Mission

Evening.

Another utterly ordinary day.

Ye Qing returned to his rented apartment... No, the sense of déjà vu was too strong.

The familiar swallow returned; he had been caught in Izanami.

He set down his backpack and kept doing squats beside the sofa, trying to stretch out whatever might happen next.

"Huh, no sudden incidents?" Ye Qing stroked his chin suspiciously.

Daily life was repetitive. Similar things happened every day.

Having exhausted his strength, Ye Qing toppled from a standing position onto the sofa.

At that very moment, a damn phone call came through at the worst possible time.

A ringtone that made his toes curl echoed through the apartment, sounding like a video that should not be played aloud 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 body 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 instant, 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 replied slowly, feeling a little despair inside.

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

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

Sudden overtime was worse than simply being told in advance that she had to work overtime.

In a daze, Qingyin realized that ever since joining the association and becoming a magical girl, her mundane daily life seemed to be drifting farther and farther away.

Don't overthink it.

She should go to the Otherworld first.

"Qiubo, come out." Qingyin released magical energy fluctuations aimed at her Contract Beast.

A few seconds later...

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

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

The moment Qiubo emerged, he swung his head from side to side, determined to take in Qingyin's residence in its entirety!

Eh, it was so small and plain.

Lady Qingyin lived in a place like this?

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

A man's backpack? It was probably a gender-neutral human design, right? Those were definitely men's shoes!

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

Her icy tone was like a bone-chilling wind sweeping over Qiubo's back. He immediately stood at attention on the spot.

Loyalty!

"I've seen enough!" Qiubo answered at once.

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

How should she judge this mascot?

As a being closely tied to magical girls, it was bound to learn some of her private information sooner or later.

If she stayed mysterious and revealed nothing at all, it would surely become intensely curious about her.

With hiding her true identity as the ultimate goal, that approach would instead backfire.

Occasionally revealing some insignificant information, wearing down its curiosity, and guiding the direction of its guesses would better conceal her identity.

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

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

If anyone asked, it would be easier to make up an excuse, and it would sound more believable too.

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

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

"With so many names, I won't 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, Qingyin heard Youyue, who had been waiting for her, smiling and waving in greeting.

"Have you eaten dinner? You look energetic."

"No. Are you treating me?" Qingyin replied after landing.

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

Qingyin looked at her rather speechlessly.

She was just making polite small talk. If Youyue could tell whether she was energetic or not from her usual expressionless face in magical girl form, that would be quite impressive.

Nothing major had happened to leave her heartbroken, and normal people could not notice such subtle changes.

"Unfortunately, this came up rather suddenly. Let's discuss dinner after we're done." Youyue stopped joking and turned serious.

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

"An urgent matter."

"?"

Apparently, it was not that urgent.

"Let's eat dinner first." Qingyin turned and started to leave.

"Hey, hey, intense exercise after eating is bad for your body." Youyue hurriedly blocked her path and said solemnly:

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

"Yes, what are we having?" A suitable hint of bewilderment appeared in Qingyin's eyes.

"After we complete the mission, I'll help you decide what 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 away, unable to withstand the pressure of Qingyin's direct stare.

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

"Grilled meat again?"

"The theme has gone off track!"

Youyue hurriedly pushed the derailed conversation back onto the right track.

Though comedy works did not really have a right track to begin with.

In any case, discussing work came first.

"Do you remember the attack on the mall last Saturday?" Youyue still looked carefree, giving Qingyin no sense that the situation was urgent.

"I remember." Qingyin nodded slightly.

"The giant beastman suddenly went berserk, and someone behind the scenes threw a lethal, low-quality berserk potion from afar."

"I know."

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

Yuyan and Youyue's appearance had delayed her somewhat, causing her to abandon the idea afterward.

"I caught the mastermind and interrogated some information out of him." As Youyue spoke, she kept watching Qingyin's expression, but did not see the surprise she wanted.

Something like, Wow, that's amazing, you caught the mastermind, and so on.

It was as though all of this was only natural.

"The mall attack on Saturday and yesterday's Evil Beast invasion were both orchestrated by their evil organization." Youyue delivered the important news.

"So the mission you mentioned is?" Qingyin vaguely formed a guess.

"We strike at the heart of the matter, destroy their base, and eliminate the potential danger completely." Youyue made a throat-slitting gesture that looked somewhat comical.

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

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

"Of course, your team will carry it out, team leader."

Before Qingyin could finish thinking, Youyue patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry. It's just some insignificant evil organization nobody has heard of, and I interrogated the location too.

This mission has the minister's approval and is a well-paying B-rank mission.

You and your team can participate together, and you'll earn merit points once the mission is complete."

Uneasy desu.