Chapter 20 : Contention (5) Part-2

James, who had been dozing in the car, jumped in surprise.

I threw Jiguppa and the researcher into the car and climbed in.

It was a spacious van, so there was no real issue with space.

But it was absurd that the executive was sitting in the driver’s seat.

Wasn’t he just an insignificant guy?

“Step on it.”

“Huh?”

“Step on it! Step on it now!”

I shouted as I slapped the back of James’s head.

He was startled and immediately started driving.

I had already opened the parking lot door.

If the magical girls came, it wouldn’t matter whether it was open or not.

They could fly in, anyway.

Leaving it open would actually be more useful for escaping.

Bang!

The circuit finally exploded.

Luckily, it wasn’t a massive explosion.

James’s hands shifted, and the car almost spun out of control.

The tattered door was still open.

Of course, that was because the locking mechanism had broken.

I held onto Jiguppa and the researcher tightly.

After the circuit exploded, my strength was gradually fading, but I braced myself with my foot to prevent them from being thrown out.

A flash of light poured down from above.

Iris must have regained her senses and was probably trying to shoot.

“Step on it more!”

“I’m already stepping on it as hard as I can!”

This area was wealthy, yet the roads were in such a bad state?

We forced our way down the winding alleys and finally made it out to the main road.

The magical girls didn’t pursue us further.

Iris didn’t seem to be in great condition.

Otherwise, she would have warped to catch up with us.

Or maybe she didn’t think showing a fight in the middle of the road was a good idea.

…Sigh.

I exhaled deeply and looked at my left wrist.

There, the circuit was still there, emitting black smoke.

Ah, there was no way to repair this.

For a while, none of us said anything.

The first to speak was James.

“So… is that a researcher?”

“Yes.”

The researcher was slumped over.

The color near his pants—exactly, near the crotch area—had changed.

I pushed the researcher as far away from me as possible and fastened the seatbelt.

This way, even if the door rattled, they wouldn’t be thrown out.

I had just shouted for him to step on it, but now that I had regained my senses, it felt like I had spoken to an executive in a rather rude manner.

Still, the fact that he didn’t immediately demand I get out of the car meant he didn’t seem all that angry.

Rather, it felt incredibly natural.

First, I checked Jiguppa’s condition.

She was unconscious.

There were a few cuts on her face, but it didn’t seem like anything major.

If she received treatment at a medical facility, the cuts would probably heal without leaving any scars.

No broken bones either.

I sighed deeply, then sat back in my seat and relaxed.

Wait a minute…

I was slouched in my chair when I suddenly jolted upright and looked at the researcher.

The unconscious researcher was still slumped in the chair.

Right.

The researcher.

I recalled the mission I had just completed.

It was to “bring the researcher back.”

Of course, I had left two of the three people behind, but…

Huh?

“…Is this… a success?”

Without thinking, I asked James.

“It… seems so,” James replied.

We fell back into silence.

A success?

Was it really a success?

Does this mean the mission was completed?

I felt my face turn pale.

Isn’t this the first time?

In every mission I’ve participated in, I’ve never had a success like this.

There have been some partial successes, but never a complete achievement of the main goal.

The mission’s initial instruction was to bring back the researcher, but the real goal was probably to prevent the research facility from being rebuilt somewhere else from the start.

That way, even by periodically harassing them, we could hinder the Galactic Federation.

But still, this was the first time we had actually achieved the core objective.

The operation itself had its flaws, and I suspected there were other underlying motives, but anyway, it was a success.

I could see James’s face in the rearview mirror, and he looked slightly confused.

Now what?

In a dazed state, I ended up getting into the car that James was driving, and we eventually headed to the company.

*

We used a small, unelite team and had one executive leading the operation.

It didn’t look like a normal mission at all.

Either they didn’t expect to succeed, or it was a mission designed for failure.

Maybe I was overthinking it, but on the way here, I briefly considered the possibility that it was because of me.

I had had a few private conversations with James.

It seemed like he thought of me as a useful asset.

I’ve been working here for a few years now, and until recently, I was just a soldier, but only recently did he realize I was connected to magical girls.

Or maybe he had known all along but never said anything.

Did he plan to put a leash on me because I attacked a civilian?

Normally, I would have entered James’s office, but not now.

Instead, I sat outside the office, waiting blankly.

I had taken off my helmet and placed it beside me, still wearing my combat suit.

 The human-looking woman sitting at the secretary’s desk looked at me, clearly perplexed.

Could she, like James, be an alien who just looks like a human?

I idly wondered this when the phone on her desk rang.

“Oh, yes, Mr. James.”

Are they calling him by name?

I thought about how, in magical girl shows or tokusatsu series, executives often get called by their names.

The secretary carefully hung up the phone and looked at me.

“He says you can come in now.”

I stood up, grabbed my helmet, and walked inside.

As I entered, James, who had been looking out the window, turned to face me.

He was smiling broadly.

“Well done!”

Just moments ago, he had been taken aback by the fact that we succeeded, and now he was grinning widely.

It didn’t seem like a lie, which made it even more unpleasant.

“This is a remarkable achievement! To lead a battle against magical girls to victory! No one at Noir Corporation has ever done what you just did!”

He started to approach me to pat me on the back, but I quickly stepped back and avoided him.

James withdrew his hand with a slightly awkward expression.

“I have one question,” I interrupted before he could speak.

“Did you intentionally hide information about the girl who was there?”

“…”

James hesitated for a moment after hearing my question.

“We didn’t know about it either,” he finally said.

My expression must have been serious, as James quickly adjusted his own.

“She was supposed to be in the hospital. After we arrived here, we checked, and the girl was still in the hospital.”

That girl wasn’t a fake.

She wasn’t a twin either.

If she were, we would have known about it.

“So, are you saying she lied about being in the hospital and went home instead?” I asked, incredulous.

James nodded.

“If she hadn’t, it wouldn’t make sense.”

Heh.

I laughed in disbelief.

Even patients trying to commit insurance fraud wait in the hospital.

But that girl didn’t do that.

Well, it wasn’t insurance fraud, so I guess she must have just insisted on going home.

“…So?”

I pushed the thought aside and turned back to James.

“I succeeded, so is there any reward?”

“Oh, that…”

James quickly replied when I asked.

“I’m truly sorry, but since this is the first success we’ve had, we’re still figuring out what kind of compensation to offer.”

Typical of the company.

“Well, we’ll at least double the sponsorship amount from last time.”

James continued.

“And there’s a possibility of promotion.”

He might even make me a team leader or something.

I nodded.

“Then, please let me know once the decision is made.”

“Of course.”

“Since it’s late, can I go now?” I asked.

“Of course! Can I give you a ride? Or at least pay for a taxi?”

“I’ll just take the bus,” I replied in a voice tinged with a sigh.

Honestly, I was close to my limit, so I would have appreciated a ride, but…

I didn’t know if someone might see me on the way.