Chapter 47

The mental state of the Mother-Body is extremely unstable.

That was what worried me the most.

She has an oddly lacking sense of societal norms, yet she clearly understands that contract details must be thoroughly checked, that she doesn’t want to get involved with government officials, and that the place was like hell.

Isn’t the balance of common sense off?

She doesn’t know what she should know, yet she knows things she shouldn’t.

Moreover, she seems uncomfortable staying in a hotel where people always clean up after her.

As if she knows that there’s no such thing as free favors, as if she knows that pain follows after kindness.

“Baekhwa.”

“Yes.”

Baekhwa, who is skilled in background checks and covert investigations, and her twin sister Yoran, who excels in surveillance. I skimmed through the report Baekhwa handed me and covered my face with my hand.

“This report, it’s all true, right?”

“Yes. As always, I don’t include personal bias in my reports.”

“I see…”

I’ve already cross-verified it.

The photos posted on the internet community and the photos in Baekhwa’s report were identical. In other words, both were genuine, unaltered photos.

In the photo, the Mother-Body was sitting awkwardly on a chair at an outdoor convenience store table, drinking beer and eating jerky.

I didn’t expect her to become this anxious in just a few days since I last saw her.

Even though Dusik is right beside her, Dusik alone probably can’t take care of the Mother-Body. He’s still young…

I know exactly what the Mother-Body in the photo is feeling, why she’s so afraid.

I’ve been through it too.

Before the Reverse Barrier of the Dark Realm was developed, when the Mogmog Group attacked, people died or got injured, and buildings collapsed. Back then, I was still inexperienced in battle, and my mistakes led to incomplete victories and casualties.

I remember the disappointed looks on the faces of the government officials when I returned.

I know that look of disappointment, as if they were let down by my failure to meet their expectations.

I’ve already received a report from Prilly.

She was pretty beaten up, and if it weren’t for Kabe, she would’ve been in serious trouble.

And in that situation—

For the Mother-Body, being a woman, it might have triggered a trauma that goes beyond the physical, deeply affecting her mentally.

“Sigh.”

“Chairman, may I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why are you so interested in that woman in the photo? I don’t think you’ve explained it to Yoran either.”

Hmm.

I don’t know.

I don’t know why I’m so concerned about the Mother-Body.

“Well.”

Even if I don’t know the reason, my heart just tells me to. But even if I say that, it won’t be a satisfactory answer to Baekhwa, who’s looking at me with a puzzled expression.

“Sometimes I don’t understand you, Chairman.”

She neatly organized the report and rolled it up.

“Even that intranet post from before, for example.”

Tap tap tap, she rolled the report neatly without any edges sticking out. A small flame ignited at her fingertip as she muttered a spell.

“Even if you had said Dusik wrote it, there wouldn’t have been a problem. Why did you let the misunderstanding that you wrote it persist…?”

As the report caught fire, I threw it into the trash can.

The report disappeared into the flames.

The photo of the Mother-Body sitting awkwardly on a convenience store chair, drinking beer, also vanished into the flames.

“If I had said Dusik wrote it, the other magical girls wouldn’t have left him alone, would they?”

“But he’s already defected to the Mogmog Group.”

“That’s just hindsight. The timing could’ve been even earlier. And that was all I could do for Dusik.”

“But.”

“Well, whatever. How’s that kid Kabe doing?”

“When she’s at the hotel, she’s often seen in the kids’ area in the lobby. Her guardians are usually the Mother-Body and Dusik.”

“Oh…”

Wait, you should’ve taken a photo.

“Where’s the photo?”

“It was in the report earlier…”

“What?”

I hurriedly looked into the trash can, but it was already full of ashes.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?!”

“I thought you’d already seen it.”

“Ugh. Just send me the Kabe photo file via email later.”

“Understood. Should we continue surveillance?”

Hmm, I guess that’s it. I don’t think it’s really necessary, though. Ah, there’s one more thing bothering me.

“Baekhwa.”

“Yes.”

“Lately, the number of users supporting me has significantly decreased. You know that, right?”

Baekhwa’s expression changes oddly. It’s a bit embarrassing to bring this up, but only Baekhwa and Yoran know that I’m active in the community.

I’ve kept it completely secure, ensuring no one finds out. But ever since the Mother-Body appeared, she instantly took over the position of Gallery Master in the Magical Girl Gallery, and honestly, it doesn’t sit well with me.

I barely managed to push out the Aqua faction and have the Eve faction take power, making Eve the Gallery Master, but then this Mother-Body suddenly appears and snatches the position…

Thinking about it makes me angry.

“The Gallery Master should obviously be Eve. I didn’t like it either. An unwed mother and a villain, just because she’s pretty…”

Baekhwa frowns.

The unwed mother thing is a huge misconception, but it’s not the right time to correct her, so I’ll let it slide for now.

“Anyway, keep an eye on the gallery management.”

“Umm… Yes, understood.”

“I’m counting on you. Jutak.”

“Yes.”

*

“Yep.”

Vesprede was quite light. Even considering that it’s a bit short for a rifle, it’s still quite light.

As I am now, standing and holding it with one hand, it’s not a problem at all.

I wonder how much recoil it’ll have when I shoot it…

「I’ll handle the magic power recharge every time you shoot, so you don’t need to worry about ammo. However, the magic consumption is quite high, so you shouldn’t fire continuously.」

Vesprede’s voice echoes in my head.

When I equip the gun, Vesprede’s manifestation disappears and merges with the main body, allowing us to communicate directly.

“What happens if a magical girl gets hit by this? Or even a regular person?”

「A regular person would obviously die.」

Well, that’s to be expected. I should never shoot at regular people.

「As for magical girls, according to the Reverse Barrier Treaty, it won’t be lethal, but a headshot would immediately take out a C-rank, incapacitate a B-rank for a while, and briefly knock out an A-rank.」

Huh. It’s not as powerful as I thought.

「That’s because of the treaty. Outside the Reverse Barrier, a headshot could instantly kill up to an A-rank.」

Well, if everyone just dropped dead with one shot, it wouldn’t be fun to watch.

What I’m curious about is the probability of a headshot.

「It’s less than 3%. It wasn’t designed with accuracy in mind…」

What’s with this headshot probability for a magical gun?

But it doesn’t really matter.

My main weapon is still the Rocket Punch.

If it’s just a means to suppress enemies while I close in, it’s enough to prevent them from recklessly attacking, even without headshots.

“Alright, got it.”

「But as you gain proficiency, you’ll be able to handle more diverse types of firearms.」

What’s this now?

「However, I can’t reveal further information yet. It’ll be gradually unlocked as your proficiency increases… No, stop! Mother-Body! If you slam me like that, even I’ll feel pain!」

I was about to slam it into the ground to see if it was messing with me, but it screamed in panic.

Ugh, so noisy.

“If you’re not going to tell me! Then why! Bring it up! Huh!”

「It’s like an achievement! Mother-Body! Please, it really hurts!」

Tch.

Honestly, I don’t like this guy or that guy.

“Alright, let’s stop here for today. But why do you know so much?”

It’s definitely strange.

About the Reverse Barrier, magical girl ranks, and all that. Talking to her, she seems to know more than Keru.

「I don’t have an owner, so I spend all my time in the library.」

So she reads a lot. Does that mean Keru doesn’t read books…?

“Why couldn’t you find an owner?”

「If someone could handle the massive magic consumption with each shot, they’d rather use magic than me…」

That’s true.

If you have abundant magic power, it’s better to use magic.

Is there anyone else like me who has overflowing magic power but can’t use magic?

Speaking of which, where did everyone go? I peeked into the master bedroom, and Kabe was sleeping on the bed, but Dusik, Sohee, and the others were nowhere to be seen.

Where did they all go?

I called Dusik, and he answered after a few rings.

– Ah, sis.

“Dusik, where are you?”

– At the bank. Opening a salary account for Sohee.

“Oh, really? What about my salary?”

– It should’ve been deposited. Keru was supposed to handle it, but he’s been busy with the Dark Realm…

“I see.”

I didn’t know that. Last night, I grabbed Keru’s tail and did a Giant Swing.

Keru was saying something, but I was too angry to listen properly. So that’s what happened.

I should apologize and maybe open a can for him today.

“By the way, Dusik. What did you use to open Sohee’s account? Doesn’t she lack identification too?”

– Yeah, that’s right. I used my name.

“Do you know that’s a straw account…?”

– Otherwise, how would we pay her salary…?

I need to talk to Eve about this. This is illegal. It violates the real-name financial system.

Business should be transparent to avoid trouble.

“Anyway, got it. Anything you want for dinner?”

– Dinner? Hmm…

I heard some murmuring on the other end about what to eat, but it didn’t seem like they reached a conclusion.

“Then wait there. What’s around you?”

After roughly figuring out their location, I woke up Kabe, changed her clothes, and left the house.

Well, let’s eat out sometimes. It’s nice, eating out.

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