Magical Girl? I Got Tricked into It!

The meeting place was a café called the Catgirl Maid Café. It was tucked away in a rather remote location and wasn't particularly well-known, but the service from the catgirl maids inside was as authentic as it got.

Not far from the familiar building, a girl leaned against the outer wall, her head lowered as she played with her phone.

A large beret obscured her face. Though Meizi couldn't see what she looked like, judging from the outfit described in her messages, this had to be Three Purities.

But what was with that girlish pose, legs drawn together and hands behind her back? It didn't match her imposing appearance in battle at all.

What was the best way to greet someone she was meeting for the first time? Something ordinary felt boring, but would being too direct make her seem shallow?

After thinking about it for a moment, Ando Meiko decided to keep it simple.

While she was thinking, she had unknowingly walked up beside the girl. "Hi, hello."

"Is that Ruby?"

As the beret lifted, the face hidden beneath it was revealed. Yet when the two girls met face-to-face in their real identities for the first time, both their smiles froze.

They stared at each other. Their trembling pupils made them look like children who had accidentally dropped a string of firecrackers down their pants during Lunar New Year. Other than shock, there was only shock.

"Meizi?!"

"Rin..."

Awkward. Very awkward. Awkward beyond belief. After following Rin into the café, that was the only thought in Ando Meiko's mind.

Her mouth continued sipping normally, but her mind was as blank as a newly created folder. As she tried to figure out how to smooth things over, her toes were practically digging out a seaside villa beneath the table.

Who could have imagined that the person she had come to meet would be the neighbor's child, Sawamura Rin, who got along quite well with both of her identities?

No wonder she'd grown so distant from me these past few years. So this child had become a magical girl. She clearly didn't want to drag me into it. Rin really was such a kind child.

Ando Meiko sighed inwardly.

Neither of them spoke first. Maybe neither wanted to break the silence, or maybe the atmosphere had simply grown that tense.

The coffee was nearly gone. The clinking of partially melted ice against the bottom of the cup pulled Ando Meiko out of her thoughts.

They really were both embarrassed, but they couldn't just turn around and go home, could they? As Rin's Meizi, she felt she should take the lead. Once they took the first step, the rest of the conversation would probably become much easier.

"The weather's nice today." The words slipped from her mouth before her mind could stop them.

Damn it! What am I even saying? Who says something like that in a situation this awkward?

Rin didn't answer. She looked out the window, seemingly lost in thought. Though it was awkward, Ando Meiko decided to persist. "Rin, I never expected you to be Three Purities. It really is surprising. This world is smaller than I thought."

"I never expected Ruby to be Meizi either... But the contrast is just too..."

She could clearly feel Rin's gaze directed at her chest. That wasn't strange. It would have been stranger if she thought it wasn't.

Fuko and Kajieliena had both explained this to her: after signing a contract with the Great Will and being converted into Aether, a magical girl's body and age would become fixed.

Before transforming, Ando Meiko was Big-Busted High School Girl Meizi. After transforming, she became Flat-Chested Twin-Tailed Loli Ruby. The contrast truly was absurdly huge.

"By the way, Rin, why exactly did you ask me to meet you?"

"I actually..." Although she had already prepared what she wanted to say beforehand, Rin hesitated after learning that Ruby's true identity was Ando Meiko.

At first, Meizi had thought Three Purities simply wanted to thank her. But now, it seemed it wasn't that simple.

"It's fine, go ahead. I know you didn't want to cause me trouble, but even if we know each other's secrets, we're still friends, aren't we?"

"Actually... I wanted to invite Meizi... I mean, invite Ruby to join the magical girl organization, Divine Shield."

A Matter of Being Tricked into Becoming a Magical Girl: Inside the Base

"A magical girl organization?" Since Kajieliena had already mentioned it to her, she didn't look too surprised.

"Um... can I take a look around before deciding?"

Joining an organization meant contributing effort. Even after becoming a magical girl, Ando Meiko only wanted to live an ordinary life, so she was strongly resistant to the idea. Still, she couldn't directly reject Rin's invitation.

The best strategy was to ask for a tour first, then find all sorts of excuses during the visit to politely turn them down. That way, Rin probably wouldn't feel embarrassed either.

"Of course. Then let me show you around, Meizi." Rin grabbed her hand and headed toward the back room through the staff area.

When the maids still working saw the two girls enter the staff room together, several of them immediately came over to guard the door.

Wait, what did this mean? Weren't they going to visit the base? Why were they heading deeper into the back room? Could it be... this maid café was the base?

After Rin pressed a switch hidden beside the light switch box, a crack suddenly appeared in the wall at the far end of the staff room. Then, as the entire wall retracted, it opened to both sides like an automatic door, revealing the mechanical structure within.

"This is... an elevator?"

"Yeah. The base is hidden beneath this shop."

After she and Rin entered the elevator, Rin brought her face close to the elevator's electronic lock.

[Magical Girl Three Purities, identity confirmed. Welcome back safely.]

"But... why a catgirl maid café?"

"Since everyone can transform into magical girls, they aren't too embarrassed about it. With military support, they basically don't lack money. Most of them just come out to earn a little extra cash when they have nothing else to do."

Life really wasn't easy. Even magical girls had to come out and perform for money.

"Huh?"

Ando Meiko froze. Had she just heard something incredible? Military support? In other words, the upper levels of the government actually knew magical girls existed?

The elevator descended quickly. Just as the sensation of weightlessness made her feel like she was about to float away, it abruptly sank and stopped.

Once the elevator doors fully opened, the structure inside made Ando Meiko completely forget that she was supposed to be someone living in the twenty-first century.

Under pure white shadowless lights, the place resembled the bridge of a battleship. People in all kinds of work uniforms moved back and forth, along with quite a few ordinary-looking people dressed like Rin and Ando Meiko.

"Hey, Three Purities. Oh? This one's unfamiliar."

"This is a newcomer I brought in for a visit. Her name is Ruby."

"Hello, Ruby. Hope you have fun here." As though she were in a hurry, a girl in casual clothes greeted them, then entered the elevator and left without even giving her name.

"Are these names code names?"

"Yeah. Not revealing your real name is common sense among magical girls, so Ruby, you should be careful when you're out too. It'll be troublesome if you run into witches."

"Okay~" In reality, there was already an especially troublesome witch beside her. That witch even seemed to be officer-class. Even without magic, her superhuman physical abilities alone made her completely impossible to deal with.

After all, she was the one who had truly made Ando Meiko understand what a physical magical girl was.

"This is the transfer area. From here, we can get to the other parts of the base. Let's visit the command area first. I'll also introduce you to the commander."

A commander? They had one of those too...? What kind of magical girl organization was this? Wouldn't militarized girl organization be a more appropriate name?

"This is our commander, Tamura Yuichi." When the man looked in their direction, Rin nodded to him. "Commander."

"Three Purities? You worked hard yesterday. Hmm?" The commander, Tamura Yuichi, immediately noticed Ando Meiko standing behind Rin. "And this is?"

"Sorry, I brought her back for a visit without permission."

"Oh? A newcomer?" Yōichi examined the girl before him. Stroking his chin, he nodded seriously. "Mm, she's pretty cute."

What the hell? After staring at me so seriously for so long, that's all you had to say? What nonsense was that? Say something more useful!

"Then I'll look forward to you joining us. Just in time, Three Purities, come attend the strategy meeting..."

She noticed Yōichi glance at her. She didn't know what she was supposed to say right then. Could she take it to mean that she was getting in the way here?

That made sense. After all, this was their strategy meeting. She was only here for a visit and hadn't officially joined, so it was only natural that they didn't want her hearing it.

"Then I'll excuse myself..."

"Commander, she's the one who saved us yesterday." Rin's meaning was clear: she wanted Ruby to sit in. But she had no idea that Ando Meiko didn't want to get involved with them at all.

"Since you insist. By the way, how are the others doing?"

"Other than Aika, the other two weren't too badly injured. That's fortunate, at least."

Aika? Shouldn't that be agate? Agate? Was she an Obsidian-Type magical girl like me?

Having encountered a colleague for the first time, Ando Meiko couldn't help feeling curious. What kind of fighting style would a magical girl from the same type as her use?

If she got to know her properly, perhaps she could gain some inspiration from watching her.

Although Ando Meiko didn't know who this Aika was, the ones with the worst injuries must have been the magical girls embedded in the wall.

But...

Shouldn't Rin have been the most seriously injured one? Ando Meiko thought. That had been a piercing wound...

Still, it was hard to say whether a piercing wound or being embedded in a wall was more serious.

"Commander." The automatic door opened to either side with a mechanical clunk, and a girl walked in from outside.

Seeing her, Rin immediately stepped forward to support the girl who had suddenly barged in. "Aika, why are you... You're in no condition to be running around. Go back and rest."

"I held everyone back last time. I want to take part in this operation too."

"No, Aika. As commander, I can't let you act recklessly. I won't stop you from listening to the strategy meeting, but participating in the battle is impossible." Yōichi's answer was firm.

"Fine... Huh? Who's this?" After calming down, Aika noticed the unfamiliar girl standing behind Rin.

"She's the person who saved us last time, Ruby."

"Huh! Why didn't you say so earlier?" Aika walked up to Ando Meiko and gave a slight bow. "Thank you for what you did yesterday. If it weren't for you, we probably would have been doomed."

A Matter of Being Tricked into Becoming a Magical Girl: Strategy Meeting

"No, it's nothing... I was just passing by."

"But..." A trace of anticipation appeared in Aika's eyes. "Ruby, a ruby. I never expected you to be a magical girl from the same type as me. It's wonderful to meet you."

Faced with such an enthusiastic gaze, Ando Meiko felt a little embarrassed. However, she also noticed a problem in Aika's words. "Are Obsidian-Type magical girls rare?"

Rin nodded, then explained in Aika's place. "After all, among the sky, ocean, and earth, the earth has the smallest area. So there are relatively fewer Obsidian-Type magical girls."

"Yeah..." Aika continued after Rin. "Compared to the wildly varied Star Tarot themes of the Stars, and the countless marine creatures of the Ocean, gemstones are simply too rare."

After hearing their explanation, Ando Meiko suddenly understood. If the factions ever fought each other, could the Starry Magical Girls drown the Obsidian-Type ones just by each spitting once?

"All right, girls, the meeting..."

"Sorry, Commander."

"It's fine. Three Purities, Aika, Ruby, take your seats."

They had actually invited even her, a mere visitor, into the command room.

It felt rude to refuse their kindness, so helplessly, she could only support Aika from the other side and take a seat with the two of them.

The projection on the large screen lit up. The image displayed was the Ghost-Tier Void Spider from the Void World.

In less than a day, the tail that Ando Meiko had shot through had already completely healed. Moreover, several of the spider cocoons it had protected had cracked open, revealing tiny, somewhat translucent spiders inside.

"The situation is not optimistic. Judging by the size of the cocoons, there are at least fifty juvenile Void Spiders in the three cocoons. Their Aether fluctuation levels are still unknown, but conservatively speaking, they're at least General-class."

General-class. Weaker magical girls couldn't handle one alone, which meant these fifty Void Beasts about to be born weren't ordinary cannon fodder.

After thinking for a moment, Rin asked, "How much combat power do we currently have?"

"Counting you, there are seven magical girls able to participate."

"Is she here?"

The commander shook his head. "She went to Osaka for a mission. There's a Ghost Grade one there too, and it's far stronger than this spider. It's already nearing Dragon-class."

"What's going on? Have Ghost-Tier Void Beasts become this common?"

"It's probably the same old Dragon Vein problem again. Unfortunately, we can't spare anyone to investigate this area properly anytime soon."

They then began discussing how to fight the spider. Time was extremely tight. If those little spiders hatched, the situation would only get worse.

"How about having a more agile magical girl lure the Void Spider away, while the rest of us destroy its eggs first?"

Yōichi agreed with Rin's suggestion. "That was my thought as well. We need to eliminate them before the spiders hatch. With your abilities and the others' help, you should be able to do it, right?"

"Yeah. We just need to burn all the eggs with fire. I've prepared plenty of Fire Talismans, but who should draw the spider's attention?"

"How about Furate?"

The commander's words made Rin's eyes light up. "She's here too? If it's her, she really is the best choice."

"Sorry for always making you shoulder everything. But the Void Interface Device should be nearly finished. If ordinary people like us can enter the Void World too, we'll at least be able to assist you in battle."

"Um..." Ando Meiko weakly raised her hand. As everyone fell silent, their gazes shifted toward her.