Magical Girl? I Got Tricked Into It!

"Don't! No, anything but that! I—I don't want to be treated like this again!"

Kajieliena walked toward her like the Grim Reaper, removing her gloves to reveal her snowy-white, slender hands. "Speaking of which, I found something very interesting when I scanned your body."

The red light blooming in her eyes dyed Kajieliena's pupils the same crimson they had been when they first met. Under such unabashed scrutiny, Ando Meiko could only close her eyes and pretend she knew nothing.

"The thing you care ab—Eek!" A moment later, an electric current ran through her abdomen, and she finally understood what Kajieliena had been interested in.

Nearly twenty times more magical power than Ruby had used flowed into her. The Magic Mark, blazing with an ultimate pink radiance, remained fixed in its original position.

As the Magic Mark fully activated, every sensation intensified more than tenfold. At that moment, she felt as though Kajieliena's fingertips were poking directly into her heart.

"D-don't do that..." Her speech began to slur, and her only remaining thought was to completely vent what was building inside her.

"Immediate results. I don't know who put this Magic Mark on you, but it's quite useful."

"Stop... ah..." Her body was already protesting on its own. "Please..."

"Hm? Meizi, what did you say? I can't hear you if you don't speak louder."

She did not know whether Kajieliena was doing it deliberately or not. She only felt that her reason had been completely smothered.

"Please... give it to me!"

"If that's what you want..."

Kajieliena put what she had just watched in a video into practice, but that alone was no longer enough to satisfy her.

Kajieliena pressed the switch, and her glistening hand directly reached into the source of the spring.

"I'm going to... turn into an idiot..."

If the exaggerated visual effects of anime could appear in reality, there would definitely have been a cute little pink heart in Ando Meiko's eyes right then.

A Magical Girl's Magic of Will

A lone boat was battered by a violent storm. No matter how desperately it struggled, it could not escape the raging waves—until the fiercest wave yet came roaring through and capsized it.

Did I pass out again?

The dim ceiling told Ando Meiko that she was still in Kajieliena's laboratory.

The dizzy feeling in her head had not gone away. Only when she raised a hand to rub her temples did she realize that her restraints had already been removed.

"You were almost dried out. Drink some water and replenish yourself. Although I got the data I wanted, I didn't expect the effects of this Magic Mark to be so obvious. I apologize for that."

Though Kajieliena said that, her hands never stopped tapping at the keyboard. There was not the slightest hint of apology on her exquisite face as she focused on the data.

Still, Ando Meiko was indeed parched, so she grabbed the bottle beside her and drained it in one go.

"How long was I out this time?"

"A little over ten minutes. But you should probably put your clothes on first. Be careful not to catch a cold."

"You don't need to tell me that!"

When she reached for the clothes nearby and saw the flood-like mess, her face could not help turning red.

That Kajieliena, seriously. After doing something like that, she could at least clean this place up first!

After getting dressed, she used a nearby towel to wipe the metal panel and floor spotless. Then she turned back to Kajieliena. "By the way, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Can that Magic Mark be removed?"

Just injecting magic power raised her sensitivity nearly tenfold. That thing was terrifying. If Kajieliena truly decided to treat her as an enemy, she would probably be brainwashed by it before long.

"While you were unconscious, I looked into it. This Magic Mark was created by a magical girl who has already vanished."

"She must have been strong if she could develop a mark with that kind of ability, right?"

"She was weak... As the Azure Magical Girl, although her familiar was a very powerful sword, she had no ability to assist it in battle."

"Why?"

"Because of her succubus constitution, most of the magic she mastered was related to seduction. But on the battlefield, that seductive power indiscriminately affected enemies and allies alike—and those allies included her familiar."

"T-that really is a useless ability. But a succubus..." The person she thought of was Xiphias.

Xiphias was the one who had placed this Magic Mark on her, but neither Xiphias's support abilities nor her familiar matched Kajieliena's description.

Besides, Kajieliena had already said from the start that this magical girl had vanished.

"As for how to remove it, all I can say is that the person who tied the knot must untie it... Every Magic Mark has a special Magic Lock set on it, and only the creator's magic power can remove it."

Given Xiphias's situation, Ando Meiko felt that if she really went looking for her, it would not be as simple as removing the mark. She might not even have a chance to resist before being left at her mercy to complete the rest of the mark.

"Forget it. So, what did you find out?"

She was also very interested in her own body. She wanted to take this opportunity to understand it better—perhaps she might even find a way to restore her original male body.

She walked over to the computer, but its screen was filled with complicated data that she could neither see clearly nor understand. For a high school student, this stuff was simply too complex.

"Kajieliena, are you really only seventeen?"

"Eighteen." Kajieliena added, "My birthday was a couple of days ago."

"Huh? Really? Happy birthday, Kajieliena." It was a little late, but ignorance was no sin. It should be fine to make up for it now, right?

"Thank you." Kajieliena paused for a moment before returning her attention to the data on the computer.

"A Half-Aether Body is an extremely special constitution. Apart from you, only one other has appeared in the entire history of magical girls."

"Your body looks no different from an ordinary person's, but Aether has completely fused into every part of it. When you're in an extremely excited state, the magical activity inside every cell of your body seems to be activated."

"I don't understand." Kajieliena glanced at her, then pointed at the data on the screen and slowly explained.

Ordinary magical girls directly formed contracts with the Great Will. Their bodies connected to the Great Will and transformed directly into Ether Bodies.

Their physical age became fixed at the instant of transformation, and every particle within their bodies, including their bones, became Aether.

So when magical girls died, their bodies turned into Aether and dispersed rather than leaving corpses behind.

But Ando Meiko's case was completely different. Rather than being a half-finished transformation into Aether, she was more like a human forcibly fusing with Aether.

Because my body is clearly no different from an ordinary person's, yet every cell is filled with abundant Aether. I'm like the perfect fusion of human and Aether, rather than a human simply becoming Aether.

That was why she felt pain when attacked and bled when injured.

Was that a good thing? At least for Ando Meiko, it was. In any case, she could now confirm that she was still half human.

"In other words, when a certain emotion of yours reaches a critical point, your body responds by activating the Aether in every cell, causing your combat power to surge dramatically."

"So I'm basically a magical girl powered by willpower?"

Wasn't that exactly like those anime protagonists who exploded with power whenever they got angry? Why did that sound so clichéd? Couldn't there be something more original?

"You could put it that way, but the specific data will have to wait for further resear—"

"No! You've used up your chance. We're done. Forbidden. I absolutely refuse to be researched by Kajieliena again."

"All right. You're tired today too, so get some rest. Next time—"

"Not next time either! You don't have any more chances! I will never compromise."

Kajieliena thought for a moment, looking troubled. "Then what would it take for me to continue researching you?"

"Hmph. Talk to me again when you're willing to betray the organization for me."

"Mm." Though her expression did not change at all, Kajieliena actually nodded seriously. "That is a very tempting condition. It's worth considering."

"Idiot! Don't consider it!" In short, she really did not want to become this girl's test subject. It felt good—yes, that feeling felt really good... but it was still far too embarrassing.

This had completely exceeded the limits of what she could mentally endure, okay?

"Forget it. Haste makes waste. I've learned enough today anyway."

Hey, that dejected expression of yours completely contradicts what you just said! If you're giving up, could you at least look relieved?

Complaining inwardly, Ando Meiko followed Kajieliena out of the laboratory.

Once outside, Ando Meiko looked around carefully. Kajieliena's so-called secret laboratory was actually just the basement of a private house. From the shopping mall she had visited with Fuko that morning, visible faintly in the distance, she knew this place was not far from where she had been shopping.

This might be Kajieliena's base, so she deliberately memorized its location.

"One last reminder: after breaking through your magical power limit, you should stabilize the strength you gained."

"Wait."

"What is it? Have you changed your mind and decided to cooperate with my research?"

"Kajieliena, during the physical test, you said you hadn't transformed. But was that strength really yours?"

Do You Want to Become Stronger?

"It was. Many magical girls think the enhancements to their abilities only apply after transformation, but they have no idea that their bodies are an ability in themselves."

Kajieliena stopped walking. She took out her magic wand and waved it in front of Ando Meiko. "Most of my magic consists of long-range attacks that require lengthy casting. Once someone gets close, my abilities become ineffective, so I can only strengthen my close-combat abilities."

"Huh?" Ando Meiko tilted her head, sounding confused.

"Although magical girls are Ether Bodies, the Great Will made our bodies retain human characteristics before transformation so that we could live normal lives."

"So the strength you used to carry me and jump ten meters high in one leap was all trained?" She sucked in a breath at that.

Kajieliena nodded. "My hometown is rather special. After I was summoned as a child, I constantly sparred with my pet bear."

Huh? Sparring with a pet bear? A bear meant that kind of bear, right? The kind taller and stronger than an adult? Sparring with a bear? As expected of a Russian. As expected of the fighting people.

Kajieliena walked over to a small car. Before Ando Meiko's stunned eyes, she lifted the entire car with one hand.

"Things like this are easy to do even without transforming."

That was way too terrifying, wasn't it? A magical girl could lift a car through pure brute force without transforming. Fortunately, nobody was around to see it, or they would have been scared half to death.

"Do you want to become stronger, Ando Meiko?"

"No!" she answered firmly. "But... if it could give me at least a little ability to protect myself..."

"I understand. How about I train you?"

If she trained me, wouldn't that mean I'd be sparring with a bear? And I'm not a pure Ether Body. Would this kind of training even work on my fused Aether body?

Still, no matter what, she had long felt that her body lacked exercise. Getting a little stronger physically would give her a greater sense of security.

"I guess that wouldn't be impossible."

"Then it's settled. See you tomorrow, Ando Meiko."

After saying goodbye to her, Ando Meiko hurried toward the meeting place she had arranged with Fuko.

Fortunately, neither of the two times she had fainted lasted very long, so Fuko had not been kept waiting too long. Still, she felt a little regretful that she had not seen Rin.

Before heading home, she went to the library and borrowed several books with the most detailed analyses of weapons.

Those books broke down and annotated both cold weapons and firearms, with a level of detail that even explained the purpose of every component in every position.

She did not know whether they would be useful, but her military enthusiast's soul seemed to have awakened without her realizing it. She simply found those books rather interesting.

After returning home, she devoted herself almost entirely to the sea of knowledge. With the extraordinary memory she had gained after becoming a magical girl, she memorized quite a few weapon disassembly and assembly diagrams in a single night.

If Ruby had not reminded Ando Meiko that it was time to sleep, she would have become so absorbed in reading that she accidentally stayed up all night.

The next day

Because she had made plans with Kajieliena, Ando Meiko set an alarm and got up early to tidy herself up.

"Meizi... mm... Are you going out so early?"

"Yeah, I made plans to do some morning exercise with someone."

"Huh? You're going to work out?" Fuko rubbed her eyes, her voice rising slightly.

Although Ando Meiko still looked half asleep, the disbelief in her voice was obvious.

"Yeah. I'm heading out, then." She nodded and did not linger, turning to walk out through the entryway.

"Okay. Be careful on the way."

After leaving home, she headed straight for her destination.

In the direction opposite the route to school, there was a small river where many children usually played along the banks. Beyond the spaced railing on the sloped bank was a very wide pedestrian path.

The path stretched all the way to a large bridge, passing numerous open platforms along the way. It was practically the perfect place for nearby residents to exercise.