Mr. Mika and his unfilial daughter

Twenty meters beneath Café LycoReco,

there was a shooting range.

Luo Shu put on the safety goggles Chisato Nishikigi handed him. She said they were to keep ejected casings from hurting his eyes.

After the goggles came hearing protection. Once he had put it on, Luo Shu saw Chisato Nishikigi press a button on a nearby machine, setting up a target one meter away.

"Beginners always start shooting at one meter."

Chisato Nishikigi declared this with absolute conviction, then continued without giving Luo Shu a chance to speak:

"All right, stand in the shooting booth. Class is starting."

"Chest out, stomach in. Don't grip the gun too hard. Relax, relax. You're a little too tense..."

Chisato Nishikigi stood behind Luo Shu, occasionally tapping his body to help him adjust his shooting stance. Once she had more or less corrected his posture, she said:

"You can try firing now. Remember to maintain this stance, and correct for the muzzle rising after each shot."

As she finished speaking, a sharp crack rang out. The SIG P226's muzzle lifted slightly, and a bullet hole appeared dead center in the silhouette target a meter away.

At the same time, Luo Shu felt a faint numbness in his hands, but he quickly adjusted to it.

"Not bad~~" Chisato Nishikigi applauded. "A bull's-eye at one meter is a pretty good result for a beginner."

"No, even so, one meter is a little too..." Luo Shu strongly suspected Chisato Nishikigi was just trying to encourage him, but he had no proof.

"How about trying five meters next?"

"...Sure, why not?"

Perhaps hitting the bull's-eye on his first shot had given Luo Shu confidence. He went along with Chisato Nishikigi's suggestion and took on the five-meter target.

Once again, he adjusted his stance, raised the gun, and fired by "intuition."

A crack rang out, and he hit the bull's-eye of the five-meter target again.

"Huh?" Chisato Nishikigi blinked, then gave Luo Shu a puzzled look before applauding. "Oh!! Another bull's-eye! Good, very good. Keep that up and try a few more."

Luo Shu adjusted his arms, which the recoil had knocked out of position, and continued firing with both hands on the gun.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive shots, all dead center.

At the sight, Chisato Nishikigi realized something was off.

"Wait, try a ten-meter target."

She stepped forward and pressed a button on the machine. A ten-meter target rose into place.

Luo Shu thought about the ten rounds he still had left, then fired three more shots.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After those three shots, Chisato Nishikigi blinked repeatedly at the ten-meter target, which seemed to have only one bullet hole. She fell silent for a moment, then selected a fifty-meter target-a moving one, at that.

Seeing this, Luo Shu fired another shot without hesitation.

Bang!

Dead center.

Chisato Nishikigi opened her mouth, then finally wore a helpless expression and sighed.

"...Ah! Ah! Now I know how my instructor felt when teaching me."

"Aren't we continuing?" Luo Shu turned from the shooting booth to ask Chisato Nishikigi.

"No need. For a handgun, fifty meters is already an excellent result. There's no point going any farther. Sure, its effective range is a hundred meters, but shots at that limit don't tell you anything useful for an actual firefight."

Then Chisato Nishikigi muttered, "Besides, if we keep going, Mika really won't have anything left to teach you. Oh no, is he going to beat me up?"

Still muttering quietly, Chisato Nishikigi picked up a nearby holster and tossed it to Luo Shu.

"This holster is meant to be worn inside a suit. Oh, and you don't need to worry too much about accidental discharges. The SIG P226 is double-action, so the risk in everyday use is very low."

After the holster, Chisato Nishikigi tossed him a rectangular box.

"There are two magazines in here, thirty rounds total. Remember to carry them at all times, just in case. If you run out, come straight here for more. We have plenty."

"Come on, let's head back up. Honestly, this isn't giving me any satisfaction as a teacher."

Chisato Nishikigi clasped her hands behind her head and pouted, sounding displeased.

Luo Shu could only shrug. Marveling inwardly at the advantage his intuition gave him in shooting, he followed Chisato Nishikigi back up to the ground floor.

As soon as he returned to the café out front, Luo Shu heard Chisato Nishikigi, who had arrived ahead of him, complaining loudly:

"What? Takina and the others won't be back until later? Come on, does shopping really take that long? I wanted them to meet the newcomer, too."

"They said they had some trouble with the car. I've already arranged for someone to fix it. Anyway, why were you down there so long? Were you doing something?"

Mika, who was reading a newspaper, glanced at Chisato Nishikigi and spoke calmly, ignoring her complaints.

"Just taught him a little shooting." Chisato Nishikigi looked disgruntled as she said this, her tone somewhere between boasting and resignation. "Damn it, this kid is way more talented than me. He could hit a fifty-meter target as soon as he picked up a gun."

"Try to make your encouragement sound more reasonable. Weren't you exactly the same? You started with a fifty-meter target when Keiko taught you."

As Mika said this, he gave Luo Shu a rather surprised look.

"But you're the same, Luo Shu? Looks like we've got another monstrously talented recruit."

At that point, Mika finally realized something was wrong.

He turned to Chisato Nishikigi.

"Wait a minute. Shouldn't training be handled by me, the instructor?"

"Huh? Was that a thing? I don't remember..." Chisato Nishikigi turned her head away, looking as though she had "apparently forgotten."

Mika clenched his newspaper in anger. "You rotten brat. You stole my chance to enjoy teaching a genius."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a student who makes teaching this easy?"

"How would I know? The boss told me to show the newcomer around. If you have a problem, take it up with her~"

"You wretched girl! The older you get, the less you listen."

Mika shot Chisato Nishikigi a resentful look and snorted, then took an iPhone out from beneath the counter and handed it to Luo Shu.

"I was going to give you this during firearms training, but now I'll have to give it to you here. Here, a specially modified phone for communications. I've already saved everyone in the department's contact information."

Luo Shu walked over and took the phone, then looked up at Mika.

"Thanks, manager."

Mika sighed, looking as though he could hardly bear to recall the past.

"Just don't call me a damn homo when I wake you up in the middle of the night."

"..." Luo Shu blinked at the burly Mika in front of him, his mind reeling.

This big guy? Gay? Wait, why would I call you that? Don't tell me...

Then Mika said casually, "That girl Chisato doesn't really admit it, but she is effectively my adopted daughter. So why do you think I adopted a daughter instead of having a child of my own?"

Luo Shu bowed. "Sorry for bothering you. Can I choose to work somewhere else?"

"No. I'm being upfront about my orientation so we can get that out of the way and build trust among our members, not so you can take shots at me."

"Honestly, I like blonds, all right?"

As Mika said this, he casually took a document out from beneath the counter.

"Write your bank account details here. Your first month's salary will be paid in advance shortly."

Then Mika gave Luo Shu some instructions.

"You'll have tomorrow to sort out your personal affairs. If you don't have a safe place to stay, I can provide a professional safe house, too. Also, you'll start working at the café the day after tomorrow. I'll have Mizuki show you the ropes then.

"That only covers the café's day-to-day operations, of course. The chief will have to arrange any more advanced training. We don't have the means to train spellcasters here, after all."

"Oh, one more thing. Give me the name of your school, too. I'll have someone notify them later so your assignments won't conflict with school."

"You're surprisingly thorough..." Luo Shu took the pen and paper, filled it out, and handed it back.

Just then, Mika glanced at the school name Luo Shu had written and said in surprise:

"Oh, you go to Toyogasaki? I hear that's a well-known private school around here. By the way, is the tuition expensive?"

"It's not too bad?"

Luo Shu looked a little awkward. He had gotten into Toyogasaki on his grades and paid very little tuition, so he had no idea how much everyone else paid.

"I see. As it happens, Chief Tachibana used her connections with the garrison to get permission for you to attend school. Heh." Mika glanced at Chisato Nishikigi. "Just you wait. In a few days, I'll find a chance to dump you in school."

"What?!" Chisato Nishikigi, who had been enjoying the show, was suddenly stunned. "You can't do that!!"

Her reaction immediately angered Mika. "What's with that look? Weren't you the one who said you wanted to go to school? Now that Luo Shu has joined us, you can attend the same school. Isn't that perfect?"

"No, studying is still a little... Besides, we can't hire ordinary people for the café, right...? If I leave, Mizuki and Takina probably won't be able to handle everything..."

Before Chisato Nishikigi could finish, Mika smacked her on the head with his newspaper.

"Objection overruled. You only like the idea until it becomes real! Do you understand what that means?"

"And Takina will be going to school, too. Mizuki and I are enough to run the café. Don't try making excuses, understood?"

"I don't understand whatever idiom you're using!" Chisato Nishikigi held her head, her face twisted in pain and looking terribly wronged.

"Idiot. That's what happens when you don't study." As Mika said this, he turned to Luo Shu. "I may need to ask you to look after this girl in a few days."

"I don't mind."

Luo Shu ignored Chisato Nishikigi's pleading gaze. Although he felt this situation could spell trouble for him, he pretended not to care and shrugged at Mika.

"But if she needs tutoring, I'll charge for it."

"I'll pay you a price you'll be happy with," Mika readily agreed.

At that, Chisato Nishikigi threw her head back and let out a long lament.

"How could you do this to me!!"

Ignoring Chisato Nishikigi's protests, Luo Shu left Café LycoReco with an encouraging pat on the shoulder from Mika and Chisato Nishikigi's resentful gaze following him out.

After walking out of the alley onto the main road, Luo Shu looked up at the starless night sky, took out his phone, and checked the time displayed on it-19:32. He shook his head.

"I'm definitely going to be late for work... The manager's probably going to chew me out... Tsk, there's no getting out of an apology!"