Magical Girl? I Got Scammed into It! Chapter 44

She could only marvel at why such a perfectly designed self-defense weapon existed in this world.

"Iris?" Ando Meiko frowned as she looked toward the sky, but quickly shook her head. "No, that's not right. Iris has an owl beside her, but this..."

The bird beast in midair had sharp, hook-shaped claws like blades. Its sturdy, powerful body was covered in black feathers so coarse and tough that even fierce winds could not stir them.

Black flames, condensed almost into substance, flickered and burned around it, decorating the bird beast like some ancient monster that inspired instinctive fear.

Ando Meiko was no stranger to these flame-like black things. They were Demonic Aether spilling from the body of a Void Beast.

"An eagle this time?"

Though it was called an eagle, this ghastly thing simulated from Demonic Aether had already surpassed even the ostrich, the largest bird on Earth today, in size.

Its wings continuously folded and contracted, beating out the air currents that sustained its flight. If fully spread, they were probably five meters long.

Yet reflected in the Void Condor's sharp eyes was not Ando Meiko, but the silver-haired girl standing calmly behind her.

"Meizi, I was wondering why you suddenly disappeared. So you entered the Void World."

Already transformed, Kajieliena glanced up at the Void Condor flying overhead before turning her gaze back to Ando Meiko.

"A General-class flying Void Beast. It might be troublesome to deal with, but its destructive power isn't that great, and it won't affect the city. It shouldn't be enough to make you come in here to kill it, should it?"

If you hadn't dragged me in here, do you think I had nothing better to do than come farm monsters on my own?

Ando Meiko shot her a vicious glare. "Aren't you going to help?"

"Forget it. It's just a little bird. There's no need to bother with it. We can just leave like this." She waved her magic wand, and a colorful passage quietly opened behind Ando Meiko.

"That's really wonderful." For once, Ando Meiko found Kajieliena unexpectedly adorable.

Just as they were about to leave, a soaring, melodious cry suddenly rang out behind them.

The sound of tearing wind echoed through the street, which was not exactly narrow.

[Master, three o'clock. Turn around and counterattack immediately.]

[Got it!]

Ando Meiko was not stupid enough to casually expose her back to an enemy. Though she looked delighted by Kajieliena opening the exit,

she had actually, while genuinely happy, deliberately revealed a small opening to the Void Condor in the sky.

She had not expected this General-class Void Beast to look so imposing while being so lacking in intelligence. Ando Meiko had barely turned around without even taking a step before the stupid bird took the bait.

She spun back around and swung her frying pan. The Void Condor, diving at high speed to seize its prey, had no way to stop in time and slammed headlong into it.

One force charged forward, while the other pushed outward. The two opposing forces combined into a tremendous impact that struck the Void Condor directly in the head.

Before it could spread its wings and stabilize itself after being knocked into the air, Ando Meiko had already switched the frying pan to her left hand during the swing.

When her left hand caught the object in midair, her magic wand had already completed its second transformation and become a rather plain-looking longbow.

She drew the bowstring. Even without the step of nocking an arrow, magic power flowing into the bow automatically condensed into a red arrow between Ando Meiko's hands.

"Mm, I can tell you've become quite proficient at switching weapons." Kajieliena watched from the side with no intention of intervening, yet she did not stint her praise, even if her expression did not change in the slightest.

After mastering Holy Armament transformation techniques and charging techniques, Ando Meiko had discovered that even without entering the heavily charged Holy Armament state, both her Aether switching speed and the charging speed of her magic arrows had become much faster than before.

She did not experience the strange sensation from novels where the protagonist leveled up and felt some kind of power filling their body.

But these small changes allowed her to genuinely feel that she was slowly moving forward.

Progress was progress. Naturally, one had to advance step by step. Take too big a step and—crack—you might pull something... Well, Ando Meiko did not seem particularly worried about pulling anything now.

Though the magic arrow lacked the immense power of the greatbow, it was more than enough to deal with this Void Condor.

The arrow streaked through the air in a beautiful trail of red light and pierced one of the Void Condor's wings.

A single wing could not support its over-three-meter-tall body no matter how hard it flapped. After struggling twice, it spiraled toward the ground around its intact wing.

With her sudden attack achieving such excellent results, Ando Meiko naturally had to kick it while it was down... No, press her advantage.

She drew her bow again, condensing a second arrow. Just as she was about to release it, another black shadow suddenly burst into the battlefield from the side.

The second black shadow flashed past the spot where the Void Condor was falling. It was so fast that even the attacking Void Condor paled in comparison.

After making contact with the Void Condor, it looped through the air before diving toward the street.

The poor Void Condor had not even fully reached the ground before its body was sliced into more than a dozen cleanly severed pieces in midair. They then turned into black Aether and were completely absorbed by Ando Meiko's magic wand.

The instant Kajieliena saw the second black shadow, a trace of coldness and gravity emerged in her normally placid eyes.

She had not worn such an expression even on the day she confronted Xiphias, when Marugang's blade had been mere inches from her.

A small owl slowly floated in midair, while a figure hopped out of the nearby shadows with an easy, carefree expression.

As the girl wearing round-framed glasses gradually entered her sight, Ando Meiko's triumphant smile at so easily defeating a General-class Void Beast immediately vanished.

"Iris..."

The thing she feared most had still arrived.

The Vanished Everyday Life: Can You Perform That Again?

Kajieliena looked calmly at Iris, who stood not far in front of her. "After following us for so long, you finally decided to show yourself?"

Her cool face showed little surprise. From the moment she and Ando Meiko had stepped out of the school, she had already sensed Iris's magic power.

Kajieliena gave Iris a faint glance, and the hand holding her magic wand tightened unconsciously.

Before she had decided to leave God's Staff, the Witch Organization, she had been Iris's assistant. She knew Iris's strength very well.

It was not that she admitted she was inferior to Iris. Their compatibility was simply far too poor.

The targeted strikes of Orbital weapons were immensely powerful, and Kajieliena was confident that as long as she could hit it, she could take out Iris's familiar in one shot.

But the problem was, how was she supposed to lock onto a familiar that moved at such absurd speed?

Iris glanced at Ando Meiko, then looked back at Kajieliena beside her. A dangerous curve lifted at the corner of her mouth. "Eh? So you really did choose her side. After all the time we worked together, you just threw away our relationship without hesitation. You really are a heartless woman."

"What relationship could you and I possibly have?" Kajieliena shrugged. "Since you've shown yourself in person, I suppose a battle between us is unavoidable?"

"No." Iris shook her head. "What if I said I just happened to be passing by? Would you believe me?"

"No."

"Fine, I knew it." Rejected without hesitation by Kajieliena, she sighed and waved her hand in disappointment. "I'm only here to give you a warning. You don't really think I came out alone, do you?"

"You mean... that woman... came too?"

At those words, Iris revealed a somewhat teasing smile. "Although my mission is to bring you back, whether you come or not has nothing to do with me."

"I know." Kajieliena nodded.

After discovering that Xiphias was also living in this city, Iris definitely could not sit still.

Kajieliena knew that she and Iris were the same kind of people: they only obsessed over what interested them. Kajieliena had chosen to leave the organization because she was interested in Ando Meiko, while Iris was interested in Xiphias, so she had not cared about Kajieliena's actions at all.

Iris leaped from the ground, spun three hundred and sixty degrees in midair, and landed steadily atop her owl familiar.

"Then, see you again if fate allows." A colorful passage suddenly opened behind her, and she vanished into it atop the owl.

"This is troublesome."

"What is? That 'woman' you mentioned?"

There were not many things that could make Kajieliena, that block of wood, say the word "troublesome." Ando Meiko could not help being curious about just who that woman was.

"You don't need to worry about this. In any case, I'll handle it properly."

"Fine. If you don't want to talk about it, forget it."

They found a secluded place and left the Void World. Though this little interruption did not affect Ando Meiko and Kajieliena's shopping plans, they spoke much less afterward.

"I'll take you home."

"Forget it. I still need to go somewhere."

After they finished paying separately, Kajieliena offered to take Ando Meiko home. Ando Meiko refused directly, because before going home, she still needed to pick Nanako up from the base.

She charged all the way to the base, only to get stuck at the elevator doors. If the staff there had not also been magical girls Ando Meiko knew, she would probably have had to call Yōichi.

"Nanako, I'm here to pick you up."

The moment she entered the lounge, she discovered that aside from several magical girls who worked upstairs at the maid café, everyone else, including Aika and Furate, was inside.

The chattering magical girls were gathered together, surrounding the cute little evil god in the middle. They had even ignored the sound of Ando Meiko opening the door.

"That's amazing, Nanako! Can you perform that again? You know, that thing."

"Sure."

Before Ando Meiko's dumbfounded eyes, Nanako's hair spread wildly beneath her like vines, then transformed into pink tentacles that rose upright from the floor.

The terrifying sight made her recall how those tentacles had toyed with her before, and she unconsciously took a step back.

"You're incredible, Nanako! I've never seen a familiar as amazing as you."

"Hehe, Nanako really is amazing?" Receiving such praise, the smile on her face grew even brighter.

After all, at home, Ando Meiko had never let Nanako reveal her true form because she did not want Fuko to discover Nanako's identity.

And now, seeing Nanako smile so wholeheartedly in this place full of magical girls, joining this place had been worthwhile after all.

"Ah, Sister Ruby, Nanako is here." When she spotted Ando Meiko, Nanako gave her a sweet smile and waved.

The tentacles writhing wildly across the floor wound up Ando Meiko's calves like morning glory vines, climbing all the way to her slender waist.

"Eek!" With a strange cry, she was pulled over by the tentacles that occupied more than half the shadows in her heart. They bypassed the magical girls standing in front of her and sent her straight into Nanako's arms.

Of course, this so-called embrace was entirely one-sided, since the tentacles wrapped around Ando Meiko left her completely unable to move.

She struggled once, but discovered she could not move at all. So she simply gave up and let Nanako rub against her like she was acting spoiled.

"So soft. So comfortable."

Nanako was comfortable, but her little head pressed against Ando Meiko's chest, making her whole body tingle.

"Put me down first."

"Okay." She agreed and controlled her tentacles, setting Ando Meiko steadily back on the floor with a wriggle.

"Did you have fun?"

"I did! The big sisters here are all really, really nice people. Nanako likes it here a lot."

Smiling, Ando Meiko rubbed Nanako's little head. Then she came back to her senses and looked at the smiling magical girls. "Because I have to go to school, this child has been staying at home and can't go out. It's rare to see her this happy. Thank you for playing with Nanako."

"Oh, Ruby, what are you saying? We're Azure Magical Girls, yet we still don't have familiars. We're really envious of you."

"Familiars... Come to think of it, I'm curious too. Why don't you have familiars yet?"

Ando Meiko had originally thought Azure Magical Girls came with familiars by default, but now it seemed that obtaining one was not as simple as she had imagined.

The Vanished Everyday Life: Synchronization

"How should I put this? It isn't exactly a secret in the magical girl world." A girl who could not bear to let go of Nanako spoke first.

She was a magical girl codenamed Yukine, and one of the four Azure Magical Girls present who did not have a familiar, so she certainly had the right to speak on the matter.

"Familiars aren't actually bestowed by the Great Will. To form a Demon-Binding Contract with a familiar, you need to enter a place called the Familiar Realm, then find a familiar whose heart resonates with yours."

"The Familiar Realm?"

Hearing another unfamiliar term, Ando Meiko frowned slightly. "What kind of place is that?"

"It's said to be a parallel world that does not intersect with ours. Like the Void World, it's a wondrous world made entirely of Aether and inhabited by all kinds of magical creatures. We have to enter it if we want to find familiars."

"A place inhabited by magical creatures..." As she spoke, Ando Meiko could not help glancing at Nanako, only to quickly look away.

Come to think of it, did Nyarlathotep count as a type of magical creature? If so, could this so-called Familiar Realm possibly be Nanako's home?

[I knew Master would think that, but it isn't entirely unreasonable. In fact, I don't think anyone knows whether the Nyarlathotep race even exists.]

[That's true.]

If Nanako really was the evil god known as the "Faceless God," then her abilities should not be limited to turning her hair into tentacles, right?

After this brief thought, Ando Meiko immediately became quite interested in the Familiar Realm.

After all, every familiar she had seen—whether Xiphias's familiar Marugang or Iris's owl familiar—possessed top-tier combat strength.