The One Being Protected [Magical Girl Urban Fantasy]

Time for a change of pace. One could easily see this story from Ben's point of view and misunderstand what would happen next. After all, it's easy to be more sympathetic towards someone you know more than someone you don't. I'm not trying to stall.

You see, 'Commander Vascovitch' wasn't always so tall and muscular. One could even say he was once the weakest among his generation. A man who wants to serve Dawn City and the governmental system created by the Harmonic Theory. Dutiful to a fault.

Or so one would think.

It had been a long time since there was any interference from the supernatural world other than monsters. They had managed to replicate and find out things in secret, but there was never any real help from 'that side' of the world. They all kept quiet.

It lead to hatred growing within the soldiers.

They did not know why the two worlds were split.

Vascovitch helplessly watched when one of his fellow comrades died of unexplainable causes. The incident was at an abandoned factory. From there, 'toys' were being endlessly manufactured and threatening the peace. That day, he and his unit were sent out.

He closed his eyes painfully.

Many memories were being stirred while looking at the blonde woman in front of him. How many had he lost because people like her chose to stay silent about their abilities? If they had more people… If they just had a little more 'Mana', then maybe…

You could probably understand his envious mindset.

It was only natural to envy what you didn't have.

They'd been keeping an eye on this unknown person for a good while. She didn't have an identity or name recorded in their system. This was usually a situation that was impossible. The network they used was connected to all cities globally. It couldn't be wrong.

That meant only one conclusion.

"She was born in the 'other side'." Vascovitch wasn't sure how vast the supernatural world was, but he theorised there were several of more of her kind. A good chance she was related to a force rather than being a rogue Mana User. It'd make more sense.

The only inconsistencies came in her actions.

She didn't try to escape imprisonment at all. There were times guards had been made to purposefully be clumsy in order to give her chances, but she blocked her own paths herself. Giving the keys back to an officer who 'accidentally' dropped them naturally.

This blonde woman's sudden appearance five years ago had caused a stir within the military. Some had wanted to interrogate her about that side, but those in power insisted to leave it be. He was given a direct order to not give her any reason to WANT to escape.

Ben's peaceful life being within his hand.

S.M.O.T. Branch 'Strength Ops'.  Their units were suspected specifically to deal with larger types of Apparitions that had to be killed quietly. All of them had been specifically trained with this as their agent's mantra. Using goggles to see Apparitions.

If he acted out, they were tasked with killing him.

Both cleanly and efficiently.

Five years had gone by before the board of directors in Dawn City finally allowed contact with this unknown individual. They had sent their top recruits that had connections with 'that side' in case of any unforeseen variable. Rina's action was intolerable.

Still, he didn't want outsiders see him berate them.

Vascovitch kept a professional outlook.

"What is your name?" He narrowed his eyes sharply.

"Ben." The woman said the same nonsense as before.

"…Forget it. I'll be frank with you. Your skills are very valuable and we, the army of dawn, would like to know more about 'that side'. We are willing to compensate you for any inconveniences this may bring." Vascovitch went straight onto the fiery pit.

The blonde delinquent-like woman seemed deep in thought. She seemingly understood his meaning, but did not immediately divulge intelligence about the supernatural world. There seemed to be many thoughts in her mind while looking at the man.

"It's better not knowing." Was her final answer.

"Why not?" He crossed his arms and leaned back.

"Knowing doesn't mean much. You understand that the split between our 'worlds' is not manmade. If it were that flimsy, that side of the world wouldn't be so inconspicuous." The detestable woman seemed to be deliberately putting pressure on him with this.

Those words were clearly a threat to the army.

"If the only difference is magic and technology, then all our side has to do is steal it away. This has been the way humanity handled war for decades." There was a powerful glare in the commander's eyes as he stood up. His shadow lurking over like a giant

"Vas, can I call you that?" She made a friendly smile.

Her beautiful face and perfectly sculpted body made him lower his hostility. Finding it hard to hold a grudge when she made such a cute smile with that happy-go-lucky attitude. It reminded him of the kind of face Rina made when talking of her past hobbies.

"Call me what you want." He sat back down mildly.

"Vas, I'm curious… What do your soldiers fight on a regular basis? If you're saying Rina is your 'Special Agent', then you must specialise in Apparitions rather than criminal Magic Users." It seemed she was smart enough to figure that out quite fast.

Her assumption wasn't wrong.

"What does that have to do with what I asked?"

"It doesn't, but wouldn't you like a second opinion from an expert in cleansing Apparitions?" This question seemed like a challenge. She seemed to be scatterbrained, but that could be a ruse to get him to lower his guard. A trick to find out all their secrets.

But there was no harm in telling his drafted soldier.

"We first find out where it is hiding from checking all cases of deaths or disappearances. Our soldiers are equipped with lens that have been washed in Holy Water to find our targets and fire upon seeing the enemy." Vascovitch told him a simplified version.

Of course, not all Apparitions could be killed easily.

Only the two Magical Girls had that certainty.

"…You use bullets with Mana attached to them?" The woman's expression changed drastically. She was seemingly offended, but there was no reason for her to react this way. Tapping the table in front of her before spitting out brazenly: "Damn rookies."

"What did you call us?" The man's face had twisted.

Their hidden army had been growing for as long as Apparitions had become a problem to society and the world at large. There was also problems when a rogue Mana User did crimes. Weapons like guns were not useless, but at times it was ineffective.

'Enchanted Bullets' became more commonly used over time. It was an expensive resource, but their team had to deal with monsters that couldn't be interacted with physically. Adding magic to their bullets was important, and could not be ignored.

And here they he was criticised by a self-proclaimed expert in fighting Apparitions from 'that side'. Was this a joke? This must be a trick. Maybe it was their way of cunningly deteriorating their technology with nonsense. Pretending that they were here to help.

If they could help, why didn't they earlier?

"Mana is not omnipotent." 'Ben' raised his chin.

She didn't seem to want to back down. Holding her head high. It made him curious on why she'd say this nonsense. Of course Mana wasn't omnipotent, but it worked well when dealing with the supernatural. He took out a file and took out some brutal imagery.

"These are…" She widened her eyes foolishly.

"Werewolves. Perhaps due to the disappearance of her friend, Agent Rina had spread out her hero name as a 'Magical Girl' among the populace and got our attention. We saved her from being sieged by a group of werewolves. From that point on, she has been working tirelessly like the rest of us… but what about you? Cozying up in that cell of yours?" There was clear annoyance in the commander's expression.

He watched as the woman's face changed several times from seeing the horribly mangled bodies of the werewolves… but didn't expect to see a smile among those expressions. It was only after seeing all the images did she calm down to ask him a question.

"Did one steel-furred werewolf escape?" She asked.

"…How do you know about-?"

"I have my ways, so just be honest."

"You…" Vascovitch hesitated at her serious look.

That wasn't the expression of a careless fool. It was the gaze of someone who had met their bitter enemy and was asking if they survived. He raised his brow when he saw such an easy-to-read face. Was his previous assumptions about her built on prejudice?

"…He escaped." It was a failure hard to admit.

That werewolf seemed different from the others. It had nigh indestructible defence and ripped through them like paper. If it weren't for his Special Agents and their squadron's cooperation, the damage that strange mutant could have dealt was unimaginable.

"Sorry for bringing it up." Ben seemed to realise he'd asked about something sensitive this time… despite how he brazenly asked for their secrets earlier and mocked the army of dawn. It made him unable to figure out what this woman's intentions really were.

"Let's get back to topic. You want us to change our methods in hunting Apparitions, right?" Vascovitch capitalised on Ben's remorse. This became an easy way to both put this foolish woman in her place and show their army's prowess. He smiled like a tiger.

"Right…" Ben frowned after seeing his bad look.

"Then show me your power." Vascovitch demanded.

Grabbing her by the shoulders and glaring straight into her eyes. His threatening attitude had made her guarded. Not being able to understand his intent. He could've asked for anything, but he asked for a fight of all things. This was not how a military worked.

Where was the discipline?

"I don't understand your reasoning." Ben didn't just agree to his crazy demands. She was a lot more cautious. Looking at him in quite a disrespectful way at this point. He could read the words written on her forehead: "Is your brain made of muscles too?"

But this had nothing to do with rationality.

Vascovitch slammed the table. The iron that it was made of completely bent inwards at his smack. That loud and horrifying sound had alerted everyone outside the tent. Those who were on his side quickly stopped him before he lunged at the poor woman.

"You think you'd mock our army and get away with it easily?!" The commander once again fell into a livid trance. He could remain cool under any other circumstances, but how could he stay still when the foundation of Dawn City's military was questioned.

Even if she's from 'that side', how dare she say that?

His old comrades and those new recruits who'd followed his command had died on the frontline against ghostly Apparitions. This war had been going on for years, and all they ever wanted was help from the supernatural world. Even if just a little bit of it.

Then a member of that world comes to mock them?

He couldn't forget the mirth he'd saw on her lips when she spoke of their methods. Her eyes seemed to see them as fools. Even if she was right, he wasn't to let the honour of those who'd died protecting this city to be tarnished. Especially not from an outsider.

"GET OUT! Let's see where you get all this goddamn confidence from!" Vascovitch roared wildly while being barely stopped by the Special Agents. Rina and Samantha didn't know what was going on. Only seeing that this was a problem between them.

"Don't interfere." Ben's eyes seemed to speak.

"I'll take your offer." She continued with calm eyes.

Vascovitch admired that this woman seemed a lot more 'manly' than he anticipated. She stretched her arm while walking out without shrinking back. This kind of straightforward attitude made him think that he'd might hear her out after the fight was over.

Judging her with his experience.

Rina looked at them and didn't know what to say to stop them. Even she did not dare to fight the commander directly. The memory of that time he'd saved her from a group of werewolves and that self-proclaimed 'Alpha' with metallic fur was still clear.

They seemed to have decided to just have a fist fight outside to resolve their argument. She didn't know how to warn Ben that this was Vascovitch's area of expertise. He was a CQC expert that was not afraid to follow his soldiers directly into the frontline.

Not that Ben would care either way. He was not doing this out of a sense of pride or amusement.

To survive, the army had to change.