Magical Girl? I Got Screwed Into One!

Although she was a Radiant Stone Magical Girl who possessed Ruby, she had not fixed her Battle Armament during her first battle as Aika had described.

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 stayed with her for life?

Imagining herself running around slaughtering enemies with a fruit knife, Ando Meiko could not help finding it both ridiculous and frightening.

If she really had to wield that thing and become a physical magical girl who fought Void Beasts head-on, she might have been able to retire the moment she encountered the Void Wolf at school.

Thinking of that, she could not help growing curious.

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

[But, Master, now that you mention it, I do seem to have a simple model-storage ability. I wonder whether it's the same thing as the Armament she mentioned.]

Meiko parted her lips, about to continue asking questions, when Commander Tamura Yuichi's voice came from somewhere unknown and interrupted her.

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

"Yeah, it just ended. We were chatting, weren't we?"

"In that case, come to the command room first. We can properly welcome Big Sister Ruby too."

Hearing Yōichi's teasing words, Meiko's mouth twitched slightly. She turned her head aside and pretended she had heard nothing.

"All right, 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, cutting a spatial gate into the air that led back to the Reality World.

"Okay." Everyone smiled and responded to Rin, lining up to pass through the gate.

Meiko emerged first and raised her head to examine the space again. In the Reality World, it was like being inside an empty box, with nothing but blank whiteness all around.

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

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

By her rough estimate, the space covered at least half a football field, and its ceiling extended upward to the height of nearly ten stories.

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

"Since this base was built underground, there should be enough usable space to open up two or three places like this, let alone one."

"If an earthquake made this collapse, wouldn't we all be flattened into meat patties?"

"Don't worry." Hearing Yōichi's voice again, Meiko followed the sound and shifted her gaze to the collar of Rin's clothes 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 it during an earthquake, but the facilities inside can withstand a Seventh Level earthquake without collapsing."

"And this training ground for magical girls was built with special materials. It's far sturdier than the other facilities and can even withstand an eighth level earthquake."

Both Seventh Level and eighth level 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 an eighth level earthquake. At times like this, Meiko had to marvel at just how convenient magic was.

The Disappearing Everyday Life: Could It Be a Tea Party?

After transforming back, the group arrived at the command room amid laughter and chatter.

The metal doors automatically opened when they detected someone approaching. Meiko, who was walking at the very back, had not even entered yet when a sudden explosion startled her.

Pop, pop!

Two party poppers exploded at Meiko from both sides.

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. Meiko was starting to wonder.

Were these people deliberately trying to mess with her?

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

"A meeting right after arriving?"

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

She had been dragged out of bed so early, worked hard to get to the base, only to be pulled aside and lectured. Her mood had not even recovered yet, and now she had to attend a meeting.

What kind of arrangement was this? They could at least give her a little time to nap and recover.

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

Rin looked up at Yōichi's face, which did not seem particularly grave, then smiled and continued, "The commander looks completely unconcerned, so this probably doesn't have much to do with Void Beasts."

Hearing that, Yōichi chuckled. "You guessed right. It really doesn't have much to do with Void Beasts, though it's not exactly good news for us either."

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

Yōichi nodded at Rin. Once everyone had taken their seats, he turned on the screen and displayed the contents of the meeting.

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

Hearing a chorus of jeers below, Yōichi paused just as he was about to continue. He cautiously asked, "What's wrong, everyone? Is there some problem?"

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

"I never thought the commander was into this sort of thing."

"Exactly! Is this meeting about helping the commander pick which one looks better?"

"Huh? Are you going on a blind date? So the commander has reached 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 clearly amused by her own words. Her seriousness vanished as she covered her mouth and giggled.

"Huh?" After being bombarded by the girls' comments, Yōichi suddenly realized something. He instantly turned around and stared at the projection, his entire face turning red.

The screen displayed several model photos of women in swimsuits striking seductive poses, exposing a whole expanse of cleavage.

"You underage girls, don't—don't look!" Yōichi shouted in a low voice as he stepped back and used his body to block the screen.

Yet his head happened to line up with the photo's towering breasts, making the whole scene as ridiculous as could be.

Some base personnel heard the girls' laughter and turned to look at the people holding the meeting.

When they saw the model photos Yōichi was futilely trying to hide with his body, they immediately seemed to understand and burst into laughter 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 already!"

Hearing Yōichi's irritated scolding, his assistant finally stood up, walked over, and helped switch the screen's contents.

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

"Slacking off at work to look at this stuff, and you still have the nerve to talk? Good thing the superior officer isn't here, or you'd be dragged out and disciplined."

"I... I wasn't... I mean..." Yōichi tried explaining for ages but could not produce a coherent excuse. In the end, he simply pursed his lips and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Cough, cough. All right, let's officially begin the meeting." After clearing his throat, Yōichi patted the large screen and formally started the meeting.

"Magical Girl Exchange Tournament?" Looking at the bold words on the cover, Meiko could not help frowning.

Just as Rin had said, what Yōichi wanted to discuss really had nothing to do with Void Beasts. Still, it did not seem like good news either.

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

An exchange between magical girls... It couldn't be everyone sitting around at a tea party, bragging about which Void Beast they had killed that day, could it?

They were probably going to communicate through their fists.

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

"Commander!" The instant Yōichi finished that sentence, Aika raised her hand.

"Good! Student Aika, ask away."

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

"Good question, but that was true only before today." Yōichi clapped his hands, then let his gaze linger on Meiko for a moment. "We've used that excuse to turn it down for the past few tournaments after Aika and the others joined. But now an order has come down from above, requiring us to send at least one person."

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

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

"Huh?" Suddenly being named, Meiko had been resting her head on one hand and only half listening. She froze, then looked at Yōichi as if unsure she had heard correctly.

"Wait, what did you say?" Rubbing her ears, she asked again because she thought she had misheard.

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

Huh? Are you kidding me? I don't even know what this is, and you're already throwing me into some exchange tournament?

"B-But I have no idea what this even is..." Meiko said weakly, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"It's fine if you don't understand. Let Three Purities or Aika teach you. You're a newcomer, after all. When you first join, you have to get fleeced... Cough, cough, I mean, you have to familiarize yourself with the environment as soon as possible."

"Wait, did you just say something weird?"

"No, that was just your imagination."

She had wanted to refuse, but considering she had only just joined, it would seem rather bad if she immediately rejected the first assignment they gave her.

Besides, it did not look as though she had any room to argue. Meiko could only slowly lean back and slump dejectedly against her chair.

The Disappearing Everyday Life: A Sudden Attack

"All right, Sister Meizi, stop looking so worried." On the way back to school, Rin saw Meiko's troubled expression and could not bear it any longer, so she tried to comfort her.

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

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

Meiko shrugged and spread her hands toward Rin. The gesture made her newly recovered spirits look as though she did not care at all.

Seeing her act as if she were facing a great enemy, Rin chuckled. "But Sister Meizi, don't worry. The exchange tournament isn't a clash between the strong."

"Not a clash between the strong? What does that mean?"

Several years ago, the rapidly increasing number of Void Beasts had run rampant through the Void World, causing disasters of every scale in the Reality World.

After a major purge, most of the cannon fodder had been wiped out, leaving only some relatively powerful Lord-Tier Void Beasts.

Magical girls needed to accumulate experience through battle, but magical girls who had only just made their contracts were unfamiliar with powers they had never possessed before.

So what could they do? The cannon fodder had all been cleared out. They could not possibly send those fledgling girls straight into battle against Lords, could they?

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

Therefore, to train newcomers, Divine Shield branches from different regions would send some of their magical girls to spar with each other and awaken their potential.

That was the so-called Magical Girl Exchange Tournament.

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

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

If they really made her participate in a martial arts tournament where the strong fought the strong, wouldn't she be like a gentle sheep thrown into a pack of wolves?

"Come to think of it, Rin, have you participated in an exchange tournament before?"

"No. I was already an expert when I joined."

"An expert, huh..."

"Actually, I've trained with my father ever 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 exterminating evil, while magical girls are called Taoist priests."

"Slaying demons and exterminating evil." Meiko found it somewhat amusing.

She had already heard about this from Kajieliena, so when Rin brought it up personally, Meiko did not show much surprise.

"Your hometown is 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 belonged to the Great Will, differences in cultural heritage between countries had caused that power to develop in different directions.

The Blue Talismans and Red Talismans Rin used were actually an evolution of the Starry Magical Girl's abilities, equivalent to homemade skill cards.

That was why she could use such unusual and powerful magic when fighting Void Beasts.

Meiko quietly listened to Rin's explanation, but a trace of doubt rose in her heart.

When they had fought the Void Spider, Rin had clearly known that her body had already reached its limit, yet she had still used the Blue Talisman with its enormous side effects.