It's Monday, and I'm just leaving school together with Elise and Komachi when a woman I don't recognize waves at me. She has long brown hair, painted nails, and red lip gloss, and she's dressed in a business suit but with the blazer unbuttoned. There's no ring on her hands to indicate she's a magical girl, either.
"Bonjour, Mlle Taylor," she says in French. "I have a package for you."
I frown slightly and respond in the same language without thinking.
"A package? Um… who are you, anyway?"
She smiles and just says, "Follow me. I don't mind if your friends come along too."
"Oh wow, is that French?" Komachi says in awe. "You can speak French too? Amazing!"
"Um… yeah, it's French," I reply in Japanese. "Sorry, I switched languages without thinking."
The woman turns and walks off, and I debate for a moment before deciding to follow her. No words pass between us, but apparently Elise and Komachi also decide to come with me.
The woman leads us into an alley near the shopping district, then turns to face us.
"I beg you not to panic," she says in Japanese.
Her Japanese is oddly formal, and she uses archaic phrasings and structures. Komachi gives her an odd look.
"Uhh, did you learn your Japanese from period dramas or something? You almost sound like a samurai…"
The woman smiles. "Indeed, your conjecture is not far from the truth. When I was last in Japan, it was the Edo era, so I beg you to forgive my archaic wording."
As she speaks, a labyrinth begins to form around us, and contrary to the woman's warning, Elise and Komachi look panicked. They transform, and Komachi brandishes her naginata, looking around wildly for familiars. I however, having already worked out what's going on here, do not transform. Naturally, no familiars appear either. We find ourselves in a small glassy space, like the inside of a bubble looking out onto the sea floor, complete with colourful fish swimming by.
"H-huh? What's going on?" Komachi asks. "This is… a witch's barrier, is it not?"
"I do beg your pardon," the woman says. "Mayhaps I should have phrased my warning more explicitly. It is none other than I who created this barrier."
"She's a magical girl herself," I add. "I met her in Paris."
That's right – it's obviously Pernelle herself. I did get a text message from her a couple days ago and responded with my address, but I never expected her to come in person to deliver it.
"But… the ring," Elise protests. "You're not wearing a ring."
Pernelle reaches into her purse and withdraws the ring in question.
"Is this what ye refer to? Ultimately, it is a ring, so it can be removed and hidden away."
"Well, what about the…" Komachi looks at the woman's fingernails, then blinks. "Oh. You covered up the symbol with nail polish."
"Ye are indeed precisely on the mark," Pernelle says. "However, I do beg your pardon, but my business here is with Lady Ashley."
Komachi blinks. "Lady?"
"Um, yeah, that's a bit much," I agree. "I'm no-one that important."
"My apologies," Pernelle replies. "As aforementioned, my Japanese is indeed rusty and archaic, so I do beg your pardon." Then she switches to French. "As promised, Mlle Ashley, I have crafted the weapon you desire."
She reaches into her purse again, this time drawing out the sword. There's no way a sword could possibly fit inside a purse of that size, but I suppose she has some sort of magic in place to expand the space inside or something. Or maybe she can shrink the sword to fit. There's no point in speculating, in any case. Komachi lets out a gasp as I accept the sword and give it a few experimental swings. Pernelle proceeds to explain its features.
"Since it is ill-advised to be seen carrying a weapon in this day and age, I have enchanted it to store itself in your soul gem when you power down," she says. "If you wish to keep it while powered down, you should set it down first. It is possible to take it out or store it at will, but that will take some practice."
I nod and transform, swinging it a few more times, then power down. As she promised, it vanishes with my costume.
"I endowed it with the same property as the Sword of Saint Catherine," she continues. "Although, since your power is not as great as that of chérie Jeanne, it is a lesser version of the effect. The sword is also enchanted to transmit your magic to anything you hit. The efficiency of this is low, but it means there is a chance of charm taking effect every time you land a blow."
"Um… just how high of a chance are we talking?" I ask.
"It is hard to say without empirical evidence, but I estimate between a three and ten percent chance without intentional charging," Pernelle replies. "The sharpness of the blade is beyond compare, so try not to use it on anything other than witches. You might cause a catastrophe if you were to accidentally cut something in the physical world. The blade can also extend up to double its base length. You can use this as a surprise attack of sorts, if needed."
"Sounds like it has quite a few cool features," I say. "Can it transmit the magic of other magical girls?"
"If you were to let another magical girl borrow it, it would likely transmit her magic in the same way, but a magical girl of the light element will probably be unable to use any of the powers of the sword," Pernelle says. "That will not stop them from using it as an effective weapon, however, and its sharpness is not element-dependent."
"Okay, that's useful to know," I nod. "I wish I could tell a girl's element at a glance though…"
"Its final feature is intended specifically as a counter to Walpurgis," Pernelle explains. "Since Walpurgis is the Witch of the Stage, the sword has an anti-fiction effect. When attacking anything that draws its power from fiction, it will be two to three times as effective."
I blink. Even though she designed it for Walpurgisnacht, that sounds like it would also be extremely helpful if I ever face a rumour witch in Kamihama. Not that I'm planning to… but anything could happen.
"So is that everything, then?"
"Yes, I believe that covers everything," Pernelle says. "If it ever breaks or becomes dull, bring it back to me for servicing. But I am certain it would take about a hundred years before that happens, so rest easy."
"Will you even be around in a hundred years?" I ask. "Heck, I don't even know if I'll still be around!"
Pernelle shrugs. "I have no plans to ever die."
"But what about becoming a witch?"
"Some magical girls are particularly resistant to corruption," Pernelle replies. "Corruption is borne from despair, so if you don't feel despair, your soul gem won't be corrupted… or if using magic, will be corrupted very slowly. It's not a solution for jsut anyone, but I'm a pragmatic person. I do not despair easily. And besides that, most people slowly become more resistant to despair as they age. That is one of the reasons why the white devil only preys on young girls and never chooses adult women to do its work."
"I see… well, if I'm still alive in a hundred years, I'll be sure to drop by and see how you're doing. Also… before you go, I wonder if you could help me with some information."
"That depends on the question," Pernelle replies.
"I was wondering if you know of a way to break a spell cast over a certain city."
"Breaking a spell, you say?" Pernelle nods. "Most magic lacks ontological inertia, so the surest way to break a spell is to slay the spellcaster. It varies whether the birth of a witch counts as a death for this purpose. If neither slaying the spellcaster nor convincing them to willingly end it is an option though…" Pernelle looks thoughtful. "Frankly, there are no sure options, but there are several things you could try. If you can cast a spell with the opposite effect, it may cancel out and break the spell. Another possibility is to throw magic at the spell until it's overwhelmed and breaks. Other than that… well, it would depend on the nature of the spell."
I nod slowly. "Yeah… none of those sound like they would work," I say. "I don't have any kind of power that could produce an opposite effect, and it doesn't have a physical form to attack…"
"Is it close by?" Pernelle asks. "Perhaps I could look at it briefly for you on my way back to Paris."
"It's the neighbouring city of Asunaro," I say. "The spell renders Cube invisible even to magical girls, just as a warning…"
"I will let you know if I get any ideas, then," Pernelle says. "Did you have any other queries for me?"
I shake my head. "No, that was it."
"In that case, it is time for us to part," Pernelle says. "I do not expect to see you again in the near future, but you may contact me by email if you wish. I cannot promise a prompt response, however. Au revoir!"
I nod. "Au revoir."
And then the barrier collapses, and Pernelle just vanishes into thin air. Right… she can teleport, after all. I look at Komachi and Elise and see that they've powered down by now.
"That lady's amazing!" Komachi gasps. "I never knew there were magical girls like her! Just who is she? And she must be really old if she was here in the Edo period…"
"I think she'd prefer if I don't reveal her name," I say. "From what I understand, she's trying to hide from Kyuubey."
"Why would she do that?" Komachi asks, confused.
"I guess you wouldn't understand, but Kyuubey's not exactly a nice guy," I reply. "It might not lie, but it doesn't tell the truth either. Well… I expect you'll understand what I mean someday, assuming you live that long."
I attempt to soften my words with a smile, but it doesn't seem like it works.
"I have no plan to die young!" Elise retorts.
"Me neither!" Komachi agrees.
"Well, I'd like to go test out my new weapon on a witch," I say.
"Um… if you don't mind," Elise says. "There's one witch that's been giving us a lot of trouble over the past few days. Would you mind…?"
"Sure, I can join you in your witch hunt today," I agree.
"By the way, are you going to give your new sword a name?" Komachi asks.
"Oh, that's a good idea," I nod. "Let me see… it's an anti-fiction weapon, so something like a sword of truth… how does Kensei sound?"
"It sounds cool," Komachi says.
"It's got a ring to it, but it's not too flashy," Elise muses. "Somehow it doesn't suit you… but it works."
I blink at her. "We've only known each other a week or so and you're already seeing what doesn't suit me?"
"I don't see what's wrong with that," Elise retorts. "Now come on, let's meet up with the others."
After meeting up with Claire and Hiyori, we make our way to a nearby crowded shopping mall.
"We usually spot people bearing the witch's kiss around here," Elise explains. "She moves around a lot, but those people will always lead us back to her."
"We've saved a lot of people from her, but I can't help thinking about the people we've failed to save by letting her run loose for so long," Claire says mournfully.
"Well, with Ashley-chan on our team, I bet we can end her once and for all," Komachi says. "She's strong enough to hunt witches on her own, after all… and she just got a neat upgrade, too!"
I look around as the four of them chat, Komachi telling them about the new weapon I got and the 'cool older sister' who gave it to me.
"Huh, so there exist adult magical girls?" Hiyori muses. "I thought we would stop aging or something, and that's why there's no adults…"
"That's an unexpectedly optimistic theory," I observe. "But I'm afraid the real reason there's few adults is that most most magical girls die before they reach adulthood."
"I am curious about this adult magical girl you met," Kyuubey says, appearing out of the crowd and hopping up onto Komachi's shoulder. "To my knowledge, there have not been any adult magical girls native to this region since the demise of Mikoto Tsubaki about a year ago, so the one you met must have been a traveller. Can you tell me anything more about her?"
"There's really nothing much to tell," Komachi says. "She has brown hair and speaks French, and… that's about it really."
"Hmm. I am not aware of any adult magical girls from France, but if she has dark skin, then it could have been Livia Medeiros…"
"Uhh, sorry, her skin was as pale as Ashley-chan's," Komachi counters.
"Then that also rules out Scheherazade," Kyuubey says. "Hmm… well, I suppose I have no choice but to hope for an encounter with her."
"So there's at least two other adult magical girls then?" Komachi asks. "Who are they?"
"Livia is the leader of Puella Care," I say. "They're sort of like magical girl doctors, so that should give you a basic idea of what she's like. I haven't met her myself though. As for Scheherazade, I hear she's like a ghost who shows up at historic events and then disappears from the radar for years. That one's not just an adult but literally ancient, apparently. I wouldn't dare to speculate on how many centuries old…"
"What Ashley Taylor said is correct, though I do not know where she obtained the information," Kyuubey confirms. "Hmm… there are a few magical girls from Europe whose deaths have never been confirmed… could she be one of them? Or she may be from another country where French is spoken, such as Canada or Niger…"
"There!" Elise suddenly says, pointing.
My gaze follows her finger, and I spot a middle-aged woman bearing a mark on her neck. It's like a rendering of Kyuubey's head composed of tiny circles.
"…why does it look like Kyuubey?" I ask.
"That's exactly what I asked when I first saw it," Komachi replies. "But come on, we gotta follow her."
"Isn't it unsettling to see your head as a witch's kiss, Kyuubey?" Hiyori asks.
"It is irrelevant," Kyuubey replies.
"This little guy doesn't have emotions, you see," I say. "So he wouldn't even know what unsettling means if it bit him."
"Emotions are not something that bites you," Kyuubey points out.
"And he's literal-minded too," I retort. "Let's go."
We follow the woman out of the mall. She leads us back towards our high school, then turns into a nearby park. At this point, I spot a couple of other people bearing the same kiss, all heading into the park. We follow them to a gazebo that has seen better days, though there has been some clear effort to maintain it. As the people enter the gazebo, they vanish from sight. I look more closely and sure enough, there's a portal there, the entrance in the form of Kyuubey's head.
"Now comes the hard part," Elise says grimly. "This witch's familiars are quite formidable…"
The five of us step into the barrier and find ourselves in an abstract painting of a forest, converted to 3D. No, wait. Rather than a painting, the visual texture is more like an embroidery. The trees appear to be coniferous in nature, but their foliage is stitched in red, gold, and pink. And appearing from amongst the trees are innumerable white rabbits, hopping forward as though curious. No, wait. Those aren't rabbits. They're incubators!
"So many Kyuubeys!" Komachi groans.
"I keep telling you that these are not my terminals," Kyuubey says. "They are merely familiars of a witch."
"But how can we hurt something with your face!?" Hiyori protests.
"Um… am I to understand that the witch is difficult solely because the familiars look exactly like Kyuubey?" I ask.
"Well, that's part of it," Elise says. "But the familiars aren't that fast, so we mostly just avoid them and run straight to the witch…"
I let out a sigh.
"Are you serious…"
"We should get going before they start attacking," Elise says urgently.
"No, I want to see what they're made of," I say. "But if you want to run ahead, that's fine with me."
"No… we'll stay if you are," Elise says. "It would be stupid of us to run off on our own after asking you for help, not to mention ungrateful. Besides… if you're going to fight the familiars, it gives us a chance to get these people out of the barrier."
Indeed, I missed it before, but there are several people lying on the ground with a kiss on their necks, including the woman we tailed here. Of course, saving people is part of the job, so we should at least be sure to do that much.
"Fair enough," I say
I watch as those incubators hop closer. If anything, they're actually cuter than the real thing. Maybe it's something about how they hop forward, like they're curious, or perhaps it's the way their faces actually seem to show traces of emotion. I transform and wait for them to attack, warily watching to see what their first move will be. Behind me, I sense the other four transform as well. They start grabbing the unconscious humans and hefting them out of the barrier.
Suddenly, the front rank of the incubator familiars lash out with their ear appendages, looking for all the world like they're about to extract my soul and grant my wish. However, instead of sinking into my body, they lash at me like a whip. Honestly, it's not a very effective attack. It does hurt a little, but not enough to cause any concern.
I swing my sword, and it extends to twice its length to cut a swathe through the familiars. At the same time, I direct Teddy Mk II and the Teddy Drones to attack the familiars on our flanks.
"I don't get how you can attack something so cute…" Hiyori marvels.
"It's because it's Kyuubey," I reply with a shrug. "I already know his cuteness is just a skin-deep façade, so there's no reason to hold back against him, right?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Elise says.
"I would like it if you would refrain from spreading unpleasant rumours about me," Kyuubey itself pipes up.
"Well, it doesn't matter," I reply. "Looks like the way is clear now. Where do we go from here?"
"There should be a path through the forest," Elise says. "It'll lead out into an open area, where we fight the witch."
While she and the others look around to locate the path, I turn to see if their costumes match up with my vague memories of the short-lived mobile game.
Elise wears a short orange sleeveless dress and matching orange and red jester hat. In one hand she grips a staff tipped by a grinning face wearing a matching hat. I don't remember the staff in the game, though those memories are pretty vague so I can't be certain. She also has a black cape. Other than the staff, it pretty much lines up with my memories of her.
Claire wears a deep green religious habit, such as what I'd expect from a nun or similar, and grips an ornate mace that looks almost ceremonial in nature. Komachi wears a dress that resembles traditional Japanese attire, like a yukata, although the cut of the skirt is more Western, and she wields a naginata. And Hiyori wears a simple short white dress with an orange corset-like garment on top as an accent, gripping her harp in both hands.
"This feels oddly nostalgic…" I muse.
"Hmm? Did you say something?" Hiyori asks.
"Ahh… nothing important," I reply.
"There it is!" Komachi says, pointing.
Sure enough, something resembling a path snakes out through the abstract forest. The four of us follow it with Teddy Mk II taking up the vanguard while I take care of the rearguard. Between Teddy's stomps and my sword, the incubator familiars are unable to get close to our group.
But then something suddenly changes. The familiars seem to multiply, doubling, tripling in number. Then the sort of start to blend together, and then they split apart into a snake-like form that resembles Kyuubey's ear appendages, except that the ring has turned into a mouth filled with sharp teeth. Then they all attack as one, leaping in at high speed. Teddy Mk II provides a decent defence at the front, but my swordplay is no longer sufficient to hold them off, and Claire and Komachi are forced to raise their weapons defensively. They smack the incubator-snakes away as best they can, but I can see that they're still a little reluctant to go on the offensive against something that resembles Kyuubey, even a creepy variant of Kyuubey.
"They've never done this before!" Elise says. "Why have they changed this time?"
"Perhaps they've acknowledged us as a worthy opponent," I say. "Until now, they were holding back. Maybe we should've rushed to the witch like you proposed… too late for that now, though. Do any of you have a way to distract them?"
"Um, yes!" Hiyori speaks up.
Without explaining herself, she starts strumming her harp and launches into a song. The words don't appear to hold any meaning, being just nonsense syllables, but the music is a haunting and beautiful melody. The effect slowly spreads through the familiars. As far as I can tell, they are drawn to the music, continually turning towards Hiyori. However, they don't target her; instead, their fascination with her serves to slow their attacks on their original targets. Because they're wasting so much time looking at Hiyori, they're full of openings and much easier to beat. Even when they do attack, they miss half the time. I'm not sure if Hiyori already has a name for this ability, but I'm going to think of it as bewitch.
"Okay, let's keep advancing!" I say. "Are we almost at the witch?"
"I think so!" Elise says.
With Claire and Komachi now bolstering our defense, and Hiyori's song bewitching the familiars, the status quo from before is more or less restored – we advance through the abstract forest, deflecting or killing any incubator-snakes that come near us.
"I can see it!" Elise says. "We're almost there!"
Sure enough, the forest is growing thinner, and I can see the sky up ahead. We pass a sign emblazoned with witch runes, which presumably spell out the witch's name… huh? It's Quitterie… that was one of the new bonus witches in the PSP game! But this landscape doesn't remind me of the game at all. That said, I remember it being some kind of boring, featureless landscape, so the game developers were probably just lazy and didn't bother to properly design her labyrinth…
Then the path opens into a hilly, grassy landscape beneath a night sky. The play of colours across the sky makes me think of the Aurora Borealis, and it's hauntingly beautiful. And there, hunched up on the ground, is the witch. As if sensing our approach, she rises up, a massive star-cloaked figure with the head of Kyuubey.
"This is where it gets troublesome," Elise explains. "See, she fires barrage after barrage of needles, and we can't even get close."
"Okay, I think that's something I should be able to help with," I say. "Teddy Mk II can serve as a shield."
"And what should we do?" Elise asks.
"Um… how about you just do what you usually do?" I suggest. "If I can think of something better after seeing you in action, then I'll say so, but at this point, you know this witch better than I do, so I'll trust your judgement."
"R-right!" Elise nods. "Okay then, let's go!"
Elise raises her staff towards the sky and shakes it, sending out streaks of light. Each one materializes into a monstrous creature upon hitting the ground. The monsters seem to take their forms from Japanese folklore. I don't recognize many of them, but there's the hopping umbrella, a vaguely humanoid creature with a snake-like neck, some mini-ogres, and of course a kappa or two. Each of them immediately charges for the witch, who responds with a hail of needles as predicted. I raise Teddy Mk II up as a shield, turning him on his side to increase the coverage. Claire raises her mace and charges up an attack, while Hiyori strikes up a song. As for Komachi, she's smacking away some stray needles that get too close. In addition, when she's two slow and a needle hits one of her friends, she immediately hops in to heal them.
"Okay, Komachi, you've got to stop that," I say. "Don't heal every little injury. It's just a waste of magic."
"What? But that's my job!" Komachi protests, pouting. "I'm the party healer!"
"Sure, but save your magic for serious injuries," I reply. "If you heal every little thing, you won't have enough magic left when it really matters. Once you've beaten the witch, then you can think about healing all the small things if you want, but there's no place for that in the thick of battle. In battle, you need to conserve your strength. Healing is for when your allies can't even fight with their injury."
While I'm berating her, Claire releases her charged attack, a bolt of lightning striking from the tip of her mace to the witch. Sadly it does little to slow the rain of needles.
"Claire, give me your hand for a second," I say.
I hold out my hand for a high-five, and after a moment's confusion, she presses her hand against mine, jumping back with a start as the telltale flash of the connect occurs.
"Whoa… what's this?" she gasps.
"Something you should figure out how to do amongst yourselves," I say. "I call it 'connecting'. It allows you to share your powers with one another, which will make you stronger as a team. Try attacking the witch again."
"R-right!" Claire says.
She raises her mace once more, charging up an attack, and zap, Quitterie is struck once more. But this time, my charm magic takes hold, and the rain of needles finally stops.
"Huh? Why'd she stop?" Elise asks, confused.
"Now's your chance!" I shout. "While she's charmed, get in there and do as much damage as you can!"
Although Hiyori holds back, lacking a proper weapon, the other three obey my command and jump forward. Elise also summons a fresh round of monsters – the previous batch has already fallen to the barrage of needles. I draw my sword and take up the rear, then leap high into the air and slash at that Kyuubey head. Down below, Komachi's naginata is surprisingly effective at tearing through those starry robes, so between the two of us, we tear open the Quitterie's façade to reveal her true self underneath. Then Claire and Elise smash their weapons into the witch's legs.
The true form of this witch is essentially a bundle of sewing needles. Her legs and arms are composed of just needles, and her body resembles a twist of cloth. A pincushion forms her hips, with numerous extra needles stabbed into it. Because her legs are just needles, the assault on them doesn't really damage them, but she is knocked clean off her feet.
"Okay, I think she's starting to notice us again," I say. "Back off, everyone!"
Behind us, Hiyori finally completes her bewitching song, and even though Quitterie gets back on her feet and resumes her hail of needles, there seem to be fewer of them now and their aim is far less uniform. I once more protect the party by using Teddy Mk II as a shield, while Claire charges up another attack. Then I send the Teddy Drones weaving through the oncoming needles to assault the witch's legs again, causing her to fall over once more. This heralds a lull in the rain of needles, which Claire uses as an opportunity not just to let her lightning rip but to speed alongside it and smash her mace right into the witch's head. Perhaps sensing that this is her chance to land a finishing blow, Komachi follows her lead, moving almost as fast as Claire and severing Quitterie's head from her body.
Moments later, the witch explodes into a pile of yarn that fades away, and Claire seizes the grief seed and holds it up in triumph.
"Nice! We did it!" Elise cheers. "It's all thanks to Ashley-chan!"
"I didn't really do that much," I protest. "I was your shield, mostly… and I used my charm magic. That's about it. Oh… I guess I did get a chance to try out my new sword on a witch, too."
The barrier collapses around us, and we all power down. I notice a notification on my phone and unlock it to see what it is.
It's an email from Pernelle, written in French of course. Wondering if she's come up with a way to break Umika's barrier, I open it excitedly.
"Dear Miss Taylor, thank you very much for bringing my attention to the self-proclaimed Pleiades Saints. The experiment they are performing, while severely flawed, is nevertheless of great interest to me, so I have decided to stay and observe for awhile. Beyond that, it's not often I find a magical girl who shares the same base power as me, so I am considering taking her on as my disciple once their experiment draws to a close. Sincerely, Pernelle Flamel."
Obviously I don't read the whole thing out loud, but my mouth drops open as I get through it. She's considering taking one of the Pleiades Saints as her disciple!? Which one? Did one of them have the same power as her? I can't think of anything that matches though… or could she be talking about Hijiri? But that doesn't make sense either…
"Oh my god, what have I done!?" I blurt out in English.
The others look at me strangely.
"Is… is something wrong, Ashley-chan?" Hiyori asks nervously.
"Well… it's impossible for me to say," I reply. "It's just… this took such a totally unexpected turn that I'm left wondering whether I've made a terrible mistaken… or maybe, I've accidentally stumbled into a goldmine…"
"Does it have something to do with the French lady?" Komachi asks.
I look around to see if Kyuubey is still present, but it seems like it left us alone at some point, so I nod.
"Yeah… she decided to stick around in Asunaro for awhile," I explain. "Because it's interesting there. I'm just not sure if that's a good thing or not…" I let out a sigh. "Well, whatever. What's done is done… anyway, good work today, everyone. Your teamwork seems pretty good for the most part… I can really tell that you've been fighting together for awhile. Still, excessive healing is a problem, and you should really learn to connect. Oh, and don't hold back just because a witch is cute."
"Well, thanks for the help," Elise says. "I don't think we could've beaten that witch without your help, so it really is a relief that she's finally gone. How about we treat you to a meal to pay you back?"
"Well, that's not really necessary, but if it's what you want, I'll gladly accept it," I reply. "Maybe ice cream?"
"At this time of year?" Claire asks.
"Well, why not?" I shrug. "A parfait or something like that would be nice."
"In that case, I know just where to go," Komachi says. "Follow me!"
And so, we all take off after the purple-haired girl.