Chapter 05 – Our First Team Mission

We started walking down a dirt path. On both sides, the forest was filled with strange creatures: pigeon-rats, dolphin-snakes, fairies, and fire insects.
I thought this was worse than being in Australia, because at least there you could kill these things with fire. At the same time, I was glad I wasn’t born or living there.

One might think I’m exaggerating, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. If someone from my old world were suddenly transported here, they’d probably want to die at the sight of all this… or curl up in a fetal position.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared to death, but I had to be brave—for Mizu, Akane, and Mizuki.

For a moment, I considered using my Dark Magic to kill those bugs, but I decided to save my mana for the Dragon Potatoes. I straightened my back, tilted my head slightly, and stood firm.

“Are you okay, Taiyaki?” Mizuki asked. “Are you nervous about your first mission?”
“Don’t worry, Mizuki, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry,” I replied.

She smiled with relief and told me everything would be fine. I nodded back with a smile, and we continued walking.

Before I knew it, we saw them—Dragon Potatoes. They were brown dragons, with potato-shaped tips at the ends of their tails and bright blue eyes. We got ready to attack, but before we could make the first move, they launched blue fire at us.

We dodged as best as we could and counterattacked. Akane pulled out a fire machine gun and began firing blazing bullets; Mizuki used telekinesis to crush some of them with huge chunks of earth; Mizu created a field of light to protect us from their attacks.
I drew my katana, wrapping it in Dark Magic energy, and began slashing off heads.

I moved as fast as I could, like a mix between a samurai and a ninja, until I heard the cat’s voice in my mind:
You have to cut their heads off quickly so they can’t regenerate.

“Where were you, Miku?” I asked mentally.
“I’ve been watching you to see if you could make friends. Looks like you’re doing well, but focus now. In case you’re wondering, I’m in a pocket dimension where magical animals like me can hide. Sorry for not telling you earlier, but part of your journey as a Magical Girl is learning to handle things on your own. So try not to make too many mistakes.”

Encouraged by her words, I shouted:
“Series of Sharp Cuts, Dragon-Slaying Darkness Strikes!”

Faster than lightning, I managed to cut half their heads off, while Mizu, Akane, and Mizuki kept the others busy. However, one of them managed to scratch my leg before falling.

Even though I was wounded, I felt no pain. I remembered that when I became a Magical Girl, my wish had included that neither I nor Cleer would feel pain—and she had wished for a bit of luck for us. I had forgotten, but the moment brought it back.

I also remembered that, ever since I reincarnated as a girl, some memories from my past life had started fading, while others remained. I didn’t know if it was because of my magic or because I was, technically, a different person. Maybe the goddess had done it so I wouldn’t have too many psychological problems with my new body… but now wasn’t the time to think about that.

Akane and Mizuki rushed over, alarmed by my injury.
“Taiyaki, are you okay?”
“Relax, I’m fine. It’s nothing serious.”

Mizu approached.
“Don’t worry, Taiyaki, I’ll heal you.”

She used a light spell, and in two minutes my leg was as good as new. I thanked her, and when everything was calm, the four of us carried the dragon corpses back to the city.

In my mind, I knew things would only get harder. If these dragons were already this dangerous, I didn’t even want to imagine fighting the Demon Queen’s army. But that was a problem for the future.

For now, what mattered was figuring out why some memories were fading and others weren’t… and why I felt more and more comfortable in this body.

When we got back, some knight-police were waiting for us.
“I see you’ve got the Dragon Potatoes. Here’s your payment.”

They handed each of us a pouch with 5,000 gold coins—worth about 5,000 dollars. That was a lot for this kind of mission, so I wasn’t about to complain.

Next, we would have to find the fifth Magical Girl to complete our team, but Mizu said we should shop for a few things first. Mizuki suggested buying me clothes, and Akane wanted to change my hairstyle.

I just scratched my head with an awkward laugh, but nodded. In the end, we’d spend some time together before our next adventure.