Undercurrents

Magical Girl Association, Local City Branch. Conference room.

Seven cigarette butts had piled up in the ashtray.

The Branch Director stared at two photos projected on the screen, pressing his left hand to his temple and his right hand against his blood pressure medication.

On the left was an abandoned factory in the west of the city: half the building had collapsed, and a fan-shaped trench had been gouged eighty meters through the ground.

On the right was People's Park: the fountain plaza had been torn apart, and two stone sculptures had been broken into pieces.

"Old Wei." The Branch Director sounded exhausted. "Tell me honestly. When was the last time a Fallen Beast appeared in our city?"

"Four months ago." Old Wei flipped through the records. "Tier 1. A homeless man had an emotional breakdown after getting drunk. Knight dealt with it alone. It didn't even make the news."

After all, a Tier 1 Fallen Beast was only about as strong as a human at the limits of physical ability. Even a Firefly Rank Knight could handle one with ease.

"And before that?"

"More than six months ago. Also Tier 1."

"And now?" The Branch Director slapped his medication onto the table. "Two in four days! One suspected Tier 2, and one confirmed peak Tier 2! That's far too often! Does that sound like a city where even Knight has so little to do she can go on an exchange trip to a neighboring province?!"

"We're going to lose our livable city title! Think of something!"

Their city had little pressure from job competition, low and stable housing prices, and a pleasant environment.

Living conditions were so good that the Magical Girls previously stationed here had all been transferred away. Only Knight remained, and Magical Girl activities had been on hold for quite some time.

Had something suddenly happened to send the residents' stress levels through the roof?

No one in the conference room answered.

Lin Guo huddled in a corner, her eyes fixed on the documents in front of her.

"There's something else wrong." Old Wei brought up two waveform charts. "The Monitoring Department reviewed the emotional-field data from before both incidents. Look here. Normally, negative emotions build slowly before a Fallen Beast is born, like water coming to a boil. But these two times..."

He pointed to two nearly vertical spikes on the charts.

"They exploded all at once. Like someone tossed two lit matches into a calm pan of oil."

The Branch Director's pupils contracted.

"You mean... someone did this deliberately?"

"I can't be sure." Old Wei fell silent for a few seconds. "But if someone did, I can think of only one organization in the country capable of it."

He put two words on the screen.

Liberation Faction.

Lin Guo raised her hand and asked quietly, "Wei, what's that?"

Old Wei glanced at the Branch Director.

The Branch Director waved for him to continue.

"A... cult-like organization." Old Wei chose his words carefully. "Their position is that positive and negative emotions are both part of human nature. Love, hate, hope, despair—there's no right or wrong in letting them out."

"That almost sounds reasonable?"

"It does." Old Wei gave a cold laugh. "But do you know how they 'let them out'? They've developed a method to deliberately stir up and amplify ordinary people's negative emotions, forcing them past the threshold and creating Fallen Beasts."

Lin Guo sucked in a sharp breath.

"They say Fallen Beasts aren't disasters, but 'the fruit of the human soul.' That when Magical Girls purify Fallen Beasts, they're 'stifling human nature.' Over the years, several provinces have had incidents suspected to be their work. Fallen Beasts suddenly start appearing in a quiet city, everyone grows fearful, and their people mingle with the panicked crowds, spreading their twisted 'release your nature' doctrine and recruiting followers."

"Hyenas taking advantage of a crisis," the Branch Director concluded. "And they pick easy targets. Did you notice? The factory incident happened the day after Knight left for her exchange trip to the neighboring province."

The conference room seemed to grow several degrees colder.

"Does the Association have a procedure for this?"

Knight had spoken at last.

She had stood by the window since entering, holding her sword and listening in silence.

"Yes." The Branch Director took a breath. "The standard procedure issued by Headquarters: the Emotional Guidance Program. Lin, explain it."

"Huh? Me?" Lin Guo jolted and fumbled her documents open. "Um... according to Headquarters' Public Emotion Management White Paper, the most effective way to prevent Fallen Beasts is to reduce the concentration of negative emotions among residents at the source. The approach generally adopted elsewhere is... is..."

She read haltingly:

"Magical Girls hold concerts, meet-and-greets, charity events, and other activities, using their positive influence to lift residents' spirits and give them a sense of safety—that they're being protected. Statistics show that in urban districts where such events were held, the Fallen Beast emergence rate fell by an average of forty percent over the following three months..."

"Concerts?" Knight's brows drew together.

"Yes, concerts." The Branch Director nodded. "Magical Girls are the best 'emotional stabilizers' in the world. Just standing onstage sends a message: someone is protecting this city, and everyone can live without fear. That punk guitarist in the neighboring province held an outdoor concert last month. Over a million people watched online. Her provincial branch treats her like a treasure now."

"She was already the lead singer of a real band..." Knight rubbed her forehead. "But what about me? What am I supposed to do up there? Perform swordsmanship?"

"That would still be better than doing nothing. You're the only Magical Girl our city has to put forward."

"Couldn't we..." Knight asked tentatively. "Couldn't we invite someone else? That 'Pure Love Warrior,' for example? She's getting so much attention right now. If we could get her to come out—"

"Let's find her first!" The Branch Director's blood pressure shot up again. "A Dawn Rank Magical Girl, and she's vanished into thin air! Old Wei, what is your Field Operations Department doing?!"

"We're looking, we're looking..." Old Wei wiped away his sweat.

"Anyway—" The Branch Director brought his hand down on the table. "We'll get the concert approved first. Knight, you're our resident Magical Girl. We can't do this without you. What do you think?"

Everyone in the conference room looked at her.

Knight was silent for a while.

"Whatever you decide is fine."

That was all she said.

"The procedure is the procedure. I'll follow your arrangements. If you need me onstage, I'll go onstage."

With that, she turned toward the door.

"Huh?" The Branch Director stared. "Where are you going? The meeting isn't over."

Knight stopped in the doorway, her back to everyone.

"Sorry." Her voice dropped. "I have... something else to do today."

"Don't worry, I'm not sulking. That isn't how a knight should behave... Just let me know when you've made the arrangements."

Then Knight left the conference room.