16

"..."

Immediately after both the officer and the soldier disappeared, Blossom and Iris blinked in silence for a while.

"...Huh?"

Then, Iris muttered, belatedly.

It was an obvious mistake.

It wouldn't have been a big problem if a soldier had been blown away.

Studying circuits was important, but for some reason, whenever the magical girls retrieved a device, it would break on its own.

Iris guessed it was likely some kind of failsafe built into their circuits.

She could always get more samples during battles, and as long as the broken parts didn't overlap, they were making gradual progress with their research, so it wasn't a huge issue.

However…

This was the first opportunity to capture the officer.

"Is this a warp point?"

Blossom stepped out from the room, speaking.

The magic that had been wrapped around the staff she was holding had diminished compared to earlier.

Blossom didn't show any significant expression as she looked at Iris.

She just had the same expression as always—one that said she understood everything.

"…If I hadn't rushed in so suddenly…"

Right.

She had been startled when the officer's face suddenly appeared right in front of hers, causing her to warp without thinking.

It had been an attack full of malice.

The officer had aimed his ugly face directly at Iris's face before throwing it.

Looking back now, that was probably intentional.

The warp-point technique for humans was not yet fully researched.

At least Noir Corporation was not known to have such technology.

If they did, they would have provided it to the officer to prevent something like this from happening in the first place.

The soldier knew this and quickly assessed the situation.

Whether it had been a gamble or a well-calculated move, it didn't matter now.

The outcome was already decided, and arguing over whether it had been a coincidence would be meaningless.

Blossom's body became illuminated by a bright light.

Blossom, now back in her casual clothes, turned to look at the generator.

"It's fine. At least we saved the generator."

She smiled as she turned back to face Iris.

"Even if we captured the officer, we'd have to release him soon. The information we can extract from him is limited."

Currently, on Earth, only magical girls of the Galactic Federation were officially active, and those magical girls would 'subdue' but not 'torture' their captives.

Many countries on Earth might say,

"We don't do inhumane things like torture," and secretly engage in it to extract information, but Iris suspected the Galactic Federation would not have their magical girls do such things—at least not for now.

So the captured officer could simply keep quiet and stall for time.

Even though the Galactic Federation entrusted their magical girls with the representative role and the government recognized the extraterritorial rights of the Federation's personnel, they couldn't completely ignore the law.

"I'll help you write the report. You did well. You could have been in danger if things had gone wrong."

"Danger…?"

Blossom spoke reassuringly, but her tone seemed to deeply wound Iris's pride.

It wasn't a battle with an officer; she had lost to a mere soldier.

While she hadn't lost in combat, she had lost in strategy.

Iris, of all people.

And it had happened because of the very attack she was most confident in.

"...."

But there was nothing to say, so Iris clenched her fist tightly.

What would Delphinium say when she arrived?

Watching Iris like that, Blossom once again felt the deep importance of 'cooperation and strategy.'

Maybe next time, she should find time to talk properly.

By the way…

Blossom, still looking at the spot where the soldier had been, turned to Iris.

"Jua."

"...…When I'm in this outfit, please call me Iris. What?"

It was a relief that Iris still had the presence of mind to answer, so Blossom asked her.

"Have you met that soldier before? It sounded like you had from what you said earlier."

"Yeah. Every time we run into each other, they spouts annoying things and then escapes. What a troublesome guy."

"Were they wearing that outfit last time?"

"No, this time their outfit changed. Looks like they got promoted or something."

"Then how did you recognize them?"

"Huh?"

"Even though their outfit changed, how did you recognize them? I'd like to know. If I remember, I can recognize them next time."

Iris's face turned red at Blossom's intense stare.

"Well, you see… I remembered the scratch on their helmet."

"You said their outfit changed though?"

Iris's face turned even redder from the innocent question.

"Well, they still wore the same helmet! Maybe it's their favorite helmet or something! And, uh, their body…!"

"Their body?"

"Ah, never mind!"

Iris couldn't finish explaining one of the ways she recognized them.

Blossom, however, nodded seriously, as if she were genuinely listening, which made Iris feel like pulling her hair out.

*

After waiting, shivering in the cold for about 30 minutes, a car arrived to take Senior Officer Walter.

It was a large sedan. It wasn't a regular vehicle.

The thick metal plates on the outside seemed designed as if it were expecting to be shot at, and the tires were much larger and taller than those of an ordinary vehicle.

When the rear door of the car in front of her opened, the man sitting deep inside spoke.

"You have a rather pathetic face."

"What, you brat!"

The first words from James, who had come to greet them, were mocking.

Naturally, Walter was irritated.

He wasn't in a good mood after being rescued by the soldier just moments ago, and now, hearing James' words, he was even more upset.

"Do you even know how much I struggled there!? Did you really pass on the right information? This doesn't add up!"

"I thought sending the internal blueprints was enough," James said.

Walter had no rebuttal to James' response.

James looked at Walter as if he were pathetic.

Walter's Mohawk was bent sideways, giving it a rather avant-garde appearance.

His clothes were torn in several places, but—well, that hadn't changed much.

He usually walked around dressed like a rag anyway.

"I've always argued it was premature. But you were the one who insisted we should attack before the full construction was done. What else do you want me to do?"

"By the way, where did all the soldiers I lent you go? I hope you didn't lose them all. The number of captured soldiers has been rising, and the cost of circuitry is skyrocketing. I'll make sure the losses are deducted from the PR budget and report it. No objections, right?"

"Tch." Walter clicked his tongue and entered the car.

"Now, do you understand the difficulty? The reason why our company doesn't outsource, but instead uses a dedicated 'operations team'?"

Walter remained silent.

"Anyway," James continued, ignoring Walter's silence.

He manipulated his tablet PC and opened a video.

It was a headcam recording.

"Hey!"

When Walter saw the content of the headcam, he got angry again.

In the video, Walter was tightly bound by glowing wires.

The headcam's owner was carrying him in one hand, running, and then threw him forward with all their strength.

Naturally, Walter thought it was meant to mock him, and his anger flared.

But James' face remained serious.

"What do you think of this soldier?" James asked.

"Huh?"

Walter looked at the video again.

The soldier had untied him, exchanged a few words, and then simply ran off.

Her steps were light, almost like a worker leaving for the day.

Of course, she wasn't dressed in a suit, but it still looked like the posture of someone going home after work.

"…Hmm."

At James' question, Walter folded his arms and paused to think for a moment.

"Is she using new circuitry? Even so, she fights well."

"Really?"

"Why? Are you planning to promote her?"

"Yes. I'm thinking about it."

Walter's expression became complicated.

"Why?"

"Well, it's not a big deal," Walter said, looking at James. "I'm just curious about the kind of person you're praising… No, never mind. I'm sure she's some strange guy."

"Really? I think she's the new talent who will lead our team."

"Hah. What, are you planning to make him an executive?"

"If we nurture her, who knows? There's potential."

"…Seriously? You're giving an executive position to an Earthling?"

"Yes."

"I'm a meritocrat. And a pragmatist. If you don't approach it this way, you won't be able to make a profit on this planet."

"But if you promote her straight to an executive, there'll be talk."

"Don't assume I'm stupid like you. Obviously, her performance needs to improve a lot. Plus, there are still some uncertainties. Once those issues are 'definitely' solved, then I'll promote her. But for now, it's just the first step. There's still a long way to go before I get the results I want."

James' eyes sparkled as he spoke.

It was the look of a predator eyeing a delicious meal.

Walter shifted slightly toward the door to create some distance.

On the surface, James seemed like a perfectly normal person, but Walter knew his true nature.

He might speak politely here, but in actual combat, he hurled all sorts of curses at his team members and used them as shields.

He also liked to mentally torment people.

Walter didn't know exactly what kind of person that new soldier was, but he couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.