Magical Girl? I Got Scammed into This!

Although she was a Radiant Stone Magical Girl who possessed Ruby, Ando Meiko had not locked in a fixed armament during her first battle, as Aika had said.

If that had really been the case, then wouldn't the fruit knife she had imagined into existence when facing Nanako's tentacles for the first time have become the cold weapon that followed her for the rest of her life?

Imagining herself running around killing enemies with a fruit knife, Ando Meiko found it both ridiculous and terrifying.

If she had really turned into a physical-combat magical girl and gone head-to-head with Void Beasts using that thing, she might have been able to retire the moment she encountered the Void Wolf at school.

At that thought, she could not help growing curious.

Setting aside a half-baked amateur like herself, she already had a deep impression of the fighting styles of the Azure Magical Girl and the Starry Magical Girl. So how exactly did a true Radiant Stone Magical Girl fight?

But Master, now that you mention it, I do seem to have a simple model storage function. I wonder if it's the same thing as the armament she mentioned.

With her mouth slightly open, Ando Meiko was just about to continue asking questions when Commander Tamura Yuichi's voice came from nowhere and interrupted her.

"Girls, I've received the battle data from earlier. The welcome ceremony should be over by now, right?"

"Yeah, it just ended. We were just chatting."

"Then come to the command room first. We were just about to welcome Sister Ruby too."

Hearing Yuichi's teasing words, Ando Meiko's mouth twitched slightly. She turned her head aside and pretended not to hear him.

"Alright, since the commander has spoken, let's not stay in the Void World any longer. Hurry to the command room."

With that, Rin did not hesitate. She raised her wooden sword and swung it down behind her, carving a spatial gate into the air that led back to the real world.

"Okay." Everyone answered Rin with smiles and filed through the gate.

The first to emerge, Ando Meiko raised her head and looked over the space again. In the real world, it looked as though they were inside an empty box, with nothing but endless whiteness all around them.

"This is actually a training ground for us magical girls." Seeing Ando Meiko's curious gaze, Rin smiled and explained.

"They deliberately opened up such a huge space for this? That's quite an investment."

By her rough estimate, the area was at least half the size of a football field, and the ceiling stretched upward to a height of nearly ten stories.

Forget using it as a training ground—this place was spacious enough for Furate to fly around until she ran out of mana.

"Well, this base is underground. There should be enough usable space to make not just one, but two or three places like this."

"If there's an earthquake and this collapses, wouldn't we all get squashed into meat patties?"

"Don't worry." Yuichi's voice came again. Following its source, Ando Meiko shifted her gaze to Rin's collar after she had transformed back.

A small device emitting a faint pale-blue glow was pinned there.

"This base has been reinforced with magic. You might feel some shaking during an earthquake, but the facilities inside can withstand a magnitude-seven quake without collapsing."

"And this training ground for magical girls was built with special materials. It's much sturdier than the other facilities and can even withstand a magnitude-eight earthquake."

Both magnitude-seven and magnitude-eight earthquakes were massive disasters. Their destructive power could turn an entire city into ruins in an instant.

Magic reinforcement could give an underground building the strength to withstand a magnitude-eight earthquake. At times like this, Ando Meiko had to marvel at how convenient magic really was.

Volume Two: The Vanished Everyday Life: Chapter Six: It Couldn't Possibly Be a Tea Party, Right?

After transforming back, the group chatted and laughed as they arrived at the command room.

The metal door opened automatically upon detecting their arrival. Ando Meiko, who was walking at the very back, had not even entered yet when a sudden burst startled her.

Pop! Pop!

Two party poppers went off at the same time from either side of Ando Meiko.

She had just been showered in magical streamers in the training room, and now she was being showered in real confetti in the command room. Ando Meiko was thoroughly puzzled.

Were these people deliberately trying to mess with her?

"Since your welcome ceremony is over, I'll just make a token effort. Now, let's begin the meeting."

"A meeting as soon as we get here?"

"Can't be helped. Circumstances demand it." Yuichi spread his hands helplessly.

She had been dragged out of bed so early, worked hard to get to the base, then been pulled off for a lecture. Before she had even recovered emotionally, she had to attend a meeting right away.

What was this supposed to be? They could at least give her some time to take a nap.

Seeing Ando Meiko's reluctant expression, Rin walked behind her, placed both hands on her shoulders, and pushed her toward the conference table. "Come on, Sister Ruby. Since we're already here, just listen to what the commander has to say. Besides..."

Raising her eyes to look at Yuichi's not-at-all-serious expression, Rin smiled and continued, "Judging by how unconcerned the commander looks, this probably doesn't have much to do with Void Beasts."

Yuichi chuckled. "You guessed right. It really doesn't have much to do with Void Beasts, but that doesn't mean it's good news for us."

Rin paused, then asked in confusion, "Could it be that?"

Yuichi nodded at Rin. Once everyone was seated, he turned on the screen and displayed the material for the upcoming discussion.

"This is what today's meeting is about..."

Hearing a chorus of boos below, Yuichi froze just as he was about to continue. Then he cautiously asked, "What's wrong, everyone? Is there a problem?"

"Of course there's a problem, and it's a huge one!" Ando Meiko covered her face and shook her head at Yuichi.

"I never expected the commander to be into this sort of thing."

"Exactly! Don't tell me this meeting is about helping the commander pick out which one looks better?"

"Huh? Is he going on a blind date? So the commander is at the age where his family is pressuring him to get married?"

"Really? I think his taste is pretty good." Rin stared seriously at the projection screen, looking rather earnest.

But after saying that, she was evidently amused by her own words. Her seriousness vanished, replaced by the sight of her covering her mouth and giggling.

"Huh?" After being bombarded by the girls' remarks, Yuichi suddenly realized something. He immediately turned around and stared at what was displayed on the projection. His entire face turned red.

On the screen were several glamour photos of models in swimsuits, posing seductively and showing off an entire expanse of cleavage.

"You underage girls, don't—don't look!" Yuichi shouted as he took a step back and used his body to block the screen.

But his head happened to line up perfectly with the towering breasts in the photo, making the sight as ridiculous as could be.

Some base personnel turned to look at the people in the meeting after hearing the girls' laughter.

When they saw the glamour photos on the screen, which Yuichi was trying to conceal with his body in a self-deceiving manner, they immediately understood and burst out laughing as well.

For a moment, the entire command room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"What are you laughing at? Hurry up and switch the display!"

Hearing Yuichi's annoyed scolding, his assistant finally stood up, walked to his station, and helped him change what was on the screen.

Yet from beginning to end, the smile on her face showed no sign of fading.

"Looking at this stuff while slacking off at work, and you still have the nerve to talk here? Good thing the chief isn't around, or you'd be dragged out for a lesson."

"I... I wasn't... I mean..." Yuichi explained for a long time without managing to say anything coherent. In the end, he simply pursed his lips and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Ahem. Alright, let's officially begin the meeting." After clearing his throat, Yuichi patted the big screen and formally began.

"The Magical Girl Exchange Tournament?" Seeing the bold words on the cover, Ando Meiko could not help frowning.

Just as Rin had said, what Yuichi wanted to discuss had nothing to do with Void Beasts. Yet somehow, this did not feel like good news either.

After the precedent of the welcome ceremony, Ando Meiko felt that this so-called exchange tournament could not possibly be that simple.

An exchange among magical girls... It couldn't possibly mean sitting together for tea and boasting about which Void Beast they had killed today, could it?

It was more likely to be a matter of communicating through fists.

"One month from now, Divine Shield Headquarters will hold the Magical Girl Exchange Tournament in Akihabara."

"Commander!" As soon as Yuichi finished that sentence, Aika immediately raised her hand.

"Alright! Aika, please ask your question."

"But didn't you say that because the Tokyo Dragon Vein has caused an uncontrollable increase in Void Beasts, we can't spare any personnel?"

"Good question, but that was before today." Yuichi clapped his hands, then let his gaze linger on Ando Meiko for a moment. "We used that excuse to turn it down for the past few years after you and Aika joined us, but now the higher-ups have issued an order. We have to send at least one person."

"So today's topic is to discuss who goes?" Rin asked with interest.

"No." Yuichi shook his head. "There's no need to discuss it. According to the order, we can only send a newly joined member. That means Ruby will go alone."

"Huh?" Suddenly being called out, Ando Meiko, who had been propping up her head with one hand and only half listening, froze. She looked at Yuichi uncertainly.

"Wait, what did you say?" She rubbed her ears, thinking she had misheard, and asked again.

"Ruby, one month from now, you will represent our Tokyo Branch at Divine Shield Headquarters in Akihabara for the Magical Girl Exchange Tournament."

What? Are you joking? I don't even know what this is, and you're pushing me out to attend some exchange tournament?

"B-but I have absolutely no idea what that is..." Ando Meiko said weakly, the corner of her mouth twitching.

"It's fine if you don't understand. Three Purities or Aika can teach you. You're a newcomer, after all. Once you join, you have to get fleeced... cough, cough, you have to get familiar with the environment as soon as possible."

"Wait, you just said something weird!"

"No, that was just your imagination."

She had wanted to refuse, but she had only just joined this place. It did not seem right to reject the very first assignment given to her.

Besides, it did not seem as if they had left her any room to object. Ando Meiko could only slowly lean back, slumping dejectedly against her chair.

Volume Two: The Vanished Everyday Life: Chapter Seven: A Sudden Attack

"Come on, Sister Meizi, don't look so miserable." On the way back to school, seeing Ando Meiko's troubled expression, Rin could not bear it and tried to comfort her.

"If you really don't want to go, I can talk to the commander and have her pick someone else to represent us."

"Forget it. I'm a rookie who just reported in, so I should at least give them some face. I'll go. It's just sparring anyway. At worst, I'll deliberately lose."

Ando Meiko shrugged. Her gesture of spreading her hands toward Rin, along with the little energy she had just recovered, made her seem as though she did not care.

Seeing her look as though she were facing a great enemy, Rin chuckled. "But Sister Meizi, don't worry. The exchange tournament isn't a battle between the strongest."

"Not a battle between the strongest? What does that mean?"

A few years ago, the number of Void Beasts had surged, and they rampaged through the Void World, causing disasters of all sizes in the real world.

After a massive purge, most of the fodder enemies had been eliminated, leaving only some powerful Lord-class Void Beasts.

Magical girls needed to gain experience through battle, yet magical girls who had only just formed contracts were unfamiliar with the powers they had never possessed before.

So what could they do? All the cannon fodder had been cleared out. They could not just send those inexperienced newcomers straight at Lords, could they?

Without experience, they could not fight Lords. But without fighting Lords, they could not gain experience. This had become a vicious cycle for magical girls.

Therefore, in order to train newcomers, Divine Shield branches from various regions would send some of them to spar with one another, drawing out their potential.

That was the so-called Magical Girl Exchange Tournament.

After slowly listening to Rin's explanation, Ando Meiko finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She still did not want to attend the tournament, but after learning that its rules were not strong versus strong, but rather weak versus weak, she felt much better.

If she were really sent to participate in a martial arts tournament where the strongest fought the strongest, would she not be like a gentle sheep thrown into a pack of wolves?

"Come to think of it, did Rin ever participate in an exchange tournament?"

"Nope. After all, I was already an expert when I joined."

"An expert, huh..."

"Actually, I'd been training with my father since I was very young. Where I come from, the Void World is called the Spirit World. What we do when we eliminate Void Beasts is called slaying demons and banishing evil, while magical girls are called Taoist priests."

"Slaying demons and banishing evil." Ando Meiko found it somewhat amusing.

Since Kajieliena had already told her about this before, Ando Meiko was not particularly surprised when Rin brought it up herself.

"Your hometown should be in China, right?"

"That's right. After my father left the family, he brought me here to settle down."

Although the source of power on both sides was the Great Will, the different cultural inheritances of different countries had caused that power to develop in different directions.

The Blue Talisman and Red Talisman Rin used were actually an evolution of a Starry Magical Girl's abilities, equivalent to self-made skill cards.

That was why she could use such unconventional yet powerful magic when fighting Void Beasts.

As Ando Meiko quietly listened to Rin's explanation, a faint doubt arose in her heart.

When they fought the Void Spider, Rin had clearly known that her body had already reached its limit, yet she had still used the Blue Talisman without hesitation despite its severe side effects.