Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume SS - Chapter 3.3

Chapter 3 – Supplies 

Lina arrived in Tokyo on the twenty-seventh of December 2095 Japanese time. She did not enter the country as the USNA’s soldier Major Sirius, but as a civilian overseas exchange student visiting Japan called Angelina Kudou Shields. 

Her race appears to be completely Germanic White when going by appearance, but Lina is actually one quarter Japanese through her grandfather. Having always dreamed of visiting Japan one day, Lina had learned Japanese with zeal. With that blessing, even if there is a sudden mission to infiltrate Japan, the level of her language skills will not be an issue in completing it. After Lina finally arrived at the apartment building that had been reserved by the embassy as Lina’s residence for her stay in Japan, she sallied forth into town without pausing to take a breather. 

Her destination was in the north-western part of the capital city’s city centre. There, she had heard there was a store which deals in the special outfits of the style that appeared in Abigail’s catalogue, and so she decided to visit. 

Furthermore, she had heard about it during that discussion with Abigail. Not only did she provide the information to Lina, she had also sent a letter of introduction addressed to the store’s owner by email. The option of coldly refusing a friend’s kindness, it was impossible for Lina. 

Using nothing but the information terminal’s navigation she managed to reach the store, which was located on the middle floor of a community building. The atmosphere was a little dubious, but not impure. The entrance was adorned with a large ‘information pose’ holography in the shape of a young girl with blonde hair styled in twin tails, wearing a flashy kimono with cut away shoulders and adorned with an apron. 

「ご案内ポーズ」  「Information Pose」 

The kimono was much gaudier than the one Lina was to purchase. And the hair colour did not feel out of place with that kimono. 

(Oh, well, it will be okay if it’s like this.) 

Nodding once, Lina crossed the store’s threshold. Above the store’s entrance was the store’s name, which had a small ‘Cosplay Shop’ added next to it, though she failed to notice that. 

“Welcome!” 

Entering the store, Lina was received by a female stop assistant with a large ribbon on her head. 

I dare say, for a cool beauty who appeared to be in her early twenties, such an oversized ribbon, one which appears not unlike that of a small child, would be unsuitable under normal circumstances, but here that gap engendered a curious charm. It was as though a character that appeared in fiction had suddenly appeared in the real world. 

“Huh? Oh, I was referred here by Abigail Stuart, is the manager-san around?” 

These were Lina’s words because she had been instructed by Abigail to ‘say this first’.  

“Ah, yes. The manager, one moment.” 

The shop assistant immediately proceeded to call the store manager. 

Lina surveyed the inside of the store. Abigail had thought this was a kimono speciality store, but the clothing on display was truly a varied variety. 

(That’s a China dress, isn’t it? Over there is a maid outfit……? And that’s an unfinished olden knight’s outfit…… Just what is this store?) “Welcome! Hello! Thank you for coming!” (Said in English) The troubled Lina was received by a voice in high spirits. 

“I’m Nakagawa, the manager! Thank you for coming from such a distant place.” (They are a woman, aren’t they?) 

Their height was just over 5’6’’ (about 170cm), with a low voice, wearing a casual suit, short hair in a 7-3 style, and with an entirely slender form, though a small swelling can be seen around the bosom. It is the same as the swelling a female solider would have when their chest is being pressed down by body armour. Some men paint their lips, but there are few men who make use of eyeliner. 

“Lina-san, isn’t it? I heard about you previously from Comrade Abigail. You really are a beautiful girl aren’t you.” 

(They are a woman……right?) 

Lina’s mastery of Japanese is to the extent that she is able to understand that the manner of speech the manager is using is ‘feminine speech’. ‘Feminine speech’ went out of fashion in everyday conversation from the end of the twentieth century and into the first half of this century, but, after the war, it was reinstated. Therefore, usually if you consider the store manager’s speech, it would be corroborating evidence that she is a woman, but for some reason, her gender was unclear. 

“Erm, you said from before……?” 

By no means could she go and ask; ‘Are you a woman? Or else are you a man?’. Lina averted her consciousness away from that direction by resolving another question. 

“Comrade Abigail, I’ve been socialising with her for more than five years now. We’ve never met in person, but we have been socialising via SNS.” 

“More than five years……” 

Lina and Abigail met for the first time four years ago. In other words, this store manager’s relationship with Abigail has been longer than Lina’s has. 

She won’t admit it herself, but Lina has few friends, especially friends close in age. The age gap between Lina and Abigail is five years. By ordinary standards that is a considerable age gap for mutual friends to be separated by, but as far as Lina is concerned, she is a precious friend close in age. 

That the relationship had been longer than her own with ‘Abby’. She was not aware of it, but Lina had become jealous of the store manager. 

“As such, here, please take this.” 

However, just by seeing what was shown on the information terminal’s screen, the jealousy towards the manager was blown away from Lina’s consciousness (unconsciousness?). 

It showed a young girl with blonde hair wearing a tube top with loads of frills and a similar miniskirt with a superabundance of ruffles. The level of exposure in the image is not frugal, with the legs, shoulders and stomach of her immature body exposed to the point that if you made a mistake, and even one step was wrong, it would be called child pornography and must be restricted. 

The girl in the still image was definitely herself from four years ago, from during her first mission for Stars, when she was tricked into wearing a costume halfway through. 

Lina realised her face was flushed. She did not need a mirror to see herself to know she was blushing. She struggled to supress the urge to scream out loudly. 

“Erm……, if possible, can we keep that a secret……” 

“Hmm? Ah, I humbly beg your pardon. This is the sort of thing people enjoy by themselves in secret, isn’t it?” 

It’s not how it looks! The words arrived in her throat, but Lina restrained herself. After this, she must cooperate with the other party. She cannot wreck a good plan due to being in a bad mood over the old days. ——To speak figuratively, even if it is a part of her dark history she wishes to erase from memory. 

“I heard from Comrade Abigail what you want. I will get it ready at once, so can you please sit there and wait?” 

The manager pointed to a traditional square chair which looked like it belonged in the Palace of Versailles back at the beginning of the 18th Century, one with a truly classical glitter. Furthermore, it has been placed in a position one step higher than the floor. To lower your body to sit on it, the determination necessary to do so is not little. 

While the manager is giving instructions to the shop assistant, Lina empties her mind and sits down in the chair. 

It is pleasant to be able to sit down, but also uncomfortable. 

It would not have been a problem if Lina was the only one inside the store, but unfortunately, circumstances were not so agreeable. 

From the moment she entered the store, Lina had felt gazes stealing a glance the entire time. If it were a man’s eyes she could protest, but it is other female customers doing nothing but glancing intermittently and whispering to each other. So, she is not able to complain about sexual harassment. 

The energy in the gazes stealing a glance increased all the more upon sitting in this chair. Neither sexual nor unpleasant, the eyes were sparkling without malice, so as a result Lina was unable to do anything about them. 

Is it yearning? It was as though they were fans turning to look at a movie star, that is how It felt to Lina. 

“Manager-san, is it okay to ask something?” 

Now, for the sake of escaping this discomfort, Lina decided to ask something she thought was insignificant. 

“Ask something?” 

“Manager-san, why do you call Abby ‘comrade’? 

In response to Lina’s question, a puzzled look floated across the manager’s face. 

“Because we are comrades? As in the expression ‘gentlemen of similar tastes* ’, are you not acquainted?” 

“That means people who have similar interests, does it not?” Lina replied with little confidence. 

The manager nodded a ‘yes’ at Lina’s response and continued speaking. 

“We are also comrades, are we not?” 

“How are we comrades?” 

At this question of Lina’s, the manager laughed and smiled complacently. 

For some reason, that smile was wicked and sent a chill down Lina’s spine as she sat upon the chair. It wasn’t frightening. It was creepy. 

“Lina-san. The magic of the present, don’t you think it has no dreams?” 

“Dreams…?” 

This question, it was not back-channelling , she didn’t understand what the manager meant. 

Although the shivering had not subsided, she was not able to neglect the suspicions which had floated across her mind. 

“An enumeration of inorganic numbers and symbols. Used to bring about brutality and destruction. That is the only story now……” 

As she was saying that the manager brought her face close and lowered her voice. 

“I, used to be a magician of the national self-defence force until just eight years ago.” 

“Eh!?” 

“Shhhh!” 

The manager splutters as she raises their index finger in front of her mouth and winks. 

Lina covered her mouth with one hand in a fluster. 

“Although I lost my ability in an incident and had to retire from military service.” “That…… is very unfortunate.” 

“No, not at all, no need for concern. I understood when I retired, I simply wasn’t suited to it. Magic should be more sparkly and fluffier, that is what I came to believe during the time I was in active service.” 

“Sparkly, and fluffier?” 

What the manager wanted to say…… no, what the manager was saying, Lina honestly couldn’t comprehend it at all. 

“Generally, if the aim is just to fell the enemy, then firearms are more than adequate, aren’t they? In reality, there are no evil spirts which will not fall without the use of magic.” 

Lina did not voice her dissent. It was not just the manager, at this point in time Lina also did not believe in the existence of evil spirits, she did not know about them yet. 

“Magical Girls who wage war are scandalous! Magical Girls are an existence which should bestow dreams, fulfil dreams!” 

Abruptly, the manager heatedly made a major emphasis. 

“…………” 

Lost for words, Lina stared at the manager in silence. 

Concerned about her gaze, the manager curbs their behaviour. 

“Though it would seem, regrettably, that Comrade Abigail and my opinions differ on this point. Comrade Abigail affirms the heresy of ‘Magical Girls who wage war’.  

The manager shakes their head as if to say it was deplorable. 

But in Lina’s case, it was only natural for a magician to wage war against the enemy. 

“Still, for all that, on the point that ‘Magical Girls are existences which bestow dreams,’ our opinions are in complete agreement.”   

“Well……” 

Seeing Lina making such an ambiguous face, the manager, a little lonely, smiled. 

“I, appear tall for a woman do I not?” 

The manager abruptly changed the subject. 

“Hmm, I guess that is so, isn’t it?” 

Lina nodded her head as she thought, ‘ah, so she was a woman,’ inside her mind. Lina’s feeling was that the manager was certainly tall, but not to the extent that her height would be so obvious as to deserve special mention. Nevertheless, it was a fact that she was above average for an American woman. Amongst Japanese women, it was obvious she would be in the tall category. 

“I’ve been tall since around the time I was in grade school. As if to retaliate for the tallness of height, my bosom has not really grown, and I’ve been mistaken for a man since way back when.” 

(Speaking of which, wasn’t Abby was also often mistaken for a pretty boy?) Hearing the manager talk, reminded Lina of the old days with Abigail.  

Abigail’s height is rather shorter than average, but she is often mistaken for a young boy due to her looks and figure. Even now, with no makeup she can be mistaken for a pretty boy of around fourteen or fifteen years old. 

“Nowadays, it’s the opposite and I’ve come to consider this appearance benefitable. I seldom encountered sexual harassment in the army, and in my present job it has become a weapon.” 

As they said that, the manager of Nakagawa decided to wink with a flirtatious glance. 

Certainly, that appearance would be popular with the girls, Lina thought. 

“But back when I was a little girl, being unable to dress cutely despite it all…… It is a regret.” 

The manager’s story, it didn’t click with Lina. The cause is that both of her parent’s feared the sheer strength of Lina’s magical talent, so she has few memories of ‘looking cute’ back when she was little. She didn’t consider that a disappointment. But she does not know if, maybe in ten years from now, she might perhaps come do so. ——Lina also thought that. 

“Therefore, at the very least, I want to see girls with an appearance so cute as to appear of a dream. On this point, I am able to respect Comrade Abigail as a gentleman of similar tastes.” 

“Was that how it was……?” 

A query came from Lina’s direction, but even if they realised, she got the impression that ‘it made no difference either way’. 

“The size should be correct, but you should try in on just in case.” 

After the manager said that Lina moved to the fitting room with the kimono and boots that the stop assistant had brought. Though the shape is that of a kimono, in actuality, it is a one-piece cache-cœur with a short skirt, with the button located at the waist concealed by a belt in the shape of an obi . If it is like this, then it is not necessary to request assistance getting dressed. 

She put on the rose-coloured mini-length furisode  —— shaped one-piece cache-cœur and long boots. (Isn’t this too short?) 

Looking at herself in the mirror, that was Lina’s first thought. 

“How is it?” 

In response to the voice raised outside, Lina opens the fitting room door. 

“It’s a little…… I think too much leg is showing.” 

“That is so, isn’t it……? It is cute even as is, but through it isn’t obvious, the Zettai Ryouiki5 is a little desolate.” 

(Zettai Ryouiki? What, is that some kind of potent phrase?) 

As Lina tilted her head, outside, the manager raised a finger and called out to the shop assistant. 

The store assistant withdrew through the back door and returned with a quick pace. Carried in her hands was a purple petticoat. 

“Try wearing this underneath the kimono please.” 

“Okay……” 

The mini petticoat did not look like it would reduce the degree of expose all that much, but because it was a professional saying it, Lina swallowed her doubts and closed the fitting room door once more. 

“It’s amazingly cute!” 

“It really is! It suits you really well, customer-sama!” 

Once Lina put on the petticoat and adjusted the one-piece kimono she was wearing, the manager and shop assistant gave her rave reviews and the manager’s speech caused their cool beauty character to crumble. 

“Is that so……?” 

As expected, even this still leaves the thighs boldly exposed. 

“It’s perfect, especially the Zettai Ryouiki, isn’t it!? If it’s like this then not only the boys, even the gazes of the girls will be rooted to the spot!” 

However, the shop assistant’s excitement upon seeing this, it appears she is honestly dressing well. As ever, the meaning of the phrase ‘Zettai Ryouiki’ remains obscure. 

“That’s right, anyway, let’s snazz up your hair next, shall we? Why don’t we try a vertical roll ponytail?” 

“Manager, that, it’s excellent!” We should also attach a large flower accessory.” 

“That’s great. If I recall correctly, there were some tree peony ribbons in the goods received were there note? Go get them.” 

“Understood.” 

Given how excitedly the manager and shop assistant made their exchange, Lina could not find a pause in which to get a word in. 

(It appears this will take some time……) 

She muttered inside of her mind as she resigned herself. 

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Translator's Notes:

1  T/L Note: This doesn’t translate well due to how the terms work. The manager said 同好の士, doukou no shi, gentlemen of similar tastes. Meanwhile, he is calling Abigail his doushi, 同士, dou-shi, but the abbreviation simply doesn’t work in English, so I went with a literal translation of doushi, comrade, since it conveys a similar nuance as the original (the kun reading of 士 is read as samurai). 
2  Back-channelling is when you make a noise or say something to acknowledge that you’re listening. 
3  An Obi is a kimono’s sash whilst a one-piece cache-cœur is western (French) clothing. Specifically, a cachecœur is a type of V-neck top for women composed of two finished triangular parts, each having a strap. The two parts overlap and are tied either behind or at the sides. 
4  A type of kimono with long sleeves. 
5 Zettai Ryouiki (絶対領域), or Absolute Territory, refers to the gap between the bottom of a mini shirt and the top of legwear, such as stockings of thigh high socks, where a girl’s thighs are exposed to the world. It originates in their anime and manga otaku community, but if you want to learn more, Wikipedia has an article on this piece of Japanese culture, the link is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettai_ryōiki