Do You Want Power?

One in the morning.

The bedroom.

"Whew..."

Molly lowered her sword and let out a long breath.

Sweat slid down her jaw and dripped onto the floor, leaving a small dark patch.

She wiped her forehead. Her skin burned beneath her fingertips, and every muscle in her body ached faintly...

It was a normal response to intense training, but it also made her feel vividly alive.

As she practiced, she had deliberately sped up her swings.

She had put everything into each slash and thrust. On the panel, her Basic Swordsmanship proficiency rose slowly but steadily.

[Basic Swordsmanship: Tier 3, 4002/10000]

[Warrior's Breathing Technique: Tier 2, 2523/10000]

[Holy Judgment: Tier 1, 300/10000]

"Three more days of grinding, and Basic Swordsmanship will reach Tier 4."

Molly smiled with satisfaction, put away the Broken Sword, whose blade now had several notches, and headed for the bathroom.

The bathroom.

Hot water poured over her, washing away the sweat and exhaustion.

Warm water flowed over her shoulders and down her back. Her taut muscles gradually relaxed.

Molly closed her eyes, but she was still replaying tonight's fight with the Tentacle Fiend.

The tentacles' weak points, the Defectors' strange deaths, and the sparkle in Moyan's eyes when she looked at Pale...

She turned each of them over in her mind. At last, her thoughts drifted to her parents.

If her parents were still alive, would they be surprised to see her now, or proud?

Molly shook her head and pushed down the sadness.

Now wasn't the time for that.

She had to grow stronger. Strong enough to protect Moyan. Strong enough to hunt down every Monster Demon hiding in the shadows.

After her shower, she changed into clean cotton pajamas and left the bathroom with her dirty clothes in her arms. She went to the washing machine.

She lifted the lid and reached in to drop the clothes inside—

Then she froze.

Something was wrong!

Molly frowned and thought back.

She had tossed her dirty clothes into the washing machine earlier, including a pair of cotton underwear she often wore.

But now...

The underwear was gone!

"...That's weird. Where's my underwear?"

Molly straightened and looked around.

Several pieces of her and Moyan's clothing hung on the balcony rack, swaying in the night breeze.

Where had her underwear gone?

She crouched and searched through every piece of clothing in the machine. She checked the gap beside it, even the balcony trash can, but found nothing.

"Did I remember wrong?"

Molly muttered to herself, her frown deepening.

But her memory had always been good. She couldn't have misremembered something like this.

Could a Monster Demon be behind it again?

She dismissed the thought as soon as it came.

It was an ordinary pair of underwear, with no value or special significance. Why would a Monster Demon go to the trouble of stealing it?

Besides, the doors and windows were securely locked. If a Monster Demon or a thief had broken in, they couldn't have left without a trace.

However she looked at it, she had no answer.

Molly checked her phone. It was already half past one.

The night was dark as ink. In the bedroom next door, Moyan's breathing was slow and even. She seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Molly hesitated, then decided not to disturb her younger sister.

"Forget it. I'll ask her tomorrow."

Maybe the girl had accidentally put it in her own wardrobe while collecting the laundry.

Molly put the dirty clothes into the washing machine and returned to her bedroom.

Between the fighting and training these past few days, she was exhausted.

She dried her hair and lay down. Sleep washed over her like a tide; her eyelids grew too heavy to lift, and she soon sank into slumber.

In Moyan's bedroom, though, it was a different story.

The curtains were drawn tight, shutting out every sliver of light. The room was pitch-black.

But the figure on the bed suddenly opened her eyes.

In the darkness, those eyes shone with a startling brightness, full of panic and embarrassment.

Moyan lay rigid on the bed, not daring to move. She strained to hear what was happening next door.

Only when all sound from her sister's bedroom had ceased did she quietly breathe a sigh of relief. Her tense body slowly relaxed.

She touched her burning cheek. A faint trace of her sister's scent still lingered on her fingertips.

She hadn't been asleep at all.

Ever since her sister had gone into the bathroom, she had been listening intently to every sound outside.

She had heard the water stop, her sister's footsteps heading to the balcony, the washing machine lid opening...

After returning to her bedroom, she had clutched her pillow tight, as if it were a priceless treasure.

She knew what she had done was wrong.

But she couldn't stop herself.

Since their parents died, her sister had been her whole world.

Her sister cooked for her and took care of her. Whenever she fell ill, her sister stayed by her bedside all night...

And today, she had seen a magical girl who looked somewhat like her sister wield the Broken Sword, cut apart those disgusting tentacles, and save her—save everyone.

She envied the magical girl called Pale. She envied her power.

Moyan wanted to be strong too.

She wanted the power to protect her sister!

The desire grew wildly in Moyan's heart, like a vine starved of sunlight winding around it until she could barely breathe.

Moyan rolled over and curled up. Her hand slipped beneath her pillow, and when her fingertips touched the soft fabric there, her panic eased a little.

She closed her eyes. All she could see was what had happened in the sewer that day.

A white dress billowing in the wind, the sharp whistle of the Broken Sword cutting through the air, and her sister's... no, Lady Pale's firm yet gentle eyes as she looked at her.

If only... if only I could become a magical girl too.

Moyan held the wish silently in her heart.

The moment the thought formed, a cold, mocking voice rang out in her mind.

[Do you want power? Do you want to understand the true meaning of life?]

"!!!"

Moyan jolted.