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We didn’t stop being Magical Girls just because we resolved the enemy.

As you can see from the ongoing operations at the Magical Girl Headquarters, we were quite symbolic beings too.

Research on energy was still being conducted steadily.

Although it’s no longer the plan to use people like batteries as before, if we can generate energy by fighting against crime, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

Moreover—

Swish.

I tilted my head to avoid the incoming knife.

Then, I swung my Hammer to block another beam flying towards Chae-yeon.

There were still quite a few remnants of Noir Corporation. The problem was that this company had operated even in other countries and had some degree of cooperation with other companies.

Weapons from Noir Corporation were being sold here and there. Although Pang-pang was using funds to retrieve them as much as possible, it seemed nearly impossible to find all the weapons that had long been hidden away.

Still, it had improved a lot since the beginning. Even if they were not aliens, we would get notified immediately as soon as weapons were discovered, and I could deploy to those locations right away.

Boom!

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“I wasn’t thinking much,”

Seo-hee asked with a smile while blocking an attack coming from behind me, which made me reply a bit grumpily.

“Not like I have eyes on the back of my head.”

I grumbled and stood back-to-back with Seo-hee.

Enemies were closing in around us.

I was the one they resented the most, I guess. Seriously, I should be grateful that a company that toyed with people’s lives still has its name around, shouldn’t I?

It didn’t seem like they indiscriminately fired all the regular combatants. Those who knew about the secret projects the company was running deserved to be punished more than the poor souls just receiving a paycheck.

So, the remnants that were causing trouble for us were either those guys themselves or humans hired by them. The ones still evading capture.

However, it certainly wasn’t just me and Seo-hee who were fighting.

From a distance, a beam flew and took down a few opponents—then, a furious Ha-yoon jumped down from above and sliced up the enemies’ weapons with her sword.

Some were shooting, but Ji-hye jumped in between and blocked the shots with her Shield. At the same time, Dalia rained magic from above,

“……Enough.”

Chae-yeon, who had been standing with her eyes closed, said that while waving her Wand.

Crack!

The ground froze instantly, binding the legs of the approaching enemies.

With that, the job was done.

“……Well, even if it’s a job…….”

I mumbled, looking at the bewildered guys who could no longer move, feeling a bubbling frustration.

“Why do I have to fight these guys even while on vacation!”

As I shouted that, my transformation was released.

I was still holding my Hammer, but I was in a Swimsuit. The white one the seniors had picked out for me.

And I was wearing heels that I was not used to at all.

……The others seemed to be really enjoying it. For some reason, even the seniors were blushing with delight, so I thought maybe they had picked a good Swimsuit after all.

“Hey, relax. There are police around, so we can just deal with this and go back to having fun.”

I had felt somewhat at ease knowing we were at a private beach, but the problem was that, no matter how private it was, it was still an open place.

Yeah, those looking to cause trouble wouldn’t care about fences or anything.

At least there were guards nearby, and the police station wasn’t far off.

But how long would we have to deal with troublemakers like those?

I scratched my head in annoyance.

*

Still, that was all the trouble that happened on the first day.

It didn’t take too much time away from us, but honestly, having someone come for our lives wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, so we played even harder to shake off that feeling.

“Hmm? Senior, what are you doing here?”

“…….”

In the meantime, I saw Chae-yeon sitting under the parasol, holding a book, and I asked in disbelief.

“……Reading.”

“Even at the beach?”

“……I concentrate better when I can hear the sound of the waves.”

I understood what she meant, but I wished she’d do that at a café near the beach. We were supposed to be here having fun.

More than anything, wasn’t this the last summer vacation for the seniors? By winter break, the exam would be over, and they could relax more, but this was our last ‘summer’ break.

So, I wished we could all enjoy swimming in the sea.

“But, senior.”

So I decided to poke at her a bit.

“Why do you make me wear this Swimsuit, but you don’t show yours at all?”

That’s right. Chae-yeon was covering her Swimsuit with an outer garment. It seemed like a water-repellent outfit for swimming, but still, it looked like she was wearing a bikini or something underneath.

“……”

At my words, Chae-yeon’s face turned red.

“Come on, don’t just sit there.”

“……Ah.”

I snatched the book from Chae-yeon’s hands. I briefly heard a pitiful sound from her, and I felt a slight pang of guilt, but I held back.

I grabbed Chae-yeon’s hand, pulling her up from under the parasol—

“……!!”

I grabbed the collar of her outer garment and pulled it open to the sides.

It wasn’t blocking the front, so I could see what she was wearing underneath right away.

And then it hit me.

Oh, this is a bit sketchy.

Yes, no matter how it’s a Swimsuit and not underwear, and the outer garment also looked like a regular Swimsuit, this was just plain and simple me taking Chae-yeon’s clothes off.

……Actually, it didn’t just look like that; I was doing exactly that.

Chae-yeon wasn’t wearing a bikini.

It was a tube-top one-piece. It wasn’t like she had huge breasts, but still, her figure was pretty balanced.

Looking at Chae-yeon’s face with her head turned away, she was completely red.

……That expression made me feel even more guilty.

Just in case, I looked back, and everyone else had stopped moving, mouths agape, staring at me.

…….

Hmm.

Why do I feel like I just did something extremely inappropriate?

No, wait, did I really do something wrong here?

“Ah, I don’t know.”

I muttered that to myself and bent down to pick up Chae-yeon.

“Ahh!?”

A scream came from Chae-yeon, one I’d never heard from her before, not even in battle.

I lifted her up like a princess and ran towards the sea with all my might. Only then did the others start moving around in a panic.

As I leaped into the air while holding Chae-yeon, she let out a scream that was even higher than before.

Splash.

In an instant, my view was obscured by water, and my whole body was greeted with the cold sea water, refreshing me instantly. I could hear the splashing of water in my ears and salty sea water went into my nose and mouth.

“Puhah!”

I immediately stood up, bringing Chae-yeon with me.

“…….”

Did I jump into the water too suddenly? At some point, it seemed Chae-yeon had wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.

Well.

For some reason, the sounds around me seemed a lot fainter now.

I carefully lowered the shivering Chae-yeon. The water was only up to our thighs, so it wasn’t dangerous.

Chae-yeon sat down in the sea without a word.

And facing away from me, she sat down.

Ah.

She looked a bit angry.

It wouldn’t be strange if the eyes around me were filled with condemnation—

“I.”

But before I could finish that thought, someone raised a hand and spoke.

“I want to do it too!”

Yeon-woo exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she raised her hand. It looked like Chae-yeon’s fear didn’t even register to her.

“Um….”

No, even so, it’s not good for my comrade to be in this kind of state, right?

But then,

“Me too!”

Seo-hee raised her hand.

“Why are you all of a sudden? We’re about the same height!”

“I’m not heavy at all, you know.”

Yeon-woo said with a serious expression, and,

“I’m not heavy either. I’m probably just a bit heavier than Chae-yeon-senpai.”

Jua, who didn’t even say “me,” smoothly jumped in as if it was completely natural.

“Me too, me too!”

“Of course, me too!”

Pang-pang and Ji-hye raised their hands, and

“……”

Ha-yoon blushed a little and tentatively raised her hand.

That’s right.

I paid for a single moment’s wrong decision by becoming everyone’s amusement ride.

After tossing everyone into the sea, when I checked again, Chae-yeon didn’t seem to be scared at all.

It was clear to see from behind that her ears were bright red.

 

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