Living with a Magical Girl, but a Monster Executive

Yes, on her stomach.

Because if he phrased it differently and said "around your waist," Cong Yu would get arrested by the police... so he couldn't say that.

"Definitely not now. Once you become a magical girl, then you can use it."

Cong Yu explained kindly, but obviously...

At that point, Nagashima Koki would pose a risk of slipping out of his control, and he would try to kill her.

But Cong Yu would never say that aloud.

"Huh? Not even if I become a Monster?"

Nagashima Koki said as she picked up her phone from the coffee table. Showing it to Cong Yu, she said, "Everyone in the group is saying they want to become Monsters."

What? What kind of rare group chat was this?

Cong Yu looked at the phone in surprise. The first thing he saw was the name of the Lixe group Nagashima Koki had joined: [Wind City Monster Exchange Group (102)]

There were actually over a hundred people in Wind City who liked Monsters?

Cong Yu found that rather moving... He did know that plenty of people liked Monsters more than magical girls.

How should he put it? Cong Yu had encountered quite a few people like that.

For example, students going through their edgy phase, people who were naturally convinced that "evil forces" were cooler, or those whose families had been accidentally killed by magical girls.

There were quite a few such people in Central City. They had even become something close to a "reserve army," exploited and infiltrated by Monster organizations.

He just hadn't expected a place like Wind City to have them too.

Nagashima Koki had even joined one... Though from the looks of it, she was just there for the fun of it.

Right, Cong Yu felt like he finally knew how to describe Nagashima Koki.

This kid was an entertainer with the temperament of a child—innately wicked, like someone who poured boiling water into anthills for fun.

"..."

"Watching for fun is fine, but..."

Cong Yu instructed her, then said earnestly, "These people are all half-baked, just ordinary fans. Don't believe what they say."

"Let me give you an example. Organized Monsters like us need a purpose behind what we do, whether it's money or something else... but they don't."

As Cong Yu spoke, he lifted Nagashima Koki off himself. "They'll do things as long as they think they're cool or fun. That isn't a good thing."

"If you really want to become a Monster, discuss it with your mother. Come find me after you graduate from high school or university, and I'll take you to an interview."

Nagashima Koki: An interview?

Nagashima Riko: An interview?

Monster organizations needed interviews too?

At Cong Yu's words, Nagashima Koki blinked and replied sweetly, "All right... Thank you, Brother Cong Yu."

Nagashima Riko: "..."

The wife had yet to recover from becoming "Cong Yu's possession" when she fell into another round of deep thought... Why did her daughter want to become a Monster now?

And Cong Yu, an actual Monster, was stopping her daughter from doing bad things.

Her daughter had even joined a group for doing bad things? Yet Cong Yu was telling her to leave it... Which side was actually the Monster here?!

As if he had seen Nagashima Riko's hesitation, Cong Yu spoke to reassure her. "Don't worry, ma'am."

As he said that, he tapped his phone twice and pulled up what looked like a very official recruitment website, holding it up before her.

Nagashima Riko looked closely...

[The 22nd Group is hiring enthusiastically—humans of Wind City, do you want to extend your lifespan and stay young and beautiful?]

[Envious of civil servants' benefits? Insurance and bonuses? Come join us! No mandatory overtime, guaranteed weekends off and timely pay!]

[Struggling in life? No problem! The 22nd Group is waiting for you!]

Nagashima Riko stared in a daze, tilting her head hesitantly. "This is... a Monster recruitment ad?"

For some reason, she suddenly felt a little tempted... Did Monster Groups really offer such good benefits?

They looked less and less like some dark force.

In truth, actual Monster organizations were vastly different from the "evil organizations" that the mother and daughter imagined.

If nothing unexpected happened, their stereotype of "Monster Groups" was probably the same as that of most people in this world.

They probably imagined meetings every other day, everyone wearing rings engraved with codenames, snatching innocent children off the streets for modification, conducting evil experiments every day, and making it their mission to destroy the world... things like that.

But those stereotypes were truly nothing but stereotypes.

Monster Groups were very practical... If they didn't pay salaries or provide good benefits, who would be willing to fight those terrifying magical girls?

Naturally, it was best if they didn't have to fight.

Otherwise, if one day Cong Yu casually pointed at a Monster and said, "You, bring me Yaochuan Guang's head," then no matter how prestigious Cong Yu was...

[Lord Cong Yu, are you awake?]

That would probably be the other person's response.

"Then that's that. After some time, you can call the police. This weekend, we'll meet at your café, ma'am. I'll arrive at noon."

After briefly explaining everything he needed to tell them, Cong Yu exchanged phone numbers and Linx contacts with Nagashima Riko, then calmly walked out the door.

"..." Nagashima Koki said, "He wasn't like the Monsters I imagined."

Nagashima Riko, her mother, also sighed with emotion. "Mm, it didn't unfold the way I imagined either."

Nagashima Koki: "..."

"Mom, what kind of development were you imagining? Was it the kind that isn't suitable to tell a child like me?"

Nagashima Koki asked.

Nagashima Riko nodded instinctively, but immediately realized something was wrong. "Yes... No, no, no... No... Oh, yes, yes."

"Yes... yes?"

"..." If it was "suitable to say," that would mean she could tell Nagashima Koki, but she simply couldn't bring herself to say it.

Hoping things would develop like in a romance movie, with the wife and the young man getting frisky... was obviously "not suitable to say."

But if she said it was "not suitable to say," then given how precocious her daughter was, Nagashima Koki would absolutely understand what kind of development she had originally been imagining...

Which was practically the same as saying it outright.

So she felt unable to answer.

Monster

Habit.

People were creatures who relied heavily on "habits," and magical girls were probably no different in that regard... even if their bodies could no longer be called human.

But as long as their minds remained human, perhaps they retained some human habits, or rather, some human...

Instincts... perhaps?

Yaochuan Guang ate the boxed lunch in her hands in the clubroom. Without the cool breeze from the rooftop, she felt unexpectedly unaccustomed to it.

At the moment, only she and a pink-haired girl from the same grade were in the Gourmet Club's room. The other girl's name was Yuan'an Alisa.

She was the club president, supposedly the daughter of some wealthy family.

Well, in truth, there had always only been two people in the clubroom.

Because the entire club had only two members.

Apparently noticing Yaochuan Guang's gaze, the short-haired pink-haired girl looked up and tucked the hair in front of her face behind her ear.

"Yaochuan, what is it?"

Yaochuan Guang shook her head at the question. "No, it's nothing. It's just rare to see you wearing your uniform so properly, Senior."

Yuan'an Alisa looked at her school uniform and understood why Yaochuan Guang had said that...

Although Wind City High School's uniform was not ugly, since the school allowed casual clothes, most students still chose to wear their own outfits.

Among many third-year boys, there was even a popular style resembling old men walking their dogs: tank tops paired with slippers.

"Mm, the reason... I suppose it's upbringing?"

Yuan'an Alisa stopped eating lunch, resting a finger at the corner of her mouth as she smiled. "It's not that the other students lack upbringing... It's more that my family's rules are too strict."

Family upbringing, huh...

Yaochuan Guang absentmindedly held her chopsticks in her mouth... Family, family—if she wanted family upbringing, she needed a family first!

Damn it! She didn't even have a home!

Feeling somewhat envious, Yaochuan Guang glanced at Yuan'an Alisa's lunchbox. "Senior, your lunch looks so luxurious. Did you make it yourself?"

As she praised it, Yaochuan Guang looked at the food in the other girl's tiered lunchbox.

Rice balls, enormous fried shrimp, caviar sandwiches, salad... and a generous helping of grilled meat.

It felt like a lunch with a distinctly Western flair.

However, Yuan'an Alisa's answer was—

"My maid made it."

A... maid?!

Yaochuan Guang had only ever seen such things in manga and movies... She had never imagined they existed in real life.

She could understand a housekeeper or nanny. But the word Yuan'an Alisa had used was genuinely "maid," which meant...

Was Yuan'an Alisa some rich young lady?

As if she knew what Yaochuan Guang was thinking, Yuan'an Alisa smiled and twirled her hair around a finger. "Mm, the Yuan'an family... was one of the main investors back when Wind City was still called Southern Metropolis."

Holy crap! She was absurdly rich!

With that conclusion, Yaochuan Guang regarded her with solemn respect.

"But I don't care much about those things... I want to become a chef in the future, so I joined the Gourmet Club."

"But last year, I was the only new student, and this year the third-year seniors graduated and left... So the club was nearly on the verge of being disbanded."

As Yuan'an Alisa spoke, she gave an awkward smile. "Luckily, Yaochuan, you joined. This way, the club might be saved."

That sounded strange, because didn't a club need three people to remain active? That was the minimum requirement, wasn't it?

Thinking that, Yaochuan Guang voiced her doubts.

Yuan'an Alisa blinked, smiling as she raised her chopsticks. "Ah, Wind City High School is a very practical school... Aren't you, Yaochuan, that? You're Cong Yu's 'that,' aren't you?"

What did "that" mean?

Yuan'an Alisa said, "You and Cong Yu are dating, aren't you?"

"..."

"!!!"

"No, no, no, we're not in that kind of relationship!"

Yaochuan Guang answered, shaking her head like a rattle drum and blushing furiously as she retorted, "If anything, Cong Yu is my... victim!"

"???" A victim?

Though she did not quite understand, Yuan'an Alisa smiled indifferently. "It's fine. As long as that relationship exists, it's enough."

"Actually, yesterday I told a senior I know in the Student Council that you had joined, as well as about the membership issue..."

"Then someone from the Student Council said, [If it's Yaochuan Guang, is she that? Cong Yu's girlfriend? In that case, for Cong Yu's sake, it's fine to extend the deadline before the club gets disbanded]—something along those lines."

"..." What a realistic Student Council!

People said school was a microcosm of society, but wasn't this taking it a bit too far?