Since my Useless Working Sister and Other Troublemakers Became Magical Girls, I have no Choice but to Support Them.

Chapter 1-15: Using a Towel as a Mask

“Yuuma! Is Aina coming? And help me out!”

I peeked at Rafio from behind the display shelf. Giant Rafio was struggling to fight the Fear-Eater, looking like he was being pushed back. Rafio alone couldn’t win, which was why magical girls were needed to be summoned from this world.

Avoiding direct confrontation, Rafio kept his distance, glaring at the Fear-Eater to keep it in check. If it attacked, he would dodge and, if possible, bite it. It was merely a stalling tactic, but it allowed the people around to escape.

Of course, Rafio couldn’t keep this up forever. His stamina would eventually run out.

I needed to help him. There had to be a way.

This was a grocery store. Carts and shopping baskets were scattered around. I decided to use them.

I noticed a sign indicating the surveillance cameras were active. Right, we needed to hide our identities. It might be too late, but I had to do what I could.

From some abandoned luggage, I picked up a few hand towels. I’d have to start carrying my own from now on.

I wrapped a towel around my face as a makeshift mask. I didn’t know the proper way to do it, but there was no time to worry about that.

The Fear-Eater had taken over a water bottle, meaning this was the drinks section. Bottles of mineral water were scattered on the floor.

I placed a basket full of water bottles on a cart. How heavy was it? I didn’t know, but even a slight impact on the Fear-Eater would help.

“Gah!?”

“Rafio!”

There was a loud crash as something heavy hit a display shelf, followed by the sound of items falling. Rafio had been thrown by the Fear-Eater.

“Rafio, are you okay!?”

“Yuuma, you have a unique shopping style.”

Pushing a cart full of water with a towel wrapped around my face did look strange.

“If you can joke, you must be fine. Can you keep going?”

“Of course.”

“Shrink down and get in this.”

Rafio reduced his size and jumped into the basket.

“Are you planning to charge with this?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s reckless.”

“Right? Let’s go.”

I pushed the cart hard, with Rafio looking slightly amused.

“Fiaaaa!”

The only people around were us, and so the Fear-Eater had locked onto us, charging in our direction.

Fine, I’ll take you on.

At the moment of impact, I let go of the cart and dodged to the side. I was a fraction too late, feeling a jolt in my hand before I was thrown to the floor.

The inhuman creature had more strength, causing the cart to roll back, but the it was also shaken, losing momentum.

Rafio, propelled by inertia, leapt forward.

“Take this!”

Rafio’s hind legs, now back to full size, struck the Fear-Eater, knocking it over. Rafio continued to attack with his front paws, slamming into it.

I got up, grabbed a water bottle from the cart, and rushed at the Fear-Eater. Using the bottle, I hit its arm repeatedly, focusing on its limbs to prevent it from getting up.

I stomped on one of its hands with all my weight and struck again with the bottle.

But I couldn’t land the next hit.

“Fiaaaa!”

“Yuuma, get back!”

At Rafio’s warning, I quickly retreated, and he also jumped away from the Fi-Eater.

The Fear-Eater’s hand reached the spot where Rafio’s arm had been, grasping at air. Rafio seemed to realize he couldn’t stay on it any longer.

The Fear-Eater then got up immediately.

“What now? Should we try the same trick again?”

“We don’t have time for that.”

“Ride on my back!”

The Fear-Eater saw us as enemies, charging at us without giving us a chance to think of a plan.

Rafio lowered his stance for a moment. Without thinking, I climbed onto his back. He then sprang up, landing skillfully on top of a display shelf, scattering bagged snacks everywhere.

The Fear-Eater collided with the shelf, causing it to shake violently. Before it could topple us, Rafio leapt to the other side, landing opposite the monster.

“Now what?”

“Do you see anything that could be a weapon?”

“Rice crackers, mochi, okaki.”

“Doesn’t seem like it. Hitting it with water bottles is the best we’ve got. And bad news. Hey, you over there, run away!”

I hadn’t noticed until we landed on the other side of the shelf. I thought all the customers had already escaped, but there was a middle-aged man filming us with his smartphone. First, he’d been recording the Fear-Eater, and now he was filming us, the mysterious creature and masked man fighting it.

This would get a lot of views online, but I didn’t know if it was worth risking his life for.

“Get out of here! This isn’t the time to be filming!”

Rafio shouted as he started running.

From Rafio’s perspective, letting the world know about creatures that could fight monsters would be beneficial. But the current situation was too dangerous. Filming while a monster was so close was foolish.

The Fear-Eater was strong but not agile. It couldn’t jump over the display shelves like Rafio. It had to go around, and unfortunately, it was heading towards the man with the phone.

Rafio hurried, but the Fear-Eater reached the man first, hitting him with a powerful charge.

The man, more focused on his potential viral video, didn’t realize his life was in danger until the last moment. He didn’t even have time to feel fear.

The man, hit by the charging Fear-Eater, was flung high into the air and crashed headfirst into the refrigerated fish section.

Immediately, I heard a sickening sound.