Magical Girl? I Got Scammed Into It! Chapter 48

After all, compared to Gray Shadow the owl's agile, unpredictable attacks, Marugang's swordsmanship was far more direct and unguarded.

Just like sensing the flow of magic during synchronization, she relaxed her body, focused her attention, immersed herself in her senses, and felt the current of the stream.

Ando Meiko had not noticed the fleeting burst of magic earlier, nor did she know that Rei was confronting Kajieliena over her.

At that moment, she had devoted all her focus to her sense of touch.

Just now, she had attacked no fewer than nine times in a row. Though every attempt had ended in failure, she had vaguely brushed against that wondrous sensation.

The current gradually slowed in her perception, slower and slower, until it became completely still, as though time itself had stopped.

The fish at her target gently swayed its tail, and the ripples it created spread outward, passing through the water and brushing against Ando Meiko's legs.

As everyone knew, due to the refraction of light, the position of a fish seen with the naked eye differed somewhat from its actual position in the water.

All useless information was stripped away in the process of analysis. Within Ando Meiko's three-dimensional mental image, only herself and the target fish remained.

Now! she shouted inwardly, her eyes flying open.

Her waist twisted slightly, and with her waist as the center, she concentrated all the strength in her body into her right hand. The branch clenched in it left a trail of afterimages as it shot into the stream.

Then, under Yuna's somewhat disbelieving gaze, she raised the branch again.

At the sharpened tip of the branch was a silver fish, writhing and struggling nonstop.

"Oh my God, Meizi, y-you're amazing!"

[Master succeeded in such a short time. As expected, Master really is an incredibly talented magical girl.]

This was the one thing she absolutely did not want to admit.

Volume Two: The Vanished Everyday Life: Chapter Twenty-One: Let Me Do It

Hui, who had been sent to call Ando Meiko and the others back, stood by the riverbank and looked at the fish laid out on a flat stone slab, their mouths still puckered. Her voice trembled slightly.

"You guys... actually caught these?"

She had thought Rei had only given them branches to kill time. She had never expected them to actually spear fish using such a clumsy method.

After the three returned with their spoils, aside from Yuna, whose gaze was still somewhat vacant, and Hui, whose face was full of disbelief, Kajieliena and Rei were also surprised, though this outcome had not been entirely beyond their expectations.

They both knew that Ando Meiko was a magical girl, so naturally, they could not rule out the possibility that she possessed such an ability.

"Ling Ye, look, look." As though showing off, Ando Meiko waved the branch with the fish on it toward Ling Ye beside her. "This biggest fish—I'll give you the first portion later. How about it?"

Seeing that Ling Ye still gave no response, Ando Meiko did not get upset. Smiling, she placed the fish on the leaf-padded ground and turned to the others.

"Alright, now that the ingredients are ready, let's start cooking."

The moment Ando Meiko said that, everyone present became silent as the dead. Ling Ye and Kajieliena were one thing, but Rei, Yuna, and Hui even avoided Ando Meiko's gaze.

After a moment of confusion, Ando Meiko swept her eyes over the five of them and suddenly understood. "Don't tell me none of you five can cook?"

This time, including Ling Ye, all five girls nodded at her simultaneously.

"How about using this..." Rei's eyes struggled for a moment before she pulled out the corner of a packet from her backpack.

"Instant—no, that won't do! What if we get judged for cheating?" The instant she saw it, Ando Meiko shoved it back in.

"Forget it. I'll do it." Left with no choice, Ando Meiko volunteered herself.

Somewhere in the Void World

A sword-wielding magical girl swung her blade, knocking aside three sharp black feathers. As she landed, she forcefully pushed off with the tips of her feet.

Her surging speed made the combat uniform tightly fitted to her body rustle violently, producing bursts of wind-cutting noise.

Seeing a sharp black glint flying straight at her, she abruptly stopped in place. Using the momentum that had yet to dissipate, she stepped forward, and the katana angled toward the ground suddenly swept upward.

This seemingly ordinary move not only stopped her charge in an instant, but also greatly increased the power of her strike.

With a crisp metallic clash, the black glint was knocked into the air, while the sword-wielding magical girl remained standing perfectly still.

Before she could make out what the black glint was during that instant of stillness, it adjusted its flight once more and transformed into a bolt of lightning as it dove toward her.

She turned the blade forward, gripped the long hilt of the katana with both hands, and swung heavily. A slash woven from strength and speed crossed the black glint at the instant they met.

Another strange, crisp metallic clash rang out. The sharp black glint was as fast as lightning. After colliding with both her body and the katana in her hands, it folded at an acute angle and attacked her back again.

No matter how fast the black glint was, how powerful it became, or how tricky its attacks were.

The sword-wielding magical girl, whose eyes remained shut, seemed to possess precognition. She always swung her blade at the exact moment its attack arrived, canceling it out.

The faster the black glint attacked, the faster the sword-wielding magical girl swung her sword. Their speeds continuously rose as though they were competing against each other.

When their speed reached the limit, their indistinct afterimages instead became illusory. It made the sword-wielding magical girl look as though she were wrapped in a thin silver-white film.

An impenetrable defense was perhaps the best way to describe this sword-wielding magical girl. No matter how the black glint attacked, it could never breach that silver-white film.

To the eye, each light, slow collision with the black glint seemed effortless, but in reality, each one condensed the impacts of seven, perhaps even ten, sword strikes.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

Every collision between the katana and the black glint burst into a visible spark. For a time, the thunderous sounds of metal striking metal rang endlessly throughout the area.

After gradually figuring out the nature of the black glint, the sword-wielding magical girl instantly changed tactics. After swinging a heavy blow that temporarily forced it back, she also leaped backward and opened some distance between them.

Gripping the katana pointed ahead, magic surged violently from her body before pouring entirely into the blade.

Naturally, the black glint that had been forced back would not wait for the sword-wielding magical girl to finish. It paused in the air for only an instant before once more turning into a parasitic menace clinging to her.

"It's over." The girl's voice was clear and ethereal, like an angel who had descended into the mortal world.

Flooded with a massive amount of magic, the katana in her hand shone with brilliant silver light. Faint, transparent crystals also formed along its blade.

She stepped forward and struck!

Though she still held something back, this was undoubtedly the sword-wielding magical girl's full-power attack.

The katana tore through the air, its trajectory turning into a spreading silver crescent.

The crescent collided with the fearless black glint once again. Unable to resist the crescent's erosion, the black glint lasted less than a breath before being sent flying.

This clash of power against power had no suspense whatsoever.

Yet as the black glint flew away, it used the force of the blow to retreat at top speed. In the end, at a speed no slower than its attack, it vanished directly beyond the distant horizon.

After a while, when the fading magical presence had completely disappeared from her senses, the sword-wielding magical girl finally let out a slow breath.

Without pursuing it, she put away her katana. Her lips parted as she softly said, "Dragon Vein, Void Beast, witch... I never thought everything that was supposed to appear in this city had already appeared."

After a pause, the girl turned to look in another direction. At the point where her gaze settled stood the high school where Ando Meiko was.

She opened her eyes, revealing hollow, lifeless pupils without the slightest trace of light. The sword-wielding magical girl sighed softly. "This school is as disaster-prone as ever."

"I've been away long enough and had enough fun. It's time to go back and take a look."

Volume Two: The Vanished Everyday Life: Chapter Twenty-Two: A Topic About Love

Ando Meiko's parents were not idle people. They often attended meetings of all sizes and worked overtime at their company.

So, not wanting to go hungry, Ando Meiko had learned to cook from her mother whenever she had time. Though her cooking was nothing extraordinary, it was still far better than that of these people who had never cooked before.

After lunch, since they had no classes and no other tasks aside from surviving for five days, all six of them fell into a state of idleness.

The three tents were assigned by drawing lots. In the end, Ando Meiko and Baigui Lingye were paired together, Asakusa Megumi and Kajieliena were paired together, and Chihaya Yuna and Nakajima Rei were paired together.

After Ando Meiko declared that cheating was forbidden, both Kajieliena and Rei, who had long been itching to make a move, restrained themselves from changing the results of the draw.

All that could be said was that it was fortunate the two with an awkward atmosphere between them had not been forcibly paired together.

After finally enduring the boring afternoon, the five girls, having finished the wild vegetables left over from lunch, headed straight to the mountain school to take a comfortable hot bath.

Ling Ye, however, did not accept Ando Meiko's invitation to go together. She silently remained in the tent by herself and planned to go last.

The three tents were placed together with their entrances facing one another. When it was time to rest at night, they left their curtains open and gathered together, chatting about this and that.

When Yuna suggested telling ghost stories, the more timid Hui immediately shrank her neck. "N-no ghost stories. L-love... How about we talk about romance instead?"

"Eh! That sounds pretty interesting. What do you think, Ling Ye?"

Though Ling Ye remained unresponsive as always, Yuna, upon hearing that, wore a sly smile. "Since Meizi is so interested, why don't you tell us first whether there's anyone you like?"

"Nice, Yuna. I also want to hear which guy is lucky enough to win Meizi's favor." Rei silently gave Yuna a big thumbs-up, then unceremoniously picked up the thread.

"No." Ando Meiko answered without the slightest hesitation.

Though she had maintained a girl's body for some time and had completely grown accustomed to everything about being a girl, about being Ando Meiko, deep down she was still a hot-blooded young man.

Her soul had not been corrupted by the change in her body. Asking her to like men was nothing but a pipe dream.

"That doesn't sound fake." Yuna froze for a moment, then continued asking, "Then what type of guy do you like, Meizi?"

"H-how about that guy from Class Five? The handsome one?" Hui interjected at just the right time.

"Hui, you mean the captain of the basketball club, right? He is pretty handsome, but I think he seems more suited to you than Meizi."

"S-s-s-s-suited to me? No way! I was just saying it casually." Having been teased about something embarrassing, Hui hurriedly flapped her blanket over her slightly reddened cheeks.

"Not really. Compared to guys, I think I prefer girls. Who wouldn't like cute girls who are soft and smell nice?"

"Uh... I never expected Meizi to be..."

"Indeed. I also like little sisters who are soft and sweet like Meizi." Rei smiled seductively as she took over the conversation from Yuna.

"Oh! Confessing right on the spot without a shred of shame—you really are a bad one."

Yuna did not think there was anything wrong with Rei's words. She only assumed Rei was taking the opportunity to make a joke.

"Indeed. I quite like her body too."

Kajieliena's sudden remark caught everyone off guard. Their mouths opened and closed, then closed and opened again, plunging the atmosphere into an entire minute of awkward silence.

"Th-this one is even more intense." Even cheerful Yuna no longer knew what to say. "I-I never expected Meizi to be so popular."

"Yuna! Don't copy the way I talk!"

"I'm not. I was just... just shocked."

Yuna was rather speechless. It would have been one thing if Rei had been joking, but hearing those serious words from Kajieliena, who was usually so sparing with words, gave everyone reason to think deeply.

"Th-they're just joking. How could they possibly be interested in me?" With an awkward smile, Ando Meiko could only brush it off.

During the school festival, Rei had once actively done that sort of thing to her. And Kajieliena was even more obvious—she had wanted from the beginning to research her body under every kind of excuse.

Forget whether they were joking or not. These two might actually have meant every word.

Then... does that mean Rei and I have mutual feelings?

That thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and a faint blush spread across her cute face. Fortunately, the night concealed it, preventing the others from noticing.

Ando Meiko turned to look at Ling Ye, only to discover that she seemed to move her head as though avoiding her gaze.

Ando Meiko froze at the sight, but she only thought she had seen it wrong and did not dwell on it.

"What about Ling Ye? Is there anyone Ling Ye likes?"

"That's no fun. Forget it, forget it. Let's stop talking and go to sleep early."

Yuna spread her hands and lifted her gaze toward the sky before closing the tent curtain.

Though the desolate night sky had no veil of clouds hiding its face, at that moment it also had no stars adorning it. It looked ordinary, plain, and utterly undisturbed.

Only a bright moon hung alone in the sky, so pure and radiant that it drew one's longing.

"I heard that in the mountains, without the bustle of city lights, we can see a beautiful night sky filled with stars."

"Since when did you become so sentimental?" Rei smiled and shook her head.

"It's not as exaggerated as you make it sound. I was just wondering whether we might have a chance to see such a beautiful night sky during these five days."

"Perhaps." It did not matter much to Rei.

"What a pity for that bright moon. Though it is pure, noble, and untouched by dust, without stars to set it off, it is so... lonely." Ando Meiko murmured softly, so quietly that only she could hear herself.

"Ling Ye, even though today is the first day we've really gotten to know each other, I truly want to be friends with you." The thought came from the feeling that this girl should not be so lonely.

"Sleep, sleep. Good night." Not having heard Ando Meiko's murmur, everyone pulled closed their tent curtains and prepared to enter the realm of dreams.