Chapter 2 — Expand, my world! ? Episode 2-5 ? Preparation ②

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

According to Extend-san, the Magical Girls who launched the attack were all Phase 2 Magical Girls. Even if I can hold off Simeracres-san, who is also a Witch, she isn’t an opponent that Elephant-san, a Phase 1 Magical Girl, and her team can win against in a head-to-head battle.

That’s why, there would be a special training.

「Magical Girls can use their powers to some extent as they wish without practice. You guys have been able to use magic since your first transformation, right? That’s why we disregard daily effort and training. Actual combat is certainly important for gaining experience, but repetitive practice is essential if you want to train your skills.」

Given the fact that Elephant-san and the others were very tired because of the attack, we decided only on a policy yesterday and disbanded once. And today, one night later, the Magical Girls of Sakira Town and Junkoi Town, with the exception of Knuckle-san, are all gathered in the waiting area of the training room for Witches that exists at the lowest level of the underground training center of the Magic Bureau. Knuckle-san said she has something to look into on this case, so she’s working separately.

This training center for Witches is one of my privileges, and Non-Witch companions are allowed to use it as long as they are accompanied by a Witch and within the limits of common sense. This time, there are two Witches, myself and Extend-san, so the total number of people is six, but in reality, there are two groups of two and four, each using their own space, so there is no problem.

「In my view here, you guys have enough experience. However, they have not been able to sublimate their accumulated experience into techniques and movements. Normally, you’d be busy with schoolwork or taking down a Diest, but this time you’ll have the luxury of not having to worry about either of those things.」

Elephant-san and her team are out of school for the summer, and Dryad-san and others are handling the taking down of the Diests that have been a frequent occurrence since Sakira Town became a hunting ground.

In other words, Extend-san’s good idea was to force Dryad-san and company to take down the Diests and train ourselves thoroughly. We’re going to use the full summer vacation period to train hard for a month and overthrow the trio. It is certainly not a bad idea.

「First, let’s have each of you fight a virtual Diest to get an accurate picture of your abilities.」

Following Extend-san’s words, Elephant and her team began to fight the virtual Diests shaped by magic in a small Deception World that unfolded in the training center.

The current strength of Elephant-san and her team is about 50-50 in a one-on-one fight with the Baron-class, respectively. In terms of winning percentage, Blade-san, Elephant-san, and Press-san are the highest in that order. I knew that Blade-san, who usually trains in between sessions, has a noticeable difference in her movements when she goes solo.

Extend-san and Samurai Peach-san are exchanging opinions as they observe how each of the Elephant-san’s group were fighting. It sounds like they’re talking about effective magic and how to get around, but I honestly don’t know what they’re talking about. The Magical Girl who can use magic without practice is exactly the kind of magical girl I am, and I have never fought a battle while thinking about fine techniques and movements.

However, I have some doubts when I see how Elephant-san and her team fight, though not from such a technical point of view.

「Dryad-san is as good as Samurai Peach-san and Knuckle-san, right? Even if Elephant-san and the others open the second gate with this training, will they suddenly become strong enough to compete?」

Just as they were taking a break from their conversation, I questioned Extend-san, who is in charge of this training.

Not all Magical Girls can reach Phase 2. Only about 30% of all Magical Girls are able to open the second gate and obtain their exclusive weapon. Of course, there is no certainty that Elephant-san and her team will be able to reach Phase 2.

Besides, even the Phase 2 Magical Girls ranges from very good to very bad in terms of ability. Some Magical Girls are strong enough to cross paths with the Marquis-class, if not to defeat and beat the Earl-class Diest on their own, while others are about even with their Vikant-class counterparts.

I do not mean to belittle the abilities of Elephant-san and her team, but the reality is not so sweet. Not everything is always as it seems or as planned.

「In terms of strength against Diests, it would be hard to catch up after a month of training at the most. Basically, the measure of a Magical Girl’s strength is her strength against Diest, so if you ask if they can be as strong as the Dyrad and others, it would be difficult.」

「I don’t like to talk about it in a roundabout way. What do you mean by that?」

「I apologize then. What I’m saying is that, they may not be as strong as Dyrad and her company, but that doesn’t mean they can’t beat the trio. Magic is more than powerful enough to strike down a single person.」

In the end, we’re going around and around again, but I guess the bottom line is that there is a difference between strength versus a Diest, and strength versus a person.

Indeed, when I think about it, I have been beaten up before by a Baron-class that uses hypnotic magic. That’s because I was put to sleep and couldn’t use magic, but conversely, even Witches can take enormous damage from Baron-class as long as the attack goes through. No matter how powerful the tools are, humans are still fragile.

It is similar to the history of the development of weapons. Although there has been a remarkable evolution in offensive tools, such as destructive and deadly force, mankind’s weakness to be hit has not changed much since the beginning of time.

「That means we have a chance to win.」

「It’s just like I said yesterday. There are plenty of ways to take back territory in a more rational way, but that’s not going to do it, is it?」

Yesterday, when we were about to decide on a future course of action and disband once and for all, Extend-san called me over and said she wanted to talk to me without letting Elephant-san and the others know. I decided to listen to her honestly because it was a matter of the future of Elephant-san and others and because I owed her a debt of gratitude for protecting them while I was away.

The content was quite simple: advice not to get ahead of ourselves. She noticed that I was on the verge of killing them after hearing about Elephant-san’s attack yesterday.

My magic is a magic that shows its true value in a one-to-many situation, suited for wide-area destruction. If I really wanted to get back at them, I could probably force other Magical Girls into combat while I had a hand in dealing with Simeracres-san.

Furthermore, Simeracres-san is a Witch for hire and should be gone after her contract period. I don’t know how much they are paying to hire Simeracres-san, but I don’t think they can keep the best mercenaries on their payroll for that long. Extend-san’s estimate is that it will be until the end of summer vacation at the most, and two weeks at the shortest.

If we want to fight off the attackers more reliably, we can wait until Simeracres-san is gone and then we can all fight, including me. That way there is little chance of losing.

However, that doesn’t make Elephant-san and her team feel any better. It’s not right that the town we have been protecting should be taken away from us by other Magical Girls, and when we get it back, it should be done with the help of Witches and without even knowing if they are needed or not. That’s why Extend-san is trying to train Elephant-san and others to take it back with their own hands.

I really wanted to hurt them until they were torn to pieces by my hands and make them regret having laid a hand on Elephant-san, but if Elephant-san wants to settle the matter with her own hands, I can’t do anything selfish. I don’t want to betray Elephant-san’s feelings for the sake of self-satisfaction.

This battle is meant to be won by Elephant-san and her team against Dryad-san.

「But if it becomes dangerous, we will intervene. I respect the wishes of Elephant-san and her team as much as I can, but I don’t want to see them suffer a terrible fate.」

「And that there is no need to be reserved then. We shouldn’t poke Rigor Witch-dono’s nest too much.」

「I don’t mean to underestimate her. We’re all Witches.」

I have watched several of Simeracres-san’s videos since I got home yesterday. I was able to find as much information as I could with just a little searching, as she was putting a lot of effort into advertising.

There are a number of videos of her easily defeating high-ranking Diests, and her strength makes me think that she’s indeed a Witch. This is an opponent that I cannot be assured of a sure victory in a fight. If she attacks me if I try to intervene, I will have to fight her with all my might.

「As I said before, strength versus Diest and strength versus Person are two different things. Rigor Witch-dono belongs to the lower ranks as a Witch, but she is one of the best in terms of interpersonal skills. I haven’t seen the power of Wind Witch-dono directly, so I cannot make an accurate assessment, but it is difficult for a newly minted Witch to defeat a Witch of great strength. Even I have a bad case here.」

「..I see.」

I don’t know much about Extend-san’s strength, but if Extend-san, who seems very confident, says so, I think Simeracres-san is very strong.

But even so, I have no intention of pulling out. I am mad about this incident myself, as well as for the sake of Elephant-san and the others. Simeracres-san is just doing her job for hire, so it may be wrong to direct my anger at her, but I still can’t forgive what I can’t forgive. I’m not going to force to fight her if it’s unnecessary to protect Elephant-san, but if she gets in my way, I won’t condone it.

「If so, I’ll do my best to blow it out of the water. If I don’t, I won’t feel better.」

「Kukuh, that’s a good attitude to have. That’s what makes us a Witch. Well, then, Wind Witch-dono, we’re in training.」

「Ehh, do I have to do it?」

「I’m wondering if Wind Witch-dono has ever had any experience practicing or training in magic?」

「..I don’t.」

「Then it’s decided. I will be your partner. An ordinary Diest can’t handle a Witch.」

That is what happened.

I somewhat didn’t expect this..

However, I don’t like the idea of being defeated by something that I have made a big show of, so I’m going to be honest and borrow from Extend-san’s mind here.