Chapter 17 - Magical Girl@Master (4)
"Aaah~~~."
"Again."
"Aaah~~~."
"Again."
"...Ah~."
"Again."
Alice made an "ahhh" sound, and I asked her to repeat it. We had been repeating this for hours, and Alice's expression had become soulless.
"This is a bit difficult. Can you really put mana in your voice?"
"Of course, it's just that Alice is not yet familiar with magic and mana."
Despite being a magical girl, Alice wasn't very skilled with magic, as she didn't often get to use it as an idol.
She couldn't even channel her mana into her voice.
If she can do that, we're basically done.
"You may not realize it, Alice, but when you sing, you subconsciously channel mana into your voice. You just need to learn to control it."
"Hiing, it's too hard."
"Hmm... Well, let me help you with that."
In the original story, a special event led Alice to learn to control her powers. I suppose it's not easy without a catalyst.
However, it can't be helped. I can only guide her to realize it.
I went behind Alice, slipped my hand under her clothes, and touched her back.
"Kyaaa?!"
"It's a little embarrassing, but bear with me. From now on, I'm going to flow my mana into your body, and I want you to feel the flow."
This process is similar to what I did with Jung Ha-Yeon. The difference is that now I'm going to channel my mana directly into Alice's body, whereas before, I was just sensing the mana in Jung Ha-Yeon's body.
Little by little, I began to channel my mana into Alice's body, and she shuddered as she felt it.
"I-I feel something strange!"
"That's because someone else's mana is inside your body. It's going to feel awkward, but try to feel it."
"Mmm, mmm...... Hmmm..."
I continued to circulate my mana inside Alice's body, mainly through her neck, to spread throughout her body.
"Can you feel it now? Your neck is gradually gathering more and more mana. So you're going to use this sensation to gather the mana on your own-"
"Ah, ahhhhh, hehehe. That feels gooooddddd."
Alice's condition seemed strange, so when I looked at her face, she was smiling with a stupid expression.
Now that her body was filled with pure mana, she couldn't help but feel good. As a magical girl, she couldn't resist falling in love with pure mana.
I quickly removed my hand from Alice's back.
"Ah! Nooo..."
Alice gave me a regretful look when I removed my hand.
"It's not good to let other people's mana into your body too much. It's time to do it yourself."
"...Okay."
Alice agreed, concentrating on circulating the mana in her body while glancing at my hand.
"So, you focused your mana on your neck, right?"
"Yep. I think I can feel something gathering there."
"Now try making a sound with it and feel it slowly flowing into your voice."
"Aaah~~~."
Alice's voice sounded a little different; it was still beautiful, but there was a slight hint of charm in her voice.
Still immature, but it was a success.
"Ms. Hye-Ri- Ms. Producer, I think I've made it!"
Alice's eyes widened, as if she had noticed something different.
"Yes, it's a success. Now let's practice so that you can control it more skillfully."
"Yes!"
Alice's first success in hours motivated her to follow my lead, and we continued practicing until that evening.
"I think you've completely gotten the hang of mana control now."
"Really?!"
"Yep. There's nothing more I need to teach you."
After all, she's a starring character in a manga, so once she starts learning, she's quick to adapt.
"That's it! I'm successful now, right?"
"Yes, you've mastered mana control."
You succeeded at putting mana into your voice.
"So, shall we rest today and do the next exercise tomorrow?"
"Yes! I can rest now, and tomorrow we'll do the next... what?"
So it's time to move on to the next step.
Alice's body stiffened at my words. I chuckled inwardly—Alice, don't think this is that simple. Did you think it would end in just one day?
"Cheer up. It's all for the people, isn't it?"
"...Okay."
Alice muttered, realizing she'd have to take care of her throat starting tomorrow.
"Again."
"I-is it still not enough?"
"I think you can do a little more, just one more time."
"I think I've heard you say 'just one more time' like 113 times now?"
Haha, when I feel like you're good at something, I'm going to push you to do it one more time. If I do that and you're doing better than before, it's not weird if one time becomes 100 times.
I continued tutoring Alice for a few more days. Eventually, she reached the level I wanted her to be at.
I decided it was time to take it a little easier on her.
"Okay, that's good. You can take a break."
"Oooh! Can I finally take a break for the first time?"
"That means Alice has gotten much better."
"Hehe. It's all thanks to Ms. Producer's teaching."
I handed Alice some water. Her throat probably burned from all the practice.
After she drank the water, Alice sat down and asked., "By the way, Ms. Producer, you said that the terrorist attacks would be on Saturday two weeks from now, right?"
"Yes. On that day, those fu... bastards are going to cause an accident."
I almost swore in front of my idol. I shouldn't. Idols shouldn't learn to swear.
I already knew it, but when the section chief handed over the monster lure device to an expert for examination, the device was designed to be activated on a Saturday two weeks later.
"Honestly, I'm a little scared. I'm a hero, but I'm just an idol. I can't imagine a monster appearing in a city like this."
"It's up to us to fight the monster, so you don't have to worry about it, Alice. You have your own job, right?"
It's Alice's job to keep the attention on herself so that the monsters don't scare people away.
The venue where Alice is holding her concert is far away from where the attack will take place, but just in case.
"Ms. Producer, I mean, Team Leader 5, you're amazing, always fighting villains like that, right?"
"There aren't many villains who pull off big events like this, but we've faced many."
There will be many more in the future. I'll just have to make sure they don't endanger the citizens.
"Ms. Alice, you're amazing too. Isn't it hard being an idol? You're famous all over the world, so I'm sure you don't have a comfortable personal life."
"Hehe, it's hard; that's why I always disguise myself by wearing a wig, even when I go to the convenience store in front of my house."
Ah, I thought I'd have to disguise myself when I went out on patrol, too.
"That must be really hard."
"But it means people like me, so I should be grateful."
We sat next to each other on the floor and chatted for a while, and after a few days of being stuck together, Alice was completely comfortable with me.
"Oh, by the way, Ms. Producer. I have a favor to ask you."
"Yes, what is it?"
"That... after I've mastered all the magic Mr. Producer is talking about and I've stopped the terrorism without incident, will you give me a prize?"
"A prize? What do you want?"
I can buy her anything, as long as it's not seriously expensive. Even if I'm a government official, the members of the Awakened Crime Division get paid a lot. I can afford most things.
What would the star idol like to have?
"You know that thing you did last time, where Ms. Producer put her mana into my body. Can you do that again?"
"......"
"Ever since that day, I can't stop thinking about that feeling......"
Alice's embarrassed speech left me speechless.
Next time, let's not give my mana away to other magical girls.
"Don't those two look good together?"
"Who."
"What do you mean who, I mean Ms. Hye-Rim and Alice."
Jung Ha-Yeon and Lee Mi-Na were looking at Shin Hye-Rim and Alice standing side by side in the lounge of the Hero Association.
It had been five days since Shin Hye-Rim started showing up at the Hero Association. Initially, the heroes would shudder and avoid her, but now they had grown accustomed to her presence and found it natural to see her around.
They realized she wasn't there to arrest them, so there was no need to fear her.
"I heard she was tutoring her, but they seem to have become quite close."
Lee Mi-Na looked amusedly at Shin Hye-Rim and Alice, who were getting along well.
Initially, Alice seemed to struggle getting along with Shin Hye-Rim, but now they were completely comfortable with each other and treated each other like close friends.
"Don't you think they look like sisters? They even look alike, so I think they could pass as family."
Alice had light blonde hair like Shin Hye-Rim. Unlike Shin Hye-Rim's slightly wavy hair, Alice's was straight. With Alice being about one head shorter than Shin Hye-Rim, they looked like sisters standing side by side.
"What do you mean 'sisters.'"
Unlike Lee Mi-Na's cheerful expression, Jung Ha-Yeon watched Alice with narrowed eyes.
"They spend a lot of time together every day, so obviously they're getting along."
Sipping her coffee, she turned away from them again. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't particularly want to see Shin Hye-Rim and Alice so close together.
"Don't be so jealous. You got Ms. Hye-Rim's tutoring anyway, so you can be like her later."
"Who said I was jealous? It's not like that."
"Really? You don't mind Ms. Hye-Rim petting Alice like that?"
"...What?"
Jung Ha-Yeon turned her head again to see that Shin Hye-Rim was indeed stroking Alice's hair.
"Ehehe."
Looking at the two of them, Jung Ha-Yeon felt her chest tighten again.
Something about that felt strange. Every time Shin Hye-Rim shows affection to another person like that, Jung Ha-Yeon gets a strange feeling.
"I'm leaving. I need to be on standby in case another gate appears."
Jung Ha-Yeon turned and left briskly. Looking at her back, Lee Mi-Na smirked.
"You're so dishonest."