Rather than keeping the author on edge, forcing her to draw content she doesn’t want, it would be better to let Beast Fox Bell Sensei finish her work early.
Maybe she could even produce another masterpiece, and Miss Nangong could also reduce her burden.
This was Clara’s opinion, but Kamui said:
“You only have a half-baked understanding. She still has other authors under her to take care of. What you saw before was just a minority… although she does have thoughts of resigning.”
Kamui was reluctant verbally, but she was actually considering Clara’s proposal.
Of course, the Publicity Department and such didn’t really match her job preferences, but finding a reliable company to become a full-time hero…
Of course, provided it was reliable.
She had been a professional hero for a while, and it was that period’s experience that made her despair of the hero workplace, which is why she had been acting alone for a long time.
However, the hero company Clara belonged to seemed suspicious to Kamui in every aspect.
But just then, what Blue Cavalier had said suddenly flashed through Kamui’s mind.
‘If there’s something you want to know, go investigate.’
‘Joining Clara’s hero company might be a good opportunity to start an investigation?’
‘Anyway, even if she joined, it couldn’t do anything to her. If there really was a problem, the company itself would be the one in trouble.’
“I’ll think about it,” Kamui said.
“Oh! Our company has great benefits!!”
Clara was quite happy with this response, only thinking to make up for the trouble she had caused Kamui, without considering what it meant to add a legitimate hero to the Undercover Department.
“I’ll talk to President Cexia about you. If she says it’s fine, then we can arrange for you to interview during this time—”
But Kamui interrupted Clara’s words, saying:
“Don’t be so hasty. I only said I’d consider it.”
Kamui wouldn’t agree so easily.
“Hmm…”
‘If I agreed to Clara just like that, it would feel like being led around by the nose. I don’t want to be seen as an easy woman.’
“I have two conditions. You have to agree to them first, and then we can discuss this matter.”
As Kamui said this, she felt her hands were a bit cold. So she pressed her hands against Clara’s already hunched neck to warm them. A loli’s body temperature is naturally higher, so this spot was just perfect for warming her hands.
Especially since Clara’s little touch tentacles would coil around in resistance, but didn’t dare to offend Kamui, which instead made Kamui’s hands even warmer.
“Wh-What conditions?” Clara asked shivering.
Kamui’s conditions were simple—rather, her goal had been clear from the start.
“First, I want to meet that ‘important person.’ I know he’s a mutant, and I don’t plan to do anything to him. It’s just to understand the background of the matter…”
“Hmm, that’s a bit…”
“Of course, you’ll be present too.”
Clara narrowed her eyes. It was a somewhat troublesome request, but it wasn’t impossible if she asked Minister Mositima.
If it could make Kamui more convinced that ‘Squill’ and ‘Clara’ were two different people, then a little trouble would be worth it.
Clara blinked and looked at Kamui.
“I-I can go ask. What about the second point?”
“As for the second point, consider it a verification of your earlier suggestion. But not only will I participate in your commissions, you must also unconditionally accept any commissions I take or incidents I encounter. And you have to be available on call, no excuses.”
“…Huh?”
As a hero, this didn’t sound like a big deal?
“Okay, I can accept that.” Clara thought for a moment and replied.
Fighting crime with Miss Kamui, stopping the illegal activities of the evil organization—sounded a bit like a hero team? Although Kamui was a lone wolf, magic girls were a type of hero that often acted in groups of two or three.
Perhaps due to being alone for so long, she was craving a partner deep in her heart, which led her to make such a request.
Clara speculated like this.
But clearly that wasn’t it.
Kamui was a true lone wolf. Acting with others only made her uncomfortable. The sole purpose of binding Clara to herself was to more conveniently drag her into operations targeting Naitemel.
However, without the hero network in hand, it really wasn’t that convenient to conduct activities against Naitemel.
Kamui’s gaze drifted to Clara’s pocket again, and she asked:
“You’ve registered the hero network app, right?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Clara nodded and took out her phone.
“Can you use it now?”
“Haven’t used it yet…”
Kamui nodded, but snatched Clara’s phone.
“Huh?”
But when she saw the wallpaper, she was stunned. On the screen was clearly the swimsuit Nangong Xiwang that Clara had drawn before.
Kamui scratched her blushing cheek and asked awkwardly:
“Clara, you… you don’t have some special complex about Miss Nangong, do you?”
“No, it’s not that… I’m just very satisfied with this painting…”
Clara quickly denied. Her wallpaper was set to auto-rotate through pictures in her album, and it just happened to land on that painting of Miss Nangong.
Kamui instead seemed a bit displeased.
“Hmph? You don’t like Miss Nangong?”
“It’s not what you think. Miss Nangong showed me great kindness and recognition. She’s my mentor. I wouldn’t dare have such improper thoughts about her.”
Nangong Xiwang, who was always very caring toward Clara and had made an excellent impression from their first meeting, was in her strike zone in terms of appearance and figure, and had built up a high affinity. But Clara only saw her as a benefactor.
“’Wouldn’t dare’ means… if you were a bit bolder, you would?”
“Mm.”
Clara narrowed her eyes, not knowing how to answer without being misinterpreted. Both had thin skin, so both the teaser and the teased had red faces.
“I’ll stop teasing you.”
Kamui swiped the screen and found the hero association’s logo icon.
“Let me take a look first.”
After tapping it, an interface like a map app appeared. Just as Blue Cavalier said, it could show crimes happening nearby in real time through location.
Some were help requests from citizens, organizations, or companies being victimized, while others were commissions directly issued by the association.
And these commissions usually occurred at crime scenes with no witnesses, or even where the victims themselves were unaware. Clearly, they utilized the hero network’s “prophecy” ability.
Clara still found it incredible.
“There are quite a few. As expected of Central City.”
Even within ten kilometers around them, there were still several ongoing crimes. But since other heroes were handling them, there was no need to rush over.
“It really is convenient. Heroes registered on the hero network can easily outcompete unregistered heroes with this thing, especially freelancers like me.”
Was such convenience worth exchanging for the hero’s real information? Kamui sighed, but then smiled optimistically.
“After this, we’ll use your phone to take jobs, okay? When you complete commissions, split the reward with me half and half, and I can also benefit… Consider this as compensation to me. No problem?”
She hooked her arm around Clara’s neck, and Clara nodded lightly.
“Then for now, let’s disband!”
“Huh? Disband?”
“Yeah, disband.”
If they didn’t disband, and she actually let Clara follow her home, then she wouldn’t be able to go back to the publishing house as Nangong Xiwang.
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