Chapter 178: The Magical Girl with a Tight Schedule.

Noah hadn’t slept much, not because the hotel bed was uncomfortable, since it was quite the opposite.

The problem was that when he woke up, Aria was still hugging him, and when he tried to move without waking her, she immediately opened her eyes.

"Where are you going?"

"I want to get up."

"No."

"Aria."

"Five more minutes."

"You already said that ten minutes ago."

"Then I want another five."

Noah closed his eyes.

That was how the morning had begun.

Then came breakfast, the jokes, Aria reminding him several times that she was very satisfied with her reward, and finally, the problem of returning home with all the bags she had bought the day before.

Noah managed to leave some with Aria, but even so, he had to invent an explanation when he got home.

Luckily, he said he had bought clothes taking advantage of some sales.

Sarah asked how much he had spent, to which Noah changed the subject, while Emma wanted to see every item, but Noah escaped to his room.

Ava watched him for too long and Noah decided not to investigate what she was thinking.

Now he had a more important problem, and that was that Hikari had sent him a message the night before.

[Tomorrow explain to me what I have to do to become a magical girl.]

So Noah was finally going to complete the mission or at least hoped to do so, so he arrived at the high school with the magical object carefully stored in his pocket.

It was the same silver brooch that the goddess had taken several days to select.

Noah still didn’t understand why she needed so much time, but after getting to know Hikari a little better, he admitted that the design was appropriate.

Discreet, elegant, nothing exaggerated, which Hikari would probably approve of.

The problem was finding a place where she could transform without anyone seeing them, so Noah had sent her a message early.

[See you after class, since we need a private place.]

Hikari’s reply took less than a minute.

[How much time do I need to reserve?]

Noah had stayed staring at the screen.

[I don’t know.]

[Approximately?]

[Half an hour.]

[Understood.]

Now, several hours later, Noah was in front of one of the least used buildings of the high school.

Hikari arrived exactly at the agreed time, not a minute before or after.

Noah looked at his phone.

"Impressive."

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You arrived exactly on time."

"That’s normal."

"Not for everyone."

"It should be."

Noah smiled.

"Sure."

Hikari was wearing her usual uniform and also had her bag, which Noah noticed seemed fuller than normal.

"Did you bring books?"

"Yes."

"Are we going to study?"

"Afterwards."

"Afterwards?"

"I have to make the most of the time."

Noah was already starting to understand how Hikari worked.

"Let’s go."

He led her to a small empty room located behind one of the sports buildings.

Luna had used that place before to practice barriers, since normally no one entered.

Noah checked the hallway again before closing the door while Hikari left her bag on a table.

"Will this be enough?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Noah looked at her.

"Nervous?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"I want to check if what you said is true."

"You don’t seem very excited."

Hikari adjusted her glasses.

"I don’t usually get excited before verifying information."

Noah laughed.

"Sure."

He put his hand in his pocket, took out the brooch and Hikari immediately fixed her gaze on it, so Noah held it in front of her.

"This is for you."

Hikari approached.

"What is it?"

"Your magical object."

She observed the brooch.

"How does it work?"

"You put it on."

"And?"

"It should activate."

Hikari raised her gaze.

"Should?"

Noah tensed.

"It’s going to activate."

"Your first answer wasn’t very confident."

"That’s how it worked with the others."

"With how many did you do this?"

Noah started counting mentally.

"With several."

"That’s not a figure either."

"Hikari."

"Yes?"

"Just put it on."

She looked at the object while Noah offered it to her, so Hikari took it and turned it between her fingers.

"Is it dangerous?"

"No."

"Side effects?"

"None that I know of."

"Permanent physical change?"

"No."

"Pain?"

"None."

"Memory loss?"

"Neither."

"Hormonal alterations?"

Noah looked at her.

"What kind of transformation do you think it is?"

"One that physically alters the body and allows the use of unknown energy."

Noah opened his mouth and closed it.

"When you put it that way..."

"Then?"

"I don’t know all the technical details."

Hikari sighed.

"That’s concerning."

"But nothing bad happened with the others."

"How long have they been transforming?"

"Months."

"Medical checkups?"

Noah stayed silent and Hikari looked at him.

"No?"

"Not exactly."

"They should."

Noah brought a hand to his forehead.

"We can talk about that later."

Hikari nodded.

"Fine."

She took off her glasses, left them on the table, then placed the brooch on the upper part of her uniform and for a second nothing happened.

Hikari looked at Noah.

"Was that all?"

"Wait."

The brooch began to glow, so Hikari slightly opened her eyes while a clear light ran through her body.

Noah stepped back one step, since he had seen that process several times, but even so, each transformation was different.

The energy covered Hikari, so her high school uniform disappeared and was replaced by a magical suit.

The design was predominantly white, with golden details with light blue, while the upper part had an elegant and orderly structure.

Nothing especially exaggerated.

The short skirt was formed by several simple layers, while high stockings covered her legs and light gloves appeared on her arms.

The brooch remained integrated in the center of the chest.

Hikari looked at her hands, then her clothes and then at Noah.

"It worked."

Noah smiled.

"I told you."

Hikari raised a hand and a small amount of energy appeared over her palm, to which she observed it.

"This is magic."

"That’s right."

The sphere increased slightly, so Noah approached.

"Be careful."

Hikari reduced the energy immediately.

"I understand."

Noah opened his eyes.

’She controlled that too quickly.’

With Yume, the first attempt had almost destroyed half a park.

Hikari moved her fingers and the sphere appeared again, but then disappeared again.

She made it smaller, then larger while Noah observed her.

"You learn fast."

"I’m just modifying the amount."

"That is usually difficult."

"For all of them?"

Noah remembered Yume.

"Some find it very hard."

Hikari created another sphere, kept it stable, but then raised the other hand and a second one appeared.

Noah smiled.

"Yes, you’re definitely good."

Hikari turned both hands, to which the spheres began to move slowly around her and Noah opened his eyes.

"Wait."

"What?"

"How did you do that?"

"I don’t know."

Hikari observed the spheres.

"I thought about moving them."

"And it worked?"

"You’re seeing it."

Noah stayed silent.

’This one is going to be easy to train.’

The spheres disappeared, so Hikari looked at her suit, then the brooch and finally raised her gaze toward Noah.

"So it was true."

"Yes, everything I told you."

"Magical girls exist."

"That’s right."

"Monsters too."

"Also."

"And they need people to face them."

"Exactly."

Hikari nodded slowly and seemed to be mentally reorganizing everything Noah had told her.

Noah expected some reaction like surprise, concern or maybe excitement, but Hikari asked a question.

"How long does a training normally last?"

Noah stayed still.

"What?"

"The trainings, how long do they last?"

The recruitment was just beginning.