Mission

Evening.

It was another ordinary day.

Ye Qing returned to the rented apartment... no, why did this feel so familiar?

Déjà vu. He had been hit by Ise○mi again.

He set down his backpack and repeatedly did squats beside the sofa, trying to stretch out the events that might follow.

"Eh, no sudden incidents?" Ye Qing suspiciously rubbed his chin.

Daily life was repetitive. Similar things happened every day.

Having spent all his energy, Ye Qing fell backward from a standing position onto the sofa.

Then, in an instant, a damn phone call came through at the worst possible time.

The ringtone that made his toes curl echoed through the apartment, like a video that could not be played openly in public.

"Phone call~ Phone call~"

Youyue's sickeningly sweet voice rang out again, and only then did Ye Qing realize he had forgotten to change his ringtone.

A wave of embarrassment washed over him as he covered his face and answered the call.

His form gradually shifted toward that of a girl, his palms shrinking along with it, while the expression behind his fingers grew increasingly indifferent.

In the next moment, he became the Magical Girl Qingyin.

"Qingyin, Qingyin, come to the Otherworld. There's a mission." Youyue's call came from the other end of the line.

"Received," Qingyin answered slowly, feeling a little despair in her heart.

Should she start going to the Otherworld before heading home, just to check whether she had to work overtime?

Her plan to wrap up the day had been forcibly interrupted, like being knocked back into reality by a knock on the door just before ascending to heaven.

Being suddenly forced into overtime was worse than simply being told to work overtime from the start.

In her daze, Qingyin realized that ever since she had joined the association and become a Magical Girl, an ordinary, peaceful life seemed to be drifting further and further away from her.

Don't overthink it.

Go to the Otherworld first.

"Xiao Qi, come out." Qingyin released a magical pulse toward her Contract Beast.

A few seconds later...

"I'm here! Lady Qingyin!" The humble Qiubo arrived at once; his voice was heard before he was seen.

The round penguin mascot crawled out of a tiny crack in midair.

This time, the moment Qiubo emerged, he swung his head from side to side, determined to take in Qingyin's home completely!

Eh, it was so small and plain.

Lady Qingyin lived in a place like this?

It looked like an ordinary rental apartment found anywhere, without any decorations.

A man's backpack? It was probably a unisex human style, right? But those were definitely men's shoes!

"Have you seen enough?" Qingyin stared at Qiubo impassively.

Her icy tone was like a biting cold wind brushing across Qiubo's back. He immediately stood at attention on the spot.

Loyal!

"I've seen enough!" Qiubo promptly replied.

"Then send me to the Otherworld, Guga," Qingyin ordered.

How should she judge a mascot?

As a being closely tied to Magical Girls, it was inevitable that he would be exposed to some of her private matters someday.

If she remained mysterious all the time and revealed nothing, he would surely become intensely curious about her.

With concealing her true identity as the ultimate goal, that approach would instead be counterproductive.

Occasionally revealing a little irrelevant information to wear down his curiosity and guide the direction of his guesses was more beneficial for hiding her identity.

There was nothing in her rental apartment that could not be seen.

She had both men's and women's clothing, and to satisfy her youthful curiosity about new things, even her private stress-relief items came in both male and female versions.

If anyone asked, making up an excuse would be easier and more convincing.

"Do I have another new name?" Qiubo asked in confusion as he summoned a passage.

"Yes, Administrator. Let's go." Qingyin stepped into the black hole.

"With so many names, I won't be able to remember them all." Qiubo landed on her shoulder. Seeing that Qingyin did not resist, a blissful expression appeared on his face.

"As long as you know I'm calling you."

"Can I really know? I'm already starting not to understand."

"Good evening, Qingyin."

The moment she arrived in the Otherworld, she heard Youyue, who had been waiting for her, greeting her with a smile and a little wave.

"Have you had dinner? You look energetic."

"No. Are you treating me?" Qingyin answered as she landed.

"Oh! You don't look energetic anymore," Youyue added.

Qingyin looked at her rather speechlessly.

That was just a polite greeting. If Youyue could tell whether she was energetic or not from her usual blank expression in Magical Girl form, that would be quite impressive.

Nothing had happened to leave her heartbroken, so no normal person could notice such subtle changes.

"Unfortunately, this came up rather suddenly. Let's discuss dinner after we finish," Youyue said, no longer teasing as her expression turned serious.

"What is it?" Qingyin tilted her head in confusion.

"An emergency."

"?"

Apparently, it was not that urgent.

"Let's eat dinner first." Qingyin turned and walked away.

"Hey, hey, hey! Strenuous exercise after eating is bad for your health." Youyue hurriedly blocked her path and said with grave seriousness:

"Then do you know what we're having for dinner?"

"Yeah, what are we having?" An appropriate look of blankness appeared in Qingyin's eyes.

"Once we finish the mission, I'll help you decide what you want to eat."

"You want to mooch a meal?"

Qingyin fixed Youyue with a sharp gaze.

"Don't use such wicked thoughts to judge a beautiful girl like me." Youyue's gaze drifted as she could not withstand the pressure of that direct stare.

"Yes, I want to eat the meat... you grill."

"Grilled meat again?"

"You're getting off topic!"

Youyue hurriedly shoved the derailed conversation back on track.

Though comedy stories did not really have tracks to begin with.

In any case, discussing official business came first.

"Do you remember the attack on the mall last Saturday?" Youyue still wore her carefree expression, making Qingyin feel no sense of urgency whatsoever.

"I remember." Qingyin nodded slightly.

"The giant beastman suddenly went berserk, and someone behind the scenes threw a deadly batch of low-quality berserk medicine from afar."

"I know."

At the time, Qingyin had wanted to follow the trajectory and see whether she could catch the person behind it.

Yuyan and Youyue's appearance had delayed her for a while, making her abandon that idea.

"I caught the culprit behind it and interrogated some information out of him." As Youyue spoke, she watched Qingyin's expression the whole time, but did not see the surprise she had hoped for.

Something like, That's amazing, you caught the culprit behind it, or the like.

It was as though all of this was only natural.

"The mall attack on Saturday and yesterday's Evil Beast invasion were both the work of their Evil Organization." Youyue revealed the important news.

"So the mission is?" Qingyin vaguely had a guess.

"Strike at their heart, destroy their base, and eliminate the potential danger completely." Youyue made a throat-slitting gesture that was slightly comical.

"You and me?" Qingyin pointed at Youyue, then herself.

"Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut." Youyue shrugged with a smile.

"Of course your squad will handle it, team-leading teacher."

Before Qingyin could finish thinking, Youyue patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry. It's just some unheard-of little Evil Organization, and I interrogated the location out of him too.

This mission has the department head's approval and is a well-paid B-rank mission.

If you and your squad participate, you'll also earn merit points once it's completed."

Uneasy desu.