Caught by the Magical Girl
So the next morning.
"I heard the story! You want me to tutor you, right?!"
"Eh...?"
Amber stared at Diamond, who was making her triumphant declaration with a completely out-of-left-field expression.
"Um, I don't really get what's going on here. Why is Diamond here?"
"I asked her. To help you study while you're at the shop."
Yesterday, after seeing those guys badmouthing Amber, I'd had a thought. If I left things like this, weird rumors would just keep spreading.
As her senior, I didn't want to see my precious junior suffering from gossip and slander.
Of course, she's not the type to let that kind of stuff get to her...
Still, breathing in that toxic air nonstop was bound to wear someone down eventually. Better to cut it off at the source.
"Leave it to me! I'm confident in my teaching skills!"
"...Alright, then. Could you help her out?"
Amber shook her head in defeat and flashed a small smile.
Actually, there was more to calling Diamond than that.
I'd be stuck handling shop duties for a while, so the most I could manage for tutoring was three or four hours tops.
On top of that, cleaning the store, buying ingredients, machine maintenance, plant care—there were all sorts of tasks tying me down.
Having Diamond, who was always hanging around the shop anyway, take over some of it was the most efficient option.
She's an active student, so she probably teaches better than I do.
I could compromise by making her all the desserts she wanted. Looked like she had some free time during break anyway.
"And who's that next to you...?"
"Please ignore me. I'm merely Lady Diamond's attendant."
The maid sipping tea nearby answered Amber's question.
Her name was Ruri, right? The girl who'd kidnapped me to the Brilliant mansion last time.
She's kinda scary.
Slender build, short black hair, slightly low-pitched voice. She looked like your average girl-next-door.
But looks were deceiving—she'd pinned down an adult man like me in three seconds flat. And she'd blocked Ravi's mana in my body before, so I couldn't drop my guard.
"Alright, let's dive right in! What part are you stuck on?"
"Uh... everything?"
And so began the legendary lecture of Brilliant Aster Diamond.
"First, let's find the domain of this equation!"
"...What's a domain again? I think the teacher mentioned it a few times."
A problem finding the domain of condition p.
"Th-then, to graph it, you need the asymptotes!"
"...What's an asymptote? I vaguely heard it in my sleep or something."
A problem identifying asymptotes to graph a rational function.
"Hmm, next up is one-to-one functions."
And a problem distinguishing one-to-one functions from bijections.
"...What's a one-to-one funct—"
"......"
Amber instinctively cut off her question as Diamond's vibe turned chilling.
Of course it'd end up like this. She knew absolutely nothing.
Did she just sleep through every class?
Even so, most people cram before finals. She probably just forgot everything right after the exam because her brain couldn't hold it.
"...Sorry."
"It's fine, Amber. Let's start from the basics, step by step."
And so we progressed from fundamentals, covering various concepts—
"......"
Through the shop's glass window, I spotted a few female students staring daggers at Diamond.
They took the bait, huh.
Had to be the ones who'd spewed venom at Amber yesterday. Seeing the two of them together even in private time must've really pissed them off.
After a moment, one of them marched in with an indignant look, like she had something to say.
"Welcome—"
"Lady Diamond, I trust you're well."
She cut me off and approached Diamond with an obnoxiously overt greeting.
"Sorry to interrupt. But seeing you spend your precious time tutoring someone... it's quite rare, I thought."
"......"
Diamond stared her down for a moment before firing back.
"Sorry, have we talked before?"
"...Pardon?"
The girl started making a dumbfounded face.
"Hang on! Let me think! I'm terrible with faces..."
"No, take your time..."
It was the kind of scene that made you want to snicker.
She'd mustered the courage to speak up, only to get treated like a stranger and waste time trying to jog her memory.
"Maybe Ena from Class B...?"
"No, Cecil from Class D."
"Ahh! That's right! Sorry I forgot!"
She'd only meant to stir up jealousy, but ended up self-destructing and embarrassing herself for nothing.
Now I almost feel bad for her.
I hoped she'd give up and leave after that humiliation, but she reached out toward Diamond like she still had more to say—
"Lady Diamond, I—!"
"Please refrain from approaching Lady Diamond more than necessary."
"......"
Ruri slipped in between them like she was stopping a suspicious intruder.
"...Excuse me."
With that, she bit her lip and trudged back out the way she'd come.
"Hmm... what was that about?"
"Who knows."
Call it a win. After that, the group of girls never showed up at Eclipse again.
And just like that, summer break arrived.
[So everyone, make sure to harness your potential without wasting it—]
I was cleaning the shop while listening to the dean's speech echoing from the auditorium.
The building's big, so the sound carries all the way here.
The auditorium being nearby probably helped too. It felt nostalgic hearing the principal's address after so long.
[The world has already entered the ubiquitous era. Our students must adapt to the flow of the times—]
Forcing in trendy young words that didn't fit his age or the context. Seemed like that was universal worldwide.
I was tidying the back room with the dean's voice as BGM when—
*Ching—*
"......?"
The front door opened with a soft chime.
Everyone should be at the auditorium right now. Who could it be?
Before the question could fully form, my body slammed into the floor.
"Silver Unit Operations Support Division, name Jade. Records show contact with Magical Girls Ruby and Sapphire, receiving undue leniency."
"......"
"You already know, but don't try anything funny. Any suspicious moves, and we'll eliminate you on the spot."
Ravi's mana in my body wasn't working, just like last time. And this familiar voice... no way.
"Ruri, huh."
"As you imagined."
I could guess why she'd ambushed me.
Probably dug into Gaia Foundation, Silver Unit's public camouflage.
Worse, she'd figured out not just my identity, but that I'd approached Ravi and Sophia too.
But I'd gleaned some info myself—
"No way, but... you're a magical girl?"
"...You even noticed that. Guess I can't let you go easily."
Magical Girl Mica. Not on the level of Ruby or Sapphire's world-spanning exploits, but one of the solid performers.
Her biggest trait? Unlike the others, low mana reserves, so she crushed kaijin with overwhelming physical prowess.
"Brilliant Corp's mana-blocking tech. Made for your magical girl gigs, right?"
"......"
I took her silence as confirmation.
If mana wasn't her strong suit, no need to flaunt the weakness.
Eliminate the disadvantage and steer fights in her favor—that was Mica's tactic.
"Gotta say, I'm surprised. I half-suspected your lady was the magical girl."
"You joke well. As if the future ruler of the world would stoop to such lowly work."
"...Lowly work, huh."
I'd once asked Amber out of nosy concern if Diamond was a magical girl. With precedents like her classmates Ravi and Sophia.
Of course, Brilliant Aster Diamond was neither. If she were, those massive tits would've given it away instantly.
That's why I'd let my guard down and seen her as just a crybaby noble lady with a sweet tooth.
Who could've guessed her maid was the magical girl.
"The other two used similar nicknames, but twisting Ruri into Mica? What's the deal?"
Ravi to Ruby. Sophia to Sapphire. Pretty straightforward naming.
But this one mangled it so bad I couldn't even guess until now.
"They're just sloppy. They got exposed to you, so self-inflicted."
Anyway, with my identity blown to an enemy magical girl, escape was off the table. So at least—
"...Boil me, grill me, I don't care. Just give me a little time. If I vanish now, Amber's efforts go down the drain."
If her senior got nabbed, no way she'd focus on a re-exam. She'd ditch studying and come looking for me right away.
"Any guarantee you won't run?"
"Re-exam's tomorrow morning. She'll swing by here soon after, so take me then."
I pressed my forehead to the floor in desperate plea, and it must've worked—Ruri lifted my head with a reluctant sigh.
"Fine, I'll play along for now. Even if she calls for help, I could take her in seconds."
"......"
Guess I'm properly fucked for the first time in ages.