Magical Girl? I Was Scammed Into It!

Volume 1: How I Was Scammed into Becoming a Magical Girl: Magical Girl Factions

The beam of magic tore through the restroom wall and shot into the sky, forming a pillar of red light that gleamed beneath the dim heavens.

Once the magic had completely dispersed into the air, Ando Meiko, feeling as though her body had been hollowed out, crouched on the ground with the support of her wand and panted heavily.

"Honestly, Master, you should at least pay attention to how much magic you're gathering."

"Huh? How was I supposed to pay attention? It was my first time using magic at all. I think I did pretty amazingly."

She argued back at Ruby, but when she raised her head, she saw that the only thing left of the entire restroom was the doorframe. Everything inside, including the walls above, below, left, and right, had been blasted to pieces by the torrent of magic.

She admitted that Ruby was right—she had overdone it. But the problem was that she had no idea how to control the amount of magic she released.

She had simply kept gathering it until it was so full that she could no longer control it, then released it all at once.

"But what on earth did Master think of to unleash a light cannon that powerful?"

"Don't worry about it. It worked, didn't it?"

"That's true, but Master should probably give that skill a name. A named skill can leave behind a skill impression, making it much easier to cast next time."

"I'll call it Silver Impact."

"But that light wasn't even white."

"Why do you care?"

Now that she had finally dealt with that Void Beast, her mood gradually calmed down.

"Master, remember to find a place where nobody is around before going out, or else..."

She could roughly guess what Ruby meant. The Material World and the Void had identical structures, so whether she returned to the Material World from the Void or entered the Void from the Material World, she should appear in the same location.

If she opened a door and stepped out in front of a crowd, everyone would see her.

Her daily life was already chaotic enough. If she added fuel to the fire, she figured she might start thinking, Maybe I should just move to another planet.

Although that thought had crossed her mind countless times since becoming a girl, she never held back when it came time to complain.

Since the school was holding events everywhere today and she had no idea where people might be, she simply chose to walk home through the Void World.

After all, the building layouts of the Reality World and the Void World were basically identical.

"Come to think of it, this place is really deserted. I've been walking through the Void World, but I haven't seen a single Void Beast."

"The Void Beasts in this city have probably all been hunted by other Magical Girls. After all, you need to gather enough Aether to audience the Great Will. Because of the Magical Girls' hunting, the weaker Void Beasts have likely all gone into hiding."

"That's a thing? Then why was there one near the school?"

"Then Master should be careful. You're quite the delicacy right now."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Magical Girls are tangible Ether Bodies, so they're also the best possible nourishment for Void Beasts. The roles of hunter and prey are always changing, and compared to other Magical Girls, Master's body still retains some human qualities."

She had been forcibly dragged into the Void World because her body was half Ether Body, and now she had become a so-called delicacy for the very same reason.

She had no idea when she would finally become a complete Ether Body and escape all these troublesome problems.

Seeing Ando Meiko fall silent, Ruby continued, "It's like needing to replenish sugar. Would you choose a glucose drip, or would you choose to eat a meal?"

Now that Ruby had put it that way, she understood. To a Void Beast, her current body was like rice mixed with sauce. No wonder even such a weak Void Beast had abandoned hiding to come out for a meal.

But was this really okay? I'm walking through the Void World right now. Home isn't far, but there's no guarantee a Void Beast won't ambush me along the way, right?

"By the way, Ruby."

"Hm? What is it, Master? Want to get naughty here? That would be great. There's nobody around, even in broad daylight..."

This trashy wand was getting completely out of hand. Ando Meiko had only just started thinking a little better of her, and she immediately started spouting this pointless nonsense again.

Ando Meiko clicked her tongue, then tossed the wand in her hand to the ground before Ruby could react and stomped on it again and again.

"Eek! Stop, Master, so suddenly! Aahhh!" Only after venting a little did she allow Ruby to change from a wand back into human form.

Ruby's human form was rather comical at the moment, with her bruised and swollen face.

"Ask whatever you want, Master..." Only after seeing Ruby restrain herself a little did she nod in satisfaction.

That was more like it. If someone was asking for a beating, a good beating was all it took.

"You said Sunstone-type Magical Girls fight through imagination. Does that mean there are other Magical Girl factions too?"

"Hm? Master has finally decided to become an outstanding Magical Girl, right?"

"I'm just curious."

"Tch." Ruby pouted unhappily. "Yes, there are three Magical Girl factions in total."

"Besides Sunstone-type Magical Girls, there are also Starry Magical Girls and Azure Magical Girls, corresponding to the earth, sky, and ocean of Earth."

According to Ruby, Starry Magical Girls used the Starry Deck. Every Magical Girl possessed a different deck of cards, and their magic came in the form of exclusive cards that could be scanned and cast at any time.

Azure Magical Girls all possessed support-type magic, and only they could apply supportive magic to others.

Although they were not very strong in combat themselves, they possessed a special ability that other Magical Girls lacked to make up for that weakness.

That was the Demon-Binding Contract.

A Demon-Binding Contract could establish a special master-servant relationship with Aether creatures, turning them into familiars. Support magic applied to familiars bound through a Demon-Binding Contract could unleash double or even triple the effect.

Controlling familiars and strengthening familiars—those were the main ways Azure Magical Girls fought.

Compared to the Magical Girls of the other two factions, Radiant Stone Magical Girls were the most unusual.

The magic they cast had to be shaped through impressions in their minds, corresponding to the malleability of raw gemstones. Because of that, Sunstone-type Magical Girls were the only ones capable of changing the battlefield through improvisation and creating miracles.

That was what Ruby said, but...

Ando Meiko was not happy in the slightest. It sounded like the strongest faction, but if your imagination was not rich enough, then it was the weakest.

That was right. She herself was the best example.

Besides, she had no intention of doing anything special. Maintaining the status quo was fine. She had never planned to step into this dangerous world in the first place.

She just had not expected a mere small fry to drag her into the Void World so easily and force her into battle.

Pushing the chaotic thoughts from her mind, she continued walking home.

Other than the lack of people, the route home was exactly the same as usual after school. As she chatted with Ruby about meaningless things, she returned to her room before she knew it.

"Open, Gate to the Mortal World."

Volume 1: How I Was Scammed into Becoming a Magical Girl: But I Mind!

Passing through the door that opened from the Void, Ando Meiko returned to the Reality World and transformed back in her familiar room.

A sudden wave of foul stench made her cover her nose instinctively.

"That Void Beast's saliva actually dissolved my clothes. It must be highly corrosive or something. And it stinks so badly... But where's Nanako? Why isn't Nanako in the room?"

"Oh no, could it be..."

After casually tossing Ruby onto the bed, she ran toward the living room. The moment she opened the door, a person, an Evil God hatchling, and a cat all looked at her at the same time.

"Huh? When did Meizi get back? There wasn't even any sound outside."

Nanako was watching a variety show with Fuko, while Yue was lying obediently beside them. Seeing such a warm scene, the stone in her heart finally fell away.

As long as Nanako was fine and had not revealed her true form in front of Fuko, there was no major problem.

"Maybe the TV was too loud."

"That must be it."

"Anyway, I'm going to take a shower first."

"Okay~"

Her body reeked of Void Beast saliva, and her patience had already reached its limit. Once she reached the bathroom, she quickly stripped naked and began washing herself.

"It stinks so badly. Why won't it wash off? Does Void Beast saliva come in oil-based and water-based varieties or something?"

Not long after, the bathroom stall door suddenly opened, followed by a deliberately sultry voice that drifted through the entire bathroom.

"Master, I'm coming in."

"Wait, I'm not done washing yet!"

Ruby ignored the protesting tone in her voice and directly opened the bathroom door instead.

"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you coming in without permission!?"

"I came to scrub Master's back."

"No need. I can handle it myself!"

"Come on, we're both girls now. Besides, I don't mind, so what are you afraid of, Master?"

"But I mind!"

The clothes on Ruby's body instantly dissolved into magic and vanished. She barged in without giving her any say, walked behind Ando Meiko, grabbed another stool, and sat down without caring whether she resisted.

Ando Meiko was pushed into the seat in front of her. Ruby soaked her body with the showerhead, then picked up the body wash.

"Let me fulfill my duties as a wand once in a while and serve Master properly."

"Hmph. As long as you don't cause me any more trouble, we can talk."

Though she was still reluctant, Ruby had already made preparations, so she decided to let her have her way once or twice.

"Oops, my hand slipped."

Hearing that affected cry, Ando Meiko was about to turn around and take a look, but the pressure that followed interrupted her movement.

"Master, your skin is so lovely. Fair and firm—I'm jealous just looking at it."

Th-This... That damn Ruby was causing trouble again?

No, I have to get out of here...

Who knew whether Ruby would push her luck and pull some other stunt next?

To her now, the bathroom was hell, and Ruby was the Evil Ghost shoving her into a vat of boiling oil.

She pushed Ruby's hand away, stood up, and prepared to grab a towel and flee the bathroom. This should have been fine, but that damned soap appeared again!

Not only her—even Ruby was dragged off her stool by the movement. Both of them fell in the same direction, and she did not dare imagine what would happen next.

Her first kiss... was gone...

While she was still grieving the loss of something precious, Ruby's next action dragged her back to reality.

No, wait... Why are you sticking that thing in here!?

"Mmph... S-sto..."

At that moment, Ando Meiko could not even pronounce the simplest words clearly.

This was supposed to be something every boy chased after. Why, why did I feel so humiliated? Had my heart already stopped being the pure heart I once had?

After who knew how long, Ruby finally withdrew her mouth. Ando Meiko raised her head and met her eyes, tears of humiliation streaming from the corners of her eyes.

It was gone... The first kiss I had always wanted to save for Rei was gone.

Ruby looked at Ando Meiko, whose tears would not stop falling, and a trace of apology appeared on her face.

"I'm sorry, Master. I just thought, since things had gotten this far, I might as well try what kissing feels like. And besides, Master became a girl, didn't you...? I don't mind, so why would a former boy like you be scared...?"

Ruby's words did not comfort her at all, but they did hit upon the key point.

She had become a girl, which meant she had two first kisses. One belonged to girl Meizi, and one belonged to boy Koichi.

In other words, I still have one first kiss left! That's great!

She did not know whether that counted as self-consolation, but her mood improved considerably because of it.

"Hey, Master, vacation starts next! What are you doing tomorrow?"

As Ruby helped her get dressed, she thought about the question.

Tomorrow was the holiday before the school festival. She had already planned to turn off her alarm and sleep properly to wash away the exhaustion from that battle.

But where she should go to relax after waking up tomorrow was something she had not thought about at all.