Regarding the fact that my best friend is a magical girl

The bubble burst.

The tiger monster fell from a height of about fifty meters, creating a deep crater in the plaza below the building. Although the fall was quite severe, the tiger monster still managed to get up and roar at me.

This is a fatal height for humans, but not so deadly for monsters.

It's not surprising, considering that the wormhole that brought it here is more than ten meters above the rooftop.

"That's incredibly thick-skinned!"

“Be careful, he’s been provoked and is becoming more aggressive.”

Even if Miss Kagerou hadn't said anything, I could have figured it out.

But I still need to find a way to get down there.

Multiple layers of air cushions were blown up in the air to serve as steps, and I jumped from the thirteenth floor.

To everyone's surprise, the tiger-like monster turned its back, and its long, steel-needle-like back spurs stood up like a line of spears and halberds.

Oops.

I instinctively sensed danger.

The next second, these sharp stabs rained down like arrows released from a bow, instantly forming a dense rain of arrows.

But I had no way to dodge while I was falling...

"Hey! Don't underestimate me!"

The moment I waved my wand, the approaching rain of needles instantly turned into a shower of bubbles.

Rather than having a single bubble withstand a large number of backstabs, it's better to wrap each needle in a bubble that absorbs the force.

The tiger monster roared in frustration after its failed sneak attack, but I wasn't as relaxed as I'd imagined. The sheer number of bubbles had also drained a lot of my magic power, leaving me feeling dizzy and lightheaded, as if I were suffocating.

"Serno, I have a question."

Miss Yangyan seemed to have sensed something.

"If your membranes and bubbles can insulate you from internal and external forces, why are you still able to stand on the street like this?"

"……What's the meaning?"

"What about the friction between you and the ground, and gravity?"

"...No, I don't know, but I am indeed standing here."

The bubbles, which were supposed to neutralize the force, did not work as expected.

No, that's not right.

—What do light and air have in common?—

Leaf's words flashed through my mind, and I felt as if I had grasped something... the truth about my magic.

"...Maybe I'm actually quite strong?"

My muttering reached Miss Yangyan's ears.

"You're boasting before even dealing with the monster. Don't you want to think about how to deal with it?"

"No, no... Miss Yangyan, do you think this tiger needs to breathe?"

"Since it's a biological monster, it naturally needs to breathe."

"I have an idea that needs to be verified!"

The bubble encased in steel spikes burst above the tiger monster's head, and the arrows aimed at me fell back onto their own heads. The tiger monster, enraged, dodged and roared as it charged up the building's wall. As it dodged the steel spikes, it used the wall as a springboard to raise its tiger claws and attack me.

I raised my arm to block, but it still slapped me hard and sent me flying. My back hit a fire hydrant on the side of the road, and the burst pipe caused an artificial rain to fall on the street.

Although I looked disheveled, I wasn't injured; the bubble wrap covering my entire body had taken the hit for me.

However, the tiger monster that finally hit me was greatly encouraged. It brewed violent golden thunder in its mouth, moved its claws and wrists, and the steel needles that shot out from its back were gradually growing back.

Looking at the water balloon in my hand, I found the answer I was looking for.

"Sorry, Mr. Tiger, it seems I've won this round!"

Chapter Eleven: Spells

(Sun Yao)

"Roar--!"

Faced with the furious roar of the tiger, I patted my skirt and stood up, defiantly speaking in a light and airy tone that was out of character for me.

"Alright, alright~ Mr. Big Cat with Long Horns, how many times have you roared in the last few minutes? It only makes you look incompetent. I've heard that you weirdos also have advanced intelligence, but I can't see any of that in you. Are you just a waste of your human appearance?"

I find the way she talks annoying.

My entire body was wrapped in a magic membrane, so my clothes didn't get wet from the water in the fire hydrant, my long hair and skirt remained light and soft, and there wasn't a single water stain on my body; I felt completely dry.

"Serno, judging from your arrogant tone, you've already figured out a way to deal with your opponent?"

I can't answer Miss Yangyan's question for the time being, because that tiger monster is planning to "press its advantage." Its proud tiger claws are bigger than my head, and if I take two more hits, this coating will probably be completely shattered.

Ultimately, I didn't dodge that attack just now because I wanted it to hit me; I had no intention of getting hit again.

"what!"

It rushed up to me and raised its arm, and I immediately put a magic membrane on it.

Then, as if it had stepped on smooth ice, it slipped and fell headfirst into the paving stones of the square, giving me a resounding thud.

"This is... the friction has disappeared?"

Miss Kagerou, who witnessed this scene, was very surprised.

"Hmm! I think... I've figured out the correct way to use this magic!"

A flash of lightning appeared from the tiger monster's mouth, attempting to shatter the magic membrane covering it.

However, I already knew it would do that.

The surging lightning passed through the magic membrane without any hindrance, blasting a charred crater in the square, but the membrane itself remained completely undamaged.

The tiger monster was completely bewildered when the membrane on its body expanded into a bubble cage, but this time, it had no way to escape.

Miss Yangyan also witnessed this scene and had some guesses about it.

"You let that lightning pass through your membrane, so it wasn't damaged?"

"The results are about the same, but something is not right."

"What do you mean by that?"

“My magic is not about creating bubbles… but about defining a space where I can set the rules.”

"space?"

"It's the inside of the bubble."

"Then what is the establishment of rules?"

"The rules of the bubble depend on my thoughts, because I thought it was a transparent bubble, so light could pass through; similarly, because I thought 'it can breathe and move even when it is enclosed in a membrane,' the bubble did not isolate air and friction; after your reminder, I realized that friction should not exist either, so in the end, this strange person became what he is now."

The tiger-like monster was still struggling helplessly inside the bubble, which was somewhat comical.

"...So what do you plan to do now?"

I still don't have a direct means of attack, but by utilizing this control over entry and exit, I can try some other methods.

The weapon I chose is... water.

Starting just now, the burst fire hydrant has been used for artificial rainmaking.

The water that hits the bubble enters the bubble and doesn't come out again, forming a large number of floating water droplets in the weightless bubble.

"You're planning to choke...no, drown that weirdo?"

"Well, even if I figure out the properties of magic, I still won't be able to attack it. This is the only way I can think of right now."

The tiger-like monster covered its mouth and nose inside the bubble, frantically brushing away the ever-increasing number of water droplets, realizing its impending doom.

It must be a very painful way to die if your lungs are filled with inhaled water.

Ms. Kagerou made a suggestion.

“Serno, if you remove the air now, he will suffer from oxygen deprivation in the vacuum, or his internal organs and bodily fluids will be extracted.”

"It's impossible. Not to mention where the force to expel the air would come from, my magic isn't that easy to control."

"Out of control?"

"It sounds a bit idealistic to explain, but my magic creates a space of 'I believe,' not a space of 'I hope.' Although they sound similar, they are two different concepts. Do you understand?"

"...Magic is a reality that belongs only to oneself. It is not easy to make others fully understand one's own magic, let alone a magic that sounds very complicated. After a detailed analysis, hand it over to the association."

Was I too vague?

Miss Kagerou seems to have given up trying to understand.

Simply put, my magic is to pre-set "entry and exit rules" in my mind and then apply these rules to the bubble. If I set the air to only go out and not in, it might suffocate the monster, but I might also suffocate myself, because it is a rule that I "believe in", so I treat the beings inside the bubble the same.

This rule cannot be easily changed. Once I thought that the Tiger Monster's lightning cannon was also a beam of light and should be able to pass through the bubble, it would become difficult to use the bubble to block it. It might even cause the light to be blocked as well, making it impossible to understand what was inside.

I cannot subjectively formulate overly detailed rules, especially regarding important elements such as air and light, which are not easily shielded, since I myself rely on bubble wrap for protection.

"Ouch, gulp, cough cough—"

At this point, the bubble is about 40% filled with floating water droplets.

It was difficult for the Tiger Monster to avoid inhaling the deadly water droplets. He finally couldn't hold on any longer and coughed up blood from his mouth and nose. However, the violent breathing caused by the coughing filled his lungs with even more fluid. His hands were frantically grabbing at the bubbles that offered no support. The long steel needles that had grown back on his back were constantly shooting outwards, but they were too weak to break the bubbles.

I didn't give these growing steel needles the green light. Luckily, it was already exhausted, otherwise it might have escaped.

This process lasted for several minutes.

Finally, the tiger-like monster, writhing in agony, stopped moving, and all I did was watch it drown.

thump -- thump -- thump --

The heartbeat stimulates the eardrum.

Did we win?