Chapter 35

A war between magical girls fighting with the help of the Fairy Realm and the invading monsters from the Demon Realm.

Outsiders should not interfere in this.

Of course, helping itself is appreciated.

But due to the structure of magical girls, recklessly helping hinders their growth and simultaneously turns the rewards they could receive into mere scraps of paper.

When overwhelming demons or monsters appear, an emergency dispatch is sent, and a stronger magical girl takes over the extermination. If it’s manageable, they handle it themselves… This minimizes the damage.

To prevent wasting their lives as magical girls, they are provided with substantial financial support, including a life stipend.

This is given as extermination rewards, and they also receive exclusive points usable at the Magical Girl Store.

Because of this, magical girls strive to handle what they can, not wanting others to take it away.

But if an outsider, driven by a sense of justice, tries to interfere… it disrupts the system.

“Now, next…?!”

“You, stay still. No matter how much of a hero you are, outsiders shouldn’t interfere.”

The Returning Hero tried to launch his next attack, but I stopped him with one hand, aimed my staff at the Marquis-Class demon, and used [Energy Blast].

The Marquis-Class demon, swept away by the power of [Energy Blast], was completely annihilated, leaving only a slightly damaged road behind.

“Why… why did you stop me?! Do you not trust me that much…?”

“Magical girls don’t just exterminate demons and monsters; they grow a lot just by fighting or enduring against them. And the magical girls helping them also grow by exterminating them. Plus, they receive appropriate rewards.”

“But…”

“And there’s a well-established system for that. If you interfere… you render the magical girl who flew in on an emergency dispatch request useless.”

“……Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Just don’t do it next time. Besides, you haven’t been back long, so it’s understandable.”

Wow, he apologized right away.

Despite acting like a harem protagonist, he’s surprisingly decent.

Usually, idiots like this would just deny it and get angry.

“…Well, if it bothers you that much, just watch from the sidelines for now. If it’s really dangerous, it’s fine to intervene to protect them. Saving magical girls is the priority.”

“Really?!”

“But don’t intervene unless it’s a life-threatening situation. That’s the job of the dispatched magical girl.”

“Got it. That’s enough for me.”

Well… as long as he doesn’t cause too much trouble, there’s no need to touch him.

The problem is that Dragon King guy and the girl clinging to this Returning Hero…

I’ll check on them later.

They won’t cause any issues for a while, and the important thing now is… preparing for my younger sister’s visit.

“By the way, are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah…”

This magical girl doesn’t seem to be hurt.

No visible wounds… I guess the Responsible Mascot can handle the rest.

“Hmm… no injuries. Let’s go back, Chubby.”

“Yes!”

Anyway, I’ve done what I needed to do, so it’s time to go home.

Ugh~… When I get home, I’ll have a beer and play some console games.

It’s better to play games than stress over annoying things.

“Phew~… Oh, there’s something new here.”

As soon as I got home, I cracked open a beer and turned on the game.

The first thing I do when I start a game is check the patch notes to see what’s improved and what’s changed compared to the previous version.

Some people don’t care and just dive in, but I like to know what’s going on first.

“Rampage! You got a message!”

“From who?”

“Your younger sister!”

“…Really? What does it say?”

“Her schedule changed, so she’s coming to see you tomorrow!”

“……Seriously?”

What, why tomorrow?

This brat… she’s probably a NEET who wants to get it over with quickly so she can go play…

And she probably made plans with friends or something for the weekend.

…No, she’s pretty, so maybe she got a boyfriend.

Whatever it is, she must have a reason to go out on the weekend.

Anyway, if she’s coming tomorrow, I need to go buy some ingredients.

I can play games later, so I’ll handle this first.

“Let’s go to the mart, Chubby.”

“Yes!”

So I came to the mart, but… now that I’m here, I don’t know what to buy.

Chubby will be cooking, so he should choose.

“You pick.”

“Got it! First, that one!”

Starting with vegetables… Yeah, you can’t cook without vegetables.

Next is meat, bread, rice, noodles… Seeing him pick a variety of things, it seems he has a plan.

But you’re not planning to make Western, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese dishes, are you?

Do you think you’re that skilled?

…Well, he’ll probably just follow recipes, so it should be fine.

“Ah~ I’m bored… I really want to race while drinking this~.”

“Rampage…”

“What, why, what.”

“Nothing… You just suddenly sounded like a kid…”

“Men never grow up.”

“Ehh…”

Well, I won’t actually do it.

Unlike when I was a kid, I care about appearances now.

When you have a big head, there are times you have to hold back even if you want to do something.

That’s the difference between a child and an adult.

If you can’t do that, you can’t call yourself an adult.

Besides, with the magical girl information being globally recognized and my ’15-year career’ being proudly displayed, I can’t act as freely as I want, right?

Even if the perception before and after transformation is distorted and no one recognizes me.

So, even if I have childish thoughts, I can’t show them outwardly.

If it becomes a habit, it might come out during transformation.

“…By the way, isn’t this a bit much?”

“You said to prepare a feast, right?”

“That’s true, but… this much?”

“I focused on things that can be reheated later!”

“That’s a relief…”

Even though I have more money now, wasting food by eating a little and throwing it away is still a shame.

He thought about that properly, so he’s more capable than I thought.

Then the ingredients are all bought… All that’s left is to buy some beer.

I should buy beer in bulk too.

“Rampage, you’re a beer addict!”

“Shut up. Who do you think I drink for?”

“Ah… Sorry!”

“Just kidding.”

“Mean?!”

Anyway, should I try some beer now?

Lager is refreshing and easy to drink, but I also want to try ale.

They say it has a rich fruity flavor and is sweet, so I’m curious.

Should I check out the imported drinks section…

…Ah, let’s go.

I have a lot of money now, so let’s just buy whatever.

“Oh… they sell it in bottles too…”

“Is this real?”

“I’ll buy one of each type.”

I hope it suits my taste, but if not… I’ll just have to throw it away.

It’s a shame, but I can’t just leave it, right?

Sigh~… I need to get used to having a lot of money, but I still feel too stingy.

Anyway, did I buy too much?

It’s taking forever to check out, and carrying all this is a bit much.

I’ll just open a [Gate] and go back.

“Chubby. Open a [Gate].”

“Yes!”

After checking out, I pushed the shopping cart to a secluded spot and opened a [Gate].

Of course, I made sure there were no CCTV cameras.

I don’t want to be caught on camera and have my identity as a magical girl revealed.

Well, they wouldn’t know it’s Rampage, but being identified as a magical girl is annoying enough.

“[Gate] is really the best.”

“I’ll go ahead and prepare!”

“Alright.”

Now that everything’s moved… I’ll try this first.

Pale Ale? …This doesn’t have a fruity flavor.

I don’t know the details, but I heard ales don’t always have fruity flavors, so it’s not weird.

……Oh, it’s surprisingly good.

Then I’ll drink this and play some games today.

◇

A day passed, and I scratched my messy head as I stepped out of my room, having just finished showering.

Today, I dressed properly since I have a guest.

Even if it’s family, it’s normal to dress properly when someone visits.

“…I’ve gotten pretty good at making this twin-tail.”

“It’s exactly like when you transform!”

“Is that so?”

There’s about three hours left until my younger sister arrives.

She’s the type to wake up at 6 AM sharp, just like me, so she’ll probably come early.

Sigh~… By the way, it’s unusually hot today.

I should lower the air conditioner temperature.

Let me skim through the news…

Oh, they targeted a franchise chicken place at the mart… Well, spending 30,000 won on fried chicken is insane.

I’d rather order two medium-sized franchise pizzas for that price.

Well, I have a good local chicken place, so it’s fine.

It’s a bit far since I moved, though…

“Huff huff huff…”

“Why are you huffing? You don’t have the concept of stamina.”

“I’m mentally exhausted!”

“Don’t overdo it, it’s your fault for picking difficult dishes. There are plenty of easy ones, right?”

“That’s true but… ugh…! My mistake!”

Despite all that, he’s doing everything perfectly, so he must have incredible brainpower.

To think such a capable guy… what? He’s been lazy all this time?

…I think he did it all on purpose.

The whole flow was suspiciously smooth.

Maybe he was ordered to act lazy…

“D-done~!”

“You finally did it.”

“Now we just have to wait for her to arrive!”

I didn’t expect him to finish all the cooking without a single mistake…

Now we just need to set the table, right?

…And just then, the guest arrived.

―Ding dong.

[Big bro~! It’s me~!]

……She’s here.

“Sigh~…”

I trudged to the front door.

Then, slowly, I pressed the lock button to unlock it and carefully opened the door.

What I saw was my younger sister, and she… looked extremely shocked to see me.

“……”

“……”

“…………Kidnapping, confinement, and rape?!?!”

“It’s not kidnapping, confinement, or rape!!!”

“I-I’ll call the police… My big bro wouldn’t do such a thing…”

“Stop it, you crazy girl!!”

Panicked by my younger sister suddenly trying to call the police, I instinctively used magic to overload her smartphone and ruin the battery.

…I’ll compensate her later.

But first, I need to calm her down…!