The Magical Girl’s Journey ~It Seems the TS Magical Girl Has Bad Luck~

A new magical girl appeared, enveloped in an explosion of flames.

“Is it getting a little cold?”

He muttered these words and looked up at the sky. It was slightly chilly for September, enough to make one crave something warm.

On his way back from a business meeting, he stopped by a convenience store to buy coffee and drove his car to a nearby large park that caught his eye by chance. By nine o’clock at night, there was no one around in the park. He sat on a bench further inside and gazed up at the sky.

The sky was cloudless, and the stars were clearly visible. As he enjoyed the moment, savoring the pleasant bitterness of the coffee, a sound akin to gunfire and the high-pitched clang of metal colliding echoed nearby.

Was it a battle between magical girls? Or had a monster appeared close by? However, if a monster had appeared, evacuation alerts or emergency emails would usually have been sent out.

Realizing the situation was bad, he tried to flee from the bench, but it was already too late. With the approaching flames in sight and the ominous presence of impending death before him, he thought:

(Magical girls are nothing but trouble…)

His consciousness faded into darkness with the sound of the explosion.

1

“What are you going to do now, Colette? That person over there is a civilian!”

The magical girl who had just been engaged in a fight resembling a mortal combat raised her voice and confronted her rival magical girl.

“Well, I avoided the attack using my nails, didn’t I? Hmm… this time might’ve been a bit too much though.”

These two had fought numerous times before, causing property damage as a matter of course. But this time, they had finally involved a civilian.

Moreover, neither of them attempted to help the fallen person; instead, they fled the scene.

“We need to contact Shirokigawa-san immediately and sort this out.”

The magical girl called Nails frantically pulled out her smartphone and called Shirokigawa.

“Hello? Did you break something again during a fight? Honestly, we can’t just get away with a suspension this time.”

Shirokigawa, who answered the call, said this and waited for Nails’ response. Sensing something amiss due to Nails’ unusually slow reply, she was about to ask what happened when Nails began speaking first.

She explained that while avoiding Colette’s magic aimed at her during their fight, she accidentally hit a bystander, likely killing them. Overcome with fear, they hadn’t tried to help and fled the scene.

“You really… how could you let something like this happen? Anyway, come back here immediately.”

Overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation, Shirokigawa lacked the energy to even be angry. To prevent the matter from escalating, she issued an order for both of them to return. She quickly ended the call and contacted her superior to initiate internal handling of the scandal caused by the magical girls.

“If only we’d done more… No, we need to focus on helping those two now.”

Reacting so lightly to someone’s death seemed inappropriate. Magical girls were prioritized over ordinary people. In a way, it made sense, but coincidentally, this incident marked the beginning of greater changes in the world.

2

“So, this place…”

The smell of burning in the air forcibly reminded him of what had just happened. He never expected to be caught in a conflict involving magical girls, who were supposed to protect the world.

Attempting to move his limbs proved futile; his body felt unbearably heavy, making even opening his eyes a tiresome task. Though he didn’t feel much pain, he assumed it was because he had lost too much blood, dulling his senses.

Thinking he wouldn’t survive, he was about to close his barely open eyes when he heard cheerful humming.

It sounded like the opening theme of an anime he had listened to long ago. The melody gradually grew closer.

“Oh dear? Sleeping here will give you a cold. Although, I saw everything, so I know your condition.”

Struggling to open his almost-closed eyes, he saw a fairy fluttering before him—something not uncommon these days.

Though he wanted to question why it was there, he lacked the strength to even speak.

“Ah, don’t worry about voicing your thoughts. I understand what you’re trying to say. Let me cut to the chase: Do you want to live? Die? And do you hate magical girls?”

What was this creature talking about? His sluggish mind pondered. Fortunately or unfortunately, he had no family, so his death wouldn’t inconvenience anyone. Having just finished a major project, he wouldn’t be troubling others either.

If there was any reason to want to live, it was perhaps the desire to indulge in life’s pleasures a bit more. While he harbored some resentment toward the magical girl who had put him in this state, such incidents were probably common in today’s world. This event would likely end with reports claiming he had been unlucky enough to be killed by a monster.

“Yeah, good job! That slightly corrupted yet self-aware heart is exactly to my taste. Why not try living a bit longer? Of course, there will be a price, but I assure you, you won’t regret it.”

That’s right. Indeed, dying was scary, and such a meaningless death was unacceptable. If he could live, why not give it a shot?

“In that case, let’s make a contract. The deal is: I’ll save you, and in return, you’ll satisfy my curiosity. The term lasts until your death. Naturally, there’s no cooling-off period.”

While hearing these rapid-fire terms vaguely but clearly, he nodded in agreement by blinking.

“Then let’s seal the contract. You, Haruna Shiro, under this contract, are forbidden to die until you satisfy my curiosity. Arise, new magical girl!”

Though he realized he might have rushed into something ominous, in his current immobile state, he couldn’t do anything. He was enveloped in light. A compressing sensation, different from before, caused him to groan in pain, feeling as if his body was being remade.

Soon, the pain subsided, and he managed to sit up and open his eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

The fairy hovered in front of him, grinning.

Testing the sensations by clenching and unclenching his fists,

“Not bad. Thank you for saving me.”

“Don’t mention it; it’s part of the contract. How does your new body feel? It’s brand-new compared to your old one!”

Upon looking down as instructed, he saw that while his tattered clothes remained unchanged, his bloodied and muddy body had become clean. Compared to his previous state, he felt remarkably well.

Standing up and moving his body, he felt a lightness reminiscent of his teenage years.

“Seems fine. Now, try saying ‘transform.'”

“Huh? Transform?”

As he murmured the word, his black hair instantly turned into long blue hair, and his ragged clothes transformed into a white robe resembling those worn by a White Mage. Lowering his gaze, he felt discomfort in his chest and groin, becoming acutely aware of what had happened.

“It looks like it worked! Here’s a mirror.”

The fairy produced a full-length mirror from somewhere.

(Is this… perhaps what they call a magical girl?)

“Correct, Watson! Since the transformation was successful, let’s reintroduce ourselves and confirm the contract!”

The fairy darted around playfully, embodying the very essence of a fairy. Despite having things to say, he decided to restrain himself as an adult.

“I’m from the Fairy Realm, and you can call me Demon.”

(How strange, to look like the typical fairy everyone imagines, yet be named Demon.)

“Don’t worry about that. Anyway, the contract requires you to satisfy my curiosity. In other words, I want you to fight as a magical girl until I’m content. Well, the girl on the inside is actually a man, but that’s beside the point.”

Watching the fairy laugh uncontrollably irritated him slightly.

“Can I change back to my original form?”

Startled by his suddenly higher-pitched voice, he refrained from acting rashly, knowing it would only provoke another laugh from Demon.

Probably reading his thoughts, he realized worrying was futile.

“Hmm, I could revert you, but personally, I prefer girls over boys. Oh, and even if you解除the transformation, you’ll remain a girl!”

(She gives me a thumbs-up, which resonates deeply within me. Please stop.)

Being forced to live as a girl despite being an adult feels like nothing more than a punishment game.

“Well, don’t worry about it. Without me, you’d be dead anyway. Think of it as a reincarnation story—it’ll be fun!”

Even though she said it would be fun, modern Japan involves household registers and various forms of identification, leaving homelessness or orphanhood as the only options if he stayed this way.

Not to mention, being asked to live as a girl at his age—just shy of being labeled “thirties”—was perplexing.

“For now, you can continue living where you originally did. As for money, defeating monsters earns rewards, so you’ll be fine.”

“Rewards?”

“Yeah, while we can’t offer services or consideration like before, I can convert the cores of defeated monsters into money.”

“Reward with strings attached, meaning official recognition, but personally, I’d rather not. And since the inner self is male, I’d prefer not to act alongside others if possible.”

“The magical girl from earlier might return, and there’s also a monster reaction detected not too far away. Let’s have a battle!”

“Seriously?”

“When should we fight? Now, of course!”

Demon twirled around and pointed at him dramatically, uttering a line he had heard somewhere before.

Although he somehow understood what his new body could do, he wondered if he, who had lived a life devoid of violence, could defeat a monster.

“Oh, and think about a magical girl name while you’re at it. Let’s go!”

With those words, there was a brief blackout, and instead of the burnt-smelling park, a familiar mountain spread before him.

Ah, Mount Myōgi. This place.

“What are you spacing out for? The monster could appear anywhere around here, so stay alert or you’ll be gone in an instant.”

“But I don’t know how to fight!”

He lightly moved his unfamiliar body, checking its condition.

A sensation he had never felt before filled his body, likely what was called magic or energy.

“It’ll work out somehow. If not, you’ll just die, but hey!”

A sliver of dark emotion pierced his chest, but he shook his head to dispel it, causing his long hair to sway, reminding him of his changed form.

“Fortunately, the monster is coming from the front. Oh, and make sure to pull your hood up.”

“Got it.”

With newfound resolve, a staff made of wood with a curled tip, similar to ones he had seen before, appeared in his hands. Just as a monster emerged from the bushes, he positioned the staff.

(Alright, what should I do? Demon?)

“How should I know what you can do? You’ll just have to figure it out yourself. Also, try to unify your thoughts and tone of speech; it’s confusing.”

Confusing though it may be, he thought responding to his thoughts might be unnecessary.

Well, since he was told, he figured he should comply as a social norm, though he was technically just a magical girl now, so he ignored it.

“Is that so? Well, I guess it’ll work out.”

He smoothly held the staff and faced the approaching monster. Though not detailed, it resembled an E-class monster he had seen on the Magic Bureau’s website.

There was no point dwelling on useless thoughts, so he voiced the words that came to mind.

“Frost, pierce through!”

With just those words, the monster didn’t even have time to react before being impaled by several icicles, leaving only its core behind before disappearing.

It felt like a game, but the drop in temperature due to the ice reminded him of the reality.

The remaining core was swiftly collected by Demon and sent somewhere.

“Just as it looks. Nowadays, magic-focused magical girls are rare.”

“Well, what can I do?”

“Apparently, I can handle most types of magic.”

Elemental magic and healing magic, as expected from the appearance, came through the staff.

This outfit resembles something straight out of a certain game. Strangely, I can also use dark magic.

By the way, does this staff have a will of its own? It seems I can summon and dismiss it by thinking, but the logic eludes me completely.

“Getting an all-rounder ability is quite lucky. Some magical girls can only summon a single knife.”

The world is overflowing with various magical girls.

There are extreme cases like the ones Demon mentioned, but among those I know, there are magical girls who can fire infinite bullets (as long as their magic power holds) and ones who ride 5-meter tall robots, which makes me question if they’re even magical girls.

I once read on a site that a magical girl’s abilities are related to their personal desires, so I wonder why I ended up like this.

Anyway, let’s forget about that for now.

“So, what should we do next?”

“Of course, we go home. Don’t解除your transformation until we get there. I’ll teleport us close by. By the way, have you decided on a name?”

Since a recognized magical girl will likely arrive soon due to the monster’s appearance, we should leave before being spotted.

I don’t want any trouble, so let’s head back quickly.

“That’s right. Combining my new body and my name, I’ll call myself Magical Girl Inny Flowering.”

While whispering to Demon, I held my hood against the wind blowing strongly.

The meaning of the name is a bit embarrassing, so I’ll keep it to myself.

“Hmm, I see. Also, calling myself ‘Shiro’ with this appearance is odd, so maybe a pseudonym?”

“Haruna.”

By the way, the ice magic I used earlier lingered, and I later learned from Demon about the ensuing chaos.

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