“……Huh?”
Clara’s mind was utterly blank at the moment, but then she immediately started cursing under her breath:
“You, you drunk woman, what the hell are you doing here? So you can actually fly, huh!”
Divine Might’s body shimmered with magical light, floating in midair like Superman, even managing to fly up to the fourteenth floor…
But she was still a bit unsure of herself, just wanting Divine Might to leave quickly. After all, she had lied that her name was Lucia, yet here she was, right in front of the real Lucia.
So whether it was the lie told to Divine Might or the one told to Lucia, at this moment both were as fragile as paper windows. If these two talked for even a few moments, nothing would be hidden.
Yet Divine Might obviously had no intention of leaving so easily. She carried Clara—who was about her size—on one arm and rushed into the room, glancing nervously left and right, then stared at Lucia as she demanded:
“What kind of work do you do here?”
Clara struggled, trying to pull her arm free from Divine Might’s grip.
“Are you crazy? Who told you to come here? You’re not following me, are you!”
But Divine Might’s strength was not that of a typical magical girl at all. She was an anomaly with zero magical energy emission, using all her magic to enhance her own body. The result was this absurd physical power—something Clara, even transformed, found hard to resist…
Unless she used her Squid Ape Power Gloves.
Lucia, faced with the suddenly appearing magical girl, was both excited and at a loss.
She had already been a bit suspicious of this company’s legitimacy, mainly due to its unreasonable perks. Now, with this sudden inspection by a hero and trusting the hero’s authority, it only made her suspicion stronger…
So this company must be hiding something, right?
The magical girl in front of her had even called out her name. Perhaps she already had some decisive evidence?
Thinking this, Lucia whispered:
“Eh? Uh, we’re with the Hero Company… Dream Witch Manpower Dispatch Company.”
“Dream Witch? Never heard of it.”
Divine Might looked as young as Clara, and that youthful appearance somewhat eased Lucia’s tension. She asked, “We haven’t even started work yet; the company officially opens tomorrow. Could this be some scam disguised as recruitment? Miss Hero, did you get some kind of tip-off?”
“Ah? Um.”
Divine Might thought for a moment, then placed a hand on her hip and bluffed:
“I just recently received information that illegal criminal activities are happening here, possibly related to an evil organization. Please cooperate with the inspection.”
“Eh, an evil organization?”
Lucia hadn’t expected the situation to unfold like this.
“Could Dream Witch be an evil organization running a hero company?”
The moment those words left her mouth, Clara’s heart rate shot up to 130.
What’s going on? Had the Undercover Division not even officially launched yet, and the Hero Association was already onto something? Impossible! The secrecy level of this project was extremely high—even within Nightmere, only a few knew…
Lady Maya and the Commander couldn’t be moles. Fran was investigating the Hero Association’s top heroes. So the only possible mole left was… Nyx?!
No, Nyx wouldn’t want to be reclaimed by the World Tree Technology. There was no reason to leak info now. It was already somewhat bound to Clara—no reason to betray her.
So who was it? Why did Divine Might know?
While Clara was lost in thought, Lucia pressed further, “May I ask which evil organization is involved? I only received the hiring notice a few days ago. Is this really human trafficking?”
Better to be sure. Maybe the organization her brother was in was involved; after all, Nightmere was a well-known big company, with many operations in the Central City.
But upon hearing this, Divine Might began to stammer.
“Uh, well…”
She had charged in without solid evidence, clearly unprepared for such questions. Now she was just making excuses, and there seemed to be no one else around.
“That’s classified. Don’t ask too much.”
Divine Might’s tone became evasive, then she switched gears and asked, “Where is this place? What exactly do you do here?”
“Oh, this is our employee dormitory,” Lucia replied.
“Huh? Dormitory? Such a fancy dorm! Wow, that’s a huge bathtub! Your company must have problems, huh?!”
Still with shoes on, Divine Might carried Clara around the room for a quick tour.
Clara couldn’t help but complain:
“Hey! Don’t you know what’s going on? Can you put me down? There’s no danger here for now! No evil organizations either! Our company hasn’t even opened yet!”
Only then did Clara’s little feet touch the ground. Divine Might continued asking:
“So, little Lucia, what kind of work do you do? Aren’t you supposed to be a manga artist?”
Ah, crap.
Clara panicked instantly, but before she could organize her words, Lucia pointed at herself, confused:
“Little Hero, uh… I’m the real Lucia, okay?”
“Ah?” Divine Might.
“Ah?” Lucia.
“Waaahhh!!!” Clara.
Panicked, Clara shouted loudly to cover everything up and grabbed Divine Might’s wrist, pulling her toward the balcony while shouting back into the room at Lucia:
“I’ll explain to her! Lucia… Miss, you better go back to your bedroom first! There’s nothing wrong with the company, so don’t overthink it!”
“W-What exactly is going on?”
Naturally, uneasy Lucia refused to comply, even trying to approach the balcony.
Clara was now desperate.
“Don’t come any closer! Let me get rid of this crazy woman first and then I’ll explain to you… Whoa?!”
Unexpectedly, Divine Might assessed the situation and simply scooped Clara up, jumped over the balcony, and leapt down.
“Waaahhh!!!”
Clara screamed at the top of her lungs, her face nearly kissing the pavement. Divine Might then flew back up with her.
Recently, the experience of high-altitude flight and free-falling had become far too frequent. Clara’s wildly pounding heart even ached a little.
“Alright, little Lucia, what’s really going on? I heard you were doing some shady part-time job. What exactly are you and that lady doing?”
“Who told you that?” Clara asked.
“Nangong Hope.”
Divine Might answered, explaining, “She’s the one I introduced you to. I heard you were doing some ‘night-only job that pays well,’ so I came to check it out and saw you sneaking into a wealthy person’s apartment…”
“Huh? Why would you jump to that conclusion?!”
The two landed on the street beside the apartment amid a chilly wind.
Clara looked up; the fourteenth-floor balcony seemed so far away, yet she could still see Lucia waving.
“So, are you going to tell me about this part-time job?” Divine Might asked.
Clara pulled out her phone.
“Are you nuts? I’m calling the police.”