Vol 12 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Extra Chapter: Magical Girls don’t have it easy either

…How would Brother react if he were here now?

Looking at my reflection in the standing mirror in my own room, I raised the corners of my mouth a bit. A costume with lots of frills. A magic stick in my hand. My current appearance was the same as the magical girl from the anime that Miichan showed me before.

I wanted to show it to Brother too, if possible, but it seemed to be too late for today. He was already sleeping, so I’ll ask for his opinion tomorrow.

I s.h.i.+fted my gaze from the mirror over to my bed, where my admired enchantress named Kaoru-san and our kind family’s second daughter named Elni-oneechan sat. Kaoru-san was filming me with a video camera, whereas Elni-oneechan was taking photos with a digital camera. They both were smiling as they said.

“—And like this, Nazuna-chan fights every night as a magical girl to protect s.h.i.+n.o.bu-sama’s peaceful life. Give it your best, Nazuna-chan. Do not give in, Nazuna-chan. You might be the only one that can protect s.h.i.+n.o.bu-sama at this point now, or not.”

“Oh, I like that setting, Kaorun. I’m sure s.h.i.+n.o.bu would as well. Since we’re at it, why don’t you cast some spell, Nazuna?”

“—Meow!”

Actually, the magical girl costume I was wearing right now, was a present from Elni-oneechan and Kaoru-san. I had been a bit surprised when the two of them came to my room shortly before bedtime, but now I couldn’t hold back my smile either.

I was really happy about the present. The costume was really fantastic, albeit a bit embarra.s.sing. When I stroke a simple pose while chanting my own made-up spell in these clothes, Elni-oneechan gave an applause and Kaoru-san softly called out to me with the video camera in one hand.

“Nazucat, the ‘meow’ spell is quite charming already, but how about a magic spell with an ‘infatuating sentence’?”

“An infatuating sentence? Ah, I know one. ‘I’m free tonight’. Like that?”

“W- Well, in a way it is not wrong, no, it is actually goo— COUGH”, there Kaoru-san coughed awkwardly and resumed smiling, holding up her index finger like suggesting something.

“Given how energetic you are, what do you say about something on the lines of ‘Brother, can we sleep together tonight’ or ‘Brother, I came to wash your back’ or ‘Brother, actually we aren’t blood related… Just kidding. Did your heart skip a beat?’?”

I learned something new. Putting the magic stick on the desk for now, I seriously took notes.

This might get me one step closer to becoming an enchantress. After listening to Kaoru-san’s advice for a while, I picked up the magic stick again and asked for Elni-oneechan and Kaoru-san’s opinion while musing about magic.

“Say, if you could use magic, what would you two do?”

“Mhm, I would love to fly freely through the sky! I would go to the castle in the sky then! And I want to eat lots of food with s.h.i.+n.o.bu! What about you, Kaorun?”

“I would rob a bank at once. Getting rich through magic and philosophizing about love with s.h.i.+n.o.bu-sama in a pool of banknotes… But that is just a joke. Please do not take me serious, okay? Let me see, I guess playing pranks with it. First off, s.h.i.+n.o.bu-sama and the others would get…”

Kaoru-san’s magic sounded interesting, but it would be quite problematic if it were to really exist. Apparently she wanted to change the personalities of Brother and the others into something weird with magic. Then it would be no longer strange that she was a perverted maid. Well, she wasn’t one to begin with and I got the feeling that she was joking around like always.

Elni-oneechan and I gave agreeable responses while we listened to Kaoru-san and as fun as it was, time went by in no time… It was already late in the night and I got sleepy.

I regretfully wished Elni-oneechan and Kaoru-san a good night, put the magic stick on the desk, changed out of the costume and went to bed sadly.

I stayed up pretty late today, but tomorrow was a holiday, so no problem. I closed my eyes half-asleep and thought about magic once more before falling asleep.

…What would I do if I could use magic? Turn into an enchantress?

That was nice in itself, but I wanted to become cool like Brother. Moreover, I would love to help Brother with magic when he was in trouble, since he was always protecting me. Then he might praise me while petting my head.

“…Brother…”

While I was deep in thought, my consciousness gradually faded. Maybe it was thanks to the magical girl costume? I got the feeling that I would get to see a really nice dream. I let go off my consciousness with a smile and drifted into the world of dreams…

…Mh? Huh? I only went to sleep just now, yet it was already morning? My body was shaken gently and a voice sounded from somewhere distant.

“Nazuna, it’s morning. Get up already… Mm… KISS…”

The soft sensation I felt on my cheek in my slumber woke me up at once.

Luna-oneechan might have kissed me. She really loved physical contact like this. When I opened my eyelids while realizing that I started to smile, I saw the morning sun through the curtains and… an unexpected person.

Maid clothes with a bold opening around the b.r.e.a.s.t.s. For some reason, Machina-oneechan was wearing that. I jumpy sat up on the bed in surprise. Seeing me like that, Machina-oneechan called out to me worried.

“…Did you have a scary dream? What’s up that you’re so surprised?”

“Wh- What you ask… Actually what’s up with you, Machina-oneechan?”

It may be rude, but she was like a different person. Her usual strong-willed image was completely gone and she wore maid clothes and emitted a soothing aura like Luna-oneechan. Still surprised, I looked at her and openly spoke out my doubt.

“Machina-oneechan, why’re you wearing maid clothes?”

“Why’re you asking that at this point? There’s only one reason.”

Temporarily ceasing her words, Machina-oneechan flushed her cheeks rose-coloured and then declared without hesitation.

“—To serve my beloved s.h.i.+n.o.bu. I’m his maid after all.”

“Brother’s maid? Eh? Huh? Since when?”

“And you’re a magical girl, Nazuna! You’re so pretty again today! We’re not related by blood, but I’m so blessed to have a little sister like you!”

“I, I’m happy you feel that way. But can you listen to what I say for a bi— wha, uwah! What’s this!?”

I unconsciously raised a hysteric voice.

Machina-oneechan firmly pointed at something. When I calmly dropped my gaze towards it, my own body, I saw the magical girl costume from Elni-oneechan and Kaoru-san. I was sure that I had taken them off yesterday, but why was I wearing it now?

A second surprise. I stiffed up a bit. But indifferent to my surprise,

“…You must be a magical girl guided by the sun.”

Saying a phrase like from a RPG, Machina-oneechan moved to in front of my desk. There was the magic stick I had put up there yesterday. She took it and returned to my bed, holding it out to my still confused self.

“Nazuna, protect the peace of the city pretty and cutely as the magical girl again today. With this, you’re invincible. Here, take this stick that Elni made out of non-burnable trash.”

“Tras.h.!.+? It’s a magic stick, yet its made out of tras.h.!.+?”

“…Or was it pa.s.sionate-burning trash?”

“S- So it’s trash either way.”

“Mhm? Maybe it was stardust?”

“That’s something entirely different! Which is it now!?”

How rare of me to retort. My first time seeing Machina-oneechan without her tricked & retort combo and just foolery instead. I felt a bit confused. However, Machina-oneechan ignored my bewilderment again and softly smiled like Luna-oneechan.

“Ufufu, you’re such an energetic magical girl today again. Use that energy to eat breakfast well. You can look forward to it. I’m quite confident in it.”

“…You made breakfast? Not Luna-oneechan?”

“Are you still half-asleep? My Sister hasn’t cooked even once since she was born. Besides, cooking is my job. I feel so blessed when s.h.i.+n.o.bu compliments it every day with ‘So delicious’. So much that you can pretty much call it my reason for living.”

“Luna-oneechan often used to say that, didn’t she?”

“Hey, I’ll get angry when you say that in front of her. Come on, get up already. Here, take your magic stick. Good, perfect. I’ll see you down in a bit then, Nazuna. Let’s have breakfast together… Mm… KISS, KISS.”

Machina-oneechan kissed both my cheeks affectionately.

My chest felt somewhat warm. I inadvertently forgot to retort, whereupon Machina-oneechan put the magic stick into my hands, turned around and left the room in her maid clothes…

Seems like I have no talent for retorts after all. Something was really nagging at me, but I couldn’t ask about it. I should ask my Brother about the important points of retorting. I got off the bed and wanted to get dressed for now, but

“…Huh? Strange.”

strangely enough, I couldn’t let go off the magic stick. And not just that, I couldn’t even take off the magical girl costume. It wouldn‘t come off no matter how hard I tried while shouting “Meow!”. Oh G.o.d, what a problem. Do I have to wear this magical girl costume forever now?

…Oh well. Machina-oneechan was wearing maid clothes too. I shouldn’t think too much about it. If I did, I would lose. Therefore, I left my room holding my magic stick and still dressed in the magical girl costume, walking down the familiar hallway.

Upon that, there was an unfamiliar girl in front of Brother’s room. Judging by the size of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, she must be his friend from school, Minami-san. Was it because I was watching her? Minami-san noticed me and smiled brightly at me.

…If Luna-oneechan’smile had the image of a gentle moon, then Minami-san’s was the sparkling sun. I was happy that she gave me a smile, but I felt the same as when I met her before.

Really nostalgic and boisterous in my chest. What was this sensation? When I watched her doubtfully, Minami-san waved her hand while still smiling brightly.

“Good morning, magical girl Nazuna-chan! You’re giving off an enchantress aura like always! Daring and as quick as lightning!”

“Thank you! It’s my first time being told that! Meow!”

Abandoning all thoughts, I thanked her and asked a question while I drew closer.

“What brings you here today? Some business with Brother?”

“Not quite, just the usual routine of waking him up. But you know, I’ve this urge to hug him since yesterday and even now, my chest is all tightening.”

Swaying her voluminous b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which were apparently tightening right now, Minami-san moaned s.e.xily and smiled roguish with “Therefore”.

“I’ll try to be daring today too.”

“I would say you’re pretty daring already, but wow, you can be even s.e.xier!”

I tried to give her a somewhat admired look. Minami-san winked at me coquette with “Not for your eyes, Nazuna-chan”. Then she went humming into Brother’s room and closed the door. But I was dying to know what she was going to do.

Even while knowing I shouldn’t, I quietly opened the door and snuck a peek into the room.

What I saw was Brother’s sleeping face. Usually my brother had a fearless look, was wild, cool and gentle, but in his sleep, he was all innocent. Even from my perspective as his little sister, he looked all cute and I could really understand how Luna-oneechan and the others got all engrossed over it.

Same must go for Minami-san. She stood in front of my brother’s bed, watched his sleeping face and after mumbling “You’re such a sleepyhead” with blushed cheeks, she saluted for some reason.

“Minami Ouka— going in!”

Where was she going? Maybe symbolic? Going to be darin—wait, why was she taking off her clothes up to her underwear? Being dressed in nothing but dark blue underwear was definitely an upgrade in s.e.xiness. And she had really huge b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were bouncing around while she took off her clothes… Eh? Huh? Wh- Why was she going into Brother’s bed in her underwear? Was this the world of adults?

Even while her face turned bright red, Minami-san covered herself and Brother with the blanket and I couldn’t see what she was doing under there. The only thing I could hear were their erotic breathes.

But that ended quickly and Minami-san’s playful, sweet voice sounded instead.

“Ufufu, if you don’t get up, s.h.i.+n.o.bu-chan, uhn, I’ll make you feel even better with my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. How do you like it? Mm, feels good, right? When you marry me, you can enjoy this every morning. Mm, say that you’ll marry me~”

“…Oh man, which kitty is playing around here? Hijiri again?”

Something incredible was going on, yet Brother stayed as cool as ever. He sat up even cooler than usually, pulled away the blanket and remained composed even when he saw Minami-san in her underwear on his bed. He looked at her with really gentle eyes.

“Oh, Sakura-chan. You’re more sparkling today than yesterday. Pretty much like the sun.”

B- Brother? What was up with him? It was weird that he spoke a praise without joking around or getting embarra.s.sed. And he said Sakura-chan, right?

Sakura-chan was the nickname of our precious childhood friend. Come to think of it, Brother only ever introduced her as “Sakura-chan” to me. So I never got to know her real name, even though we were childhood friends… But Minami-san was Sakura-chan?

I really need to barge in now, to confirm the truth as well. I readied myself in front of the door. But before I could act, Brother said something surprising with a wry smile.

“But I’m happily surprised that it’s you, Sakura-chan. I had thought for sure it was another of Hijiri’s pranks.”

Say what? Hijiri-oneechan wouldn’t play such daring pranks, would she?

“Gogyou-san loves to play perverted pranks after all. I tried to best her.”

….She loves to. Hijiri-oneechan was perverted.

Let alone retorting, I just stood in front of the door with my eyes widened. In my field of vision, Brother and Minami-san started to have some lover-like quality time, but I closed the door wordless and looked down on my magic stick that I couldn’t let go.

“Mhm, I see meow…I mean, I see now.“

I made a short nod, mimicking Brother. Even I would notice as this point. This was my dream. Machina-oneechan wearing maid clothes, being unable to take off the magical girl costume and Brother not joking around, everything could be explained when it was a dream.

Besides, while I wasn’t sure whether Minami-san was really Sakura-chan or not, I often dreamed about a morning like today since I was a child.

My beloved Brother. My precious friend from my childhood, Sakura-chan. I wish I would always be together with them. I would be happy if they married. As a kid, I really thought that.

However, because I got into a traffic accident, Sakura-chan will no longer… wait, no gloomy thoughts. I got a rather clear consciousness and was a magical girl in my dream.

Without doubt, fun things will happen now. I should act cool in my dream like I considered before going to bed. Yes, as cool and hard-boiled as Brother.

“—What matters in a man is courage and face. And what matters in a woman isn’t her age, but her looks, baby!”

Mhm~ Not quite. Brother wouldn’t say something like that. It had to be cooler. With the magic stick in one hand, I went down the stairs in antic.i.p.ation about what would happened next. I showed up in the living room with an admirable expression today.

What caught my eye first was Machina-oneechan lying on the floor in her maid clothes. For some reason, she looked as miserable as a tattered dust cloth and her amber eyes lacked focus. I kept my voice in check as it nearly betrayed my surprise from the unexpected situation.

“Fuh, oh boy, meow. Now that’s tough— Wait, it isn’t the time for that!”

I couldn’t be completely cool after all. Well, no wonder. The opposite from what I expected had happened, so I kicked the ground like in a burst of anger and rushed over to Machina-oneechan.

“Hang in there, Machina-oneechan! Are you okay? Just what happened?”

“Uh… Nazuna… Today, I… am the perfect devoted maid with a soothing aura that s.h.i.+n.o.bu wishes for, right?

“Yeah, you were earlier! But right now, you’re more down than a KOed boxer! I’m asking again, what happened!?”

“…s.h.i.+n.o.bu is my beloved Master… so I tried to stop her… but I didn’t stand a chance… My sister… with whip and candy… punishment… to s.h.i.+n.o.bu—”

Machina-oneechan spoke in broken words. As if to interrupt her fragile voice, a scream from a girl suddenly came from the second floor. Then a loud noise right afterwards. Machina-oneechan fainted as she used up her last strength during the talk. And I was highly confused.

I had no clue what was going on anymore. But this might be a chance for the magical girl to s.h.i.+ne. First I should carry Machina-oneechan over to the couch… Okay, I couldn’t do it well, since the magic stick glued to my hand was in the way.

WHO’S BAD— I felt like shouting that, but as a lady, I refrained from doing so today. A little bit cool. I somehow managed to get Machina-oneechan onto the couch and rushed out of the living room into the hallway, sprinting up the stairs all the way to where I heard the scream from.

There, a strange silence greeted me on the second floor. The kind of atmosphere where a Zombie suddenly shows up. But I shrugged my shoulders coolly… ignored the trembling of my shoulders, dismissed the shaking of my legs as an imagination and confidently walked down the hallway.

Today I planned to behave like Brother. To others I might look afraid instead of confident, but I pushed on, puffed up with pride. The door to my brother’s room was open, so I made a grim expression and stepped into the room, the scene of crime.

“…L- Looks like this case will remain unsolved.”

I got the wrong sentence again. But at least I didn’t let out a hysteric voice… Or not. This was quite an incident. For a moment, I was disheartened. When I took another look, there was Minami-san on the bed, but

“F- Forgive me, my Queen… If you do that… I, I’ll be ruined…”

Just what happened? For some reason, Minami-san lied naked on the bed and absentmindedly repeated “my Queen” with her eyes closed.

But Minami-san wasn’t the only concern. Maybe it was written with lipstick? There were huge and pretty red letters on the wall of my brother’s room.

“I have taken s.h.i.+n.o.bu-san. We are going to melt together now, in body and heart. We will not come home for a while. Incidentally, if you are to interfere… I will punish you like Machina and the others <3 by=””>

That was written there.

…A bit hard to believe all of a sudden. To think Luna-oneechan would kidnap Brother. The Luna-oneechan in my dreams seemed to be rather extreme.

But if it was Luna-oneechan, Brother wouldn’t be all against it.

Besides, Luna-oneechan was fundamentally unlucky, sometimes tripped on even ground and got lonely when Brother didn’t pay much attention to her… So it should be alright when she does as she wanted inside a dream, right?

“It’s better when this case is left unsolved.”

I mimicked the gesture of my father when he smoked.

A cool kindness was necessary too. I wrapped the blanket around Minami-san and left the room thinking about the next incident, albeit a bit guilty.

At that moment, a loud voice calling “Hey, Nazuna, we got trouble!” sounded from the end of the hallway.

This voice belonged to Elni-oneechan without doubt. Speaking of, what will Elni-oneechan be like in my dream? I turned around curious.

“A fairy!”

My eyes beheld a really surprising sight. In my vision: Elni-oneechan. For some reason, her body was palm-sized. Like really small. Not bigger than a canned juice. On top of that, she fluttered her twin-tailed hair… and was flying comfortable.

That was extremely awesome. Elni-oneechan was flying easily by moving her twintails up and down. As soon as I saw her like that, I forgot all about my cool demeanour and raised a voice.

“Wow, Elni-oneechan! Now you can even head to the Castle in the Sky! You’re flying freely! How can you do that?”

“---Because a Mad Dog that can’t fly is just a dog.”

Answering with a featureless smile, Elni-oneechan puffed up her chest by saying “Also” while still flying.

“With this small body, I can eat as much as I want without anyone getting angry! It’s like Christmas and Birthday together! I can even fly through the air! What do you say, Nazuna! Awesome, isn’t it!”

Elni-oneechan flew braggingly around the hallway and showed a perfect loop. Following she made a beautiful turn… or not. She crashed into the wall. Along with a dull sound, an awkward silence spread. Elni-oneechan flew over to my shoulder while holding her red nose, and got back on topic with a serious expression like nothing had happened.

“Nazuna, we got trouble.”

“Well yeah, you look like a reindeer with that nose. Are you okay?”

“At this point, I can only seek employment by Santa--- wait, no! It’s serious, Nazuna!”

Elni-chan, still with a red nose, raised a voice on my shoulder with a serious expression, broaching the subject.

“Actually, I already noticed yesterday that an ill wind was blowing, but seeing Luna kidnap s.h.i.+n.o.bu in the garden earlier confirmed it. Someone is doing evil in this city. I’m sure that someone altered everyone’s personality strangely!”

“Th- Then the reason Machina-oneechan’s wearing maid clothes…”

“The work of the evil one for sure!”

“The reason Brother wasn’t joking around…”

“There’s no mistake! It’s all the doing of the evil one!”

“And the reason Luna-oneechan kidnapped Brother is also…”

“Not the slightest doubt! I bet my life that it was the evil one!”

“In, In other words! The reason you turned into this palm-size is also the doing of the evil one!”

“…I didn’t say that. I’m like this because I wanted to, yes.”

Unlike my poor attempt, Elni-oneechan was the coolness in person.

She pushed up her invisible gla.s.ses sophisticated with her middle finger. But she gave up on her unconcerned look soon enough, changing her expression back to a serious one and continuing her words.

“Well, in short! The evil one has to be defeated! Or everyone will remain weird forever! If we leave the evil one alone, s.h.i.+n.o.bu will never return to this house, kidnapped by Luna to all eternity! It’s a grave situation!”

“…Time for a cool magical girl to s.h.i.+ne, you mean.”

“Ohh! You’re a bit like s.h.i.+n.o.bu today, Nazuna! That simplifies things! This calls for the magical girl! Defeat the evil avatar and bring everyone back to their senses! Go, magical girl Nazuna! Head to the scene at once!”

“BRING IT ON!”

Ah, I was so pumped up that I reverted to my usual self.

But today I was a magical girl. I will save everyone with my magic power and resolve the incident coolly. If I do that, Brother might praise me.

I tightly squeezed the magic stick that was glued to my hand and embarked full of vigor with the mini-sized Elni-oneechan still on my shoulder… but suddenly stopped and tilted my head.

“By the way, Elni-oneechan, I would really love to rush over, but I’ve no clue where the evil one is.”

“Wait a sec. I’ll find out. Mhm~ Concentrate my willpower in the twintails!”

Along with her words, her twintails began to spin and then, maybe like some kind of dowsing, their tips suddenly pointed into a fixated direction.

“Okay, I sense the evil’s presence from that way. Hurry up outside, Nazuna!”

“These twintails… are friggin’ cool!”

I can’t be outdone by Elni-oneechan. I was still dressed in the magical girl costume, but since this was a dream, I wouldn’t mind it. Throwing away all my doubts, I wildly left the house today together with Elni-oneechan…

…You don‘t see that every day, seriously.

Like that, my brother might’ve feigned indifference and shown a wry smile to the scene in sight.

After leaving the house, I was now out on the streets. All pedestrians were nice to me and the policeman saluted me with “Good job on your patrol today again, Magical Girl”… It must really be the doing of the evil one, like Elni-oneechan had said.

Pa.s.sing by people, who were dressed like a female knight, a shrine maiden or in a school swimsuit, on the street, I even spotted a man that did a moonwalk for whatever reason.

Amidst that, I advanced with the magic stick in hand and guided by Elni-oneechan’s twintails, ultimately arriving at… Hijiri-oneechan’s huge mansion.

A bit surprised, I looked down onto Elni-oneechan on my shoulders.

“Could it be, the evil one is in Hijiri-oneechan’s house?”

“My twintails say so. The back of the garden is suspicious. For now, we’ll infiltrate the Gogyou Mansion! Just like the Hero can plunder items from other peoples’ houses without reprimand in RPGs, a magical girl is allowed to trespa.s.s into someone’s house! However! We better ring the doorbell, just in case…”

“…I would’ve no right to call myself cool if I forgot manners after all.”

I nodded smart and reached out for the interphone, whereupon a clear voice saying “Oh my?” suddenly reached my ears and Kaoru-san stuck out her head from the garden. Like always, she was dressed in maid clothes and smiled a bit as soon as she noticed us.

“Good morning, magical girl Nazuna-chan and fairy Elni-san. Are you two on patrol today again? How commendable of you two. If I were able to use magic, I would rob a bank without the slightest bit of hesitation. And play some mischievous pranks.”

Everyone had turned weird, yet Kaoru-san appeared no different from usual. I stared a bit doubtful at her.

“…You don’t seem any different, Kaoru-san.”

“Of course not. Under all circ.u.mstances, I am the angelic maid full of love and devotion, giving perverted quality time for my good master or perverted punishment for my bad master. Fufu, you like me better the way I am, too, right Nazuna-chan?”

“An enchantress as ever. I’m so envious.”

“…I do not know why you see me like that, but to keep living up to your expectations, I will excuse myself now. I have the mission to record everyone’s interesting personalities on video…”

Taking out a video camera from her pocket, Kaoru-san walked away like that. But midway she stopped, turned around and changed her tone into a serious one, saying “Incidentally,”.

“Nazuna-chan, Elni-san, you are free the patrol our house for all I care. Just let me say this, even if it may be in vain: You better steer clear of the back of the garden. And be careful if you run into Hijiri-chan--- That is all the advice you get from the supporting role maid.”

Kaoru-san cracked a joke with a wink. Elni-oneechan returned the wink compet.i.tive. After separating with Kaoru-san and getting her permission to patrol, we headed towards the garden of Hijiri-oneechan’s house, guided by Elni-oneechan’s twintails again.

The garden was so big that we walked around for a few minutes and we finally reached a huge storehouse. It was the place Kaoru-san told us earlier to keep away from, but I put on airs in front of its door.

“Mhm, it reeks here. Even worse than rotten eggs!”

“…I’m impressed you’re fine with smelling something like that.”

I made yet another mistake. Elni-oneechan hit back rather composed and broached the matter at hand with a pa.s.sionate tone while her twintails still pointed at the door.

“Nazuna, my twintails tell me that the culprit behind all this commotion this time is behind this door! Charge at once, Nazuna! We’ll solve the case coolly!”

“I, I was only s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up earlier, but okay, Elni-oneechan! I’ll give my best coolly!”

Getting back into spirit, I touched the door of the storehouse powerfully, but… huh? Was it locked? No matter how hard I pushed, the door wouldn’t open. This was no good. I shrugged my shoulders with a sigh, looked back at Elni-oneechan and reported.

“It seems… our adventure ends here.”

“Why’re you giving up coolly! Don’t give up! Never give up, you hear! Why’re you stopping now! I told you to be a magical girl! I told you to do your best coolly! If you try hard, you’ll definitely achieve your goal! Therefore--- Become more pa.s.sionate!”

“E- Even if you give me a speech like a certain pa.s.sionate teacher, do I have to be cool? Or do I have to be hot? Either way, the door won’t open, you know? What should I do?”

“Break the door with magic! Tear it down, d.a.m.nit… if it only were that easy.”

“It was just your wishful thinking!? But I’m a magical girl, just as I look, right? I won’t break the door, but maybe I can open the lock with magic?”

“Even if you ask me… I don’t have an answer.”

Elni-oneechan made a perfect clueless face.

“Uhm, just to be sure, aren’t you in my dream to give me all kind of advices about magic?”

“Right now, I’m just a fairy stupidly flying in the air. Though I certainly made your magic stick out of trash…”

“S- So it’s really made out of trash.”

But as long as it was from Elni-onee-chan, anything goes. Something else was on my mind instead, so I cut into her words and continued my question with an unusual serene look.

“But if you made this stick, then I find it strange that you don’t know anything about magic.”

“Mhm~ Seems that due to my small body, my brain got minuscule too and I forgot all the important stuff. I can only laugh it off.”

“I sometimes forgot important things too and could only laugh during the test the other day, but in short, right now, you don’t have any knowledge about magic, right?”

“A bit of it remains. I could search for the enemy after all. And I remember how the magic in the stick activates when you chant a special spell. But I’ve no clue what that spell was. And my memory’s fuzzy about what happens then too.”

“…If we run into the evil one, I’ll just fling myself at him with the stick as a weapon.”