Pressure and Negotiation

(Sun Yao)

Miss Miluno… she left with a tight-lipped expression.

Yang Yan said bluntly, “She didn’t look too happy.”

“It’s because Director SpiCa kept pressing her about her identity, right?” I noted, not avoiding the topic even with SpiCa standing right there. “She made it clear she didn’t want to be exposed.”

SpiCa pushed up her glasses and sighed. “Someone has to do the unpleasant things. If we could secure Miluno’s full cooperation, we would only need a small elite force to provide global support within three minutes of a breach… In the face of External Invaders, personal privacy is a sacrifice we must sometimes make.”

SpiCa’s utilitarian views were completely at odds with Miluno’s. That’s likely why she appeared before us in her true form now, rather than as the legendary Virgo.

“I think magical girls still need to maintain an air of mystery,” I countered. “If you push her like this, she’ll be even less willing to trust the Association.”

“Magical girls need a coordinating organization to prevent them from being divided and controlled by nations and other powers, which would only lead to pointless internal conflict,” SpiCa explained. “That is the purpose of the Association. The idolized social image of magical girls and their high compensation are all products of our long-term strategy.”

Magical girls were originally just ordinary people. Whether it was building their positive public image or offering high bounties for hunting monsters, it was all to prevent them from using their miraculous magic for illegal acts.

[Being a magical girl is the best choice!]

As long as the general public thought that way, magical girls wouldn’t become a social problem. Consequently, the fact that “magical girls can become Witches” had to be completely buried. I understood the logic, of course, but I didn’t like thinking about it in such cold terms. I still wanted magical girls to be the ideal idols I had always admired—”fighters for all humanity,” as Yin Wei had put it.

Speaking of which, I hadn’t seen Yin Wei since the battle started. Yin Lu was the one handling the aftermath. Where had the younger sister gone?

“Time’s about up. I need to return to headquarters.” SpiCa glanced at her watch and quickened her pace. As the head of the Tactical Division, her schedule was undoubtedly grueling; her complexion looked unhealthily sallow from overwork.

Metal also waved goodbye. “Alright! Then I’m heading back to the shop, too!” She was a small business owner in Sector C4, and being a magical girl was her primary duty now, while the shop was a hobby. After all, whenever an evacuation was called, she’d have no customers anyway.

“Then I’ll go check on Miss Yang Yan first…” I started to say.

But Yang Yan, still lying immobile on the hospital bed on the tablet screen, barked, “I don’t need a visit from a fat shut-in like you! Weren’t you out shopping with your boyfriend today?”

Boyfriend? Is she talking about Ye Zi?

“I told you before, he’s not my boyfriend! How could I possibly have…” I stopped mid-denial, a sudden realization hitting me as I halted in front of the elevator. “…Wait! How do you know what I did today?!”

Could a patient with full-body fractures even follow me in a wheelchair?

“Hey, you don’t seriously believe that encounter was a coincidence, do you?” Yang Yan sneered.

I quickly understood her meaning. “You had Yin Wei follow me?!”

“Don’t put it so harshly. More accurately, it was ‘assistance.’ I asked her to lend a hand when you needed help. Since your ‘boyfriend’ wasn’t willing to go into the lingerie store with you, Yin Wei took over the guidance… Quite impressive, by the way. 30E.”

Thinking back, it had been too strange for Yin Wei to be shopping alone.

“I keep telling you, Ye Zi is not my boyfriend… So, were you peeping?”

“Of course. I watched the whole thing from Yin Wei’s live feed.”

“…Even in the fitting room?”

“Of course. But don’t worry, I won’t show anyone else.”

“Th-That’s too much! Magical girls are entitled to privacy, too!” My face flushed a deep crimson. Being secretly watched during such an intimate moment was an unbearable embarrassment.

“Others might be, but Yin Wei and I already know your true identity. It’s not a secret between us anymore. Isn’t it normal to keep tabs on a rookie?”

“No, it’s not! How could you do something like this?” What kind of twisted hobby did Yang Yan have, lying in a hospital bed and ordering liaisons to act as voyeurs?

“I’m bored lying here,” she said simply.

“No! I need to have a serious talk with you!” I stepped into the elevator, clutching the tablet.

****

(Bai Ziye)

Leaving the medical facility, I didn’t go straight home. Instead, I went back to the mall in Sector C4 to pick up the “shopping haul” from my trip with Sailuno. Since that little rich girl had bought a mountain of clothes, they’d be too heavy to carry comfortably after I de-transformed.

I deactivated my magical girl form, put on a simple mask, and went to the lockers. The mall had already resumed business. The midday emergency evacuation hadn’t affected people much; they were far too used to it. Humans adapt quickly, even if the monsters only appeared twelve years ago.

“34… 35… 36… There it is. Locker 38.”

The mall’s lockers had undergone a serious upgrade over the years. They were no longer simple metal boxes but sturdy safes designed to remain intact even if the building collapsed.

“Please wait a moment.”

As I reached toward the locker’s holographic screen, a hand grabbed my wrist. I stared at the person for a moment, then my heart sank as I recognized her. It was the woman who had been with Sailuno at noon—Yin Wei. She looked like she had been waiting here for a long time.

Had she discovered me? As expected, too much contact with the Association was dangerous.

“What is it?” I asked, suppressing my panic and making my tone as natural as possible.

“May I ask if you are Miss Miluno?”

“Investigating a magical girl’s identity is illegal,” I shot back coldly.

“So you really are Miss Miluno… I’m not officially investigating you. I just want to know: why are the clothes Miss Sailuno bought in your hands?”

“What do you mean? These are clothes I bought.”

“There’s a receipt inside the bag with the payer’s bank card number. If the person holding them doesn’t match the record, I could take it that you stole Sailuno’s property.”

Tch. I forgot about the receipt.

“Your Association really leaves a bad taste in my mouth… So what? What do you actually want?” Pretending ignorance was pointless now. The woman before me clearly knew the truth.

“I won’t force you to register with the Association, nor will I report your identity to my superiors. Waiting here was a personal choice,” Yin Wei said. She was a meticulous person, and those were always the most troublesome. “Miss Miluno, I promise I won’t tell anyone who you are—not even the Association.”

She looked at me with a helpless, weary smile.

“Get to the point. What are your demands?” I asked.

“No demands. I didn’t wait here for over six hours just to threaten you. I’ll keep your secret no matter what… I have only one request: would you allow me to be your exclusive liaison?”

“Just to be my liaison?”

“Yes.” She looked at me sincerely. “And to show my sincerity, I’ve prepared a special ‘gift’ for you.”