CH 69

The Girl with the Burn Scars

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

After successfully completing the battle in the simulator, Tsugumi returned to the conference room, mentally exhausted.

The time taken to defeat the Demonic Beast was less than an hour. Not a bad time score, he supposed. That should have been enough to show how good he was.

When he arrived at the conference room, the other members were already seated, smiling on the surface and welcoming Tsugumi-Hagakure Sakura. Apparently, he got a passing score.

“Well, we’re quite a bit behind schedule, so I’ll start introducing myself right away.”

Hitsugi declared as the host and the self-introductions of the Jukka members began amidst a subtle sense of tension. Well, the self-introduction was just a brief profile and background.

Self-introductions began with Toono Sumire, who was ranked first, and ended without incident with Hitsugi Airi, who was ranked sixth. These six probably didn’t need any special introduction. Their names and ages were known because they were always explained on TV.

…But among them, there was one who had an unusually small amount of information. –Yukino Shizuku. In her self-introduction, she only mentioned her name and how long she had been active as a Magical Girl.

Originally, Yukino Shizuku had a history of being a stray Magical Girl. Although she became a Rikka and switched to government affiliation, her personal information had not yet been made public. Perhaps it was the intention of the person herself and the contract God, but it seemed too much.

However, in the sense that neither her age nor her hometown was known, Hagakure Sakura didn’t have the right to say anything about others.

–At any rate, it was finally time for the seventh and subsequent introductions. Tsugumi listened to the other three introduce themselves, feeling somewhat nervous.

They had been a bit nervous when they first came to the conference room, but it seemed they had calmed down while Tsugumi was fighting. He hoped time would resolve this somewhat awkward atmosphere.

“I am Sobi Maki. Please accept my regards.”

Seventh in the ranking. She was a Magical Girl belonging to the government. She was 20 years old and had the elegance of a Yamato Nadeshiko. At a quick glance, she did not appear to be very active in battle.

“Agatsuma Suo! I’ve been working as a stray for a while, so I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I’m looking forward to working with you!”

The one who greeted so cheerfully was a girl ranked eighth in the ranking. Her age was probably not that much different from Tsugumi’s. The girl had been working as a Magical Girl for longer than Hagakure Sakura and had been active as a Stray for about four years. It seemed she had a Transportation skill like Tsugumi.

“…Kazaguruma Tokiwa. Nice to meet you.”

The girl who greeted somewhat vaguely and sleepily rubbing her eyes was ranked ninth. She was fifteen years old and in the same grade as Hyuga.

Although she was as strong as Rikka in terms of ability, she had not been selected as one of Rikka until now because she was not very active in voting. It could be said that she was selected only because the number of slots was expanded.

The last one, Tsugumi, stood up and opened his mouth.

“–My name is Hagakure Sakura. I may cause you trouble, but please take care of me from now on, okay?”

Then Tsugumi laughed softly.

◆　◆　◆

After a small self-introduction and a few small announcements, the first meeting ended without incident, although there were a few bumps along the way.

The big task at hand was the press conference on Jukka, which would be held in a few days. The new members were asked to come up with a few words of aspiration for each of them, but this should be manageable.

The shift in preparation for the monthly A-class subjugation would be announced at the next meeting. Basically, his job was to stay in the government during his shift, but Tsugumi could transport at any time, so he didn’t necessarily need to be in the government. They were going to take that situation into consideration, but he could only hope it would not affect his school life as much as possible.

As the members left one after another, someone called out to him from behind.

“Hey, Hagakure-san. Can I have a few minutes of your time after this?”

“Eh?”

Tsugumi was surprised by the sudden words and turned around to see Hitsugi standing there with a small smile on her face.

“Since you are a stray Magical Girl, you probably don’t know much about government facilities, do you? I invited Agatsuma-san, who is also a Stray, so I was wondering if we can have dinner together after the explanation. How about it?”

Tsugumi held his hand over his mouth in thought, but then he smiled and nodded firmly in affirmation.

“Yes, I would be happy to join you.”

“I am glad. –Let’s get on our way.”

In response to Tsugumi’s approval, Hitsugi let out a relieved breath, then she called out for Tsugumi to come forward, and stepped out of the conference room.

◆◆◆

“–In other words, it’s okay to use the simulator and view the battle logs as long as I belong to Jukka?”

“Yes, that’s right. The rest is about meals in the government. If you give out the personal card that I gave you earlier, everything will be provided free of charge. Everything on the menu here is delicious, so whatever you order will be good.”

While tasting the beef stew he ordered at the government cafeteria, Tsugumi asked Hitsugi a question that had been on his mind.

He had heard that by joining Jukka, he would have more privileges to use, but being able to see the details of the battle records was great. Until now, he had supplemented his knowledge with videos and discussions left on the Internet, but if he could access official government data, he would be able to save time and effort. In addition, it seemed that some of the restrictions that had been placed on Strays would be lifted. This was an unexpected blessing.

Incidentally, as for the bounty, it would remain a 30% cut unless he became fully affiliated with the government, but in Tsugumi’s case, money was not that important, so it wasn’t really a problem.

“…You don’t have to worry too much about Hyuga-san. That child’s words may be a little harsh, but she’s not going to lay a hand on you or drag you down.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. She may not be aware of it, but she is one of the Magical Girls who protect the country.  She may speak openly, but she will never do anything cowardly. When you think about it, she’s just pretty cute, isn’t she?”

“Well, maybe so.”

It was true that Hyuga’s problem was just her attitude, the people in the Countermeasures Headquarters had nothing to say about any cowardly behavior.

If Hyuga had been a person who would have chosen any means to kick others down the road, even Tsugumi might have despised her. For now, all he had to do was to win the battle of tongues, so there shouldn’t be any problem regarding Hyuga.

–Just as I’ve heard from Chidori, the food in this cafeteria is really delicious.

The beef melted in his mouth and the demi-glace sauce went well with it.

But what is this strange sensation I sometimes feel? It was a strange sensation that filled his second stomach as if he was invoking his [Gluttony] skill. He didn’t feel anything bad, but it was still concerning.

As Tsugumi twisted his head, Agatsuma, who was sitting next to him, muttered something.

“Is there perhaps a little bit of the magic nucleus in this food?”

“…I’m surprised you noticed.”

Hitsugi said this in surprise, then spoke softly under her breath.

“The food here – the food served to Magical Girls – contains a small amount of crushed magic nucleus. And the food itself is grown with a lot of highly concentrated magical fertilizer. It’s usually not noticeable, but Agatsuma-san is amazing.”

“Hehe, thank you very much.”

Agatsuma smiled happily at Hitsugi’s praise. In the midst of all this, Tsugumi asked Hitsugi what he had been wondering,

“But why are they mixing the magic nucleus? It’s not for the sake of luxury, is it?”

–The magic nucleus was a crystallized form of energy that appeared when a Demonic Beast was defeated. It could be dissolved in water and used as a chemical fuel, used as an element to generate electricity, or even crushed into small pieces as a high-purity fertilizer for agriculture. In other words, it was a dream-like versatile material.

However, even though 30,000 Demonic Beasts could be hunted each year, the amount of magic nucleus was limited. It was difficult to imagine such a luxury item mixed with meals.

“It’s not publicized, but the magic nucleus has the effect of expanding the Magical Girl’s vessel. Well, the effect is still insignificant.”

“I didn’t know there’s a reason for that. But isn’t it a bit of a waste? Isn’t the magic nucleus quite precious?”

Listening to Hitsugi’s answer, Agatsuma said in surprise. Tsugumi could agree with that statement.

Nowadays, the rate of Demonic Beasts’ appearance was constant and they were able to have a stable supply of magic nuclei, but he didn’t think this situation would change forever. For the sake of the future, they should probably refrain from using the magic nucleus if it only produced a small effect.

Hitsugi smiled as if she could see their doubts.

“Although it is certainly distressing to see such a precious resource being used for something like this, I understand the feelings of the people in the government who decided to introduce this program. –For Japan, Magical Girls are the last stronghold. They are willing to use their precious magic nuclei if we can become stronger even if just a little and survive. Maybe that’s how they think. I’ll be happy if the effects of this meal will reduce the number of people we have to send off, even if only a little.”

Hitsugi’s words, with a hint of sadness, caused Tsugumi to fall silent.

–Hitsugi had been a Magical Girl for almost ten years now. He wondered how many of her colleagues she had lost to Demonic Beasts in that time. It was hard to imagine how she felt.

As the three of them looked away awkwardly, suddenly a beeping electronic sound echoed around the area. In the midst of this, Hitsugi suddenly put her hand into the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out a rectangular terminal.

“Yes, this is Hitsugi. …Now? No, that’s fine. I will be on my way immediately.”

Then, Hitsugi hung up the phone and bowed apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I have to leave first. I’ve been called away by staff of Jukka …I’m really sorry, even though I invited you to dinner.”

“No, no! I’m still here to talk with Hagakure-san, so don’t worry too much!”

“It can’t be helped since it’s a call from the government. I look forward to hearing more of your stories next time.”

After the exchange, Hitsugi bowed her head apologetically and left the cafeteria with quick steps. She was truly a humble person. He liked her, but he was worried she might be overworking himself.

…He wondered if the Magical Girls who belonged to the government were always that busy. If so, it might be enough to just remain as a Stray. Thinking about this, Tsugumi glanced at his neighbor.

Agatsuma Suo had finished her lunch set and was smiling with satisfaction. Then she turned to him and abruptly spoke up.

“By the way, how did you become a Magical Girl, Hagakure-san?”

“…How, you said?”

When Tsugumi asked back, not understanding what she meant, Agatsuma said matter-of-factly.

“You see, this was the beginning of my contract with God. I was walking down the street when I was suddenly invited. What was it like for you, Hagakure-san?”

–I see, so that’s how it is.

Unlike those who belonged to the government, stray Magical Girls had different ways of meeting Gods. Since Strays rarely got a chance to talk to each other, they would never know the reasons why the others joined without this kind of opportunity. She was probably curious about that.

“In my case, it all started when I was involved in a barrier accident and a God saved me. Fufu, it’s like returning the favor, so to speak.”

When Tsugumi answered, Agatsuma’s eyes lit up and she laughed.

“Heh, repaying a favor, huh. That’s kind of cool! I was looking for something when I met a God, and I became a Magical Girl on the condition that they help me find it. –Well, I haven’t found what I was looking for yet.”

Agatsuma said, ruffling her hair bashfully. At that moment, he caught a glimpse of the bruise on her right hand.

The burn-like bruise extended from the back of her hand to the tip of her wrist, and it was hard to tell just how big it was. He wondered if it came from her Magical Girl activities.

Perhaps noticing Tsugumi’s gaze, Agatsuma gently held her right hand with her left and smiled, as if troubled.

At Agatsuma’s attitude, Tsugumi looked down at her with a bum eye and said in an apologetic voice.

“I’m sorry for staring. It looked like you’re in pain, so I got worried.”

“Oh, these burn scars? Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt anymore! I don’t really remember, but apparently, I was involved in a fire when I was little. It seemed I was injured then.”　

“That must have been a disaster.”

“That’s true! It was a large-scale disaster, but the details of the disaster have not been announced yet, and it’s not good for the general public, you know.”

As Agatsuma said this with a laugh, Tsugumi felt a slight sense of discomfort. Her words were light and she didn’t seem to be concerned about her injuries. But why? –In the depths of her eyes, he could sense a murky hatred.

“…By the way, what exactly is it that you were looking for that you mentioned earlier? If you don’t mind, I’ll help you as much as I can.”

When Tsugumi broached the subject, Agatsuma blinked in surprise.

“Really!?”

“Yes. It’s something I can do.”

When Tsugumi replied, Agatsuma laughed happily.

“That’s very helpful. –I’m actually looking for a person.”

“A person?”

“Yes, a person. –The disaster I mentioned earlier, it seems it was a man-made disaster. I am looking for the culprit.”

–The disaster, the man-made disaster, and the burn on Agatsuma’s right hand. Various information ran through his mind-and he came up with a single answer. He felt like he could hear the sound of blood dropping.

–He had no idea that there were people involved in that disaster so close by.

By a strange coincidence, Tsugumi gently rubbed his cold arms. Apparently, he was so upset that he was sweating a little.

Then Tsugumi asked Agatsuma a question to turn his guess into a certainty.

“Is that disaster, by any chance, the great fire of ten–no, eleven–years ago?”

“Yes, I was referring to the great fire that broke out in the town of Sekiguchi, eleven years ago. Hagakure-san, you know it well!”

Saying this, Agatsuma smiled happily.

–And so, by chance, two people pursuing the same case have a chance encounter. No one knows yet how this encounter will turn out.