CH 23

“Mokyu, if you get too excited, we’ll get separated.”

“There’s no problem kyu~. No matter where you are, Mokyu always knows where Roze is kyu. I won’t get lost kyu~.”

“I can’t tell where you are, so please don’t get lost.”

Right now we are now at a large department store in the East Ward.

Although the East Ward is a development zone, it is also the area that changes the slowest, there are still many facilities for children such as schools and theme parks. Compared to the West Ward, there are very few buildings here, rather it also played a role as a commuter town, so it could not be recklessly transitioned into development. The current situation is that there are overwhelmingly more ordinary households than facilities for monster countermeasures or companies.

Because of that, the East Ward has a variety of stores compared to other wards and is treated by residents of the development zone as a downtown area that they visit on their days off to stretch their wings.

Naturally, the department store we are currently visiting is no exception, and it was worth the long trip to come here.

“Everyone! The hero will come in a little while! Will everyone be a good kid and wait here?”

“””Yes!!!”””

Department stores, rooftops, children. If you’ve got that far, it goes without saying.

I’m here to see a hero show. No, that’s not my original intention, but this must be fate.

The story goes back a little, but my original purpose was because I was dissatisfied with the small variety of clothes stored in my drawers. The clothes in my drawers have been there since the day I magically changed to a woman, of course, I don’t remember buying or even seeing them, but all of them are too simple. To put it simply, there were only bland items/clothes that could be worn by either men or women.

Of course, there are cute things among those clothes if you look for it, but when I checked, it was really clear that the cuteness parameter was close to zero, even though I had turned into a pretty girl, it’s a waste.

I could have ordered it with my magic phone, but since you’re going to shop anyway, it’s human nature to want to go shopping in person.

And that’s how I ended up at this large department store in the East Ward.

I wasn’t very knowledgeable about clothes, partly because I had little interest when I was a man. To be precise, rather than just clothes, I’m an amateur in all aspects related to girls, but even so, the act of trying on various clothes and checking them in the mirror was a very enjoyable experience. Boyish clothe, formal clothes. Various kinds were recommended to me by the store clerk, and all of them looked good on me, but I wish you would stop bringing me just little girls’ clothes1. I like heroes, but it’s not like I want to wear printed clothes2 too.

In the end, I bought some of the recommended clothes, and right now I’m wearing a white, light, short-sleeved one-piece long dress that contrasts with my black magical girl clothes. With few ribbons and frills (according to my broken sense), and the skirt around the body that spreads out as I spin my body has a certain charm that makes me want to move around and spread it out.

Now I’ve understand why women’s shopping takes so long. After all, now when I bought clothes, I also wanted shoes and accessories that matched it.

Not good, not good. Even though I am a beautiful girl who looks good in everything, if I buy everything I want, there is no way I can afford it, no way I can afford it? I can. Money. Have lots of it.

Since it turned out that there was no problem, I decided to go around to various stores at my leisure until I’m satisfied. However, as expected being greedy and buying everything is going too far, so I just bought thick-soled shoes that would disguise my height a little, a long beautiful ribbon to tie up my hair, and a leather belt watch with purple jewels, which matches my image color.

Since I’ve come this far, I thought I’d change my hairstyle, so I asked Mokyu to help me braid my hair and tie it up with the ribbon I bought. My hair really long.

The braid swinging in the back makes my reflection in the mirror look a little more mature than usual, though I wonder if it is offset by the pretty ribbon accenting at the end of it.

But, well, it can’t be helped. It seems that I have become uncomfortable without ribbons or frills somewhere. I wonder if this can also be called withdrawal symptoms.

After that, I was satisfied with my shopping and was about to go home after lunch when I noticed a poster.

The poster, which begins with the words “Let’s support our heroes” in large letters, shows 4 men and women dressed in colorful suits? . It’s not that unusual for such a large department store to have, the so-called local hero. I don’t know the names of those heroes, but there’s no way I can choose to not go. It would be a stain to a man’s dignity.

Well, after all these twists and turns, I am now on the rooftop to see a hero show.

The rooftop of the department store is large enough to play baseball on, and there is plenty of space for children. There was a stage set up for this event in the center, and in front of it, I could see children and their parents anxiously waiting for the show to start. Although the crowd was a bit sparse, the fact that so many people had gathered there was a clear indication of how much they were looking forward to this hero show.

Still, it is quite refreshing to see so many children gathered here. Since I started living in what is now called the West Ward (though the name was different in the past), the number of children has been decreasing, and as the area become development zone, the number of children has further decreased. Recently, the number of children visiting the convenience store where I work part-time has increased, but even so, I didn’t think this many children would gather here.

In the past, it was a little awkward for me to join such a circle of children and watch a hero show, but now I don’t have any problem with it. After all, I don’t look much different from these kids now! No, I think they are much younger. Besides, my clothes seem a bit more mature.

The clothes I’m wearing, which I just bought, are quite expensive- I didn’t think clothes could be that pricey, so of course, they are also of good quality for the price. I like the clothes very much because they are very comfortable to wear and to touch, but it’s definitely not what I would wear to a hero’s show. Well, I don’t really care about that kind of staff.

I could feel some people’s eyes on me from a little while ago, but they were instantly dissipated by the appearance of “the onee-san who is going to be captured by the monsters” on the stage. It was the beginning of the hero show.

The story of the hero show was very simple and clear. The story was a typical “good versus evil” type of story. One day, the onee-san, who was living peacefully, was captured by the monsters who suddenly appeared it also took the audience hostage, and then the heroes appeared.

“Wait! Phantom Jockey!”

“You’re Daito Red! Are you going to get in my way again!?”

“I won’t let you do what you like! Let’s go, everyone!”

Red, blue, green, and pink, the four heroes joined forces to knock down the monsters.

The venue was filled with excitement as they performed various performances while delivering the iron hammer of justice to the monster.

However, although they seemed to be defeating the monsters smoothly, they were outnumbered, and the monster jockey delivered a powerful blow that nearly defeated the heroes.

“Everyone! Follow onee-san and support the heroes! Let’s help the hero with everyone’s support (cheer)! Ready, do your best!”

“””Do your best!!!”””

Of course, I raise my voice too. Go for it, Heroes!

The cheers of many children filled the sky, and there’s no heroes who won’t stand up again when they heard that cheers.

The four who had been on their knees stood up with all their might and turned to face the monster.

“Children’s encouragement is our strength!”

The four heroes stood up, and the monsters were powerless against them, and in the end, the monster disappeared after it received the final special move.

The victorious heroes thanked the children, who cheered them on.

This is what an ideal hero should be like.

“Well, that was fun, wasn’t it, Mokyu?”

“Kyu~. It was a very easy-to-understand and exciting show. It was worth the trip coming here kyu~.”

“Well, it’s only a few minutes away if you use magic though.”

Sitting on a bench, I share my thoughts with Mokyu while eating ice cream.

Come to think of it, since I became like this, no matter how much I eat, there isn’t any change in my weight. The same goes for my height.

I like sweets, so I can’t help but eat too much of them. Though as long as I don’t gain weight, there is no problem, but.

“Roze, is the hero show still going on kyu~?”

“No, I don’t remember this kind of show being performed in a row…what’s wrong?”

“Kyu~. Looks like they’re preparing something again. kyu~”

“Huh, you’re right.”

I thought that the stage where the show was supposed to have ended was being cleaned up, but it was being transformed into a new stage with the same set, but with slightly different coloring and decorations. As I watched, I noticed a large signboard clearly indicating what the show was about

“Magical Girl Rinrin”. I see?

“It looks like a new hero show, the magical girl variety. That’s rare.”

“Rare? I think it’s pretty normal kyu~.”

“Putting aside if the place is indoors, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it performed outdoors. I don’t know much about it either though. But in this day and age, maybe this way is easier for people to understand.”

“Kyu~. Monsters and magical girls are now a problem that the general public cannot afford to ignore kyu~.I don’t know what kind of story it is, but there may be people who come to see it specifically because of that kyu~.”

“You’re right. There are more people now than before.”

If you look closely, you can see more and more people gathering on the rooftop. While the Sentai Hero Show attracted mainly boys, the Magical Girl Show was supposed to attract mainly girls. However, the people I can see now are not girls, but also people of all ages. I had never heard of this show, but perhaps it had received a lot of publicity here in the East Ward.

The crowd in front of the stage is more crowded than before, and there doesn’t seem to be any space for me to fit in, let’s just sit on the benches and observe quietly.

As I decided to go see the magical girl hero show, a familiar voice called out to me from the side.

“Um, it’s been a while. Is the seat next to you open?”

Before I knew it, there was a girl standing next to me, she was the one who approached me at a convenience store while I was working part-time a while ago, and has very strict ideal about heroes.

The child, who seems to be Takanashi Momo, after we introduced ourselves and sat next to each other, suddenly apologized.

I was surprised at her suddenness, but it seemed that she was worried about our previous conversation at the convenience store.

She apologized but, even so in the first place, I don’t intend to say anything strongly about other people’s personal opinions, so I don’t think she needs to worry too much about it, but well, her apologizing makes her feel better, guess it’s fine.

“Since Roze-chan asked me to support heroes, for the first time I come here to see it. I heard that there was a magical girl hero show, so I wondered what it would be like. What kind of hero would everyone want to support?”

“I see. Well, it’s my first time watching a magical girl hero show, so I’m also curious.”

I want her to take this opportunity to come to love heroes. No, probably it’s because she likes them, that she’s very strict about heroes, but I want her to know that children’s support(cheer) is indeed a source of strength.

I thought the Magical Girl Hero show would follow a similar storyline to Sentai, but it was a little different.

There are heroes, there are monsters, and there are children cheering them on. The composition itself was the same, but the process of getting there and what they wanted to convey were clearly different.

There was an ordinary girl in a certain place. She received magical powers from a mysterious animal and became a magical girl. The magical girl’s enemy is a black, sludgy monster. The girl tries to defeat the monster with her magical powers, but her strength is not enough. The monster turns its attention to the audience and is about to attack, the onee-san shouted.

“Everyone, follow onee-san and let’s support the magical girls! Ready, do your best!”

“””””Do your best!!!”””””

I see. Obviously, someone who knows about magical girls must have made this. Magical girls and mysterious animals are, well, I guess, it’s a common combination, but I can’t think of a muddy monster except for “Wanderer,” and heroes in hero shows don’t go out of their way to get tattered. Rather than the ideal kind of coolness, it’s rather an unsightly kind of coolness. And the emphasis on the ordinary girl in the show suggests that the filmmakers knew what they were doing.

“It was a good show right, Takanashi-chan.”

“Yeah. The magical girl, did her best.”

I think it was a very good show. It is not so simple and clear for children, but it will be firmly engraved in the hearts of the adults who came to see it. When they actually see a magical girl, maybe they will remember this show and thought to themselves that maybe magical girls are also just an ordinary girls.

I don’t know how long this magical girl hero show has been going on, but surely it will help the magical girls.

I got to buy the clothes I wanted and see a fun hero show. I’m satisfied.

“Well, I think I’ll go home now. See you later.”

“Yes! Thanks for seeing the show with me! Um, do you want to exchange contact information?”

Takanashi-chan seems to have enjoyed it too, and her excitement had not cooled down.

As for exchanging contact information, well, that’s okay. I don’t think my talks will match with a normal junior high school girl, but we could talk about heroes and have some fun.

We both took out our cell phones and were about to exchange contact information when the magic cell phone in my pocket vibrated. it was in silent mode, so there was no sound, but I wondered if “Wanderer” had appeared.

I felt like I was being poured cold water, but working as a hero is one of the things I look forward to.

As I was about to leave Takanashi-chan early and head to the site, I saw her staring at her cell phone and trembling.

“No way…why…!?”

I don’t know what was on her cell phone, but she was trembling and looking frightened.

She was so confused that she couldn’t see me, but whatever it was, I tried to call her out first, when I suddenly felt a chill, I sensed malice and it was close enough that I could feel it without even transforming. Anger, fright, mockery. Various negative emotions swirled around and became a clear malice that pierced my skin. On the stage where the show had just been performed the malice gathered, gathered, and gathered. Finally, it transforms into a black, ugly, mucous monster.

Before the people, the “Wanderer” appeared.