71 – Interlude – The Birth of a Demon Lord

A short while after the cooking competition.

“You sons of b*tches!!!”

Suddenly, a string of curses exploded through the dorms in the dead of night.

The one spewing obscenities at us was none other than the provisioner magical girl.

What’s got this crazy b*tch in a twist now?

It’s time for sleep, for crying out loud.

“Who told them to make food like that!!!”

From what we could gather, it seemed the dishes we’d concocted during the cooking competition were the problem.

But, so what if they were?

We were eliminated, weren’t we? That should’ve been the end of it.

What kind of logical leap even leads to this?

Frankly, I’m not sure why she’d even bother coming all the way to the dorms just to raise hell.

This wasn’t just my own sentiment, it seemed. Everyone, myself included, just stared blankly at the provisioner, who was practically frothing at the mouth.

“Huh? You don’t know?”

The provisioner magical girl gave a lopsided smirk, one corner of her mouth twisted into a grotesque sneer.

“You don’t know what’s been happening in the Magical Cafeteria because of you? Huh?!”

We just nodded, deadpan.

Can’t answer if we don’t know anything, right?

Rakko went to the temple, and Sori and I followed Whitey to the chapel to eat. There’s no way we’d know anything about what’s going on in the cafeteria.

Ah, well, maybe Les knows something.

“Les, anything happen?”

“Well, it’s not as big of a deal as a hetero like you might think, but…”

Les quickly began to explain.

Recently, on “no leftovers” day, one of the grotesque dishes selected as the “Magical Pick” has been served regularly. And wouldn’t you know it, that dish just happens to be the food we made.

“Huh? We dropped out, though? How is it a Magical Pick?”

“Oh, is that right? I fainted, so I didn’t know. But apparently it got picked as the Magical Pick anyway?”

Here, due to the warning, magical girls below the rank of Lieutenant Colonel aren’t allowed to leave anything; they have to eat it all. Of course, skipping meals is forbidden, too.

Well, it said below Lieutenant Colonel, but practically every magical girl was a target. As far as I knew, there were only two magical girls above that rank.

“Did Destroyer eat well?”

“Me? I’m from peasant stock, so it doesn’t bother me. But it seems like others are having a hard time accepting it.”

A monstrosity of a meal, impossible to leave or skip.

It was inevitable that the magical girls’ resentment would gather.

And, the target for the arrows of resentment was the Quartermaster magical girl who recommended us.

“Something is amiss. Shouldn’t you all be confronting the inferior types who made the food? Of course, it’s absolutely not the fault of this one, is it.”

“It seems they see the Magical Recommender who recommended the magical girl who made the food as the root of the Magical evil.”

“Is that so? Everyone’s as base as abducted children, yet unexpectedly, their heads aren’t just Magical decorations in moments like these.”

Squid, while understanding, tilted her head.

It seemed she didn’t quite grasp the other magical girls’ motivations.

But, it’s not like it was something you couldn’t understand.

Rather, it could be seen as a natural consequence.

I felt this while working the volunteer shift.

A featured post getting ruined might be because of the person who posts hateful things, but the people who upvote are more of a problem.

Instead of reporting or blocking, they stubbornly upvote, forcing it onto the featured feed.

It’s the same in this case; the Recommender is the problem, isn’t it?

If they hadn’t recommended them, this wouldn’t have happened.

Besides, Squid, Whitey, and Clam are truly the worst of the worst, unlike me.

Haven’t I said it before? That just trying to talk to the utterly useless is wrong.

The magical girls probably already knew it, too. That arguing with them would only lead to more heartache without recouping any losses.

So, it was only natural that they would blame the Quartermaster magical girl, who was at least less useless.

No sooner had Lez finished explaining than the Quartermaster magical girl started throwing a tantrum.

“Because of you, I’ve been magically shunned by almost every magical girl! My magical girl life is ruined!!!”

Immediately, the Quartermaster magical girl glared fiercely at our faces, then snapped her gaze onto Squid.

“Aren’t you sorry? Aren’t you sorry at all!”

“Um, for the time being, I am sorry.”

Squid expressed her regret.

In an ambiguous tone, with a face that didn’t show a shred of apology.

Of course, the Cafeteria Magical Girl didn’t care. She relentlessly hammered on the part where the Octopus said it was sorry.

“If you’re sorry, shouldn’t you apologize?”

“Technically, that is correct, milady.”

“But why aren’t you apologizing, damn it!”

The Octopus, gazing directly at the Cafeteria Magical Girl, maintained a composed demeanor.

“It’s not a problem that can be solved with an apology, so why would I bother with one, milady?”

“You apologize first, that’s just how it is!”

The Cafeteria Magical Girl, for all her bluster, was the only one who wasn’t calm.

After venting her intense anger for a moment, the Cafeteria Magical Girl entered a lull.

“Because of you guys, we’re totally doomed…”

“Don’t worry. We can solve this.”

“How?”

The Cafeteria Magical Girl quickly shifted her gaze to Whitie. Her eyes sparkled with a sliver of hope.

“We name it ‘Magical Challenge,’ and then make it trendy on TikTok and Shorts and Reels.”

“You think that’ll actually work, you pea-brained idiot!”

Of course, the light in her eyes quickly dimmed.

It was her own fault for expecting anything from that one in the first place.

What was she thinking, expecting something from Whitie’s meager intellect?

Meanwhile, Whitie, wearing a profoundly wronged expression, quietly muttered.

“It’s possible in America…”

She gave the impression of a puppy having caused trouble and receiving a thorough scolding.

“Sister, wait a moment. I’ll handle this.”

In that instant, Sora pulled Whitie back.

Then, she approached the Cafeteria Magical Girl and bowed her head demurely.

“I am sorry.”

“Yes, that’s how you apologize. Why do you keep avoiding something that’s not even difficult?”

For the first time, receiving an actual apology, the Cafeteria Magical Girl nodded, her face slightly softening.

Perhaps she noticed that the Cafeteria Magical Girl’s expression hadn’t completely cleared, though. Sora offered another apology.

“I am truly sorry.”

An apology that was even more earnest than the last.

Whether Sora’s apology resonated more deeply than expected, the Mess Officer Magical Girl scratched her head with an awkward smile.

“No, well, it wasn’t *that* big of a deal…”

Thanks to her, the bleak atmosphere, which just moments ago felt like someone was about to be drowned, had become cozy.

“Actually, if we’re really nitpicking, I was also at fault for kicking you out without a second thought—”

“If you know that, try to be more careful next time.”

“No, this is entirely *your* fault!!!”

Well, it didn’t last long, anyway.

The Mess Officer Magical Girl, who had just screamed at Sora, glared at us again.

“Hey, are you all a bunch of kids?”

“No, of course we’re adults.”

“You? Where? In what world?”

The Mess Officer Magical Girl twisted her eyes into a grotesque shape, looking at me. As if daring me to say something.

Of course, I was confident.

Even in this otherworld, devoid of decent people, I could at least claim to be one.

I calmly opened my mouth.

“I, at least, apologize on the spot when I’ve done something wrong.”

If that’s not being an adult, then what is?

“But why haven’t you apologized to me yet?”

“Because I didn’t do anything wrong.”

You apologize when you’ve done something wrong.

How can I apologize when I haven’t done anything?

“What…?”

I shrugged my shoulders toward the Mess Officer Magical Girl, who stood there, dumbfounded.

“You’re the one who made the mistake, not me.”

Smirking, I said it.

Speaking with the self-evident tone of someone stating the obvious.

“If you just made decent kimchi, none of this would have happened.”

Of course, it’s not like I was wrong, since I was speaking common sense, but this felt like the only way to get through to her.

“Ah, you little shit, you son of a b*tch, is that so!!!”

Unfortunately, contrary to my expectations, this brain-dead woman didn’t understand. Well, what could you expect from someone with an intelligence level only slightly better than a white dog’s?

“Ah, jeez.”

Meanwhile, the mess hall magical girl, who’d been hopping from one foot to the other, had already lit a cigarette.

“Hey, you fuckers. I may look like this, but I’m a Magical Staff Sergeant.”

Then, lighting it, she glared at us.

“I’ve been a magical girl for years longer than you lot. I’ve eaten more magical seniority than you can even imagine.”

Before even taking a few drags, she flung the cigarette down.

“So where do you fucking magical greenhorns think you’re rubbing yourselves? Huh?!”

In that instant, Les’s eyes went wide.

“Rubbing?”

“Huh?”

That was the magical mess hall staff sergeant’s last words.

No, correction. The last words she spat out in a comprehensible language would be more accurate.

After that, only the sound of splashing water.

“──! ────!!!”

And the moans, like a beast howling, echoed for quite some time.

“Her career as a mahou shoujo is certainly different. Her magical squirt class is on another level.”

“Moo-yong, if you splash my magical bed with water again, I swear I’ll kill you for real.”

“Ah, goddammit! Even so, don’t shoot it in the direction of a girl’s magical bed!!!”

And so, the conflict between us and the mess hall magical girl that began in the cafeteria ended surprisingly easily.

We got off without any particular punishment, and the mess hall magical girl didn’t give us any more trouble.

It was a neat happy ending created by Les.

“Magical Mess Sergeant, you must be hungry? I’d like to offer you some magical bibim-noodles.”

“S-stop! I was wrong about everything! I won’t say anything anymore! And I already ate!”

“It’s okay. You’ll be eating with your lower mouth.”

“W-wait a !!!”

Well, if we were to be precise, it was a little closer to being sticky rather than neat.

Anyway.

That day, Les was not your average Les.

She was truly a devil of buh-bim. A Buh-bim demon.

No, correction.

To sing of Les’s achievements with simple “yuri-bait” felt…insufficient.

She was, the Magical Yuri-Overlord.

*

One morning, as I awoke from uneasy dreams, I found myself transformed in my bed into something quite unlike usual.

“Uh, what the fuck.”