Once upon a time, as a magical girl was observing the depths of human desire.
Just as the two magical girls were entering their second year of middle school and experiencing changes, the monsters were also facing a new wave of transformation.
However, if the two girls were naturally adapting to the changes with the passage of time…
The monsters, on the other hand, were undergoing forced changes, dictated by external circumstances.
“Excuse me? A promotion?”
Medik Tenkl, taken aback, inquired back through the panel.
Promotion, a word that had somehow slipped from memory.
Even the promising Medik Tenkl, overwhelmed by tasks and time, had cleanly wiped that term from her mind.
Beyond Medik Tenkl’s voice of disbelief.
“That’s right, it’s just that I can’t keep you in this remote corner forever.”
A lighthearted tone, almost as if joking, responded from beyond the panel.
Despite the appearance, the voice beyond the panel belonged to the headquarters.
A monster of a rank far superior to Medik Tenkl.
Thus, she had no right to refuse.
Even if commanded to smack the monster sitting next to her, she had to do so, saying yes.
When told to abandon her position and transfer to another, the only option left was to respond yes and act.
Therefore, upon hearing the news, she couldn’t help but feel flustered.
A promotion would surely involve a change in both position and workplace.
There were still many tasks to handle regarding the Sun’s spaceship intrusion, and more importantly, who would take on the role of communicating with her when she needed to talk if she left this place?
She never expected that her own competence and courage would become a poison.
Once the communication from the panel was cut off, the subordinate monsters present, filled with a sense of ‘could it really be?’, asked her.
“Are you really leaving?”
“…If I must, then I must. There’s no other way.”
Frustration was shared by Medik Tenkl.
After a brief silence in response to her subordinate’s inquiry, she muttered the obvious fact, narrowing her brows.
She never imagined the word promotion would come bearing such a heavy and suffocating weight.
0.5 Setre until Medik Tenkl was reassigned.
In terms of Earth, that was 33 days. During that time, Medik Tenkl recorded various things on the panel in the exclusive personal cabin for the executive officers, while reducing her visits to the recovery room during work hours.
What she worked on was a survival guide titled ‘Sun Response Manual.’
Even though she hadn’t encountered the Sun directly more than five times…
At that point, she would likely be in the intensive care unit or unable to articulate proper speech at all.
Even if she was absent from the spaceship, she worked diligently to minimize the damage caused by the victims, creating rational response strategies.
The day before she left her position on the Earth-affiliated spaceship.
Two different sets of data took residence in the recovery room.
Sun Response Manual for executives.
And a hidden file taught only to the monsters in the recovery room.
…Sun Response Manual for troops.
Why did she have two manual files with similar content prepared?
The reason stemmed from Medik Tenkl’s subjectively inferred speculation.
Before leaving the spaceship, she officially shared her unexpressed thoughts with the two subordinate monsters she was closest to.
“Now, make sure to remember this well…”
“Yes, we are listening.”
“No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for a sudden promotion at this time.”
Placing a mass of tentacles on areas related to shoulders, Medik Tenkl expressed her suspicions.
Her doubts were entirely rational.
Typically, the invasion missions of remote planets had a system in place that simply cycled soldiers in as if it were an automated hunt, merely hoping for things to turn out well.
Many executive monsters struggled to break away from the invasion mission of that remote planet, but it was not easy to actually leave that realm.
Even if they did manage to escape, it would only result in being rotated into the invasion missions of other planets, making it tough to enter the command headquarters of the spaceship or its jurisdiction.
However, now Medik Tenkl was summoned to the command headquarters of that spaceship.
Wondering why, Medik Tenkl deliberated for 0.5 Setre and arrived at her conclusion.
“This is someone from above appointing their kid to this position. No doubt.”
Precisely, Medik Tenkl’s position as ‘Recovery Room Executive’ stated that she had no recent tasks and seemed rather idle.
It was the perfect opportunity to showcase her contributions, with success waxing brightly.
Despite the reality that she was already managing the workload for other departments lacking manpower, those higher up had no way of knowing such trivial matters inside the spaceship.
“What was the Earth term used in situations like this…?”
“What was it again… parachute? Is that it?”
“Ah… right, that’s the feeling.”
Medik Tenkl flicked her tentacles vigorously, as if rubbing an appropriate example.
The sound of slapping suction cups resonated in the ears of the monsters.
Parachute, an Earth term referring to someone who occupies a position or status solely based on connections, regardless of skill.
Not feeling there was a more appropriate term, Medik Tenkl proceeded, assuming everyone understood.
“Having an incompetent superior causes everyone to suffer, right? That… was it Ebl or Blanket or whatever that guy is…”
“Yeah, I was wondering if a hell party in the intensive care unit would be reopening.”
Ebl Croaker, the monster who briefly served as captain during the invasion of Earth.
It was fortunate she was an incompetent parachute monster, but the monsters in the recovery room were on edge, worried whether they would again see their peers fill the intensive care unit.
The point being, having an incompetent head means everyone will suffer.
That was the reason Medik Tenkl had prepared separate manuals for executives and troops.
If her incompetent superior were to sit in her position, it was evident everybody would endure hardship.
“If that… parachutist executive seated here turns out to be hopeless, make sure you discreetly communicate this to the other monsters, including the transmission room.”
“Yes…”
And although Medik Tenkl’s ominous premonition could have been misguided…
In fact, some believed he had precognitive abilities; that ominous feeling did not miss its target, hitting the bullseye squarely.
Following Medik Tenkl in the recovery room was Yellow Eye.
A one-eyed female monster, a new executive who often gazed at her reflection in the transparent window during working hours to groom her appearance.
“Huh? Isn’t that something that needs permission from the transmission room?”
“That’s true, but since we’re also receiving help, could we get a little assistance…?”
The operations between the transmission room and recovery room were inextricably linked.
When the recovery room transmitted the physical profiles of combatants to the transmission room, the transmission room sent back the last recorded data logged into the equipment.
Originally, there were complicated processes between those procedures, but it was generally accepted to omit them for smoother operations among the soldiers.
“Absolutely not, you must go through the formal procedures and get permission.”
However, Yellow Eye, upon taking her seat, didn’t engage in practical matters whatsoever…
Instead, she meddled in the soldiers’ tasks while only beautifying her outer appearance.
It was unlikely that such behavior would elicit good evaluations from the soldiers.
After the work was finished, in the private area of the soldiers.
“By the way, why didn’t we send the physical information this time?”
Snacking, the casual chat between monsters from the transmission room and recovery room continued.
The monsters, acutely aware of the significant void left by Medik Tenkl, collectively criticized the new executive in the recovery room.
“That? Our amazing recovery room executive said we need to go through the formal procedures to get permission.”
“What? How can we possibly get permission for everything and send it all for confirmation each time?”
While having heard that Medik Tenkl left and a new executive took the position, they were aghast at the new executive’s dogged adherence to principles.
If every one of the monsters were to adhere strictly to the rules, their working hours would stretch to more than double.
The recovery room soldiers, well-aware of this, conveyed silent agreement, sipping on their drinks like it was unnecessary to verbalize their sentiments.
“Exactly.”
“If she just keeps working by the window, and meanwhile plays with creams or whatever… I want to land a fist on that huge eye of hers.”
“I really want to smack her one.”
When one aspect of a person is displeasing, even ordinary and trivial actions can come across unfavorably.
This held true for monsters as well. Fueled with murderous intent not even felt towards magical girls, the recovery room monsters raged at the air with their punches.
The absence of Medik Tenkl, a significant pillar of the spaceship, was keenly felt by them.
The hero of the spaceship, who had thwarted the calamitous actions of the Sun multiple times, Medik Tenkl.
In her vacancy, a monster from the transmission room casually stated to them.
“Hey, so what do we do if we need to talk to the Sun next time?”
“I don’t know, damn it, we all just die together.”
Crunching snacks as if resigned to their fate, they accepted calamity in a detached manner, as if encouraging it to just come.
Desperation was the perfect term for this situation.
