Chapter 67: It's Time for Us to Say Goodbye

"All right, everyone. Today is our last class. Alice read all the letters you sent her with tears streaming down her cheeks. Alice is so sad to think she has to say goodbye to all of you, too."

Of course, that was a lie. I wouldn't say I hadn't been moved even a little, but it wasn't enough to make me cry.

But these innocent magical girls seemed to believe it.

Most of them had their hands clasped over their mouths and looked teary-eyed. Seeing that, I thought, Magical girls really are magical girls.

How were they planning to live in this world being so innocent? Well, none of my business.

"Since... today is our last class, we'll spend it briefly looking back over everything we've covered so far. Oh, I'll announce the winner of the date ticket after class is completely over, so please listen to Alice's class with your hearts pounding until then."

"""""Yes!!!!!""""

I wondered whether the strange anticipation mixed into their gazes was for this final class, or because their letter might have been chosen. Or perhaps both.

Suppressing a snicker, I continued the class.

Though I found every class bothersome, I could confidently say I'd done a proper job as their teacher over the past month.

I hadn't given them difficult, powerful magic on the spot, but it should have been enough to lay the groundwork for them to define magic for themselves, hone their own magic, and grow. That is, if they'd paid attention to my classes instead of dozing off.

In the end, a magical girl's magic was something each person had to define for herself. They could receive help from others and refer to other people's magic, but only they themselves could truly awaken their own magic.

Even my definition of magic—that it was the power to deceive the world—was merely my own definition of my own magic.

Every magical girl had her own definition of magic. They might share one, but most definitions were different.

In the end, whatever that definition was, if it satisfied the person herself and was powerful enough to change the world, it had already taken shape as magic. Simply using magical power and imitating a form could accomplish something, but that was only half-formed. To truly live on as a magical girl with her head held high while defeating Abyss Ones and surviving, having a definition of one's own was essential.

Know yourself, understand magic. And make it your own.

That was how I could summarize Alice's classes over the past month in a single sentence.

"That wraps up our look back. Now there really isn't much time left before we have to say goodbye. Does anyone have anything they'd like to ask Alice as a final question? I'll announce the drawing result soon, so please wait just a little longer."

A few magical girls had started to shoot their hands up, only to lower them obediently when they heard me, but none of them was the winner anyway.

The actual winner, meanwhile, was busy carefully organizing her thoughts.

'...She does seem determined to improve. Not bad.'

[She's the winner of the previous tournament. Isn't she actually the most outstanding among the rookie magical girls right now?]

'Even so, she's got a long way to go. She'll need at least a few years before she'll be of any help in an S-rank raid.'

[Aren't your standards a little too harsh...?]

What answer could I give when someone who hated magical girls told me that my standards for them were too harsh, other than, "That's true"?

If I nurtured a promising talent now, would she be useful in a few years? I'd already been doing this for eight years, and had no idea how much longer I'd have to keep at it before I could retire, so preparing for the future might have been wise... But for some reason, I still didn't want to admit it.

"Teacher...! I have a question...!"

"Oh, yes, you there... The student who raised her hand. What would you like to know?"

"Summoning magic becomes vulnerable to surprise attacks on the summoner to the extent that magic power is assigned to the summoned creature... Should I research ways to make the summoner—that's me—stronger?!"

'...Haven't I seen her somewhere?'

[Bertha. She was the runner-up who faced Black Rose in the finals of the last tournament.]

'Oh. The woman who was showing off her three measurements.'

I raised my gaze, which had dropped for a moment, looked into Bertha's eyes, and answered her question.

"In this case... I'm sorry, but Alice can only answer that there is no right answer, either. I recommend weighing which would be more efficient for you, Miss Bertha: strengthening your summons or making yourself stronger, and then deciding. There are A-rank magical girls who handle both summoning and direct combat at an expert level, after all. It's difficult to say that either one is the right answer."

"Ah... I understand!"

I felt bad that this was all I could give her after she'd gone to the trouble of asking, but there was no other answer I could offer here. There really was no such thing as a right answer in magic.

"Still... Considering the way I've seen you fight, Miss Bertha, for now I'd recommend entrusting combat to your summons, while you focus on defending yourself and supporting their fighting."

"...! Understood! Thank you!"

"But don't let Alice's words dictate everything you do. People can always change."

"Yes!!!"

After answering a few more questions, the time for announcing the winner finally arrived.

"All right, then, that concludes our questions. It really means our classes together are coming to an end. Alice has enjoyed spending this time with all of you, too. Now, I'll announce the result you've all been waiting and waiting for... the winner of the date ticket with Alice."

-Thump-thump

The magical girls swallowed nervously. A few looked as though they had already given up, thinking they had no chance, but most still seemed to be hoping, Just maybe?

"I won't drag this out any longer, since it's bad for your hearts, so I'll announce it right away. The winner is Miss Black Rose! Congratulations!"

"...What?! Me?!"

All at once, every gaze turned to Black Rose, and disappointed sighs and applause erupted from here and there. I hadn't even told them to applaud. But magical girls really were magical girls, I suppose, even when they weren't the one who won.

Black Rose herself seemed not to have expected it. She was startled for a moment, then composed her expression again when she felt the eyes around her.

"Now, please say a few words. How do you feel about winning a date ticket with Alice?"

"I-I really... It's an honor... I've always dreamed of having a sparring match with Senior Alice... but a date..."

"That's all thanks to how hard you worked, Miss Black Rose. The contents of the letter you wrote were more than enough to warm Alice's heart. I was especially impressed by how you explained what effect the class had had on you and left a vow about how you would develop from here on."

"Y-you really read it all... Oh, what am I going to do..."

"...Miss Mia? It seems like your hands are trembling for some reason..."

"My position..."

I felt a gloomy atmosphere coming from beside me, so I decided to move the conversation along and wrap things up quickly.

"All right, then... We'll coordinate with Miss Black Rose later and decide when and where we'll go on our date! Everyone, you've all worked so hard during these classes..."

"Ah, Miss Alice. May I have a word with you for a moment?"

"...What is it, Miss Sapphire?"

"The PD suggested that we broadcast the date with the winner as well. Perhaps as a follow-up episode... something like that."

...I don't want to. I didn't even want to go on a date, and now they wanted me to film it too?

"I-I think that's fine, Teacher! This opportunity was made possible thanks to you and the filming crew... I-I don't need an appearance fee, either!"

...But she'd gotten ahead of me.

'...What a pointless thing to do.'

If she hadn't said anything, I could have used Black Rose as an excuse to refuse... but this made it difficult to turn them down.

"Ah... Alice is so happy to have one more chance to meet her viewers. Of course I'll accept."

"Understood. Don't worry about the appearance fee. We'll take care of both of you."

"I-I really am fine..."

"Now, everyone! You've all worked so hard to keep up with the classes over the past month! You were the best students Alice has ever taught! Please continue to grow into wonderful magical girls and always shine brilliantly! You can promise me that, right!!"

"""""Yes!!!!""""

"Great! Then that's a wrap! Everyone, please watch Alice and Miss Black Rose's date on the broadcast, too! We'll announce the schedule later! Goodbye, everyone!"

-Fwoosh!

We wrapped up with Alice disappearing alone using Stellar Shift at the very end.

"Miss Alice! You did a wonderful job through the last regular filming! Strictly speaking, there's still one more shoot left, but anyway, we're so grateful! It was such a fun production that even our staff are sad to see it end!"

"PD... Alice is sad to think she's parting ways with all of you, too. I almost hope we can meet again if the opportunity comes up."

"We'd come running to film again if you invited us. But you said you don't have any programs scheduled after this, Miss Alice... so unfortunately, I suppose we'll be assigned to something else."

"If Alice weren't so busy, she could keep seeing all of you..."

"Oh, come now. How could people do nothing but keep meeting forever? Isn't a reunion all the more beautiful when there has first been a parting? Until then, please take good care of yourself, Miss Alice. Oh, and here's a gift our team prepared."

"Oh my, you didn't have to..."

I had been about to say I was already drowning in gifts, but this was a little different from the presents I'd received so far.

"...What's this?"

"We put together an album of Alice's wonderful and adorable moments from filming. We heard you'd recently received lots of shampoo, cosmetics, chocolate, and so on from your fans. We thought giving you even more things you might have trouble using would be difficult, so we put this together in a hurry... Haha... We're salaried workers, so our budget is limited, too..."

"Don't say that. I can feel how much thought you've all put into it. I'll treasure it."

I hugged the album they'd given me tightly to my chest.

Of course, I did it to maintain Alice's image. If I'd been acting as my real self, I wouldn't have gone this far.

"Oh, and the chairwoman would like to meet you. Would you happen to have time afterward?"

"...Hmm. I think I could manage a brief meeting."

"Then I'll contact the chairwoman. She won't have time for a long meeting anyway... I imagine she just wants to see your face at least once to commemorate the final filming."

I didn't particularly want to meet her, but... she was my financier, after all. I decided to treat her with an appropriate degree of courtesy.