NOVEL WEB Chapter 29
The magical girl self-destructed.
Marin and the other students of the new class were supposed to be tweaking their settings in the simulation and training diligently… but they weren’t.
Marin was being grilled by Sweep, a magical girl from the same class, and another magical girl called Princess Thorn about her recent exchange with Inie.
“So? Why was the class president crying so much? She’s been looking worn out and gloomy lately, but she suddenly perked up after meeting that person, right?”
“That is true. Now that I think of it, one of Marin’s videos showed someone being saved within a barrier, didn’t it? Yes! The name of the magical girl was… that’s right! Inny Flowering!”
The two chattered excitedly while Marin, caught in the middle, blushed with embarrassment.
Marin regretted now why she had done such a thing.
Since hearing at the M·D·W extermination announcement that Inie had died, Marin had been feeling unwell.
Not only once but twice she had been saved by her, and she left without being able to repay her. Thinking about that girl made her overly sensitive.
Then, unexpectedly, she appeared before Marin. Losing herself in joy was probably unavoidable.
“She is, well, my benefactor who helped me…”
“So? You got so happy upon meeting her that you cried? That stern class president!”
“At the M·D·W announcement, she was reported dead. Though this might be rude to ask, how is she still alive?”
That’s right, that’s what Marin is wondering as well. Why has Inie, who was reported dead, suddenly shown up?
Marin remembers the back figure of Thalagong after M·D·W was defeated.
His arms were scorched, and he stood there dazed…
Because of that, Marin thought Inie had died… yet…
“You should ask her yourself. No amount of thinking will get you an answer.”
“Even if we do ask, isn’t her eye kinda scary? She’s definitely killed some people, right!”
“I don’t intend to agree with Sweep, but those eyes aren’t something a normal person could possess.”
While Marin wants to retort against the two, she too was flustered when she first saw those eyes, so she can’t say much.
But at least, she wants to argue that Inie is kind and strong. However, just then, Prizes and Inie entered the simulation.
When Marin saw Inie, she hallucinated the battered figure she had seen during the M·D·W extermination, but she shook her head to chase it away.
It’s alright, she kept telling herself, she is indeed alive.
“Now that everyone is here, I’d like to proceed with the planned cooperative training today. Are there any questions?”
Sweep raised her hand smoothly. Her face was slightly smirking, making Marin feel uneasy.
As everyone’s gaze gathered on Sweep, Prizes granted her permission to speak.
“I think we need to know Inie’s strength before we can cooperate, right?”
Though Sweep sounds reasonable, it’s essentially bullying the new student.
She’s provoking: “What can you even do?”
“That does make sense… so shall we let Inie fight alone first?”
Inie nodded in response, causing a murmur among Sweep and the other students.
Some students, including Marin, knew Inie from her combat footage against M·D·W or appearances in other magical girls’ videos, so they anticipated her strength with excitement.
Others who didn’t know anything looked forward to seeing if the new student, Inie, would embarrass herself.
“Last time it was D-Rank, right? What about this time?”
A buzz arose: Can she already defeat D-Rank monsters?
With Marin as an exception, for rookies, merely defeating weaklings would be commendable. If she can handle mid-level ones, she’d be considered promising.
“Hey, President. How strong is Inie exactly?”
“You’re challenging her without knowing anything? Well, she has a record of defeating near S-Rank monsters.”
“No way!” Sweep exclaimed in surprise. Fortunately, Prizes, who was operating the terminal, didn’t hear and she avoided getting scolded.
The strengths of these new students vary greatly; the strongest is Marin, who can solo B-Rank monsters. With Enhanced Form, she can take down A-Rank, albeit not consistently.
Conversely, the weakest struggles with E-Rank monsters.
Given this, when told that Inie has defeated near S-Rank monsters, it’s no wonder everyone was shocked.
It’s like having an adult wolf mixed in with a pack of puppies. She seems to be in the wrong place.
“Why is someone like her here? Is she stupid?”
Sweep whispered angrily, to which Marin replied, “I feel the same way.”
Indeed, though she is new, coming to the academy isn’t strange, but considering she can defeat top-tier monsters and has defeated the near S-Rank M·D·W, does her presence here have any meaning? Marin wonders.
Ignoring the students’ murmurs, the monster Inie would face was decided.
After a private discussion between Prizes and Inie, it was settled on five D-Rank monsters.
Still excessive for rookies, but since weaker ones would be boring, Inie nodded in agreement.
“Then we’ll begin. Please stay out of the battlefield.”
The monsters appearing consisted of two beast types, two flying types, and one large humanoid type.
“O flame, rise and dance!”
Upon the monsters’ appearance, a vortex of flames appeared before the enemies, restraining the flying types.
Inie remained stationary, seemingly doing nothing from an outsider’s perspective.
“O earth, pierce forth!”
Contrary to the spell’s name, spears of earth sprouted around the monsters. By the time the vortex of flames dissipated, all the monsters were surrounded by walls of earth.
However, the flying types wouldn’t be hindered by mere walls of earth. But…
“O rising flame, become an eternal fire that consumes all!”
The flames that had scattered into the sky regathered, forming a red sphere, from which a thin, crimson beam was fired toward the center of the earth wall.
After a moment of silence, a thunderous boom resounded, nearly splitting the air.
The sound startled Prizes enough to spread her wings wide, accidentally hitting Sweep’s face who was standing next to her.
Sweep tumbled over in shock, flailing around.
Other observing students reacted dramatically in various ways, but Inie, who had cast the magic, was blown away by the impact.
All the monsters had vanished, but Inie had also been blown away.
Since the battlefield and observation area are separated, only the sound reached them, while the impact stayed contained within the battlefield.
“Inie-san! Are you alright?”
Though the simulation settings should limit pain, Prizes rushed over to check on Inie lying face-down, ignoring the flailing Sweep nearby.
For some reason, Inie didn’t move from her prone position and slowly lifted her left arm.
(What is she trying to do?) wondered Prizes.
Approaching Inie, she saw her give a thumbs-up before stopping completely. Prizes checked on her, not realizing her wings were being touched.
“Ah, she seems fine. Everyone ended up like this, but did you understand?”
Everyone’s hearts aligned in asking: Exactly what were we supposed to understand?
Clearly exceeding rookie standards, after discussions between students and teachers, it was decided that Inie would pair up with Marin.
There was a clear difference in strength compared to the other students, so Marin was the only one suitable to team up with her.
During the discussion, Sweep glared resentfully at Prizes, but that’s another story.
Each group of 3-2 members started their respective training.
Some fought against monsters, others discussed magic, and some skipped training but were scolded by Prizes.
“Hey, Inie?”
“Yes?”
“What happened to your staff? I thought you always carried it…?”
Marin noticed that Inie fought without using her usual staff.
Even during the brief battle earlier, Marin observed her hands seemed empty and lonely.
“My staff is gone…”
With Inie’s blank expression and hazy eyes, Marin felt a bit guilty but sensed something was off.
Magical girls typically carry some weapon or tool due to their characteristics. For Marin, it’s her sword and bow, without which she cannot fight.
Star Nail uses a gun, which serves as both a medium for magic and a weapon. Without it, she couldn’t use magic or fight monsters.
So normally, without a weapon, a magical girl shouldn’t be able to fight monsters.
Yet the girl before her effortlessly fought and defeated them.
“Would it be troublesome without your staff?”
“I can’t use strong magic. Additionally, the power diminishes relative to my mana capacity.”
Strong… magic? Compared to the sound marking the beginning Marin witnessed long ago, the magic Inie used earlier was indeed weaker, but generally, it wasn’t weak.
An average magical girl achieving solo B-Rank extermination is considered competent.
A newly minted rookie capable of handling D-Rank monsters would be considered promising.
The Inferno magic Inie used earlier wiped out five D-Rank monsters simultaneously.
From its power alone, Marin judged it capable of defeating C-Rank or possibly B-Rank monsters.
This child must be beyond conventional norms, Marin thought sadly.
“Alright… Then, for coordination, shall I take the front line and you the rear?”
“It’s fine, Senior.”
Hearing the second “senior” call, Marin’s heart fluttered.
Her seniors were Star Nail and Blue Colette, so she wasn’t fond of the title, but being called by someone else made her feel slightly happy.
Especially since it was Inie, who despite her odd eye, was undeniably beautiful—how could Marin not be pleased?
“Alright, let’s do the coordination training with five C-Rank monsters. The monsters will be set randomly… Let’s go!”
Inie nodded in response, unlike Marin who held her sword ready, standing idly without a weapon—the staff.
Ideally, Inie wanted to pull her hood up, but she refrained to avoid Prizes’ scolding.
Once Marin finished setting up the terminal and moved to the combat field, the monsters appeared.
All five were humanoid.
Marin immediately charged in with her sword drawn.
“Crescent Moon!”
Spinning her body, Marin swung her sword, severing the arms of two monsters.
Seamlessly covering Marin’s slight opening, Inie aided with her ice spear magic.
Internally cheering Inie’s support, Marin used the ice spears embedded in the ground as leverage to leap towards the farthest monster.
“First Blade: Crescent Flash!”
The sword descended upon the monster, cleaving it in two. The shining blade resembled a crescent moon.
Sheathing her sword, Marin drew her bow from her back.
By then, Inie had already taken down two more, leaving only the two with severed arms.
Transforming her mana into arrow shapes, Marin loaded her bow. At that moment, catching Inie’s gaze, Marin grinned.
“Lock, Shoot!”
“O ice, pierce through!”
Their arrows struck the monsters’ heads simultaneously, causing them to vanish.
Thus, they flawlessly completed the extermination of the monsters.
“Wow, aren’t those two insane? They took down five C-Ranks without a scratch.”
“Amazing… I knew the class president could solo B-Rank monsters, but…”
“I thought the whole ‘defeating near S-Rank’ thing was fake, but maybe it’s real?”
Watching the duo, Sweep and Princess Thorn were amazed by their strength.
These two could handle D-Rank monsters individually, but after witnessing the earlier battle, they felt intimidated.
Marin charging in and Inie providing precise ice spear support created an impressive tandem.
Throughout the fight, Inie continued to cover Marin as she leaped toward the deepest monster.
Finally, they synchronized perfectly, eliminating the last monsters simultaneously.
Their seamless teamwork left the observers deeply impressed.
“We can’t fall behind them, right?”
“That’s correct. We’ll work hard too.”
Without jealousy towards Marin and Inie’s prowess, Sweep and Princess Thorn resumed their training to grow stronger.
Meanwhile, watching Marin and Inie’s pair, Prizes felt unease about their mismatched abilities.
Incidentally, thanks to her contribution during the M·D·W incident, Marin had climbed to 30th place in the rankings.
Aside from Inie being blown away by her self-destruction, the training session passed without issue.
And thus, the first day of transfer ended.