Chapter 47
All right, let's draw the next question. Given the time, this will probably be the last one.
Time has flown by already. As expected, fun times pass quickly.
I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Miss Aia. Alice enjoyed herself thanks to you too. Then, the last question... Hmm...
-Rustle
The questions were conducted in a format where the students placed the questions they had prepared into a box, and we drew them out. After all, there was a limit to class time, and there were probably more than one or two things they wanted to ask the number-one S-rank magical girl.
Perhaps it was because they had been given the shield of anonymity. Quite a few meaningful questions came up, but, as befitted magical girls, there were also plenty of pointless ones. Questions about first love, as was common. Questions about what had made them become magical girls.
For reference, Aia's answers to those respective questions were, 'I'm currently courting someone' and 'Because that's how I was manufactured.'
Aia wasn't the number-one S-rank magical girl for nothing. She pretended to entertain the pointless questions while quickly moving on with brief answers, then gave detailed answers to the genuinely useful ones. Contrary to my concerns, she was properly fulfilling her role as a teacher.
Quite a few of those answers were things I found genuinely useful to think about as well.
As expected, it seemed the position of number-one S-rank magical girl hadn't been awarded to her for no reason.
...The problem was that her concept was strange.
"Here's a question asking, 'Who is stronger, Miss Aia or Miss Alice?'"
...And a question I'd expected to see at least once had finally appeared.
Magical girls really were like this.
I had wondered why it hadn't come up. I had been certain it would be among the questions, but I never expected them to build up to the final question only to draw this one.
"An obvious question."
"Yes, an obvious question. Perhaps we could draw one more question."
Honestly, I wasn't even sure there was any need to ask. It didn't seem as though they had asked out of genuine curiosity. It felt like they had put it in just for fun. If I had still had my original personality, I would have found whoever had put it in and kicked them in the shin.
"Miss Alice would be stronger."
"Of course Miss Aia would be stronger..."
"Huh."
"Huh."
...And then, unexpectedly, our answers diverged.
...Miss Aia, your ranking is higher than Alice's, isn't it? Alice is fourth, while Miss Aia is first. Naturally, Miss Aia would be stronger."
"You do know that magical-girl rankings aren't determined solely by strength, Miss Alice. Aia doesn't think she would be weaker than Miss Kariel, who is ranked second while Miss Alice is fourth."
"Miss Kariel is a support-type magical girl, and her contribution in other areas is much higher than Alice's. But Miss Aia operates alone, like Alice. And yet she ranks higher than Alice, even ranking higher than Miss Emerald and Miss Kariel, so naturally she must be much stronger than Alice."
"Factions are included in the selection of magical-girl rankings, but so is public recognition, isn't it? Unlike Aia, it is difficult to find Alice's face on camera. Whenever Aia goes out on a mission, citizens line up to ask for her autograph, whereas Alice quietly takes care of Abyss One and disappears, so naturally there has to be a difference of several times in their public recognition."
...That was true. Aia was a magical girl as famous as her ranking suggested, while Alice was difficult for ordinary people to encounter unless they had seen her in the past or happened to learn about her by chance. Magical girls themselves were another matter.
"Even taking that into account, Miss Aia is the number-one S-rank. She is the greatest magical girl, recognized not only by the mascots but also by the organizations specializing in magical girls. How could Alice possibly be stronger than Miss Aia?"
"Aia remembers the past. At one point, Miss Alice stopped using them, but the Alice of old used to casually wield offensive magic far stronger than anything Aia can use now."
...I began to break out in a cold sweat inwardly.
The powerful attacks Aia was talking about had probably been used by the Alice of old... In other words, the real Alice, not me.
If she was speaking based on that Alice... then Aia had a point... No, she was simply right. During that period, Alice had been regarded without dispute as the strongest magical girl among all the mascots.
But that wasn't true by current standards. I wasn't saying it out of humility and giving the advantage to Aia; I was saying it because there was a good chance I really was weaker than her.
The actual difference in our results, number one versus number four among the S-ranks, proved that as well. Alice's concept was perfectionism, but even so, she wasn't the sort of person who would claim she was obviously stronger than the number one while standing right in front of her, so there was no need to put on a show of bravado.
'But why is this woman bringing up something so pointless now...'
This put me in a rather difficult position.
The number-one S-rank magical girl was practically praising me. Denying it here would look bad too.
I could tell just by looking at the magical girls attending the class. Their bright, sparkling eyes were fixed on me, and the thought, 'Wow, Miss Aia is saying that Miss Alice is stronger than herself,' was written all over their faces.
'How am I supposed to deny it here?'
Aia already remembered the techniques Alice had used in the past, and she didn't seem to think that the current me was incapable of using them.
So, naturally, she thought Alice was stronger than her.
'But I'm really weak, I tell you?!'
I wasn't a weak magical girl, either. I hadn't reached fourth place among the S-ranks on name value alone.
But I wasn't strong enough to confidently say I was stronger than Aia, the number-one S-rank. If we actually fought, my win rate would be... fifty-fifty at best?
'No, more importantly, if I admit I'm stronger than Aia, that's a problem in itself!'
Aia was the undisputed number-one S-rank. She was officially the highest-ranked magical girl among every magical girl in this country.
After barely lowering Alice's public profile and managing to live as a has-been, if a rumor suddenly spread that 'Aia admitted Alice was stronger than her!!'...
-Gulp
'...Absolutely not.'
From that point on, Alice's public recognition would skyrocket again. The attention I had spent years painstakingly reducing would rise once more, followed by all kinds of public interest, offers to appear on broadcasts, paparazzi, stalkers, and so on.
And then, if someone analyzed the traces of the old Alice that I had not yet erased, along with the current me, and discovered that I was a different person from the real Alice...
...That would be the day my life ended.
"Alice is happy that you think so highly of her, Miss Aia. If you don't mind, shall we have a cup of tea together after class?"
The first thing I chose to do to resolve the current situation was eliminate the surrounding gazes.
I would tell the PD afterward and have this scene edited out of the broadcast. Since it would be difficult to reach an easy conclusion no matter what I said here, I planned to push the situation aside by suggesting that we discuss it later.
That way, the other magical girls wouldn't know how things had ultimately been settled. If I had Sapphire tell everyone not to casually talk about the contents of this broadcast outside, I should be able to avoid the problem I was worried about.
It was a method I had thought of in a hurry, but I believed it was the best I could do right now.
"Huh."
Mia, who had been standing beside me, looked back and forth between Aia and me with an expression combining betrayal and envy... but I decided to ignore that for the moment.
"Is that a request for a second date? Ah, as expected, Aia the sinful woman. You finally bewitched even Miss Alice."
"Oh my, is that how you interpreted it? I'm sorry, but even if you are Miss Aia, you can't monopolize Alice. Taking up a little of her time is fine, though."
"Aia isn't interested in yuri yet, but someone like Miss Alice is more than enough to make Aia want to spend her time. Very well."
-Oh my, oh my
-Eek
...I thought I could hear the reactions of some impertinent juniors from behind me, but I decided to ignore them. I was tempted to call them aside and... Never mind.
"Then, we'll conclude today's class here. Did you enjoy meeting our special teacher?"
"""Yes!!!"""
"Aia also enjoyed meeting all of you. If there's something you were really curious about but didn't get to ask this time, DMs are welcome too. To send Aia a DM, however, you'll have to crack a twelve-character password containing English letters, numbers, and special characters."
"...All right! Then, may you have another shining day today!"
[Stellar Shift]
-Whoosh!
The moment I left the filming set, I headed straight for the PD's desk.
"Thank you for your hard work on today's shoot, Miss Alice. As expected, since both of you are professional magical girls, you worked together seamlessly even without a script. You always do such a great job that we don't have to edit much and can simply add subtitles before airing it..."
"Please edit out the scene at the end where Alice and Miss Aia were deferring to each other, both from the broadcast and from the uploaded video."
"Oh, really? I thought it came out quite funny."
"Alice and Miss Aia's fans might end up fighting with each other. Let's make this something only our staff who participated in the shoot know about."
"Hmm... You do have a point. Understood."
-The door swung open
"Thank you all for your hard work on today's shoot."
"Ugh... I started following her around much earlier than anyone else... and she still hasn't gone to a café with me even once..."
"Miss Mia, you should focus on your romance. If you grow distant, Aia will steal her away."
"Ah, no! Senpai was already stolen, but I can't let Sejin be stolen too...!!!"
"Actually, I might steal her away even if you don't grow distant."
"That's just plain evil?!"
"...Please refrain from discussing things like that here."
...Once filming ended, my energy drained away all at once, and the sound filling my ears began to feel uncomfortable.
As expected, going around alone suited me best. The problem was that the world wouldn't leave me alone like that.
"Miss Sapphire. You said there was a café at the company that provided drinks, right?"
"That's correct. If there is a beverage you would like, I can contact them in advance and request it."
"No... There's no need to go that far..."
-Gloom
...Was it just my imagination that a rain cloud had appeared over Mia's head, even though she had been bickering with Aia until just now?
"...Miss Mia, Miss Sapphire, let's go together."
"Really?!"
"I'm fine with that."
"Miss Aia, are you all right with this?"
"I thought it was going to be a date for just the two of us, but it's 4P instead. Still, Aia likes having lots of people around, so it's fine."
.........Something unnecessary had been tacked onto the front, but anyway, she said she was fine with it.