It was a sleepless night for the girls.
Red Ponytail told them everything without any concealment, including the operation of the Soul Gem, the separation of body and soul, and that magical girls would become witches. She also told the others that she was a messenger of the God of Magical Girls from another world. In that world, all magical girls had been saved, the QB clan had been extinct, and a new life had begun.
After hearing this, the girls were stunned.
"What you said... is true?"
"That's right."
In response to Tsuruno's incredulous inquiry, Red Ponytail nodded and then glanced at Yachiyo.
"You seem to have known this for a long time?"
"...I once witnessed my friend transform into a witch."
Having said this, Yachiyo lowered her head.
"In fact, the same is true for Midori, so I can understand her feelings. She longs to escape this fate, but I... haven't found the direction yet."
"Hey? Wait, according to what you said, Red, wasn't the magical girl already saved?"
Felicia suddenly started shouting, and the red ponytail nodded.
"Yes, according to reason, after the Lord exterminated the QB clan, all the magical girls in the world should have re-contracted with the Lord and freed themselves from their twisted fate. But there was no response from the city of Kamihama, so as the Lord's messenger, I came here to investigate. I didn't expect that this city would be enveloped by a completely different force, causing the connection between my Lord and me to be severed, so..."
Red Ponytail spread her hands, and then Xiaohuan suddenly realized.
"So that's why you became like that, Xiao Hong! Is it related to Rumor?"
"That's right."
Red Ponytail nodded.
"After you eliminated a few rumors, my Lord and I finally recovered some of our strength. That's why I can now sit here and talk to you..."
"Now that you mention it... it's been a long time since we've seen QB in Kamihama City..."
Yachiyo also frowned now.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t even notice it, but QB disappeared without me noticing. Yakumo was in charge of collecting the seeds of sorrow, so we didn’t really care about it…”
"So if I sign a contract with you, Xiaohong, I won't have to turn into a witch?"
Tsuruno clenched his fists at this moment and stared at Red Ponytail, who nodded.
"Of course, but I must point out that the magical girl after the contract will be a little different from what you are now."
"different?"
"That's right. First of all, after the contract is signed, your souls will return to your bodies. The advantage of this is that your souls will no longer accumulate filth like before, but will be excreted from the body similar to metabolism. The cost is that your magic power cannot be restored as quickly as before. You see, now you use the Seed of Sorrow and your health and mana are full in one second, right? But after the contract is signed again, your magic power will be like your physical strength, and it will take a long time to recover."
"But this way I won't have to turn into a witch!"
"That's right. Because the impurities can be purified and eliminated by the body, they won't accumulate like before, so you won't turn into a witch."
As she spoke, the girl with red ponytail smiled and looked at the green-haired girl who was sitting on the other side of the sofa. At this moment, the girl was curled up on the sofa like a squirrel. Noticing the red ponytail's gaze, the green-haired girl felt a little uneasy - this girl was none other than the victim who was rescued from the "end of being alone" by Xiaohuan before. However, to everyone's surprise, this girl was also a magical girl.
"Or just learn from her and stay at home, and then there will be no problem."
The green-haired girl - Futaba Sana is an introverted girl with a weak sense of presence. She is not valued by her parents at home and ignored by her classmates at school. Because of this, Futaba Sana, who can't stand this kind of life, chooses to make a wish to QB to make her a transparent person.
Well, it’s a good thing that the one who made the wish was a girl. If it was a boy, the following style of the painting would immediately follow the plot of the book.
After becoming a magical girl, Futaba Sana heard the rumor of "the end of being alone", and immediately came here to replace the previous person who was locked up. However, this place that seems like hell to others is simply heaven to Futaba Sana. She is a magical girl and can survive without eating or drinking water. Moreover, she is alone here, and the artificial intelligence accompanies her, so Futaba Sana is so happy that she doesn't want to leave.
As a result, Futaba Sana's performance made the artificial intelligence worried. It was afraid that Futaba Sana would really spend her whole life here with it, so it contacted Xiaohuan, hoping that they would come to destroy it.
The kidnappers who took her hostage all wanted to send her home, which was a rare achievement from a certain perspective.
"but……"
After hearing this, Yachiyo had another question.
"According to what you said, QB did this for the continuation of the entire universe. So, if you do this, doesn't it mean that you can't restore the universe?"
"Oh, whatever."
"Tube……"
Hearing Red Ponytail say this calmly, everyone was stunned for a moment.
"Is this really okay?"
"Of course, according to my Lord's observations, the universe of this world will basically not change in the foreseeable future. Of course, all things will eventually perish, but for now, the universe of this world will not have any problems in the next 50,000 years."
"Fifty thousand years?"
"That's right. After 50,000 years, it's doubtful whether humans will still exist. So we certainly don't need to consider QB's nonsense. Maybe 50,000 years is a short time for them, but for us... Besides, let alone 50,000 years, even 500 years is a long enough time for ordinary humans."
"Oh... that's true..."
Hearing what Red Ponytail said, the girls were speechless.
"So can we make another contract now? Can we, Xiao Hong?"
At this moment, Tsuruno couldn't wait any longer. In fact, not only her, but even Felicia was also impatient at this time. This was also normal. After all, Red Ponytail had carefully analyzed the transformation principle and function of the magical girl itself. The thought that they would become witches if they continued to fight was a huge blow to the two of them.
"Of course, but..."
Having said that, Red Ponytail frowned and looked at everyone.
"There's a small problem."
"……question?"
"That's right. The re-contracting process is that we have to sign the magical girl contract again, do you understand? It's like QB is your employer, and your employer went bankrupt. Now we take over the company, and all employees have to sign a new contract. And in this process, you need to go through a test."
"What kind of test?"
"The dream you most desire."
The girl with red ponytail stared at everyone and spoke word by word.
"To put it simply, you will have a dream, and everything in the dream is what you want most - there is no way to change this, because you originally became a magical girl because of a wish, so this process cannot be reversed. Of course, maybe you regret it now, or maybe you think your wish does not meet the standard, but in the dream, you will realize all the wishes you originally hoped for - you must recognize for yourself whether this is your wish, only in this way can you wake up and regain your strength."
"What else?"
Yachiyo stared at the red ponytail, her voice trembling slightly, and the red ponytail closed her eyes and sighed.
"If you can't come out of the dream, then you will be immersed in the dream and die peacefully."
“…”
Hearing this, the girls all gasped, and even Felicia's expression became serious at this moment.
"As a reference, I can tell you that in the re-contract plan between our Lord and that world, 3,812 magical girls chose eternal sleep, accounting for about 3% of the total number of magical girls. Their souls are now enjoying a peaceful sleep in our Lord's kingdom."
“Are there so many?!”
Tsuruno shuddered, and Yachiyo lowered her head.
"I think I can understand their thoughts. Many children are imprisoned by the identity of magical girls. They also hope to abandon this cruel trap and enjoy the beautiful dream of eternal peace and tranquility - even if it is just a dream."
"That's it."
Red Ponytail snapped her fingers.
"By the way, if you are an ordinary person, your life will not be in danger if you fail the test, you just won't become a magical girl. But the magical girl who has been contracted has fulfilled her wish after all, so we can only follow this process - so you have to make a decision. I want to remind you that dreams are very real. For the person concerned, dreams are reality. Many of you may not be able to let go at all."
Having said that, Red Ponytail looked at Xiaohuan again.
"For example, Xiao Huan, if you make a new contract, you might end up dreaming about you and your sister living happily together. To you, that would be reality. You might forget that you are a magical girl, that this is just a dream, and live happily with your sister in the dream..."
“…”
"I'll give you a day to think about it."
Red Ponytail yawned, stood up and stretched.
"It won't be too late for you to tell me the answer tomorrow. Any miracle has a price, especially the transformation of magical girls like you. Naturally, there are risks. What exactly you plan to do... you decide for yourself."
After saying this, Red Ponytail went back to her room yawning, leaving the girls sitting in the living room, looking at each other in silence.
"I have decided to re-contract."
Yachiyo was the first to stand up.
"I want to show Midori that you don't have to sacrifice others to be liberated."