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Sure.

I’m ready.

What I’m prepared for is to challenge Delphinium.

The reason I made my wand wasn’t solely for that. After all, as a magical girl, I needed to be able to fight.

That’s the biggest reason, but still, one of the things I definitely want to do is drag Delphinium into our group somehow.

There’s no deep reason. I just find her uncomfortable.

When I brought the cake, I saw hope in her. But still, I haven’t had an actual conversation with Delphinium.

“……”

“……”

I stared intently at Delphinium reading in the corner of the lounge.

Lately, Delphinium hasn’t been coming to the lounge much.

It’s probably because the lounge has gotten noisy recently. When we weren’t close, there was no reason to chat in the lounge, but after we broke down the walls and started mixing together, we’ve been gathering there and doing various things.

At some point, we started bringing board games to play. Initially, they were very popular ones like Jenga that everyone knows, but at some point, more niche games started popping up. The truth is, there aren’t actually that many types of “popular board games.” After having fun, it’s natural for some quirky ones to come out.

We threw dice or drew cards while noisily chatting, and shared snacks while chattering loudly as well.

Naturally, anyone sitting nearby would struggle to concentrate on whatever they wanted to focus on.

So today, it was a little odd that Delphinium was the only one out in the open.

“Isn’t it a bit quiet today?”

“……”

Hmm.

There’s no particular answer to my statement.

The reason we’re quiet today is pretty straightforward. Jua was cooped up in her room, saying she wanted to adjust her wand a bit more, and Yeon-woo was researching plant-growing magic for a moment. Seo-hee was training. Since we’ve already sparred today, she probably won’t come looking for me.

So, in the end, it was just me, Ha-yoon, and Delphinium left in the lounge.

Ha-yoon and I aren’t chatting as much as I thought we would. Usually, we’re just satisfied sitting in the same spot together. Once we start talking, we can chat for a long time, but it doesn’t feel awkward if we don’t. That’s how long we’ve known each other.

Hmmm.

I glanced over at Ha-yoon. She looked back at me.

Her expression looked a bit complicated. It didn’t seem like she was saying, “Should we bother her?” but it appeared she was a bit anxious about me trying to talk to Delphinium repeatedly.

“I’ve got my wand now, and I can transform. I can use some magic too.”

Even if it’s called magic, I’m not shooting fireballs, but still, making a hammer’s head is magic.

“Shall we have a spar?”

Delphinium finally lifted her gaze from the book and looked at me.

“……”

For about two seconds, our eyes met.

Delphinium directed her gaze back to the book.

“No.”

“……Why not?”

“Because there’s no chance of victory if I fight you.”

What kind of nonsense is that?

“That doesn’t sound wrong, though.”

As I stood there dumbfounded, Ha-yoon chimed in.

“Chae-yeon’s fighting style is to accumulate magic for a long time and unleash it all at once, so if there’s no one to protect her during that time, it’s pointless.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

I nodded.

Like Yeon-woo, there are ways to split magic or release it with less power. But that would mean Delphinium’s unique fighting style has no significance.

It’s a method to float extremely risky magical spheres in the air that other magical girls cannot do. The very warnings that make onlookers feel intimidated and cautious are Delphinium’s style.

And now that I think about it, it feels like a fitting method for her personality that hates bothersome things.

“Plus, Aida probably saw the video of us sparring too…”

I completely agreed with Ha-yoon’s words.

If I spar with Delphinium, I might not have that much power. That strength comes from having sparred with Ha-yoon. It’s possible because I feel hopeful that I can at least fight on even terms with Ha-yoon.

“……”

Hmm.

Delphinium returned her focus to the book.

At least it’s a relief that she isn’t falling apart in front of us!

Did the food I brought actually work? Though she doesn’t seem to particularly enjoy eating.

I have a gut feeling that she doesn’t outright hate being noticed, but all the evidence proving that is just my own feelings.

I fell briefly into thought before—

“Do you like magic?”

I asked out of the blue.

Delphinium lifted her gaze from the book to me again.

While she still had that look of annoyance, she did seem a bit interested in my question.

“I feel like you do. You’re always reading really difficult books.”

“……This isn’t a book about magic, though.”

“……Oh.”

For a moment, I was speechless at Delphinium’s comment. It was in a completely foreign language, not English or Chinese, so I had no clue.

“But you like it, right?”

Among the magical girls, the only ones who are purely interested in magic are Delphinium and Jua. The others have their own things they want to do or are satisfied with their place as magical girls, one or the other. Jua, in particular, doesn’t research magic purely out of interest; she studies ways to utilize it as a magical girl.

But Delphinium feels a bit different.

In the comics too, Delphinium is depicted holding her wand and a book.

There can’t be an ancient grimoire left behind by some witch group in this world, so the book symbolized something precious that Delphinium thinks of.

The magic Delphinium has researched so far.

“You study because you like it, and keep etching it in your mind.”

“So?”

“Teach me too.”

As I placed my hand over my heart and spoke, Delphinium blinked at me in surprise.

“Normally, studying tends to stick in your memory best when you teach someone else.”

This is something I often do with Ji-eun or Ha-yoon. While studying together and asking each other questions, bits and pieces tend to stick in our heads.

I don’t think magic will be much different. There are a ton of ambiguous parts, and sometimes not knowing is more effective than knowing, so I might not completely master it, but it should help in fights.

Like making the hammer head bigger… or maybe stretching it out to resemble a sword… though all these ideas sound a bit silly.

Even just advice on how to utilize magic would be beneficial.

“Ji-eun?”

Actually, it was Ha-yoon who responded.

Turning my head, I found Ha-yoon looking at me with a bit of shock.

“Yeah?”

“I can teach you that too.”

“Hmm….”

Listening to Ha-yoon’s words, I pondered a bit.

No, it’s not that I don’t want to. In fact, it’s nice when Ha-yoon says things like this. It’s great, but—

“Ha-yoon, you and I have too much of a gap in our power levels.”

“Ah.”

Ha-yoon’s expression was one of stunned realization.

That’s right.

In terms of magic levels, there’s definitely a difference between Delphinium and me, but it’s a separate matter when comparing Ha-yoon and me.

Even if I learn from someone who is physically talented and exceptionally good at sports, if they say, “It worked for me, so it should work for you,” then I wouldn’t have a response to that.

The protagonist wouldn’t be a protagonist for no reason.

“Still, it would be nice if we could learn together.”

Yeah. Anyway, I’d be stronger during battles with Ha-yoon. If I analyze the reasons for that a bit more and could apply that strength to other fights…

“……”

Delphinium was staring at me for a while.

“You.”

Then she responded.

“Why do you keep trying to talk to me?”

That was something I didn’t expect at all.

“Huh?”

“It feels like you’re trying not to leave me alone.”

At Delphinium’s words, I was momentarily at a loss for words.

Well, that was indeed the biggest reason.

I considered for a moment. Should I dodge the issue? After all, saying it too plainly feels like I’d be calling her foolish.

“Uh….”

Even as I hesitated for a moment, Delphinium continued staring at me. And strangely enough, so did Ha-yoon.

“I just thought it’d be nicer if we knew each other well.”

So, I tried to speak carefully, not saying it too outright, but as gently as I could.

“You’ll be guarding our backs, right? So I thought it’d be good to know how each other fights and how we could support one another if needed.”

Delphinium stared at me again.

Her expression was perfectly neutral, so it was hard to tell what she was thinking.

But still, speaking personally, it felt like maybe she was beginning to understand a bit.

“……Fine.”

After staring at me for quite some time, Delphinium finally said.

“Your point seems fair enough.”

At that, I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

It seems I’ve managed to gauge her personality correctly!

 

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