Kyubey has left?
Normally, the Magical Girls Kyubey oversees aren't limited to just the few in Mitakihara, but it seemed to stay here most of the time because of Madoka. Furthermore, with the advent of "Walpurgisnacht" drawing closer, it shouldn't have been leaving at all.
Because he had so little intelligence, Lancer couldn't predict the creature's thoughts. However, for him, this was at least good news for now—there were some things he didn't want Kyubey to know.
"I don't have business with it per se, but this does concern it."
Seeing Mami Tomoe's confused expression, Lancer simply stepped aside.
"Rather than empty words, I think it's better if you see for yourself."
Lancer, who originally wanted to take a shower, set his personal business aside and activated the Runes etched onto his body.
A surge of frost spread from his shoulder blades across his skin. Soon, his body was covered in a layer of white frost, and then——
Crack! Crack!
With the sound of ice fracturing, the frost fell away, but under Lancer control, it gradually coalesced into a sphere of ice.
Even within the same concept of "magic," different worldviews produce different results. Magical Girls like Mami could do a "one-tap outfit change" to clean their bodies completely, while Lancer used his "ice" to achieve a similar result.
Kyoko Sakura's eyes lit up.
"Do one for me too!"
Looking at her expectant face, Lancer hesitated.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course! Does it cost a lot of mana?"
"Not really, ice is what I'm best at, but... forget it, you'll see."
Lancer placed his hand on her head, and a chill instantly spread from the crown of her head to her entire body.
"A little chill can't... urk?!"
Kyoko, who had been looking proud, suddenly shuddered. She looked up and glared "viciously" at Lancer, but Lancer only shrugged.
"I don't know how you Magical Girls do it, but my method is to use frost to freeze the sweat on the skin's surface and then 'peel' it off all at once..."
Lancer explanation was dead serious, and Mami didn't find anything wrong with it, so she just looked at her friend with a strange expression. Kyoko, being watched, turned red and didn't know what to say.
Was she supposed to tell her that normal skin was fine, but a "sudden frost attack" on certain sensitive areas wasn't that simple? The problem was, how could she even say that?
In the end, she had to swallow her pride and keep quiet.
Lancer, holding the "ice ball" peeled from Kyoko, suddenly had a weird thought: If I put 'Original Middle Schooler Sweat Popsicle' up for sale online, would anyone buy it?
But he immediately shuddered at the thought.
I'm a decent guy, why would I think that? It must be the influence of the negative emotions attached to the Grief Seed...
After making excuses for himself, he tossed the ice ball into a distant trash can.
"Come inside."
Mami wasn't quite sure what was going on between Lancer and Kyoko, but when she entered the room, she froze. The room was incredibly spacious, and the entire floor was engraved with strange patterns.
"This was originally my training hall, but she's been training here with me since she arrived. Of course, that's not what I want you to see."
Lancer pointed, and Mami saw Olga Marie sitting there, holding a "Soul Gem."
"A Soul Gem?! Where did you get that?"
"Soul Gem? No, look closer..."
Faced with Mami questioning, Lancer remained extremely calm. Hearing him, Mami stepped closer.
Olga Marie decisively showed the "Soul Gem" in her hand to Mami.
Most of the Soul Gem, which pulsed with a pale blue light, was covered by a black aura. Based on Mami experience, this Soul Gem was at its limit. What confused her was that usually, when a Soul Gem is tainted, the color grows dull; it doesn't get obscured by these stripe-like shadows. Moreover, the shape of the gem seemed slightly off—it wasn't quite like the ones she remembered, yet she didn't dare be certain.
After all, she had only seen her own and Kyoko.
But just as she was doubting, Lancer suddenly pulled something from his shirt and placed it beside the gem.
Mami froze, and then her expression turned to one of pure horror.
"This... how is that possible?!"
"The answer is right in front of you. The only question is whether you're willing to believe it."
As he spoke, Lancer stared directly into Mami eyes. Normally, Mami would have noticed being looked at so intensely, but this time she had no reaction at all; her mind was completely occupied by the scene before her.
On the left was what she thought was a "Soul Gem." On the right was a "Grief Seed" she knew all too well.
Through this comparison, she finally realized why that "Soul Gem" looked so familiar. She began to observe even more closely, because she still couldn't believe her own guess, and the two felt entirely different to her.
The Grief Seed was like any other—it made one feel ill just by being near it. But the other gem shared no similarities other than its shape; at the very least, holding it didn't cause her any discomfort.
What was going on?
Didn't Kyubey tell her that the Grief Seed was the core of a Witch?
Then why did this "Grief Seed" feel like a "Soul Gem"?
What... was happening?
In one timeline, Homura Akemi had told Mami the truth about the relationship between "Magical Girls" and "Witches." The result was that the seemingly mature Mami couldn't handle the pressure and went completely hysterical, killing her companions before taking her own life.
If she had only known her own fate, she might not have broken. She collapsed because she realized she had unknowingly turned the juniors who admired her into "monsters" like herself. That was the final straw.
But just as her lips trembled and she gripped the Grief Seed tightly with wide eyes——
"Calm down! Mami! There's still a chance for these Grief Seeds!"
Kyoko Sakura's cry snapped Mami out of her mental spiral. It was only then that Kyoko saw Mami face clearly.
The face that usually wore a confident smile was deathly pale, with a trace of a tear in her eye. She looked as if she had lost her soul. But the words woke her up.
"Kyoko?! Do you mean that... for real?!"