Masked Heroine

"Miss Ben Xiangmeng."

"There are some things about what happened seven years ago... that I'd like to ask you about. In detail."

Ben Xiangmeng clenched her fists.

The files linking Magical Girls to their civilian identities were the Association's highest-level secrets.

The people in the Branch authorized to read them could be counted on one hand.

Yet the person before her had spoken her real name as casually as anything.

Shock.

Disbelief.

But those feelings lasted only an instant before she forced them down.

"...Ha."

Ben Xiangmeng suddenly laughed.

"If you've even managed to find out my name—"

"Transform!"

Light flashed.

A black cape snapped in the wind sweeping through the cemetery. Beneath a silver mask covering half her face, the girl's gaze was sharp as a blade.

Magical Girl Masked Heroine had arrived.

Dressed in black and clearly up to no good, these people were obviously trouble.

But when their leader saw Masked Heroine transform, he showed no sign of nerves. Instead, he gave a low chuckle.

"Heh, heh..."

"Just as I thought."

Masked Heroine frowned. "What are you laughing at?"

"At how pitiful you are."

The man in black took off his sunglasses and polished them unhurriedly, speaking as though they were making small talk.

"We looked into you. Ben Xiangmeng, an exchange student from a vassal state, a survivor of the disaster seven years ago—and then you awakened at the funeral, right in front of everyone."

"What a touching story."

"Such a shame..."

He put his sunglasses back on and tilted his head.

"The supposed heir to their legacy of hope and protection is nothing but a little girl playing hero."

"Wearing a dead person's mask, imitating the dead, striking poses from a superhero show—"

"You've been acting for seven years. Have you started believing the