CH 116

New Job

Translated by LyraDhani

Edited by LyraDhani

One day near the end of July. While on standby at the government, Tsugumi was training to fight Demonic Beasts in a simulation when a high-pitched alarm suddenly rang out.

“…It’s too loud. It goes right over my head.”

Tsugumi frowned at the pounding sound as he glanced sideways at the Demonic Beast that had stopped moving.

–The sound was an emergency call. This would mean that a situation had arisen where it was necessary to press it.

Then he touched the electronic screen that had appeared in front of him along with the alarm. At the same time, his vision went black and he lost feeling in his limbs. With a tremor, he quietly closed his eyes.

After regaining the sensation in his limbs, he slowly opened his eyes and the door of the room opened with a whooshing sound. Rubbing his eyes as he headed for the exit, he noticed a familiar figure standing outside the door.

A face that looked a little younger than Tsugumi and messy black hair. With a sleepy, dazed expression on her face, the girl – Kazaguruma Tokiwa, ranked ninth in the Jukka – was staring straight ahead at Tsugumi.

“–Kazaguruma-san. Is something wrong?”

When Tsugumi asked this, Kazaguruma nodded her head without changing her expression.

“Orders from the Demonic Beast Countermeasure Headquarters. Hagakure Sakura and I have been requested to be dispatched. Details will be explained by the staff on site.”

“Understood. Where is the location?”

“Hmm, these are the coordinates. I’m going to the Transportation Management Department to transport there. Go ahead of me.”

When Kazaguruma briefly said so, she held out the document to Tsugumi. While thinking that she still talked strangely, Tsugumi received the document that contained the coordinates and the time when the Demonic Beast was scheduled to appear.

Tsugumi nodded slightly, then turned to Kazaguruma and said with a smile.

“Understood. —Then let’s meet at the site.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later.”

Kazaguruma replied, then turned her back on Tsugumi and walked out of the simulation room. She was probably going to the Transportation Management Department room.

Although Tsugumi had never been in the care of the Transportation Management Department because of his own mobility, the idea of being transported by someone else was a little worrisome. Perhaps the sensation of movement might be different from his own.

…Well, as long as wasting transportation was not allowed, Tsugumi probably would never experience it.

Considering that, Tsugumi’s ability to transport was exceptional. Although it was limited to moving alone, the normal cooling time was only a few minutes, there was no limit to the distance traveled, and the amount of divine power wasn’t so big either. It was a very useful ability.

It could be said that Tsugumi was really lucky to have this ability. …Maybe had used up all of his luck for it.

While thinking such a thing, Tsugumi sent a message to Chidori saying, “I’m staying at a friend’s house today”. It didn’t necessarily mean that Tsugumi would fight, but when it came to A-class battles, the fight was sure to be a long one.

“…I hope nothing strange happens this time.”

Letting out a loud sigh, Tsugumi flew to the designated coordinates.

◆ ◆ ◆

“An A-class promotion exam, is it?”

“Yes. In this A-class battle, we are going to have the B-class Magical Girls fight first. I will ask the two of you from Jukka to take care of things if anything goes wrong.”

When Tsugumi went down to the designated place and went out to the temporary operation headquarters where government officials were gathered, one of the staff told him something like that. Tsugumi tilted his head curiously upon hearing this and the staff nodded, saying. “Ah, I just remember that Hagakure-san is a stray.”

According to the staff, government Magical Girls were given a promotion exam if they met certain conditions–fight Demonic Beasts of that rank. In other words, Tsugumi’s job this time was to deal with the aftermath–in case the Magical Girl who fought first was defeated.

After receiving the explanation, Tsugumi felt a sense of disappointment, but gave a small nod and sat down in a chair in the waiting area. Apparently, this time, if everything went well, he wouldn’t have to fight.

Then, as he picked up a drink that had been prepared beside the chair, he looked at a plain-clothes woman sitting in the distance.

She was a strong-looking woman with beautifully dyed golden hair that was cut short, and she had fish eyes. Perhaps she was the Magical Girl who would fight first.

Gazing blankly at the woman, his eyes met with hers as she turned around. The woman glared at Tsugumi in disgust and went away. …He wondered if she was that uncomfortable being seen.

While flipping through the documents with a drink in his hand, a black shadow suddenly appeared.

“She is Shiraki Ren, 21 years old. She has been a Magical Girl for five years. Her fighting style is spear attack. She is capable, but her personality is somewhat difficult.”

“Hyah!! Kazaguruma-san? Please, don’t suddenly talk in my ear…”

Not knowing what she was thinking, Kazaguruma made a disgruntled sound with no expression.

“Mm, that’s unexpected. I told you because I thought you were curious.”

“I was indeed a bit curious… Are you acquainted with her, Kazaguruma-san?”

When Tsugumi asked that, Kazaguruma gently shook her head.

“I don’t know her directly. I just remember seeing her in a document before. Besides, the back-ups are basically supposed to be people who are not closely related to the testers.”

“Is that so? That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

–But it certainly made sense. The death rate for moving up from B-class to A-class was quite high. Then what happened? Yes–the backup Magical Girls wouldn’t be able to fight.

No matter how strong she was as a Magical Girl, there was no way she could be in a sane state of mind after the death of a close acquaintance. Such measures were necessary to prevent secondary damage.

“She seems upset too. We shouldn’t provoke her too much.”

“I was going to greet her, but I guess I shouldn’t. She was glaring at me a little earlier.”

When Tsugumi said this in an annoyed tone, Kazaguruma shrugged her shoulders and opened her mouth.

“For better or worse, Hagakure Sakura stands out. For those who are smoldering like that, they probably want to take it out on us. We have no choice but to give up and think of it as a side effect of being famous.”

Tsugumi – Hagakure Sakura – instantly jumped over the path that the government’s Magical Girls suffered through. What did it look like in their eyes? –It must have seemed terribly alien to them.

…But it would be unreasonable for Tsugumi to shy away from them here. Hagakure Sakura had been chosen by many to stand here. He must take responsibility for those expectations… He laughed, thinking he couldn’t keep with that.

“And I don’t recommend that you actively try to get involved with Magical Girls other than the A-classes. –You’ll only make it harder on yourself.”

“…It’s, uh…”

Kazaguruma told him quietly, and Tsugumi looked down, feeling awkward. Kazaguruma’s words were not a mockery of lowly Magical Girls, but a genuine warning to Tsugumi. Perhaps she, too, had lost someone important to her.

But Kazaguruma did have a point: the death rate was more than twice as high between A-class and other Magical Girls. It was simply because A-class Magical Girls were significantly stronger.

–In the first place, there was a clear disparity between Magical Girls.

High aptitude and the status of the contract God. The effectiveness of acquired ability skills and individual fighting sense. It was no exaggeration to say that the cards they dealt with were not equal, and the outcome was almost always decided at the beginning.

If they weren’t blessed with the ability, depending on one’s fighting style and effort, they might still be able to defeat a B-class Demonic Beast, but when it came to the A-class, it was a different story.

There was a wall of power between A-class and B-class that couldn’t be overcome by petty strength or effort alone. Only a handful of people who broke out of their shells and smashed through that unreasonable barrier could become highly-ranked Magical Girls.

This was why, like Kazaguruma said, trying to keep a distance from people other than A-class Magical Girls–maybe it was the right thing to do to protect their hearts.

“Thank you for your advice. Kazaguruma-san is very kind.”

When Tsugumi said this, Kazaguruma said jokingly.

“It’s only natural to care about talented juniors. The more talented people there are, the less work I have to do. In other words, it’s a win-win.”

”Fufu, then I will do my best to meet Senpai’s expectations.”

“I’ll be rooting for you.”

Saying so, Kazaguruma smiled thinly. Tsugumi felt that Kazaguruma’s mischievous smile was somewhat similar to Mebuki’s. The two were very similar in the way they seemed to be strangely caring.

–I see, you’re certainly a “senior”. Thinking of this, Tsugumi also smiled naturally.