Chapter 1 – You're the one who's gonna be a magical girl!

Whеn I rеceived wоrd thаt my grandmоther was сritiсаllу ill, I tоld mу supervisоr just one thing bеfоre rushing оut оf thе оffiсe.

In thе pаst, my cоmраnу probаbly wоuldn’t have aррroved time off еvеn for a relative’s finаl mоments, but lately, cоmрliancе regulаtiоns hаvе gotten stricter.

It sеems I cаn submit thе еarly lеаvе apрlicatiоn later, oncе things hаve settlеd dоwn.

Thе paу is low and the bеnefits аrеn’t great, but at least thеy’vе bесomе more flехiblе in that regаrd—I’ll give thеm сrеdit fоr thаt.

Outsidе, it wаs рouring rаin.

I usеd the compact umbrella I carried with me to fend off the pounding rain.

I quickly hailed a taxi and got in.

The hospital where my grandmother was staying was in Tokyo.

She had originally been living alone in Yamanashi, but recently her health had declined, and for the convenience of family members who could care for her, she had been admitted to a hospital in Tokyo.

I arrived at the hospital.

Thankfully, the taxi accepted electronic payment.

After hastily paying the fare, I dashed into the hospital.

Too impatient to wait for the elevator, I took the stairs two at a time.

The floor where my grandmother’s room was located was eerily quiet.

Despite the lights being on, it felt dim.

“It feels like a Dungeon could spawn here.”

It’s common knowledge in the modern world that Dungeons form in places where human emotions accumulate.

Anti-Demon Crests were carved here and there on the hospital walls to prevent Dungeonization.

I walked through it all.

What a gloomy hallway.

I remember it being better before.

Maybe it’s because the sky outside is as dark as night, completely overcast.

No, that doesn’t seem to be it.

It felt like something invisible was crowding this hallway…

Watching me intently.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“Shogo!”

My father was already there.

My mother had left home when I was young, so our household had been just my father and me.

Now I was independent and living on my own.

My father was also living alone.

It had probably been a year since we last met.

He seemed to have aged.

“Grandma says she wants to talk to you.”

I turned my gaze to my grandmother.

Connected to various tubes, she looked as if she had no consciousness at all.

A nurse stood nearby, intently watching a machine—the kind you see in dramas—that continuously displayed my grandmother’s vital signs.

Could she really talk?

I had been a grandma’s boy.

Since my mother disappeared when I was young, I was practically raised by my grandmother in Yamanashi.

My grandmother used to tell me, “Grandma can use Magic.”

True to her word, she would whip up delicious meals in no time, or even though she shouldn’t have had a car, she’d take me to a faraway amusement park in an instant.

Looking back now, she was probably just skillfully using some convenient machine or tool.

To avoid shattering my childhood dreams, my grandmother had put on that act for me.

She was a wonderful grandmother.

That’s why seeing her in this critical condition hit me hard.

“Grandma, it’s me. Shogo. Grandma.”

When I took her hand, her now-tiny hand seemed to move ever so slightly.

Her eyes opened faintly.

I could barely hear her voice in my ear.

“Shogo… thank you for coming.”

Even though the volume was low, her enunciation was clear.

I was surprised.

Is this the kind of thing a dying elder says?

“Grandma’s done for. It’s old age. I couldn’t fend off their all-out attack. So Shogo, I’m leaving it to you.”

“Leaving what to me, Grandma?”

More than that, I had no idea what she was talking about.

All-out attack?

“Them”?

What is that?

It’s as if my grandmother had been fighting something in secret.

“Grandma is a Witch, you know.”

“I know that, Grandma.”

It was the kind lie my grandmother had told me when I was little.

To keep a motherless child from feeling lonely, she had filled my everyday life with joy—the greatest story my grandmother ever gave me.

“Shogo, you have thick Witch’s Blood running through you.”

“Yeah, sure, Grandma.”

My grandmother’s voice grew weaker.

The waveform on the machine showing her vital signs gradually became erratic.

My father panicked, and the nurse called for a doctor.

“That’s why you’re the next Witch, Shogo.”

“Huh!?”

The conversation took a turn…

Huh?

She wasn’t saying this in some delirious, dreamlike way, was she?

My grandmother’s body was clearly fading.

But her words were clear.

“A Witch’s Magic can only be used by women.”

“Then I can’t do it. I’m a man.”

“That’s why you’ll transform into a Magical Girl and use Magic.”

“Huh!?”

For a moment, my thoughts came to a complete halt.

What is this grandmother of mine saying?

Is she trying to comfort me with one last kind lie?

No, no, this isn’t kind at all.

More importantly, Grandma, you knew about the concept of Magical Girls!?

“Everything is prepared in the basement of Grandma’s house. Grandma is going to die now. So from here on out, I’m leaving everything to the final Great Grimoire hidden in the basement, Flota the Floating.”

“O-okay.”

This is probably her last will.

It would be tasteless to question or poke holes in it now.

I did my best to listen to my grandmother’s incomprehensible words.

“Will you take over for Grandma and retrieve the Six Great Grimoires that they stole, along with the Scattered Pages lost throughout the world, Shogo?”

I could tell I was about to be dragged into something unbelievably huge.

But…

It would be unthinkable to question my beloved grandmother’s dying wish.

I nodded.

“Leave it to me, Grandma. I’ll take care of everything.”

Then, a smile appeared on my grandmother’s face, which until that moment had looked like withered wood on the verge of death.

“Good. Shogo… you’re such a good boy…”

Those were her final words.

The waveform flattened, and my grandmother passed away.

My father wept.

I, too, felt a profound sense of loss.

And at the same time…

Somehow, a completely new life had begun for me.

…Should I go check out Grandma’s house…!?