Mr. Magical Girl

Chapter: 92. End of the Great Tragedy. Sharing Beer. (2)

“Cheers to the living!”

“For the Chief we haven’t seen in a while!”

“For the long-awaited vacation!”

“For the divorced friend!”

“This is beer, you trash!”

“Kanpai!”

“They’re ignoring what I’m saying.”

Clink.

The glass

crashed

with a resounding

sound above

my head,

causing beer

to spill over

and create a mess.

Everyone excitedly chattered away in their own worlds, toasting amidst the storm of congratulatory cheers and clinks.

Meanwhile, I quietly shook my glass.

“Why is the Chief drinking alone so sadly?”

It looked like a bunch of crazy fools; does their heart get settled by sniffing around like this?

‘What if my hand doesn’t work?’

“Ah, back then, we would sit around a low table and drink together, so I never thought about this awkwardness.”

“Ah, I see… I’m sorry to intrude as a young magical girl among you burly men.”

“You’re still young…”

Clink, smash.

“What?”

“Nothing at all.”

The glass broke, but the experienced team members swiftly pushed the shards into a bowl and resumed the drinking party.

Thanks to that, it seemed like no one heard my complaints.

I calmed my burning throat and tilted the glass.

The transparent glass blocked the light, and the brown liquid flowed down my throat. It tasted like something diluted in water.

From the taste, there was no hint of beer.

I really can’t stand this.

“What kind of messed-up height gives me this type of beer? Get your head smashed right now!”

There’s not even a toothpaste cap or a soju bottle.

Then I’ll have to make my own.

Thud.

A metal sphere that appeared from the sky rolled across the floor, nodding to indicate the culprit should confess.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to smash it? If you keep drinking this, won’t you be unsatisfied?”

Even as I urged them on like that, they just exchanged glances, not willing to step up.

With their gazes crossing for about ten seconds, Harry finally let out a sigh and revealed the truth.

“It’s just soda water.”

“Oh really?”

Soda water…

As I tried it, it did seem like that.

Lifting my glass to the light, it seemed similar enough in color that distinguishing was difficult.

Then if it’s for real, why in the world did they serve me soda water?

‘But why are you serving me soda water? Where’s the damn beer?’

Are you just happy drinking by yourselves?

You want to show me your drunken antics that can’t get drunk?

“Uh… um that…”

“We’re kind of in a difficult position.”

Why are these guys suddenly acting like defense lawyers, squirming in their seats?

“Did you all change to administrative soldiers or something? Why are your words so weak?”

“To be honest, if I speak candidly to the Chief, I think I’d get killed.”

“Would he really kill you?”

There’s no way he’d do such a ridiculous thing to a teammate who has shared life and death together.

“Some complaint came in saying a young-looking magical girl was blowing up a bottle in a bar, and there’s a memo stating that magical girls are prohibited from drinking for at least two days without exception.”

That shameless guy is pretending to be a hero?

“What kind of crazy magical girl would behave like that and ruin my happiness?”

“They say it was Krims Hammer.”

Huh? Who?

“She even got photographed and recorded shouting out loud.”

Why on earth is she putting her finger in the bottle?

“Oh, that was a mic…”

Oh wait, that’s me?

Where did that complaint come from?

There haven’t been many instances of such disgraceful behavior lately; if I connect the dots from the complaint to my memory, it should be traceable.

Recall, my brain. Think about the impressions of the surrounding individuals and their actions at that time.

‘If you’re thinking of seeking revenge, just drop it. It’s pathetic.’

“I won’t. Just look at me.”

Instead, make your beer taste horrible. Soda water?

Who in their right mind would drink that? Some of them may seem to enjoy it, but…

I slyly poured the soda water in my glass into the other squad members’ glasses.

Didn’t see that, did you?

Harry took out a water bottle from his bag and filled my glass with water.

“Why water?”

“Try tasting it.”

Try tasting it, huh? It’s probably nothing good.

I slowly raised the beer glass, the dramatic aroma tickling my nose. The strong volatile smell of that liquid.

As I tilted the glass, the sensation I didn’t want surged in.

The much-awaited, burning discomfort in my throat.

Yeah, this is it.

“This is good water.”

“Yeah. It’s water.”

The squad members smiled stiffly, nodding along.

Of course, if they’re my subordinates, this is how it should be. No matter what the higher-ups say, it has nothing to do with us.

When we finished drinking and turned to each other, everyone’s faces were ablaze, and as much as the color on their faces changed, the conversation began to heat up.

“How are you all still alive?”

“I’m more surprised the Chief hasn’t retired yet.”

“Would I want to retire? My thoughts have changed lately, though.”

“But how much are you guys paid?”

That one…

Whispering about pay to the colleagues at the edge. This guy also makes more than me, huh?

“Why do you make more than I do?”

“That’s because the Chief has so much more weight on him.”

“Hey, stop with the silly talk and get to the point. You’ve said something you shouldn’t have, so drink up.”

Clink, clink.

As the glass filled half with beer and the other half with water, the beer began to look strangely like ginger ale.

“Let’s hurry! You diluted it with half water, so down it goes.”

Oh, weird.

“Get this guy out and interfere!”

“Boss!”

“Yes! One body is being dragged away. With that, the atmosphere heated even further. Food was flying in the sky, curses and punches filled the air, and it was a grand festival.

Indeed, people get intoxicated in the atmosphere. Recently I’ve been having a lot of dull drinking parties, so maybe the side effect of recklessness isn’t so bad.

As one by one the casualties of the festival increased,

“In the old days, I was…”

“I’m the one with the black belt!”

Suddenly a battle of “The Good Old Days” started. Are they all fools? In those golden days, there were no squads like you guys.

“Have you all aged? Why are you falling over already?”

“The Chief is acting weird.”

Thud.

As the door creaked open and someone walked in,

Harry returned to the drinking table.

When did he leave?

“Where have you been?”

“I just had a quick call.”

With all the commotion, it seemed like I didn’t even notice someone was missing.

Even though I didn’t try to keep my senses among my subordinates,

“Is it your girlfriend?”

I tried asking when tilting my glass, but…

“Aren’t those who said they couldn’t come busy?”

Right…

Gulp.

The bubbles rising in the glass accepted that as a positive answer, and Harry kept opening his mouth without speaking.

“One of them said the Chief would be here soon, so they rushed over.”

“Oh, really?”

If it were normal, I would have held back the burp, but among these masculine fools, I acted according to my instincts without restraint.

Harry, not caring either, quietly poured himself a beer from whichever glass it was.

Even though a lot had fallen out, I was still enjoying my championship of the good old days.

In the end, punches were thrown around.

When another half of the squad left,

Thud.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

With the door opening, he appeared.

“Oh, Ivan, aren’t you busy? Looks like you went back to the Association Defense Force?”

A man with an Eastern appearance, wearing a gray digital uniform marked with a senior officer insignia. At first glance, he looks like a soldier, but there’s the Association Defense Force emblem where the national flag should be.

“Yes, I’m sorry for not being able to inform you of my absence. I have a lot of pressing tasks these days.”

“What does it matter? Come on, sit down.”

“Well…”

With such a gentleman’s line coming out of his mouth, he sat next to me and gulped down the transparent water in his beer glass.

“Oh, that…”

I tried to stop him, but by then half of it had already entered his mouth.

His face started to turn red as he pondered, unable to spit it back out due to manners.

I had no way to help, and when I didn’t look, Ivan finally chose to drink, and I could hear the sound of him swallowing.

“Ha cough, argh…”

After the watery situation ended, coughing, he shook, and since that was my fault, I patted his back, and he quickly regained his composure, lifting his head.

“Excuse me, that’s not water.”

Don’t say anything.

“It’s water.”

“No, I’m telling you it’s water.”

“Water it is.”

Or else I’ll make you drink it through your nose until you forget that water exists. With that unspoken pressure, I brought the glass with water closer to his face.

“It’s water.”

Did he realize my sincerity? Ivan quietly closed his mouth and relaxed his shoulders.

So this guy shows up late and tries to sabotage the operation—

Ignoring the tipsy Ivan, I watched the finals of my old competition,

Ivan raised his head and seemed to be grinding his lips: it looked like he had something to say but found it hard to spit it out.

“So, what have you been busy with these days?”

So I instead pushed the flow of words for him. As a Chief, I should at least do this.

“Until recently, I’ve been in Hokkaido.”

“Oh? Sounds tough.”

It’s an incident that arose because of me, but I suppressed my emotions and replied that way.

“Yes, it was quite a big deal. It seems like someone is looking for someone up there to pin the blame on, and we need to arrange living spaces for civilians how to deal with it, as well…”

“Sounds like a lot.”

Hearing just that much, it feels like I should be working even while sleeping, and I know that since I’m here, they suddenly joined in, right?

“Do you want to move to the Assassination Unit?”

Rather than shoulder the blame, perhaps he’s here asking me to help him clean up quickly and change units.

If it’s my say, they would accept it to some degree.

Upon hearing my words, he put on a strange expression and lifted the beer glass to wet his lips.

After a moment of waiting, with a thud the beer glass slammed down, and his mouth opened.

“Do you think I’m such a bright guy? If it’s about responsibility, it’s already been wrapped up. If a crucial personnel in a significant position falls, who knows how long it would take to get promoted?”

That’s just his responsibility; it’s not something trivial.

No reason to stay in the poorly-paid Defense Force, except for promotion, right?

As I slowly gathered my thoughts, he constricted his mouth and began to mumble words into his own mouth.

“I have something to ask.”

It seemed he wanted to tell me a secret.

He murmured in a voice that only I could hear, and I slowly nodded in reply.

“The truth is, during the recent Hokkaido conflict, I was the Chief of the replicant squad, Black Marauder.”

I maintained my expressionless face, staring off into the distance.

Between men, punches are exchanged.

Sweat and various liquids are beading down.

“Well, that’s classified information processed by the Association, so of course I won’t leak it.”

He’s really dancing around the word.

“What do you want to say?”

It’s not like Ivan who rambles, but he replied softly with words barely reaching my ears, as if he didn’t want to be heard by others.

Maybe he doesn’t want a reaction from me.

Ivan quietly lifted his beer glass and pretended to take a sip, spilling some as if he were speaking.

“Replicant monsters tend to carry over their original personality. Well, there can be extreme distortions…”

“Stick to the main point, stop beating around the bush.”

“As I read the interview of that Black Marauder, they expressed that the only perfect hero capable of protecting humanity from the tides of this Otherworld is one with strong power, tempered and disciplined.”

I quietly swallowed: I was hearing unexpected comments on my plans and ideology.

“Such ideologies seem to be spreading within the Association. It seems more familiar to those who have experienced the great war.”

Thud. Thud.

Two glasses hit the table.

“So, I was thinking of asking the Chief something.”

I didn’t expect you to trust me that much.

“I’m thinking of aligning with this faction. How does the Chief feel about it?”

As I kept silent, perhaps I was regarded as neutral.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re neutral. However, if the situation arises—if, just if—you sympathize with the ideology of the Black Marauder, could you lend us your hand?”

I was witnessing the end of the fight. The victor would claim they sniped a 0-Rank superhuman monster with a rifle.

While he roared in victory, I turned my head to Ivan.

I opened my mouth.

“I am…”

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