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

Chapter 1-3: Rampaging monster and a savior?!

The situation felt surreal, especially with this mysterious small animal showing off its transformation ability and talking to us.

“This world is in danger. Please become a magical girl. Oh, maybe you don’t trust me because I don’t have a weird suffix like fairies do?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Just a moment. Ahem. Please become a magical girl, ponpoko.”

“I don’t know what animal you are, but you’re definitely not a tanuki.”

“I’m not talking to you! I’m talking to this lady! Oh, I mean, I’m talking to this lady, ponpoko!”

“If it’s hard to say ‘ponpoko,’ you don’t have to force it.”

“So, miss, what do you say?”

“Well, it sounds interesting, but I’m busy, so—”

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.

It wasn’t just one scream; it was a chorus of screams, from both men and women of various ages.

Then, the sound of many footsteps and things breaking reached us.

“Oh no. It’s here. Sooner than I expected…”

Rafio, who was trembling on my head, muttered in a shaky voice.

Hey, what’s happening?

“I told you, this world is in danger. A vicious monster has appeared in this town, spreading fear among the people. Only a magical girl can defeat the monster and save the people—ow!”

As Rafio started explaining on his own, I grabbed him and silenced him, while peering from our hiding spot towards the source of the screams.

I saw many people fleeing. At the center was a bizarre entity.

It looked like a villain from the superhero shows I used to watch as a kid.

It had an umbrella that was closed but not fastened properly, with black arms and legs sprouting from it, standing with the handle pointing upwards.

The umbrella part, which seemed to be its body, had a face on it.

It had two large, upturned eyes and a wide-open mouth devoid of any readable emotion, with sharp teeth clearly visible within.

“What is that?”

“It’s a Fear Eater, a monster that feeds on fear.”

Rafio, who had escaped my grip and climbed onto my shoulder, answered.

The Fear Eater seemed to be indiscriminately attacking people with the umbrella it was holding. Several people lay around it, presumably knocked down by its blows. Nearby stalls were also affected, with goods scattered everywhere.

I couldn’t tell if the fallen people were dead or alive, but they showed no signs of movement.

“Yuuma, let’s run. It’s dangerous.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

“Wait!”

We should escape before it notices us, but Rafio stopped us.

“Without you, we can’t defeat the Fear Eater. Even the police or military can only delay it, not defeat it. Without the power of a magical girl, more lives will be lost. So please, miss, become a magical girl.”

“No way!”

“What!?”

Rafio’s surprise matched the firmness of Aina’s rejection.

I agreed with her, though. Rafio needed to rethink his approach.

Before I could intervene, Aina continued to reject him.

“I understand you have your reasons, Rafio! But it’s impossible to ask me to fight out of the blue! I’m just an office worker with no experience in fighting!”

“But I thought girls in this world all dreamt of becoming magical girls when they were little.”

“That was a long time ago! I’ve outgrown that! And besides, look at that monster! Fighting it is impossible—mmph!”

“Be quiet for a bit.”

I covered Aina’s mouth, but it was already too late. The moment she had loudly refused, it had heard her and had discovered our position.

“Yuuma, why did you do that!? Are you telling me to fight too!?”

“No, but the monster noticed us because of your voice.”

“Oh…”

The Fear Eater turned its face toward us.

“Fiaaaaaa!”

With a roar, it lifted its umbrella and started running toward us.

“Run!”

“Wait! Fight it—ow!”

“Why is this happening!? This is all Rafio’s fault!”

Grabbing the protesting Rafio and pulling along my sister who refused to take responsibility for what she just did, I ran. How fast was that thing? If it was faster than us, we were doomed.

But there was no time to look back. We had to keep running. And then—

“Quick, say you’ll become a magical girl!”

“No way! I can’t fight, no way, no way, no way!”

“If you don’t fight, you might die!”

“Then ask Yuuma to do it instead of me!”

“Only girls can become magical girls!”

These two. Stop wasting energy arguing. Also, Rafio, you should run on your own instead of hitching a ride!

As I ran, I noticed a figure in the corner of my eye.

A girl about my age, wearing a uniform I didn’t recognize, probably a high school student.

She was crouched by a vending machine, clutching her leg.

Either the Fear Eater had hurt her, or she had fallen while fleeing. She had managed to escape here, but couldn’t run any further and instead tried to hide, hoping the monster wouldn’t find her.

Our commotion had probably doomed her hiding spot.

If we abandoned her, we could escape. But I couldn’t do that.

“Hey! Are you okay!? We need to run!”

I ran towards her.

Her leg had a painful-looking bruise, but it seemed like only one leg was injured though.

“You can stand, right? Lean on me, let’s go.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Yuuma! What are you doing!?”

“Can’t you see? You go on ahead!”

“But—!”

I glanced at the Fear Eater. It was already very close.

T/N: Ponpoko is more of a sound effect rather than a suffix, its a kind of culture in japanese literature, specifically anime, to add more personality to the characters. Kind of like those, De gozaru.