Prison? POW Camp? Nursing Home!

(Ceruno)

Miluno all mysterious; she's hiding something from me.

"No, I want to go with you too."

Despite my insistence, she took advantage of her height to pat my head and leaned down slightly to leave a light kiss on my forehead.

"Listen to me, I also have things I don't want others to know."

My face flushed instantly. She'd already gone this far; it would be inappropriate for me to press the matter further...

"Huh? "Miluno glanced at the ceiling with an impatient look.

Could it be that her actions just now... the light kiss on my forehead, were merely to soothe me and stop me from pressing further?

I took a rare weekend to visit Miss SpiCa...

No. Was she really going to see Miss SpiCa?

Is she tired of me?

I've heard that couples sometimes go through this phase...

She's having an affair!

My mind was filled with this thought, and I nervously urged, "If you... if you encounter any trouble, please tell me, okay?"

"Yes, if I need your help, I certainly won't hide it from you."

Miluno gave me another bright smile, but I still felt uneasy and needed to do something to ease that feeling...

That's what I was thinking.

"Ceruno- chan, if you're free, come and help me out!"

Sirius, who was at the laboratory, pointed to the witch that Miluno had captured.

"Come with me to Nabu Island. We need to lock this newly caught little coal miner up there and register him while we're at it."

Although I wanted to secretly follow Miluno, Miss Sirius had already said so.

"Ah? Okay then."

Why do you seem reluctant? Is something wrong?

"No, it's nothing..."

Speaking of this witch, at first glance I thought she was a rescued refugee.

She was wearing a wedding dress that should have been pristine white, but because of mining coal, she was covered in soot and dirt.

It's said that she got herself into this state while shoveling coal inside the locomotive. As a magical girl, she just doesn't seem to fit in with the coal-fired boilers on the train...

"Should we go to the Hawaii Branch first?" I asked.

"No, Nabu Island also has Wormhole Device now, so you can Past directly."

What kind of police force could possibly keep under control of this prisoner-of-war camp that holds all the witches and magical girl criminals?

Just as I was thinking this, Sirius stood in front of the activated Wormhole Device and shouted to me:

"Listen up, Ceruno- chan, when we get there, remember to call me Warden!"

Huh? The warden?

So Sirius himself is in charge of Nabu Island Prison?

"Wait, what about the Association president's job?" I asked again.

"Oh, it's basically been handed over to Yin Wei; she's already getting the hang of it."

She's been in charge of this for a while now!

Sister Yin Wei is so pitiful...

Sirius hooked his arm around my shoulder as we walked into the wormhole, and said:

"You don't need to worry about riots. After seeing Betelgeuse turned into a magical girl by us, those witches don't dare to make any rash moves. In addition, with SpiCa's mental manipulation and Achernar's political mobilization, the entire Nabu Island is in harmony, a veritable new era's Gongdelin! Witches who obey our rules will be given the opportunity to move freely, and if they are willing to help us deal with other Monster or witches, they may even be released after serving their sentences!"

This sounds more like Suicide Squad than Gongdelin.

As soon as he stepped out of the wormhole, a water bubble slammed into Sirius's face.

The Wormhole Device on Nabu Island is semi-open-air.

It was built on a high platform on the beach, with a large shed, but it clearly couldn't keep out the wind and sun.

"Cough cough cough Achernar, are you rebelling?!"

The mermaid stunner doesn't like to talk, but it's not on her part.

In fact, she was wearing a swimsuit and having a water fight with several witches at the beach... Wait, why did the people from prison suddenly escape?

Sirius wiped the water off his face, stormed forward, and asked:

"Hey, what are you doing?"

One of the unfamiliar orange-haired witches answered blankly:

"We're just playing with Xiaojie."

Miss Anjie's Witch Persona was extracted from her body and placed into the vine Monster's body. To distinguish her from Miss Anjie, she was named Xiaojie.

But the Base Body wasn't very attractive, so Sirius gave it a makeover on the spot, turning it into a little plant girl with irregular green leaves growing on her body and dreadlocks-like hair.

Although it still doesn't quite look human, at least it's starting to resemble one.

Sirius walked forward with his hands on his hips.

"Hey you guys, this is a POW camp! Can you stop running out of your cells to have fun? Leaving the island without permission will get you demoted to magical girls, didn't I warn you?"

Another witch with short, dark blue hair replied, "I know, anyway, once they're brainwashed, they can't escape."

So what exactly is Miss SpiCa's magic?

This kind of conscious brainwashing is more frightening than brainwashing done without one's knowledge.

The Achernar nodded to me before beginning her explanation.

"Both of them are witches who are closer to Xiaojie and behave better... We knew each other before, and for various reasons, the hostility between us isn't as strong anymore."

Sirius sighed and pointed again at the witch I was carrying.

"Perfect timing, we've captured a new witch, come and identify her."

I put the unconscious dark-skinned witch on the beach, and the three witches plus Xiaojie all came over to identify her.

Sirius pressed on, "Look, who is this?"

As the witches shook their heads one after another, Achernar finally spoke:

"I don't know her. She shouldn't be from our batch."

The "batch" she referred to was the thirty magical girls from the first reconnaissance, but in fact, Achernar had never seen all thirty witches.

Currently, Nabu Island Prison holds thirteen witches and two magical girl criminals, Anjie and Miss Extinction.

Of course, Ms. Halley, who currently holds a position, has only registered here, which can be considered a reprieve.

"Her Crystal is a little different."

The orange-haired witch tugged at the collar of the dark-skinned witch.

"Um?"

Miss Achernar squinted and thought for a moment.

"This is similar to the flow -Simulacrum Factor... this is Artificial Crystal."

I remembered what Miluno had said before.

The Golden Consort has completed the practical testing of Artificial Crystal Witchification, and the witch before them proves that Magical Girl Soldiers have already been mass-produced "on the Other Side".

"This is no longer Artificial Magical Girl, this is Artificial Witch."

Sirius's expression changed; she realized the seriousness of the situation.

"This is worse than we anticipated. Even artificial witches are difficult for a single magical girl to defeat... From now on, magical girls will operate in small teams for extended periods... I need to return to headquarters for a meeting to devise a countermeasure."

She looked at me, as if asking if I wanted to go with her.

"You're leaving so soon? I'll pass for now. It'd be better to help Achernar settle this witch first."

Sirius curled his lip.

"You're a prime assassination target for 'the Other Side,' aren't you afraid of being surrounded by a bunch of enemy witches?"

That's what they say, but I didn't feel any danger here at all.

Didn't you say this place was safe?