Chapter 18

“Dusik, how much did we get from the donations?”

It’s not like I didn’t have any faith in myself. I know that after my last broadcast, we received quite a bit of donations, and even after deducting the maintenance costs for the minions and facility management, we should have some breathing room.

So, I thought we could either use that money for repairs and continue living here or move out after fixing the place. One of the two.

I made a big fuss, but the cause of this is Kabe, right? It’s our fault. The forensics team hasn’t arrived yet, but once they do, it’ll be clear that we’re the cause.

Personally, I prefer moving. I don’t like the basement. There’s no sunlight. We’re an evil organization, not a vampire organization. Both Dusik and Kabe are still growing, and a basement with no sunlight isn’t a good environment for them.

“A little over 400 million. More donations came in after that…”

“Dusik.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Release your transformation.”

“Yes, sis!”

As always, Dusik’s transformed form is too overwhelming. Before transforming, she’s such a radiant beauty, but after transforming, she turns into this menacing-looking figure. It’s really awkward and, well, a bit much. It’s not my taste…

“Anyway, a little over 400 million. The expenses we need to cover this month…”

“Expenses?”

Dusik just stood there silently. Hey, this isn’t the pattern I was thinking of, is it?

“I don’t know…”

“Mother-body.”

Eve approached me, carrying Kabe. Her face looked strangely tired, while Kabe seemed excited.

“Yeah.”

“Do you have any plans? If the forensics team finds out, they’ll immediately detect it as a magic explosion.”

“It’s amazing that the forensics team can detect a magic explosion…”

“Of course, it’s been years since magical girls appeared. They’ve accumulated enough data, right?”

“I guess…”

“Why do you look like that?”

“Well, it’s like you’re asking if there’s a plan when there isn’t one.”

“What?”

There’s no plan, so I called for a plan. But if the plan asks if there’s a plan, how should I answer?

“That plan is you, Eve.”

At my words, Eve’s face scrunched up.

“Do you know how shameless you are?”

“I’m the boss of an evil organization.”

“Don’t flaunt your title only at times like this. Yesterday, you were…”

“Kabe, daddy is bullying mommy…”

“Daddy, don’t bully mommy.”

Kabe, who was on Eve’s back, kept pulling Eve’s hair, whining not to bully mommy. Well done, well done!

“Ugh, I’m not bullying mommy, Kabe…”

Kids can’t control their strength yet, so a few strands of Eve’s white hair were in Kabe’s hands. That must hurt. I’m not particularly sorry, though.

“Come here, Kabe. Come to mommy.”

“Okay.”

I naturally embraced Kabe and looked at Eve intently. Eve, who met my gaze, sighed.

“Alright, alright. Kabe, Dusik… hey, wait. Mother-body.”

“Yeah.”

Eve grabbed my sleeve and pulled me close, whispering in my ear.

“Is Dusik an uncle or an aunt?”

Huh? Now that you mention it…

Dusik in her transformed form holding Kabe looked quite unbalanced. Her posture was awkward, and she was fidgeting as if worried Kabe might get hurt. It’s quite something to watch.

“Kabe, mommy and daddy will be back soon, so listen to Uncle Dusik, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Dusik, take good care of Kabe. If you drop her, I’ll drop you from the 36th floor of the Association building. Got it?”

“Yes, yes…”

After leaving Kabe with Dusik, Eve and I headed to a nearby cafe.

“I’ll have an iced cafe latte. Venti size.”

“Mother-body, you’re so naturally making me pay, huh?”

“Eve, if your chest is small, at least your heart should be big.”

“You crazy woman!”

Regardless of Eve’s outburst, I found a seat by the window and sat down. The situation is quite complicated and headache-inducing, but I’m surprisingly calm.

Well, I have my reasons.

As Keru said, the balance between good and evil is extremely unstable right now. If this continues and the situation worsens, the Mogmog Group will be on the path to destruction. That means flipping the board.

A calamity is coming.

For someone like me, who has little to lose in this world, and even for the quasi-living minions, there’s not much to regret. Dusik… well, maybe. But for someone like Eve, who has a lot to lose, it’s different.

In other words, in the current power structure, if we face difficulties, Eve has no choice but to help us.

“Here. Eat.”

A mug is placed in front of me. But the size is much smaller. This doesn’t look like a Venti at all.

“I ordered a Venti.”

“Hey, if your chest is big, at least cut back on the food.”

“That’s just nonsense. Jealousy is ugly, Association President.”

“You crazy woman, really.”

Grinding her teeth, Eve sat across from me.

“So, you must have a reason for calling me out separately, Association President?”

“Yeah.”

“Tell me, Association President.”

“Drop the ‘Association President’… Anyway, what do you want to do? You’ll have to pay for the repairs, and you’ll have to decide whether to stay there or move.”

“Well, that’s true.”

The cafe latte is delicious.

“Do you have the money for the repairs? The cost of moving? Finding a building with that much space will be tough. You’ll need a lot of rooms, so remodeling will be necessary. Plus, Dusik is still growing, and Kabe is here, so you can’t just crawl back into the basement. You’ll have to look for a ground-level place.”

“We have some money from previous donations. We’ll have to look for a building, though.”

“Ugh… This woman is really clueless…”

Eve’s face scrunched up. Seeing her pale face all twisted made me feel oddly good.

“I’ve only been the Mother-body for a little over a month. If I could come up with a plan for this situation, wouldn’t that make me a genius?”

“I thought you were a genius when you took down Priqu in one shot…”

“Was that supposed to rhyme or something?”

“You crazy woman. Anyway, just come to our Association building.”

There’s a real crazy woman here.

“Eve, I think you’re misunderstanding something. We’re an evil organization.”

“I know.”

“You’re magical girls. We’re enemies.”

“I know that too.”

“But you’re asking us to come to your Association building? Are you sick?”

“I’m not sick.”

“Hey… Association President. Let me be blunt.”

“Okay.”

“Just give us money. We don’t have money, that’s why we’re in this mess. Just give us money.”

“If we give you direct funding, we can’t handle the expenses. And if we keep it between us, no one will know. Who’s going to find out?”

“Hey, what kind of world do you think this is? They say CCTV watches what you say during the day and listens to what you say at night.”

This is ridiculous. I thought I was a bit out of my mind, but I never imagined there’d be someone crazier than me.

And asking us to come to your Association building? Have you forgotten we’re enemies?

“The top floor only has the Association President’s office. We’ll remodel it for you, so come there. It’s not a bad place for bosses to conspire. Plus, the security is tight. No one would dare to install CCTV in the Association President’s office. And even if they knew, they probably wouldn’t say anything. It’s refreshing, isn’t it? An evil organization coexisting with the Magical Girl Association.”

“There was someone who fed an aphrodisiac to the boss of an enemy organization.”

“That, that was!”

As soon as Prilly was mentioned, Eve’s face turned bright red. Oh ho, look at that? She’s got a naive side, huh?

“I’ll think about it. The deposit and rent are free, right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

“What about the remodeling cost?”

“Hey, you’re really thick-skinned. You pay for that.”

“Alright. Then I’ll use foam boards for partitions.”

“Eeeeeek!!!!”

Eve screamed, pulling at her hair as if she wanted to tear it out. All the customers in the cafe turned to look at us.

“Sorry. She’s a bit sick.”

I subtly distanced myself and pointed at Eve with my finger. Eve glared at me. What are you gonna do?

“Mother-body. If you keep this up, I won’t just sit back. I’ll get something I want from you too.”

“What?”

Eve took out her phone and started swiping through something.

“Take a look at this.”

The phone Eve handed me had a photo in the gallery. A face flushed red, a half-undone red uniform, a half-open mouth, closed eyes, and a seductive lying posture…

“Is this… me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“Eve, voyeurism is a crime.”

“Technically, it’s not voyeurism. You were lying there like this, and I just took a photo. You were just unconscious.”

“We call that voyeurism, Association President. It’s a social norm. You know that, right?”

Honestly, after Priqu appeared, then Prilly, then Prabel, and then Prilly again, all my fantasies about magical girls vanished.

But after meeting Eve, I thought maybe there could still be magical girls who protect love and justice. But from this moment on, I need to revise that thought.

These people are insane. They’re a group of lunatics far surpassing, no, vastly exceeding our evil organization! Maybe the balance of good and evil isn’t balanced at all, and evil is overwhelmingly winning!

“So, what do you want?”

“Well, it’s fine. I don’t want anything in particular. Money is overflowing, so if you want, I can even build you a building.”

“I want it. So build it. A building.”

“Usually, people say they don’t need it.”

“Our members are suffering so much, what’s the point of preserving my pride?”

“…Anyway, that’s what I mean. I’ll remodel it and give you as much money as you need. What I want is one thing.”

“What?”

I pretended to be nervous and stared at Eve. Her thick red lips moved slightly. What outrageous demand is going to come out of that mouth? If she asks for my body, I’ll ask her to build me a building.

“I’ll take care of Kabe today.”

“Fine.”

There was no need to be nervous.

---