"Okay, you two, I've learned a bit about each of your magic, but I don't believe either of you has any real combat experience," Lenore speaks to us while still keeping an eye on the situation below.
"So our formation will be as follows, based on the information we have. I will go in first for direct combat with the enemy."
"Setsuna, who has a medium-range weapon, will fight a little distance away, providing tactical support. I trust that even without experience, being a magical girl has automatically given you the necessary knowledge to use a weapon."
"Just be careful not to hit anyone with the shots, and Ayane, who has barrier magic and a healing branch, should fight from a distance, providing support with the barriers."
"You wrote that you still don't know how to use healing, so I recommend training that as soon as possible. Healing abilities are extremely rare and will guarantee you a spot on any team," Lenore tells Ayane, which makes me feel uncomfortable.
'So talent is the most important...' It seems these magical girls are not as fair as they appear, since Ayane's healing ability can give her a position on various teams.
"I-I'll train hard and learn," Ayane says excitedly, without realizing how her healing ability gives her an advantage compared to others, while my attack ability doesn't seem to impress Lenore much.
"Okay, I sense movement coming from inside. It seems they've arrived. Be ready, there may be more than one monster. We must enter silently... And can you sense anything?" Ayane shakes her head, as if she's bothered.
'...' I don't notice anything special. I don't have the magical girls' advantage of being able to detect monsters like a radar.
"I-Isn't this dangerous for us, since we're newbies?" Ayane speaks, and from the seriousness, it must be a powerful monster.
"Perhaps... I'd say it's a colossal-class monster, but according to our records, it should be weaker..." I hear Lenore mutter the last part.
"L-Lenore, I know you're the veteran, but shouldn't we retreat and call other veterans?" Ayane speaks, a little disturbed, and Lenore's expression doesn't help she also seems worried.
"I think... you're right... It's just a training, there's no need to put you two against a colossal-class monster when you don't even have experience," Lenore speaks, and it seems we've decided to retreat.
Not being able to sense that is a minor flaw, but I don't think it matters much, and there's no need to take risks here.
"But there's a small problem in retreating now... First, all the other teams are occupied. Second, this monster has already made many kidnappings, and there may be people there who need help."
"And third, even though it's a colossal-class monster, I still think it's possible to defeat it if no extras show up, as long as both of you remain calm and fight according to the plan."
"Know that if we retreat now, lives may be lost forever. Are you willing to retreat now?" Lenore speaks about lives and risks, but her gaze doesn't show she cares about that.
She's literally just saying, if we run now and people die, the fault will be yours for being weak and cowardly in a moment of need, and of course, Ayane, who is a very good person, becomes undecided instantly.
'In the end, Ayane will say we should save those people, but if everything fails, the blame will fall on her...'
"I think we should move forward," I say, taking the lead on this matter. If everything goes wrong, I'll abandon Lenore and flee with Ayane alone. This will ruin my reputation, but I don't care.
I can take all the blame in the world if it's for Ayane's sake, so it's fine if I'm blamed for us having problems, and in case it really doesn't work out, I can go back in time.
"Okay then, I believe we're all in favor?" When Lenore asks, Ayane nods.
"Y-Yes, we should save the people who may be there," Ayane says, while Lenore nods in approval and starts walking. The two of us follow her, being as quiet as possible.
Lenore guides us through the buildings with care as we invade the abandoned construction, moving cautiously to avoid making any noise as we enter the depths of the building.
On the first floor, there's nothing, and I honestly don't feel any difference, but Ayane seems tense, so I deduce that something is not quite as I imagine, while Lenore leads us to a descent, going to a lower floor in the building.
And as soon as we descend the stairs, I smell blood, a scent that irritates the nose as soon as it's sensed.
The three of us hide behind the support beams and see the sight a strange monster with a form like twisted flesh that looks humanoid, but is so deformed and awkward that it's ridiculous.
It has twisted arms and legs in a way that's disgusting, while blood drips from it, but it's not its own blood, but the blood of a dead girl with her stomach open.
The monster seems to be draining the blood and removing the organs, a process similar to what a butcher does with pigs before selling them.
'This... is strange.' These are my words for this scene, without disgust, without fear, just purely strange and meaningless. It's uncomfortable, but not disgusting or frightening.
Just uncomfortable, meaningless, an act that I judge as strange because it doesn't fit the values I follow based on my sister.
I look at Ayane, who seems to be feeling sick, her hand covering her mouth as if she's about to vomit, but she avoids making any sound. Lenore, on the other hand, just looks, analyzing the situation as if she's already used to it and it's just a routine.
I also decide to look around. There are several dead girls, their bodies cut and separated into parts, which I judge to be for selling. There are also two live girls crying in the corner, looking horrified while trapped by a strange mass of flesh that acts like a rope.
Looking at the monster, I can judge its strength to some extent. It's strange, but it only seems strong, but not a big deal for my maximum. In other words, I'd say a shot from my sniper would kill it, but with the pistol it would be difficult, and with the knife I would lose for sure.
"Ayane, save the two girls, and Setsuna, come with me," Lenore whispers extremely softly, just for us to hear, while moving her fingers. The monster hasn't noticed us, so we have the element of surprise.
Ayane moves stealthily between the building's support beams, being careful with the sound, and approaches the kidnapped girls, while Lenore and I go to the opposite side.
But Ayane, as a complete novice, stumbles on a severed arm, falling to the ground.
'Stupid Lenore' I can only blame Lenore. She saw that Ayane was scared and shaken, and yet she made her go stealthily near the kidnapped girls.
The sound catches the monster's attention, and it stops what it was doing. If I could use my sniper, I would kill the monster with one shot. I had the perfect angle, but I needed to hide my stronger weapon as my trump card.
Lenore doesn't do anything. She just observes silently as the monster slowly walks towards the noise. Ayane, out of reflex or perhaps fear, freezes in place.
I look at Lenore, who simply doesn't do anything. My body becomes anxious, restless, rage arises. Bad feelings swirl in my head, a whirlwind of bad emotions that fill me with anger.
Partly, these are the feelings of suffering that I received from Ayane before going back in time, a feeling that turns my stomach, a disgust that is indescribable.
A repugnant sensation covered in hatred that threatens to consume me, something I've never felt or could feel on my own, but that I can feel thanks to Ayane. And before I realize it, I've cut the distance between myself and the monster, super-fast.
100% silent steps, as if I'd done this a million times, like a reflex of the feelings I felt. These are the feelings of disgust, anger, and sadness that Ayane felt in her life before I went back in time.
The monster, which doesn't even notice my presence, barely has time to dodge as it hears the extremely close gunshot. It dodged by just a little, receiving a cut on the face from the shot, while retreating a bit.
Regardless of the silent approach or the strength used in the shot, the fact is that I still don't have that much power. I need to do evil deeds to gain more power, but I avoid doing evil deeds so as not to become the hateful being that my sister would fear.
Irritatingly, I admit, the demon was right. I'm afraid of being bad. I fear that my sister will hate me when she sees the monster I'm becoming just to save her, because I know my sister would rather suffer than have someone doing evil deeds just to keep her safe.
I dodge a blow from the monster by just a little, firing a few more shots that it dodges, but the environment, which in no way favors me, ends up making me stumble when I take a step back due to a severed arm.
And I'm saved from receiving a blow by Lenore, who appears in front of me, using her power and stopping the monster's blow in the air.
"Not bad, novice, but you lacked the foresight to predict what the monster would do or how it would react. If you had approached closer, your weapon would have killed a colossal-class monster with one blow."
"You should put the anger aside," Lenore says while using her Telekinesis to twist the monster's arm to the opposite side, making it let out a shrill scream. I get up, dirty from the blood on the floor, and run to Ayane. I need to see how she is and if she hasn't been hurt, while Lenore takes care of the monster.