Chapter 4 — Sleep, until your life is over • Episode 4–7 — Liberation ①
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Elephant runs in the pitch black darkness.
Before it is too late, before Sylph’s heart is broken, before Sylph hurts anyone else, quickly, even for a second, Elephant runs through the world covered in black, using even the magic to strengthen her body, which she doesn’t know if it’s effective in this dream.
She doesn’t entirely trust Lazy Lady, who suddenly appeared in front of Elephant and spoke so many things with a knowing look, but if everything she said was true, Elephant had neither the time to hesitate nor the time to judge the truth of her words. Even if everything she said was a lie and she was trying to frame her, she would have preferred it if Sylph was safe. No matter what the trap was, she was going to beat it and get back at her.
But Elephant believes that it is unlikely that the girl’s, Lazy’s words are a lie. No, it would be more correct to say that she wants to believe it was true.
Sylph had always believed that she hadn’t earned the love of her parents and that she was an unwanted child, and she hasn’t changed her mind, but she was mistaken. Sylph was loved. She was just being thwarted by someone else’s malice, and she really should have lived happily ever after. Elephant wanted to tell Sylph that it wasn’t a lie, that she was loved.
The estrangement from Futaba was not because Sylph was unworthy. It wasn’t because Futaba hated her. She used to be a Magical Girl and that is why there was a rift between them. Still, if it were true, they would’ve been able to reconcile much sooner. She wanted to tell her that.
Sylph was not in love with the Magical Girl Succubus. She was only made to believe so by the power of magic. Rather, thinking back carefully to Lazy’s words, she said she was distressed by the fact that she was two-timing Elephant and Succubus. In other words, Sylph is in love with Elephant. And she wanted to tell her that it must be Sylph’s true feelings, which had nothing to do with magic, and that then there was nothing to worry about or suffer from, that there was no obstacle whatsoever to her and Sylph’s union.
So Elephant believed Lazy’s words, kept moving her feet, and got there.
She arrived at Tyrant Sylph, the only one in the deep darkness, illuminated by a pale light and enveloped by a jet-black storm.
「Sylph-chan!!」
Elephant didn’t hesitate to call out to the well-faced boy, who had the same black eyes and hair color as the average Japanese and was wearing a childishly patterned T-shirt and short pants.
If this was Sylph’s mind, then it was no surprise that what awaited her at the end of the road didn’t look like Sylph. That boy is the false appearance of Tyrant Sylph, Mizukami Ryōichi. And the boy’s face was very similar to Sylph’s, despite some differences due to gender. There was no way Elephant could have mistaken that.
Elephant was convinced that what Lazy had said wasn’t a lie, and she encouraged her friends who were fighting in the real world to hang in there a little bit longer.
「Agh, aagh, argh, arghh, ahh, aggh, argh, aaaghhh!!」
As if in response to such fearless cries of pain, sadness, anger, and various negative emotions mixed and solidified into one, the storm that had been surrounding the boy attacks Elephant.
Elephant stepped out to forcefully break through the storm, which was too poor to be called magic, too messy to be called a tornado, but too sharp to be called a strong wind, not even trying to avoid it, but letting her magically enhanced body do the work for her.
Even Elephant, who could vaguely imagine what it means to have one’s heart broken but couldn’t fully understand what exactly would happen, could see that something bad was happening when she looked at Sylph now. The boyish Sylph was crumbling in places, like a frayed thread. She remembered and understood Lazy’s explanation that if it completely collapsed and lost its form, it would mean the destruction of the Sylph’s personality.
She also doesn’t know how long her friends fighting in reality will last. Sylph is a Magical Girl of high rank in the Witch Tea Party. It is obvious that a head-to-head fight would be no match for her. Besides, their friends mustn’t know that Elephant is now working to resolve the situation like this, and if so, it’s easy to imagine that they will try to neutralize Sylph somehow so that she will not be killed. Elephant wasn’t so stupid that she doesn’t know how difficult it is.
So, without regard for herself, she foolishly chose to move forward in order to bring Sylph back to her senses immediately.
However, Sylph’s black wind, like a wall in her heart that rejects others, becomes a headwind that hinders Elephant’s progress.
「All this time, you’ve been shunned and alone with everyone like this.」
All the way through the black gate that Lazy opened, through the collapsed dream world, and into the depths of this heart, Elephant heard this plaintive cry. She heard the cries of her who was in pain, crying out for someone to help her, but belittling herself and saying that she wasn’t good enough to be helped, and lamenting that there was no one who loved her.
And now, the black wind overflowing from the boy was pushing back Elephant and carving numerous cuts on her body, while at the same time delivering the voice of Sylph as if it were seeping through the wounds.
It’s dark, it’s scary, it’s painful, it’s bitter, it’s lonely, it’s sad, it’s hateful, I want to be loved, I don’t want to be alone, I am unloved, I am unlovable, I am not needed, I am unwanted, I shouldn’t try to be loved, I want to be at least normal, just a little bit, I want to be happy, I can’t be, being myself, I don’t want to say goodbye to my friends, I don’t want to go back, but I want my family, I want to go back, it’s hard,
Someone, please help me.
「Power Of The Elephant, Fooouurr!!!」
I will help you, I will not let you suffer, I will get your family back, I will not say goodbye, I will not let you leave, no matter what you look like, you can want to be loved by someone special, I will do it, I will make you happy, more than you can count, more than you can say is normal, you are good, I need you, I will make you loved, I will love you, I will not let you be alone, I love you, I will heal you, I will not let you be sad, I will not let you be lonely, I will not let you suffer, be in pain, or be in fear, let’s share everything together, I’ll definitely take you to a brighter place, and we’ll find a lot of fun and happiness together.
The desire to protect and to help made Elephant’s new magic bloom, and with the power of magic, she forcefully pushed through the storm, ignoring all wounds and pain, and held the screaming boy in a strong embrace.
「You are loved, Sylph-chan, you know! You were never really alone! You weren’t a child who wasn’t needed! You had someone who loved you! Your father, your mother, even Futaba-san! They loved you!!」
A black wind, as if cloaked in darkness, was blowing from the boy’s body as he flailed about trying to escape from Elephant’s arms, but in contrast to this, Elephant that encompassed the boy’s slender, small body had somehow begun to glow white.
「It’s the same for me! I love you, Sylph-chan! There are many, many other good things about you, Sylph-chan, such as your kindness, your happy playfulness, your childishness, your purity, your cuteness, your love for me, and many, many other good things!!
But that’s not all! I liked Sylph-chan for your weak heart, your negativity, your extremes, your troublesome nature, and all the rest of you!!
I fell in love with you knowing that you were really a man, Sylph-chan!!
So even if you returns to your true self, I’m sure I’ll still love you, Sylph-chan! No, I mean Mizukami Ryōichi! I will love you!! I want to be with you, all the time!!
So, that’s why wake up. Look at me. Let me hear the real answer, in Sylph-chan’s, Ryōichi-san’s words?」
The light that Elephant wears grows stronger and larger in response to her words to Sylph, and then it mingles and disappears as if to neutralize the black wind. And so the boy who should have been on a rampage gradually became more silent, and as if to match his appearance, his figure began to blur and was changing into his usual Tyrant Sylph form.
「…You are always like that. You always come into my mind like that and help me out when I’m crouching and groaning.」
「Sylph-cha——n?」
When she heard Sylph’s usual words instead of the anguished cry, something gently touched Elephant’s lips as she let go of Sylph’s embrace to meet her face happily, as if she had just woken up. When Elephant tried to move away, Sylph herself approached and kissed her.
This completely unexpected action made Elephant freeze up in shock. There must have been things she wanted to say or ask, like she was glad she was safe, or why she had changed into a girl, but everything was blown out of her mind.
「You would love that, wouldn’t you?」
They were kissing each other only for a moment, and when Sylph, who immediately pulled away, told her this in an embarrassed manner with her face bright red and looking away, Elephant finally understood what had happened and without realizing it herself, the corners of her mouth turned up in a big smile and she hugged Sylph vigorously.
「That means it’s okay! Even if you say you don’t want to, I’ll never let you go! Thank you, Sylph-chan!」
「Thank you very much on my part. I don’t know what’s going on, but you were in a dangerous situation, weren’t you? I also hurt Elephant-san so much…」
She seemed to have a vague idea of what had happened, but it was as if she was dreaming, and she couldn’t clearly remember what had happened to her.
「It’s okay, because this place is like a dream! Ah, but you can’t say that your confession earlier was not a dream, so you can’t say no after all!! Be prepared when I return from my school trip!」
「W–What are you going to do…, if you’re prepared? Or rather, in my dream? Come to think of it, I think I was fighting with Blade-san and the others, but are they not here?」
「That’s the reality! I have to thank them all. But it’s not like you did anything wrong, so don’t worry about it too much. The bad guys are Jack, that Globe? And Saki-chan, you know. Besides, now that we’re lovers, we shouldn’t have to deal with everything on our own, and if something happens, we can talk about it together.」
「What do you mean? By globe, do you mean Earth? And Saki, come to think of it…, ……! Suddenly, I felt sleepy…」
Sylph seemed to remember something, but before she could say anything, she was struck by a sudden sleepiness and collapsed, leaning against Elephant, and began to paddle the boat in a daze.
「When you wake up, you’ll probably be in the Deception World. Tell everyone you’re okay for now.」
「I under…stand…」
Elephant, sensing that this was a sign of awakening, gently stroked Sylph’s sleepy head and told her so, to which Sylph only managed to reply and fell asleep.
「Hmm? Speaking of which, what am I supposed to do?」
While falling asleep on her knees, Elephant suddenly utters a question she has been feeling. This was supposed to be Sylph’s mental world, and Elephant didn’t know if she would wake up in reality if she went to sleep as well. To begin with, being conscious in a dream itself is something she had never experienced in the past, and she had no idea what she need to do to wake up. The expanse of darkness makes her lose her sense of direction, she lose track of the way she came, and it’s unlikely that she will ever be able to return.
「…What should I do?」
『There is nothing to worry about. If you wait this out, you will transition to normal sleep.』
Someone whispered in the ear of Elephant, who was at a loss while petting Sylph, in a voice that sounded a lot like Sylph’s.
「Lazy-chan!?」
『This audio is only playing a pre-recorded recording in case you are successful and I am already asleep. Therefore, I will not accept any further questions. However, let me tell you two things as a reward. First one, you did well. I believed you could do it.』
「But all I did was hug Sylph-chan and say things…」
Not being sure, but having received advice from Lazy that she should do what she wanted, Elephant acted according to her own feelings of wanting to heal Sylph’s grief. Elephant herself didn’t know why this had led her to stop Sylph from going out of control.
『Your hidden power canceled out his power.』
「My power…」
She’s a Magical Girl with an elephant motif and can only use magic that is basically a physical enhancement or an extension of that system. Elephant was not quite sure how that worked in Sylph’s mind.
『Second, it’s not surprising that you’re unaware of your power. The power is so hidden that even you, the owner of the power, are not aware of it. So you couldn’t be aware of it, nor could you use it even unconsciously. I have just removed a little of that disguise and improved it so that you, the owner, can wield the power, while keeping the external concealment intact. It seems that the person who hid your power is very concerned about you. But there is no need for that anymore. The day of destiny is almost upon us.』
「H–Hold on a second!? What do you mean by my power!? What is the day of destiny!?」
『I’m counting on you, Magical Girl Elephant. The fate of this world depends on you, not a pseudo-god, not a fairy, not a Witch.』
「Wait, you should have told me better…, please…」
In vain for a restraining voice, Elephant’s consciousness falls into sleep, just as Lazy’s voice first told her to do.
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