Regarding the fact that my best friend is a magical girl

I sighed, "Miss Spica, let's get down to business. I'm still worried about that werewolf, and I'm planning to go for another trip to the suburbs."

"You are not responsible for the UI-31 incident. The association and the police have already deployed personnel."

"UI? User interface?"

Spica replied, "It means 'unusually invader,' a special code name that distinguishes it from a regular external invader."

"Since its number is 31, then..."

I realized what he meant halfway through the question.

Was the one before a witch?

"Ah."

Seruno raised her hand and asked, "Miss Spica, perhaps this werewolf is one of the 30 magical girls?"

"No, according to the drone's scan results, there is no Star Crystal in his body, only a pseudo-factor of an outsider."

I recalled the green object the werewolf pulled out of the stump monster's remains.

"The mimicry factor, does it refer to that mineral-like substance inside the monster's body?"

When I asked this, Seruno exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear! Miss Miluno, you secretly worked as a magical girl for a year, yet you didn't know anything about this?"

Is this "pseudo-factor" some kind of open secret?

"I really don't know much about it, and I've never dissected a strange person's corpse..."

Although it may seem ignorant, I will honestly admit it.

If you don't understand, you don't understand. Pretending to understand will only make things more difficult to understand.

"Hey! Great! Let me explain!"

Seruno couldn't hide her smugness; she finally had a chance to show off her knowledge of magical girls.

"The so-called 'simulation factor'! That's the star crystal of the monsters. This special substance can be found in the body of every outsider. It does look like a mineral. According to current research, the simulation factor is not only the source of power for the monsters, but also a pass to enter this world."

"Pass?"

“That’s right. Didn’t Miss Miluno have any questions? The monsters are clearly from other worlds, so why do they have features of Earth things on them? Like the lava monster’s lava, the tiger monster’s various animal features, and that wooden stake just now.”

"Only by becoming like that can one pass through the phase wormhole."

“Oh! As expected of Miss Miluno! That’s right, ‘the other side’ uses pseudo-factors to create monsters that look like they’re native to Earth. Only in this way can they avoid being rejected by this world and achieve their invasion plan… Um, Miss Spica, am I right?”

After speaking in an exaggerated tone for a while, Seruno remembered that there was an expert sitting in front of her, and then stopped her presumptuous explanation.

Spica had been looking at her without saying anything, and only nodded when asked.

"You're right. Apart from researchers, very few people pay attention to those weirdos anymore. There's also been no popular science education about the mimicry factor. This is already knowledge in the professional field. How can you know so much about it? Have you read through those public but boring research reports?"

Seruno scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly.

"Hehe, I have read a little bit, but there are many parts that I don't understand."

Spica seems to really like Seruno. That silly girl is so naive, I'm actually worried that Spica will throw her into the wormhole.

I tried to steer the conversation back to today's topic.

“Miss Spica, that werewolf… UI-31 can absorb the mimicry factors of other monsters. I don’t know if there’s an upper limit to this ability, but if we leave it unchecked, it will become even more dangerous. Right now, what could be more important than this?”

Spica sat down opposite me and took a sip of her black tea.

"Let me state my conclusion first: Seruno may be being targeted by 'the other side'."

"Huh! I'm being targeted? Me?"

Seruno pointed to herself in surprise, and Spica explained, "That's right, but it could also be the two of you. After all, it's just a guess, and I'm not entirely sure of my conclusion. But haven't you noticed that the frequency of the strange people appearing is unusual?"

Three days, four wormholes, five strange people.

This is indeed more frequent than ever before.

"I understand what you mean, but perhaps Seruno is just having bad luck?"

"The probability is too low. This wormhole actually appeared right above your heads this morning. It can't be explained by coincidence."

"Then what do you want us to do? Are you going to drive Seruno out of the city just because she attracts weirdos?"

And indeed, Spica nodded.

"I need you to leave Changkong City for a while, about five days."

"..."

I just watched her like that.

She continued, "I've prepared a resort hotel for you in the Hawaiian Islands, and the cost of your five-day trip will be reimbursed... In short, why don't you two go on a trip together?"

As she spoke, she pulled two plane tickets from under the table: a direct flight from Changchun International Airport to Honolulu International Airport in the Hawaiian Islands, with no layover required...

"Of course, you can also choose to use the branch's wormhole tunnel, which will allow you to airdrop into the Hawaiian Islands in just ten minutes."

"I refuse."

I immediately interrupted her.

After I rejected him twice, Spica looked embarrassed.

But if these invasions were really aimed at me and Seruno, then staying in the city is not a good idea. Although we have maintained zero casualties for a period of time, the city will inevitably be damaged every time we fight the monsters.

"What I mean is that I'm willing to fly there, but before that, could you explain why I also need to come along?"

“Besides Serino, you are also a magical girl who is present at every invasion. Although the possibility is much smaller, we cannot rule out the possibility that ‘the other side’ is targeting you, Miluno… After all, you are much stronger than the other magical girls.”

"Is it an evening flight?"

I glanced at the plane ticket.

"Your schedule is really tight."

Seeing that I had agreed, a hint of joy flashed in Spica's eyes. She quickly said, "If you're not satisfied, you can change your ticket. The association serves magical girls, so feel free to make requests of this magnitude."

"No need. Since all expenses have been covered, we don't need to prepare anything."

Then I remembered that Seruno hadn't agreed yet, so I turned to ask that idiot.

"Serno, what do you think?"

But she was sitting there fidgeting, too shy to speak.

"Um, Miss Spica, when we go to Hawaii... can I... can I bring a friend?"

friend?

But besides me, what else does Serino have...?

Holy crap?!

Prologue: Waiting for the Flight

(Sun Yao)

In the spacious airport boarding area, Miluno and I were waiting for our flight in half an hour when Ms. Yin Wei, carrying large and small bags, rushed over.

"These bags... Miss Yin Wei, are you coming with us too?"

"Well, someone will need to support you over there. For example, is your English good enough to communicate with the locals?"

Because of my childhood experiences, I can speak some Esperanto, but my English is definitely not good enough to have oral conversations with foreigners.

"...Then I'll trouble you."

Ms. Yin Wei is very reliable; having her around makes me feel at ease.

"I am the association's liaison officer, and this is part of my job. Besides, you two have first-class tickets, so there's no need for you to wait here. There's a dedicated VIP lounge and boarding gate up ahead."

She spoke with a professional smile, making even the ground staff next to her pale in comparison.

"We're flying first class? What about you?" I asked.

"I'm in business class, and my seat is right outside your first class section. If there's anything you can't talk to the flight attendants about, I can make arrangements."

"Like a butler."

"Yes, I will be your butler for the time being."

She then explained to the ground staff standing nearby.

"These two ladies are in first class. Please take them to the lounge area."

"Oh well."

The ground staff didn't recognize me; Miluno and I were both in disguise.

Compared to me, Miss Miluno's disguise was rather perfunctory; she simply put on a plain white mask and changed her clothes.

"I can't believe we were at Long Moon Lake this morning and now we're going to Hawaii this afternoon... But is it really okay for Miluno and me to both leave?"

And it's a full five days. What if another strange person appears in the D3 area?

"Don't worry, other magical girls will be transferred over. These days, compared to the oddballs who only appear once every ten days or half a month, there are still more than enough magical girls."

I was taken aback by Ms. Yin Wei's answer.

"Since there are enough people, why weren't any magical girls transferred over when Miss Kagerou was hospitalized?"

"...Well, we were short-staffed at the time."

wrong.

The so-called "filling the combat power gap left by Kagerou" was just a pretext prepared to make me become a magical girl.

Realizing this, I felt a little cheated.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Sigh, I think I know why Miss Miluno hates the Association."

They claim to be an organization serving magical girls, but in reality, it's all about scheming.

But I have no complaints about it. If Miss Yin Wei hadn't taken me out of the police station, I wouldn't have been able to become a magical girl, and I would have had to face criticism from public opinion. So... I'm quite grateful to her.

I asked again, "Then Yezi... isn't my friend taking this flight?"

Miss Yin Wei glanced at Miluno.