Within Illya's room, the girl sat on her bed as Ruby, the talking, flying, and trolling Kaleidostick, floated about with wild gestures.
"Now! Let's start this magical Ruby's class of Magic for beginner magical girls!!"
"Ooh!~"
Illya clapped happily as Ruby exaggeratedly moved about.
"So, what will you teach me first? The power of friendship? How to beat villains and save the day? How to become the best magical girl?"
Ruby sweat-dropped at the enthusiasm from the little girl.
"We will start with History and basic knowledge that you need before you start doing anything."
Illya's face went pale as a sheet.
"H-History?! You mean I have to do homework to become a magical girl?!"
Ruby somehow managed to roll on the ground with laughter despite its strange body structure.
"BWAHAHAHA!! No, no. Illya-Chan. By history, I mean the supernatural history. The proper context is needed to understand what kind of job you will be undertaking."
Illya tilted her head in confusion.
"Supernatural....History? Is it like regular history that is written in a supernatural book?"
Once again, the Kaleidostick could not help but roll on the ground, dying of laughter at the girl's innocent question and confusion.
'I really made the right choice choosing this one. She is so much more fun compared to that hag Tohsaka!!'
"No. Illya. I mean the history of the supernatural world. The world of magic hidden from regular humans."
The stick floated near Illya as the girl sat down on the bed while the artifact's tone took on a serious edge.
"While I won't be able to teach you everything since we are short on time and because I am not that good at explaining things due to my nature, I will give you enough knowledge to do your first job tonight. After that, you can pester Rin to teach you more. I suggest stoking her ego by praising her."
Ruby giggled menacingly.
"She is really prone to losing herself when someone praises her, so take advantage of that and get her to teach you properly."
"Somehow, your idea feels kind of evil. But alright."
"Good. Now, let's begin with the basics. What do you know about myths and legends?"
Illya closed her eyes and tried to remember everything she ever knew in her young life with a finger on her chin and head tilted back with deep concentration.
"Not much. I know about the local religions. Mama, Papa, and the others are not religious people, so I don't know much."
"Hmm. As expected of that man. Anyways, do you know what the Devils and Angels are?"
Illya nodded enthusiastically.
"I do! I read a lot about them in the manga and saw many anime with them."
"Good. To put it bluntly, they are real."
"....huh?"
Illya.exe has crashed. Send help.
Watching the dumbfounded look on Illya's face, Ruby started speaking again.
"Angels, Devils, God, they are all real. And so are the various other myths and legends to a certain extent-"
"Stop! Stop!! Too much information and too little context!!"
Illya's brain started smoking as her young mind tried to comprehend the size of the nuke dropped on her with the blunt reveal.
Realizing her mistake, Ruby spoke apologetically.
"Sorry, Illya. As I said, I am not that good at teaching and tend to speak about everything bluntly. Anyways, all you need to know is that the supernatural world consists of various myths and legends, and you need to be careful when doing your job in this town since it is owned by one such faction."
"...Who?"
"The Devils. Particularly, the Gremory and the Sitri."
Illya nearly fainted on the spot at the knowledge that her hometown is owned by literal devils.
"Oh no! Oh no! What do I do? What do I do? I need to tell Onii-chan, Sella, and Liz! I need to tell Mama and Papa-"
"Illya! ILLYA! CALM DOWN!!"
"How can I calm down-"
"Ruby Kick!!"
Ruby flew forward at maximum speed and smashed into Illya's head, making the girl see stars and fall onto the bed.
"Sorry. But you need to calm down. Man, I wish Sapphire were here. She is a much better teacher than I."
Taking a deep breath, Ruby spoke again as Illya still struggled with the pain.
"Look. You don't need to worry too much about all of this. All you need to know is that if you do your job right, you can continue your ordinary life without any kind of problem for the foreseeable future. Our Grandmaster has an understanding with the Devils that forbids them from meddling in our business, and, from what that letter from that hag Tohsaka said, she also came to an understanding with them, so neither you nor your family will be harmed in any way."
"....Fine. Let's continue."
"Hm. Given your response, I don't think I am cut out to teach you what I wanted to teach. So let's go back to the bare essentials of what you need to know."
Illya nodded absentmindedly, as she still tried to come to terms with what was said.
"Let's see, how about we start with teaching you how to use your weapons?"
Once again, confusion reigned within the young girl's mind.
"My weapons? I have weapons?"
Ruby giggled mischievously, and maybe even lecherously.
"Illya. Do a twirl, put your finger against your cheek, and smile!"
"Huh? Why?"
"Just do as I say!"
Still confused, Illya did as she was told.
Twirling around, the girl came to a stop and pressed her pointer fingers against her cheeks with a smile.
Instantly, the kaleidoscope reeled back dramatically and started to swoon.
"Nice! Nice! Perfect!"
Illya stopped holding the pose and looked around with confusion.
"I still don't see any weapon, though?"
"But you already used the weapon!"
"...Huh?"
"Your cuteness! It is a weapon all on its own!! Just imagine! Scores of enemies falling for you at your cute actions-"
"You are making fun of me, aren't you?! You are making me do all these embarrassing poses for your amusement, right!?"
Illya nearly died of embarrassment as she heard Ruby's description of her so-called weapon and grabbed the stick, shaking it back and forth.
"What are you saying? A magical girl's first and foremost weapon is her cuteness!"
"Because cute is justice!!"
Illya nearly fell to the ground in shock at those words before her pitch rose even further.
"I've n-never heard of such a thing!!!"
After nearly an hour of fighting, the two finally called a truce and stopped, coincidentally nearing the time when Tohsaka Rin asked them to meet her.
Silently sneaking out from her room, Illya put on her shoes and headed out, making sure that none of her family would spot her exit.
Unfortunately for the girl, fate played a cruel trick, as a certain someone spotted her exit as he returned from his own escapade and tailed her silently by moving across rooftops.
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Rin Tohsaka stood at the edges of the large track that the students of Kuoh High use for their club activities and practice, waiting for her young 'helper' and the 'traitorous' artifact.
Thankfully for the Tohsaka girl, she did not have to wait long before Illya jogged towards her after sneaking past the gates with the help of Ruby.
"Oh, you actually came."
Illya could not help but smile wryly at those words while scratching her cheeks awkwardly, a habit she picked up from her brother.
'Well, after you sent that threatening letter, who in their right mind would decline you and risk getting shanked like in those western movies in some dark alley out there?'
Rin gave the girl a confused look.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"Oh. Um. It's nothing. So, are we going to retrieve those card thingies right now?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Oh. Ok. But, I have several questions."
Rin raised an eyebrow at those nervous, borderline panic-stricken words.
"Sure. But later. First, we need to get this task done since the deal I negotiated with certain parties only allowed us time for the next hour or so before we will be forced to leave this place."
"I see. Got it."
"Good. Then, to start, could you activate the transformation?"
Illya's shoulders drooped.
"Fine~"
She turned around and headed towards the nearby entrance to the changing room, causing the Tohsaka heir to stare at the younger girl with confusion.
"Hmm? Where are you going?"
"...To transform. I am not going through that elaborate ruse of embarrassment out in the open ever again."
"Come on! Illya-Chan. That was one time-"
"One time too many!"
Rin could only watch with a flat stare as the girl disappeared into the changing room with the stick before a flash of light and a burst of mana flooded the room. Then, just as quickly, Illya walked out, still with drooped shoulders and in her magical girl form.
"Sorry for the wait."
Rin took a deep breath to calm her fraying temper, which was already short to begin with, before speaking again.
"Well, are you ready? Here we go."
Illya stiffened up at the seriousness of her tone and nodded hesitantly.
"Y-Yes."
Rin turned around and pointed to the center of the track.
"The Card is approximately at the center of this track, right there. That's where our spell detected the dimensional disturbance."
Illya stared hard, trying to see if there was any card nearby, but she could not see anything, even with her enhanced vision as a magical girl.
"But I don't see anything there?"
"Correct. Because it is not in this dimension. The Cards are magical artifacts that do not belong in our world and come from somewhere else. As such, they create dimensional distortions which allow them to hide within a pocket dimension of their own, separate, yet still anchored to our reality in specific places."
Once again, Illya's brain smoked as it tried to comprehend what exactly the older girl was trying to say.
Noticing her expression, Rin sighed internally before speaking to the Kaleidostick.
"Ruby, do your thing."
"Sure thing!"
Suddenly, kaleidoscopic energies manifested underneath their feet, startling Illya, who nearly jumped in fear, as Ruby started to speak out loud about what she was doing, purely to mess with Illya and have some fun.
"Adding imaginary axis to the Dimensional Gap access matrix. Beginning Inversion preparations. Confirming the existence of complex space."
"Confirmed. Locating Dimensional anchor. Anchor located. Generating coordinates. Coordinates confirmed."
"Establishing transfer road. Road diameter set to two meters."
"Beginning transfer."
In a single instant, Illya, Rin, and Ruby disappeared in a burst of light, leaving behind faint traces of magical and dimensional energies.
And one confused pseudo-servant who could not make sense of what he just witnessed.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1