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Published at 20th of December 2022 06:53:10 AM


Chapter 49

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Chapter 2 — Expand, my world! • Episode 2-4 • Raid ③

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「Senpai, if you are coming, why didn’t you call me? Even preparing for the welcome party takes time.」

「If I had to say, it would be because I thought Blade would say something like that. I told you before, don’t make a big deal out of every little thing. I’m just here for a visit, you don’t have to do that. It’s been a long time, Elephant-chan, Press-chan.」

「Long time no see, Dryad-san! Are you on summer vacation and came to ask a friend?」

「Long time no~ see!」

Press has never fought with Dryad, but was introduced to her as a Magical Girl who was a mentor to Blade and a senior to Elephant, and the four of them have played together on several occasions. Although not as easy to get along with as Blade and Elephant, Press, who has never known shyness, was in the same groove as her older friends.

「Yes, that’s about it. I heard something else, but I don’t see Tyrant Sylph-san, did she? I would have liked to have met her once.」

「I heard that Wigs Crosseau-san has called her. Maybe it’s already done, and should I call her?」

Initially, Tyrant Sylph gave her contact information only to Elephant, but as long as they hide their relationship as friends, she must treat everyone equally except Elephant. In fact, it was obvious to everyone that they were not equal at all, and that she favored Elephant, but she is trying to hide it in a very serious manner. In other words, she had to give Blade and Press her contact information if they asked for it.

「No, we don’t have to go that far. We’re not that close, you know? Something bad might happen if we bothered her.」

Elephant and her teammates refer to their relationship with Tyrant Sylph externally as just being teammates. As long as Tyrant Sylph herself thinks so, she does not want rumors spreading that they are a close team and that Sylph herself has heard about it. If she have no intention of getting along, she could get stubborn and say she was leaving the team, or such.

Extend who actually saw the relationship between the four of them know what it is, but it was no surprise that Dryad, who only rarely hear it from Blade, only know the external aspects of their relationship.

「Rather, it might be convenient for her.

Mystartine.」

It was Press and Elephant who were able to respond immediately to these words, which were casually and naturally muttered as if they were a single word in a conversation.

The thick, twisting trunks over Blade, which broke through the asphalt roadway, quickly entangled her. When they realized that her arms and legs were completely restrained and her mouth was gagged with a thick branch, Blade was unable to move.

「What are you trying to do!?」

「No, seriously, what’s with you all of a sudden? Did we offend you in some way?」

Elephant and Press ask questions on behalf of Blade, who can only groan and is unable to speak clearly. But despite their words, they somehow sensed that Press was not in a temporary emotional attack.

So only Blade was restrained, and Elephant and Press were able to evade, but not because Blade’s fighting sense or athletic ability was any less than theirs.

Press simply did not believe in the Magical Girl named Dryad as much as the two of them. She is a lightweight friend with whom she have gone out together, but that is all she have to say about their relationship. They are adversaries who have never fought back to back like Blade and Elephant.

It was suspicious that she was hiding in the shadows to begin with. She said she couldn’t make it in time, and such, but to Press it looked like she had no choice but to come out after Rabbitfoot pointed out the problem. She doesn’t even know what she was hiding for, but if she has nothing to be guilty of, there is no reason to sneak around.

In contrast to Press, which avoided restraint due to scepticism, Elephant’s case was simpler: she has a superior ability to sense physical attacks from the ground. It was a trait that is not often utilized when fighting Magical Girls, let alone against Diests, but it happened to be a reliable against the Dryad’s restraining magic.

「Certainly not you guys. So from today on, we will protect this town.」

「Object Sea.」

「Shadows.」

「kuh———!!」

「!!?」

While listening to the conversation, Press kept her attention downward, wary of the tree that could break through the ground at any moment.

The moment she understood the meaning of Dryad’s words, she hastened to turn her attention not only to her feet but also to other directions, but she was one step too late. A large amount of water, so much that it seems to have brought the entire contents of the pool, suddenly pours down and forms a sphere around Press.

Press, with a pained expression on its face, desperately tries to escape through the water, but is unable to do so. The water ball clings to Press as if it has a will, inhibiting physical movement.

Perhaps the large movements consumed more air, but within 30 seconds, Press began to struggle and within a minute it was unconscious as a puppet with broken strings. Immediately afterward, the water ball that had enveloped Press floated up into the sky, leaving only Press on the ground as if pulled down by gravity. The trunk of such on Press’s body, pierced through the asphalt, goes around it and restrains her as well as Blade, pushing on her belly and making her spit out the water she has swallowed.

Elephant was shown such Press without being able to move or speak. She was not entangled in the trees like the two of them. However, her body did not move even a twitch, as if I was in a golden bind.

「———! ———!」

Blade is desperately trying to call Elephant and Press their names, but only muffled voices are heard. Dryad speaks gently to Blade, as she always does.

「Don’t worry, Magical Girls don’t die from this. Besides, it’s the work of an expert.」

「Hey, Don’t make people into experts on things. I can only count on two hands the number of times I’ve choked a Magical Girl.」

「Ihihi, I think that’s enough to make you an expert, though~」

A voice responding to Dryad’s words came from behind the bound Elephant and Blade. But they can’t even turn their heads to see who is there.

Elephant stares at the smiling Dryad in front of her as her only resistance, while Blade just has a puzzled look on her face, not knowing what just happened. Even up to this point, she was unaware that they were still being attacked by Dryad. No, she was aware of it, but her understanding was delayed by the thought that such a thing could not be true.

「Oh, you poor thing. It must have been painful for you.」

「You’re a psycho, aren’t you~? You can’t feel sorry for yourself after you’ve done it yourself.」

「I don’t like doing it. It’s not like my magic is suited for incapacitation in the first place.」

「You guys, that’s enough chitchat. What’s the point if you don’t tell us what we want?」

A girl with a dignified voice who commiserates with the limp, powerless, bound Press, and a girl with a sticky voice who looks at her with dismay.

Controlling the two girls, Dryad released only the restraints around the Blade’s mouth and pressed her raised index finger to her lips. It was a gesture that Dryad used to use back in the day when they were still fighting in this town, telling her to be quiet and listen.

「!……, ah……, ………uhh.」

「Good girl. You’re doing great, Blade-chan.」

When Blade had just become a Magical Girl and was still dragging her feet and causing trouble for Dryad many times, she would pat her on the head like this and praise her when she was able to follow Dryad’s instructions and do exactly as she told her to do.

Blade recalls warm past memories and feels relief. It’s okay, she said, that for whatever reason, her senior haven’t changed. That senior who was always right and stoic, fighting for her life, would never do anything wrong.

「I said earlier that I came here for fun, but the truth is that I came to this town to ask for one favor. It’s easy to say a wish, so Blade-chan should just nod and do what I say.」

「What do you mean by a favor?」

「Yes, that’s right. From today on, I’ve decided to run this town as a Natural Faction’s Hunting Ground, and I want you guys to leave. Ahh, of course I wouldn’t go so far as to tell you to leave if you don’t want to be active in this town, would I?」

「——Eh?」

Blade could not understand what Dryad was saying.

When Blade was being taught by Dryad in this town, Dryad had not joined the faction. So, why is that did she brought up the term “Natural Faction?”

Dryad has never once cared about Hunting Grounds or territory, so why is she talking about “running the hunting grounds” as if it were an unfitting term?

When Dryad left this town for family reasons, she told Blade that she would leave this town in good hands. The town of Sakira has been protected by successive generations of Magical Girls who risked their lives to protect it. She entrusted her with the will to carry on their legacy, saying that she would be the next guardians. So why was she asking her to leave?

Blade doesn’t understand. Dryad’s words contradict her previous memories and confront Blade with the fact.

She thinks that Dryad have changed. That noble and righteous senior of hers may be gone. She wondered if Magical Girl Dryad smiling in front of her might be an enemy.

「That is… a lie isn’t it…? You would never say such a thing…! Because Senpai is always right, always straight, always my goal…」

Blade squeezes the words out with tears in her eyes.

She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it.

「…Haah. I was going to forgive you, but I still can’t. You’re the only one who’s special, Blade.」

「Spe…cial…?」

Blade just repeats Dryad’s words like a broken radio in a tearful voice.

Seeing this, Dryad clicked her tongue in annoyance.

「You should quit being a Magical Girl. You are a special failure among my students. I can’t bear the thought of a Magical Girl like you being my apprentice. If you quit being a Magical Girl right now, I’ll spare your life.」

「…That’s a lie.」

「Kuhihi, Dryad was being nice~」

「Lies, lies, lies, lies, that’s a lie!」

「I don’t want to kill you either.」

「That’s a liiiiieeeee!!! Sword Dance!!!」

With a shrill cry from Blade, invisible arms swing four swords and cut through the trees. Normally, Blade would have prioritized the rescue of her friends, but in her bloodlust, her only thought was to eliminate the『fake』in front of her.

「Begone, begone, begone!!! Senpai’s appearance!! Senpai’s voice!! Don’t sully them!!!」

「Root Whip.」

No skill, no bargaining, Blade just steps toward Dryad, swinging her sword around egomaniacally. However, as if to block the way of Blade, the roots of a huge tree break through the asphalt and strike like a whip. The momentum of Blade did not abate even though she cut and cut through, and gradually Blade, which should have been advancing, stopped and were pushed back little by little.

「Your magic, your power, even your heart, everything from you is too weak. I knew you wouldn’t work. Farewell, Blade-chan.」

「Uuuuuwaaaaaaaghhhhhhh!!!」

The whips that come at her like waves, cutting and cutting and cutting her, and still Dryad was far away and unreachable.

「—!? My magic!」

The four arms wielding the sword disappear, and the sword rolls on the ground with a high-pitched clang.

Blade should have known. Dryad’s binding magic has the property of absorbing magic power, and if someone was trapped by it, they will be greatly drained of magic power. But she had forgotten. No, she had been made to forget it. Blade, with all the blood in her head, knew about it and completely lost it.

Having lost so many hands, there was no way to push back the oncoming swarm of whips. Still, Blade held up the double-edged sword in her own hand for the last time. With a vow in her heart to never give up until the end of her life.

At last, just as the wave of roots was about to engulf Blade, it happened.

No matter how she look at it, the timing was not right. Even if someone had sidestepped the situation, it would have already been too late.

But Blade was alive and well. Out of Dryad’s vision, a nostalgic but unwelcome Magical Girl stood holding Blade in her arms as a princess.

「It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Dryad? You’re doing some pretty interesting things here.」

「Extend…!」

The expression on Dryad’s face, which had been smiling with a relaxed smile all this time, was distorted as if she was biting a bitter bug, and her voice calling out her name could not hide her abhorrent emotion.

「Kukuh, if you are going to call me by my name, I hope you will call me as Extend Traveler.」

Witch of Expansion, Extend Traveller.

The Magical Girl, who held back Dryad with a fearless smile, was also a reliable senior of Blade’s group.




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