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“Great!”

I shouted that as I took Jua’s hand and helped her up.

I had never really taught anyone before. I wasn’t a teacher by profession, and I certainly didn’t have the impressive skills to teach someone anything significant.

Maybe that’s why, feeling that my actions were helping Jua in some way, I felt a sense of pride swelling from deep within me.

“Then, shall we try again?”

“Uh, yes?”

When I looked directly into Jua’s slightly dazed eyes, her face turned even redder. I wondered why.

Could it be because of my outfit? It was a bit revealing, but it was a magical girl costume, after all.

Well, it wasn’t that I wasn’t embarrassed—there was just nothing I could do about it right now. If anyone else had seen me, I might have been too ashamed to maintain my transformation, but at least that wasn’t the case now.

“The circuit is running.”

Jua lifted her wrist and stared at the circuit with a blank expression.

Of course, it was a given that Jua’s circuit was running. Without at least a minimal amount of talent, one couldn’t become a magical girl. From the moment Cherry brought Jua here, she had already met those qualifications.

The ideals of being a magical girl. And the confidence that she could achieve it.

If that was the source of Jua’s hope, then we just had to keep fighting until it became a reality.

What I had was not desirable. It was the outcome of “Jua winning” that was desirable. And those two concepts were clearly different in our duel.

“Alright. Then, let’s go again.”

“Ah, yes!”

Jua nodded enthusiastically at my words.

Her expression was bright, even though her face was still red.

*

To be honest, I get annoyed after falling down a few times.

This is a tough fight for me. It was the same with Yeon-woo, but Jua had been shooting at me accurately from a much greater distance than Yeon-woo.

Taking that into account, I rushed toward Jua from an even farther distance than I did with Yeon-woo.

It’s not like my skills were stagnant. Although it wasn’t as much power as when I fought Ha-yoon, I had learned a fair amount about handling hope.

Moreover, the feeling that Jua was discovering hope thanks to my help was quite nice. After all, wasn’t Jua just following my lead?

Just a little while ago, I was worried that Jua couldn’t transform because of me, but seeing her improve so quickly after just a few minutes of teaching made me feel good—

Thud!

“Kuh!?”

Well, that doesn’t mean it didn’t sting.

Jua shot my leg again.

If shot in the body, I somehow could hold out with the magical barrier. Her magical bullets looked almost like beams of light to my eyes, making it impossible to brush them off, and shielding myself by “seeing” them was also impossible. Jua’s aiming ability was nearly prodigious.

Could it be that she had learned to shoot? It might be the opposite of Seo-hee’s case. Seo-hee wanted to exercise, while Jua seemed to actually want to do this, and might have reluctantly done exercise.

Why do I think that?

“You keep smiling?”

“…Huh?”

It was only after I pointed it out that Jua blushed and covered her face with her hands.

I helped Jua back up again.

Now, her circuit was spinning as if it were going to explode.

Ha-yoon and I transformed slightly during the fight, but I heard from senior magical girls that magic had inconsistent aspects, and could apply differently to others.

The process might be different, but the results were the same, right?

Jua’s body was glowing with her unique mana color. It was a purple hue that matched the color of her hair and eyes.

“Alright. We just need a few more times.”

I turned my neck and spoke leisurely.

“Then, this time, I’ll go all out.”

“Uh, all out….”

“…No, don’t repeat it mysteriously like that.”

Saying that while trying to catch my breath made me feel strange.

I lightly dashed away from Jua. I turned my gaze around as I lightly caught my breath from where I had just rushed at Jua—

“….”

I somehow made eye contact with Ha-yoon, who was pouting with her arms crossed and her cheeks puffed out.

…..

Uh, why is she sulking?

Is it because I haven’t spoken to her and have only been focusing on Jua? But Ha-yoon should know why I’m doing this. There’s no reason for her to be angry…

“….”

Hmm, I still don’t get it.

I felt a chill run down my back and turned my head again.

Then, I nodded while looking at Jua, who was ready with her gun.

This time, I charged at Jua in a straight line.

My footwork was light.

Just like when Jua’s circuit was running, my own circuit was spinning. The feeling of being able to help someone felt quite enjoyable in itself.

Bang—

Jua’s magical bullet shot forth. The bullet that seemed to extend almost like a beam hit my shoulder.

But this time, my barrier properly deflected it. It wasn’t painless, but at least it didn’t make me lose my balance.

I gripped the hammer tightly with both hands.

Bang, bang!

Though it was clearly a prototype rifle made with a bolt-action mechanism, Jua shot it with what seemed like semi-automatic speed. The ‘click’ sound was hardly audible.

The closer I got, the more it hurt, so that gun must be one of those “it hurts when shot hard” guns.

…Well, the magic could be adjusted, I guess.

However, as I endured all that pain and lifted the hammer high above my head—

Bang—

“…Oh!?”

I dropped the hammer.

It wasn’t because I got hit by the gun—well, in a way, I did, but not in that sense.

It was my hand that made me lose grip of the hammer.

Boom, a light explosion erupted from Jua’s gun, and the purple smoke enveloped her body.

In what looked like a scenario where a purple smoke bomb had gone off, I saw Jua leap out and aim her gun at me, and I shouted,

“Ah, wait, wait, wait! Jua! Time out!”

I hurriedly exclaimed that.

One hand was clutching my left shoulder.

Indeed, it was also because I got hit by the gun—but it wasn’t like the injury was severe or anything.

Do you know?

The most effective way to counter magic is also through magic. Acting in a ridiculously effective way against the material world while simultaneously being less affected by it—that’s why blocking it or taking precautions with ‘magic’ is the best way.

And magical girl clothes are made from ‘magic.’

It’s an obvious fact. The fabric itself is what I’m wearing, but considering the thickness of that fabric, it’s clear that the magic was the primary material.

…..

Right. Since it was made from magic, it can also be torn apart by magic. I had experienced my clothes getting frayed or threads coming undone during the sparring before.

But having an entire strap fly off was a first for me.

My shoulder ached, but more than that, it was the white cloth hanging precariously in my hand that was the real issue. My magical girl outfit was designed like a Marilyn Monroe dress, connecting at the back of my neck, so if one strap breaks, it’d be a ‘very’ big problem.

The other strap barely remained on my shoulder, so at least…

“….”

Jua’s expression went blank.

She was wearing an outfit similar to mine.

It was ‘far more’ conservative than mine.

Her back was exposed, but at least the front was properly covered.

“…Ah!”

And only then did Jua seem to realize her clothing situation, and her face turned beet red.

“Wow! Wow! Waaah…!”

Seeing her hop around while holding the gun was amusing, but the problem was I was in a position where I had no idea how to congratulate her.

Uh, so how do I undo this transformation—

But before I could think to say anything, Jua leaped towards me.

“!?”

Naturally, I tried to hold on to my clothes with both arms, doing everything I could to keep them from slipping off.

“I did it! I did it! Finally! I’m a magical girl too!”

“Uh, yeah, great, um, good for you!”

I shouted that while thinking about how to escape this awkward situation. It was obvious that Jua hadn’t seen me, but right after, she seemed so overwhelmed with joy over succeeding at transforming that her mind went blank.

“Um, um, Jua, first…”

I said that while looking at Ha-yoon.

Ha-yoon was somehow glaring at me intensely.

Sweat trickled down my exposed back. It was more because I was feeling some kind of chill rather than from sweating after fighting Jua.

What is this feeling?

It’s kind of… joyful yet frightening, this oddly unsettling feeling.

In the end, I found myself trapped in a half-dazed situation, being hugged by the overly excited Jua for quite a while.

“…….”

After a while of her bouncing around while hugging me, Jua finally calmed down and returned to reality.

And then—

“Eeek!?”

She screamed and jumped away from me.

…Excuse me.

I was trying to calm you down, Jua.

Reacting like this can also be hurtful.

“I’m sorry!”

…Well, seeing Jua shout like that, I decided to forgive her.

 

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