NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 165
Sato Noah, a promising student from the Magical Girl Academy’s beginner class, had been looking forward to the field trip.
Honestly, what excited her the most was the fact that she’d be able to go out on a field experience with her older sister, who was always praised by outsiders.
The most dazzling magical girl
The kindest witch
Since the emergence of magic, whenever the name of the most radiant girl was mentioned, her great sister was always included among the top three. It was almost unimaginable what kind of sparkling and bright occurrences filled the sites where she fought.
Meow meow! Surely, over a hundred S-rank demons will show up!
Nope, if that many show up, the country’s done for…
Noah knew she wouldn’t even come close to doing 1% of what her sister did, but just imagining it made her heart race.
She’ll appear saying, “Like a shooting star! In the name of friendship and swiftness, I won’t forgive you!” and wipe out all the demons!
Except for that “like a shooting star,” wasn’t that all your imagination…?
And so, on the day the field trip was decided, Sato Noah rushed over with a pounding heart, keeping the fact a secret from her parents to surprise her sister…
…So plain.
Something felt…oddly different from her expectations. Sato Hana’s patrol turned out to be quite ordinary.
Although she moved around at the swiftness of a witch, protecting Noah and Asuka with yellow starlight, there were no overwhelming demons threatening the country, nor was there any life-or-death crisis that would scare people to death.
What existed was simple daily life and gratitude.
Oh my, thank you!
What’s that! Helping people is my job, after all.
Carrying the luggage of those who had difficulty walking.
Thank you, Sato-chan.
The witch who shows up for these things is only Sato-chan now.
Hehe, there’s no such thing as an unimportant task!
Mediating and resolving a minor scuffle among civilians.
Kraaaak!!
Hey, just close your eyes for a second and when you open them, you’ll be at the police station.
Clearing out monsters of C-rank or below that a high school magical girl could handle.
After stopping the plot of seven seafood demons who suddenly appeared in the city trying to establish a maritime kingdom, Sato Hana looked at Noah and Asuka with her characteristic refreshing voice, smiling.
How was it?
Even though she had grown up, when Hana felt good, her long hair swayed like a dog’s tail. With her active outfit of sportswear and shorts, she radiated a vigorous and intense impression.
Hana proudly exclaimed to her younger sister and junior.
It really is fun, isn’t it? Protecting people’s smiles.
I hope my younger sister can share a deep emotional connection from maintaining this daily life.
Hehe! This is what ordinary magical girls do!
…So plain.
So plain indeed.
Huh?
Something felt strange.
Their reaction was lukewarm, much duller than expected.
Noah had dreamed of being a magical girl, saying that working with her would be a dream come true.
Hana wiped the sweat from her brow, glancing at Noah. Having raised her sister, who was over ten years younger, she could tell what emotions were present just by looking into her eyes.
Disappointment
Boredom
The only positive emotion in her younger sister’s eyes was simply feeling used to being with her sister. There was no longing or satisfaction in helping people.
Huh?
Upon closer inspection, boredom was also evident on Asuka’s face. The fluttering heartbeat she once felt had disappeared, replaced by her fiddling with a doll.
Did I do something wrong?
Hana retraced her steps, wondering if she had missed something today.
Helping people, hearing their gratitude.
There were certainly problems, but they weren’t enough to disrupt lives.
Not as urgent as the trials faced, nor as depressing as the magical girl conflict…
Aah.
Hana scratched her cheek, realizing why these kids were getting bored.
For her, the landscape obtained through fierce battles and friends’ sacrifices was an ordinary sight, but for the two girls, it was just the everyday routine. What they truly desired was probably to witness the fierce struggles Hana had faced.
What should I do?
Hana pondered how she could help these kids realize the value of “protecting the everyday.”
It wouldn’t be appropriate to show them the horrific crime scenes from when S-rank demons wreaked havoc in the past, or the numerous power struggles or adult affairs entangled in the [Witch's Duel] program just yet.
That would only plant cynicism in children who couldn’t even recognize the beauty of reality.
This is something they could look at when they seriously wish to overcome reality.
What they needed was to recognize the “preciousness of now.”
On a day long ago when a shooting star fell, their dad had let them know about it.
Guess I must tell them that.
Hana approached her juniors and took their hands.
Warm and gentle, just like how a friend had once held her hand when she was a little girl. But unlike her calm demeanor resembling a silver moon, she had to convey it with sparkling brilliance like a shooting star.
Noah, Asuka.
Huh?
What?
Noah and Asuka, suddenly glancing at Hana, widened their eyes.
For Noah, it was her sister’s hand she held more often than she held her mother’s when she went to kindergarten.
For Asuka, it was a strange hand offered by someone she admired who often appeared on TV and the internet.
Even though it was the same person offering both hands, the emotions felt by each girl when they held that hand were different. But the direction in which that hand led was the same.
Hana guided them toward the sparkling everyday.
Do you want to go on a week-long outing together?
＊
…And so we went around various places and saw many people smiling.
Tap!
Noah finished a sentence in the activity report and put it back in her bag.
After completing the field experience, one of the graduation test requirements, she just needed to get her sister’s signature before going to the academy tomorrow. Then Noah would graduate from the beginner class and become a mid-level magical girl.
I just played for a week, I wonder if that’s okay…
Time like a dream had passed.
Noah and Asuka were sitting on makeshift chairs under the night sky.
The night sky is really beautiful.
Yeah.
Since they always came to the Magical Girl Academy during the day, the unfamiliar night sky of Elysion, filled with stars, felt like a mysterious sight they couldn’t see from their homes in Tokyo.
Under the sky full of countless stars, the two girls began talking about the Magical Girl Academy beyond the open space.
I heard that when we enter the mid-level class, we’ll stay in the academy dormitory. I hope I can share a room with Asuka then.
Right? I’ll introduce you to a lot of friends I’ve made since the beginner class.
Hmph, I feel like I know more people than you do, Asuka.
Then let’s all wear pajamas and stay up all night introducing each other!
I heard the practice teacher is also the dormitory head, so… if we don’t sleep, we might get caught.
That teacher is a bit silly, so I doubt she’ll notice if we put out the lights.
What if the golden-haired sisters fly around and monitor us?
Then we’ll just cover our heads with the blankets and chat!
Before they knew it, the two girls had much to say about the mid-level dormitory life that was just around the corner.
Teachers
Friends
After-school activities
Surely life in the mid-level class would have so many activities that could not even be compared to the beginner class. And Noah and Asuka thought the mid-level uniforms, adorned with various patterns and decorations, to be far cuter than the plain white ones worn in the beginner class.
Noah, do you want some hot chocolate?
Yes, thank you, Asuka!
Initially awkward since they were from different classes, the now friendly Asuka began warming milk over the campfire while gazing at the night sky. Behind them was the tent that Hana had swiftly brought from home.
It’s my first time camping.
Really? My sister and parents enjoy going out, so we went often.
No wonder you two set up the tent so quickly.
I was surprised at how much Asuka knew about dolls.
My mom makes them.
What each other knew well
What each other didn’t know well
The countless landscapes hidden beneath those ordinarily taken for granted.
As they got to know each other more, their worlds began to expand, and they discovered the hidden everyday lives and emotions beneath what they took for granted.
For a week, the two girls chased shining shooting stars and saw a variety of things.
Wow, we really went to a ton of places!
Yeah, we went to way more than I expected.
They played with fellow kids hospitalized at a hospital where the cheerleading team was working, distributing dolls and sharing joy together.
At an event held at a senior citizens’ center where the security team patrolled, they awkwardly showcased their clumsy dance and song talents.
They also visited many shops and workshops run by countless magical girls, chatting and learning more.
They marveled at the various magical girl organizations operating in foreign cities, functioning differently from Japan.
The news they once took for granted, the landscapes they once overlooked.
They faced the living, breathing people within it and the dreams before them.
…
…
I thought that once I became a magical girl like my sister, I’d naturally be able to do amazing things.
Yeah.
But it doesn’t seem that way. Being a magical girl… it doesn’t seem to be that.
Yeah.
Is it true that the dreams and happiness of ordinary people were more shabby than the starlight of magical girls?
Were magical girls just lights that fall from the dark night sky, shining alone?
No, it wasn’t.
The fellow kids they met at the hospital, who couldn’t become magical girls but lived happily.
The elderly ones, whose life was already withering but cherished magical girls at the events.
Countless people they met abroad, each with different thoughts, walking different paths.
No life is taken for granted, and the starlight shining within them wasn’t something that was given from the start.
Where, who, when
Such things weren’t what’s important.
What mattered was what one wanted to be.
What type of magical girl do we want to be?
Through their adventure over the week, the two girls realized this.
I… want to be someone who brings joy to others, just like my sister said on the first day.
I want to create dolls that bring joy to everyone who sees them.
Under the dimly lit open space, where only the campfire glowed, two colors of starlight descended quietly with their quiet determination.
The girl who started running towards the darkness where the shooting stars began
The girl who decided to create dolls inspired by everyone’s hope
The glass stars of the two girls no longer lacked color; they became radiant golden and silver hues.
Under countless stars, the two most radiant colors shone brilliantly, blessing the start of the two girls who had yet to possess a single starlight. Only those who understood the meaning of that sparkle quietly watched over their realization.
This is… amazing.
…Yeah.
Sato Hana, in order to give the two girls some time to think, was secretly positioned atop a lighthouse where she could observe all over the island. Looking at her juniors who had found their starlight at the end of their journey, her face was filled with nostalgia and excitement. Beside her, a chestnut cat was snoozing while wrapped in a cloak.
Maybe a colossal destiny we can’t comprehend might have begun with those two.
But why is Hecate stuttering so much?
Well, I haven’t spoken to anyone for a week…
Sigh, I wonder if it’s right to let Iris handle everything and just live my life comfortably.
It’s the life that the goddesses permit.
Hecate scratched her bob haircut, cut short because it was too bothersome to manage. Realizing that her reactions were the best when she transitioned into online streaming through the various gaming tournaments she had participated in over the last twelve years, she had been living the life of a recluse.
Hana glanced pityingly at Hecate for a moment before looking back at the twinkling two starlights.
Golden
Once a color of radiant destiny she might have possessed
Silver
A color permitted only to those who could love the world
…
Watching over the magical girls’ destinies, which began more pure and brilliantly than the destiny she had destroyed due to the three goddesses, Hana quietly smiled.
I shall become like a shooting star.
Shooting stars ignite within the atmosphere, greeting countless people below.
Yet, it is but a momentary twinkle.
Though she considered herself blazing gloriously in this era, it would eventually be forgotten.
The age of destruction and despair… the dark night that needs a hero is drawing to a close.
So, what direction will those two girls head towards?
The comets of magical girls.
…
They will become magical girls brighter and further traveling than the shooting stars living in the present.
Hana earnestly wished for her sister to become a girl shining with hope.
B-but what those on the ground feel closer to are the shooting stars.
Huh?
You don’t have to think of yourself as that shabby.
…
I’ll remember for you, as a recluse of the era.
Well, at least you’re living like one.
Hana and Hecate exchanged playful banter as they watched the two girls’ realization unfold.
Under the dark night sky, the two twinkling starlights were the brightest, but they did not overshadow the countless other twinkling starlights behind them.
＊
Ding!
Welcome~
I’m here!
Oh! Hana-chan! Come on in.
Hana had come to visit Yokohama’s third troublemaker, whom she had known for 12 years.
On a leisurely weekend afternoon,
In a Yokohama café, the latest pop and rock music resonated.
Are you going with the usual today?
You know me too well.
That’s what loyal service looks like!
Wink!
Kyoko winked and began preparing drinks right away.
Her long black hair swayed as she moved.
After officially becoming the owner, Kyoko no longer dyed her hair, and her once-orange locks gave way to pure black. At first, her new look seemed strange, but now the image of her with orange hair felt even more nostalgic.
Swipe!
A hand naturally rested on Hana’s shoulder as she entered the café.
The hand came from Ichika, who had playful smiles plastered on her face as she playfully touched the shoulder of Hana, who had grown taller than her.
It was always a precursor to her silly jokes.
Hey, you’re the legendary Hana-chan who made us miss a week of field trip, huh?
Hehe… Ichika, that couldn’t be helped.
Thanks to that, teachers were buzzing about whether they should recognize this or not.
What did Yuki say?
Huh? The principal basically said since the glass star’s color changed and the kids have matured, isn’t that a good thing?
Just then, Kyoko approached the table with a drink that Hana frequently ordered.
Oh, did Noah-chan blossom into a one-sword style?
No, it’s not blooming, just the color changed.
Inside the café, amid the bustling staff attending to their tasks, Kyoko took a seat at the table where Hana and Ichika were chatting.
By the way, Noah-chan is about to enter the mid-level class, right? It feels just like yesterday when Hana was rushing around to change her diapers. It’s weird seeing someone we used to watch as babies become middle schoolers.
That’s true.
Time flies… in the blink of an eye, we’re in our late twenties, still single.
…Momochan got engaged this time.
Eh?!
Now, among the girls who had escaped from the research facility, only Ichika and Kyoko remained single.
Sigh.
Sigh.
Listening to the complaints of the two women in their late twenties, Hana couldn’t help but chuckle.
Hey! Hana-chan, don’t laugh at me!!
Come on, yours will come around soon enough.
I’ve got more than five years left!
Aw, you…!
Rock music resonating
The fragrance of freshly brewed coffee
The sounds of many people’s conversations
Hehe.
Hana’s life shone bright like a shooting star.
She was still a starlight greeting people as they rubbed shoulders.
The shooting star continued to blaze brilliantly.
[Colorless Magical Girls] Complete