Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: I'll Only Trust You, Junior!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Blocking the explosions themselves was impossible.
The main body might be fine since it had already lost power and crashed to the ground, but there were twenty-five fists still glowing red, ready to blow at any moment.
Unless we had an S-Rank support Magical Girl like Kariel here among us, there was nothing these three—attack and destruction specialists Alice and Rabbit, plus the single B-Rank support—could do.
We were in a situation where we needed to run ourselves.
No matter how "the best defense is a good offense," shooting a grenade that's already primed won't stop it from exploding. We might manage to take out five or six fists if we tried, but we'd be lucky if that didn't make things worse. Both Rabbit and Alice could turn the city into a wasteland like an Abyss Being if they messed up their power control.
That was exactly why, whenever Abyss Beings appeared—especially high-ranking ones—evacuation was always mandatory.
These bastards could raze a city without a second thought, whether the Magical Girls beat them or not.
Statistically, far more people died from failing to evacuate in time—caught hiding somewhere and crushed by collapsing debris from the aftermath—than from direct Abyss Being attacks.
-Crunch.
Yeah. If busy modern folks could just drop everything and evacuate the moment an Abyss Being showed up amid their daily grind, they wouldn't keep coming back to Earth so often in the first place.
No matter how many times we drove them off, they kept returning because Earth was prime hunting ground from their perspective.
[I've sent the retreat signal to nearby Magical Girls too! Just get yourselves out somehow! I've handed off the civilians around you, so hurry up and get clear!]
[Hey! Alice! I'm a ways off from you guys, so I'll bolt this way! Don't worry about me—escape on your own!]
One was from the bunny, the other from Rabbit.
...Wait. Does that support Magical Girl even have an escape ability?
B-Rank should at least be able to protect her own body adequately...
[S-Senior!! I don't have a movement skill! I'm running on foot for now, but...! It's too late! Save me!]
-Crack.
Scratch what I said earlier about her being praiseworthy.
I really do hate juniors.
[Ah, there she is. Hang on a sec. Alice will go get her.]
Hate her or not, what choice did I have? I couldn't just abandon someone.
-Twinge.
'Ugh.'
When I tensed my legs to kick off the ground, my left ankle from earlier let out an unpleasant sound, but I ignored it and forced a jump.
I'd already pinpointed the Magical Girl's location, so riding a beam of starlight for a moment, I spotted her—a blonde in priest-like fantasy garb, running desperately on two feet.
Had I seen her somewhere before?
"Gotcha!"
"Senior!!"
-Thud!
"Explosion's almost here! I'll speed up, so hold on tight so you don't fall off!"
-Vwoooom!!
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
I gripped the familiar Magical Girl's hand tight and ramped up the starlight's speed to escape the blast radius.
My posture wasn't stable since Alice's movement skill was basically single-rider, and I couldn't carry her properly.
Even as a B-Rank support Magical Girl, she should handle this acceleration fine.
"Senior! Ah, debris ahead!"
Starlight Shower.
-Boom!
"Wow..."
"Bunny! Time till explosion?"
[30 seconds! Still in danger range!]
"I'll go faster!"
-Pew!
"Kyaaaaah!!!!"
With one arm latched on, flying faster than a car, I had no idea how ridiculous I must look right now, but survival came first—image later.
Dying to protect your image? That's the real embarrassment. Better to survive and deal with the looks.
Small comfort: civilians had long evacuated, and the blast would wreck most CCTVs anyway—no one to see.
I wasn't into other Magical Girls anyway.
"Junior-nim! In a bit, when I signal, wrap us in your barrier! You can do it, right?"
"Y-Yes? Yes?"
"Your barrier! I trust you, junior-nim! Alice and your lives depend on you!"
"...Ha! Yes! I-I'll try! No, I will! I definitely will!"
People really need strong wording to get the point.
Even in this panic, she got it once lives were on the line.
Ah, half a lie—my life wasn't truly at stake. I was confident I could save myself even here.
But squeezing her into that confidence was tough, so I phrased it that way.
Headlines like "Alice fails to protect fellow Magical Girl right in front of her" would be a nightmare.
"S-Senior? What about that building ahead? Can you smash it?"
"Too late to smash."
"S-Senior? Senior?!"
"Just deploy your barrier properly like I said. I'll only trust you, junior-nim."
I hauled up the Magical Girl dangling by her arm and pulled her into a frontal hug.
"W-Wah..."
Call it luck. Alice was known for hating physical contact, so this close skinship—especially initiating it—was unthinkable outside emergencies.
[5 seconds to explosion!]
"Junior-nim. We're going through that building. Whatever shock comes after, I'll trust only your barrier. Got it?"
No time for explanations, even if she didn't.
"N-N-No! Wha—"
Stellar Shift.
-Fwoosh!
-KABOOOOOM!!!!!!!
"Kyaaah Senior!!"
-Roll roll.
We'd cleared the blast radius, with the building as a shield, so we just had to handle flying debris and accumulated speed.
Hugging tight minimized the barrier size, so a B-Rank's should hold— and it did.
After tumbling far and stopping against a small wall, the barrier had blocked the fall's impact, ground debris, and final wall crash perfectly. Despite the risky stunt, no major damage.
"...Hoo. You okay?"
"Head... hurts so muuuch..."
"Dizziness. It'll pass."
Barriers block physical shock, not the disorientation from rolling on the ground.
Our position: embracing, me below, her face buried in my chest from above. I quickly shoved her aside.
Of course, Alice-style: gently easing her into a comfortable lying position.
"Junior-nim. You alright? Alice flew as carefully as possible, but no injuries, right?"
"World's spiiiinning..."
"It'll settle soon. Alice will stay by your side till then."
Truth be told, I'd rather head back now that Abyss Beings seemed gone and I'd saved her, but Alice's image couldn't abandon a dizzy, wobbly comrade. So I crouched beside the self-proclaimed junior Magical Girl.
In the earlier panic, it was hazy, but this was the girl nearly killed by a B-Rank Abyss Being days ago.
Blonde, fantasy-priest outfit combo was common among Magical Girls, hard to distinguish, but her squealing "Senior!" at Alice stuck in my mind.
'...She's unique.'
Appearance-wise, Magical Girls averaged high beauty, so calling her pretty was meaningless. But other traits stood out.
Even lying down, her two mounds asserted presence—large enough size-wise, but not uniquely so among busty types.
Compared to them, though, her height was notably short.
Alice—me—was short for a guy, average-ish for a girl. Shorter than me? Objectively petite.
Simply put:
Short stature, but seriously stacked.
Usually, one small means the other too, so this mismatch was an interesting character hook.
...Judging her while she's passed out beside me might look bad, but just objective facts.
As I said, my hated types: women, younger, Magical Girls. She checked all three—no feelings there.
Didn't ask age, but her speech? 99% younger. No older woman would pull that concept.
On that note: for Magical Girls whose looks transform drastically, body type is most honest.
Hairstyle, eye color, makeup change faces completely, but bodies get minimal correction. Slim down or enhance spots, but limited—maybe one cup size max if all-in.
Overheard from girls' talk I got dragged into.
Antis mocked Alice as flat sometimes... No impact on me.
Guy, so obviously flat.
I'd have offed myself if I needed padding every deployment.
Far-off "Alice is so flat" was fine, but up-close like just now? Careful— even small, male-female bodies differ fundamentally. Prolonged contact risked suspicion.
If savored leisurely, she'd sense "something's off."
Hence, Emerald types top my caution list.
Once they get touchy post-okaying contact, they'd grope everywhere and spot issues. Too vivid a scenario.