episode_0020

Everything is in chaos.

It was the same at the school, where there were a bunch of useless kids, and at the company that kept pushing its employees into battles they knew were losing propositions.

I also despised the magical girls who would pop out whenever something seemed like it might go well and start causing trouble.

But most of all, I despised myself.

I hated how I could do dishonest things while rationalizing them, unable to quit my job.

I wanted to just destroy everything. I wanted to quit and run away. But I didn’t even know how to do that properly. The company I worked for was a large intergalactic corporation, and I was exploiting the weaknesses of those around me.

And it was I who had exposed those weaknesses.

“What—”

“Iris, watch out! It’s dangerous!”

Rose shouted as she saw someone rushing towards Iris. Iris quickly aimed her gun and pulled the trigger.

There was pain.

But I could endure it. No, that’s not quite accurate.

It felt like being hit in a dream. A hazy feeling, as if the pain wasn’t where it should be felt.

To think I couldn’t even feel pain when I was clearly lost in thought. What has happened to my brain?

3 percent.

As I ran my hand downward, what was falling stiffened. I had tried to form a blade shape, but it didn’t work well.

If making a blade was like adjusting a gas range flame, now it felt like I had to freeze the water dripping from my body in real time.

Understanding is one thing, but shaping it is a different issue altogether.

In the end, what hung from my arm was a solidified lump.

“…!”

Seeing the lump swinging towards her face, Iris jerked her head back. The fist barely grazed past her.

I tried to strike Iris’s abdomen with my right hand, but she didn’t take it easily.

Clang!

She blocked my fist with the rifle. As she fired a beam at Iris, the surface of the rifle, which maintained its form, developed a small crack. Iris didn’t seem to notice.

Lifting the rifle up with my knee from below, Iris’s hand bounced upward.

Of course. Iris isn’t as good at fighting as Rose.

Whether she was trying to roll backward or fly towards the ground, the fluttering edge of her coat caught my hand.

Pulling Iris’s airborne body towards me, I simultaneously swung my fist.

Thud!

The rifle and my fist collided again, and the crack grew a bit larger.

I heard the sound of wind cutting beside my ear, so I pulled back the fist that had been thrust forward. But it was a little too late, and my field of vision shifted to the side.

Did I get hit in the temple? I thought with a slightly dazed mind.

Ah, this could make me pass out if I’m not careful.

4 percent.

The helmet continued to blare warning sounds as if it were about to be engulfed by a storm. What could possibly be so dangerous? Well, the circuits have been sparking since earlier, so that might actually be the problem. The company is extremely sensitive to their assets being damaged.

Just before toppling over, I managed to roll my foot and regain my balance, narrowly avoiding the fall. Then, I threw a punch in the direction from which the fist had come flying at me. There was a sound like something exploding. It must not have been anything attached to my left wrist, as I had swung my right hand. Ah, I see. Rose must be using her Hope Circuit, concentrating her power to strike at me.

Although the left wrist, where the circuit was, held the most energy, the suit was already filled with an abundance of energy, overflowing from various places due to the earlier tearing and bursting from the beam. It almost looked like blood seeping out. “…A monster…?” Rose murmured.

Our hands were touching each other. Simultaneously, our fists collided. Could there be some strange interaction occurring as conflicting energies clashed?

The hope emanating from Rose’s body is a bright light. It was described as energy that could become a beacon from a distant place, according to the Galactic Federation. However, that’s why its absolute quantity is lacking. Although it’s strong, hope isn’t something that pervades the world unconditionally.

The energy rising slowly from my body seemed to be reversing, shooting upward toward the sky as if an ignition were taking place within me. The beam of light extending from my fist into the darkness seemed to express the very essence of a magical girl.

As if entrusting the advancement of the world to just five people, it felt like a reckless and cruel decision right before my eyes. “…What are you, exactly?” Rose asked, bewildered.

Indeed. I myself don’t understand the current situation. I clenched my left hand tightly and swung it toward Iris’s right arm, severing the light of hope beside her. “Eek!?” Even someone as composed as her would scream like that. Compared to the crack that appeared on Iris’s gun, it was more of a scratch, but such a mark had also appeared on Rose’s gauntlet. In exchange, the substance I had hardened shattered.

Bang! At the same time, my left hand moved in an odd direction. Some of the circuitry exploded, causing my posture to falter due to the recoil. Fortunately, Rose had grabbed her own right arm and was retreating, so she couldn’t attack me.

3 percent. 2 percent. The circuit’s readings were slowly decreasing. The warning sound continued to pierce my ears, and even various red characters were appearing in the corners.

I couldn’t understand anything because it was all in a foreign language.

Iris pointed the gun at me. Her face was serious. Click. The fuse on the gun was longer than usual, and she pulled the trigger without giving me a chance to dodge. Bang! But the explosion happened on her side, not mine. The crack in the gun couldn’t withstand the energy. It was designed to contain Iris’s energy, so it was natural that it couldn’t hold with even a tiny crack. A white light from the hope circuit spread out to the side like wings, but Iris didn’t seem pleased. Instead, fear briefly crossed her face. The gun fired to the right, causing Iris to stagger from the recoil, but she wasn’t seriously hurt. However, in an instant, the weapon she held disappeared. She seemed as surprised as I’d expect, having never experienced something like that before. Without missing a beat, I rushed towards Iris. She shot again, but the thin light from her gun couldn’t pierce through the despair emanating from my combat suit. Maybe the fact that my combat suit was moderately torn prevented the worst-case scenario. At close range, Iris tried to strike me with the gun, but my left hand blocked her. The fear etched on her face became more apparent. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her expression was contorted, her face turning pale. Just as my ability to harness hope diminished, it was clear that Iris’s energy wavered as she lost hope. I swiftly slammed my forehead against hers. There was no time to check her expression. I left Iris on the ground and quickly turned around, running with all my might. “Wait, stop!” Rose shouted angrily, reaching out towards me. I was heading towards home, where two civilians were present. Whether they could be considered civilians supporting the Galactic Federation’s research facility and the corresponding security measures is unclear, but for now, it would suffice by magical girl standards. However, just before reaching those civilians, I stopped, grabbed the unconscious Earthling from the ground, and slung them over my shoulder. Then, with all my strength, I turned back and ran towards Rose. Clenching my fist, I swung at her as she approached. Rose, somewhat flustered, shielded her face with her arms. However, I didn’t actually strike her with my fist. Instead, I continued running and grabbed the researcher I had previously fought and dropped. Without any gap, I ran straight ahead.

It was a given, but the house line was completely cut off. The officer didn’t show up. Although I had some suspicions, it would be better to discuss it after the situation was over. Running with all my might, I leaped from the rooftop.

“Whoa!?”

The researcher screamed. I didn’t jump down; instead, I landed on the opposite rooftop after leaping. This was purely due to luck. The circuit was still running like crazy. It had come back down to 0 percent, but that was just an overflow display after reaching 100 percent.

Moreover, it was lucky that the part supplying energy to the bridge hadn’t completely broken. 99 percent. There was no way the value, which had been at 0 percent, could suddenly become 99 percent.

Crackle, crackle. As soon as I landed on the rooftop, the circuit seemed to start making that noise again, as if it had reached its limit.

I ran forcefully towards the parking lot. Bang! Then, as if tearing off the door of a parked car, I yanked it open. The door wasn’t torn off completely, but the handle flew off. There would probably be a huge repair bill.

“W-What!?”

And James, who had been dozing off inside the car, was startled. I grabbed the Earthba and the researcher and threw them into the car, then drove off. It was a spacious minivan, so it wasn’t a big problem.

By the way, it’s unbelievable that a guy like the officer is sitting in the driver’s seat. In fact, he’s nothing special, isn’t he?

“Step on it.”

“What?”

“Step on it, I said!”

As I hit the back of the driver’s seat and shouted, James, startled, started driving.

I had already opened the parking lot gate. If magical girls were coming, whether it was open or not wouldn’t matter. They could fly in from the sky. In fact, leaving the gate open would be more useful.

Boom! Eventually, the circuit exploded. Fortunately, it wasn’t a huge explosion. James’s hand moved, almost causing the car to spin around.

The tattered door was still open. Since the lock was broken, it was natural. I held onto the Earthba and the researcher tightly. After the circuit burst, my strength was slowly draining away. To prevent being thrown out, I braced myself with my feet.

A flash poured down from above. It seemed like Iris had regained her senses and was about to shoot.

“Step on it more!”

“I’m already stepping on it as hard as I can!”

This neighborhood has so much money, yet why are the roads like this? I forced my way through the uneven alleys and finally managed to get to a main road.

The magical girl didn’t follow us further. Iris must not have been in such good shape. Otherwise, she would have chased us using a warp point. Or maybe she didn’t think it was a good idea to show a fight in the middle of the road.

“…Sigh.”

I took a long breath and looked at my left wrist. There, a circuit emitting black smoke was tangled. Ah, it seems impossible to revive.

“……”

For a while, neither of us said a word. James was the first to speak.

“So… is that a researcher?”

“Yes.”

The researcher was slumped over. The color around the pants, specifically the crotch area, seemed off. I pushed the researcher as far away from me as possible and fastened the safety belt. This way, even if the door shook a bit, there wouldn’t be a chance for them to bounce out.

Earlier, I shouted to step on them, but as soon as I regained my senses, I found myself speaking informally to the officer.

Still, it doesn’t seem particularly infuriating that they didn’t immediately tell me to get out of the car. It seems more like an incredibly natural thing.

First, I checked the condition of the researcher without moving them.

They were in a state of unconsciousness. There were some minor injuries on their face, but probably nothing serious. If they receive treatment at the clinic, the facial wounds will likely not leave a mark.

There doesn’t seem to be any broken bones.

I took a deep breath, stood up again, and relaxed in the chair.

“……”

“……”

Oh, no, wait a minute.

I, who had been slouched in the chair, suddenly jerked upright and looked towards the researcher.

The researcher who had fainted was still slumped in the chair.

Right. The researcher.

I recalled the mission I had just received.

It was ‘to bring back the researcher.’

Of course, two of the three people were left behind, but—

Huh.

“…… Is this a success?”

Unconsciously, I asked James.

“…… It—seems so, but.”

James also replied.

We fell into silence once again.

Success? Did we succeed?

So, have we completed the mission?

My face turned pale.

Isn’t this the first time?

In the operations I’ve participated in, I’ve never achieved such a resounding success. There have been partially successful missions, but none have achieved the core objective.

Even this mission, although it was initially about bringing back the researcher, was probably intended to force the research facility to be rebuilt elsewhere from scratch.

Because by periodically harassing them, it can hinder the Galactic Federation.

But still, this was the first time we achieved the core objective.

The operation itself had many sloppy aspects, and it seemed like there might be some other ulterior motive, but anyway, it was a success.

James’s face, reflected in the rearview mirror, looked somewhat perplexed.

… What should I do now?

In a slightly dazed state, I ended up riding in the car driven by James all the way back to the company.

*

Using only a small number of troops, not even elite forces, and deploying only one officer, it’s definitely not a normal operation.

Either they didn’t expect to succeed from the start, or it’s a mission designed to fail.

This seems to be a bit of an over-consciousness, but I briefly thought about that on my way here. I’ve had several confrontations with James. It seemed like James considered me a valuable asset. It’s been several years since I started working here, and until recently, I was just a combatant. Only recently did I find out that I am associated with magical girls. Or perhaps he knew all along and just didn’t say anything. Was he trying to leash me because I hit a civilian? “……” Normally, I would have gone into James’s office, but not now. I was sitting outside his office space, absentmindedly waiting. I had taken off my helmet and left it by the side. I was still in my combat uniform. The Earthling woman sitting at the reception desk in front of the office was looking at me as if puzzled. Could this woman also be an alien like James but appearing as an Earthling? While lost in this thought, the phone on the woman’s desk rang. “Oh, yes, Mr. James.” Is she addressing him by name? Well, in magical girl or tokusatsu works, that seemed to be the usual practice. The secretary carefully put down the phone and looked at me. “…. He says you can come in.” I got up from my seat, took my helmet, and went inside. As I entered, James, who had been looking out the window, turned towards me. He was smiling broadly. “Excellent!” The guy who had been feeling awkward about the fact that he had succeeded just a while ago was now laughing heartily. It didn’t seem like a lie, so I felt even worse. “This is an impressive achievement! Leading the battle with the magical girls to victory! You’ve accomplished something that no one at Noir Corporation has been able to do!” As he came towards me, seemingly to put his hand on my shoulder, I stepped back and avoided his hand. With a slightly embarrassed expression, James withdrew his hand. “There’s something I’d like to ask.” Before James could continue, I quickly interjected. “Did the girl there deliberately hide information?” “…. We didn’t know either.” James seemed momentarily at a loss for words at my question. “…. We were unaware of that too.” My expression must have looked quite serious, as James quickly composed himself and said, “She was supposed to be in the hospital. We checked after she came here. They said she’s still in the hospital.” She couldn’t be a fake. She couldn’t be a twin either. If she were, we would have known about it here. “So, are you saying she lied about being in the hospital and went home?” I asked incredulously, and James nodded. “It doesn’t make sense otherwise.” Huh. I laughed in disbelief.

The patient who was waiting in the hospital for his chance to commit insurance fraud didn’t seem to be doing so. Well, I guess it wasn’t really insurance fraud; it seemed like he just wanted to go home.

“So, what about it?” I etched that thought deep into my mind and asked James again.

“I succeeded, so is there any compensation?”

“Oh, about that,” James quickly responded to me. “I’m truly sorry, but there’s only one successful case. We’re still figuring out how far we should go.”

I felt like he was speaking on behalf of the company.

“For now, we’ll double the sponsorship from last time,” James said. “And there’s a possibility of a promotion as well.”

Was he trying to give me a promotion or something? I nodded my head.

“Well then, it would be good if you could let me know once the assessment is done,” I said.

“Of course.”

“…It might be late, but can I start heading in now?”

“Of course! Should I give you a ride? Or at least pay for a taxi?”

“…I’ll just take the bus.”

I replied with a sigh-tinged voice.

To be honest, I’d be grateful if he gave me a ride now that I’m reaching my limit. …You never know who might see us along the way.