Rokuhara-san is seriously strong, and I’m proud of that.

Eina has the ability to fire arrows that ignore distance and hit the target no matter what.

When you add Rokuhara-san’s personal invincibility mode on top of that, there’s no stopping them.

That’s why it was necessary to make her use her invincibility mode beforehand.

If it were just Eina, I could probably handle it.

『That said, without Super Mysterious Beautiful Girl Time, it would’ve been difficult. It seems Eina has found the best possible contractor she could imagine. She’s using her power quite well.』

As expected of Rokuhara-san…

『So, what now? You’ve played the mysterious beautiful girl long enough, should we wrap this up? If you’re willing, I’ll end it.』

Hey, that’s rude to Rokuhara-san!

Rokuhara-san, you see, for Eina-chan’s sake…!

『I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get all emotional and finish the story in your head.』

If I were allowed to take her down, I’d have already done it. Honestly, I could just keep bombarding Eina-chan forever.

Even if it’s arrows—we’ll endure with pure spirit.

『With… spirit?』

This is an arrow crafted by the beautiful Eina-chan and Rokuhara-san together.

It’s basically a slightly stimulating form of love, right?

I’m prepared to take it head-on with my whole body!

『A mysterious beautiful girl would never do something like that.』

I know. That’s why I’m deliberately making it look like I’m at a disadvantage while giving Rokuhara-san his due.

It’s all part of the mysterious beautiful girl’s script.

Rokuhara-san is one of the strongest characters in the original story.

He’s so strong that in any upcoming incident, people would seriously say, “But Rokuhara-san could just win that.”

Even if he was a mysterious beautiful girl, you can’t just beat him one-sidedly. Or rather, even if you did, he’d probably win in the end anyway.

So then, what’s the move I should take here?

You get it, right, Starreader’s Staff-kun?

『Hmm… should we try an illusion again? This time for real.』

Huh? You can do that too? That’s crazy…

No, that’s not it. A mysterious beautiful girl doesn’t use the same cheap trick twice in such a short span.

She has to have a wide variety of tactics and respond coolly to all situations—while still giving Rokuhara-san his due.

So, the best approach here would be to frame it as a clash between rival forces.

『Rival forces… ah, you mean Gatou Touraku.』

Yes, exactly.

From Touraku-kun’s perspective, it’s a battle between two S-Ranks.

The strongest of the strong clashing outside of the protagonist’s involvement… isn’t that great?

It’s basically a showcase chapter to tell the readers that Touraku-kun will be fighting these powerful opponents in the future.

We already know who will win here, but it’s important to create the impression that, “Well, she only lost because it was her first time facing that, next time Rokuhara-san would win.”

『I see… so what’s the concrete plan?』

First, we prepare a second form.

『Wait wait wait wait, don’t just suddenly prepare something weird.』

Weird? This would be the first time Rokuhara-san transforms Sorciera into her second form.

It’d be a great way to show Rokuhara-san’s full strength brought out by Sorciera.

At the same time, it’d showcase the bottomless nature of the mysterious beautiful girl.

『I suppose… yeah, maybe?』

So, let’s give it a second-form vibe.

Like always, I’ll just bluff my way through, maybe fancy up the magic circle, kick up some wind…

『No, if you’re going to do that, I’d rather raise the contract phase to Phase 2. Hold on a moment.』

Wait wait wait wait.

Huh? That’s a real thing?

Not just bluffing?

『Normally, no. But since our contract status is all messed up, I have to raise it step-by-step to unlock the power. Such a hassle.』

Uh… sorry about that.

But in that case, we can totally do this!

We’ll unveil the mysterious beautiful girl’s second form!

『Ah!』

What is it?

『We made a huge mistake.』

Huh?

The perfect, absolute, invincible, ultimate, genius mysterious beautiful girl made a mistake…?

『Yes… we don’t have an outfit for the second form.』

……Aaaaaaaaaah!

Crap, you’re right!

We don’t have a special outfit ready for the mysterious beautiful girl’s second form!

If I’d known this, I would’ve bought one earlier today!

『What will you do, partner? Even if we show off the second form, if the appearance doesn’t change, it won’t stand out!』

Uh-oh. This is the biggest pinch in my entire life.

If I’m going to claim that I’ve unlocked a new power against Rokuhara-san, I definitely want an outfit change.

A visible transformation and an invisible one are worlds apart.

I want it to be something people talk about later: “That’s the form she showed only once, in her battle against Rokuhara…!”

For that, an outfit is essential.

『…Partner.』

I know without you saying it.

We’ll prepare a new outfit right now…!

『Indeed. You remember the store we went to earlier today?』

Of course.

『They accept electronic payment. I’ll interfere with your dive gear and the register simultaneously to complete the transaction instantly.』

That’s brute force.

But yeah, a mysterious beautiful girl doesn’t steal clothes.

『Naturally, I’ll also alter the time log for the purchase. That way, it’ll look like the outfit was mysteriously bought at some unknown time.』

So even shopping is done mysteriously by the mysterious beautiful girl!

Alright, then I’ll start a dynamic shopping spree while dodging Rokuhara-san’s arrows and busting through a building.

『I’ll automatically store the purchases in the expanded space. You just have to pass through the store’s area.』

What a reliable partner…

『I’ll also make sure the Hinotsuchi Pay cashback campaign applies.＾＾』

So kind to my wallet too.

Now I can shop without worry!

“……”
“Hey, what, you running away!?”

Seeing me zip off, Rokuhara-san shouts and fires arrows.

I weave between skyscrapers, turn sharply, and shoot down each arrow with my own blasts.

Charging straight into a building would be too obvious, so I take a few detours and… now!

When Rokuhara-san released Eina earlier, the surrounding buildings’ windows had already shattered.

The building we were in was no exception.

“—”
“Pointless. My arrows will always pierce you.”

I slip through the empty window frames without slowing down.

With my visual acuity boosted, I can slip through tight spaces easily.

I even have time to glance around.

Oh, that pendant’s nice. Looks like the last one too, I’ll take it. Starreader’s Staff-kun, add this too!

『Can’t be helped. I don’t encourage wasteful spending, but… okay, done. Now head out the other side.』

I probably only spent a second passing through.

But somehow, I’d completed my shopping. My balance is probably lower now.

Starreader’s Staff-kun… how much was that outfit?

『Let’s do a lot of dungeon rescues later, okay?＾＾』

You bought something expensive, didn’t you!?

『Hahaha! As if a mysterious beautiful girl would buy cheap clothes! That kind of gap-moe is only for character-breaking four-panel comics on social media!』

You’ve been poking around the net with my dive gear again, haven’t you?

Stop suddenly throwing out such mundane examples.

…Though, that one made sense.

『Anyway, I’ll now redesign the magic array to allow for an instant outfit change from the expanded space, complete with visuals. Give me a moment.』

Okay.

Guess I’ll just spin around above Rokuhara-san for now.

I clear the building, then climb sharply.

I shoot down the arrows chasing me, then return to a position looking down on Rokuhara-san.

“What, you here to surrender after running away?”
“Of course not.”
“Yeah, figured. Would’ve been anticlimactic anyway.”

Rokuhara-san fires again—twenty arrows this time.

In less than a second, that’s an overwhelming number. I deploy five magic circles in a horizontal line to intercept them all.

The clash of two dense masses of magical power creates yet another massive explosion—who knows how many we’ve had today.

“Heh, nice.”
“…”

I stare at Rokuhara-san expressionlessly.

Not thinking anything in particular.

『Alright, done! Do as you like now.』

As expected, you work fast.

Alright then—my turn!

“!?”
“Coming at me, Sorciera!?”

I charge straight at Rokuhara-san.

Shooting down arrows meant to intercept me, I rush in and make an intentionally large, slow slash at him.

“—Too slow. That won’t hit me.”
“—!”

Rokuhara-san dodges low in the air without touching the ground, twists his body, and fires an arrow at me mid-spin.

“Here’s your payback.”

Too close to dodge or block.

I conjure a magical barrier with all my power to protect myself.

“Who said it’d be just one arrow!?”

More arrows follow.

Once you commit resources to defense, your interception lags behind.

Eventually, my barrier is about to be shattered by the sheer number of arrows.

“…”
“Cat got your tongue? Then this’ll finish it!”

He fires one last arrow, packed with more magical power than any before.

It shines more brightly than any so far—a fitting final blow.

Yes, this is still Rokuhara-san’s turn.

A scene meant to showcase his strength.

It’s fine to let him dominate up until now.

“!?”

The final arrow strikes, detonating in a massive explosion along with my barrier.

Or rather—I made it explode.

Black smoke engulfs the area, cutting visibility.

『Wind, coming up—5, 4, 3, 2…』

My partner starts a countdown.

Up until now was Rokuhara-san’s spotlight.

From here—it’s Super Mysterious Beautiful Girl Time.