutenant Colonel, as their vanguard.

Vanguard in name only, mind you.

Just a figurehead, cannon fodder.

Success was a possibility, yes, but in the event of trouble, hers would be the first, most excruciating death.

Not even a poisoned chalice, just a glass of straight poison.

And right now, Kim Siyul was trying to make Ma Soyeon drink that poison.

In that moment, Kim Siyul shouted once more.

“Let’s go, Leader!”

“I’m… I’m a Magical Lieutenant Colonel!”

Suddenly her rank held a different, elevated significance.

It even seemed to make her face flush slightly.

“Did you not prepare yourself for this much determination!”

“W-what kind of determination are you even talking about!”

“After all, if it fails, it’s a coup! If it succeeds, it’s a revolution, wouldn’t you agree!”

“If you’re going to do it, do it amongst yourselves! I have nothing to do with it!”

Ma Soyeon continued to voice her refusal.

At the same time, he vowed. These magical girls here would, without fail, face a Magical Trial later.

How dare a magical girl act like this?

Did they have no sense of duty as magical girls?

They couldn’t be called magical girls. They had neither the qualification, nor the worth. They were nothing more than Magical Traitors.

But.

“Aren’t you even indignant!”

“What are you talking about.”

The more Kim Si-yul spoke.

“Because the old-fogey magical girls are standing in line, aren’t you still stuck in the present! Isn’t the Magical Sovereign even indignant!”

The brighter the blade of the Magical Scythe he tightly gripped gleamed.

“Open your eyes and look straight at me!”

Ma So-yeon’s heart wavered.

“Am I saying something difficult!”

Little by little.

Very little by little.

“Isn’t this just about giving everything a big clean-up to properly establish magical girls!!!”

But certainly.

Words that were too sweet to simply listen to. Ma So-yeon, almost bewitched without realizing it, quickly gathered her wits and shook her head.

“B-but, this is too radical─”

“It’s not! Not even a little bit radical! If you want to get what you want, what you have to do is fight, not comply!”

“……Fight.”

Ma So-yeon rolled the two-letter word around in her mouth.

Kim Si-yul spat out a desperate voice.

“The history of all societies up to now is the history of struggle!”

At that moment, Kim Si-yul’s eyes stared at Ma So-yeon.

Black pupils.

But, within them, flames flickered.

Flames redder than blood.

“Surely you have desires, don’t you?”

“…….”

Masoyeon slowly shook her head.

Desires? Of course, she had them. Before being a magical girl, she was, after all, still just a person.

Power.

She wanted it so desperately.

Yearned for it, longed for it more than anyone.

But, there were simply too many other magical girls, faster, further ahead of her, to even try to grasp it.

So, Masoyeon forced herself to look away. To pretend she hadn’t desired it that intensely in the first place, to tell herself she didn’t actually want anything at all.

But.

“Once winter’s over, we could be taking off these magical girl outfits with absolutely nothing to show for it. Will you be able to demand what you want then!”

The desires she had suppressed now stirred restlessly.

Kim Siyul’s words, piercing her very soul.

The magical girls’ resolute gazes.

Her own reflection staring back from the blade of the scythe Kim Siyul held so firmly.

Faced with all of this, Masoyeon could no longer avert her eyes from the yearning within.

At that moment, Kim Siyul proclaimed:

“Revolution! Isn’t that the answer!”

The spark that ignited the explosion of Masoyeon’s desires.

‘Yes.’

On second thought, there was truth to it.

Was power something that anyone could just spoon-feed you? A pity handout, like charity or a donation?

No.

Power is something you seize.

Through struggle and revolution.

Those who merely expect power to come to them are fools. Like those simpletons waiting beneath a tree, mouths agape, for the fruit to fall.

On the other hand, these magical girls here are truly remarkable.

They have taken it upon themselves to take what they want.

Even if their methods are rather reckless and crude.

But that is alright.

‘This is precisely when a leader is needed!’

Even if these magical girls are ignorant and naive, wouldn’t everything be solved if they had a great leader to guide them?

And that leader, only Ma So-yeon could be.

The strongest of the magical girls here.

And, simultaneously, the highest-ranking magical girl.

A presence that commands everyone’s gaze.

Truly, a perfect leader.

‘Humans, creatures that they are, crave to be led by someone powerful!’

Looking back, she felt utterly pathetic for her own trepidation of just moments before.

An overwhelming number of magically armed magical girls.

The hilt of the sword placed in her own hand.

Could there still be cause for unease here?

‘There isn’t.’

Anyone who hesitated and retreated even with these perfect conditions, did not deserve power.

They were merely livestock. A lowly beast, resigned to its fate, counting down the days to slaughter.

For power is seized by those who act.

Even now, this late, the Magical Commander’s personal chamber is lit. Yet, there is no ominous magical power felt.

Meaning she is alone, in a magically unarmed state.

Could such a magical girl possibly withstand this many?

‘Impossible.’

Even if the opponent were the strongest magical girl, she would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

At the same time, Ma So-yeon thought.

‘Honestly, she doesn’t seem *that* great.’

Magical Girl White Phoenix might be called the strongest, but in reality, she’s likely unremarkable.

She simply had good timing.

Becoming a magical girl before Ma So-yeon.

Having more money, more backing, unlike herself.

Having a bit more luck than the other magical girls.

‘That’s probably the *only* reason she became Magical Commander.’

Truly, an undeserving one. A magical girl far too unqualified to wield the power of a Magical Commander.

And even a 47-year-old spinster, still unmarried. A trivial existence compared to Ma So-yeon, who has a boyfriend.

Then…

The Magical Lieutenant General’s power, shouldn’t it belong to a magical girl with the proper qualifications?

Specifically, Ma Soyeon, to her.

A magical girl’s sense of duty?

Such things were no longer important.

With power just a step away, why bother taking the long road?

‘No reason.’

Ma Soyeon’s eyes flashed.

A red befitting revolution.

There was nothing more to fear.

In that moment, Kim Siyul raised the Magical Scythe diagonally, looking at Ma Soyeon.

“Let’s go make them tremble before the revolution!”

Ma Soyeon slowly raised her magic wand.

Her magic wand, now transformed into a hammer.

And.

– *Click!*

She crossed her hammer with Kim Siyul’s scythe.

Sparks flew from the crossed scythe and hammer. It was only for a fleeting moment, but the scythe and hammer were dyed crimson.

“Magical girls of all nations! Unite!”

Today, it was a color she rather liked.