"You have a phone call from Kageyama," Fel said out of nowhere.

"Hello?" I answered the call from my phone.

"Ah! Black Lily. Is there anyone else around?"

"Shining Arrow and the others."

"They are okay. They know your identity, right?" He confirmed, and I connected the call from Felicia to the monitors in the VIP restaurant room. "So, about your school, I'm sorry, but you have to go to school in addition to your magical girl duties. The Guardian Command has agreed to mask it as a special offer school."

"Okay."

"That applies to you too, Shining Arrow."

"Yes! As long as I can be together with Black Lily, that's fine!"

"Good. I'm glad that you are good friends."

"Why is Kageyama the one doing this? He isn't Lily's father, right?" Red Flame whispered.

"I sent that coward to work as head of the warehouse somewhere. He won't bother you anymore with the marriage. His wife, though... Osamu got a backlash from the media for running away first, leaving those survivors behind. The media won't let the mayor and your father go easily. The last straw for me was when he decided to leave you. I personally asked him to ensure your safety, but you came here missing an arm and with nasty burn marks. Geez!" He sighed. "Nevertheless, He was merely a human. I don't think he deserves jail time. Even though he got away first, he was treated like a normal citizen. So, no VIP treatment or luxurious room on the ship. That should be enough to let him go."

"Well… I'm sorry, too. I couldn't protect Yuri…" Alice nodded.

*Knock*knock

"Excuse me. Your dish, ratatouille with ham and cheese, is ready. Here is your beverage of lemon juice. Please enjoy." A waiter entered and placed the dishes, then quickly glanced at Kageyama on the monitor before hurrying out, realizing she might have intruded.

"Next on, your popularity has skyrocketed. However, people wondered if Black Lily was contracted under Shirayuki. So, I've arranged a talk show with Snowco journalists. I hope you can accept them."

"Okay." I nodded, "Will you attend too, Shining Arrow?"

"Okay. Hmm… let's see. Ah, there's a patrolling quest near that company! Let's accept it!" Alice said.

Kageyama glared at her and then sighed. "Damn it. I'm going to cancel those patrolling tasks. But they already accepted. Ugh... more costs... never mind. You may accept them. See you at our news station, Shining Arrow, and her team."

The news company was located inside the Shirayuki main branch on the fourth floor. Refusing to take the tube train, I had Edward drive me and the team in a seinjet. However, Sapphire had to sit on Alice's lap because my seinjet only had four seats. It was a matter of stylistic choice.

"Personal Seinjet… moreover, the model ST1500. This one only came out last year and cost almost a million credits," Sapphire muttered as she wiped the window, afraid of leaving dust and grime on the flying car.

"I wonder if we should use the model STXL150 instead? Edward, you can still drive it, right?" my mind wandered to a seinjet used by our MS. That one has a wide compartment and could easily hold ten or twenty people if we exclude any equipment.

"Yes, Black Lily-sama. But that one is beneath your status."

"But it can hold more people. I don't really want to make Sapphire sit on Alice's lap."

"Well, in that case, I will ask Mr. Kageyama to purchase the new ST Long Mobile, or STLM15. It can hold seven passengers excluding the driver."

"Well, that can wait. Snowco is here."

"Greetings! Please come inside, dear Magical Girls and Guardians. My name is Jacob. Thank you for accepting our invitation. It's such a momentous occasion to be able to interview a dark magical girl," he welcomed us into a studio owned by the Shirayukis. The ass-kissing—I mean, the polite and friendly staff—guided us into the interview set, filled with red sofas and a glass table reminiscent of a talk show. Despite being a talk show, there were multiple journalists seated outside the set with their pens ready.

"Before we begin, here is the itinerary for our show. We will be discussing your contract ceremony and your contract with the Shirayuki company," the staff said with a smile.

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"This is troubling," I said. Talking about my contract ceremony would mean discussing how my friend abandoned me, and talking about my contract with Shirayuki would involve discussing my identity as Yuri. The atmosphere went silent immediately.

"Is there anything that doesn't suit your fancy?"

"No, never mind. Let's continue with the interview," I replied, making a mental note to slightly alter the actual circumstances.

"Alright! This is a live interview! If there are any questions you don't want the audience to know the answer to, please drink from this glass. We will cut to a commercial break."

"Are you ready?" the producer asked. The pretty reporters sat beside me as the polite staff left the scene. The journalists across the table all readied their pens.

"Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the Neversnow talk show. I'm Tanya, your lovely host. Today, we have a very, very special guest! Let's give a warm welcome to Magical Girl Black Lily!"

"You can do it, Lily!" Alice cheered me on as I walked onto the stage. The lights shining down on my white hair made it reflect a glaring light. I must have looked like a walking streetlamp in front of the camera. Why did I choose white hair?

"Greetings, Magical Girl Black Lily," she welcomed me to sit on a sofa. Another man was seated across from us. In this kind of talk show, I scanned the man and assumed he might be the representative for the journalists sitting outside the set.

"Hello, Magical Girl, Black Lily here!" I waved to the camera and sat down with a fake smile plastered on my face. I had a job as an actress in the past. Faking a smile is easy.

"So, let's begin! Could you introduce yourself?"

"Yes! My name is Black Lily. I was contracted by my familiar there in New Mesa during usurpations a week ago. It was such a miracle. When I thought I was going to die, My familiar came to me. With her, I became a magical girl and survived the usurpations."

"Wow, miracles do exist after all. It must have been a horrifying experience," the host smiled warmly.

"Ah, was it that infamous emergency contract?" the male journalist sitting on the other side of the sofa finally spoke up.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Could you tell us about your experience? What is it like to be contracted as a magical girl?"

"As I took refuge inside a building, a cat came and spoke to me. She offered me the chance to become a magical girl, and I accepted. Felicia?"

"Nyaa. Hello!" Felicia manifested on my shoulder and hopped onto the table while introducing herself.

"How cute!" the audience cooed.

"I see. Felicia, may I ask you something? I heard emergency contracts are only made under the direst circumstances?"

"Yes, nyaa. She was in a dire situation. She was almost eaten by two Fomorian hounds just a minute after we contracted."

"I see, it truly was dire. My question is, why was Miss Black Lily chosen among two thousand victims in New Mesa? Does the emergency situation affect the candidacy?"

"No. Emergency contracts merely expedite the process. They would become magical girls or guardians regardless," Felicia lied as naturally as she breathed. Emergency contracts mean that the familiar cuts short their inspection of the candidate. It was possible Felicia might have passed me over like other familiars if not for the emergency contract.

"I see. So, Familiar Felicia, what made you choose Black Lily as a magical girl?"

"Black Lily is courageous. Even before we contracted, she had killed an anathema. Moreover, she also saved four people during the anathema attacks."

"Really? Amazing. Please, tell us more!"

"I ran from my school when the attack began. However, the barrier at the shelter was operational. We then ran to another ba—I mean shelter that hadn't erected its barrier yet," I answered. Somehow, My communication skills got rusty from being a magical girl compared to when I was an actress. There was so much information I needed to hide—my school, who I was with, Shirayuki's personal bunker—that it made me stutter.

"Hmm… Your story is intriguing."

"I apologize, but revealing more could compromise my identity."

"Ah, I see. Given that only teenagers can contract and there was only one school in New Mesa, we could potentially narrow down who you are if we knew who was missing. But don't worry, we wouldn't engage in such invasive tactics," the host chuckled lightly."Zenith might be watching after all."

"Of course. Doing so would place you on the Guardian Command's blacklist," Felicia added with a nod, maintaining her smile.

"I'll steer clear of that topic then. Discussing how you contracted could inadvertently reveal your identity. Let's talk about your role as a Magical Girl. I can't help but notice you wear quite a bit of black color in your costume, which is uncommon among Guardians."

"Yes, I am a Dark Origin Magical Girl. There are seven origins, and Magical Girls and Guardians are required to wear colors representative of their origins as the dominant colors in their costumes."

"I see. While it is sometimes obscured by other colors, they do indeed wear their origin's dominant color. It's quite rare to see Black, though. Why is that?"

"Well, I've heard black represents courage. Although I'm not sure how directly it applies to me," I said with a light chuckle.

"Don't sell yourself short, Black Lily. You demonstrated tremendous courage by holding back the monster that devastated the city," Felicia complimented me.

"Thank you, Felicia. Ah, how time flies! Just one more question before we conclude. Is it true that you're contracted with the Shirayuki Company?" The reporter tried to steer the conversation.

"Yes, that's correct."

"And is it an exclusive contract?"

"Y—"say no." Huh?" Felicia suddenly lay on the table and licked its paw while telepathically instructing me to deny exclusivity.

"Magical Girls are prohibited from entering exclusive contracts. This is a potential issue. If you confirm an exclusive contract, Shirayuki Company could face significant repercussions." Felicia said telepathically. I tensed as I addressed the journalist.

"Ahem. Sorry, I've actually signed a non-exclusive contract with Shirayuki Company."

"I see. May I ask if you have considered your affiliation carefully? There are other options."

"Why do you ask?"

"You're from New Mesa, correct? Were you aware that a branch family of Shirayuki, led by Osamu Shirayuki, fled at the first sign of trouble? The mayor did as well. All the VIPs ran like cowards," the journalist said accusingly, his words dripping with disdain. "Furthermore, did you know about the two thousand people who died in that incident? Two thousand lives were lost. Many say the cause was due to shoddy construction by Shirayuki. Should you really be aligning with such a corrupt company?"

His words stung sharply. I glared at such a ridiculous accusation. Before I could reply, the reporter interrupted me. She was from Shirayuki, so she should support us.

"Um, I think you're crossing a line. While it's true that Mayor John and Osamu Shirayuki evacuated, they wouldn't have been much use at the shelter—they aren't Magical Guardians or even Magical Soldiers. And yes, it's tragic that 2,000 people died, but it's also important to recognize that over 7,700 people from New Mesa were saved due to their effort coordinating MG from Eden and the ferry. When you look at other failed frontier projects, where barely anyone survived, that's a significant achievement," the host interjected, providing a counterpoint. I tilted my head, gauging their reactions.

"Ahh, this man and those journalists standing by are employed by a rival of Shirayuki; that's why they're trying to tarnish our reputation. None of these people were really neutral." My thoughts were finally clear about why Kageyama asked me here.

"The other failed city projects were disastrous because there were no Magical Girls present! But New Mesa had three, four including you."

"Only four, you mean. And yet, there were over 30 usurpations there!"

"They shouldn't even be there—" Warning!"" A siren resounded, cutting the debate between our host and the journalist

SYSTEM WARNING

Anathema Emergence detected. Reality Usurpation imminent.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Emergency shelters have been opened. Please make your way to the nearest shelter by following the arrows on the ground. Remain calm and proceed in an orderly fashion.

REMINDER: Once a shelter’s emergency shielding is enabled, it cannot be disabled without proper authorization. Do NOT manually activate unless under immediate threat of breach and the auto-engage systems fail!

Estimated time until Usurpation: 59:59