Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Newcomer Support Fund (Revised)
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Shortly after, in the director's office at Magic Castle.
I was starting to mull over lunch options when my secretary burst in, panting heavily.
"Director!"
Sitting in the director's chair was Raigen, the 23rd director of Magic Castle—a tanuki mascot with a dignified, mature air.
He asked,
"What is it?"
"It's a disaster!"
A disaster? Magic Castle hadn't had anything like that lately.
The biggest issue was probably Raigen, the raccoon, occasionally being mistaken for a tanuki.
"Speak."
"The magical girls have stormed in!"
"?"
For real?
A quick check of the CCTV showed the lobby swarming with magical girls causing a huge commotion.
Led by Aurora were Bella, Frost, Pluto, Sword, and more... a total gathering of the veterans.
Their contracted mascots hovered around them with frantic expressions.
"This isn't the place for this."
"Please calm down and go home..."
They seemed to be desperately trying to soothe them, but it looked like it wasn't working at all.
'What the hell?'
These magical girls who always called Magic Castle boring and never bothered with it—why were they crawling out now?
"Why are they doing this?"
"It's a strike..."
"A strike? Out of nowhere?"
Lately, aside from Bella, there hadn't been many actively working magical girls. What right did they have to talk about striking?
Even if they did strike—say, demanding better conditions or higher pensions—it could be negotiated.
But this wasn't negotiation; it was straight-up chaos.
"Th-that's... because of this!"
Raigen's eyes nearly bulged out.
"What nonsense is this?"
Magic Castle debt? Forcing an 8-year-old to do manual labor?
Humans might call them beasts or animals, but mascots had hearts too.
They weren't so low as to squeeze snot-nosed elementary school money out of kids, and anyone who knew anything knew Magic Castle's admin system was fully automated anyway.
'What the hell happened?'
Raigen had no idea that the root of all this was Ramu.
He didn't know that a small ball Ramu had tossed to discipline Ha-rin had snowballed through misunderstandings into this mess.
To Raigen, it was like a bolt from the blue.
But there was no time to feel wronged. Damage control came first. With that many magical girls causing havoc here, there were just as many holes in the front lines.
Aurora and Bella's absence was especially critical.
Their absence meant delayed responses to monsters.
"......Haa."
To resolve this, he needed the cause.
To find the cause, he'd have to ask Ramu, Neph's handler, for the full story.
"......Where's Ramu?"
"Th-they're currently away..."
"Damn it."
He needed to grill that beast for an explanation, but where the hell were they?
"Wh-what do we do?"
"Sigh. For now, explain the situation to the magical girls and..."
That was when it happened.
BAM!
The director's office door shattered, and a blast of cold and heat flooded in simultaneously.
"Long time no see, Director."
Bella. Behind her, Frost walked in with a icy smile. Next to her was Pluto. And next to her... what, so many?
"Director, you look awfully healthy while making a kid work. Want Frost to make you even healthier?"
"Neph has no money, so they're helping with Magic Castle duties... but you, the director tanuki..."
"Pl-please calm down..."
"Calm down? Do I look like I can calm down right now?!"
Bella grabbed Raigen by the collar, hoisting the tanuki's body into the air, dangling helplessly.
"We're talking a kid who just started elementary school! You give them a single card and tell them to pay back what they used? Is that what Magic Castle does?!"
"Th-that's by regulation..."
"What kind of regulation is that! We're risking our lives out there, and you can't even cover a card fee, turning a kid into a debtor?!"
Crazy bitch, you pay back what you use. Raigen was dying of injustice amid the nonstop unfair accusations.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding..."
Maybe if he explained patiently, they'd listen. He tried starting a dialogue.
"Misunderstanding?"
Oh no. Their eyes had flipped.
The moment Aurora snapped her fingers, the entire building's lights went out.
ZZZAP!
The office fluorescents exploded, PC monitors went dark. Magic Castle plunged into darkness as even emergency power was cut.
"Aaaah!"
Screams echoed from the halls.
"No Frosts will work until Neph's debt issue is resolved."
"And we're not leaving here either..."
Frost and Pluto declared.
"Let's see Magic Castle fall once. Trying to squeeze kid money and everyone dies... should be quite the sight."
Shining added with a grin.
Then, two staffers kicked the door open, shouting. They ignored the dangling Raigen.
"Director! New mana wave detected!"
"No sense of timing?"
"Code B! Luckily, Flora took it down, but..."
Code B. A B-rank monster had appeared.
In that instant, Raigen's instincts screamed. This wasn't WWE; it was real.
At least it was B-rank. But if it had been A-rank?
And if the Monster Association decided to exploit this chaos? Could the current outer defenses hold?
If people got hurt or killed by monsters, Magic Castle's Imagine Points would drop accordingly. That meant a dip in overall magical girl power.
He needed to end this strike ASAP and get them back to duty. At least Bella and Aurora.
Raigen finally threw both paws up in surrender.
"We'll handle your demands right away. Please stop and fulfill your magical girl duties. I'd be grateful."
Storming Magic Castle? They deserved prison, but given the situation, flexibility was key.
More than anything, he didn't want to antagonize them and lose trust with other magical girls.
Better to meet their demands cleanly and patch things up.
"Specifically how?"
"Pardon?"
How what? They said debt. Wipe the debt, done.
"We'll erase the debt like it never happened..."
"And that's it?"
The mood chilled. Not the right answer, apparently.
Raigen racked his brain desperately. What would convince these newbie-obsessed maniacs?
"We'll allocate support funds for Magical Girl Neph?"
The magical girls' anger eased.
Whew. That was it.
Then Frost, with her vast contract experience, stepped forward.
"Give us the details."
"We'll cover 100% of the Magical Girl Membership Card charges and provide additional special budget support. Plus, dignity maintenance funds!"
"We don't need empty promises."
Bella shoved a tablet PC into Raigen's paws.
He immediately opened the Magic Castle budget, tapped 'Contingency Funds'—money he'd saved for interior redecorating.
But who cared about interiors now? Gritting his teeth, he created a 'Neph Support Fund' line item. Generously, 1 billion won.
Administrative support, living expenses, medical fees... whatever came to mind, he threw it all in.
"Approval submitted. That enough?"
Aurora scrutinized the screen Raigen pleadingly held out.
Frost and Shining hawk-eyed the terms beside her.
"......Hm. This'll do."
"Not bad. Should've done this from the start."
As their expressions softened, Raigen sighed in relief.
But then.
"Hold on."
Sword stepped out from the corner, arms crossed.
"Yes? Something more?"
"The name."
"......The name?"
"Change it from Neph Support Fund to Newcomer Support Fund. She shouldn't feel burdened thinking it's just for her."
He didn't care if they recruited more newbies or not, but Raigen shut up and nodded vigorously.
"Yes, as you command."
This time Ignis chimed in.
"But you know."
"Yes?"
"Think this covers it? What about our baby sis's emotional trauma?"
"......Emotional trauma?"
"How scared must she have been, hounded by debt collectors. Bet she cried under the covers every night. Compensation for that mental damage?"
'We never hounded for debt!'
But he couldn't argue. Ignis's bat would smash his head otherwise.
"We'll compensate! Solace payment! Yes, special solace funds!"
"How much?"
"Uh... f-five thousand?"
"Fine. That'll..."
As Ignis seemed to accept, Shining's eyebrow twitched.
"You're joking? It's not candy money."
"No, to me that's..."
"O-one billion! One billion!"
Only then did Shining nod.
"Good. We're not budging until the deposit hits. Got it?"
Raigen wanted to cry as Magic Castle's budget bled out in real time.
But what could he do? Cheaper than monsters wrecking the place outside.
Finally, confirming the Newcomer Support Fund hit Neph's membership card, the magical girls ended their sit-in and left.
In the storm-ravaged office, Raigen muttered lowly at the center.
"......Drag that Ramu bastard here now."
"Nom nom."
Dragged out of the crystal citadel by Aurora, I sat on a nearby bench, slurping ice cream.
That was when it rang.
Ding!
My smartphone buzzed.
"?"
What was this?
Rubbing my eyes at the sudden parade of zeros—is this for real?
Ping!
Then the group chat notifications went berserk.
"?"
Did I go through something tough?
I just stamped some stuff, enjoyed AC, slurped ice cream—and bam, 150 million in the bank.
If this is hardship, I wanna overwork to death forever.
"Neph."
Then, a presence beside me.
Turning, Aurora sat on the bench, gazing at me—don't know when she appeared.
"Good work. No worries now. Seniors handled it."
She patted my head.
I wiped ice cream from my mouth and nodded. Of course, I never worried.
"Thank you..."
Still, I bowed politely.
Aurora paused, then cautiously spoke.
"How's school? Not too tough?"
? Why ask that? Adult thing? No harm in answering casually.
"Yeah. It's fun."
"Good... Glad to hear. Any bullies or weird kids at school?"
"Weird kids?"
"Yeah. Like... a girl with red hair."
Oddly specific. Feels like someone comes to mind, but probably imagination.
"Hm... maybe?"
"Knew it. Listen, Neph."
Aurora gripped my shoulders, locking eyes.
"Stay away from those types. They act friendly but who knows their schemes. Especially pure kids like you are easy targets."
"......Okay."
"And... any boys being nice to you?"
"Boys?"
This time, Seo Jun popped up. He is nice to me.
"Yeah. My desk mate. Super nice."
"Really? Great!"
Aurora's face lit up instantly.
"Stick close to friends like that. Quietly caring guys are the real deal. Eat snacks together, do homework together, got it?"
"......Okay."
What was with the polar opposite advice?
Avoid girls, cling to boys? Usually reversed, no? Magical girl wisdom is profound.
"I'll remember."
"Good girl."
Aurora smiled satisfied.
Seizing the warm mood, I got to the point. Been timing it.
"Um, Senior Aurora."
"Yes?"
"C-can I get an autograph? I've always admired you!"
Not lip service. One of my most-wanted magical girls. Well, wanted to meet all, but.
Actually got sigs from Bella, Frost, Pluto, but only used Aurora's mana without seeing her.
"Autograph?"
Aurora's eyes widened slightly in surprise, then she smiled softly.
"Of course. Where?"
"Uh... no paper."
Realizing—no paper, no pen. No prep.
"Then like this."
Aurora extended her index finger into the air. Dazzling light mana gathered at her fingertip.
Fwosh.
"Wow..."
I gawked at the mana autograph. Then slyly reached out.
Contact complete.
'Nice.'
My lips twitched. Got Aurora's mana.
No more yellow thunderball. Maybe become a cute high school weather mage somewhere.
"Thank you! Senior Aurora!"
"Like it?"
"Yes! I'll work harder!"
Yeah, gotta hustle. Hustle to snag other magical girls' mana and grow like crazy.
And definitely return to my original body!
'Huh?'
Realization hit! Did Ramu make me work to motivate me like this?!
80-year-old rabbit's savvy? Natural motivation plus cash. Beyond my imagination.
"Good. I'll expect great things."
As I admired Ramu's move, Aurora patted my head once more and stood.
"Go to school well. Don't forget what I said."
I watched her vanish into the gate till the end.
After Aurora left, I sat alone on the bench, fiddling with the warm mana in my hand.
150 million overnight plus Aurora's mana! This must be creative economy.
"Hehe. Now I can pay Ramu back."
By the way, for a week after, Ramu didn't show no matter how I called.
When Ramu finally reappeared, their fur luster was gone, looking haggard and glaring at me like a ghost.
And later I heard.
While I slurped ice cream on the bench, missing the chat frenzy—Aurora ordered a full veteran strike.
The strike lasted exactly 1 hour 14 minutes, and hyenas pounced on the gap.
Monster Association heard late, sent B-rank+ elites opportunistically.
But got wrecked in 2 seconds by the cheery veterans, rumor has it.