Chapter 21 : Limit check

Aqua is a magical girl who has debuted for less than a year.

A promising rookie.

A fast-growing 5th generation.

She had a good reputation to the extent that people often said such things.

It was starting to feel like she was slowly carrying her own weight.

Monsters above B-rank were still scary, but such monsters were rare.

Up to C-rank, it was worth trying if she joined forces with her comrades.

But she wanted to become strong enough to handle them alone.

To become an excellent magical girl like the Frozen Princess she admired.

Aqua has been diligently going on missions and honing her skills.

“Did you see the video? Scarlet Lily was flying around shooting beams.”

“The drones couldn’t keep up.”

In the classroom, during break time.

The boys gathered in threes and fives, chatting.

Pretending to be indifferent while listening, someone said this.

“Don’t you think she’s not really 5.5 generation no matter how you look at it?”

I agreed with that.

Not just strong, but also skilled.

For example, levitation magic.

Right after contracting, Aqua practiced controlling the flow of magic for several days.

It took a week to be able to fly steadily.

I, who prided myself on being a genius, was at this level, but Scarlet Lily was on a whole different level.

“She really has no weaknesses.”

“I think she’s the strongest ever.”

An unstoppable parade of praise.

Aqua no longer hates Scarlet Lily.

She was too far above to be jealous, and she had come to know her character as well.

She was reflecting on how she had treated her harshly once.

She considered herself lucky to have lived nearby and become friends.

Still, if there was one thing that bothered her,

“Does Scarlet Lily have limits too?”

Like the boy said, she wanted to know if there was anything impossible even for someone who seemed flawless.

“Shiiik!”

A red lizard made a sharp cry.

It was about two meters long.

Not big, but a dozen or so were moving in a group.

“Everyone scatter! We need to spread out our firepower!”

Alpha quickly gave orders.

They were facing a D-rank monster now.

A lizard similar to the salamanders often seen in fantasy works.

Not very threatening, and the elements matched well, so the battle was easy.

Fwaaaa!

The lizards simultaneously blew fire from their mouths.

The firepower was like a flamethrower.

It would cause serious injury if it hit, but we had a member specialized in water magic.

“Aqua Shower!”

As she cast the spell, countless water droplets appeared in midair.

They poured down on the lizards.

Ssss!

The fire went out and smoke rose.

It was a fierce water barrage like a tropical downpour.

The lizards’ flames couldn’t evaporate it.

Their only attack was blocked, and thanks to that, there was a chance to freely attack.

“Everyone, let’s go!”

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma charged forward with spears.

They punished the weakened lizards with blades and magic.

“Oh yeah!”

A victorious high five.

I wasn’t young enough to keep up with that tension, but since the mood was right, I joined in.

I hadn’t done much, but as a team member, I slapped palms with my comrades.

“Hey, there’s still smoke coming out?”

Everyone’s gaze focused on the direction Beta was looking.

“Really! That house is on fire!”

Everyone looked at Aqua, and as if responding, she flew up into the sky.

And again, Aqua Shower!

She adjusted the power to spray just enough water to put out the fire.

The control was delicate.

She was the most skilled in magic among the members.

“I’ll be relying on you all day today. I’m glad you’re here.”

I said without much thought, and Aqua blinked as she landed.

Did I say something wrong?

“For Lily, this wouldn’t even be a problem.”

It wasn’t sarcasm.

She spoke as if she truly believed that.

“It would work if she practiced, but she might be a bit clumsy for now.”

She could use water magic itself.

But since she wasn’t farming in the demon world, there was no reason to use water sprinkling magic.

Unless it was high-pressure spraying.

“That’s surprising. I thought Lily could do everything well.”

“There’s such a thing as aptitude for magic.”

Unlike magic in fantasy works, magical girls’ magic has supernatural properties.

If it’s not specialized for themselves, many can’t even try it.

“That’s true.”

Aqua and the other members nodded and looked at each other.

If the illusion was broken, maybe that was good too.

Lately, there were more people who praised that they could live in space or be fine eating radioactive material.

But I’m not that kind of monster.

“If it’s Aqua, she could probably put out wildfires too.”

“Wildfires?”

“The news has been noisy about them. It just came to mind.”

Wildfires are frequent during the seasonal change from winter to spring.

This year was particularly bad, so whenever you turned on the TV, it was all about that.

“That seems impossible… Unless it’s one or two houses, but the mountain is too big.”

Is it because of insufficient magic power?

Well, the total amount of magic power, which increases as it is used, can’t be helped by effort or talent.

Because it’s 5th generation.

“What if I help you?”

“Huh? How?”

“I know a technique to inject magic power.”

It seemed like a good idea, but Aqua waved her hand.

“I don’t know if it’ll work, but how long will it take to go and come back? I’m not confident I can do it as well as the firefighters, and I have homework too.”

The wildfire area was about 200 km away from here.

Even if she went quickly, it would take a whole day.

Without levitation magic.

“I’ll take you there.”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s after school, so we have some time, right? We’ll be back soon, so you all go ahead first.”

After parting with the other members, I stood behind Aqua.

“What are you going to do…?”

“I’m better at flying, so I’ll carry you and fly. Want to try?”

“Well, it’s worth a shot… okay.”

“Then let’s go.”

I wrapped my arms around Aqua’s waist firmly.

And soared high into the sky.

“Kyaaaah!”

Aqua screamed.

“You know how to use a shield, right? Deploy it in front.”

Instead of goggles.

After confirming Aqua was ready, I increased the speed.

Cutting through the wind, accelerating.

I checked the map app now and then to find my direction.

How many tens of minutes had I flown?

Soon, a scene of smoke rising from all around came into view.

“Huff… huff… next time, at least give me a warning.”

“Sorry, I thought using the shield would be enough.”

“It’s not like I couldn’t handle it. I just didn’t expect to fly like a missile.”

“Hey, that’s an exaggeration.”

“The speed was enough to cause a sonic boom, wasn’t it?”

Though I said that, Aqua endured it well.

“Now, let’s try putting out the fire.”

The smoke and heat were suffocating.

Looking around, I saw trees burning along the mountain range.

If left unattended, who knows how far it would spread.

I wanted to put it out here.

“Aqua Shower!”

Just like before, when water was sprayed, a heavy rain started to fall and the fire began to go out.

Good job.

She was more skillful than she looked.

She could cover one mountain, but soon her magic power began to run low.

“Can you recharge your magic?”

“Please.”

I placed my hand on Aqua’s back.

Even if I tried to inject excessive magic power, the amount she could absorb was limited.

Without greed, only as much as she could take.

“Ugh!? Waaah? Ogoogoogok!”

Though not as much as the Frozen Princess, Aqua is a cool-type beautiful girl.

A voice uncharacteristic of her slipped out.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m… okay… ugh!”

When receiving someone else’s magic power, there is a sensation that is hard to describe in words.

It’s natural to let out a groan.

Since it was her first time, it’s understandable she wasn’t prepared.

“Full charge complete.”

After lightly tapping her back, Aqua tested spraying a stream of water.

“Amazing. I feel like I’ve been reborn.”

“For magical girls, magic power is life itself.”

With this, we could start working again.

I didn’t know how long it would take, but I’d try to do as much as possible.

The time limit was until Aqua returned home to do her homework!

When we returned after putting out the fire, Aqua was exhausted.

“To actually put out a forest fire…”

She slumped down onto a bench, looking at her hands as if she couldn’t believe it.

“You did well. Maybe this means you’ve grown a level.”

If she could put out one mountain, she could do a whole mountain range.

Halfway through, Aqua got excited and sprayed water everywhere recklessly.

Now that we’d actually done it, it seemed about 80% of the fire was out.

“Lily, aren’t you tired?”

“I’m tired too. I want to go home and rest.”

The sky grew dark.

We’d worked so hard we didn’t even notice the time passing.

“Be careful going home.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Unlike the hesitation during the day, Aqua looked proud.

As soon as she got home, Aqua collapsed on her bed.

She’d used too much energy because she was so hyped up.

Not only magic power but mental energy too.

“Homework… should I just copy it?”

She stared blankly at the ceiling, recalling what had happened today.

Several times, Scarlet Lily had injected magic power into her to put out the fire.

The sensation felt like… pouring water from a vast canal into a small cup.

Aqua herself was the small paper cup, into which a huge amount of water was poured.

There was no sign of running out.

Not only did she have that much magic power, but she wasn’t tired even after going back and forth such a long distance.

Did it take about an hour?

Without counting the time spent finding the way, it was much faster.

She was a monster beyond the rumors going around.

“If I were as strong as Lily…”

Could I be that humble?

Even if I worked for more than ten years, I wouldn’t lose skill-wise to juniors.

Maybe as a comet-like new magical girl, I would’ve been full of myself.

“The mindset is completely different.”

Even though we were the same age, I felt respect welling up.

Curiosity to know Scarlet Lily’s limits was not resolved even today.

Aqua reflected on herself.