Chương 65: Interlude: The Loot

Earlier Meiko—who unbeknownst to most, but knownst to you the readers, was actually secretly Dark Magical Girl Phantom Thief Night Raider—calmly pushed her cart full of food and a statue through the Old Earth Museum, offering food and drinks to anyone who passed by. Since most people had already eaten, people refused, but it gave her a reason to be moving around the statue as she looked around at the various displays.

Most of the exhibits consisted of artifacts that had been on the Frilly Pink Fortress of Friendship, inside cases filled with inert gasses to keep them from deteriorating, usually accompanied by replicas of the item in question for visitors to handle. All the museum's rooms were full of big sisters, although there were a few little sisters like her here and there.

She nodded to a fellow little sister whose name she didn't know—and didn't ask Oscar to ping to find out—carrying a large back-mounted thermos, and there was a brief moment mutual appreciation for mobile food logistics equipment. Then they both passed each other, the other girl asking big sisters if they wanted iced leadberry juice.

She passed by another display of computers made specifically to play games on, which included a collection of disks and chips that contained the actual data for the games in question, taking a moment to appreciate the colorful artwork decorating the latter. Meiko considered them for a moment, since the disks and chips were small and easily carried, but decided that was a bad idea.

They were too delicate, however, and not something they could safely steal, since there was a high chance they'd get damaged in the process. Best to stick to the idea she'd had already. Aware of how time was ticking away before big sis Leah started their distraction, Meiko forced herself not to hurry towards her destination. She was delivering food to people. That wasn't something that meant she needed to worry. One foot after the other as she pushed her cart…

Eventually, she reached the hall of weapons, which contained all the weapons that other magical girls had left aboard the Frilly Pink Fortress Of Friendship before it had been strategically transferred entirely to an alternate location.

There were few guns—anything but hunting rifles were difficult to get in Japan, and many magical girls had other means to be more damaging—and most of them had been old and scuffed centuries ago, although there was a laser pistol that looked like it someone had very carefully modernized it before it had been lost with the fortress. Most of the weapons were actually random odds and ends that were being used as makeshift weapons.

The exhibit dedicated to Corona showed a wide array of stainless steel balls, from 10 to 50 mm in diameter, as well as concrete chisels, lengths of heavy chain, javelin-sized lengths of inch-thick sharpened rebar, crowbars of various sizes, and several disk-shaped barbell weights. Some of the latter had stickers that read 'Outguard gym room only, put this back where you found it Corona!' Meiko's goal was next to it.

It was a smaller display, and compared to some of the others around it—like the one with one of the few actual guns as well pipe bomb components and flashbangs, or the one with a stylized fully-functional tanegashima—it wasn't all that visually impressive. There were a pair of a metal buckets that had clearly been used for carrying cement at one point, full of rusty nails and metal offcuts, all submerged in a transparent oil to keep it from rusting.

Three pocket-sized balisong, the knives fitted with polished wood and brass fittings, the edges slightly chipped from use. A larger pair, both about 70cm with all-metal construction, complete with little guards that prevented another blade from sliding down its length. A pair of tanto-style knives that according to the picture next to them were meant to sheathe into each other to form a wooden baton.

A heavy bladed itak, the single-edged machete wider near the tip, with a matching wooden sheath that looked it had been very lazily made. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. On the side of the badly-made sheath was the kanji for 'maple' in some kind of black ink.

In front of the display was a table with replicas of the blades, as well as an explanatory plaque about how the bucket of rusty metal was in case Kaede needed to deal with western yokai called 'fairies', who were allergic to iron and iron compounds. Meiko would have to check her story book later to see if there was a story about that. She stopped for a moment, letting go of her cart and reaching out to pick up one of the balisong replicas, hefting it in her hands to get a feel for the weight.

Using her thumb to flick up the simple lock that kept the knife closed, Meiko did the same practiced flick and spin that she used to open up her comb, feeling the other half of the handle slap into place with a satisfying 'clack'. The actual blade was blunt and dulled, in case very little sisters picked it up. Another flick, and the balisong was folded again, and Meiko eyed the big one, wondering if she could flick it open too… No, better not.

She reached under her coat and pulled out Oscar from where he was hanging from a lanyard around her neck, aiming his sensor at the display and taking a picture, then sending it to big sis Leah. Then she turned and started pushing her cart away, asking if anyone wanted food even as she looked around for a place to hide. Now Meiko hadn't been the only one who'd started moving when the loud bangs, tearing metal, and general excitement started, though she was the only one with a cart to push.

She had to move carefully, even as she tried to hurry towards where it seemed big sis Leah was, because a cart half full of food was heavy and had a lot of mass. It had to go slowly down the halls or else it might hurt someone or not be able to turn enough to keep from slamming into something. Unfortunately, that meant she was blocking the hallway. Not all of it, as the cart took up less than half its width.

But with all the glowing vennplates on the walls, the vennplates in front of doors, all the large framed pictures that the cart might hit if it got to close to them, and the occasional bench, potted plant and water fountain, she had to keep the cart in the middle of the hall to avoid hitting any of them. It didn't slow the rushing big sisters all that much, but it did cause them to slow, hopefully keeping big sis Leah from getting overwhelmed.

Meiko had tried to ascertain where she and Hunter were, but all the metal wall panels meant she couldn't use radar, and sensor in Oscar's chassis couldn't pierce through the interference since they still had only basic hardware. Oscar was able to give her a direction from the buddy network but it was taxing on his hardware since he wasn't a very mature spirit yet, and still did most of his thinking with his electronics. Fortunately, Meiko wasn't trying to get to her. She had her own mission.

The room of display she'd been in earlier was now almost completely empty, the only big sisters inside no longer trying to maintain barriers over the doors and windows. She stepped inside, still pushing her cart, aware that big sisters were glancing towards her.

However, instead of trying to cross the room, Meiko stopped once she was some distance from the doors she'd come in through and let out a tired groan, letting herself be tired as she sat down on the ground atop a little cushion of vennfluid as she visibly tried to catch her breath. This wasn't all an act, as she was kind of pretty tired from being on her feet and pushing her cart for most of the night. She really wanted to sleep, and she let that show, leaning back against her cart and closing her eyes.

She really hoped big sis got here soon. Twenty-one minutes after the heist had begun, big sis Leah crashed through the far wall of the exhibit room, a horde of big sisters rushing after her. Meiko let out a sigh. Now, she just had to wait…