About Becoming a Magical Girl

"But obviously not, right?"

Nishizaki Yuki smiled.

"Later, I also discovered a contradiction here that couldn't be ignored."

"What?"

"—If I'm not mistaken, before you became 'Ephnel,' Yukina was the only candidate, wasn't she?"

"You could say that."

Efnir did not deny it.

One of the important reasons she had become "Ephnel" was to take Yukina's place. That was a fact.

"Then do you remember the test records in Yukina's file? Which Beacon had the highest Adaptation Rating for Yukina at the time?"

"'Ephnel.'"

Efnir answered quickly.

Yukina had been selected as a proxy candidate precisely because she had been judged to possess an extremely high Adaptation Rating for "Ephnel." Efnir remembered it clearly.

"But my test results this time showed that 'Fifina' was the highest. 'Ephnel' was around seventeen percent lower by comparison."

"Hm?"

Seeing Efnir's incredulous expression, Nishizaki Yuki continued.

"You know that Adaptation Rating is a lifelong trait. It absolutely doesn't change easily."

Rather, Adaptation Rating was something innate, like genes. From the moment someone was born, it determined whether she had the potential to become a proxy.

Efnir hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

Of course, according to everything humanity knew so far, "Adaptation Rating does not change" was indeed true. But without a doubt, there was an exception here—Efnir herself.

Even though the gender on her identification was male, if there was anyone who had truly confirmed her male body, it would only be the nurse who delivered her and her biological parents. She could always find an excuse to fool anyone else.

Saori

"That's why I'm suspicious. Why did the organization leave 'Fifina,' which had the highest Adaptation Rating, unused and choose 'Ephnel' instead? Don't you find that strange? Of course, there could have been some sort of error involved. After all, I haven't had the chance to access that file, and now that the only copy has been stolen, it's even more impossible. What, are we supposed to wait until that Apostle you mentioned exposes it online?"

Nishizaki Yuki held a cigarette between her lips and gave a helpless smile, then her expression turned serious.

"But logically speaking, there's nothing wrong with Yukina's body right now. That's exactly the key point I wanted to make—Efnir, what we believe, what we detect, what we can see and touch, is not everything that 'exists here.' In this broken era, the mysteries humanity can uncover are merely the tip of the iceberg beneath this vast fog. Yukina's condition shocked me. She possesses unimaginable power. She may contain some unknown possibility. Our enemy has set its sights on her, and she became 'Fifina.' I don't think you believe that was a coincidence either."

Ding-dong—

The crisp chime echoed as Yukina appeared around the corner.

"Big sister, the elevator's here..."

Efnir and Nishizaki Yuki turned their gazes toward Yukina.

"I'll be right there."

"O-Okay..."

For some reason, Yukina avoided Efnir's gaze and immediately ducked back.

"Well then, I've said everything I needed to say. Efnir, if you don't mind, please bring Yukina here for a follow-up examination every day. And that file—if you can obtain any related information, I'd like to use it as a reference too."

"I understand. I'll have to leave Yukina's matters to you. Thank you for your trouble."

"No need to be polite. I wasn't much help this time, but I'll do everything I can."

"Oh, right. There's something else I need to tell you next time."

"What?"

"I'll tell you next time."

Efnir smiled, keeping her secret, then turned and left.

After Efnir left, Nishizaki Yuki returned to her office alone.

Remembering what Efnir had said before leaving, her furrowed brow relaxed.

"What could it be... Why so mysterious...?"

In Nishizaki Yuki's impression, Efnir was the straightforward, even old-fashioned sort. She rarely kept people in suspense, and she rarely wore that kind of smile.

It was the first time she had seen Efnir like that. It felt rather fresh.

Was it because of Yukina?

Nishizaki Yuki shook her head with a smile, stubbed out the cigarette in her hand, and tossed it into the ashtray.

There was probably no one else in the entire Xijing City United Hospital who kept an ashtray on her office desk.

She casually collapsed onto the sofa and took a deep breath.

The office was quiet. After letting her thoughts wander, Nishizaki Yuki turned her attention back to Yukina's examination report. The report was now with Efnir, but Nishizaki Yuki had a strong memory and still recalled much of its data.

Recalling that examination report, Nishizaki Yuki considered it for a moment, took out her phone, and began composing a message to Efnir.

But after typing a few words, she deleted the message again.

She sighed.

It was not as though she had no guesses about Yukina's condition.

But they were only guesses in the end. She had no conclusive evidence yet, and it was not appropriate to jump to conclusions under such circumstances.

She needed more data, more complete instruments, and more thorough experimental designs to support them.

Yukina's situation was unquestionably unusual. At this stage, there were still far too many things that could not be determined. Though she wanted to help Efnir, honestly, even she did not know where to begin.

The abnormal phenomena humanity could currently answer clearly did not amount to even one ten-thousandth of the reality humanity faced. Researching Yukina's condition based only on the established theories left by their predecessors had unsurprisingly hit a bottleneck. Simply put, it was absolutely difficult to determine Yukina's uniqueness and provide targeted answers using only existing instruments.

This was a question involving humanity's current understanding of the essence of Order Force and White Hole Erosion. Unless they brought out instruments millions of times more numerous and comprehensive than the ones here for detailed observation, then conducted research based on that, everything they currently claimed to observe might very well be wrong.

Just as Nishizaki Yuki had said, humanity at this stage could only be described as "knowing nothing" about White Hole Erosion and Order Force.

Humanity's research into Order Force and White Hole Erosion had never stopped, but it had never produced a reliable conclusion convincing enough to win broad acceptance. In fact, from the very beginning, humanity had been utterly defeated by Corruption. Human civilization had crumbled apart. Countless scientific detection methods had become useless before the power of White Hole Erosion. The cannons and rockets humanity had once been proud of could inflict only negligible damage on Erosion Entities. In the end, humanity's last lifeline had been the mysterious Ruins, not humanity itself.

If not for the extended application of Ruins Technology and the discovery of Order Force based upon it, humanity would have long since been completely devoured. Even all the instruments in this hospital were, in essence, merely some form of Ruins Technology application.

But the judgments one could make based on things learned through imitation were truly limited. Borrowed knowledge could never be fully understood.

Knock, knock—

At that moment, a sudden knock at the door interrupted Nishizaki Yuki's thoughts.

"Come in."

Nishizaki Yuki sat up from the sofa, and then the door was pushed open.

She saw the figure standing outside. It was Uzuki Saori, Lily, who had been coming to the hospital often lately to visit Shiina Rin.

Efnir came to the hospital almost every day to visit Shiyin and Rin, but as far as Nishizaki Yuki knew, Efnir and Saori seemed to have developed a rift due to their disagreement over Rin.

Saori wanted Efnir to help her revoke Shiina Rin's qualifications as a proxy.

But Efnir was unwilling to do that unilaterally in her personal capacity. Simply put, Shiina Rin herself did not agree.

Since then, Saori had deliberately avoided contact with Efnir. Even their visiting hours for Shiina Rin were staggered.

Of course, that matter was merely the trigger for everything. In the end, as long as Shiina Rin had not stopped fighting, danger would one day come again. That was extremely hard for Saori to accept, since she regarded Rin as more important than her own life.

Efnir had merely happened to stand at the outlet for the negative emotions Saori had accumulated over all this time.

In Nishizaki Yuki's view, Saori's mental state had already become somewhat unstable. That was why she had suggested to the organization that Saori not be assigned any combat missions for the time being.

As Shiina Rin's attending physician, Nishizaki Yuki had gained more time to spend with Saori, allowing her to use the opportunity to soothe Saori's emotions.

Unlike Efnir, Saori was only a middle school girl. Just as Efnir had said, these children in the most beautiful years of their lives should not have had to bear this.

But humanity had no other choice now.

Proxies were the only light, and that faint light was built upon the sacrifices of countless young girls. All Nishizaki Yuki could do was protect these girls as best she could, even if her help was insignificant.

That desire came from guilt.

"Saori?... It's you. What can I do for you?"

Nishizaki Yuki stood up, ushered Saori into the office, and smiled.

"Have a seat."

Uzuki Saori shook her head. Rather than sitting down, she took out a sheet of paper.

"I want Rin discharged. I need your help, Doctor. Please sign here."

"Discharged?"

Nishizaki Yuki looked surprised and glanced at the paper in Saori's hand. It was a discharge consent form. Signing it would mean approving Saori's application to discharge Rin.

"You know Rin's body hasn't recovered yet. She isn't fit to be discharged..."

Seeing Saori's dim expression, Nishizaki Yuki carefully asked,

"Did she ask to be discharged?"

Shiina Rin had exhausted her strength in battle and released Exile Form. She had been infected while under siege, causing the Corruption rate inside her body to once exceed sixty percent.

After several days of recuperation and treatment, the Corruption rate in Rin's body had fallen to a slightly safer level, but the situation was still far from optimistic. That was why Rin remained in an isolation ward even today, watched over by dedicated soldiers and nurses.

"No. I did."

"May I ask why?"

Nishizaki Yuki asked softly, but before her words had even finished, something hard pressed against her waist.

It was a pitch-black handgun.

Nishizaki Yuki froze for a moment, her gaze meeting the girl's cold eyes.

Saori spoke calmly.

"I don't want to answer. I only want you to sign."

Surprise

No one yet knew what had happened in Nishizaki Yuki's office.

Meanwhile, Efnir, Yukina, and Kanade Kotone had already arrived outside the hospital lobby...

"Wait here for a moment. I'll get the car and come back. Yukina, take care of Kanade, okay?"

Efnir said.

"Okay, big sister. Kanade and I will stay here."

"Mm. I'll be right back."

Efnir was currently playing Yukina's older sister rather than her older brother. If their parents called in front of Kanade Kotone, it would be troublesome. To keep her sisterly relationship with Yukina from being exposed before Kanade Kotone, Efnir had specifically asked Yukina and Kanade Kotone to wait outside the lobby while she went to retrieve the car from the underground parking garage.

She slowly started the car, took out her phone, and called her parents.

She needed to take the initiative with her parents first.

"Mom, are you and Dad still at the airport?"

Efnir lowered her voice. The soft, delicate tone disappeared, replaced by one with a rather neutral quality.

"Your father and I just got off the plane. What is it?" Her mother's tone shifted. "Eager to see us already?"

"Can't I be?" Efnir turned the steering wheel and glanced at the time. "I just picked Yukina up from school. I was thinking of coming with Yukina to pick you up and take you home later. Nobody's living at our old place anymore. We've moved to the West District, and I'm afraid you won't be able to find the way."

"Your father and I aren't so old that we can't use a map," her mother said, though her tone had become openly delighted. "By the way, is Yukina doing well? You haven't been bullying her while we were away, have you?"