The Electric Goblin
The episode with Baek Eun-hwa had come to a close.
In the end, I figured I'd thoroughly demolished the foundations of all those twisted ideas she'd been carrying around. From here on out, I just needed to keep supporting her so she could live well. With that thought, I looked after Baek Eun-hwa as best I could, and the weekend came to an end.
From Friday night through Sunday afternoon, I'd spent my time at Baek Eun-hwa's apartment, indulging in what could only be described as a dopamine party.
"Haaah..."
That was that, though. I still had plenty of people I was responsible for. Especially the baby goblin who now stood on the verge of a C-Class promotion — there was still a considerable amount of work left to do for her.
And so, once again, I arrived at the Hero Association.
I figured that walking her through some hero-related materials and giving Batori a proper PowerPoint presentation would be far more helpful. It would also be a lot easier for me to talk through, that much was certain.
"Team Leader~"
"Here for the conference room, right? Everything's already set up inside, so just go on in."
"Oh..."
"You already told me everything yourself, so why are you surprised?"
"Well, yes, but even accounting for that, you got here pretty early. I figured there was a perfectly reasonable chance things might not be ready yet."
"Hehe."
After all, we needed to prepare a much wider range of material than last time. This wasn't just about discussing Batori's progress anymore — we needed to cover all sorts of things related to her C-Class promotion. So I'd asked a small favor of the person who could help the most with those preparations.
"Team Leader, here's your coffee."
"Mm, thanks."
"Shall we head down and finish the rest of the prep, then? I still need to set up the materials I brought, and there's a fair bit to do before Miss Batori gets here."
It was only possible because the Team Leader happened to have nothing on her plate today, but I was grateful all the same. On the way over, I'd picked up coffee not just for myself but for her as well. There was still a little time left before I was supposed to meet Batori, so I could just order her coffee separately when she arrived.
At any rate, after that brief exchange, we headed straight for the conference room we'd arranged in advance.
The reason I'd gone so far as to reserve a conference room just to talk with Batori was that she was now genuinely on the cusp of a C-Class promotion, and I wanted to make sure she was thoroughly prepared for it. If D-Class and E-Class felt like semi-professional heroes, then C-Class and above carried a strong sense of being the real thing. The salary jumped considerably, and so did the responsibilities that came with being a hero — but the services the Association provided increased just as much, which meant a fair amount of preparation was in order.
"Hmm, this should be enough for the PowerPoint. Everything's neatly organized, starting with the documents she'll need for the C-Class promotion... I suppose the biggest concern is her hero name?"
"She's a timid kid, so of course it's worrying. Generally speaking, it's easier if a hero name reflects the person's own tastes, but a well-chosen name is still much better. I'd like her to pick a good one."
The Team Leader's help as a veteran magical girl was incredibly valuable. After all, no matter how many heroes I'd dealt with, I wasn't a hero myself. That said, I hated the idea of half-assing my help for Batori, so I'd gone ahead and set all this up.
Batori might find it a little overwhelming, but... well, if she got so overwhelmed by something like this that she froze up completely, she'd probably just pass out the moment she had to do an interview as a hero.
Yeah. This was the right call.
"By the way, Team Leader, you haven't been too busy lately?"
"Hm?"
"Lately, uh, where was it... the factory district's been pretty noisy, hasn't it? Doesn't that affect the Welfare Bureau at all?"
"We're not field personnel, so it's not that big a deal for us."
"Ahh, I see."
We chatted about this and that, sipping our coffee all the while. We passed the time making various preparations until Batori arrived, and before we knew it, it was just about afternoon.
It was around time to eat, but to work around the Team Leader's schedule, we had no choice but to start the briefing during lunch hours.
"Ah, h-hellooo...!"
"Hehe, don't be so nervous. Have a seat and relax. Charlotte? Shall we get started?"
"Yes, please turn off the lights."
We'd decided to start the moment Batori walked into the conference room. I'd been able to estimate her arrival time from her texts, and we'd even prepared her coffee neatly in advance so we could greet her properly.
In short: we were ready. Without a hitch, we launched into the discussion of Batori's promotion.
"As of right now, Miss Batori, your hero ranking has entered the top ten of D-Class. This week's exact rankings haven't been announced yet, but within about two weeks, talks of a C-Class promotion should begin in earnest, and you'll receive a text about it."
"Y-yes, ma'am...!"
"First, the contents on the screen right now are the benefits you'll receive once you become a C-Class hero. I'd recommend going through them one by one, but... the most important one is probably your own dedicated costume, right? The kind that stretches and adjusts freely to match your body every time it grows — the Hero Association can absolutely make something like that."
"Hah...!"
"And also..."
We started with what she would gain upon being promoted to C-Class. This was all readily available in the Association's official documents, after all. It wasn't difficult material, and in Batori's case, getting a costume provided was by far the most important point.
Oversized fashion had its moments, and so did the tight-fitting look — but setting trends aside entirely, Batori had been wearing clothes so enormous they were a stretch to even call oversized. Getting her a proper costume would solve that inconvenience nicely.
...Though honestly, it was also a way to help Batori adapt to hero work and get even a little more used to being looked at and receiving attention.
"And as for how to become a C-Class hero, our lovely thirty-year-old Team Leader will walk you through that."
"Heyyy..."
"Pffth, just kidding. She's just a regular pretty, kind person. Don't be scared. She'll actually explain things way better than I would."
"Y-yes, ma'am..."
Throughout the explanation, Batori looked quite tense. Was she just that worried about the upcoming C-Class promotion? Honestly, it wasn't anything worth worrying that much about. But Batori was just that timid, so it was probably unavoidable. I figured I'd treat her to something delicious after we wrapped up today's briefing.
Whenever I'd met up with Batori before, her face always lit up when she was eating something tasty. It wasn't quite as bright as when I praised her, but when she was eating good food, she didn't shrink into herself — she just nom-nommed away, thoroughly enjoying her meal.
Yeah. That would do it.
"Charlotte introduced me before, right? I'm a former hero myself, so don't worry too much. Just listen comfortably."
"Yeees..."
"Basically, around the time you're promoted to C-Class, you'll get a text telling you to visit the Association for various evaluations. You'll need your ID and a few documents for that — it should be pretty similar to when you first debuted as a hero, right?"
"Yes, ma'am...!"
"However, to be promoted to C-Class, there's now... I guess you'd call it a psychological test? Or an ideological screening? Something like that. They test whether you're a reasonably decent person, whether you're the type who'd commit some strange crime, that sort of thing. There'll be a few other minor tests as well."
"A test..."
"They're not difficult, so you don't need to worry."
"Th-then what do I need to do...? There wasn't anything like that when I registered as a hero..."
"You know those tests they give you in school? Things like depression screenings — it's mostly ordinary stuff like that, so you really don't need to worry."
The Team Leader went on with her various explanations. I sat quietly in the back, watching the conversation unfold... pondering what I'd talk about a little later.
There wasn't going to be anything all that difficult about the promotion process anyway. From the document explanations onward, it was mostly easy stuff. For an introverted goblin like her, the interview was going to be far more nerve-wracking than any of that.
"During the interview process, the HR department will conduct their own interview, and at that point, there's almost nothing to wor—"
"I-i-i-interview........."
"...ry about. Probably."
"Pfft..."
...The moment that thought crossed my mind, the mere mention of an interview sent the electric goblin into a mad, full-body tremble. I couldn't help but laugh. On top of that, the Team Leader wasn't all that familiar with Batori's painfully introverted nature. I'd given her a bit of a heads-up, but she clearly hadn't expected it to be this bad...
"......"
"Pfft..."
She was staring at me with an expression of sheer panic. I'd gotten pretty used to seeing Batori like this by now.
Hmm.
"If I can't answer the interviewer's questions properly at the interview I won't get promoted and I'll have to keep wearing these same sloppy clothes just like now and wander around the factory district not even getting a real job just fighting bad people like some kind of street brawler and then the counselor who's believed in me all this time will scold me and I'll disappoint her and and and......"
"......"
"Haha..."
Hmm...
Yeah. I was definitely going to have to help her with this one.