Pale had returned to her daily life.
As the only "ordinary person unable to transform" in the magical girl base, Pale's pressure was really quite significant.
After rummaging through her magical space for a long time, she finally found a scarf that a certain former friend had knitted for her.
At the time, that person had laughingly told her this was something she'd spent several months completing.
Pale still remembered what she had said:
"Here! It's for you!"
"I knitted it for several months! But it failed! It's so ugly! There's nowhere to throw it away, so you get the bargain!"
At the time, Pale had felt confused about it.
As a magical girl facing mere cold, she didn't need something like a scarf at all.
But seeing her friend's expression of "if you don't accept it, I'll use magic to beat you up," Pale had reluctantly accepted it.
Though after accepting it, she was still called an idiot...
Simply unreasonable.
The scarf was a warm ginger-yellow color, made from soft but not particularly expensive wool. The knitting technique could hardly be called skilled—some places were tight, some loose, and you could even see several dropped stitches or places where knots had been tied to fix mistakes.
Unfortunately, many things happened afterward.
That friend was no longer there...
Pale held this soft yet somewhat clumsy scarf, the texture from her fingertips unusually warm. She was silent for a while, then gently wrapped the scarf around her neck.
The warm ginger-yellow wool perfectly concealed the cold collar around her neck.
Now no one would suspect her temporarily.
For Pale, this kind of peaceful life was happiness.
It represented that these children could live brief, tranquil lives.
"Hey! Sister Pale! What are we eating tonight~"
Hoshino Yume's energetic voice came from the cafeteria entrance, her pink twin tails swaying with her jumps. Behind her followed several team members who had just finished basic training, each with the flush of post-exercise on their faces.
Mm.
Indeed, when these little ones weren't opposing her, they were quite cute.
"Tonight~ the supplies seem to include beef cans," Pale hadn't finished speaking when several girls' eyes lit up, and they began bouncing around Pale.
"Beef! Is it beef!"
"Sister Pale is the best!"
"Make it into stew! Hot and warm!"
Just as the cafeteria was filled with cheerful atmosphere from this small surprise, a cool figure appeared at the entrance.
It was Suzune.
She seemed to have just finished a meeting, still carrying a trace of undiminished solemnity on her face. But when she saw this noisy yet vibrant scene in the cafeteria, the coldness in her ice-blue eyes seemed to melt slightly.
The girls saw her and immediately restrained themselves somewhat, but still excitedly greeted her: "Senior Suzune!"
Suzune nodded slightly, but her gaze passed over them to fall on Pale, who was surrounded in the middle.
She walked over slowly, the girls instinctively making way.
"Is Senior Suzune hungry too? Sister Pale said there are beef cans tonight!" Hoshino Yume said with a grin.
Suzune didn't answer the question about dinner. She just looked at Pale, her gaze lingering for a moment on the somewhat incongruous ginger-yellow scarf around her neck, then slightly shifting away.
Suzune's gaze made Pale feel uneasy, momentarily thinking this little one had discovered something.
When they used to live together, this one's intuition was deadly sharp.
Just as Pale was about to lose her composure, Suzune suddenly spoke, her voice still carrying that characteristic coolness, but seeming somewhat slower than usual:
"Pale. Recently... there have been many rumors in the base. They might be somewhat noisy and ask irrelevant questions."
She said this while meaningfully glancing at Hoshino Yume and others who were listening with perked ears, making them shrink their necks.
"...Sorry for the trouble."
"Ah, it's fine, it's fine," Pale waved her hands repeatedly.
After Suzune nodded, she said to Hoshino Yume and the others:
"The new batch of magic stones produced by the base recently," her words made all the girls, including Pale, immediately perk up their ears.
"They're stored in Warehouse No. 3. Anyone who needs them can register and collect them from the logistics department."
There were two sources of magic stones.
One type was naturally formed magic stones. They generally appeared in places with high concentrations of magical creatures or witches, where magic power nourished ordinary minerals, imbuing them with magical power.
The other type was artificially manufactured magic stones.
A magical girl's magic power would automatically recover with rest, so organized magical girls would collectively inject their magic power into specific minerals, like gemstones such as agate or jade, forming artificial magic stones.
What perfect timing—she was sleepy and someone brought a pillow.
The collar around Pale's neck seemed to sense something, transmitting a subtle yet clear licking sensation.
Pale was too lazy to deal with this collar anymore.
After all, she had no magic power at all—a dead pig wasn't afraid of boiling water.
Though it always felt ticklish, she'd gotten used to it over time.
High-purity magic stones, whether natural or artificial, were irresistible temptation for Pale's currently depleted state.
But she immediately forcibly suppressed this tremor, not daring to show any abnormality on her face.
Pale was a senior veteran—she wouldn't lose composure over craving magic stones.
"Sister Pale... your drool is about to drip onto your scarf."
"Eh heh?"
Pale's cheeks instantly flushed red. She frantically raised her arm, wiping her mouth haphazardly with her sleeve while using her other hand to quickly pull up her scarf, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Ahaha, beef cans really do make one want to drool."
Damn it, her toes were about to dig out a three-bedroom apartment on the floor.
The other team members saw Pale's flustered appearance and couldn't help but giggle, making the cafeteria atmosphere relaxed again.
"Mm... there's one more thing..."
Suzune's gaze swept over Pale as she added:
"Recently, in the western district of the city, there seem to be signs of new witch activity."
"Western district?" Hoshino Yume frowned. "Isn't that area old residential districts and some abandoned toy factories?"
"Yes." Suzune nodded, her voice steady yet carrying a barely perceptible chill. "According to limited information sent back by front-line scouts, this newly appeared witch... its form and behavior patterns are quite abnormal. It seems to have a high correlation with dolls."
"Dolls?" A team member unconsciously repeated, showing some confusion on her face.
"Tentatively named... 'Doll Witch. It doesn't directly cause physical destruction, but its influence is more... eerie."
She paused slightly, her ice-blue eyes sweeping over everyone listening.
"It seems capable of affecting human minds through some unknown method, particularly those with obsessions toward dolls or childhood objects. We've received several reports where victims all showed abnormal obsession with specific old dolls, carrying them day and night, accompanied by memory confusion, mental exhaustion, and gradual life force drain. The dolls themselves also undergo changes, becoming more... 'lively,' even showing signs of autonomous movement."
"Its main body's whereabouts are uncertain, seeming to prefer appearing in abandoned toy stores, old residential buildings, or locations with large numbers of discarded dolls." Suzune continued. "Threat level tentatively set as 'High,' due to its difficult-to-prevent attack methods that directly target mind and life essence."
Dolls... witch...
Pale did know of a magical girl who liked dolls...
She was a freelance magical girl.
It couldn't be such a coincidence...