MHGA Chapter 363: Ominous Clouds over Mitakihara, Akemi's Wrath Pierces the Sky
At this moment, Kairo Retsu and Madoka Kaname were still unaware that Homura Akemi had already pinned the blame for Madoka's disappearance entirely on Kyubey.
And Kyubey, for its part, was extremely puzzled.
It had only just locked onto Madoka—a girl bearing immense karmic potential—when she suddenly vanished on her way to school. Despite scouring the entire city, the Kyubey units could not detect her presence at all.
And then, only a single day later, everything changed.
A mysterious magical girl suddenly began a frenzied hunt for Kyubey.
Launching indiscriminate attacks regardless of cost, she left the Kyubey units across Mitakihara City completely stunned.
The scene was utterly…
"Ominous clouds loom over Mitakihara City, and Akemi's wrath pierces the heavens."
But setting aside the now-enraged Homura Akemi for the moment—Kairo Retsu had already brought Madoka back to Mitakihara City.
Regardless of whether the Hunters could fabricate a plausible explanation for Madoka's disappearance, the priority was getting her home first.
"…Should've brought Kazuma with us in a situation like this."
As Kairo Retsu walked with Madoka toward her house, he muttered, "This sort of situation, needing to apologize and atone—obviously Kazuma's specialty. A single prostration and all is forgiven…"
"Sure, in all kinds of shows, you see middle schoolers, high schoolers, even grade-schoolers not studying at all—either saving the world, playing card games, spinning tops, or messing with weird gadgets—but that can't be allowed at our Gathering Hub!"
"Cultural workers must be cultured! Students should be in school studying properly!" Kairo Retsu went on with his old-man-like nagging right beside Madoka. "This magical girl stuff, or becoming a hero… That's not a real résumé you can bring to a job interview!"
Madoka walked beside him, listening to the rambling. Though she understood his concern for Gathering members, his words were… maybe just a bit too realistic.
When they finally reached her front door, the worried voices of Madoka's parents could already be heard from inside the house.
Clearly, they were still frantically searching for their missing daughter.
Then—
The front door flew open, and Madoka's mother rushed out—spotting her daughter at the doorstep.
"Madoka!"
She immediately embraced her, checking her over in a panic.
"You're okay? Are you hurt? Were you hungry? What happened…"
Only then did she notice the awkwardly nose-scratching Kairo Retsu standing off to the side.
Roughly ten minutes later, Kairo Retsu sat at the family's table across from Madoka's parents, giving them the fabricated explanation the Hunters had prepared.
"So you're saying… Madoka was walking down the street, a little white animal ran out in front of her, and she tripped and hit her head, passed out, and was taken to a clinic?"
Madoka's mother looked skeptical, reaching out to gently part her daughter's bangs. Sure enough, there was a small, already-treated bump.
Kairo Retsu discreetly swallowed a nervous gulp.
The bump was real—he had made sure of that himself, for the sake of the cover story.
Of course, as the Guildmaster, Kairo Retsu would never lay hands on a party member. He hadn't hit Madoka.
Instead, he'd found an excuse to get into one of his usual scraps with Kazuma, and then asked the Military Uniform Princess to use her All-Embracing Infinity to reverse the causality of a bump on Kazuma's head—transferring it to Madoka's.
Scrapping with Kazuma? That hardly counts as assaulting a fellow member—it was practically a daily routine! The guy was always plotting to overthrow the Guildmaster anyway!
"Recently, there've been more wild animals in the city… especially those strange white ones," Kairo Retsu said as he fished out an official-looking (but forged) clinic report prepared by the Creator World authorities and placed it on the table.
"Kaname-san's physical condition is fine—other than the bump, she's in perfect health."
"I'm very sorry we weren't able to contact you sooner. It must have caused you a lot of worry."
He added with an apologetic bow, "Now that she's safely home, I won't intrude further. As for the clinic fee…"
"Thank you for taking Madoka to the clinic," her father said gratefully, clasping Kairo Retsu's hand. "We'll cover the cost. Please, if possible, let us have a way to contact you."
Her mother also expressed her gratitude after examining the report. Ultimately, despite some protest, Kairo Retsu left the Kaname household with the completely fictitious clinic fee they insisted on handing him.
"More or less passed inspection…"
Kairo Retsu exhaled deeply once outside.
But the unease on his face didn't fade.
The day Madoka had lost… wasn't just any day. It was the day she and Homura first met. It was also the day she and Sayaka encountered their first Witch, and were saved by Mami Tomoe.
"Well… it's already completely derailed. No point trying to follow the script now, is there?"
Ruffling his hair, Kairo Retsu called out for the Winged Lion.
"Hm?"
The creature shimmered into view from thin air, landing lightly on his shoulder in a compact form, curling up lazily.
"Need my help?"
"Yeah. First…" Kairo Retsu licked his dry lips. "What's your read on this world? Can you help me pinpoint the Witches in the city?"
"Feels the same as usual." The Winged Lion yawned, the infinity symbol glowing faintly in its pupils. "I'm curious what kind of beings these Witches are anyway. Weren't they all once magical girls?"
Stretching out a paw, it pointed in one direction.
"No idea which signals are Witches, but the closest one's that way. 3,540 meters."
"Hunting requires intel. First, we need to capture a Witch for study."
Without hesitation, Kairo Retsu sprinted in the indicated direction.
"The Felynes are drafting a full map of Mitakihara and plotting installation points for Wyvern Restraints…"
"As long as you give a Hunter the right intel and prep—"
"—even if it's the gods themselves, we'll hunt 'em down!"
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