Magical Girl? I Got Tricked Into This!

"I was afraid you'd run the moment I told you."

Hearing that, Ando Meiko shook her head helplessly.

Rin was right. If Ando Meiko had known from the start that things would turn out like this, she absolutely would not have stepped outside her home.

But now that she had boarded this pirate ship, how could she back down from a fight? Besides, the fact that Rin showed little hostility made it clear that they wanted to learn about her fighting style.

Ando Meiko's guess was more or less correct.

Every Magical Girl who joined had to go through this step at the beginning. It was not Rin's idea, but something Commander Yōichi had deliberately arranged.

Because this method gave the most direct view of a Magical Girl's fighting style.

Only after understanding a Magical Girl's combat style could they assign her a tactical role and make future arrangements more accurate and convenient.

Thinking that, Ando Meiko stopped hesitating and pulled the necklace from around her neck, letting it transform in her hand into an exquisite magic wand.

"Since Three Purities is in the mood for this, then of course I'll oblige."

"Mei... Ruby, good luck!" Nanako, who had been watching from the side, had wanted to cheer for Ando Meiko. But when she remembered that Rin had changed what she called Meiko after entering this strange space, she hurriedly corrected herself.

Looking at the adorable little girl, Furate asked curiously, "Little sister, who are you? How did you end up coming here with Three Purities?"

"Nanako is Ruby's familiar!"

"A... a familiar?" Upon hearing those words, every Magical Girl apart from Ando Meiko and Rin, who had already taken their stances, revealed shocked expressions.

Aika, especially, who had met Ando Meiko once in the command room, muttered in confusion, "But isn't Ruby an Obsidian-Type like me? Why does she have a familiar?"

With that thought, their gazes all shifted toward the graceful figure in the distance.

"Here I come, Ruby." Rin took a step forward, her body darting ahead as she raised her sword and charged toward Ando Meiko.

Seeing the utterly straightforward slash coming at her, Ando Meiko's expression turned grave. "At least give me some time to prepare myself!"

She hurriedly raised her magic wand and transformed it into the hardest, most shield-like object she could think of... a frying pan.

"What an unusual weapon..." Rin froze for a moment when she saw the frying pan, but quickly recovered. The wooden sword in her hand swung down without mercy.

The wooden sword struck the frying pan, immediately producing a strange, bell-like clang.

After flipping through the air and landing, Rin sidestepped and sprang forward. Her long right leg lashed out like an iron rod, slamming into the frying pan with a boom like muffled thunder.

"You're actually serious?!"

Seeing the dent Rin's kick had left in the frying pan, a chill ran down Ando Meiko's spine.

She did not think Rin would hurt her, but if that springing side kick had landed on her body, she would probably have collapsed and lost her combat ability in an instant.

She shot backward while swinging her magic wand, which had returned to its original form. A large amount of magic power gathered in the air, eventually forming tiny red dots like starlight.

"Ruby Splash!"

Under Ando Meiko's control, the small red dots transformed into bullet-like projectiles and flew at high speed, all converging on Rin alone.

Rin casually swept aside a few red bullets with her sword, but more often than not, she relied on her speed to evade the incoming attacks.

Watching Rin's movements, Ando Meiko finally let out a slow breath of relief.

Back when she had faced Ruby Splash, Marugang had protected Xiphias behind him while standing perfectly still, using just one sword to slash apart every single one of her red bullets.

Though Rin had become a Magical Girl, she was still human. Naturally, she did not possess the terrifying reflexes of a familiar, so she could not replicate what Marugang had done that day.

If it works, then I'll suppress her with this move.

After thinking for a moment, she flicked her magic wand. More red points of light gathered in the air before joining the pursuit of Rin as reinforcements.

Facing the increasingly dense lights, the girl calmly evaded them without much tension in her eyes. Instead, she casually pulled out a red talisman and flung it toward Ando Meiko.

The Vanished Everyday Life: Armament

The moment she saw the Red Talisman, Ando Meiko was startled and immediately jumped backward, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.

During the Void Spider extermination battle, Ando Meiko had witnessed just how powerful the Red Talisman could be.

Back then, the explosion talisman had been entirely responsible for blasting open the spider cocoon woven from Demonic Aether. The Silver Impact she released had merely ridden the momentum into the gap and forcibly poured power inside.

There was even less need to mention the fire talisman. Once even a trace of Samadhi True Fire stuck to something, it would unreasonably burn upward along the Aether.

Whether this Red Talisman was an explosion talisman or a fire talisman containing Samadhi True Fire, she did not want to face it head-on.

Before she landed from her backward leap, Ando Meiko's magic wand transformed in her hand into a red recurve bow.

However, this bow was not as large as the one she had used when facing the Void Spider for the first time, which had been even taller than transformed Ando Meiko.

After all, this was a battle against a person rather than a Void Beast. If she summoned such a large bow, not only would it hamper her movements, but whether she could even draw it against someone as fast as Rin was uncertain.

When Aika, who was watching the battle, saw Ando Meiko switch her magic wand, her eyes narrowed. The faint smile on her face froze as she stared blankly at the red recurve bow that had suddenly appeared in Ando Meiko's hand.

"N-no way... That makes no sense..."

Furate, who was holding Nanako's hand nearby, heard Aika muttering to herself. She looked at Aika in confusion, then at Ando Meiko, who was drawing her bow and nocking an arrow in the distance.

"What's wrong, Aika? You look so shocked. Did you notice something?"

"Mm." Aika nodded, then pointed at Ando Meiko in disbelief. "Her weapon turned into a bow."

At Aika's reminder, all the Magical Girls froze slightly. Then, as though they had realized something, they turned their gazes back toward Ando Meiko.

But when they looked at Ando Meiko again, a strange light flashed through their eyes.

Unaware of how the girls watching were discussing her, Ando Meiko was currently pouring all her attention into this spar.

The red magical arrow formed from condensed magic power was placed upon the bow the instant she drew the string to its limit.

The arrow of magic power flew from the string and shot straight through the red talisman rushing toward her.

The pierced Red Talisman trembled unnaturally, and the magic power erupting from it triggered a violent explosion.

However, the instant the explosion sounded, Ando Meiko realized that its power was far weaker than the blast that had occurred during the battle against the Void Spider.

Though it looked imposing, Rin had deliberately held back during this ordinary spar.

Since Rin was holding back, Ando Meiko no longer needed to panic so badly.

The bow reverted to a magic wand. Just as she gathered magic power and attempted to suppress Rin again with Ruby Splash, the girl's nimble figure suddenly burst through the thin smoke kicked up by the explosion and charged straight at the defenseless Ando Meiko.

"Wah!" Facing Rin's charge, Ando Meiko hurriedly pulled back her magic wand and transformed it into a frying pan to block in front of herself.

But the defense she threw up in her panic proved useless.

Rin's lively eyes blinked slightly. With a tap of her toes against the ground, another burst of speed allowed her to effortlessly slip past Ando Meiko.

After arriving half a meter behind her, Rin abruptly stopped. She leaned back, pressing her back tightly against Ando Meiko's.

"Huh?" Before Ando Meiko could react, the cool sensation against her neck made her freeze.

A wooden sword, held in a reverse grip, passed over Rin's shoulder and rested against Ando Meiko's neck.

The outcome had already been decided.

"Ruby, you lost."

"I lost." After saying those three words, Ando Meiko let out a breath. "Wow, Three Purities really is amazing."

Though she praised Rin aloud, Ando Meiko's heart was filled with doubt.

She might have been a novice when it came to actual combat, but Rin was far too skilled at fighting between Magical Girls. She was as practiced as a battle-hardened veteran, never wasting a single movement.

"Both big sisters were amazing! Nanako wanted to join in too after watching!"

Smiling, Ando Meiko patted Nanako's head. But her gaze settled on Aika, who was walking toward her with a somewhat gloomy expression.

"Aika, what's wrong?" Ando Meiko asked.

Since they could be considered acquaintances, Ando Meiko did not hold back. Seeing that something seemed off about Aika's expression, she asked directly.

"Ruby, can you tell me how you did that just now?"

"How I did that? You mean... Ruby Splash?"

"That's the name of your magic. No, I mean how did you turn your magic wand into a bow?"

"Oh, that. I just used my imagination..." The moment she said that, not only Aika but also Furate and the other Magical Girls looked at her with astonishment.

Their reactions left Ando Meiko completely confused. She had not said anything wrong, had she? Turning her magic wand into a frying pan or a bow—all of that had relied on her imagination.

"Wasn't it... just imagination?" She repeated herself, this time even sounding uncertain.

Clearly, their stares had made even her lose confidence. Still, Aika's question struck her as strange.

As fellow Obsidian-Type Magical Girls, it was impossible for Aika not to know the traits and combat methods of Obsidian-Type Magical Girls. Why would she ask such a pointless question?

"Don't Obsidian-Type Magical Girls all fight through imagination? What's wrong? Did I say something incorrect?"

"Huh?" Aika made an incredulous sound. "Ruby, what are you talking about? The ability of Obsidian-Type Magical Girls is Armament. What does that have to do with imagination?"

"Armament?" Ando Meiko's brows furrowed slightly, suspicion and surprise blending across her face.

It was like spending ages seriously writing code, only for a coworker to suddenly come over and tell you that it was full of bugs.

Though she did not understand what this so-called Armament was, Ando Meiko did not believe there was anything wrong with her fighting style.

After all, she had fought several times already, and she had indeed relied on her imagination to guide the magic power within her, producing the results she wanted.

[Ruby, what's going on?]

The Vanished Everyday Life: Training Space

She asked Ruby in her heart.

Ruby had personally told her on the day after tricking her into signing the contract that Obsidian-Type Magical Girls fought through imagination.

But according to another Magical Girl, the ability of Obsidian-Type Magical Girls was fixed Armament.

The two statements could not exactly be called completely contradictory, but unless she clarified the truth, Ando Meiko felt she would never be able to calm down.

[That's not right. According to the memories passed down by the previous master, Obsidian-Type Magical Girls really do fight through imagination. And haven't you personally experienced it, Master?]

Clearly, Ruby was also skeptical of Aika's claim.

[Don't worry yet, Master. Let's hear what this Magical Girl has to say first.]

One was surprised, the other confused. Watching the two speak as though they were deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, Rin could not help shaking her head. She stepped forward and patted Aika on the shoulder.

"Aika, tell us what you know too. Even though we've partnered up many times, my understanding of Obsidian-Type Magical Girls is still pretty vague."

Feeling the equally curious gazes of her sisters, Aika adjusted her emotions and slowly began to speak. "This was also what the senior who guided me told me..."

When Obsidian-Type Magical Girls first started out, they gained an ability called Armament Prototype.

Their magic wands transformed into extremely special cold weapons according to the traits of their owner's Aether and their compatibility rate.

Once the magic wand successfully transformed into a weapon for the first time, that weapon form became fixed to the wand and turned into the Obsidian-Type Magical Girl's exclusive weapon.

That was the ability of Obsidian-Type Magical Girls: Battle Armament.

In battle, as long as an Obsidian-Type Magical Girl used magic power, it resonated with the Battle Armament in her hand, activating different combat magic and physical enhancement abilities through the cold weapon.

Unlike Azure Magical Girls, the physical enhancement abilities of Radiant Stone Magical Girls could only be applied to themselves through their Battle Armament.

Thus, Radiant Stone Magical Girls, who used cold weapons and could enhance their bodies, were basically melee fighters. Calling them physical girls would be more fitting than calling them Magical Girls.

"Battle Armament, cold weapons, close combat, physical enhancement." Muttering those words, Ando Meiko began to see the picture.

The three factions of Magical Girls, each with their own abilities, could actually form a well-balanced team.

Radiant Stone Magical Girls enhanced their bodies and fought Void Beasts at close range, serving as the team's tanks. The long-range magical attacks and mobility of Starry Magical Girls gave them the role of primary attackers.

And there was even less need to mention the obvious support abilities of Azure Magical Girls.

Despite possessing long-range magical attacks, she was not as powerful as a Starry Magical Girl. As a Radiant Stone Magical Girl, she had neither Battle Armament nor physical enhancement abilities.

Instead, someone like Ando Meiko, who fought through imagination magic, was the biggest oddball among them.

Listening as Aika carefully explained everything she knew, Ando Meiko awkwardly brushed aside the hair hanging over her forehead.

After hearing it put that way, the confidence she had felt before suddenly turned into the feeling that everything she did was somehow half-baked.