Chapter 272 – 272: The Magical Girl Appears!
◈-Tikya SIDE
Faster, faster, faster, faster!
What is this!
It’s too fast!
Is this the incredibly strange mode of transportation called the Muscle Carriage!?
It’s faster than a carriage!
The sound of the wind whistling past, Rent, the ‘younger’ adventurer I met at the Adventurer’s Guild, is carrying me as he runs.
I was annoyed at being treated like a child three times.
Still, thinking I should visit the dungeon, I looked at the quest board to see if there were any good quests related to the dungeon.
And then, a strange quest about using the Muscle Carriage caught my eye.
No, rather than a quest, it was an advertisement.
It was an advertisement that said they would take you from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor in a short time for 10 silver, and from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor for 5 silver.
The dungeon isn’t that big, so I thought there might be quests like this, and it was a great advertisement for me, who wanted to defeat strong monsters and improve my skills.
I took the quest and read the details, which said to go to a muscular man with green hair and blue eyes sitting at a table.
I knew who it was right away from that sentence.
It was the muscular man drinking juice who had been impressive when I entered the Adventurer’s Guild.
And when I first saw Rent, the first thing I thought was that he had a gentle face for his physique.
But this man would probably treat me like a child too.
I prepared to suppress my anger in advance and spoke to him.
But what was unexpected was that Rent used polite language with me from the start.
A polite way of speaking that respected the other person.
That was very unexpected.
Well, I found out later when I was waiting in line at the dungeon entrance.
I heard from the receptionist that it was because he had overheard me talking to the receptionist…
Still, my first impression wasn’t bad.
The fact that he initially put my application on hold wasn’t because I was young, but because he didn’t know my skills as an adventurer, so I wasn’t upset.
My impression of Rent when we talked while waiting in line was that he was a good person.
And unlike me, he was younger than me, but he had a physique and muscles that didn’t match his age.
No, he’s 20 years old, so he could have this kind of physique, but… the perception that he was younger made me think that way even more.
But with his large physique, gentle face, and kind way of speaking… he somehow felt like a fluffy, big dog.
For the record, I like dogs.
Moreover, he didn’t make fun of magical girls, and he said that he had a comrade like me, and that he himself was interested in the magical girl Marin!
After returning from the dungeon, I should lend him the Magical Girl Marin series in my inventory.
The more comrades, the better!
As I was having a brief flashback due to the excessive speed, Rent suddenly stopped.
“Tikya, I think this is far enough.”
“Ah, y-yes…”
Rent put me down on the ground, and I took out a hand mirror from my inventory to check if my hair was messed up from the speed.
Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like my hair is messed up.
“Oh, Tikya, you have an inventory too.”
“Huh? Oh, right. This is my master’s item. It’s mine now, though. Wait, what do you mean by ‘you too’…”
“Yes. I have an inventory too.”
I was honestly surprised by Rent’s words.
Rent had said that he came to Pludan from a rural village.
And he’s only been an adventurer for almost two months.
For Rent to have an inventory, which is relatively common among users in the magic city.
“Where… did you get the inventory?”
“Mr. Kelban, who is in charge of dismantling at the Adventurer’s Guild, gave it to me as a reward.”
“As a reward?”
“Yes, it’s a quest to bring back the corpses of monsters all at once after they’ve been dealt with. Most people only collect magic stones in the dungeon.”
“Hmm, I see…”
Certainly, some monsters are large, so an inventory would be needed to move the corpses.
But if an inventory is needed, you would have to reach at least the 3rd or 4th floor.
No, looking at the Muscle Carriage advertisement, it’s 5 silver from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor.
In other words, Rent in front of me is skilled enough to be active on the 3rd floor.
If he’s been an adventurer for two months, he should be able to reach the 3rd floor.
And judging by the speed he was moving me just now, I think Rent is a pretty strong adventurer.
It’s only been almost two months since he became an adventurer, but just like my magical talent, Rent seems to have a physical talent, so he’s probably a D-rank adventurer.
The dismantler named Kelban must have seen that talent and given Rent the quest with his future in mind.
But regardless, it’s strange that the dismantler named Kelban is giving out inventories as rewards for bringing back monster corpses…
It would be rude to ask too much.
I looked around.
We had moved quite a distance, and there were no other adventurers around besides us.
And…
Squeak! Squeak!
Kikikikikik!
Kieeeeeeeek!
Ugly goblins were approaching us.
Rent stepped in front of me and said,
“Should I take them out and leave just one?”
“No, it’s okay. I can handle this much on my own.”
I appreciate Rent’s consideration, but I’m not so weak that I’d struggle with a few goblins.
Like the magical girl Marin, I’m a genius mage with overflowing magical talent.
Objectively, that’s a fact.
From the age of 10 to 12, I was taken in by my master because I showed magical talent, and after learning magic while being supported by my master, I entered the magic academy.
I became the youngest entrant and never lost first place during my three years at the academy.
Of course, during those three years, there were always guys who were jealous of my talent and skills and kept picking fights with me…
After graduating from the academy, I spent my days researching magic on my own and supporting my master, and then one day, I came across the Magical Girl Marin series, and my life seemed to shine brilliantly.
I have a goal to become cute and strong like the magical girl Marin.
To that end, I have trained and researched, and I am a genius who has even created original magic.
Let’s show that achievement to Rent.
I circulate the magic power in my body and channel it into the staff that my master gave me as a gift, which I named while riding the carriage.
I channel magic power into Twinkle Starlight.
As expected of a staff given to me by my master, the magic power circulation rate is better than any staff I’ve ever used.
After casting the spell, I swung my staff, filled with magic power, at the four approaching goblins.
“Twinkle Stars!”
Rotating, sparkling yellow star-shaped magic power flew towards the goblins.
Puff puff puff!
Kigyaaaaaak!
Kieeeegigik!
The stars I launched pierced the goblins’ bodies, stopping their movements, and in that gap, I created a large star instead of a small one and swung it at the goblins.
Swoosh!
The star that flew accurately towards the four goblins easily cut off their necks.
The goblins’ bodies lost their strength and fell forward.
I turned around and said to Rent,
“How was that? Goblins are nothing to me, right?”
“Ooh…!”
Rent’s eyes widened, and he was trembling with his fists clenched, impressed.
His reaction is funny.
More than that, I’m happy that he reacted so surprised to my magic.
And he’s cute because he’s like a big dog.
“What is that magic?”
“Hehe, this is my original magic. Star magic.”
“Star magic?”
“Yes. It’s my own magic that mainly uses star shapes by manipulating magic power. When the power increases, I can add gravity magic to make it even stronger!”
“Ooh, original! That’s amazing!”
“Right! It’s magic like the sparkling magical girl Marin, who uses pretty and sparkling magic!”
“I haven’t read the novel yet, so I don’t know the details, but it’s amazing!”
“Hehem!”
Rent is good at praising others.
“But how many times can you use that magic?”
“If it’s the one I just showed you, I can use it 30 more times. How about it, I can handle the first floor alone, right?”
“Hmm… I don’t think so.”
The answer I got was an unexpected denial.
“Huh? Why? You just saw it. I can easily defeat goblins.”
“Ah, yes. I know that. But it will be difficult alone. Of course, this is if you were hunting in the dungeon like other adventurers, without using my Muscle Carriage.”
Rent began to explain why he thought it wasn’t possible.
“Tikya’s skills are enough to easily defeat goblins. But magic has a limited number of uses, right? Each floor of the dungeon is much wider than you think. To get to the next floor, you have to prepare early in the morning and arrive almost by dinner time.
It would be difficult for Tikya to break through the first floor with about 30 uses of magic in that time.”
“I can recover magic power by meditating.”
“But monsters could attack while you’re meditating, right? So it would be difficult alone.”
Rent’s words were correct.
I certainly hadn’t properly considered the length of the dungeon.
Even if it’s just goblins, if they attack while I’m meditating, I’d be helpless.
“So Tikya needs a party to adventure with. Other adventurers are all in parties. It’s extremely rare to work solo.”
“That’s… true. It’s certainly dangerous to jump into the dungeon alone.”
My master had also said that.
If you’re going to the dungeon, make sure to form a party.
It wasn’t just that I thought I lacked skills, but there was also the issue of distance.
“Looking at Tikya’s skills, you’ll probably have no problem catching the kobolds on the 3rd floor. But from the 3rd floor, it’s better to go with a party. Since Tikya is a mage, it would be good to team up with a front-line fighter.”
“Yeah, you’re right, Rent. I should look for someone to party with later.”
Actually, I’d like Rent to be in my party, but Rent already has party members.
It’s a shame, but I’ll have to find someone else.
Fortunately, I have a way to find a skilled comrade.
“So… Rent. It’s good that I’m using the Muscle Carriage, right?”
“Ah, yes. Of course. But…”
“But?”
Rent’s eyes sparkled a little as he said to me,
“Could you show me some other magic?”
He was looking forward to seeing what other magic I could use.
“…You want to see?”
“Yes! Tikya’s magic was really pretty because it was sparkling.”
His pure-looking eyes lifted my spirits.
And he looked like a huge dog waiting for food, so he was cute.
“Okay, I’ll show you since you gave me a lot of advice even though I’m paying you.”
Just then.
Kieeeek!
Kiekiekiekieeeek!
More goblins were approaching.
◈
It was partly to show Rent, but I also used the magic I developed to test how well my magic worked in actual combat.
Elemental Stars, which had all the attributes of fire, water, wind, earth, light, and darkness.
Twinkle Boom, which launches star-shaped bombs.
And my masterpiece, the star-shaped magic cannon, Twinkle Buster.
Especially when I launched Twinkle Buster, Rent even cheered.
I got excited and shot Twinkle Buster five more times.
I actually have a few more spells and a trump card, but I didn’t have enough magic power to use them because of the magic I showed Rent.
“How was it, amazing, right?”
“It’s incredibly amazing! Is that all original?”
“Yeah. Actually, I’m developing more magic. And what I showed you now is just a part of it.”
“If it’s original, it must be very difficult to make, right?”
“Of course it’s difficult. It’s only possible because I’m a genius mage.”
“You’re amazing, Tikya. Ah… by any chance, is it not that you can only use original magic?”
“No, I can use normal magic too.”
As a test, I used the most basic magic towards the wall.
“Fireball.”
Bang!
A fireball flew out and collided with the wall.
“You saw when I used Elemental Stars, right? I can freely use all attribute magic.”
“Are you an elemental master?”
“You could say that.”
“You’re really amazing!”
Rent kept praising me.
Ah, I feel good.
Even at the magic academy, only the professors praised me, and the other students were busy putting me down with their unnecessary pride due to jealousy.
My master… did praise me, but it was more like praise for reaching the next stage, which was expected.
It’s not pure admiration like Rent, who is sparkling with his eyes.
It’s the kind of pure admiration that the magical girl Marin receives when she is admired, thanked, or praised by the public…
This feeling of being praised is so pleasing, it might be the first time.
Not being made fun of,
Not being envied,
Not being taken for granted,
This feeling of being purely praised for my magic… felt very good.
