Magical Girl? I Got Screwed Over!

If she could enter that secret realm and find a familiar she liked, perhaps she would have an extra measure of safety when facing Void Beasts.

"Then how do we get in?"

"Uh... on the day of every full moon, we can use magic to open a portal to the secret realm. We just have to go straight in then. But once you obtain a familiar, you can't enter again."

"I see. Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome. It isn't exactly a secret, so there's no need to thank me. Just leave Nanako here to play with us."

"Anyway, I still need to get the key to this place from the commander later. We'll head back for today."

"Be careful on the way."

Since she was on break as well and had nowhere in particular to go, Ando Meiko could only bring Nanako to the base to kill time.

The moment the child entered the lounge, the girls snatched her straight from Ando Meiko's hands. Their frenzied behavior, as though they were fighting over an adorable teddy bear, frightened Ando Meiko just watching it.

Yōichi took advantage of a lull to step out of the command room, intending to take a brief rest in the lounge. Just then, he saw Ando Meiko approaching and greeted her. "Morning, Meizi. You brought Nanako again today?"

"Yeah, sorry to trouble you all again today."

Why did this feel so much like a conversation between a kindergarten principal and a parent dropping off her child?

After silently grumbling to herself, Ando Meiko continued, "Could I borrow the training room today?"

"Of course. You don't need to ask me next time either. Just go in whenever you want. The key I gave you yesterday works everywhere except the command room."

"Then thank you."

With that, Ando Meiko stopped bothering him, turned around, and walked straight into the training room.

[The Master is actually taking the initiative to train in the training room?]

[What else would I do?]

Ando Meiko rolled her eyes where no one could see, directing the gesture at Ruby.

Since she had decided to protect her peaceful life in the future, the only thing she could do whenever she had spare time was keep making herself stronger.

A few days ago, she might not have possessed such a mindset. But Iris, a witch officer, had appeared before them without the slightest hesitation, giving her an intense sense of danger and tension.

Although Iris had not attacked when they encountered her yesterday, Ando Meiko knew that if Iris had wanted to, neither she nor Kajieliena would have had any chance of escaping from her.

To gain the power to contend with Iris, Ando Meiko could only use this clumsy method to tap into her own potential.

After transforming in the training room and entering the Void World, Ando Meiko began researching on her own once the portal closed.

"Synchronization, begin."

This method was only used when carrying out complex Aether transformations. If she were merely transforming something into kitchenware or a bow, Synchronization was unnecessary.

"Master, are you trying to make that sniper rifle?"

"Mm. Help me keep track of the time." Ando Meiko nodded, gave the instruction, then closed her eyes and focused all her attention on the ball of Aether light formed from her magic wand.

"Material... hardness... shape... curves... connection points..."

The disassembled diagrams she had seen in books slowly transformed into three-dimensional images within her mind. Not even the tiniest detail was overlooked.

A few days ago, she had heard Aika say that Sunstone-type Magical Girls fought by enhancing their bodies and wielding armaments. Although Ando Meiko had been somewhat doubtful, she had not voiced any objections.

During the mock battle at the welcome event, she had vaguely noticed that she could switch weapons rapidly. Part of that was indeed due to her increasingly adept control of magic.

But in truth, the greater reason was that Ruby, a magic wand designed to assist in combat, possessed an armament storage function.

Although it could only store models for simple cold weapons and tools, as long as they were constructed in advance, they could be stored in Ruby's memory.

When she wanted to use one later, she only needed to form an impression of it in her mind, saving her the effort of expending a great deal of mental energy on visualization.

Unfortunately, complex weapons such as firearms did not work that way. Every time she used one, she had to construct each component through Synchronization before finally assembling them together.

"Just as I thought, constructing a firearm through imagination is far too difficult without the Starlight Radiance state." Looking at the anti-materiel sniper rifle in her hands, which felt almost weightless, Ando Meiko sighed softly.

"Master, it took three minutes and twenty seconds from beginning to the completion of loading."

Compared to the first time she had constructed it, that was more than two full minutes slower.

And the sniper rifle's magazine could only hold ten rounds in total.

Since bullet models could not be stored either, she had to spend time reconstructing them whenever she wanted to reload.

"Perhaps Master doesn't know this yet, but while Sacred Armament—Starlight Radiance has the ability to break through the limits of magic power, its greatest benefit is actually that it can greatly increase Master's magic condensation speed."

"I understand the theory, but I can't use the Starlight Radiance form to save my life every time something unexpected happens, can I? I can't be sure I'll be able to use it every time." Sticking out her tongue, Ando Meiko spoke helplessly.

Besides, what if that thing had some kind of beginner protection period?

If she kept using a powerful enhancement ability after obtaining it, then one day it suddenly stopped working—such things were hardly uncommon in anime or tokusatsu shows.

When the most urgent moment came, perhaps the only thing she could rely on would be her normal form. So it was better to train certain abilities in her normal form whenever possible.

Everything came down to practice making perfect, and magic power worked the same way.

After experiencing several real battles, it would be a lie to say Ando Meiko had not improved. After all, she now possessed the ability to defeat a weaker General-class Void Beast by herself.

"As long as I'm improving, it's a good thing."

With a wave of her hand, she turned the sniper rifle back into a magic wand. Ando Meiko closed her eyes again, but this time, the image that surfaced in her mind was the sword Edogawa Marugang used.

When she encountered the tentacles, the first thing she had thought was that she wanted her magic wand to become something like that. Yet what appeared had been a fruit knife.

She had always been rather hung up over that.

Shape, length, hardness, material... In Ando Meiko's mind, the seemingly ordinary katana was thoroughly dismantled into dozens of details.

The instant all the components came together, she suddenly opened her eyes. The wavering Aether in her hand abruptly condensed and transformed directly into an exquisite crimson katana.

"I-I did it!" Looking at the katana in her hand, which did not carry much weight, joy immediately welled up within Ando Meiko.

As early as when she had been Synchronizing components, Ando Meiko had discovered that she could not correctly create the weapon she imagined not because she had never come into contact with such an object.

Rather, it was because she did not understand the weapon's principles. She had only formed a vague impression in her mind, so the magic created the closest thing among the objects she had encountered.

That was why a fruit knife appeared when she wanted a katana, and a frying pan appeared when she wanted a shield.

To successfully create the weapon she imagined, she had to satisfy at least three conditions among its many details: the weapon's appearance, its material, and its type.

Perhaps this ability to turn her magic wand into a weapon was the true combat method of Sunstone-type Magical Girls... After learning this from Aika, she naturally did not neglect this aspect of her training.

What she had not expected, however, was that not only had she found the right direction for her training, but her proficiency in manipulating magic power had also improved greatly through continuously using it.

Everything seemed to be moving in a better direction, if not for that witch...

Iris's figure surfaced in her mind. Although the image of Iris lifting her skirt and exposing her thong made Ando Meiko's face flush slightly, Iris's attitude of completely disregarding her still made her grind her teeth in resentment.

"Actually, Master, you don't seem to need to worry so much about Iris." Ruby's voice carried a thoughtful tone.

"What do you mean?"

"Whether she wants to take Kajieliena away or take Xiphias away, wouldn't either outcome be a good thing for Master?"

"Huh?" Ando Meiko froze, then her eyes filled with sudden realization. "Isn't that right? Ruby, you're absolutely right!"

Ever since Ando Meiko escaped from Xiphias that day, she had never seen her again. And setting aside that girl who had already left God's Staff for the moment...

Kajieliena was a genuine witch who bothered her every single day. If she were taken back, then even if Ando Meiko could not return to her ordinary life, at least her current days would involve a little less irritation.

"I never thought that stubborn white girl would abandon her mission for you and even write a resignation letter to the organization."

Those words suddenly flashed through her mind, and the fighting spirit she had just built up deflated like a punctured basketball.

She had casually spoken those words in anger, yet Kajieliena had taken them seriously and carried them out without hesitation. It might not count as trust, but if she simply watched Kajieliena get taken away by the organization, she would probably feel terribly guilty.

The sound of a portal opening behind her made Ando Meiko stop what she was doing and turn around.

A petite, pretty yellow figure stepped out of the spatial passage. "So Ruby was here. What's wrong? Did you come here to train?"

Ando Meiko nodded and did not intend to hide it. "Yeah. What about you? I remember you messaged me last night that you were going shopping today."

"Shopping doesn't take an entire day, does it? I came over after I finished. I just didn't expect Ruby to come to a place like this too."

"I can't help it. A witch officer has already appeared. If I still don't have any sense of crisis, wouldn't I just become fish on someone else's chopping block?"

Rin smiled slightly and suggested, "In that case, how about we train together?"

"Sure, but what should we train?"

Rin lightly touched her chin with her index finger, thought for a moment, then pointed at the katana in Ando Meiko's hand. "Let's practice swordsmanship. It looks like Ruby relies too heavily on magic attacks, so her close combat ability is disastrously weak."

"Um..." Having her friend point it out so bluntly made even Ando Meiko feel a little embarrassed.

"Perfect timing. Isn't Ruby going to participate in the Magical Girl Exchange Tournament? I can help you improve your close combat skills a little during this time."

Hearing that Rin intended to train her, Ando Meiko hesitated briefly before gritting her teeth and agreeing. "Then I'll be in your care. What should I do first?"

"Can you make a sword like mine? Preferably metal." With a wave of her hand, a wooden sword appeared in Rin's grasp.

Ando Meiko nodded and immediately closed her eyes. With her experience from creating the katana, it took her only a moment to transform her magic wand into a one-handed sword.

"Have you ever studied kendo or anything similar before, Ruby?"

"No. I've never touched a sword since I was little."

Hearing that, Rin breathed a sigh of relief and stopped hesitating. She extended the wooden sword in her hand, pointing it straight at Ando Meiko's chest.

"I don't understand Japanese swordsmanship, but I can teach you the swordsmanship and martial arts from where I come from. A month is too short to achieve mastery, but improving your reactions and ability to respond in battle should not be a problem."

"Then please take care of me!"

After getting onto the bus and reaching her seat, Kajieliena looked at the girl leaning lazily against the seatback with her eyes half-closed and asked directly.

"What's wrong, Meizi? You don't seem to be in very good shape."

"Nothing. I was just too excited yesterday and didn't sleep well."

Ando Meiko had never expected Kajieliena to lean over so shamelessly and stick out her tongue to lick her face.

"It smells like lies, Ando Meiko."

"Wah!" Covering the spot that had been attacked, Ando Meiko let out a strange cry. When she realized nearly everyone was staring at her in astonishment, she lowered her head and dropped her voice as much as possible.

"W-What are you doing?"

"Sweat can reflect a person's physical condition. Judging from your scent just now, you probably exercised excessively yesterday."

"A-Anyway, it's none of your business!" Throwing out those words, Ando Meiko turned her head toward the window and ignored Kajieliena.

She was mainly feeling guilty, which was why she used this method to hide her panic.

After all, Kajieliena had been right. Yesterday, she and Rin had stayed in the training room practicing for an entire afternoon and night.

According to Rin, before learning martial arts, one needed a clear understanding of one's own body—its flexibility, resistance to impact, reaction speed, and so on.

But although Rin had said she would teach Ando Meiko, Ando Meiko had not expected Rin to beat her up one-sidedly in the training area.

If not for the speed at which Aether repaired her body, she would probably have had to come here to school with a bruised and swollen face.

Afterward, however, the girl had apologized to Ando Meiko repeatedly after releasing her transformation.

Thinking about it now, Ando Meiko definitely preferred Rin's gentle and sweet appearance before transforming.

As time slowly passed, departure time arrived. After the bus sounded its starting horn, it set off from the school gates and headed onto the main road.

For this training camp, each class was divided into groups of three, making six people per group. Aside from Kajieliena and Ando Meiko, Group 6 also included a girl named Baigui Lingye.

The girls in class got along fairly well with her, but this girl named Lingye had spoken fewer than five sentences to Ando Meiko even now, and every one of them had been necessary.

So apart from thinking that she was a very quiet and lonely girl, Ando Meiko did not have much of an impression of her.

For the time being, she did not want to speak with Kajieliena, while Kajieliena was not someone who actively sought out topics of conversation. Adding the silent Baigui Lingye to the mix...

The small area occupied by the three girls somehow became the quietest section of the entire bus.

After winding through several unfamiliar places, Ando Meiko, who had been staring out the window the whole way, gradually lost her sense of direction.