Magia Record Story Kagura San Wants to Be Honest
The following is a summary posted on Magia Union Translation Discord by Mochi.
Summary
Episode 1
One day at a campground in Kamihama City, San is ordering a group of Neo Magius to line up. Alexandra heard this is a 2 days and 1 night camp as a method of strengthening their unity. San confirms, saying this will be a hellish boot camp, surprising Shigure. Miyuri knows that means it's military-style training. Himena preferred to call it a camping trip instead of training since that sounded boring. Hagumu is disappointed, as she was looking forward to camping. Himena apologizes, but says since Miwarin (Mitsune) has returned from her medical exams at the hospital along with Instructor (San) and Miyurin (Miyuri), she wanted to take this opportunity to strengthen Neo Magius.
Unfortunately for Shigure, this explanation means one thing: the return of the oni instructor. Shigu and Hagu are starting to shake, wanting to go home already. San announces that for 2 days, everyone - including Himena - will follow her orders. Himena says "sure sure, O and K," but San tells her that she will only be told "Yes, instructor!" from here on. Himena isn't sure about that, and San stares her down, asking if she's already disobeying orders. Himena looks down and says yes, instructor...
Miyuri takes the feathers elsewhere for their training, acting in San's place. San looks down on the special members of Neo Magius, telling them she has a special menu set aside for them, and that they should feel honored to be receiving her personal training. Himena asks if that includes her, too. San reminds her how to address her, then states that the group leaders being useless in battle will drive the morale of the feathers down.
Shigu and Hagu don't think they'll ever get stronger, and Himena says she'll just have to use her brain instead of fighting then. San immediately opens fire towards them, telling them that lax attitude is unbefitting of the top brass in this group. Himena doesn't like how far San is going, who tells her if she doesn't like it she can get out. If she does leave, San will start calling her cowardly leader from here on. Himena snaps back that she isn't afraid. Shigu takes the bait and says she's fine with leaving since she won't ever improve. San opens fire again. "My, it seems my gun heard some whining and started shooting on its own." Shigu starts crying, and Mitsune now fully understands just what "oni instructor" means.
San tires of the introduction, telling them they will begin with a mock battle. Hagumu is standing still, unsure what to do while facing off against Himena. San yells at her to stop hesitating and grab the bracelet off of her. The one she's wearing is a fake, so there's no excuses. Shigu is still down, saying she's sure she won't be able to do it. San fires again, asking her how is she supposed to reply to her. Shigu and Hagu are screaming, and Alexandra and Mitsune both say they're scared.
Himena tries to reason with San, telling her if she's super strict like this, no one's going to want to work with her. San reminds her that if this were a real battle, all of them would be dead by now. She then begins the next part of the training: she will now attempt to take everyone's bracelets. Anyone who loses theirs will be punished, so they better get their asses in gear if they don't like the idea.
Episode 2
Hagumu and Alexandra just finished running 10 laps around the camp as their penalty. Himena doesn't get why they have to do this as mahou shoujo, so San tells her if they have energy to complain, she's adding another 10 laps. Shigu yells that she didn't say anything. San tells her that Neo Magius is one unit, so everyone will share in the pain of one person making a mistake. Mitsune notes that there was meaning in the penalty, scoring brownie points with San.
San moves them onto formation training next. They march about in a tight formation, with San telling them if they can't maintain it then they'll get surrounded and killed. Hagumu is having trouble keeping up, so San tells her to keep up until it's muscle-memory. With that, San tells Sasha and Miwa that they take their leave, prompting a question as to why from Alexandra. She says Sasha plays an entirely different role, so she will have her own work prepared for her, and Mitsune just got out of being tested at the hospital, so she doesn't want to push her too hard. The two of them are happy to know their instructor has been thinking about them.
San tells the other 3 to continue, triggering a round of complaints from all of them. San tells them no. If the leader of Neo Magius gives up, then the future of this group isn't going to look good.
Suddenly San's phone rings. Himena tells her to take a break and answer that. San wonders who could possibly be calling right now, but sees she has missed 10 calls from "onii-chan" at the youth group. San calls a 10 minute break while she takes care of this. Sasha and Mitsune agree to go get drinks for everyone to help them.
San finds out that their gathering was canceled, even after they practiced their performance so much. She gets noticeably upset, asking if it can be rescheduled to another day. She agrees to a promise, smiles, and hangs up. She realizes she's done it again, and tells herself to not get worked up. Being a cutesy spoiled girl with the folks in her town is a habit she's had since she was little. Himena is all smiles, asking what that was all about, startling San. She panics knowing that Himena heard her.
Episode 3
Himena is smiling about the massive gap moe going on between Instructor San and Youth Group San. San tries defending herself, saying even if there is a gap, she's the same as she always is. Himena isn't buying it, saying things like "this is absolutely horrible!" and "okay...byebye." are not normal instructor phrases. San starts blushing, suddenly realizing ("Wait, I speak that embarrassingly!?"), ("I was aware that I speak a little cutesy, but...!")
Shigu and Hagu tell Himena to cut it out, saying it makes sense that even Instructor wants to be spoiled by others once in a while. San is even more embarrassed now. These two chickens are backing her up, meaning they listened to her phone convo too...!? Himena points out how red San is getting, scolding Shigu and Hagu. San gets really worked up, staring daggers at them now. ShiguHagu apologize to her.
San thinks to herself that she's not mad at them, just embarrassed, so she should be apologizing to them. She tries to speak up, but she's using her cutesy way of speaking, like a "Hey, you know..." She tries hard to remember how she was speaking to them, but she can't calm down. Himena continues her assault, "No but seriously, that was super cute★ You were totally like a different person!" ShiguHagu try to get her to stop, but San barks at her that training is now continuing. Himena says it hasn't been 10 minutes yet, so San asks them again how do they respond. Yes, Instructor...
Alexandra and Mitsune return, noticing they started training again early, and San seems to be much more into teaching them all of a sudden. San is barking at them to dodge to the opposite side of where they're being hit from, and to do it until it's a natural reflex. Himena is calling time out, upset that San seems to be turning up the heat on them. Shigu reminds her she was teasing San, but Himena is confused because all she did was appraise her for her cuteness! San tells them to focus. If the leaders don't shape up, the feathers training under Miyu will be disappointed in them. She tells everyone to follow her back to camp for the next session, but she is stunned how backwards Neo Magius is.
Episode 4
Now night, San is congratulating everyone on their hard work for the day. She tells them to get some rest, since they can't use magic to mentally recover like they can physically, and dismisses them. Everyone thanks her, clearly exhausted. Alexandra thanks them for working hard, and Mitsune gets a message that Miyuri's side finished without incident. San is glad she can count on Miyu again tomorrow.
Himena asks if everyone wants to head to a cafe for some sweets. San passes, telling them to enjoy themselves, but don't overdo it since it all begins again tomorrow. She then quietly takes her leave. As she's walking, she thinks back on Himena's teasing and sighs. She's thinking Himena is telling Sasha and Miwa all about the way she talks right now. Suddenly Alexandra calls out to her with Mitsune in tow.
Mitsune says they ran after her because they wanted to ask about something. San is thinking oh here it comes, they want to know about "that." Alexandra says why not head into the cafe instead of talking out in the dark. Mitsune asks her if there's anything she could recommend for self training. She saw everyone working hard and doesn't want to be spoiled all the time just because she was hospitalized. She wants to get stronger quickly just like the rest of the team.
San sighs, making Mitsune ask if that's a no. San says no, she's just wondering why Sasha. Alexandra says she feels bad that she's getting special treatment, and wanted to also know if there's more she can do. San is happy to know they're both serious, and agrees to send them a message on things they can do on their own for training. She then comes up with an idea - why not watch the feathers train tomorrow? They could learn a thing or two watching how they fight. Mitsune and Alexandra are so impressed at how kind and thoughtful San is.
San tells them she merely wants Neo Magius to get stronger for the sake of spreading mahou shoujo supremacy. She thinks to herself that maybe she's too hard on them, but it's because she has high expectations for them.
Mitsune then asks San why does she go by Instructor? San explains that Mifuyu chose her back in the Wings of Magius for her talent. Mifuyu told her they needed a strong force, so she needed to be strict in her training of the feathers. However, the feathers were terrified with how strict she was, so she was given the name "Oni Instructor." Alexandra points out that there is certainly a gap between the cool image she has normally and her instructor self. The word "gap" makes San reflect back on the teasing incident earlier, realizing her gap is what lead to her embarrassment and the subsequent punishment she gave the group. She thinks to herself that she will apologize to all of them tomorrow. She tells the two that it's time to head back and get some rest. They happily respond with a "Yes, Instructor!"
Episode 5
The next day, or rather, Boot Camp From Hell: Day 2... San has the team up and ready for another mock battle, this time with glass balls to act as substitutes for soul gems. However, before they begin, San has something she would like to say to everyone...about yesterday...(she wants to finish her sentence, "my apologies for lashing out, you did nothing wrong," but she's too embarrassed to get the apology out...!)
Himena takes the lead, saying she knows that they're not good at this whole training thing, and while Ima let you finish, I'm sure ya got a lot to say to us about that, but man I wish you were nicer about it. You were all like "We'll become stronger together! Promise this to your instructor!" and all that and then some★
San did not like that. Shigu tells her to quit it, but Himena again doesn't get what she said wrong. San was getting ready to apologize, but she sure as hell won't now. She tells them to cut the chat, as training has now begun.
In this exercise, breaking an opponent's glass ball is the condition to win. The only other rule is no attacking anyone's actual soul gem. That's it. She then orders all 3 of them to attack her. Himena thinks this will be simple enough, but Shigu and Hagu know this won't work out.
San takes notice that the two are already back into their habit of giving up before they try, and call them out on it. Shigu says it's because it's true they can't win. San tells her even if you are weak, you have to do whatever it takes to win. Shigu and Hagu realize what that means just as Himena tries to hit San while she's talking, but San was ready, telling her it was a trap. Himena looks mad, telling her that was just a test, and next time she's going to be serious.
San notes that Himena realizes the difference in their strength, so she tends to go for sneak attacks. When Himena fakes a frontal attack, her next attack is usually the heavy hitter. She calls out how easy Himena is to read, but Himena doesn't buy it. San frustratingly thinks to herself, why does no one around her realize their own problems!?
San suddenly goes Healer Mode, rushing around everyone and gunning them down before they can even react. She declares herself the winner, telling everyone they each have their own problems that they're not realizing, and ignoring those problems will be the end of them.
Himena asks why she's being so damn serious about this, especially with her going overboard with her guns. San looks sad, apologizing for not weakening her attacks. Himena is surprised and accepts it, but is confused at the sudden turn. San tries again to apologize for yesterday, but her face turns red again and she can't bring herself to say it.
Himena asks what's in store for the rest of the boot camp, but San sadly tells them this is the end of the training, and thanks them for their work. Himena is glad it's over, and decides to go check in on Miyurin's side, as the leader needs to know how everyone is doing. San tells her to go on ahead - she'll check later. Himena doesn't catch the hint that something is up, so she drags Shigu and Hagu with her. San watches them leave, thinking to herself that she needs to clear her mind before she go see everyone.
Episode 6
San is alone at a restaurant, listening to some girls talk about how one of them was called by their brother out of nowhere, but was so surprised that she didn't answer and is now wondering what to do about it. The girl then says she's too embarrassed to apologize.
San thinks to herself about how she's the oni instructor in Neo Magius, but in her town her "onii-chan" from the youth group treats her like a little sister. San struggles with how she's feeling, and wants to apologize to everyone for earlier. Her train of thought is cut short as Mitsune and Sasha find her there.
They explain they went to watch Miyu's training, but Himena and the depression duo showed up without San being there, so they got worried and went to check the same restaurant as yesterday. San reassures them nothing is wrong, but wonders if Himena mentioned anything to them. Sasha says Himena didn't say anything, to which San replies that's because it wasn't a big deal.
San tells them she's been acting childish. Mitsune is confused that she's talking about herself and not Aika. Alexandra is surprised to hear it, but she tells San there isn't anything wrong with that, is there? She is still a minor, after all. It's okay for her to be cool, strict, kind, and childish. She then suggests San just go talk to Himena as she is. San starts laughing, making Alexandra wonder if she said something weird. Mitsune tells her she said some real funny stuff, making Alexandra mad.
San thanks Sasha for making her feel better. San, however, still hates that she's young and getting embarrassed over trivial things. She tells them it's time to go head back to Miyu's camp, and this time she will get the apology out. Suddenly everyone gets a group message from Himena, and whatever it is, it's shocking...
Episode 7
The message from Himena reads that if San wants to play her "oni instructor" game with her Spartan training, by all means go do it on her own. Then another message comes from Shigu and Hagu. Shigure tells everyone that she can't handle this anymore, is quitting Neo Magius, and please do not come looking for her. Hagumu adds a goodbye... and thank you for everything.
Sasha doesn't get what's going on, thinking this must be a protest against San or something. Mitsune feels like these are some templates she's read on the internet before. Himena sends another message, saying if San has any complaints she can come compete against us cuties. Running away will get a penalty, promise★
San is fired up and ready to accept whatever this challenge is from Himena. She's not one to stand quietly after being badmouthed like this. Mitsune tells her to calm down, since Himena is probably just trying to start a fight. San doesn't know what this is about, so she's only going off of this message. Sasha tells her it could all be a misunderstanding.
San tells her that if Himena hasn't realized her own problem after these past 2 days of training, it's equally her own fault as well. She leaves to go teach them one more lesson. Mitsune and Alexandra go after her.
Episode 8
Everyone has a meeting at Miyu's campground that evening. Miyuri is happy as can be being praised by San-sama for her work. She's wondering though if San is really going to battle Himena and co, since training is over and the feathers have all been sent home already. Miyu doesn't know what's been going on between everyone, but she's certain Himena is to blame here, so she takes San's side. San, however, tells her this is between her and Himena (and ShiguHagu).
Himena hurries them along, so San asks what the rules are to this fight. Shigu tells her it's the same mock battle as before: whoever breaks their opponent's glass ball soul gem wins, and no attacking their real soul gem. Himena tosses her a ball and tells her if she wins, she will do one thing she asks her. San asks if she thinks there's any chance she can even lose, and Himena tells her there's no telling unless they try★
Sasha and Mitsune can't believe Himena is taking this seriously, since there's no way she could win in a fair fight against Instructor. Himena says she didn't say anything about a fair fight, and takes a cheap shot at San. San avoids the attacks but gets pushed back. Hagumu takes the flank, and San taunts her into coming at her. Hagumu takes a giant, slow swing at San's real soul gem, taking her by surprise. Hagumu calls for Shigure to get in. Shigu blinds San with a bright light, San and Mitsune both guessing it was some kind of homemade flashbomb.
Shigu apologizes to Hagu for messing up the attack, but Hagumu tells her it's okay. Himena agrees, saying this battle isn't over yet. San reflects on their entire strategy just now. She knows their tactics are cowardly, but they didn't really hit her so there's no problem. Plus, if she had actually been blinded, that would have been game.
San starts low, but then erupts into laughter. Shigu and Hagu wonder what she's laughing about, but she says it's nothing; she's just happy this is getting interesting. This is what a match should be, after all! Shigu and Hagu gulp in unison. Hagu wonders how someone can laugh in a situation like this, and Shigu says she's scary.
San thinks about how these two losers are trying to win by any means necessary, and praises them. However, they're not her enemy. She says she's sorry, but she has to take them down before she can get to Himena.
Episode 9
In a flash of light, San breaks Shigure and Hagumu's glass balls. They're both sniffling, frustrated that they lost after trying so hard. San tells them they only feel that way because they fought with intent, and it's proof that they've grown. They stop crying, looking on in shock that they were just praised by Instructor.
Himena is nowhere in sight, probably hiding until she gets a chance to strike. San opens fire in every direction to get Himena out in the open. Himena jumps out, yelling that she's using a dangerous amount of firepower, and tells ShiguHagu to come help her. Shigure tells her to not come over this way, so Himena runs up to Mitsune, but she also doesn't want anything to do with this. Miyuri tells her she's a real underhanded coward for trying to use the audience as a shield.
San stares on with an intense look. Himena smiles and asks her what's wrong; it's not like the instructor to lose her cool. San asks her if this is her plan. Himena says she already knows what will happen in a fair fight, so she's fighting dirty as her only way to win. San is disappointed that Himena still can't see the big picture and try a head on fight, even if she's correct in trying to outsmart her opponent.
San begins focusing her magic on reloading so she can wipe Himena out with a barrage that'll turn her to dust. Himena's smile turns upside down as she says she's been waiting for this moment. She makes a frontal attack, scoring a direct hit on San. Himena then goes back to smiling, asking how was that? She hit San right in the face with that attack. San turns back and fires right at her, instantly breaking Himena's glass ball.
Himena completely forgot about the rules of the fight and just wanted to get one good hit in. San mentions that Himena was the one who started this whole fight, so what the hell's with that answer. Himena doesn't care, the 3 of them had a different goal in mind anyways. She restates that if San won, she could tell them whatever she wants. San asks what she's talking about. Himena knows San has something she's been wanting to tell everyone, and tells her she doesn't care if she's mad about the day before, just go ahead and say what you want.
San goes quiet and frowns. Himena wonders if she got it all wrong. San asks her what she thinks happened yesterday. Himena opens up, saying she thinks she went overboard with San's personal matters, since she got quiet the entire next day. She figured San would have a hard time saying how she felt because she's acting as their instructor, so by having an all-out fight, they could just stop afterwards and have a talk. San sighs, saying that plan is straight out of a shonen manga.
Himena tells her they took what she said and each tried their hardest to overcome their own problems to win the fight. San agrees. Shigu and Hagu tried their best to win against all odds, and Himena herself went head on in a fight when she normally would never. She's moved that all 3 of them feel like they've grown.
However, San's been trying to tell them something since yesterday: that none of them will ever make it to the top being as weak as they are. She tells them she's kidding after Shigure gets sad, and that the truth is she's been wanting to apologize this whole time. She says she's sorry for taking it out on them after getting embarrassed over how she talks like a child with people from her town.
Himena apologizes too, saying she won't push San like that ever again. Although, she continues, San really was pretty cute★ She likes San being a cute little sister type too. San blushes, telling her she can stop mentioning that ever again as well. Sasha, Mitsune, and Miyuri are glad this is all over, but they have no clue what's even going on, so San offers to explain the whole thing on the way back.
Episode 10
Sasha, Mitsune, and Miyuri hear the whole thing, wishing they could've seen San being cutesy. Mitsune says San would be popular online like that lol, but Miyu tells her San is already popular everywhere. San tells her that's not true and to cut it out. She only talks like that to her youth group and her family. Himena says she understands, and will keep it a secret. San wonders if she really does understand.
Shigu's stomach growls, so Himena tells them all to head to the conbini for some food. San offers to treat them as part of her apology. Himena tells her she's being too distant, so San changes it treating them as a reward for their growth. Miyu tells her she doesn't need anything but San-sama's legs as a reward. Sasha just goes "...um...?" and Mitsune tells her to just pretend she didn't hear that. San tells everyone to buy whatever they like, but has to remind Sasha no more than 300 yen.
Everyone walks out of the store with food in hand. Miyuri loves the potato she got from San-sama. Shigu has never had conbini food with everyone before. Hagumu says it feels nice to do things like this sometimes. Himena asks San about the parfait she always gets. San says the guy from her youth group always buys her it, so she can confirm it is great.
Everyone thanks San, who says she will gladly treat everyone again after the next boot camp. After all, there's still so much left to teach them. Himena, Shigu, and Hagu are all determined to get stronger, take San by surprise, and be praised for it. Mitsune wants to do the training all the way through next time, and Miyuri offers to be backup once again.
San is happy to hear everyone is so motivated. Even if they're discouraged and down, with this kind of motivation getting to the top is still possible. And to do that, she needs everyone to get stronger.
Himena then asks Miyuri when the next youth group meeting is, only because San seems to keep this whole thing a secret. She wants to see who these kids are that she hangs out with in person. San immediately blushes. Mitsune then chimes in that she's a bit curious too, and Sasha suggests they all go together to check it out. Shigu and Hagu are a bit scared of what they might see and wonder what they should do. San fires back that it seems like some girls want to do overtime. Himena gives a kyaha★ and Shigure and Hagumu both yell that they're sorry.