episode_0007

I received a part-time job offer.

As soon as I received the offer, I felt like I was choking on dumplings trying to swallow them whole.

“Usually, there are three types of headhunting.”

One. In the case of an idol agency.

Even if I don’t know anything else, I can fit into the top ten fingers in the world just with my looks and body, and I have considerable athletic ability.

Even if I wear shabby clothes, beauty inevitably shines outward.

Although my age is almost in the early 30s if you count up to my actual age – let’s say around 27 years old – I look younger than that, so it’s not strange to receive an idol scout.

In fact, when I go to Tokyo, there are quite a few people who catch me.

“But when they say it’s an idol agency, in reality, it often turns out to be an AV studio.”

Two. Although they are idols, they end up becoming idols on the bed who can’t even become underground idols.

In these cases, they often come in cunningly disguised to deceive people, but now it’s hard to fool with ordinary tricks.

Especially retired magical girls tend to fall for this kind of thing a lot, or they deliberately debut in this way, which is somewhat mainstream in Japan.

The transformed bodies of magical girls do not have a negative impact on reality, and retired witches are nothing more than women with good physical specs.

So some of them walk the path professionally and earn more money than they did during their magical girl days.

People may say that they have “fallen for money,” but at least they can understand that they give someone a moment of hope and pleasure in exchange for compensation.

To attract such people, I heard that women working in the entertainment industry of magical girls directly contact them.

And now?

“Oh. You seem surprised. It’s right in front of us. Since it’s a special investigation department, people get uncomfortable when we mention it.”

“T-the Black, right?”

Three. When a company is so black that it’s a serious situation where you must offer a part-time job to a woman you meet on the street immediately.

“It seems as difficult and challenging as this soy sauce…”

“…It’s hard to deny that it’s tough and challenging, but that doesn’t mean it’s black.”

Misaki firmly shook her head.

“We start work at 9 and finish around 8. Occasionally, when accidents happen on weekends, we have to work overtime.”

“Isn’t that black enough just by itself?”

“But since most of our work involves going out when accidents happen, we spend a lot of time waiting during business hours.”

“Even if you present that as an advantage…”

Do people working at Japanese black companies think they are black only when they collapse from overwork and die?

Or maybe they don’t even realize they are working at a black company?

Originally –

“If it’s a special investigation department, shouldn’t it be for national civil servants? Is it okay to recruit part-timers from a Gyudon chain store…?”

Which organization is headhunting like this?

“Yes.”

But Misaki was very confident.

“The part-time job we are planning is not like others. We are recruiting people to assist current magical girls in their activities.”

“Assist…?”

Suddenly, my heart sank.

“Is the situation so serious that civilians have to assist magical girls in fighting?”

“…It’s not like that. We can’t bring non-combatants to places where support agents are active. It’s just…that.”

Misaki closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and took out a hand mirror.

“What do you see here?”

“I see it.”

I thought it might be a magic mirror like in fairy tales, but fortunately, it was just a makeup hand mirror.

It seemed to have been used for quite a while, a cheap folding hand mirror that could probably be bought for a thousand yen.

“Yes. I see a beauty in me. Much more beautiful and lovely than me.”

“…Misaki-san, you’re beautiful too.”

“Thank you. In that case, have you ever heard such rumors?”

Misaki-san said seriously as she put the hand mirror away.

“Well, they say all the women working at the Special Investigation Department are only pretty women.”

“……”

“It’s not that I’m beautiful. But it’s true that we have looks above average, enough to pass the Special Investigation Department’s standards. Some might say it’s unfortunate, but this is also an official criterion for joining the Japan Magical Girl Support Headquarters.”

“So… when airlines or nurses are recruited, they look at appearances… something like that?”

“Yes. And now, we need someone with good looks.”

“……?”

It feels like something is dark, but maybe it’s just my imagination.

“A while ago, the road manager supporting the magical girl team quit. It’s… embarrassing to say, but she turned into a monster because she felt inferior watching young magical girls.”

“Wait, that means…”

Monsters.

Those affected by mana among humans who undergo transformations.

There’s no rule that only magical girls become monsters; in fact, those distant from magical girls often turn into monsters.

“We need someone who can match the average appearance of magical girls. Above all, a woman who can work diligently without feeling inferior when looking at the beauty of young magical girls.”

“……”

“If you’re interested, could you perhaps go up to the main office and talk? It might be a lot to ask, but…”

One thing I learned since coming to Japan.

“Ordinary Japanese people don’t cling so persistently like this. They think it’s a nuisance.”

When someone related to public officials comes out to this extent, it means it’s a situation where things must be thoroughly considered.

They know it’s a nuisance, but it’s a situation where they feel like they’re about to die right away.

Literally ‘black’…

“I think there’s something I need to tell you…”

“What is it?”

“I’m under a curse.”

Even if I wanted to get involved in that blackness, I couldn’t.

“A demon cursed me and I died.”

“What kind of…?”

“A curse that I can’t have more than 100,000 yen in assets?”

“…What kind of clumsy and petty curse is that?”

“That’s right.”

The first demon of Clifport, the great demon Satan, laid a curse that everyone fears and reveres.

“So I…”

“Then, is it okay if it’s not money?”

“…What?”

“Like clothes or items. I can provide them in kind. I have that authority. Is that also not allowed?”

“Well, um, there are some differences regarding real estate…”

There was another curse related to real estate, so it was ambiguous what to say, but I couldn’t refuse Misaki-san’s touch, which seemed impossible to escape.

“…For now, I’ll listen to your story. Just the story.”

This isn’t a demon’s curse.

“If I feel like leaving after hearing it, don’t be disappointed or upset. Understand?”

Being a human bound by a curse of meddling, unable to simply overlook someone in trouble.

“Okay then.”

Never.

“For now, let’s start by hearing what’s going on.”

It’s not because of a spell cast by a gyoja.

* * *

A little later, at the Special Investigation Department headquarters interrogation room.

“Is that friend the new road manager this time?”

“……?”

“His face looks fine. Let’s make sure he doesn’t run away this time.”

“…….???”

It was strange to enter the break room, and as soon as I entered, a bearded man made strange noises and went outside.

Run away?

Me?

“That must be a signal, right?”

I am good at reading people.

More precisely, I grasp a person’s disposition through the faint mana flowing around them. In my eyes, I could faintly see a pure red energy emanating from the bearded man.

Should I call it a kind of tsundere?

I know that preventing me from escaping helps with their work, but I, being a pure person, couldn’t just stand by and watch someone working in such a dark place.

In other words, it was a message containing the hidden intention that they hoped I would notice and escape on my own.

So.

“Should I run away?”

The seemingly friendly man subtly hinted at me to flee. If I just stay quiet, there is a high chance of things going awry in this dark place.

“Don’t worry about that man. No, he might be a team leader from the adjacent team….”

“A team leader?”

“Yes. He holds a position equivalent to mine as a team leader. I handle ‘Monster’ Countermeasures, and that person handles ‘Demon’ Countermeasures Team.”

“Hmm….”

He was someone working in a more dangerous place than I had thought.

Monsters or creatures were still beings who were once human or had reached a level where conversation was somewhat possible due to realizing human intellect, but demons are truly demons.

Those who deal with demons often end up suffering, even their families becoming targets of the demon’s torment.

“But still, maintaining such a pure color. Surprising.”

Even though the work environment is dark, there seems to be a sense of humanity within it.

Of course, it’s not your typical ‘family-like cozy company,’ but-

“So… Miss Mumei? Your task is this.”

The tasks brought by Manager Misaki were meant to make such cozy companies appear ‘insignificant.’

“Please become one of the managers for the newly formed magical girl team, [Over the Rainbow], in our Neodongtan.”

In other words, dealing with teenage girls directly.