Suspicion

(Sun Yao)

Miss Miluno slipped into the burning mansion.

This assassin's target wasn't just me, but also this eccentric Werewolf Monster, which inevitably makes one curious about his identity.

He had just removed the armor from his waist and abdomen, revealing an abdomen that was no different from a human's, and even somewhat resembled Yezi...

No, wait.

A bold guess came to mind.

From Skyreach City to Hawaii, it was true that wherever Yezi went, he would appear there too, and the two of them had never appeared at the same time...

Could it be that UI-31's true identity is Yezi?

I looked suspiciously at UI-31, who was clutching his abdominal wound. He seemed uncomfortable under my gaze, turning his head away and avoiding my eyes, looking completely furtive. This only confirmed my suspicions...

But instead of directly calling him out, I asked, "Mr. Werewolf, you can understand me, right? Why are you being targeted by 'the Other Side'?"

"... Ouch."

Can't speak?

Or are they afraid their voice will reveal their identity?

"This guy is a traitor from 'the Other Side'."

Miss Sirius was shaking her leg with her arms crossed.

Even the usually confident girl became restless. Just as I was worried about Yezi, she was also worried about her maid. Even she hadn't expected that her house would be robbed after she went out in the middle of the night. Even though she knew that magical girls wouldn't get into trouble so easily, she still felt uneasy when she didn't see her.

"What does 'traitor' mean?" I asked.

"I can tell you, but don't tell Spica first."

"Hmm? Should we keep this a secret from Miss SpiCa?"

"That's right, I plan to hide him for now. Although he doesn't know anything about me, there's still a lot we can uncover about him... Ceruno- chan, can you promise me that?"

"Ah... um... I won't tell Miss SpiCa."

Could this Werewolf belonging to Yezi be a traitor from "the Other Side"?

I didn't quite understand.

"He's the kind of Monster Soldiers who was modified from a human, but the brainwashing wasn't thorough enough, so he retained his human memories when he was thrown over here. After arriving, he defected, so 'the Other Side' sent people over to deal with this defective product... Of course, it's also possible that they came to deal with you and take care of him while they're at it. I'm not entirely sure right now."

Is Yezi's dislike of magical girls due to her own Monster?

With this explanation, it also makes sense that he was able to remove Miluno's swimsuit.

But if Yezi is indeed Werewolf, then the timing doesn't seem to make sense...

UI-31 only appeared at Longmoon Lake, but Yezi has been with me for over ten years. Could it be that he was just pretending all along, and only started acting as Werewolf after I became a magical girl?

Let's assume the reasoning fails.

Buzz--

The familiar sound effects played, and a white ring of wormholes appeared in the sky above the rainforest.

"Is Miss SpiCa coming?"

"Who else could it be? They must have seen the communication cut off and the flashes of fire from the explosion, so they rushed over to check the situation..."

Since we opened a wormhole directly from the Hawaii Branch, it shouldn't take too long to get here by boat, right?

"... But that's too reckless; she might get sniped."

Would Miss SpiCa act without thinking?

"Hopefully not... Liu, you hide first, don't let Spica see you."

"Flow" seems to be the name of UI-31.

Although Miss Sirius said that, the latter is still injured, and that Monster has special arrows that target his armor. Sending him alone would only expose him to danger.

"Shall I hide with him? My protective shield can overcome his weaknesses."

"You two might both be that guy's targets. Aren't you afraid of being taken away by him if you get together?"

"... Um, what should we do then?"

"There's an air-raid shelter from World War II in the northwest corner. You'll see it if you walk west along the north bank. Go in and hide there. Once Miluno comes out, I'll have her Past find you. If that guy follows Past too, you'll have to figure out how to deal with him... Liu, how confident are you in dealing with this old fox?"

When Miss Sirius asked this question, UI-31 thought for a moment, then uncertainly extended a hand.

"Fifty percent? That's a bit low... What about Ceruno- chan?"

UI-31 thought for a moment, then stretched out another hand.

Miss Sirius joked, "Ten percent? Heh, you're that confident just because there's a girl around?"

UI-31 didn't deny it; he tapped his breastplate, making a "clanging" sound... I wasn't sure if this was really Yezi.

Miss Sirius chuckled and urged, "Alright, you guys hurry up and leave. We can't let Spica see Liu's presence."

UI-31 nodded and then gestured for me to proceed.

This jungle is full of traps set by that assassin, and he actually let me walk in front of him... even though he's wounded right now.

I said, "I'll trust you for now, but don't even think about ambushing me, okay?"

"Ouch."

I walked ahead, carefully watching out for traps on the road, heading north along the moss-covered stone path.

This is a route rarely traveled. The north shore beach of Nabu Island is short and located in the shade, so there is not much sun. There is more silt than sand, so few people go there.

Behind me, the buzzing sound suddenly intensified.

A striking white dot fell from above the ring, and Miss SpiCa appeared after passing through the wormhole...

That is, Magical Girl Virgo, a magical girl who resembles a mummy.

Bang--

The loud noise shattered the silence of the rainforest.

It was probably using some kind of anti-materiel sniper rifle; such a loud noise was hardly concealed. We thus confirmed the assassin's approximate location. In order to eliminate our support, the assassin also abandoned some of his principles.

A large-caliber bullet accurately struck the falling SpiCa, leaving a gaping hole in the mummy girl's body, with half of her body dangling beneath it—a heartbreaking sight.

But upon closer inspection, the "Virgo" that was hit was just a hollow dummy made of a silk scarf. The real Miss SpiCa had just passed through the wormhole, and the assassin clearly didn't have time to prepare the next sniper shot, missing this opportunity to besiege the point and attack the reinforcements.

As expected of Miss SpiCa, she outmaneuvered the enemy the moment she appeared.

Worrying about her is unnecessary; we should worry about ourselves. The gunshots we heard just now weren't far away, which shows that the assassin was indeed sneaking up on us. But apart from passive defense, we currently have no way to counter this kind of rogue "hit and run" tactic.

"Let's go, Miss SpiCa is alright."

"Ugh..."

I gave a shout and continued with UI-31 toward the air-raid shelter Miss Sirius had mentioned.

I didn't get a chance to speak to him the whole way. He just followed me without doing anything extra. I just wanted him to take off his helmet, but I didn't know how to ask...

"Aww!"

There was a noise coming from the bushes on the right; something flew out.

Despite the UI-31's howling warning, I didn't have time to react before those things started clanging and banging against my protective film.