Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 27 - Chapter 1

Episode 1: Unexpectedly Clear Danger

Nana, who had been seriously injured in the past, used artificial limbs. They were a marvelous invention born from the science, spiritual energy technology, and magic the girls of room 106 had access to, and they were so convincing that they were indistinguishable from flesh and blood body parts. That helped alleviate some of the strangeness of using them for Nana, and helped her feel like she’d really recovered. One could say that she was back to normal as a normal girl.

Due to their complex design, however, there were plenty of issues that needed to be worked out when Nana first got them. Side effects on her health, mechanical troubles with the physical limbs themselves, problems with their programming, the rate at which they consumed spiritual energy and mana, et cetera. It made using them something of a work in progress, and there were constantly things that needed to be checked on or adjusted on the fly. These things improved over time, but after something strenuous like a serious battle, Nana always came in for a checkup and maintenance.

“Nana, I’m surprised you were able to run and jump around in this condition. At some point, your projected senses fell out of a synch with your real ones.”

“Heh, I guess that’s where my experience as a former magician comes in. It’s common for your senses to get thrown off while using magic.”

“It is my understanding that you’ve been through some rather outrageous battles in the past...”

“But it’s not just on me. This new body is really well made.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It is a compliment. I’m really thankful to everyone.”

For her checkups, Nana went to see Clan in the laboratory of the Hazy Moon. She was well versed in a number of specialized technologies, making her the perfect choice for performing diagnostics and maintenance. And because of that, the two girls saw each other a lot and they’d gotten quite close over their frequent appointments together. The same was true for Harumi, who was often in the laboratory with them.

“It looks like there’s been a lot of strain on your ankle and elbow since the last battle too. The magic’s gotten a little weaker,” she said.

“That’s probably because of how I fight. I’m still trying to do the same things I used to even though I’m older now,” Nana replied.

“But you’re still really young, Nana-san.”

“Heh, yeah. I just mean that I’m past the age I should be acting like a magical girl.”

Harumi was born with a weak constitution and came to see Clan for her own checkups, but she intentionally scheduled them so she and Nana would be there at the same time. Since she could use magic, she could help inspect the parts of Nana’s body that were magical. It was killing two birds with one stone, but as a result, Harumi and Nana naturally grew closer too.

Normally the checkups were just Nana, Clan, and Harumi, but today they were joined by one more. It was Theia, arguably the healthiest looking girl out of all the Corona House crew.

“Nana, I took your guns apart and cleaned them. I replaced a few worn-out parts and switched the barrels for newer, higher-performance ones. I also modified the center of gravity a little. They should handle better now.”

“Thank you very much, Princess Theiamillis. I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to handling guns, and I’ve always been interested in magical weapons like this.”

While Theia wasn’t ordinarily there for Nana’s maintenance, she was in charge of maintenance for Nana’s weapons. Clan was capable of servicing standard weapons, but Theia was the only one who could handle weapons that had been specially customized. Being skilled at fighting, she had a much more in depth understanding of weaponry than anyone else.

“They definitely feel nicer in the hand. I see you adjusted the sights too.”

Nana smiled at Theia as she checked over her guns. Theia’s maintenance on them was superb, and she’d adjusted everything that had been bothering Nana about them. Theia stood out somewhat for her awkwardness in everyday life, but her skill with firearms was unparalleled.

“I hope they meet your expectations. There’s nothing I can do about spiritual energy or magic, however, so you’d do well to talk to Kiriha and Maki later too.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

Nana’s checkups along with regular maintenance on her artificial limbs and weapons were all important jobs that affected her general well-being. They were an indispensable part of making sure Nana could live her life like a normal girl. But it didn’t just benefit Nana. Clan, Harumi, and Theia all got a rewarding sense of satisfaction from their role in helping her.

When Nana became a magical girl, she was the youngest ever to do so. She was in a league of her own. It came with great prestige, but it was isolating. She had very few comrades-in-arms, and even fewer people she could call friends. Being appointed archwizard shortly thereafter thanks to her achievements didn’t help much either. She ended up working on most missions alone, narrowing her circle of acquaintances even further. The only people Nana truly felt close to were Kanae and Yurika.

“Looking at the results of Nana’s checkup and the analysis of her artificial limbs, there’s a slight problem,” Clan said with a stern face.

“What kind of problem?” Theia asked.

“We’ve gathered data to make Nana’s movements more natural, but there are still areas that are lacking. You see, there are certain parts of your body and ways you just don’t normally move.”

“I see... So you’re saying some of her movements in those areas are jerkier than the rest.”

“Everyone, the tea is ready.”

“Thank you, Harumi.”

“What do we have for snacks?”

“I brought the yokan that Satomi-kun hid in the back of the top shelf. Heehee.”

When Nana was with these girls, she recalled feelings she’d only rarely had a chance to experience before. She felt a sense of fellowship and belonging. She couldn’t help thinking that this is what it would be like to have a group of friends. Kanae was her ally and Yurika was her student, so this was really the first time Nana had gotten a chance to hang out with girls her age when it wasn’t out of some kind of necessity or obligation.

That said, I’ve got a few years on them... Maybe it’s a good thing I look as young as I do.

Nana smiled bitterly. She’d always been so focused on her work that she’d never really been bothered by her childish appearance. If anything, it was convenient. Looking as young as she did, people rarely ever suspected her when she was on a mission. But now it was helping her blend in in a different way, and she found herself grateful for how she looked.

“Won’t Satomi-san get angry?” Nana asked.

“It’s okay. I asked him if we could have them,” Harumi replied.

“...Of course he’d say yes to you, Harumi,” Clan said, shaking her head slightly.

“That’s just like her,” Theia said with a smirk.

Nana and the three girls all laughed. Sitting together, having tea and laughing with each other, they really did look like friends of the same age. It was special to Nana, and she wished they could always be like this.

“Actually, there’s one more problem,” Clan said after a while.

“What now? You look so serious,” Theia said, somewhat concerned.

“Is it serious?” Harumi asked.

Theia and Harumi both looked worriedly at Clan. In response, she nodded and began explaining.

“It’s about what to do about the size of Nana’s bust, hips, and waist.”

Nana’s artificial limbs had been made to fit her injured body, but she lost a lot of weight while she was injured. Ultimately, Nana was much more petite now than she would have been if she’d never been injured in the first place, and it showed in her figure. Clan and the others were hesitant to make any adjustments to her body while they were still gathering data on her movements and how her nerves worked, but now that they had some data to go off of, that wasn’t an issue anymore. That’s why Clan believed that now was the time to strike.

“That is a serious problem,” Theia said with a nod.

“It’s something we can’t overlook as women,” Harumi agreed.

Theia and Harumi were right on board with Clan. As girls, they really felt for Nana on this one. They all wanted to help Nana be as cute as possible.

“So, Nana... what kind of requests do you have for your appearance? Do you want us to go based on the picture that Yurika has? Or perhaps take into account some growth after that?” Clan asked.

“Um...”

Nana furrowed her still youthful brow and started thinking. Should she recover her former appearance, try to envision what she would likely look like now if it weren’t for her injuries, or perhaps even go with something closer to her ideal self? As things were now, her figure didn’t even have the dimension it did when she was training Yurika years ago. It wouldn’t change all that much, but just emphasizing her bust and waist some would be closer to the way she originally looked. Realistically, that would be the best middle ground.

“I think I want to stay like this for a little longer.”

But Nana decided on something completely different. She didn’t want to change her appearance at all, which surprised Harumi and the others.

“Are you sure?!”

“Don’t you want to go back to what you used to look like?!”

“You don’t have to be modest about it or us helping! It’s a trifling matter after everything you’ve done for us!”

To the three of them, helping Nana get back to the way things used to be was their number one priority. They had done everything they could so that she could be a completely normal girl again, so they were shocked at her saying she wanted to stay the way she was.

“I look more childish this way, right? Honestly, I didn’t have much of a childhood, so... I thought maybe I could try reliving my childhood like this.”

Nana’s intentions were clear. She was forced to grow up at a very young age because of her talents and her work, so she was denied the normal kind of childhood most people had. That’s why she wanted to keep the youthful appearance she had now. If she suddenly matured, she felt like she’d be missing an opportunity.

“I see... In that case, I agree.”

“Reliving your childhood, huh? If we need someone childish, maybe we should consult Koutarou...”

“Veltlion isn’t childish. He is a child.”

Nana could return to looking like an adult whenever she wanted, so she wanted to make the best of her current appearance for the time being. And that was enough of a reason to convince the other girls.

“Thank you, everyone,” said Nana. “I’ll be counting on you when I am ready to change how I look.”

Nana actually had one more reason for wanting to stay the way she was. And that was because it was keeping her close to the three girls before her now. In other words, Nana wanted to keep her relationship with them the way it was.

“All right, then what we really need now is to supplement the data we have,” said Clan.

“There’s no doubt that being able to move more naturally will help, regardless of how you look,” added Theia.

“What does Nana-san have to do, exactly?” asked Harumi.

“You can think of it as rehabilitation after a fracture. All she has to do is move the parts of her body she hasn’t been able to well, and by repeating those motions, her body will learn to do them better. Technically speaking, the system will be collecting data on the signals her nerves are sending and incorporating it into its database,” explained Clan.

Nana giggled a little to herself. The girls would become adults one day too. When that happened, all she had to do was match them. They were her first friends since Yurika and Kanae, and Nana wished to stay good friends with them in the future too. Just like they were now.

Nana’s artificial limbs took cues from her aura and her nerves, then processed those signals and interpreted them into movements. As such, the more a motion was repeated, the more natural it became. It was just like how babies learn to move.

But it wasn’t perfect. There was scarce data on less common motions, and that lack of data made them jerky and awkward. As it was only an issue with less commonly performed motions, it didn’t come up all that often. But when it did, it made both Nana and anyone else who saw it uncomfortable. It simply felt and looked unnatural. So Nana’s new goal was to supplement the database to normalize all her motions and keep that from happening.

It really would have been an easy problem to overlook, but to Harumi, Theia, and Clan who wanted Nana to be a completely normal girl despite her handicap, it was extremely important. They wanted to help her with everything they could, this included.

“Okay, now try holding the knitting needles like this.”

“Um... Like this?”

“That’s right. You’re doing great.”

“Heh, all I’m doing is holding them.”

Nana’s first step in her rehabilitation, for lack of a better term, was precise tasks with her hands. Helping her out now was Harumi, whose plan it was to teach Nana how to knit in order to get her to use her fingers in ways she normally didn’t.

“Theiamillis-san, you’re holding your fingers the wrong way.”

“So what? Like this, then?”

Nana wasn’t the only one participating in Harumi’s knitting lessons, however. Theia and Clan were also present. But they weren’t just tagging along for the ride. Both of them had been interested in knitting for some time. And so the four of them were in the middle of small knitting party as they sat around the tea table in room 106.

“Hmm, it still kind of looks off to me.”

“You’re doing the same thing, Clan.”

“That’s strange... Maybe I’m doing it wrong too?”

However, Theia was bad at working with her hands if it didn’t involve guns, and Clan had always scorned creative tasks for science and research. They were both off to a rough start.

“Look, Nana-san. Those two over there are struggling just with holding the knitting needles.”

“Heh, I guess I do have a slight lead.”

“Keep up the good work. Let’s go ahead and try the next step while we wait for them.”

“Sure.”

To Harumi, Nana was an excellent student. She absorbed everything that Harumi taught her like a sponge. It seemed like she’d have the hang of it before long. She already understood the basics and she was quick and precise with her handiwork. Even with her lack of experience and the lack of data she had on these kinds of motions, she was doing extremely well.

I’m glad Satomi-kun wasn’t like this...

As Harumi watched Nana pick up technique after technique, she couldn’t help thinking about her first student: Koutarou. While he was rather decent at knitting now, it had taken him a long time to get there. He was terrible when he first started out. Unlike Nana, he was clumsy and slow to learn. But that was actually what made it so rewarding to teach him. And in the time that had taken, Harumi had been able to get much closer with him. In the end, she was happy he wasn’t good at it.

How strange... I guess this is what happens when you’re good at everything...

Harumi then realized what was actually working against Nana. Harumi had only gotten to spend so much time with Koutarou because he was clumsy and slow. They’d grown closer over his learning experience, but if Nana was good at everything she tried, she would never be able to experience that with anyone. Her relationship with Yurika made that much more sense when she thought about it. Yurika was the one that was clumsy and slow and would have desperately needed Nana’s help.

In that case, I should be more...

And so Harumi began rethinking how to interact with Nana. Just because Nana picked up on knitting right away didn’t mean she wanted to be given special treatment. It was something Harumi never would have considered in the past, and her realizing it now was proof she had matured too.

“You’re doing great, Nana-san.”

“Thank you.”

“So let’s try practicing it a different way.”

“Ah... okay.”

Harumi moved behind Nana and wrapped her arms around her as if she was hugging her. As Nana was smaller than the delicate Harumi, she fit perfectly in her arms. Harumi then showed her how to move her hands with her own, just as she had done with Koutarou.

I... remember Kanae-san doing this for me...

While staring at Harumi’s hands, Nana recalled distant memories from over ten years ago. Kanae, who was Nana’s ally, had treated her like her own daughter. She’d gotten more hugs from her than she could ever count, and she could clearly remember that warm sensation even now. Harumi was probably just trying to teach her how to knit, but with her arms around her, she couldn’t help thinking about it. It was a strange way to feel for someone younger than her, but Nana felt at ease in Harumi’s embrace.

Learning to knit was an excellent exercise, but it was an incredibly repetitive task. Since it largely used the same groups of nerves over and over, once Nana got the hang of it, the group decided to take a break for lunch before switching to another exercise for the time being. Not overdoing it on any one thing was also an important part of rehabilitation.

Theia, Clan, and Nana were still sitting at the table while Harumi was in the kitchen making food for them all. Out of the four girls, Harumi was the only one who could cook.

“It’s a good thing Harumi was here,” Theia said with a laugh as she looked over towards the kitchen.

Theia personally had no culinary skills. At best, she might be able to follow a recipe and make something edible.

“I’m glad she’s here too. I didn’t want to have to break into Yurika’s hoard of instant noodles.”

Clan nodded her head in agreement. She was even worse off than Theia in terms of cooking skills. She was more likely to make a bomb in the kitchen than food. And ever since the catastrophe at the cook-off, she didn’t even want to stand in the kitchen.

“So Yurika-chan is still crazy for instant noodles, huh?”

Nana was in a slightly different position. Being blessed with so many talents, she could of course make a decent meal as long as she had the ingredients. But being as efficient as she was, she really only made simple dishes. Her cooking lacked soul.

“Supposedly she always stocks up on them out of instinct. Something about being poor...”

“Is she planning on always having Veltlion care for her? Just what is she thinking...?”

Whunk!

“Wait, she buys them by the box?”

And so for their own reasons, none of the three girls could be considered good cooks. As such, lunch was naturally entrusted to Harumi.

“Well... I guess we can’t really make too much fun of Yurika.”

“None of us can cook either...”

Both Theia and Clan sounded a little dispirited as their gazes shifted towards Harumi working away in the kitchen. They could see her from where they were sitting, and it was quite clear she was in her element.

“Now that you mention it, Harumi-san is good at a lot of things, isn’t she?”

Nana also turned to look towards the kitchen. She wasn’t really surprised that Harumi had a talent for cooking. While her repertoire wasn’t as extensive as Kiriha’s or Ruth’s due to her lack of experience, she had a thoughtful touch when it came to cooking and always ended up making splendid dishes. The girls were no doubt in for a delicious lunch.

“Yes, Harumi might not be good at physically intense tasks because of her weak constitution, but she can do everything else well.”

“Compared to us three, I feel like Harumi-san’s got us beat when it comes to everyday skills like this.”

“...Well, we can’t discount the possibility that we’re just bad at things.”

When it came to special skills, Harumi wasn’t the best at anything. Not intelligence, magic, housework, or fighting. There was nothing extraordinary about her in that sense, but she was an amazing person overall. Out of everyone, Harumi would be the best person to go to if someone needed help with multiple problems.

“No... let’s not look away from the truth,” Theia said solemnly.

“I’m not looking away,” Clan said almost indignantly.

“No, you definitely are,” Theia replied.

“Princess Theiamillis, what do you mean?” Nana asked.

“We’re not inferior to Harumi as people... We’re inferior to her as women,” Theia answered.

While it was something hard to admit, nothing would come from denying it. Theia, Clan, and Nana weren’t lacking anything as people. They were lacking as women. It was an unexpectedly clear danger that had been lurking in the shadows all along. They were no match for Harumi.

Having finished lunch, the four girls continued with Nana’s rehabilitation as planned. The afternoon schedule was primarily focused around exercise. Theia was in charge this time around. When it came to being active, she was in a league of her own.

“Can you reach out with your left hand and touch your right toes?”

“I think I can.”

“When you do that, you use muscles in your side that you don’t ordinarily. So try doing the same with your right hand too.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

They started off easy with sitting stretches that were close to warm-up exercises. Their goal was to get Nana to move in specific ways to put her nerves to work and let her artificial limbs collect data on them, so simple, purposeful stretches were a good start.

“Good. You try it too, Clan,” instructed Theia.

“Owowowow!” Clan yelped.

Nana could do what Theia asked without trouble, but that wasn’t the case for out-of-shape Clan. Because of that, Theia took it upon herself to personally assist her. She was currently pushing on her back to try and help her reach her toes.

“Come on! You can do it!”

“No— Ow! I said I can’t! Ow! I can’t reach!”

Clan spent most of her days locked away in her lab, and her physical fitness reflected that. She was as stiff as a board. Theia was only lightly pushing on her compared to what she could do, but Clan was still nearly screaming. And she’d barely reached past her knees at that.

“Pathetic. This is what you get for staying cooped up all the time.”

“At least I know how to use my head outside of a fight, Theiamillis-san.”

“I can see where you’re going with that, and I don’t like it... Why don’t we at least agree not to poke at each other’s weak points?”

“Fine. We have a deal.”

There’d be no end to it if they were nagging each other over their flaws, so they quickly agreed to stop quarrelling and get back to exercising. In the past, this would have escalated into a fierce argument, but both of them had matured enough to recognize that nothing would come from that. But there was one more reason why Theia and Clan wanted to avoid fighting, and that was Harumi.

“Hmph! Hmm! Mmmmm!”

Harumi was stretching as best she could after watching Nana do it. But as a sickly, inactive girl, she was about as stiff as Clan. So try as she might to copy Nana, it just wasn’t working.

“What if I try it this way? Maybe then I’ll get a little further...”

But in spite of everything else, Harumi had good instincts. Even though she wasn’t the slightest bit athletic, she made up for what she lacked with ingenuity and determination. When she bumped into problems, she tackled them in her own way or found clever ways around them. She was taking baby steps, but she was moving forward and improving at her own pace.

“Hmm, mmm! Owowow... Okay, j-just a little more... Hmm!”

But what Theia and Clan were paying attention to wasn’t Harumi’s stretching so much as it was Harumi herself. Even now, she was radiating girlishness.

“...Why is that so cute?”

“She’s not doing anything special... so what sets her apart from us?”

Harumi was only exercising as Theia had asked her to, but she looked so cute and girly doing it. Even though Clan and Theia were doing the exact same stretches, they didn’t give off that kind of impression. It was a complete mystery to the two of them.

“That’s what we’ll have to figure out, or else we’ll never get past this.”

As it turned out, Theia and Clan weren’t the only ones paying attention to Harumi. Nana was right on the same page with them. And so before they realized it, all three girls had stopped their own exercises to watch Harumi’s mysteriously cute stretching.

“...Oh? What’s the matter, everyone?”

After a while, Harumi realized that everyone was staring at her. When she did, she stopped stretching and looked up at the three of them with a confused expression.

“Ah, it’s n-nothing! We were just admiring how well you’re doing!”

“Y-Y-Yeah! I-I’m no good at this, so I was just watching how you’re doing it!”

“Don’t pay me any mind. I was just taking a breather myself.”

The three girls hurriedly tried to cover up what they’d really been doing and very awkwardly returned to their own exercises.

“Huh... In that case...”

Harumi couldn’t help but find it strange, but before long, she returned to exercising in the same adorable fashion she had been before.

Theia, Clan, and Nana wanted to understand the source of Harumi’s charming girlishness. They knew they’d be in trouble as women if they couldn’t figure it out. But the more they stared at her, the more self-conscious and confused Harumi became, which compromised her girly aura. So putting their heads together, the three girls decided that they’d have to observe Harumi without her noticing. Fortunately, spying was Clan’s specialty.

“Harumi, for starters, take a stance.”

“Um... Like this?”

“Hmm, they often hold guns low like that in spy movies and things, but in reality it’s not very practical.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Even with an opponent right in front of you, you wouldn’t really be able to aim well like that. Can you imagine where you’d hit if you fired right now?”

“Now that you mention it, it is pointed straight in front of me, but it’s hard to tell exactly where I’m aiming.”

“You’re not using the sight either, so you can kind of tell that’s not how it was meant to be held.”

“Then how should I do it?”

“Hold it level in front of your face so those markers on the front and the back line up. That’s the first step to taking aim at what’s in front of you.”

“Like this?”

“That’s right. Next you need to make sure you’re holding it with both hands to ensure accuracy and reduce the effect of the recoil.”

“I think I’ve seen this kind of pose in movies too. So there’s a reason behind it all, huh?”

“That’s right. All right, now try shooting it.”

“But... if I shoot, a bullet will come out, won’t it?”

“Don’t worry. It’s a training gun, so it just fires paint capsules. Besides, if you don’t try one for yourself, you’ll never really understand how they work. You want to be able to jam guns with magic in battle, don’t you?”

“Th-That’s right. O-Okay... I’ll give it a try”

“There’s no need to be scared. Just hold it firm in both hands and you’ll be able to handle the recoil.”

“O-Okay... I’m firing!”

Bang!

“W-W-Waaah! A bullet came out?!”

“Wow, even when she’s shooting a gun, she’s strangely cute... This is going to take forever.”

“Clan-san, can you weaken PAF’s assistance a little?”

“I can, but why?”

“Actually, when I tried to do pushups on my own, I couldn’t move after two or three of them... Aha... hahaha...”

“Well, there’s no point in training without being able to repeat the motions. That said, with PAF’s standard assistance, it’s not much of an exercise either... All right, hang on. I’ll adjust the output some.”

“Thank you very much!”

“Let’s see here...”

Beep, beep! Ka-clack!

“If I include a control that allows for adjustments... Hmm... Something like this, perhaps?”

Beep, beep, beep.

“Harumi, I added a slider that lets you control the strength of PAF’s assistance.”

“What, already?”

“Yes. I only added a new line of code... Anyway, the strongest level is the same as always, but you can work your way down from there until you find something comfortable. You can move it back and forth freely to control the output from the machine.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll give it a try right away.”

“Just don’t overdo it.”

“Right. I think I’ll try starting at half strength.”

Beep.

“All right, let’s get to it... Doooh! Gosh darn it...”

“...‘Gosh darn it’?”

“Oooooh, darn it! Hmph! Hnnngh!”

“...It looks like we need a cuteness slider too...”

“Nana, is that your own fighting style?”

“Yes. I learned combat basics in training, but we’re magicians, so we’re not properly taught martial arts.”

“So you polished the rest in battle?”

“If you want to put not receiving any real training as positively as possible, you could say that.”

“I see, so that’s why there’s no consistency in your movements.”

“You can tell?”

“Yes. Each martial arts style has a philosophy behind it and a logic to it, so it can be predicted to a certain degree. Certain moves lead into others, or a particular move might have a particular follow-up. Things like that. But predictions like that don’t work against you.”

“I often copied things my opponents did, so my fighting is really a patchwork of different styles.”

“Indeed, it certainly feels that way. Heh, it’s fascinating. Would you spar with me a little longer?”

“Yes, gladly.”

Wham! Pow! Krrrsh!

“Wow... Those two are amazing...”

“They’re on a completely different level. I’m starting to think I’ll never be able to catch up...”

“What are you talking about? Even if you can’t fight like they can, you have your amazing inventions, Clan-san.”

“Harumi...”

“And in that regard, compared to the three of you, I’m nothing but a normal girl... After meeting all of you, I’ve realized there are certain walls that can’t be overcome.”

“If you ask us, you’re even more amazing just as a normal girl...”

“What? Did you just say something?”

“I said you’re right. Not being able to do martial arts isn’t really a big deal.”

“That’s more like it, Clan-san!”

“...The real problem is trying to catch up with you...”

Clan continued to record Harumi for quite a while, and upon analyzing the footage with Theia and Nana, the three girls reached a certain conclusion. They realized they weren’t going to get anywhere just by watching Harumi.

After that, the girls continued to meet up for Nana’s checkups and rehabilitation. Harumi, Theia, and Clan all worked together to try and help her. But there was a second, secret reason for their meetings. Nana, Theia, and Clan were still pursuing their investigation into Harumi.

“We’re not going to get anywhere at this rate.”

“The problem is obvious.”

“The question is how to fix it.”

While Harumi was being analyzed by a medical device as part of her own checkup, Clan, Theia, and Nana formed a circle to talk. All three of them had very serious expressions on their faces.

“That said... I can’t think of a way to solve it.”

“It’s not exactly a conventional problem.”

“There aren’t many people we can ask for help, either.”

After observing Harumi all this time, they realized exactly how inferior to her they were in terms of girlishness. Worse than that, they realized they had no idea how to fix it. And even worse still, they realized that if they couldn’t fix it, they’d be stuck like this forever.

As Nana was already a Rainbow Heart archwizard by the time she reached puberty, she grew up never having the chance to be girly or play around with things like fashion. She’d gone straight from being a child to an adult without ever learning how to be feminine.

Theia was in a similar situation. While she had grown up around many people, her situation forced her to be untrusting from a young age. She subsequently never had many friends, much less anyone to teach her things like how to be cute. That was a little different now, but it had only been a year and a half since she’d come to Earth.

Clan was on a completely different level. Her case was much more severe than Nana’s or Theia’s. Not only was she bad at handling people, but she’d practically grown up in a laboratory. She intentionally kept herself locked up away from other people, so she had to learn basic social skills before she could even be worried about her girlishness. Fortunately, however, thanks to her time with the others, she’d finally come around to that stage.

“In that case, why don’t we just... you know...”

“Would doing that really be okay?”

“We want this, don’t we? We’ve been working for it in secret all this time. We’ve basically done all the footwork already.”

“I agree. Based on how things are between us, I think it’d be easy to just ask.”

“I suppose you’re right. I would feel better just to ask and get it off my chest.”

“All right, then it’s decided!”

If the three of them waited to mature naturally on their own, it would be a waste of time. So the three of them agreed to take action together. They were willing to do anything, even if it meant embarrassing themselves. The time for a bold move had come.

When Harumi got out of the medical scan, she was met with the sight of Theia, Clan, and Nana approaching her. They all looked unusually serious. Noticing that, Harumi began feeling a little anxious. She naturally assumed that the results of the scan were bad news.

“Um... How do the results look?” she asked fearfully.

Theia, Clan, and Nana all had such stiff looks on their faces that Harumi couldn’t help worrying. Because of that, her voice was oddly hoarse.

“There aren’t any problems in particular,” Clan answered.

“It sure doesn’t feel that way...”

Clan had denied it, but Harumi wasn’t convinced right away. There was a disconnect between what Clan was saying and the look on her face.

“Really, there’s nothing wrong,” Theia reassured her. “If anything, the problem is on our side.”

“On your side?”

Theia made it sound like something was wrong, just not with Harumi. And that brought about its own set of worries for her. That meant something must have happened to Theia or one of the others. Feeling the sense of dread building inside her, she timidly asked for an explanation.

“What do you mean?”

“The thing is, Harumi-san... the three of us have a common problem.”

It was Nana that spoke up in response to Harumi. As the oldest one present, she was going to take the initiative and explain things to her.

“And as girls, it’s a very important problem.”

“An important... problem...?”

Nana looked and sounded so serious that Harumi didn’t know what to think.

“In regards to that, there’s something we’d like to ask you.”

“I don’t mind.”

Harumi couldn’t imagine turning them down for anything, so she readily nodded her head in agreement. As she did, Nana finally looked a little relieved.

“We want you to help us with our rehabilitation.”

“What kind of rehabilitation?”

“Girlishness.”

“What?”

“Our rehabilitation to become more feminine.”

“Whaaat?!”

Nana’s request was such a bolt out of the blue that the normally calm and quiet Harumi nearly shouted in response.

“But you’re all the very image of wonderful girls!”

“That’s the problem. We’re not, um... talking about our looks...”

Even the normally dignified Nana was starting to crack from the embarrassment of having to say all this. She fidgeted uncomfortably, twiddled her fingers, and looked up at Harumi, cheeks flushed. As the oldest girl present, it was especially humiliating to have to admit that she needed help being feminine. But Theia and Clan were feeling something very similar. They were both blushing too.

“That’s why we need you... to teach us... your secret to being to girly...”

“Me?”

Despite Nana having explained things, Harumi was still puzzled. She understood what Nana was asking, but she had no idea why she was asking her.

“I’m not very confident I can teach you anything.”

“We just want to hang out with you and have you show us how you normally do things. And what to avoid doing. Other than that, it’ll just be the same as any other rehabilitation!”

“She’s right! It’ll be totally normal otherwise!”

“And we won’t be much trouble! But we need your help!”

Even if Harumi said there wasn’t anything she could do for them, they were desperate for help. Nothing would ever change if they didn’t take the initiative on this. They knew exactly what the problem was, so they wanted to do something about it even if it wasn’t much.

“But wouldn’t it be better to ask Kiriha-san about something like that?”

Kiriha had been the one to help Harumi learn how to act like a bad girl, so surely she would be able to come up with a way to help Nana, Clan, and Theia be more girly.

“But it’s your help we want! Please!”

From their point of view, Harumi’s girlishness was on a completely different level even from Kiriha’s. Kiriha was so mature that she came off more as womanly than girly, and that wasn’t quite what they were after.

“Um...”

And so Harumi began to think it over. Though she wasn’t confident that there was anything she could really teach them, she could tell that they were serious in asking her for help. She couldn’t just casually turn them down. After pondering it for a while, Harumi decided to agree to help with their rehabilitation under a certain condition.

“...All right, I accept.”

“Really?!”

“Excellent, Harumi!”

“You’re a lifesaver!!”

“But I have a condition.”

“Anything you ask.”

Nana nodded her head without even asking what the condition was. She was so eager to learn Harumi’s secrets that she never even considered turning her condition down, whatever it might be. Theia and Clan felt the same way.

“In exchange for teaching you to be girly, I want each of you to teach me something too.”

“And what’s that?”

“From Nana-san, I want to learn how to fight in a dignified fashion.”

Harumi actually had similar worries of her own. She was concerned that a normal girl was all she’d ever be. Harumi did try her best in fights, but she didn’t have the combat smarts Nana did. Battle was always a harrowing experience for her and she didn’t have much confidence in her skills. She constantly felt like she wouldn’t be of any help to the others as she was now.

“From Theiamillis-san, I want to learn how to be more aggressive in relationships.”

Harumi wanted to learn how to be more assertive. As Harumi was naturally mild and docile, she tended to be very passive. And whether it was in sports, battle, or even just in everyday interactions, that tended to put her at a disadvantage. That’s why Harumi had always wanted to be able to assert herself with people the way Theia did.

“And from Clan-san, I want to learn how to get teased by Satomi-kun.”

What Harumi wanted to learn from Clan had much less application than the first two things, but she had always been envious of Clan. Clan had a special talent for ending up on the receiving end of Koutarou’s mischief without so much as trying. And since Koutarou rarely ever treated her that way, she wanted to learn the secret behind it if there was one.

“My fighting secrets? I’ve never really thought about that...”

“That man is just toying with me! He doesn’t jerk you around because he respects you!”

“Calm down, Clan. We want to learn something from her too, so it’s a fair trade.”

“I know that. Jeez...”

Though emotions ran high in certain cases, all three girls agreed to Harumi’s request. It was only fair that she be compensated for helping them out.

“Harumi-san, we accept your condition.”

“All right. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

Harumi wrapped up their negotiations with a smile. She had been hesitant at first, but she now realized that they were really just going to be having fun together. Girlishness, smarts, relationship skills, and how to be teased were ultimately all things they could learn from each other just by talking over tea.

“I just hope we really can become more girlish.”

“Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”

“I’m envious of that positivity of yours. Jeez...”

Nana and the others eventually realized that for themselves. It wasn’t long before they found themselves all smiling and chatting away together, and that was exactly what the four of them needed.

“Then let’s start right away. What’s the best way to deal with Veltlion sleeping with his stomach exposed?” Clan asked.

“I haven’t encountered that yet... What would you do, Theia-san?” Nana asked in turn.

“In that situation... I’d give him a diving body press. What about you, Harumi?”

“A diving what?! Ah, u-um, I would put a blanket over him.”

After preparing tea and snacks, the four girls simply spent some time carrying on with each other. It wasn’t something Nana had a whole lot of experience with, and she found it both refreshing and meaningful.

If I had been a normal girl, going to school like normal and making friends like normal... maybe it would have been like this...

At long last, Nana finally realized what kind of a rehabilitation she truly needed. She honestly wasn’t too concerned about her girlishness. What she really wanted was just to spend time with friends like this.

“But wouldn’t Veltlion just fuss at you later?”

“Fuss? For what? He’s only ever said thank you to me for things like that...”

“That’s the Harumi effect for you...”

“I think the relationship each of you has built up with him is important.”

“But Veltlion is only ever kind to Harumi!”

“I really am envious of you, Clan-san...”

“There’s nothing to be envious of!”

But in the end, Nana decided to keep the truth to herself. She was worried saying anything about it might break the spell. These were the first friends Nana had made since Yurika, and she wanted their friendship to stay this way for as long as possible.