Living with a Magical Girl, but a Monster Executive

But...

As Cong Yu watched the movers restore his room's furnishings as best they could, he pondered the parts of the process that could have been manipulated.

And the motives of whoever could have manipulated all of this.

Had it been arranged by "Doctor"? Or was there a "boss" behind it? Or perhaps another Monster Group that wanted his identity exposed?

Cong Yu could not confirm any of it.

He was not even sure whether he was trying to outwit thin air.

While Cong Yu was lost in thought, the movers had already finished restoring everything.

Then, a staff member who appeared to be the person in charge handed Cong Yu a form and bowed. "Excuse me, please check your satisfaction with the service and pay the additional setup fee. We support PayPal and other payment methods."

"..." Cong Yu had already selected satisfied upon hearing the first half, "check your satisfaction"... Though leaving all the laptops out in the open had been pretty bad.

But since he had not specifically warned them, there was nothing to complain about.

But when he heard the second half...

"Hmm?"

Puzzled, Cong Yu asked, "Excuse me, didn't a man in a black suit pay the moving fees for me?"

After receiving the answer, [The main fee was paid before the move began. These five thousand are miscellaneous expenses], Cong Yu let out a long sigh.

(Man in Black: Hehe—)

"Guang-chan!!!"

As he shouted, Cong Yu quickly flung open the door to Yaochuan Guang's room and looked at her stunned expression.

"Guang-chan—"

Caught off guard by such an intimate form of address, Yaochuan Guang, who had been sitting on her bed fiddling with her phone, looked utterly flustered.

"Huh? Huhhhh? You... Why are you so familiar with me that you just casually open a girl's bedroom door?!"

Yaochuan Guang rubbed her golden hair in exasperation and asked, "What do you want? We're not even that close, are we?"

In response, Cong Yu casually patted Yaochuan Guang on the shoulder. "Come on, we're close enough to lean against each other and sleep in the car."

That sounded way too weird, didn't it?

"I was just leaning against you, wasn't I?!"

Yaochuan Guang corrected him.

"..."

"Ah..."

Wasn't that even worse?

Realizing this, Yaochuan Guang immediately drooped, her voice turning weak and listless. "What do you want, anyway?"

Hearing that, Cong Yu wore an expression of triumph and simply held out his hand. "Lend me some money. Five thousand will do."

Yaochuan Guang hesitated. She guessed it was probably for the moving company, and he had said "lend," so he should pay it back... right?

"Mm, okay. I'll count it as covering it for you."

As she spoke, Yaochuan Guang puffed out her cheeks, took out an adorable little bear wallet, counted out five thousand, and handed it to Cong Yu.

Yaochuan Guang felt that if Cong Yu had no money to pay after the workers had finished their job, it would be terribly awkward for everyone to be stuck there.

Putting herself in his shoes, she felt it was necessary to lend him the money.

"Thanks—"

Cong Yu walked out of the room in satisfaction, then poked his head back in. "I'll pay you back after I die... Anyway, I'll definitely die before a magical girl does."

After all, magical girls were monsters who neither aged nor died.

"Wait, stop right there!"

Of course, shouting that did not accomplish anything. Yaochuan Guang was not about to chase after him and demand the money back.

"Sigh, you don't have to pay me back... But remember this favor, okay?!"

Though she said that, Yaochuan Guang did not really expect Cong Yu to remember her kindness.

Cong Yu: "..."

Cong Yu: "Yes, yes, yes—"

Guang Got Bisected at the Waist (Tragic)

"Beep beep beep... Mr. Cong Yu!"

Along with the honking of a black luxury sedan, the man in black called for Cong Yu from downstairs, but received no response.

"Mr. Cong Yu! You're not familiar with the neighborhood yet, right?! Let me treat you to a meal. We can sign the contract while we're at it."

"Mr. Cong Yu?!!"

Hearing the man in black calling out, Yaochuan Guang, annoyed by the noise, stepped out of her room and saw Cong Yu sitting on the sofa.

Then she froze for a moment.

The living room was shared by the occupants of the four bedrooms, but Yaochuan Guang preferred staying in her own room. Usually, only Lantian Zhu would be in the living room.

At that moment, Cong Yu wore a pair of expensive-looking over-ear headphones and seemed to be staring intensely at the laptop screen on the coffee table.

The stylus in his hand flew rapidly across a drawing tablet while his left hand continuously tapped at the keyboard... seemingly the Ctrl+Z keys.

Though she did not understand what those two keys did, Yaochuan Guang at least understood why Cong Yu could not hear his manager calling him.

To be honest, Yaochuan Guang had barely ever seen Cong Yu looking so serious. Unexpectedly, he looked rather handsome.

Perhaps this was what he was really like?

It would be better if he had a little less of that nasty sense of humor normally.

Lantian Zhu sat beside Cong Yu, her shoeless feet casually propped up as she lounged lazily against the sofa, watching television with the remote in hand.

When she saw Yaochuan Guang come out, Lantian Zhu expressionlessly raised a hand in greeting, conveying the meaning of "good afternoon."

For some reason, even though she was the one who had known Lantian Zhu longer, Yaochuan Guang felt like she was being excluded.

These two seemed like they could get along really well!

"Mr. Cong Yu? Are you there? Yaochuan?"

Hearing the man in black call her name next, Yaochuan Guang ran to the window and replied to him by the car below, "Good afternoon. Cong Yu is working right now. It looks like he's drawing manga."

The man in black paused, not expecting Cong Yu to have entered work mode after only a few hours.

"I see! Then I won't disturb him... Wait, it's almost lunchtime, isn't it? Could you tell Mr. Cong Yu along with Blue Sky? You can come eat too. I found a good ramen place, and I'll treat you."

...How cunning. He wants us to do the disturbing for him. Is this the wisdom of adults?

Yaochuan Guang maliciously speculated as much with puffed cheeks, but for the sake of ramen, she still turned around to call for Cong Yu as her manager had asked.

However, to her surprise, Cong Yu and Lantian Zhu had somehow already changed into their shoes by the door.

When Yaochuan Guang turned around, she was met by their expressionless stares... Rather than calm, they looked downright blank-faced.

Seriously! Seeing two blank faces at night would scare someone to death!

"What are you two doing? Aren't you drawing manga... or watching TV?"

Yaochuan Guang asked instinctively, looking at the closed laptop and the switched-off television. For some reason, they both looked ready to leave.

"I heard someone was treating us to ramen."

"The manager said he was treating us to ramen."

Their perfectly synchronized replies dealt Yaochuan Guang a heavy blow... Why were they so in sync? Why did they have such chemistry?

It was supposed to be me. I was here first.

"You two... paupers!!!"

Yaochuan Guang gritted her teeth.

Fine! She would turn her grief and indignation into appetite later!!!

--

Cong Yu: "One tonkotsu ramen with thick-cut char siu, large serving, extra garlic. Thanks."

Lantian Zhu: "One seafood scallop ramen, medium serving."

Yaochuan Guang: "One miso pork cutlet ramen, with another pork cutlet, extra broth, extra noodles, extra fish cake, add everything, add everything! Money is no issue. (It's not my money anyway.)"

"..." Cong Yu and Lantian Zhu expressionlessly looked at the mountain of bowls piled before Yaochuan Guang... Wasn't this a little too conspicuous?

Cong Yu decided to pretend he did not know this person... Anyway, they were not really that familiar.

What surprised Cong Yu, however, was that Yaochuan Guang really did finish everything, and she did so easily, even faster than he ate.

Lantian Zhu was the slowest instead. She ate while calmly scrolling through her phone with one hand, seemingly reading messages.

"Phew..."

Yaochuan Guang exhaled, set her chopsticks across her ramen bowl, and pressed her hands together. "I'm full... No, I'm stuffed."

"..." Sensing the silence, Yaochuan Guang glanced at Cong Yu, who was wiping his mouth with a tissue... Come to think of it, he had not said "Let's eat" before either?

Was that really okay?

As Yaochuan Guang pondered this, the man in black handed the contract to Cong Yu and indicated, "Mr. Cong Yu, this is the endorsement contract for Teacher CY's affiliation."

Cong Yu simply accepted the contract and the pen offered to him, reading it while absentmindedly tapping the pen against the private room's table.

"Tap... tap..."

"..."

"Thank you for your trouble."

With that response, Cong Yu signed his name on both copies of the contract... The terms were quite generous.

Though the endorsement fee was not much, Cong Yu probably would not constantly be out of money anymore... Though he could still be "occasionally out of money."

Not having to pay rent was the real good news.

Housing prices and prices in general were not low in Wind City.

"It's we who should thank you. Yaochuan has caused you trouble."

After saying that, the man in black stood, ready to take the well-fed group home, when they heard a commotion outside.

"A Monster is attacking!"

"Everyone, don't go that way!"

"Leave this street."

"It's a Monster!!!"

"..." After pausing, they all raised their heads and looked at one another. Yaochuan Guang almost immediately stood up.

"I'll go. Little Lan's contract dispute is too troublesome. You guys can head back first. I'll resolve this quickly!"

Yaochuan Guang said this, and just as Cong Yu was wondering what sort of "contract dispute" Lantian Zhu had—

"Magical Girl Shining☆-chan, transform!"

With those words, golden, satin-like ribbons of light instantly gathered from every direction.

The dense magical power made Cong Yu's nose itch a little.

Cong Yu could clearly see the highly concentrated magical power emerging from the source of the world, overflowing from that core like sludge.

It took on a weightless form and wrapped around Yaochuan Guang, branding the shell that had long ceased to be human with marks meant to activate its special traits.

Then, the holy light obscuring everyone's vision instantly faded.

Before them stood Yaochuan Guang, transformed into magical girl attire, her entire body adorned with fluttering ribbons and lace—Magical Girl Shining☆-chan.