*
"Was that... Okay?" (Lastia)
"Yeah, the world will take care of it." (Sariel)
Finishing off the Trace, they leisurely stood over the garden grounds. Their clothes fragmented into shards of light, revealing their uniforms underneath. A certain sentinel was watching over them from the roof of one of the nearby school buildings.
"... This distribution of labour is strange. Ultimately, nothing comes out of being a magical girl.
Most of those that get chosen to awaken were completely normal girls, ones that wouldn't find trouble being tied down. They would give up immortality to live normal life spans with their loved ones, and go back to society. Some give up their memories of this time too. " (Taneda Vila)
As such, wouldn't it be okay to entrust all of this Trace hunting to the S rank sentinel? Why go out of your way to awaken roughly 3 girls for every generation and disrupt their studies like this?
"... I'm getting too old to be reminiscing like this..." (Taneda Vila)
Of course, she was also one of the magical girls from the previous generation. One who sought more in being a magical girl than a normal peaceful life. Watching those 3 fight together reminded her of that, though their teamwork leaves a lot to be desired.
"The Queen's garden, her secrets, her legacy... I don't know how much time I have left." (Taneda Vila)
There's no guide, no hints. Like a lone seafarer, she blindly gets carried along by the waves of time. Whatever happens, happens. She must hope that when the destined time comes, she'll be able to change something. Noticing the event was over, she takes a quick leap towards the other side of the school building, facing outwards from the residential zone. A2 was not the only zone she was in charge off.
Speaking off, it was hard to observe. If an 'event' took place in a zone that you're not currently present in, you will be affected by the corrective forces and frozen in time with everyone else, magical girl or not. That was why the eye that pierced a crack in the sky was a heavenly king under the demon lord's direct command, it was able to overcome that corrective force that froze zones outside of one's immediate vicinity. It had to, or it couldn't manifest in this world.
Though that inadvertently allowed magical girls from many different zones to team up against it. If it simply appeared in a zone where no one was strong enough to face it, and the other zones couldn't interfere, that would have been the end of the human race, or at least for the locals.
If Taneda wasn't passing by, she wouldn't have noticed this scene of the three. Did she want to return to those days?
"... No, don't even think about it. We've done our due duties to completion, there isn't any more those 2 should do..." (Taneda)
The constant of having 3 members haunts her to this day. A spectre of times that have past. If possible, she wanted to protect their futures..
" Haa~ I still have to catch that Evaria. " (Taneda Vila)
***
"Do we have to head back to class?" (Lastia)
This Lastia was a little more excited than usual, experiencing the thrill of Trace hunting with her friends was something no other Lastia had done before. Recalling a little, every mention of Traces in her diary had her predecessor fight it alone or with someone from another zone. With a single exception, the living light armour, runner Trace, Filegn.
"Yeah, of course! Did you think we get some kind of free pass?
They're unaware, not demented..." (Sariel)
"Yeah, we have a little breathing room but if we're missing for more than half an hour, the corrective force exerted wouldn't be enough to excuse our disappearances." (Arin)
"I see, so it's just a simply cognitive blocking. Nothing to do with memories being erased or fabricated, just making them ignore us..." (Lastia)
As she spoke, they had already reached the edge of the garden. They at least had the leisure of walking their way there without transforming, if the Trace subjugation took place within school bounds. So their pace wasn't hurried, and they took the time to converse.
"It might be the most energy efficient solution..." (Sariel)
"So even the world needs to save energy?" (Lastia)
"Yeah, the world is operating on its own laws. The law of energy conservation is preserved.
Your ability, {Feed} deals with energy a lot, so it'd be beneficial if you knew a bit about the properties of energy." (Arin)
They've reached the foot of the building they were meant to enter. Naturally the different sections of elementary, junior and senior were split into different buildings. Much less having different curriculum, there were some beneficial psychological effects to limiting the age of those you interact with. With this in mind, they were segregated accordingly.
"Is that so...? I think I'm already strong enough... I could probably have defeated that Trace just now alone.
Working with both of you just ensured that we took minimal injuries." (Lastia)
"Is that not a good enough reason? We work together to minimise the danger that we face individually, and you learn more about your magic to get stronger, achieving the same effect." (Sariel)
She spoke with a tender smile, her voice growing quieter as she took a step to the front of the classroom door. Lastia couldn't help but feel nervous as Sariel twisted the knob and turned open the door, would the corrective forces really work? Or would it stop working for today? She hadn't seen it in effect before, unlike the others who had absolute faith in it. Her nerves were so jittery that she forgot about the prior conversation.
The door slips into the air inside, noiselessly revealing some of the students and the teacher inside. They were deep into the lesson, with a few students attempting to answer the question brought up by the teacher. They walked past her individually before heading for their respective seats.
*Shriek*
Lastia reflexively dragged the chair across the ground, her body convulsed for a moment as it let out a characteristic loud noise. She looked around in wariness, only to notice that nobody was watching. They sat down peacefully, not a single concern was raised about their return into the classroom. As if nothing had happened at all.
Lastia returned her gaze to the whiteboard, resuming her engagement with the lesson contents.