THE Magical Girl M@STER
"Pronesis...! Please take me as your disciple...!"
"Huh?"
What the hell was this first thing in the morning?
It was 9 a.m. right now.
And I'd barely slept last night because I'd napped too much yesterday out of exhaustion.
I felt like I was going to die of fatigue, so I wanted to turn her down just for today...
"Please...!"
"Alright."
Damn it.
Her eyes were so desperate that I couldn't say no.
"But I don't really have anything to teach you."
I'd said the same thing yesterday, but it was true—I had nothing specific to pass on.
No common spells or anything, and the mana control techniques you see in fiction? Magical girls could handle those naturally once they transformed.
"Um... like, how to fight or something...?"
"Our unique magics are different—how could I teach you that?"
Of course, I could observe her from a third-party perspective and give feedback on how she used her magic.
It was one of the questions they asked in my interview when I joined the Association.
They told me to stop after I named about five people, which left me a bit disappointed.
Anyway, that's beside the point.
"I fight by twisting my whole body around, to begin with."
"Yeah...? But isn't that cool?"
Of course it was, but still.
"You haven't used your magic yet, right?"
"No... I figured it might be dangerous..."
Smart move.
The biggest mistake new magical girls made after transforming was jumping straight into using their magic.
Using magic itself wasn't the problem—it was firing it off without thinking about the aftermath.
Girls like her with fire-based magic occasionally set their own houses ablaze, so you really had to be careful when testing it out.
Hmm.
Still, since I'd agreed to help, I might as well pull out everything I knew.
I took a moment to observe her, pondering the best way to guide her magic.
"Um... is something wrong...?"
She fidgeted shyly, looking adorable.
Cute.
Whatever the case, she needed to try her magic at least once, so I had her pull out her staff.
"Let's start with your staff."
"Ah...! Okay! Just a sec!"
She immediately pulled a tree branch out of her hand.
No matter how many times I saw it, that was a pretty bizarre design.
A staff for 'real' magic, I guess.
I had no idea why someone like her was named Snow White, but no one but the gods of this world would know that.
I warped over a nearby leaf and showed it to her.
"Want to try burning this?"
First, we needed to confirm if it was 'real' fire.
'If it's not fire, then what is it?'
Sofia chimed in on my thoughts right then.
This mascot knew nothing, seriously.
'What'd you just say?'
'Nothing.'
"Okay...! Hold on...!"
Meanwhile, she closed her eyes, focusing her mana on the staff toward the leaf I'd given her.
And soon enough.
Whoosh.
Something ignited with a crackling sound, and the leaf caught fire.
It charred bit by bit until it turned into white ash.
Hmm.
Looked like real fire after all.
"Just ordinary fire."
'Of course it's ordinary fire—what'd you expect?'
'Magic-created flames could be fake.'
Would it be blue flames? Yellow? Green? Or maybe fire that didn't burn anything? No one knew.
That was magic for you.
That's why the Association analyzed elemental magics first to check if they were genuine pure elements.
"Oh! I bet I can do this too!"
Suddenly, she conjured fire in midair and started manipulating it every which way.
So it was a creation-and-control type for fire.
I wondered if she could do something like this.
"Can you make arrows or anything?"
"Huh? Hang on..."
She focused her mana on the flames again.
Whoosh.
"Ah! I think I got it!"
It actually worked.
If she could do stuff like that, there were plenty more experiments to run.
I warped in a lighter from home and showed it to her.
"...?"
She looked puzzled, but I ignored it and flicked the lighter on.
"Can you take this flame too?"
"Huh...? Um, one sec..."
Mana gathered around the lighter for a moment, and the ignited flame floated off into the air.
Whoa.
So she had full control over any 'fire' in general?
What if we tried fireworks or something?
This magic seemed way more fun than I'd expected, no matter how you sliced it.
The only issue was not having stuff to test it on... Hmm.
As I mulled that over, it hit us—we were wild.
What did "wild magical girl" mean?
The Association's official term was "unaffiliated," but "wild" fit better—it meant a magical girl as free as a beast in the wilderness, unbound by the restrictions of city life.
Obviously, you could do whatever you wanted.
Of course, you still had to follow basic societal rules since we lived in one, but even so.
It was overwhelmingly freer than being in the Association.
Magic beasts and kaijin? You didn't have to hunt them.
All those obligations that piled up in the Association?
Just follow your heart.
In that sense, what I was about to suggest might seem insane, but it could be fun too.
Besides, hadn't she asked first about wild activities?
Other wild girls did similar things under the guise of "personal taxes," and that activity was...!
"Have you ever thought about becoming an idol?"
Idol activities.
"Wh-what????"
"Your magic is perfect for it."
Fire manipulation? How much more idol-optimized could you get?
Fire was flashier than you'd think, and her powers could really play that up.
Imagine conjuring a fire Tyrannosaurus soaring through the sky.
It'd tug at the heartstrings of countless guys across the nation, right?
"M-me...?"
"Of course."
Magical girl work was closer to "idol" activities than you'd realize.
Cute, pretty girls fighting magic beasts and kaijin.
Wasn't that enough to make grown men drool and dive right in?
That's why F- to D-rank girls often focused more on idol stuff than hunting beasts.
The fan signing I'd mentioned to English Lavender last time was part of that.
If you named the most famous idol magical girl around here, it'd be White Lily.
As a C-rank, she hunted beasts and kaijin actively while providing top-tier fan service.
Her ever-bright smile melted fans' hearts, keeping her in the magical girl popularity rankings' top 10.
Anyway, at my words, she blinked around in bewilderment.
"C-can I really be an idol...?"
What was stopping her?
"Wild girls live like that by default."
The Association never directly ordered unaffiliated girls to hunt, and even if they did, it was rare outside emergencies.
So for wild magical girls who didn't know when or where threats popped up, idol work was one of the few ways to make money.
Even if it meant handling everything solo without an agency.
"But don't worry—I've got your back."
Who was I? A former Magical Girl Association manager—one of the "aces."
I had enough pride in my work that if she said yes, I'd help with everything I had.
And snag some reviews on the side, of course.
'...Just to check, this isn't because you just want to see an idol magical girl, right?'
'...'
Anyway, I watched Snow White wrestle with what seemed like the dilemma of a lifetime.
"If you don't want to, just say no."
I'd be a little sad, but I'd still teach her everything I could.
We could hunt beasts and kaijin whenever they showed up for a month or so until she got the hang of magical girl life, then she'd stand on her own.
'What about Lavender?'
'Why bring up Lavender out of nowhere?'
'No, uh... never mind.'
...?
What was that about all of a sudden?
Anyway, I waited for Snow White's answer, and after about three minutes.
"I-I'll do it..."
Oh.
Good thing.
Honestly, I'd been a bit worried. She seemed kinda timid, so I'd wondered if she'd bail.
Relieved, I asked why she'd decided.
"Any particular reason?"
She mumbled, hesitating.
"W-well..."
Well?
"I wanna be popular with people...! Like, have everyone at school recognize me, talk about me wherever I go, come home to news about me on TV, a house full of my merch, and sip champagne I'm the model for while chilling!!!!!"
Oh...
"That's quite the ambition."
I meant it sincerely.