Part 15:

Meru?: Thank you very much! "I" (watashi) am grateful for the help.

Mifuyu: --?!

Mifuyu: Look out! Kanagi-san!

Fake Meru: And for letting me deceive you.

Kanagi: You...

Fake Meru: Aha! You can't get away from me at this distance.

Kanagi: That goes for you, too, fake.

Kanagi: Haaa!

Fake Meru: Ah... uuu... w-why... did you know...

Kanagi: Because Azusa said she "felt uncomfortable", I was being observant.

Kanagi: I didn't even have to read your heart to know.

Kanagi: Anna doesn't say "I" (watashi), she says "I" (boku).

Fake Meru: Aha!... Tooo baaad...

Mifuyu: Thank goodness...! For a moment I thought you were in trouble...

Kanagi: If it weren't for your words, Azusa, I may have been.

Kanagi: You've helped me out once again.

Yachiyo: I wasn't prepared... since she was being attacked, I thought she was the real one...

Momoko: Me too... I didn't question it at all...

Tsuruno?: There! They're over there! Meru, over there!

Meru?: Everyone, are you okay? We're totally worn out...

Momoko: Meru and Tsuruno again?!

Yachiyo: ...Do you think these two are fakes as well?

Tsuruno?: Oh, could it be that you're doubting us?

Meru?: How rude! I'm the real Meru!

Meru?: Ah! Since you say that, how do we know you're not the fakes?!

Momoko: ...They seem real.

Yachiyo: ...They sure do.

Kanagi: I'll read their hearts. That'll be a lot faster.

Meru: Like I told you, I'm real!

Kanagi: Don't get all huffy. This is just to make sure.

Meru: No! I'm mad! I *am* huffy!

Yachiyo: ..For being so exhausted she's quite full of energy, wouldn't you say? Even though we're in a barrier...

Momoko: When you think how Meru acts, this is definitely how Meru acts...

Tsuruno: She was really the tense the whole time we were looking for you...

Tsuruno: So I'm sure she's very relieved!

Kanagi: More important, what shall we do now?

Yachiyo: Meaning should we continue or should we withdraw, right?

Mifuyu: I... think we should withdraw.

Mifuyu: Everyone's exhausted, after all.

Mifuyu: And more than anything, we haven't found any clues how to get to the witch.

Mifuyu: Since we've learned the source of the attacks, so I think we should end our investigation here.

Kanagi: ...Mmm, if we overpursue, none of this will matter if we're defeated.

Yachiyo: ...That's right. Let's evacuate.

------

Part 16:

Meru: We're out! It's completely dark, but it's somehow really refreshing!

Tsuruno: Haaa, it's like the air has a nice flavor to it, doesn't it!

Mifuyu: Heh heh, it does, huh?

Momoko: But still, not even being able to reach the witch with a lineup like we had...

Momoko: That's pretty bad.

Yachiyo: ...It's just going to take a ton of time to explore this barrier.

Yachiyo: Fortunately, it seems to be pretty benign if nobody goes inside, at least.

Mifuyu: We've got a new issue, but we've achieved the main goal we had.

Kanagi: That's right. We've clearly discovered that the culprit of the attacks was a witch.

Kanagi: It'll be quite tricky to get the magical girls to accept that as fact, though...

Mifuyu: True... but let's be patient and persistent about it.

Yachiyo: Yes... but a basic settlement will still be difficult.

Yachiyo: There's nothing we can do about the fact that there aren't enough witches... aren't enough grief seeds.

Yachiyo: If we're unable to figure that out, we won't even be able to hold our own sides together...

Kanagi: There's unrest in the Westside, eh?

Yachiyo: ...It's the same on your side, isn't it?

Kanagi: ...I can't deny it.

Mifuyu: But at this rate...

Mifuyu: More magical girls will try to take over territory in the Central Ward.

Mifuyu: I can't accept any more being done against the magical girls of the Central Ward.

Kanagi: That's certainly true...

Yachiyo: But if all we do is prohibit it, there'll be more girls who just break that prohibition...

Kanagi: ...What about putting some kind of condition on it?

Mifuyu: Condition?

Kanagi: To negotiate with the Central Ward.

Kanagi: But something difficult enough that not just anyone could waltz in and do it.

Mifuyu: ...If that's the case, what about defeating the witch that was the cause of all this?

Yachiyo: Defeating that witch?

Yachiyo: ...That certainly wouldn't be easy.

Mifuyu: Yes, and it's also "the source of this current conflict."

Kanagi: ...Mmm, whoever takes out the source of the problem gets the rights to negotiate here.

Kanagi: It makes perfect sense.

Mifuyu: We also will need to get the people of the Central Ward to accept it...

Kanagi: To be clear, it's the right to negotiate, not the right to control.

Yachiyo: I think all we'll need to do to get them to concede that is to talk to them.

Mifuyu: ...Indeed. And also, until the witch has been exterminated...

Mifuyu: We should guarantee the security of the Central Ward magical girls.

Mifuyu: And we will also need to decide how to pay reparations for damage that was done during this.

Mifuyu: And also... we will need to come up with an agreement to clearly define punishments...

Mifuyu: ...for anyone who breaks the pact regarding the rights of the Central Ward.

Yachiyo: ...You're being awfully proactive about this, Mifuyu.

Mifuyu: I'm trying to make it up with my actions to someone whose trust I betrayed.

Kanagi: ...I have no objections. We have a deal.

Yachiyo: All right. We'll leave the details to another day.

Yachiyo: Since we're going to need to hear and consider the opinion of the Central Ward, as well.

Mifuyu: ...We should also all think about one more thing.

Mifuyu: How we can prevent something like this from happening again.

Mifuyu: By deciding, as magical girls, what we ought to be...

Yachiyo: ...You're right.

Kanagi: ...Aye, let's learn from our mistakes on this.

------

(Later, the witch behind all this was led to an abandoned building on the Eastside using its nature of being attracted to mirrors.)

(A supervisory role was created to keep regular people from getting too close.)

(By doing this... while people still had gripes over various things, it ended this series of uprisings.)

Kanagi: Azusa, may I have a moment?

Mifuyu: What is it?

Kanagi: You really helped me out inside that barrier.

Kanagi: First off, I'd like to restate my gratitude to you for that.

Mifuyu: Please, don't worry about it so much.

Kanagi: Obligation is obligation. Leaving it unpaid isn't in my nature.

Kanagi: Is there any specific way you want me to repay you for your help?

Mifuyu: Eh... you really don't have to go that far...

Mifuyu: ...No, that's the kind of person you are.

Kanagi: Aye. I told you I'd definitely pay you back, didn't I?

Mifuyu: ......

Mifuyu: Then, if... if there's a time I'm no longer around...

Mifuyu: I want you to help Yacchan if she's ever in trouble.

Kanagi: Help Nanami?

Mifuyu: Yes. Please and thank you.

Kanagi: ...I understand. It's a promise.

Mifuyu: ......

(I don't want to acknowledge it, but... my powers may be weakening.)

(If, in the future, I no longer am able to fight, if I am no longer able to be by Yacchan's side...)

(...If there's someone who will be able to lend her powers to Yacchan, then...)