I Heard the Call of One Hundred Twenty Thousand

The instant noodles were finished.

The bowl was washed.

The homework due tomorrow had been taken out of the backpack and set aside in advance.

Chen De plugged in his phone to charge, lay down, and pulled the blanket up to his chin.

"Good night."

"Go turn off the light. I'm going to sleep."

Qubi stayed where he was without moving.

Chen De waited three seconds. The light remained on.

He threw off the blanket and sat up, his gaze no longer particularly friendly.

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"Are your ears broken?"

"No, I heard you."

"Then why didn't you turn off the light?"

"I suggest you don't sleep right now."

Chen De took a deep breath, slowly lay back down, pulled the blanket over himself again, and wore an expression as calm as stone.

"Tell me. Why can't I sleep?"

"There might be money to make."

"At night, a Calamity could pop out of some random corner."

Chen De raised a hand and checked his phone.

10:43 p.m.

"Qubi, I have to get up at seven tomorrow morning for school."

"I know."

"Getting up at seven means I need to crawl out of bed at six fifty to wash my face, brush my teeth, and scare myself in the mirror."

"So what you mean is..."

"What I mean is, I have to fall asleep before eleven. Otherwise, my mental state tomorrow will be scarier than a Calamity."

Qubi's ears twitched.

"But if you miss tonight's Calamity, you're missing out on money."

Chen De closed his eyes.

"Can't you negotiate with those Calamities and have them come out tomorrow morning, or in the afternoon, or at least before ten at night?"

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."

Qubi shook his head.

"Calamities are mindless creatures. If you try to reason with one, it'll only slap you."

"Then can you help me set an exclusive job acceptance window—"

"No."

"I haven't finished."

"The conclusion remains unchanged."

Chen De pulled the blanket over his head and stayed silent beneath it for half a minute. Then he lowered it and stared at the ceiling.

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"Those other magical girls, actual young girls, they have to go to school too, right?"

"Yes."

"They get called out in the middle of the night to fight Calamities too?"

"Yes."

"Then how do they deal with that schedule?"

Qubi fell silent for a second.

"They sleep in class."

Chen De froze for a moment.

"...I see."

"On weekends, there are more human activities, so negative energy gathers faster. Accordingly, Calamities are one and a half times more active on Mondays than on ordinary days."

Qubi added another sentence.

"So every Monday, basically all the magical girls in the city stay up late."

"Then they collectively catch up on sleep in class on Tuesday."

"More or less."

"That must be quite a sight."

Chen De turned over, his back facing Qubi.

"But my situation is a little special."

"How is it special?"

"I just talked back to the dean of discipline yesterday. I'm currently a high-risk monitoring target. If I sleep in class, the school rules will have a new clause specifically aimed at me by the next day."

Qubi's tail swayed.

"Then try not to sleep."

"Thanks. Your advice is truly insightful."

"Both sides are part of your job. A conflict is a conflict. The sooner you accept reality, the better."

"You make it sound like I'm a machine that needs optimizing."

"Not a machine. A magical girl."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes. If a machine breaks, it can be repaired—"

"I don't want to hear the second half."

Chen De cut him off. There was no follow-up.

"Qubi, let me ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"If there aren't any Calamities tonight, will you wake me up?"

"No."

"If there's a Lesser Calamity, but it's really far from my house and the round trip takes forty minutes, would you wake me?"

Qubi was silent for three seconds.

"...That depends on the bounty."

"A Lesser Calamity is fifty thousand. After your cut, I get forty thousand. Forty minutes round trip—"

Chen De calculated it himself.

Then he sat up.

"One thousand a minute. Worth it. Where is it?"

"...Nowhere. I was giving an example."

Chen De slowly lay back down.

"You used money as an example to reason with me. You've already figured me out completely."

"More or less."

The room was quiet for a while.

A car occasionally passed on the street. Light seeped through the gap in the curtains, streaked across the ceiling, then vanished.

Chen De closed his eyes, and his consciousness began to sink.

"Chen De."

Halfway down.

"Mm."

"Tonight will most likely be task-free."

Chen De opened his eyes.

"...Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"Even if I told you earlier, you wouldn't be able to sleep. You'd keep asking what the odds were and what the remaining portion meant."

"...That's true."

"What does 'most likely' mean?"

"Eighty-five percent."

"And the remaining fifteen percent?"

"See? You started asking."

"...That fifteen percent is for unexpected situations, but they might not happen in your assigned area. Other magical girls might be dispatched."

"So what are the actual odds of me being woken up?"

"About eight percent."

Chen De did the math.

Only eight days out of a hundred would involve being woken up.

"Then I'm sleeping."

"Good night."

"Mm."

Three seconds of silence passed.

"Chen De."

"What?"

"If there really is a task, I'll evaluate whether it's worth it for you first. I won't wake you if it isn't."

Chen De opened his eyes.

"Are you saying that now because you want me to be grateful?"

"I suppose so."

"Qubi, do you know what that sentence means?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means you already had the ability to filter tasks for me. Every time you woke me up late at night before, it was because you thought it was worth it."

Qubi fell silent.

"So that Lesser Calamity at one in the morning last time—"

"You weren't sleeping very deeply that time either."

"You even assessed how deeply I was asleep?!"

"A comprehensive assessment."

"You're a cat. What kind of comprehensive assessment are you making?"

"I'm a higher-dimensional life-form."

"You're only a higher-dimensional life-form when it's time for a comprehensive assessment, right?"

"You understand very thoroughly."

Chen De felt half the sleepiness in his body vanish instantly.

"Qubi, do you know what this kind of behavior is called in human society?"

"No."

"It's called not treating your teammate like a person."

"You're a magical girl. You're naturally held to higher standards than ordinary teammates."

"That makes it even worse coming from you!"

Qubi jumped from the bedside table to the foot of the bed and curled up.

"Enough. Sleep. You still have school tomorrow."

Chen De turned over, his back facing the foot of the bed.

"Good night."

"Good night, Chen De."

The light was finally turned off. Qubi swept his tail across the switch without a sound.

Chen De closed his eyes, and his consciousness slowly sank.

Sinking.

Sinking.

Sinking.

Before it reached the bottom, a voice with ill intentions called him awake.

"Chen De, wake up."

"A task's come in."

Chen De's eyes snapped open.

The ceiling.

The familiar ceiling.

He slowly turned his head and glanced at his phone.

2:17 a.m.

About—he estimated—three hours had passed since he closed his eyes.

"Qubi."

"Mm."

"You said eight percent."

"Yes."

"You said there probably wouldn't be a mission."

"Yes."

"You said you wouldn't call me for anything that wasn't worth it."

"Yes."

"Then what are you doing now?"

Qubi crouched beside the pillow, its emerald-green eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Waking you up."

Chen De stared at the ceiling.

"So this one's worth it?"

"Fierce Calamity."

Chen De sat up.

Faster than a spring.

"Fierce Calamity? The one worth one hundred and fifty thousand?"

"One hundred and twenty thousand after the platform fee."

"Where?"

"The eastern industrial district. Four point three kilometers away in a straight line."

Chen De was already putting on his coat.

"Four point three kilometers. At my speed, that's about three minutes."

"Two and a half. Your magic power is steadily increasing."

Chen De zipped up his coat and walked to the window.

He pushed it open, and the predawn chill poured in.

He shuddered.

"Transform."

A flash of white light.

Short skirt. Bow. Thigh-high stockings.

Five feet tall.

She looked down at herself.

"Will I really get used to this?"

"You're much calmer than you were the first time."

"That's because one hundred and twenty thousand is calling to me."

Chen De jumped down from the windowsill and landed without a sound.

Her toes touched the ground, and she shot forward.

The wind howled into her ears.

Her skirt flew up.

She held down her skirt with one hand and gripped Qubi on her shoulder with the other.

"Could you not—"

"Don't say it. I know, but I can't change it."