This time, it was a consultation with Blaze.
Just getting here had been exhausting — mostly because I had to calm Leaf down after she immediately started asking where we were going to hang out.
It’s nice that we’ve gotten closer, but honestly… Leaf is a lot.
She keeps saying she’s never met anyone who shares her interests, not even once in her life.
More than anything, though, ever since she admitted that she’s been keeping her distance because I look exactly like the magical girl she’s always admired… well, I’ve been trying to be more understanding.
But ever since she told me that, she’s been like an unbridled horse — every time she sees me, she charges right over and never wants to leave my side.
As much as I hate to say it… it’s starting to get exhausting.
Sorry, Leaf… but you’re a bit too much.
“…So, um… what kind of consultation is this supposed to be?”
Blaze looked a bit confused at the sudden request for a talk.
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing too serious — at least, not right now.”
That was true — for now.
Once we got closer, I’d probably start asking the harder questions.
But for now, even if I did, it wasn’t like she’d give me any real answers yet.
“Well, I call it a consultation, but honestly… I just wanted to get closer to my students.”
It would be strange for a teacher and their students not to be close, right?
At the very least, I wanted to do something about how stiffly Blaze treated me.
Wouldn’t it be better if we could be a bit more friendly — if I could become someone she felt comfortable around?
Of course, there was also a bit of strategy behind it.
People tend to show their true selves when they’re at ease, and I wouldn’t mind getting a glimpse of that.
But it’s not like I’m approaching her with just those kinds of ulterior motives.
After all, she is my student, and my desire to genuinely get closer to her is real.
How Blaze would take that… well, that was up to her.
But at least my intentions were honest.
“Hmm…”
I looked at Blaze, wondering where to even start.
With Leaf, it was obvious just from a glance that she’d have all kinds of hobbies , and by some stroke of luck, I’d hit the mark when I brought them up.
But Blaze… was different.
Unlike Leaf, she didn’t seem like the type to have any obvious hobbies.
And that made it a bit tricky to figure out what to ask.
Then it’s probably best to ask something else.
“Hmm… is there anything that’s been difficult for you in this life? Or maybe something you need?”
If I was going to ask anything, this felt like the most important thing to start with.
Honestly, things went smoothly last time by sheer luck — but if I called this a consultation and immediately started asking about hobbies or favorite things, it wouldn’t really feel like a proper consultation.
That would just be a casual chat to get closer.
“Something I… need?”
Blaze looked a bit surprised by the question.
She seemed to think it over for a while, struggling to find the right words — and eventually gave me a rather vague answer, saying that things did feel a little frustrating at times.
She’d accepted that this lifestyle was part of what she signed up for when she became a magical girl, but the fact that she couldn’t freely go outside unless there was an emergency call related to some anomaly… that weighed on her the most.
And honestly?
I could see why.
That was the hardest part of all this.
In my case, after I became a magical girl, the constitution was amended — and magical girls were placed under the Ministry of Defense.
Thanks to that, I pretty much coasted through my military service.
But for most magical girls, there’s no such luxury.
They spend their 18-month service stuck on base — training their magic, standing by for duty, and only being deployed when an anomaly occurs.
It’s a repetitive, restrictive life.
And yeah, that’d wear on anyone.
In a way, thanks to magical girls, both men and women now equally bear the duty of national defense — and some people call that equality.
But personally, I think magical girls have it even harder than regular soldiers.
Sure, when anomalies occur, infantry units from nearby military bases are also deployed — and considering the danger they face, you could argue magical girls are safer.
But that doesn’t make their burden any lighter.
“So that’s the toughest part, huh?”
“…And… well… it gets a little lonely, too.”
Blaze’s voice softened with a sadness I hadn’t heard from her before.
Lonely, huh…For a moment, I thought of Leaf and Icicle.
Before Leaf started sticking to me like glue, she never seemed interested in getting close to anyone.
And Icicle… she was the same.
In fact, Icicle always gave me the impression that she didn’t think the others took the magical girl role seriously — like she didn’t even like them much.
With everyone so distant from each other, it was no wonder Blaze felt isolated.
Even though the three of them shared a room, that didn’t make things any less uncomfortable.
If anything, it probably made the loneliness worse.
“Hmm…”
The living quarters.
Right… the living quarters!
That’s it!
“If staying on base is the problem… why not let them live off-base?”
Even I had to admit — that was a brilliant idea.
The kind of move only I could pull off.
“If you could live outside and just commute here, would you want to?”
“L-Live outside?”
Blaze’s eyes lit up instantly.
Of course, she’d still have to report here every day, but just having the chance to spend her off-time outside the base would definitely lift her spirits.
Basically, I was offering her something like a reserve-duty arrangement — living off-base but still fulfilling her obligations.
“Of course, we’ll need to check with the others first…”
It wouldn’t be fair to make that decision on my own without hearing what the other two thought.
They might not be so thrilled about the idea, after all.
“That’s true… though I feel like Leaf would probably love the idea. But yeah, we still need to hear what Icicle thinks, so asking both of them first is definitely a must.”
Still, seeing Blaze so happy about it was a good sign.
“So, what were you doing before you became a magical girl?”
“Ah…”
I shifted naturally to the next question, though I couldn’t help but wonder if this was pushing it.
Asking something like this could reveal details about her real-life identity, and I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable.
As expected, Blaze’s face clouded with hesitation.
“Uh… do I really have to answer that?”
“You don’t have to if it’s hard to talk about. I’m just asking to get to know you better.”
“Hmm… still, this is surprising. I heard you were the type to avoid anything too bothersome — that you’d just teach us the basics of magic and keep your distance. You even said there was no need to get too close.”
Blaze gave me a soft, teasing smile as she said that.
It wasn’t exactly wrong.
Honestly, if they had seemed like ordinary adult magical girls, I probably would’ve just taught them the basics, gone back to my life, and spent my time doing whatever I wanted.
Whoever had told them about my personality seemed to know me pretty well.
But there was one thing they’d misjudged — I’m a lot more perceptive than they gave me credit for.
Sure, I avoid hassle when I can, but that doesn’t mean I ever do a job half-heartedly.
That’s exactly why I quickly realized these three weren’t just your average magical girls — and why I’m making this effort to get closer to them.
Of course, there’s a part of me that genuinely wants to bond with my students — but if I’m being honest, my curiosity and need for information outweigh that right now.
Not that I could tell them that, of course.
“Well, I have no choice but to take this seriously, you know? I finally have students. I’ve been a magical girl for a long time, but I’ve never actually taught anyone before.”
That part was completely true.
I’d never been in a position to teach anyone, after all.
I’d never even been in a position to teach anyone in the first place.
That just shows how unusual this whole situation was.
At first, I thought they had to be out of their minds — but once I met them, I realized these magical girls had enough talent to make them worth teaching.
So, I couldn’t really say their choice was wrong.
Well… as long as they were really just straightforward adults.
That’s assuming they were the right, legal age to be joining the military in their twenties, of course.
After that, I chatted with Blaze about this and that.
It wasn’t anything particularly meaningful.
For the most part, she just shared funny stories about things that had happened in the dorm — like she was telling me a bunch of anecdotes.
Honestly, unlike with Leaf, I couldn’t really say I’d gotten super close to Blaze just yet.
But compared to the formal and stiff way she acted around me before, she definitely seemed more comfortable now — and that felt like enough progress.
Before, she’d treated me with so much respect it was almost awkward — but now, it felt like we were just having a casual conversation, like a younger sister talking to an older one.
That was a relief, at least.
Ah, and taking them out of the military base was something I needed to think about a bit more.
Of course, I had plenty of money, and the girls were getting paid for their work, so finding a house nearby with that money wouldn’t be a problem.
If worst came to worst, getting them officer’s quarters was an option — but for girls who wanted to get out of the base, living in officer’s housing right next to it wouldn’t feel much different from staying in the dorms.
I’d need to find a proper house nearby — something comfortable but still close enough.
That wouldn’t be too hard, but…“This is tricky…”
The real issue was how Icicle would react.
Talking things over with her would be the real challenge.
Seriously.