Chapter 60

Scarecrows formed and materialized by mana.

Their toughness is such that only those with the strength of a Marquis-Class or higher can destroy them.

Just touching them with a light blade causes them to slice apart like tofu and fly away, and sometimes energy torrents burst forth, obliterating everything in their path.

“……”

This is a training ground made solely for me, my personal training ground.

Even so, I can’t help but doubt whether the training ground can withstand this.

…Thinking about what was said before, this must still be… incomplete.

Still, it somehow manages to hold up through constant self-repair, so it’s a decent place for training.

“…As expected, using the Third Ability for a long time feels good.”

“Does it feel like the frustration is gone?”

“Something like that.”

Regardless of anything else, training while using the Third Ability feels a bit different from usual.

Is it because I’m using a lot of mana?

Even so, considering my current mana level, it’s not a big deal…

“Aren’t you going to use 「Domain Collapse」?”

“Nope. If I do, both the scarecrows and the training ground would be destroyed.”

“Then when do you plan to use it?”

“Hmm? If I really had to… I’d have to go out into space to use it.”

At this point, even with maximum mana control, 「Domain Collapse」 would still have that kind of range, so if I accidentally lose control, who knows what would happen to Earth.

A technique of that level would cause significant damage even in the Fairy Realm.

So, I can’t recklessly use 「Domain Collapse」 here for training.

It’s not that I lack confidence in my mana control, but still, just in case.

At least 「Chaotic Frenzy」 doesn’t destroy matter, so it’s a relief that I can clean it up immediately…

“By the way, firing 「Ether Blast」 with every slash is always so cool!”

“Huh? Well… having energy waves fly out with every attack is kind of a romantic idea. In my case, I use it because it’s effective.”

I don’t just compress and release energy; I ramp it up and release it, so it’s powerful.

The concept of rampage has more meanings than you’d think, so it surprisingly stacks well with other things.

Moreover, mana and mana particles are fundamentally different from the energy or atoms we usually think of, and their unique nature plays a big role.

Additionally, since mana itself is used as energy, it’s heavily influenced by 「Concept」, so shouting its name can greatly increase its power.

In many ways, it’s a versatile and efficient technique.

Anyway, time’s up, so I should head home.

High school starts at 9, so I need to hurry back and eat first.

Plus, since I’m a girl, I need to wash my hair.

But can I do all this in an hour?

…Well, Diamond Dust has the same magical girl body specs, so just rinsing should be enough.

Though I can’t skip drying my hair.

“What, you’re already up?”

“I usually wake up around 7 and get ready.”

“Is that so? Then let’s eat first.”

“Okay~.”

“Chubby. Prepare the food.”

“Yes!”

It’s been a while since Diamond Dust started living with me… I notice she’s been subtly picky with food.

I’m similar, so I won’t say much, but it’s in these small things that you really see how comfortably she acts…

Wait, magical girl bodies don’t need to worry about nutritional balance, so there’s no reason to eat everything evenly.

“I’m off.”

“Did you forget anything?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Alright, take care.”

Now that I’ve sent Diamond Dust off to school… I should take off my pants and lie on the sofa.

And beer, snacks, ice cream.

Ah~… It’s been a while since I’ve had a morning like this…

“…By the way, that time was a real disaster.”

“What do you mean?”

“All the juniors barging into my house.”

“Oops.”

“I hope that never happens again.”

That time was truly horrifying.

Pretty Heart kept pestering me to take a bath together, Crazy Heart kept groping the girls’ chests, Typhoon mistook alcohol for soda and ended up rolling on the floor…

At least Diamond Dust was normal, right?

She just sat quietly and ate snacks.

“……”

“Um, but… wasn’t it fun?”

“Fun? It was a complete mess.”

“But since you warned them, maybe next time will be better…?”

“Forget it. I’m never doing that again unless absolutely necessary.”

This is why people don’t just invite others over to their houses…

Right, from now on, I’ll only allow 1 or 2 people at a time.

“Ah~…”

“Do you really like beer that much?”

“It’s nice to have something light to drink. It tastes good too. It’s a shame I can’t get tipsy though.”

“I’m curious, can I have a sip?”

“…Are you even allowed to drink?”

“For now! I can’t have a lot, but a taste should be fine!”

Well… the people who make this keep tasting it, so that much should be fine.

It takes a long time to break down with mana, so if you drink too much, it could be dangerous.

They don’t even have an appetite to begin with.

But I guess they have curiosity and taste analysis…

“Here, try it.”

“Okay! ……Ew, yuck…”

“…Is it that bad?”

“I don’t understand why you drink this…”

“Well, some people don’t like the unique taste of alcohol. Plus, beer and such have a bitter taste.”

I also found the taste of alcohol off-putting at first.

But I got used to it quickly and now I drink it all the time.

Now, if it doesn’t have that alcoholic taste, it feels weird.

Especially the impact when it goes down your throat… that’s what makes it.

“By the way, I’m bored lately since I have nothing to do…”

“Then how about going on an overseas dispatch?”

“Overseas dispatch?”

“Due to recent monster incidents, there have been quite a few dispatch requests! Usually, Marquis-Class or higher get about 2-3 requests a month!”

“That’s quite serious…”

“What do you think?”

“Hmm… Should I give it a try? Make a list for me. Let’s see where the requests are coming from.”

“Got it!”

If Marquis-Class or higher are getting dispatch requests, it means there aren’t enough magical girls in that country.

That’s a real disaster.

…Wait? Does that mean that place is just… doomed?

Oh, and there are also requests for temporary replacements.

I’ve done that a few times.

Just for a day, though.

“…Huh? Japan has an unusually high number of proxy requests.”

“Ah, it’s the country with the highest magical girl suicide rate.”

“What…?”

“There are a lot of malicious stalkers there. So, if you’re not careful, a magical girl’s personal information gets leaked, and they face various forms of terrorism, bullying, etc… Even after retirement, they still face all sorts of issues as former magical girls…”

“What kind of messed up…”

“After the initial panic, they significantly strengthened both direct and indirect responses, so it’s calmed down a bit, but it’s still a lot.”

They don’t cause direct harm, but they expose who the magical girls are…

There are still a lot of shady people over there.

It would be easier to just kill them all, but we can’t do that, which is annoying.

“Still, in a few years, it should stabilize to levels similar to other countries! After all, if reformation doesn’t work, they can’t come out. Plus, there’s a limited number of people.”

“Is that so? Then I guess I don’t need to worry too much. By the way, if it weren’t for the Fairy Realm, we’d definitely be on the wrong path…”

“We don’t really have a reason to do anything!”

“True. Hmm… But then, why do we oppose the Demon Realm? Thinking about it, the Fairy Realm has no connection to the Demon Realm, right?”

“Uh, actually… there’s a bit of a deep connection…”

“Really?”

A deep connection… Ah, now that I think about it, the power of monsters is similar to that of the Fairy Realm, right?

Could that be related?

“Originally, the Fairy Realm and the Demon Realm were one dimension.”

“…Huh?”

“Then, due to an accident… or rather, a mysterious calamity on a dimensional scale, the dimension began to split, and most of the beings called fairies before the mascots… became tainted by an unknown corruption and had to be quarantined.”

“That’s terrifying.”

“And the dimensional split kept growing without any signs of stopping. So eventually… the first Fairy Queen sacrificed herself to successfully separate the dimension by using the split. That’s how the current Fairy Realm and Demon Realm came to be.”

“…So, all the demons and monsters were originally fairies… meaning, the beings now called mascots?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

So that’s why the Fairy Realm is so determined to stop the Demon Realm’s invasions…

But then Pandora swallowed it all and became the ruler.

Then, ultimately, the final task is the destruction of the Demon Realm’s dimension.

This is a bigger deal than I thought.

This isn’t all my responsibility, is it?

No matter how you look at it, destroying a dimension is a bit… no, nearly impossible for me, right?

“Ugh, what a hassle… Oh, by the way, what exactly are monsters? There’s something off about them, right?”

“Ah, that? Originally, they were humanoid and had relatively high intelligence, so they were called monsters!”

“Then why are the current monsters no different from humans? Their actions are worse than animals though…”

“Uh… Hmm… Oh! Now that I think about it, after Pandora disappeared, the monsters started changing into what they are now!”

“That’s definitely Pandora’s doing…”

Then I’m curious again.

Why would Pandora go to such lengths… No, let’s stop thinking about it.

My weak brain is just going to hurt.

It’s probably just to torment us.

…Or maybe it’s a test.

There are too many strange things.

“…Oh, let’s go here.”

“Japan for a week?”

“Yeah. Where should we go next?”

“Maybe decide that later? There’s no guarantee where the dispatch requests will come from!”

“That’s true… Alright, let’s do that.”

So, Japan it is.

While I’m there, I should try all sorts of food.

Since I don’t have any hobbies, the only thing to do overseas is eat.

“But what about Diamond Dust during that time? I’ll take care of the signal, will you stay at home?”

“Sure!”

“And I don’t understand Japanese, is there something that automatically translates text?”

“Uh… Wait a minute! Recently, something was developed and deployed… Ah! A voice translator was also deployed in the Korean region stores!”

“Is that so?”

Then I should go buy it right away.

As for speaking… I can manage with basic English.

I can’t have fluent conversations with native speakers, but I can handle the basics.

If they don’t understand, I’ll just use gestures.

Surprisingly, humans can communicate somewhat even without a common language, so it should be fine.

Besides, I’m just going there for a short visit, not to live.

“But why is she leaving her area for a week?”

“She’s going on a family trip to Hokkaido to eat crab!”

“Ah…”

Well, that’s understandable.

But a whole week for that?

Impressive…