Magical Girl? I Got Tricked into It!

A boundless green dragon slid into view, and before they knew it, they had already been carried out to the outskirts.

The areas connecting to the city gradually turned into stretches of farmland rushing past. If they paused their gaze anywhere for a moment, they could spot quite a few farmers busily working in the fields while wiping sweat from their brows.

Their faces were all filled with joyful, satisfied smiles.

The healthy green scenery outside the window eased Ando Meiko's tired eyes considerably, and she promptly stretched lazily in her seat.

Although the sailor uniform concealed much of the girl's delicate, curvaceous figure, the two proud peaks that could rival mountain ranges pushed against the fabric, creating a beautiful curve with an almost bursting allure.

With her eyes narrowed as she enjoyed that brief moment of comfort, Ando Meiko naturally failed to notice that her casual movement had drawn the attention of more than half the innocent boys on the bus.

After entering a mountain road and traveling quite a distance farther, they could vaguely see a white building hidden among the woods not far ahead through the lush branches and leaves.

Although this year's destination seemed different from last year's, the nature of their study camp was more or less the same.

Once they reached their destination, the bus finally came to a stop.

After the bus doors opened, Teacher Ci, who was leading the group, stood up at the front and called to the students behind her, "Students, remember to take your luggage before getting off."

"Okay." Filled with anticipation, everyone gave their homeroom teacher a distracted reply, then hurriedly gathered their luggage and filed off the bus.

"Baigui, let's get off too." She turned and smiled at Baigui Lingye, only to find that the other girl remained silent.

She had wanted to gradually build a good relationship with her groupmate, but instead received a cold shoulder. Though it felt a little like throwing warmth at ice, Ando Meiko was not angry about it.

"Let's go too, Kajieliena."

"Mm. And next time, don't stretch in a crowded place."

"Huh?"

"Do you know how many people were looking at you?" With that, Kajieliena grabbed her backpack and left her seat without waiting for Ando Meiko.

Ando Meiko froze at those words. As though trying to cover something up, she inexplicably wrapped both arms around her chest.

She quickly realized that her behavior was rather strange. Embarrassed, she scratched her hair and followed Kajieliena off the bus.

Teacher Ci pointed into the air at Ando Meiko, who had gotten off last. After counting everyone, she greeted the driver and gave the gathered students a brief explanation.

"Quiet down, everyone. Let me first explain what we'll be doing shortly."

Seeing that her students, though still excited inside, had quickly quieted down, Teacher Ci nodded in satisfaction.

"Once we go in, we'll gather in the hall with the other classes, listen to the director's speech, and receive our assignments. Once the tasks have been assigned, we'll immediately find students from Class Two, form groups, and begin today's study camp."

After speaking, Teacher Ci swept her gaze over the impatient students before continuing, "Any questions?"

"No, Teacher. Let's hurry inside."

"You'll have to walk the rest of the way yourselves. We teachers have our own gathering point. Class monitor, step forward."

"Yes." A fairly handsome boy stepped out from the group and stood beside Teacher Ci.

"Before we dismiss, put away your excitement for now. Follow the class monitor properly and obey his instructions. Can you do that?"

"Yes!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Good. You may leave now. I'll wish you all in advance that you can earn grades sufficient for graduation."

The Vanished Everyday Life: Outdoor Camping Life

Teacher Ci left her students and headed with the teachers from the other classes toward the gathering point on the other side of the mountain school.

Although Class One was known for being noisy, with Teacher Ci's lingering authority hanging over them, none of the students defied the class monitor's orders. They obediently arranged themselves and followed behind him.

To keep the students from rushing too eagerly and causing a crowd, whenever each class reached the entrance to the gathering hall, all groups were directed to line up and wait for the teacher calling their class name.

Bored from waiting, Ando Meiko leaned back slightly and gently tapped Kajieliena, who was standing behind her, with the back of her hand.

"Kajieliena, let me ask you something."

"What is it, Meizi?"

"How much do you know about Baigui Lingye, who's in our group?"

"Who is she?"

Though her back was turned to Kajieliena, Ando Meiko could not help rolling her eyes at that answer. As expected, asking anything of this blockhead who only cared about what interested her was pointless.

"Forget it. Asking you was unnecessary."

Leaving Kajieliena aside once again, Ando Meiko tugged at the sleeve of the girl from her class standing beside her. "Kano, how much do you know about Baigui?"

The classmate Ando Meiko had grabbed was named Yoshida Kano. She usually wore a pair of slightly intellectual-looking red-rimmed glasses, while her smooth waist-length hair was braided into twin plaits that hung over her chest.

Her somewhat messily trimmed bangs were long enough to cover the upper half of her eyes. Though she wore the same uniform as everyone else, anyone meeting her for the first time would surely think she was a country girl who did not know how to dress herself.

In reality, however, she was a social butterfly with quite a reputation among the second-years. Both boys and girls got along well with her.

Quite a few boys even felt that this girl, who looked a little rustic, had an endearing charm born from that contrast.

Of course, the term social butterfly merely meant that she knew many people; there was nothing strange implied by it.

"Baigui Lingye..." Kano glanced around before finally locking onto a figure standing near the front of the line. "I'm not actually that familiar with her."

"Even you don't know?" Ando Meiko looked at Kano in surprise.

After all, as a social butterfly, Kano possessed plenty of information that even the teachers did not know. If even she did not understand Lingye, then this girl who had always been quiet and withdrawn was indeed mysteriously unusual.

"I did think about trying to befriend her, but every time I tried to pull her into a conversation, that iceberg froze me to the bone." Kano shrugged helplessly.

After seeing that even Kano could not make her speak, everyone in class gradually began acting as if she did not exist.

Although she had no intention of becoming close to anyone in this class, Ando Meiko had developed quite an interest in Lingye.

"What is it? Are you really interested in Baigui, Meizi?"

Ando Meiko nodded without trying to hide it, then smiled softly. "It would be nice if I could become friends with her."

"Do your best, Meizi. If it's you, maybe you can manage it."

"Huh? You believe in me that much? I'm not even sure I have the confidence."

"Because you're really cute, Meizi." Kano immediately grabbed Ando Meiko's hand. "If you confessed to me, Meizi, I'd definitely agree without hesitation."

Kano's teasing laughter made Ando Meiko helplessly push her away, then turn toward the teacher emerging from the hall entrance.

"Class One."

"Stop fooling around. Let's go."

"Honestly, Meizi really is such an easily embarrassed girl."

Ando Meiko rolled her eyes at her and said nothing more. She followed the orderly line through the doors and into the hall.

Though the building had seemed somewhat mysterious from outside, it was actually just a sports hall like the ones commonly found at school.

It simply covered twice the area of an ordinary sports hall, so even with many students already assembled in lines, it still felt very spacious.

"Students who have arrived may sit where they are and wait." No one stood on ceremony after hearing that. All the students from Class One sat down where they were and waited for the others to enter.

Wave after wave of students poured in through the entrance. Once all ten classes had gathered in the hall, a middle-aged woman leisurely walked onto the stage.

"Welcome to our study camp. I am the administrator of this mountain school and the person in charge of your second-year program. You may call me Sister Xia."

Sister Xia swept her gaze across the entire hall, and a sly foxlike smile slowly appeared at the corners of her lips.

"This study camp concerns your graduation grades, so it differs greatly from the usual format. Let me explain the details of this camp's assignment."

The moment Sister Xia began announcing the assignment, the hall, which had still contained a little chatter, immediately fell completely silent.

"Outdoor camping is your assignment this time."

Everyone froze. Then, as though explosives had been ignited, countless incredulous voices erupted throughout the hall.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"No way?"

Ignoring everyone's questions and discussions, Sister Xia continued on her own. "This mountain is normally managed by dedicated staff, so it contains sufficient resources. During this five-day study camp, you will need to solve your own drinking water and food problems."

"Any food and water you gather must be immediately brought to an accompanying teacher to confirm whether it is safe to consume. Every day, from seven to nine in the morning and from eight to ten at night, you will each have two hours to freely enter the school bathhouse and wash up. Other than those times and going to the restroom, you must remain outside and live by camping."

"After dismissal, find the members of the other class in your group. Then, the six of you will collect supplies from the back entrance and enter the mountain behind the school according to the instructions."

Before leaving, Sister Xia gave them a gloating smile. "One final reminder: if you encounter something you can't handle, shout toward the sky immediately. Points will be deducted depending on the circumstances, but that's still better than getting hurt."

"After all, the deep forests of Japan are not safe."

"Of course, anyone who wants to withdraw now can directly find their supervising teacher. But if you do, you'll have to make up those thirty graduation credits elsewhere."

As they watched Sister Xia walk down from the stage, nearly everyone sucked in a breath at the same time. Not only did they have to rely entirely on themselves for this study camp, but one careless mistake could even lead to injury.

It was certainly frightening, but... Sister Xia's final words had robbed many of those present of the courage to withdraw early.

The Vanished Everyday Life: A Block of Wood and an Iceberg

After the person in charge finished speaking, Ando Meiko stood and headed toward Class Two. When she spotted a pretty figure holding up a number card marked "6," she froze where she stood.

There was no special reason for it. That person was Nakajima Rei, her first love.

Drawing a lot to be paired with Rei for the three-legged race during the last rally had already been incredibly lucky. She had never expected to draw the same group as her again this time.

Rei was also stunned when she saw the number card in Ando Meiko's hand. Almost instantly, she crossed through the crowd and swept Ando Meiko into her arms.

"This is wonderful, Meizi! It really is fate guiding us. I never thought you'd end up in my group."

Rei's delighted gaze drifted, and the corner of her eye happened to catch the silver-haired girl following behind Ando Meiko.

When she saw that Kajieliena was holding the same number card as her, her eyes immediately narrowed, and an icy aura slowly spread outward from her body.

Ando Meiko sensed that something seemed off about the atmosphere around Rei, who was hugging her, but she did not understand why. Soon, she gently pushed Rei away and pulled herself free from that soft embrace she hated to leave.

Rei was not the only Class Two member in their group. Looking at the other two girls slowly approaching, Ando Meiko spoke first. "Rei, aren't you going to introduce the partners we'll be living with for the next five days?"

"Oh, I forgot because you didn't say anything. Honestly, why can't I control my emotions whenever I see you, Meizi?"

Her gaze drifted inconspicuously over Kajieliena. Rei then turned and led the two girls over to them. "Let me introduce everyone. I'm Nakajima Rei."

After introducing herself, she pointed at the short-haired girl on the left. "This is Asakusa Megumi."

She then pointed to the girl with a single ponytail on the right. "And this is Chihaya Yuna."

"I'm Ando Meiko. This is Kajieliena, an exchange student from Russia, and this is Baigui Lingye."

"Oh, I never expected our group to be full of such cute girls." The single-ponytailed Yuna stepped forward and extended her hand toward Ando Meiko. "Please take care of me over the next few days."

"Mm, likewise."

"I'm the kind of person who hates trouble, so I'll just call everyone by name. You can call me by mine too."

Yuna's carefree personality made Ando Meiko like her quite a bit. After all, no normal person would feel disgust toward that innocent smile.

"Good. Since fate brought us together, let's not be so reserved. Relax, everyone." Rei stepped forward and stood between Ando Meiko and Yuna. "Meizi, Yuna, Megumi, Lingye..."

When she looked at Kajieliena, Rei's voice stalled for a moment. "Ka, Ka... Kajieliena."

Her pronunciation was clear and deliberate, but she seemed to force those mere four syllables out through clenched teeth.

Ando Meiko, who had no idea what was going on, did not detect anything strange in her voice. She only thought Rei might be afraid Kajieliena had not heard her pronunciation.

"P-please take care of me..." Compared to the naturally friendly Yuna, Megumi was much more reserved. Judging by her evasive eyes and expression, she was clearly the shy type.

The four girls had all exchanged words, but Kajieliena and Lingye had still not said a single thing.

Seeing Yuna and Megumi repeatedly glancing toward those two, Ando Meiko could only shake her head at the awkward situation.

An iceberg and a block of wood. Ando Meiko wondered just how many lifetimes of terrible luck she had accumulated to end up drawing these two.

Talking was already a problem when they had just met, let alone living together for five whole days... Thinking about it made Ando Meiko feel somewhat helpless.

"Alright, now that we've introduced ourselves, let's set off early. Otherwise, all the good spots will be taken, and that'll be troublesome."

No one objected to Rei's suggestion. Kajieliena at least gave a slight nod, while Lingye did not even make a gesture to express her thoughts.

"Lingye, at least say something. We'll be working together soon, after all. You can't possibly go without saying a word, can you?"

Lingye lightly raised her head and glanced at Ando Meiko, who had moved close in front of her. Their eyes met, and it was then that Ando Meiko saw Lingye's face clearly for the first time.

The girl's youthful, lovely face seemed exquisitely carved. Her perfectly proportioned features carried an icy aura that warned strangers to stay away, while her slightly hollow eyes glimmered with a trace of cold light.