Chapter 14 : “Grandmother is Still Alive”

Yamashita, the young elite police officer of the Metropolitan Police Department.

He was standing in the bathroom of the broadcasting station lobby, looking at the sink.

Swoosh

Water was flowing, being sucked into a dark hole.

Just like his pathetic self.

He had failed in the operation to arrest Busujima Haruko, which he had forcefully carried out through connections he had mobilized, even ignoring conventions, in order to impress the Superintendent General despite his young age.

“…”

The risk that inevitably follows an unreasonable move.

The responsibility for failure.

All the connections he had mobilized for the operation turned their backs on him.

Yamashita, who had received an angry shout from Director Mori for the first time, was transferred from his original Criminal Investigation Division 1 to be the temporary captain of the Metropolitan Police Department’s riot police.

Nominally, he was the substitute for the former riot police captain who had been caught by a reporter showing disgraceful behavior at an illegal entertainment establishment.

The riot police captain had resigned, ‘feeling deeply responsible for not stopping his superiors,’ on behalf of the director-level personnel from the Metropolitan Police Department who were at the same place. Yamashita had been put in that vacant position, and he was said to be the temporary captain until the next riot police captain was appointed, but.

‘It’s over.’

Yamashita was not unaware that he was essentially a figurehead.

As soon as he was appointed, he was rushed to the Odaiba site to command security operations without even time for self-introduction.

“…”

Even if he’s just a figurehead warming the seat, there’s a set reporting system.

The radio given to Yamashita should be noisily ringing with reports from five companies.

But except for the public channel, Yamashita’s direct channel was filled with chilling silence.

‘The company commanders probably know too.’

That he would just warm the seat for a moment and soon be demoted to some small rural police station somewhere.

‘To end up guarding a magical girls’ talk show after being demoted for chasing a magical girl case.’

Yamashita laughed bitterly as he looked in the mirror in the bathroom.

The ordinary person in the mirror was also mocking him.

“Sir, it’s time for us to close, so I’m sorry but…”

“Aw~ I need to look around more, I say!”

“I’m really sorry, but we decided to close early today because of the filming. I apologize.”

“Just a li’l bit more~”

From outside the bathroom, he could hear a girl with a stupid-sounding voice arguing with a staff member.

“Oh, Oh-Ono-san! D-Don’t make trouble!”

“Don’t call me by my surname! I swore from the moment I joined the boss, I say!”

“M-Ma’am, it’s troublesome if you shout here…!”

And the sound of a timid-voiced girl, probably a companion, trying to stop her.

‘This one and that one, they’re all just making a fuss trying to see magical girls.’

It was probably because the debut talk show of the first magical girl idol group was planned to be held today, and they were making a fuss trying to watch it.

Originally, an idol group isn’t something that comes out instantly like retort curry, but is born through years of planning and meetings. However, this group was hastily created to match the unprecedented trend of magical girls that had arisen in just one month.

They must have expected that a magical girl group with all members having idol center-level, no, model-level beauty and using supernatural abilities would be a hit, as they spared no investment.

‘They’re probably planning to kill time on variety TV shows with amateurs who aren’t prepared in dance or singing, then pick only the real gems to debut.’

An obvious and sleazy trick.

Such business strategies of the vulgar capitalist market were as clear as the palm of his hand to Yamashita.

“Busujima, say somethin’ too! We haven’t seen everything yet, have we!”

“E-Even if we go up now, the broadcasting station people will stop us.”

“Are you sayin’ we should just leave like this!”

An unusual but familiar surname.

‘Busujima…?’

As soon as Yamashita heard that surname, he rushed out to the lobby. But the two girls who had been making a fuss were not visible in the lobby.

Even when he hurriedly looked around through the window, he could only see staff members closing the escalator going up to the 5th floor.

Yamashita decided to trust his instinct, which was close to certainty, and turned on his radio.

Something is definitely about to happen.

* * *

While Haruko and Kyoko changed their appearances with illusions and went to check inside the broadcasting station.

Ichika and I were observing the surroundings of the broadcasting station from outside.

“By the way, there are really a lot of people~”

A sea of people.

As it was a place known as a tourist attraction, it was usually crowded with people.

But today was even more crowded because it was a monumental day when those rumored magical girls were making their group debut on TV.

The main entrance on the first floor was tightly closed, and people who looked like police and internal security guards of the broadcasting station were standing guard like an iron wall.

“They’ve already gone in to prepare long ago; what are they coming out to see?”

“They probably want to see them leaving, at least.”

“Does money or food come out when you see their faces?”

“Stop grumbling.”

“Yes, yes.”

Ichika tried to maintain a certain dignity in front of the girls who followed her, including Kyoko, but when she was alone with me like this, her speech oddly became lighter and more frequent. As Ichika and I were waiting together like that, Haruko and Kyoko came.

“The first floor’s crawlin’ with cops and guards, and they’ve blocked the elevator too, I say.”

“Th-They’ve blocked the escalator too.”

“What should we do, Shirogane?”

“Hmm.”

I looked up at the peculiar building that looked like a ball placed on top of jungle gyms.

The broadcasting station’s observation deck.

I heard that today’s filming would take place in the large ball-shaped observation deck at the very top.

“Ah! A-And there was a big staircase that could go straight up to the 7th floor.”

“That place is full of cops too, I say!”

Anyway, to get to the observation deck, we had to take the elevator on the 7th floor.

There was also a method of climbing up from the outside and infiltrating into the building, but if we broke the glass and set off an alarm, it would be all over.

“Let’s cover ourselves with illusion magic and go up the stairs to the 7th floor, then straight up to the observation deck.”

“Okay.”

“Understood, I say!”

“Yes.”

“I think I and Busujima-san need to wear masks, do Ichika and Kyoko want to wear them too?”

Ichika shook her head at those words.

“I’ve already shown my face to Fujimoto anyway, and they might have noticed that I’m with you too.”

“Same for me, I say!”

Haruko, who hadn’t had any dealings with Fujimoto yet, carefully put on a mask as if she felt conscious.

“Then let’s go!”

* * *

The temporary studio set up inside the observation deck was as noisy as the crowded outside due to the filming.

Because a large project involving the debut of a magical girl group on a famous live talk show responsible for weekend evenings was involved, more staff than usual were busily coming and going to conduct the broadcast.

Today’s guests, the magical girls, were amateurs who were embarrassing to even call broadcasters.

Therefore, the broadcast was made up of thorough rehearsals and script memorization. And a skilled entertainment MC was leading and carrying the program.

“Haha, so Shizuku-san’s hobby is reading while listening to classical music?”

“Y-Yes! Awuu…”

It’s a lie.

Shizuku’s hobby was watching late-night anime while eating snacks her mama made for her in her room.

‘How did it come to this.’

A month ago, Shizuku had gone to Shibuya with her friends, saw the red broadcast, and became a magical girl.

-Eeh?! When did this get in?

-Wow, I don’t know what it is, but it’s pretty.

-What is this used for?

A special glass star, though she didn’t know what it was.

After that, Shizuku went around showing off her glass star to people around her.

But when she came to her senses, she found herself as a regular guest on the radio, telling the morning traffic situation.

‘Mama, I’m scared.’

Shizuku, who was just an ordinary baker’s daughter.

All these changes were just unfamiliar to her.

‘You’ll earn a lot of money’, ‘You can appear on TV too’, ‘You’ll become famous’, she was enticed by the pressuring words of the agency president, and before she knew it, she had come this far.

[Awuu forbidden!]

Because it was a live broadcast, her assigned manager was giving instructions by writing on a large sketchbook from a side not caught on camera.

Mainly when she didn’t act according to the script or deviated from the concept, the assigned manager would instruct with a scary expression.

He was a person who was determined to correct her for making stupid sounds, as she was in charge of the group’s pure and pitiful literary girl character.

‘Haah, how on earth did it come to this.’

Honestly, Shizuku wanted to quit being a broadcaster, which didn’t suit her shy nature and didn’t even let her eat snacks under the guise of dieting. But pressed by her parents’ expectant gazes and her manager’s sharp sarcasm, she had been doing clumsy clown acts for a month.

“Yes, that means…”

Silence.

“Huh?”

“…”

“…”

Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

‘Wh-What?’

Shizuku was startled by the sudden silence in the studio and tried to figure out if she had made some mistake.

To begin with, even the magical girls from the same group next to her were looking around in confusion.

The scene was as if time had stopped, with all staff members frozen in place.

Only the girls were flustered in that situation.

“Hello, magical girls.”

“Eek?!”

“Kyaa?!”

Behind the guest seats where the five magical girls were sitting, another girl was suddenly sitting and smiling.

She was wearing a dazzlingly white blouse over black suit pants.

She was a mysterious masked girl with a cape covering her shoulders.

‘A-A magician…?’

The girls were frozen, overwhelmed by the unknown spirit emanating from the masked girl.

Click click

The masked girl walked out and stopped in the middle of the studio where everything was frozen. Then, with one hand lightly placed on her chest and the other hand raised high, she made an elegant bow by bending her waist.

“Hello, everyone in the nation.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“I am the one hosting the girls’ débutante today.”

“A nameless magical girl.”