Chapter 11
After both rookies finished explaining themselves, they wrapped up their preparations without delay and headed up to the prepared arena.
At first glance, it didn't look like anything special, but if most magical girls knew how many barriers had been laid over this place alone, they'd probably be astonished that such a thing was even possible.
Of course, I wasn't part of that majority.
All I could think was that they'd wasted a ridiculous amount of power on something so pointless.
With about four magical girls who were reasonably proficient with their abilities and specialized in deploying barriers, barriers like these could be made without much trouble.
I could also see about three magical girls maintaining the barriers somewhere during the program and standing by to intervene in case of an unforeseen accident.
They had all probably been active as magical girls for at least four or five years, but seeing them waste so much power and time just to show a bunch of rookies who had debuted only a year ago fighting made me sigh.
But since I myself had come here for money, I had no room to complain.
Money's the bane of my existence. What else could be?
After all, the program itself wasn't meant to make money. It was funded lavishly by some rich person for the purpose of boosting the morale and motivation of junior magical girls, so there was nothing particularly strange about it.
'Now that I think about it, that's why they brought me here too.'
According to the contract I'd received, my role was that of an MC. And, although it was unlikely to happen, I was also supposed to lend a hand if some unexpected situation arose.
In other words, I was supposed to step in if the rookies got too heated while fighting.
That was why I thought they'd brought me in as a famous name for the finals. Most well-known magical girls were expensive and busy, so they must have decided to make use of a high-ranking magical girl whose fee was cheap.
"Senior Alice!!!! I'm!! Going to do my best!!!!!"
...The one down there sparkling her eyes at me... What was her name again? Black something-or-other... Anyway, the one in black seemed to be a genuine Alice fan.
Her fee was cheap, too. Since a rookie who had made it to the finals was a fan, I figured maybe they'd invited me as a one-off.
But if that was the logic, then what about that... I couldn't remember her name either, but wouldn't it be a little unfair to the girl on the other side?
If they invited a magical girl who only liked one side, it might make the show seem like it was openly taking that side's part...
"Senior Alice!! I love you too!!!"
...Ah. Right.
You two do whatever you want.
In any case, I was going to leave as soon as my commentary was over, depending on the timing.
-Throb, throb
'Why are there so many people pretending to be my juniors lately?'
The blonde rookie I'd met recently, and these two here as well.
I had no idea what I had done to make them still like Alice so much.
Should I just stop appearing on programs like this altogether?
But then what would I do about my living expenses...?
'This is driving me crazy.'
While I was thinking all that on the inside, Alice on the outside was dutifully carrying out her role.
Alice clasped her hands into a heart and blew it toward the fans making a commotion on either side, accompanied by a wink—the sort of response Alice would give—and once again, blissful screams rose from both sides.
"Wow, just as expected of Miss Alice. We've had several guests come by, but your reception is the hottest by far! If you had a word of encouragement for Miss Black Rose and Miss Berte?"
I didn't think this was in the script... but they'd said things might not follow the script from beginning to end, and that they might occasionally ask me to ad-lib, so I wasn't flustered.
"Alice loves you too, everyone. Show me all your sparkling starlight here today. Alice will be cheering you on too."
""Yes!!!!!!""
"All right, then... 3... 2..."
"Berte! I just found a reason I absolutely have to beat you here!"
"1..."
"I'm going to win here!! I absolutely have to receive the trophy from Alice-senpai!"
Wait, am I the one who has to hand it over?
Well, as long as I didn't have to make some huge spectacle of it, I could do at least that much...
-Ding ding ding!!
"The match begins!! From this moment on, both players may use magic!"
-Flash!
Immediately after the bell rang, light gathered in each rookie's hands, and their respective dual pistols and staff appeared.
No matter how magical girls were, they obviously couldn't carry weapons of all different sizes, shapes, and effects around in their hands at all times. Normally, they kept them unmanifested and materialized them in their hands when needed.
In most cases, they had already manifested their weapons while heading to the deployment site, allowing them to begin fighting as soon as an Abyss One entered their field of vision. So ordinary people rarely got to see them materialize in real time, but thanks to the rule requiring weapons to be manifested after the match began, viewers would get to see it often here.
It was safe to assume that anyone whose manifestation speed was so slow it took ages to create a single weapon had already been eliminated down there.
As befitted finalists, both sides had finished manifesting within thirty seconds.
They were both painfully slow compared to Alice, but... what could you expect from a rookie league?
It would be ridiculous for an eight-year veteran to criticize one- or two-year rookies for being worse than her.
Even someone as cynical as me could understand that much.
"Black Rose...!! You're not the only fan of Alice-senpai!! I want to receive the trophy too!"
I never said I was going to give you one.
The one holding the staff... Ah, now I remember. Berte shouted at her opponent and slammed the end of her staff into the floor.
It wasn't a small wand but a staff nearly as tall as a person, bearing four glowing gemstones, each a different color and seemingly representing one of the four classical elements.
-Boom!!
-Flash!
"Ah! Miss Berte! She comes out strong right from the start! Elemental Burst! A finishing move from the outset—does she plan to settle this quickly!"
The instant the tip of the staff touched the floor, a magic circle spread out from that point, and strands of magical power rose into the air, forming four relatively small magic circles.
It was advertising to anyone who saw it: 'I'm about to launch something big.'
"I won't let you do that!"
-Rat-a-tat-tat!!
Even though it was only a match between rookies, Black Rose began responding properly as soon as the magic circles appeared, as if to show that she hadn't made it to the finals by accident.
It took only two or three seconds for her to swing the pistols in both hands dramatically, aim at the magic circles, and fire.
It was a reaction speed and dexterity far beyond an ordinary person's limits—astonishing from a seemingly delicate girl who wasn't even a specially trained agent—but this was simply what magical girls were like.
The moment they took in the mascot's magic, they gained enough physical ability to easily subdue an ordinary person even before transforming; after transforming, comparing them to ordinary people was practically meaningless.
If, hypothetically, an uncontracted person wanted to subdue a newly awakened magical girl with no talent for fighting, they'd need to bring at least a professional combat athlete.
If she truly had no talent for fighting and hated fighting people, she would only raise her guard and take the hits without counterattacking, so one might be able to subdue her somehow. But if she had a personality capable of even minimal resistance, you couldn't even stop her from simply charging straight into you.
Oh. For reference, guns treat everyone equally. At least until a magical girl becomes sufficiently accustomed to magic.
That's enough of the boring explanation. Returning to the fight between the two rookies—
-Clang!
"Huh?!"
"I anticipated that much!"
The magic bullets Black Rose fired boldly collided with the shield Berte had prepared in advance and vanished.
It seemed this one hadn't made it to the finals for nothing, either.
The psychological ploy of openly displaying the magic circles to lure out an attack, then laying a shield in advance along the path it would take, might not seem all that impressive when summarized like this, but in a fight between magical girls, it was a perfectly valid strategy.
After all, how often did a magical girl get the chance to engage in psychological warfare when most Abyss Ones they fought were at the level of beasts, with only very occasional ones possessing human-level intelligence?
Most magical girls specialized in overpowering and driving out Abyss Ones through sheer force; unless a magical girl's particular concept centered on outwitting them, it was rare to see one specifically skilled at that.
To be honest, Alice belonged to the former category too.
If I had to pick out the magical girls who were especially clever... maybe three...?
-Click, clack
"Could you stop there?"
"Hmph. You're still so prickly. Can't you even allow a little physical contact between magical girls?"
"Alice is everyone's magical girl. A few people can't monopolize her."
The woman who had walked up behind the commentators' seats and tried to sneak a hug, only to be stopped three meters away, let out a familiar complaint.
"Ah, Lady Emerald!"
"Ms. Ruichel? You don't need to greet me, so please focus on the commentary. I'll chat with Alice for a moment. You can fill the air by yourself, right?"
"Of course! Ah! Miss Berte! The Elemental Burst is finally complete! Black Rose is in danger! Whoa?! Dance of the Black Swan here?! Is she really planning to shoot down the entire Elemental Burst bombardment?! Whether that's the right decision! Both players' finishing moves have exploded right from the start!"
'...As expected, professionals are different.'
Seeing her fill the air so generously all by herself, I let go of my concern, turned my chair, and looked at the woman called Emerald.
With emerald-colored hair and eyes to match her name, the woman wore a silver dress that made her mysterious beauty stand out even more. She was one of the few people I'd just thought of.
Her stage name was Emerald. She was a first-generation magical girl who had been active when Alice first began working, and one of the most famous magical girls in the country.
Even while working as a magical girl, she actively appeared in public engagements and used the enormous capital she had amassed from them to run various businesses supporting magical girls. In recognition of those accomplishments and her fame, she had settled into third place among the S-ranks.
"I paid a fortune to bring you here because I wanted to see you. At least for now, I'm your employer, so can't you let me hug you just once? I hear magical girls these days even give free hugs as fan service."
This Magical Rookie Le... Ugh, the naming sense is really awful. Anyway, the magical girl who planned this, saw it through to the finals, and invited Alice here today
was, at least for now, someone who could be called Alice's employer.