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

Chapter 1-16: In Front of a Crowd

Damn, I nearly collided head-on with that thing. I barely dodged it, but if I had been a step slower, I would’ve been the one dead. Unconsciously, I tightened my grip on Rafio.

Rafio, meanwhile, rammed into the Fear-Eater from the side, causing it to fall again.

“This thing is really getting on my nerves!”

Rafio’s voice was tinged with anger as he leapt on it. However, the Fear-Eater wasn’t going to just take the beating. It grabbed Rafio’s front paw, squeezed hard, and threw him.

Rafio landed gracefully, protecting me on his back, and glared at the Fear-Eater, preparing for the next attack.

“Whoa! Big Sis is here!”

A loud, awaited voice rang out.

I hadn’t seen her this morning, so this was the first time today we were seeing each other. The time I spent fighting with Rafio alone was probably only a few minutes, but it felt much longer than that. I wasn’t really much of help, so Aina had come just when things were getting tight.

“How dare you attack my little brother! I’ll get revenge for him!”

“I’m not dead, though.”

Her reckless attitude snapped me back to reality. She had no idea how I’d been fighting.

“I’m gonna kill you!”

The sword in my sister’s hand was already glowing brilliantly.

It was sunny today. Judging by her arrival time, Aina had already transformed into Shiny Saber while she was still at home and used her magical girl powers to run all the way here. Just as she had said in the morning, transforming and running to work eliminated commuting time.

“Fiaaaa!”

The Fear-Eater, confused by the sudden new enemy, charged at Saber, seeing her as the new target. It was a straightforward but powerful attack, utilizing its water-filled body. If Saber, who wasn’t that heavy, took it head-on, she wouldn’t come out unscathed.

But I wasn’t worried. My sister always avoided facing difficulties head-on when she could.

“Whoa, that was close! Saber Slash from behind!”

Yesterday you called it Saber Stab.

Anyway, Saber elegantly dodged the charge.

As they passed each other, she slashed the Fear-Eater’s back, causing water to leak out of it. This made its core drop, exposing it below the label.

“Yuuma, Rafio, help me!”

The Fear-Eater’s wound was slowly closing. The fight wouldn’t end until we destroyed its core with the light-absorbing sword. Saber couldn’t handle it alone.

“Let’s go, Yuuma!”

“O-okay…”

Without hesitation, Rafio started running with me on his back. Despite being injured by the Fear-Eater, he didn’t falter.

Rafio tackled the Fear-Eater from the side just as it was about to attack Saber, crashing into a display shelf. In the moment the enemy was stunned, Saber ran up, using her weight to drive her sword through its torso.

She pierced the core along with the partially healed bottle, shattering it. The Fear-Eater’s body disintegrated into black particles, turning back into a split water bottle.

“It’s over. Let’s get out of here. Saber, hop on.”

“Okay. Oh, we’ve got an audience.”

“Huh?”

Rafio, who wanted to avoid dealing with troublesome people like the police or government agents, suggested we leave quickly. But it seemed there were people who had witnessed our fight, apart from the guy filming earlier.

“Magical Lady! Thank you so much for yesterday!”

A familiar voice. She sounded much better than she did yesterday.

The girl I had helped yesterday stepped out from behind a display shelf, waving at us. It made sense; this was her neighborhood, close to the station where I had found her. Some other men and women were also looking our way, a few even filming.

When did they arrive? They must have been hiding, watching from a distance, like the guy earlier.

“Hello, everyone! I’m the magical girl Shiny Saber! I’ll protect your peace! Also, this store is usually very peaceful and has a great selection, so I highly recommend it! That’s all, thank you!”

Saber made a peace sign near her face, giving a greeting that showed her professional side.

The onlookers were dumbfounded. They must have been wondering why she suddenly started promoting the store.

“Thanks, that should be enough. Let’s go.”

With that, Rafio carried Saber and me out through the shopping center doors. Outside, a considerable number of onlookers had gathered, with police preventing them from entering.

If we had stayed longer, more police and onlookers would have shown up.

The crowd gasped at the sight of Rafio, Saber, and the masked man.

“Do I have to greet these people too?”

“No, we’ll save that for next time.”

Rafio made a big leap, jumping over the heads of the gathered people. He continued leaping from the road to parked cars to the roofs of low buildings, quickly disappearing from sight.

Some tried to chase us, but they couldn’t keep up with Rafio.

Once we were out of sight, I finally got off Rafio and removed my mask. Saber also de-transformed back into Aina, and Rafio shrank down to sit on my head.

“Good job hiding your face, Yuuma.”

“We can’t afford to be identified. Even though my uniform might give me away.”

The masked man accompanying a magical girl would narrow down the suspects. This could lead to Aina. I should’ve taken off my blazer at least.

“It can’t be helped. Next time, let’s wear a different uniform. Then they’ll just think it’s a school uniform enthusiast fighting.”

I couldn’t tell how serious he was.