At that time, a Magical Girl was observing the depths of human desires.
As two Magical Girls were entering a new phase in their second year of middle school, the Monsters were also experiencing a new wave of change.
However, if those two were naturally transitioning with the flow of time…
The Monsters were undergoing an entirely forced and unnatural change, dictated by the circumstances of others.
“Yes? Promotion, you say?”
The Medic Tentacle, upon receiving the message, responded with a bewildered voice over the panel.
Promotion, a word I had somehow forgotten.
Even the promising Medic Tentacle was so overwhelmed with work and time that it had completely slipped my mind.
Beyond the incredulity in the Medic Tentacle’s voice,
“Yeah, yeah, I can’t keep you forever in this remote corner.”
A light-hearted tone, as if throwing a joke, echoed back from the panel.
But despite its appearance, the voice beyond the panel belonged to a Monster affiliated with the headquarters.
A Monster of a significantly higher rank than the Medic Tentacle.
That meant the Medic Tentacle had no right to refuse.
Even if commanded to hit the Monster sitting right next to them, they had no choice but to comply.
They had to answer “yes” and act upon the order of transferring their affiliation, abandoning the duty of Earth, without any options left.
Thus, upon hearing the news, it was only natural for them to be flustered.
A promotion would mean a change in both their affiliation and workplace.
There was still so much to do regarding the incident with Sun’s ship, and above all, if I left this place, who would take my place in conversing with her when the need arose?
I never expected that my skills and bravery would become a burden instead.
Once the communication from the panel was cut off, the subordinate Monsters present all asked with a sense of disbelief,
“Really, are you leaving?”
“…If I’m told to, I have to. There’s no other way.”
Medic Tentacle echoed a sigh of resignation, narrowing their eyes after a brief silence in response to the question from their subordinate.
I never thought the word ‘promotion’ would arrive with such a heavy, suffocating feeling.
In 0.5 Setra before Medic Tentacle was reassigned to another region.
In earthly terms, that was 33 days, and during that time, Medic Tentacle reduced even the hours spent in recovery and instead recorded various things in the personal cabin exclusively for executives.
That was a survival manual titled ‘Sun Response Manual’.
Although they had met Sun less than five times directly…
If it had come to that point, they would likely either be in intensive care or would be at a level where they couldn’t even speak properly.
Even if they weren’t on the ship, they thought they should do everything possible to minimize the victims, brainstorming a common sense response plan.
The day before leaving the Earth duty ship.
Two distinct sets of data settled into the recovery room.
The Sun Response Manual for executives.
And another hidden file, only taught to the Monsters in the recovery room.
…The Sun Response Manual for soldiers.
Why did I prepare two manual files with similar content?
The reason stemmed from the subjective judgment of Medic Tentacle leaning towards a preconceived notion.
Before leaving the ship, Medic Tentacle officially shared their thoughts with the two subordinate Monsters they were closest to.
“Now, you both need to remember this…”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“I don’t see any reason to suddenly promote you at this time.”
He placed a mass of tentacles related to the shoulder area on them.
His suspicion was rational.
In general, the invasion duties of peripheral planets worked like automated hunting; it was a system where soldiers could be swapped out, as long as the regulations were met.
Many executive Monsters struggled to get out of those peripheral planetary missions, yet it wasn’t easy to actually break free.
Even if they did, they would just end up on invading missions of other planets, and it was hard to even enter the command headquarters.
However, Medic Tentacle found themselves summoned to the headquarters.
His conclusion, after 0.5 Setra of contemplation, was straightforward.
“This, someone from the upper management must have planted their child in this position. It’s clear.”
Coincidentally, if you considered Medic Tentacle’s position merely as the ‘recovery room executive,’ they seemed to have no recent work and appeared rather idle.
Perfect conditions for their accomplishments to shine through a glorious whirlpool.
Though they were actually helping with the shortage of work from other departments, the upper management wouldn’t know about such minor internal ship affairs.
“What, what do we call this in Earth terms…?”
“What was it… parachute? Is that it?”
“Ah… right, that feels about right.”
Medic Tentacle flicked their tentacles vigorously, as if striking with a suitable example.
The sound of the sucker cups smacking against each other stuck to the ears of the Monsters.
Parachute—a term from Earth referring to someone who has obtained a position or status through connections rather than skills.
Feeling that there was no more fitting word, Medic Tentacle presumed everyone understood and continued talking.
“Having an incompetent superior makes everyone suffer; you all know that, right? That… Evil or something….”
“Yeah, I was wondering if the intensive care party would be opening again soon.”
Evil Croaker, the Monster who had briefly served as captain in charge of the Earth invasion ship.
Given that he was an unfoundedly confident parasite Monster, the recovery room Monsters were tense at the thought of those Monsters possibly filling the intensive care unit again.
The point was, having an incompetent head means everyone suffers.
That was the reason Medic Tentacle prepared separate manuals for executives and soldiers.
If an incompetent executive took their place, it was clear that everyone would be in for a rough time.
“If that… parachute executive sitting in this position turns out to be a dud, you all need to relay this information well to your colleagues, including the transmission room, without them knowing.”
“Yes…”
And, while Medic Tentacle’s ominous premonition could have easily gone awry…
In truth, perhaps he had some foresight?
Rumors spread among the soldiers in the recovery room, as that ominous premonition struck true, hitting the target dead center.
After Medic Tentacle, the next to occupy the executive position in the recovery room was Yellow Eye.
An eyeless female Monster who, during working hours, often looked at herself in the transparent window, tending to her appearance.
“Huh? Isn’t that a task you need to request authorization for from the transmission room?”
“That may be true, but since we are receiving help, we also need a bit of assistance…”
The tasks between the transmission room and recovery room were inextricably linked.
When the recovery room sent the physical profiles of combatants to the transmission room, the transmission room would return the last recorded data checked by their equipment back to the recovery room.
While there were complicated processes originally set for that procedure, it was common to skip them for smooth operations among the soldiers.
“No way, no way, you need to follow the proper procedures and get authorization,”
However, as soon as Yellow Eye took her seat, she was not taking care of the work…
Among her superficial grooming, she had been interfering with the soldiers’ duties in many ways.
Given such behavior, her evaluations among the soldiers were far from favorable.
After work, in the soldiers’ private area.
“By the way, why didn’t you send the body information this time?”
During snack time, the conversation between the Monsters from the transmission room and recovery room continued.
The Monsters sharply felt the absence of Medic Tentacle and all chimed in to criticize the new executive of the recovery room.
“That? Our esteemed recovery room executive said we need to follow the official procedures for authorization.”
“What? How can we possibly request authorization and send that in every little time?”
They had heard that a new executive had taken over after Medic Tentacle’s departure, but the characters of the new executive, who insisted on maintaining principles, shocked the Monsters in the transmission room.
If every single Monster followed those principles, their working hours would increase by more than double.
Knowing full well that, the soldiers in the recovery room exchanged meaningful looks while sipping on their drinks, as if indicating there was no need to say more.
“I know right.”
“If she just does her job, she’d be making herself look good, but instead, she’s just slapping something on her body… I swear, I just want to punch her right in that big eye of hers.”
“I really do want to hit her sometimes.”
When one aspect of someone doesn’t sit well, even common and trivial actions can seem off-putting.
That too, didn’t seem to be an exception for the Monsters, as the soldiers in the recovery room seethed with rage, throwing punches in the air as if feeling murderous intent—something they hadn’t even felt towards the Magical Girl.
The absence of Medic Tentacle, a significant pillar of the ship, loomed heavily over them.
The hero of the ship, who had thwarted Sun’s catastrophic behavior several times, Medic Tentacle.
In his absence, the Monsters in the transmission room subtly mentioned to them.
“Hey, what if we need to talk to Sun next time?”
“I don’t know, let’s just die together.”
Crunch, as they chewed their snacks, those resigned Monsters calmly accepted the impending disaster, as if they had simply given up on everything.
The phrase “giving up” was precisely what was meant for times like these.
