"..." I'm in the city, in some neighborhood I don't know, but just being in a city with people walking the streets shows it worked, after all, before everything was in ruins.
"What a devilish smile, Setsuna." The black cat speaks to me, I can only find it slightly uncomfortable, I swore I wouldn't have to see this malicious being again, but unfortunately, it seems to have come with me.
"Don't talk to me, I won't answer." Only I can hear this cat, so if people see me talking to a "common" animal, they'll label me as crazy or something similar.
Ignoring the annoying cat that keeps talking to me, I take a deep breath, feeling the fresh air, not that contaminated air full of dust and debris, but the relatively "clean" air of the city.
It's not the best air of all, but it's much better than the air in the ruined city.
'Let's see... I need money, housing, and most importantly, to enroll in my dear sister's school.' Some of these are easy to solve, but others are complicated.
The biggest problem of all was that in the diary, my sister was very sentimental. She didn't describe well what happened to her, so I don't know the faces of the traitors.
I don't know the general physique of my enemies to identify them, and I barely know the dates of the monster attacks, only the dates of the most relevant attacks are the ones I know.
In addition, there is also the problem that the pages were distorted and blurry due to tears and dust, so certain dates were blurred, and my sister didn't put the date on most things.
She was just very descriptive about her bad feelings about what happened, and of course, that only incites my hatred. She was so descriptive about how bad she was with everything.
This also makes me feel bad. She was much worse than I thought, and I didn't do anything.
That's why the biggest problem is trying to predict what will happen, knowing only half the information. I know something will happen, but I don't know how, when, and where with precision.
And that's why I'm prepared to kill myself as many times as necessary, whether it's 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, or even more. If it's for her, I'll do it, regardless of how many years I have to repeat.
As for the money issue, I'll use my knowledge of the future to bet on the lottery. Fortunately, I know all the winning numbers for this year, of course, only the ones for this year.
It happens that I, to try to cheer up my sister, was playing TV while we were betting the numbers. It was one of the few interactions that worked, and that's why I remember the number and the prize.
The prize is $60 million in accumulated winnings, but another person will win this prize in the lottery, and if I bet and win, the prize will be split between us, but that's still $30 million, more than enough for me.
However, this draw will be in 2 weeks, and I need money to bet and an identity.
"Money...okay, the bets started last week and will end next week...I need to secure the prize now..." Fortunately, to bet, I don't need identification, only to claim the prize.
'...But I don't have any money...' My clothes are beautiful, and I could sell the coat, but it's part of the magical girl uniform, so it will disintegrate when I separate from it.
"Why don't you seduce some foolish teenager and get money from him?" The cat suggests a way to get some money.
"I'm not going to sell my body." I belong only to my sister, and no one else will touch my body besides her. I'll blow the head off of anyone who tries.
This world deserves no pity, and neither do its inhabitants. I'll never forget that passage from the diary, where my sister talks about how betrayed she felt when she was used by a group of young people she had helped.
She was very hurt and couldn't do anything. She saved those bastards, and they took advantage of her. How could they? She was injured, with her clothes torn and exhausted, but she did everything to help.
What they did was a fucking outrage to her. My sister should have let them die. Of course, what do you expect from damn delinquents who only think with the head below?
"But the idea of asking for money isn't bad." I look for someone who might seem gullible and innocent enough to fall for a lie.
'There are too many people, I better go to another place.' I start wandering through the neighborhood, looking for a street with fewer people, as it's not night, and tricking someone is difficult.
As I walk through the neighborhood, I see a TV in a store.
'Today is my sister's first day of school...that means she'll also be going out to patrol the city tonight...' Maybe I should pretend to be a common magical girl?
'I wonder if...my sister is doing well all alone?...' She no longer has parents, and she doesn't have me to cheer her up. I want to see her so badly, but I should wait a little.
Setting that aside, I think a bit about magical girls.
To start with, what are magical girls? I don't know, the demon also didn't want to tell me much, and my sister never explained it in the diary. At first, she just said how happy she was to be able to help people against the monsters that attack in secret.
I know they're not another race or anything like that, after all, until recently, Ayane should have been just a regular person, so I think I need to find out who the bastard was that made my sister become this and go through all this suffering.
"Hey, girl, are you lost?" A woman stops me, as I'm walking in a way that makes it seem like I'm looking for something.
"Y-Yes, I'm lost, and I'm so scared. They stole my phone and wallet. Would you be able to give me a little money to buy a train ticket?" I say with a trembling voice, trying to get money.
'...Do I know her?' I feel like I know her, but I know I've never seen her before. It's something more from my instincts.
"That's terrible! Come with me, I'll help you! I can't believe how bad some people can be." The woman grabs my arm and guides me.
'I'm sure I know her...'
"Hey, Setsuna, kill that woman or you'll be in danger," the demon suddenly warns me, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. This makes me question where this demon was, as he disappeared and only appears now.
'Should I...trust him?' This demon is not trustworthy. He may instruct me to do bad things just for his own pleasure and benefit. However, there's something about this woman that tells me I know her.
This makes me more skeptical. Besides, why is this woman dragging me? And from what I notice, the number of people is decreasing.
'Should I...kill her anyway?' I've never killed anyone, but I'm not afraid to kill. In fact, I was ready to kill since I went back in time, after all, there are traitors I need to kill.
"...Ma'am, where are you taking me?"
"...To a police station, we need to report this, we can't let the thief get away!" She answers me.
'...She's lying.' I decide to kill her right here and now. It's better not to take any risks.
"Ow, ow, ow." I put my hand on my stomach and pretend to be in pain.
"What's wrong! Wait a..."
Bang
With the hand that was on my stomach, I summon a pistol and shoot the woman who was going to crouch down to "help" me. However, what happened was not quite what I expected.
"Hehehe, how did you know, little girl?" The woman dodged a shot that was only a few centimeters away.
'I knew I recognized her.' A relatively common monster. They assume the form of normal people and "live" in society, deceiving civilians and kidnapping them, targeting beautiful women.
They had a specific name, but that part was blurred in the diary. Their biggest peculiarity is that they're not good at hiding, that is, they're very hasty.
I recognized it was suspicious because I judged her to be too hasty in an unusual way. The way she wanted to take me was too strange for someone who just wants to help.
She tried to take me with her as soon as she saw I was alone and lost, showing the impatience of these annoying beings.
"You hesitated, Setsuna, and that's why she could dodge," the demon warns. I ended up hesitating, not out of fear of killing an innocent, but for fear of being deceived. If I had killed an innocent, I would have fallen for this demon's tricks.
And I fear falling for this demon's tricks because I might end up being forced to make another contract, having to pay even more, and I'm not fit to pay more at the moment.
"You...are one of those damn magical girls?" The monster disguised as a human says, looking at my gun.
"..." There are no people around, as I waited for us to get away, but the sound of the shot can attract attention. I must be quick and precise, kill him with a single blow. I know this type of monster is quite weak.
'I should have been silent...' There shouldn't have been any sound. It seems I barely know how to use the powers I have.
"I surrender..." I throw the gun to the monster, surrendering.
"Oh? So easy? Hehehe, how simple of you, little girl. Shouldn't you resist more?" The monster bends down to pick up the gun, underestimating me.
"..."
Bang
The monster's body falls to the ground, a sniper shot from my rifle piercing its head and passing through, destroying its spine and going through the buildings behind the monster.
"That's right, Setsuna, that's how it should be. Don't hesitate anymore," the demon says with malice. Of course, the act of taking a life is a payment to the demon, even if the life taken is that of a monster.
The reason the monster was so confident is that magical girls only have one weapon, but I have 3 of them, precisely because even though I try to identify as a magical girl, I'm not a magical girl.
"...Tsk...it was you, wasn't it?" I say, blaming the demon. It doesn't make sense that I've already found a monster so early. When I arrived and started wandering the city, he disappeared, and then he only appeared when that suspicious woman showed up.
Isn't that too convenient? Obviously, it was this demon who attracted that monster to me, and since I'm beautiful, the monster was tempted to make me a target.
"Me? Hahaha, why do you think that, Setsuna?" I don't know the difference between a demon and a monster, but they are different, and this demon is much stronger than the monsters.
This is evident given the time travel he gave me. It's obvious he wants to manipulate me, by gaining positive points by pretending to have warned me, I will trust him more.
"I won't believe you had nothing to do with it."
"...Hihihi" The demon doesn't say anything else, but gives the indirect answer by giving a malicious laugh and disappearing in a black smoke.
"..." I must never trust this demon. He's not on my side, and I shouldn't forget that. He's just "feeding" on me, using me as long as I'm useful.
I approach the corpse, my two guns disappearing in particles of energy.
"...So...this is a monster." I touch the body. It's ridiculously close to a human, even the blood is red. If I hadn't seen this monster dodge a bullet, I would never believe it's a disguised monster.
'My sister faces these things practically every day...' I shouldn't fall behind. I search the body and find the wallet.
"No identification, no proof of residence...just some loose change and a candy..." I take the money and throw the wallet in the nearby trash can. Dead monsters will be ignored by ordinary people. Ordinary people can be influenced to commit bad acts for monsters.
'This was written in the diary...so no one will care about this corpse, it will soon disappear...' I start walking out of the alley, looking at my hands.
I don't feel anything when taking a life. In fact, I feel a certain sense of accomplishment. I took the first step to save my sister. I also learned that hesitation can be the cause of my downfall.
I will never hesitate again. I could have been killed if it had been a more powerful monster. My mistake could have cost me dearly.
I don't know what happens if I die. If I kill myself, I go back in time, but this demon interprets everything literally, hiding things between the lines. So if they kill me...I'll probably die for real.
"Haaa...Haaa" I take a deep breath and sigh. This will be difficult. I killed my first monster minutes after returning to the past, and they tried to deceive me minutes after returning to the past.
Showing that I should never trust anyone, only Ayane is the one I should trust, love, and protect.
Whether it's demons, monsters, or even magical girls, I'll kill them if they come against me or try to hurt my sister. I'll never make the mistake of hesitating again. If I suspect something, I must eliminate it or stay away.
Ayane may take unnecessary risks, and I can never let her be affected in any way.
"I'll go bet on the lottery right away..." At least I have enough money for the lottery. 2 weeks, in two weeks I'll be a millionaire.