Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Cut It Out, I Wanna Clock Out on Time
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* * *
Sernal was getting tired.
His eyes were drooping, making him look like he could flop right onto the spot and fall asleep.
The hospital staff hadn't missed this bizarre situation.
From the reception desk on, nurses and security guards were in a frenzy—you could see it plain as day.
Just like now.
"Get out!"
A woman's voice boomed from near the reception desk.
"Don't you see how uncomfortable this is making the patients?"
Following the head nurse's sharp tone, the other nurses chimed in.
They were all wearing masks.
"If you're not here for treatment, leave already! You're bothering the other patients."
Ssssh.
The masked nurses were all spritzing spray cans in unison.
At first, Sernal had wondered what they were doing, but judging by the mana waves it transmitted, it had to be a magic tool designed to neutralize the魅惑 force spreading through the hospital.
'That's cheating.'
Sernal knew about that magic tool—it neutralized just a tiny bit of the魅惑 force—and he felt bad for them.
Sernal pulled out the meter and measured again.
Beep. Beep.
49 on the display.
'...Ha.'
Sernal let out a short sigh.
'They sprayed that stuff, so it should've dropped even a smidge, right? But it didn't?'
At this point, it had to be deliberate. Someone was clearly tampering with the meters.
'I thought I'd get off early, but now it's a hassle.'
His drowsy expression hadn't faded.
Using magic right now would draw too much attention, so Sernal channeled mana into his eyes instead.
Soon, he could make out faint flows of mana here and there.
Not as clear as when casting spells, but enough to identify what kind of magic it was.
'Anyway, there sure are a ton of magic tools around.'
Even back when he was Rinell, magic items were everywhere here too. If anything, they'd blended even more seamlessly into everyday life.
Sernal's gaze stopped on the air purifier.
His brows furrowed.
'This is why I hate the Magic Association.'
He'd never seen a properly made product from them.
This air purifier was no exception.
Seeing new magic layered sloppily over the old, Sernal walked over and cast a spell.
[Scan.]
Light gathered in his right eye, but he kept his head down.
The air purifier had three magics embedded in it.
1. One to assess air quality.
2. One to automatically circulate air based on the first.
3. One to gather impurities into a solid mass.
And sandwiched in there like an uninvited guest: one more.
'It was originally just three.'
This intruder magic worked with the circulation one to jam signals from the meters.
A proper magic circle wouldn't have room for extras, but this one was full of holes.
The foundational structure was bloated and inefficient, barely supporting even those three spells.
No wonder, clinging to outdated methods like that.
Inefficient to cast, hard to learn, couldn't hold what you wanted—back when he was Rinell, everyone had pointed fingers at it as idiotic.
'Whoever snuck in that extra spell has some guts.'
Sernal memorized the mana blended naturally into the magic circle—the intruder's signature—then headed to the reception desk.
'Some mage did it, but the range is too broad.'
Modifying magic items was fine; abusing the modified ones wasn't.
He remembered a morning news segment once: the Magic Association bragging about popularizing a spell that auto-parked cars safely during drowsy driving.
Good direction in theory, but pitying when it took years for something doable in 30 minutes.
If they aimed differently, the world could be better.
"Hello."
Sernal spoke to a nurse.
"Here for treatment?"
She asked curtly—understandable given the situation.
"No. I'm from the Special Division for Resolving Otherkin Complaints."
He flashed his civil servant ID.
Complaints Division. At the words, not just the nurse he'd addressed but others looked flustered too.
"I'd like to see the director."
Adjusting his glasses, a capitalist smile spread across Sernal's face.
"Appreciate your cooperation."
* * *
Slurp.
The director sipped his tea, glancing warily at Sernal.
A mask lay beside him, like the ones the nurses and staff wore.
Not a Magic Association product, so this one actually worked great.
Sernal knew it too.
A mask packed with ingredients that blocked not just fine dust but mana too.
'...Ah! That's right, the Tichia Mask!'
Now Sernal recalled Tichia's name.
He'd seen its ads everywhere, hyping the mana-blocking effect.
More curious about the principle than patents or whatever, he'd looked into it.
Nothing special. No material in the world blocked mana outright.
Instead, they'd coated the outer layer with something that made mana linger.
'What was it... "Iom," right?'
Mana stalled before the iom wore off, so yeah, it blocked—for a bit.
Temporary at best.
More surprising than the unfamiliar "iom" was that the grandpa of those identical twin vampire sisters had invented the Tichia Mask.
"Um... Mr. Sernal?"
The director ventured cautiously. It wasn't the civil servant's drowsy face that scared him—it was the sudden silence.
"Director."
Sernal spoke, and the director stammered back.
"Y-yes?"
"The魅惑 force spreading here hasn't exceeded regulations. You know that, right?"
"I do."
"But plenty of people are showing魅惑 symptoms. Isn't that correct?"
"...Yes?"
The director took a needless sip of tea.
What was he getting at?
What did he want to hear?
The weight of "Complaints Division" felt suffocating.
They were a special unit even among civil servants, after all.
"I'm here to confirm."
Sernal's gaze shifted to the director's head.
"So, what did you confirm?"
The director's hand instinctively went to his hair, eyes anxious.
Sernal couldn't care less if it was a wig.
"We just detected a spell on the air purifier interfering with the meters."
"...W-wait a second!"
Finally grasping where this was going, the director dropped his hand and blurted desperately.
"That wasn't me! The air purifier's a magic item, so we leave it to the vendor. I-I even reported it once!"
His raised voice betrayed his tension.
"But the police couldn't do anything. The readings never hit 50."
"Exactly! That's the point. I'm the most frustrated. No way to handle it... But a meter-jamming spell on the air purifier? For real?"
The director's eyes widened as Sernal's bombshell hit mid-ramble.
"True story."
The director's jaw dropped wider at Sernal's follow-up. Things were getting complicated.
"Director."
"Y-yes? Go ahead."
"First, secure the CCTV. I'll review it soon. Also, locations of any Dream Demon doctors, nurses, or patients. I'll check them out. Or suspects first—better yet."
He could've scanned the whole hospital, but Sernal held off.
Non-mages exposed to strong mana? Not healthy.
Especially in a hospital—better use other methods.
"No, hold on. Not just staff, but patient info too? You show up out of nowhere, start investigating amid the chaos. I get it's serious, but not this sudden..."
"Not asking for personal details on staff or patients. Just their locations. That's reasonable, no?"
"Well, sure, but as director, it's sensitive. Even for Complaints Division..."
"Officially, Special Division for Resolving Otherkin Complaints."
With that, Sernal's smile slowly faded.
"This division holds investigative authority, and citizens must cooperate."
Sernal recited the line drilled into him.
Complaints Division had real investigative powers.
Unlike police, stalled by exact numbers or lack of evidence, they mobilized on complaints alone.
Freer rein—that's why police requested their help.
"Government announced it big when the division formed. You learned it in training, right?"
Smile gone, his impression turned icy.
"You have to help, Director."
Even his eyes, piercing through the glasses, were sharp.
The director swallowed dryly.
"Please."
*Not a request—threat,* flashed through the director's mind.
But regardless, he nodded.
* * *
'...Alright, let's sort this out.'
Sernal furrowed his brow.
Got a complaint from a dullahan civilian, then police requested backup.
Arrived at hospital:魅惑 force hugely influential already, but meter readings low enough police couldn't act—kicked to Complaints Division.
Then discovered someone artificially jamming the meters with magic.
Felt like branches sprouting from the trunk, but Sernal knew his job.
'First, find the Dream Demon spreading the魅惑 force.'
Solve the source before conflicts erupted.
Sernal rummaged his bag, pulled a sheet of paper.
Director had given him a hospital map, marked locations; he'd memorized the layout.
He'd memorized countless mana words for spells—this was nothing.
Fweet.
Sernal infused mana into the paper and whistled. The pre-drawn magic activated, flying up to stick to the ceiling.
It folded origami-fast into legs, scooting along upside-down.
Like an inverted puppy—he called it his spy agent, or "Choppchopp."
'Good stick.'
Leaning on the wall, Sernal pulled his phone. Activated the magic circle on it, and Choppchopp's view appeared.
'...Should've brought the tablet.'
Hard to check on this tiny screen—he'd forgotten.
Oh well.
First confirmed the linking spell, then Sernal cast another.
[Scan.]
Mana everywhere in Choppchopp's view rippled.
Like a TV ad, vivid colors splashed the world.
Too many, so Sernal filtered to just魅惑 force wavelengths.
[Specify—魅惑 force.]
Simple magic.
All colors vanished; rippling red mana remained. Sernal moved Choppchopp.
On the phone screen, people split into two waves.
Those masked against the hospital's魅惑 with Tichia Masks, and those already ensnared.
Moving Choppchopp, Sernal realized how many were affected hospital-wide—understood the director's frustration.
'Reg limits keeping the Magic Association away?'
Staring at the screen, Sernal dismissed it.
魅惑 was mana-related; they could've intervened big-time.
But no word of them from the director—probably refused.
'Magic Association, alright.'
Any proper mage would've known this was a nightmare to handle.
Sernal's gaze locked.
Red aura swirled around the doctor, but too weak to dominate the hospital.
'No.'
Choppchopp spotted a patient. Still weak魅惑.
'Not this floor.'
Choppchopp zipped along. Still many people on the phone screen.
Not that nurse, nor the other.
Sernal gritted his teeth quietly—had to find the source Dream Demon fast.
As Choppchopp veered to scout another path, a door opened.
She—a succubus—emerged, and the magic on his eyes shook hard.
Ziiing.
'That's her.'
Curly ram-horn first, coiled round like a ram's.
Fluffy orange curls bounced like a wild furball.
Round black glasses on a round face, round eyes staring right at Choppchopp.
'Third floor.'
Sernal pocketed the phone and moved, ignoring if the Dream Demon spotted it.