Air-Type Magical Girl

(Bai Ziye)

Like a child with a new toy, A-Yao couldn't wait to show off her magic to me.

"So, your ability is to turn the air into these... air sacs?"

Wielding a magic wand inlaid with a red ruby, she filled the entire living room with the bubbles she conjured. Though no amount of pressing could pop them, they were mushy and completely lacked offensive power. They were much better suited for use as pillows than for combat.

Just like A-Yao.

Not only was she soft herself, but her ability as a magical girl was also soft and squishy.

"An air-type magical girl, you might just be the first... but how do you plan to fight monsters with this kind of ability?"

"Haven't thought about it yet, but I can also do this!"

She waved her wand at me.

A clear magic membrane emerged around me, and then, like a blown-up bubble, this layer of membrane expanded into a circular bubble slightly larger than my body.

Then, this bubble floated up lightly.

"Oh? Is the internal weight ignored?"

Just like using a balloon to lift an iron block while the balloon still floats, A-Yao's ability was to make the weight of the iron block vanish.

Not only that, but I, inside the bubble, was also in a state of weightlessness. In other words, external gravity similarly could not affect the inside of the bubble.

"Yep! Though they're soft, the bubbles I create are all quite sturdy. This afternoon, I asked a magical girl at the Association to help test their strength. Whether from the inside or the outside, it takes quite a bit of effort to break them, so they'll be really useful for rescuing people who don't have time to evacuate."

Looking at it this way, this ability was actually quite impressive. She didn't seem to consume much magic power either, making it a pretty formidable defensive ability.

But defensive ability alone wasn't enough.

"Then how are you going to use this move to fight monsters?"

"My current idea is to trap the monster first, and then keep stacking more bubbles on it!"

"That's just a restrictive method, you can't really call it an attack, can you?"

A-Yao gripped her wand and answered with a little pout, "And then... let the monster die of hypoxia."

"...That sounds cruel, but do monsters even really need to breathe?"

Take that stone monster from the afternoon, for instance. It didn't even have facial features, so one naturally couldn't deduce things using carbon-based lifeform logic.

"But I really can only conjure this kind of bubble, ugh."

A-Yao scratched her head, looking quite distressed.

I could certainly offer some advice from the perspective of a veteran magical girl, but as Bai Ziye, I couldn't just say those things.

"The application of magic is always slowly figured out and practiced through combat. Other magical girls definitely went through the same thing, you don't need to rush~"

She seemed quite happy when I put it that way.

"Oh! Even though you spend all day saying you aren't interested in magical girls, it turns out you can still say pretty nice things! You're right, Yezi, the ones who can grow through combat are the real magical girls!"

I had no idea what on earth she was getting so emotional about.

Yet as "Magical Girl Miluno", I didn't share that resonance.

I had been a magical girl for a year, and had been through over a dozen battles, but I simply hadn't encountered a single monster that couldn't be resolved in one turn.

Growth?

I'd rather these External Invaders made some actual progress.

I patted the inner wall of the bubble.

"Let me out first."

She released the bubble, and I was once again bound by Earth's gravity.

"If you're going to stay here, I'll go tidy up the guest room first."

"There's no need to go through all that trouble. Wouldn't it be fine to sleep together like we used to? We could play a bit of Monster Hunter before bed! I made a brand new weapon this afternoon and I haven't tried it out yet!"

"...Sleep together?"

"Yeah! Is that not okay?"

This blockhead, even though she had just emphasized that she was a girl now, completely lost all self-awareness the moment games were brought up, and even fished an NS out of her own backpack, flashing a dense, otaku-specific grin.

I pressed a hand to my forehead and shook my head.

"A-Yao, are there some things that require me to remind you? You're a magical girl now, a girl. How could we possibly sleep together?"

"Um, I suppose that's true, I'm a girl now."

A-Yao lowered her head and looked down at her current self.

I figured she probably couldn't even see her own toes.

"Yezi."

"Hmm?"

"Um, can I, can I borrow your bathroom to take a shower?"

This guy's thoughts were far too easy to guess, completely devoid of any attempt at concealment.

Of course, I fully understood her curiosity about a female body. If you asked why... well, because back when I first transformed into Miluno, I was narcissistic for a period of time too.

"Go ahead, use the one in my room. The water heater is on."

I pointed in the direction of the bedroom, then reminded her, "It's your own body now after all, remember to do it in moderation."

Her face flushed red instantly.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I just want to take a shower! You're the worst!"

Muttering grumpily, A-Yao ran into the small washroom inside my bedroom. I didn't stay idle either, getting up to clean the guest room.

As a result, the moment I pushed open the door, I was dumbfounded.

"Ugh, so dirty."

Because the guest room was never used, I couldn't be bothered to clean it, and there was bound to be some dust... but I never expected it to be this filthy. Just patting the bedspread would kick up dust clouds resembling smoke bombs.

I also found the reason it was so filthy.

The window hadn't been closed, allowing dust to blow in like this for over a month.

"...This is way too dirty."

There was no way anyone could live in this state; a thorough cleaning was absolutely necessary.

To get it spotless before A-Yao finished her shower, I might need to use a cheat.

Bringing all the cleaning tools into the room, I locked the door from the inside and retrieved the dark golden Star Crystal from my wristband.

As the source of a magical girl's power, the origin of the Star Crystal was untraceable.

However, a rather romantic legend was widely circulated.

The Star Crystal was the will of the stars, sent to help Earth resist external invasions;

Every single crystal symbolized a star in the night sky;

Stars, planets, satellites, and even comets;

Whenever the starlight reached Earth, the Star Crystal would descend and seek out a suitable person to become a magical girl.

"Then which planet does my crystal represent? Star Platinum?"

Muttering to myself, the crystal transformed into a stream of light that fell into the back of my hand.

Magical Girl Miluno, making a brilliant debut!

I tried striking a transformation pose, but it didn't seem to suit me.

--Time-Freeze--

In an instant, everything in this world except for me slowed down.

Magic or techniques didn't have to be shouted out loud to be used; launching them silently like this was entirely OK. It was just that certain things were treated as unwritten industry rules, though there were magical girls who didn't follow them.

For instance, Miss Heat Haze wouldn't shout "Fire Phosphor! Fire Phosphor!", because that would be rather foolish.

"Alright~ Cleaning! Cleaning!"

I rolled up my shirtsleeves, grabbed a broom, and began the cleaning operation.

Ever since acquiring this Star Crystal, utilizing a magical girl's power like this in daily life had become the norm.

Of course, everyday life at most utilized triple flow speed, otherwise, it was very easy to accidentally break things.

Entering combat could further increase one's own time flow speed, but the air after deceleration would become excessively heavy, placing too much burden on the body and potentially causing the mind to become sluggish, thereby producing various side effects.

Therefore, tenfold was the upper limit I had set for myself.

Yet even maintaining a tenfold flow speed for too long would cause muscle fatigue.

Until the cleaning was finished.

About an hour had passed for me, but in reality, only twenty minutes had gone by.

The sound of water in the washroom stopped, much faster than I expected.

I canceled my transformation and shoved the Star Crystal back into my wristband.

"Yezi, where are you?"

Hearing A-Yao's voice, I replied, "I'm cleaning the guest bedroom for you."

Peeking my head out to glance at my bedroom, I saw her running out of the washroom wrapped in nothing but a bath towel.

I pulled my head back in...

"Hey! That outfit of yours is way too provocative!"

She was so completely devoid of self-awareness that I started wondering if she was doing it on purpose.

She even asked, "Say, do you have any clothes in your wardrobe you don't want? I'm going to go check out your room, you keep cleaning!"

"Small matter, just pick whatever you like."

"It is totally not a small deal! If I wear it, it'll definitely get stretched out..."

Just as she said that, I suddenly realized something.

"Wait!"

Inside my wardrobe.

There were "things" sitting there that could expose my identity.

"You can't open it!"

When I rushed back to the bedroom, A-Yao had already pulled open the wardrobe and stood there dumbfounded.

No!!