On the other side of the suffering, preparatory stage.
Time goes back a little. It was the day before the Operation Prank. In the 1st Development lab, a strategy meeting was being held to kill……… to punish the Director.
“First, let’s look at the opponent’s strength.”
“Here!”
Leighton-san raised his hand. He’s got the motivation.
“Leighton-san.”
“Yes! The Director basically carries all anti-physical and anti-magic magic tools in existence on him!”
“… Isn’t that fuel-inefficient?”
“They are Ed’s prided magic tools, after all. It’s fuel-efficient because they get suspended automatically after a few seconds of activation. If maintained constantly, it naturally wouldn’t be fuel-efficient, but since most traps are basically a one-shot and done, it should suffice.”
Ernst supplemented the info.
“Hmm… Jend.”
“Yes~”
“Go ahead and time how long it takes for his barriers to deactivate and the next one to appear. Can you do that?”
“Yeah.”
We worked out various ideas. I thought it was a good idea for him to lose his footing. It seemed that no one would set up physical traps, so I made a few prototypes.
Just as I was about to commence the pranking, someone came in.
“Ah, Kuranosuke-san.”
Eh? A Japanese? A petite, white-haired old man came in…
“Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff.”
He sniffed me with all of his might.
“Noooooo!? Niisama! Niisama save meee!!”
“Kuranosuke-san, sit down.”
“Woof.”
The old man sat down obediently. No, don’t woof. When I asked my brother for an explanation, he answered with a somber look on his face.
“…… He’s a fool.”
“I get it!!”
“Darling.”
“Hyaoh!?”
The little old man hugged me.
“Nononono, stop it please!”
“Kurarin.”
“Eh?”
“I want you to call me Kurarin.”
“Eh? Yeah. Kurarin, stop it.”
“OK Rosarin! Magical Girls for life!”
No, well. I don’t get it. Anyhow, I’m glad he separated from me. However, what do I say… his mental health is completely scrapped……
I must be Evil. Yeah. I must have been possessed by Evil.
“… Do you want to be a Magical Girl, Kurarin?”
“No. Kurarin is a Magical Girl.”
“I will give the Magical Girl Kurarin a new weapon then. In exchange, you will help us.”
“Okay, got it.”
“That’s wrong, Kurarin! More cutely!”
“Mirakuri.”
“Your lines are wrong!”
“Miracle☆Kurakura☆”
“That was wonderful, Kurarin!”
“Thank you~ Rosarin!”
“… Rosarin, what do you want to do?”
Niisama told me later that Ernst was stunned silly while I was “making” the trap. I was possessed by Evil. Now that I think about it.
“Oneecha… Rosarin, I brought Pochi with me~”
“Oneechan, I will help you out, too.”
When Jend was taking measurements, he met Pochi who was on his way home after gathering information.
“Then, Pochi…”
Pochi is good at drawing. He is very good at crafts. He is also very good at clay work. I asked Pochi to make the exterior of a horrific contraption for me………
“Oneechan…”
“What is it?”
I was so absorbed in instructing Kurarin’s acting that I didn’t notice it.
“……………… Oof.”
Scary.
Pochi-san, you made it look too real!
“What do I doo… it’s too scary, Oneechan.”
You made it and you are scared, too! No, it’s too scary to look at in a brightly lit workshop! But now that you have made it, I have no choice but to use it.
Losing at rock-paper-scissors, poor Lefty-san was chased by a golem that Pochi had made to make sure it worked…
“Gyaaaaah!! Scary, scary, scary!!”
Lefty-san, sorry. I got scared myself just from watching.
The falling faces were to be installed on the ceiling.
“Rosarin-chan, you are being too serious about this!? This is too frightening!”
“I’m sorry! To be honest, I underestimated the potential of my housemate, Pochi!”
We all split up to set up the traps, but I swore firmly that I would not try this trap myself, so I would just hit it.
The gimmick on the ceiling took a while to work, so Kurarin was onstage to buy us some time. I thought that Kurarin was amazing to be able to stand by in a room with…… all those grotesque faces on the ceiling without a care in the world.