My Junior Got Pissed
"Ah, damn it. Dropped my phone."
No matter how much I rummage through my pockets, my phone isn't there. Must've lost it during that standoff with the guard robots earlier.
Of course, it's not a big deal—I can just buy a new one—but not being able to contact Amber is a real problem.
Now what the hell do I do?
I've smashed about five of those state-of-the-art guard robots that cost 300 million each to build, so by simple math, that's 1.5 billion in damages to the Silver Unit.
Taken advantage of, and now I'm about to lose my job too. Just my luck.
Is this what they mean by responsibility without the pleasure? Well, not that there was zero pleasure, but still.
By the way, the culprit who dragged me into this mess is currently receiving an award in a country on the opposite side of the planet.
Right on cue, her face appears on the giant screen plastered to the high-rise building nearby.
"Ruby's seriously amazing. And her face is so pretty."
"I wanna meet her in person~"
"……."
Comments I can't just let slide. Makes me want to expose Ruby's true nature to the whole world.
But no one would believe me. I'd be lucky not to get labeled a psycho.
"Tch."
I head back to Cafe Eclipse for now, but after all that chaos, shamelessly opening shop feels off. Depending on how this plays out, I might even have to say goodbye to this place packed with a year's worth of memories.
As I'm seriously considering groveling to the boss to avoid that fate…
"Oh, Jade. Closed today?"
"Sophia. Yeah, got some stuff to handle, so probably."
I turn at the sound of my name and spot a familiar face walking over.
Magical Girl Sapphire, real name Sophia.
She's Ruby's partner and the one person she trusts most.
She's been dropping by our cafe a lot lately to chat with friends, and before I knew it, we'd gotten friendly too—as the owner.
She said at first she was looking for the guy who seduced Ravi.
Hide all you want. It's probably me.
Thanks to Amber's cover story about rejecting a confession, that goal seems to have faded a bit…
But if she finds out Ravi broke into my place after that…
I absolutely cannot let her find out. She's got some killer instincts lurking under the surface.
"Were you heading in today too?"
"Yeah. Amber mentioned shaved ice was coming as a seasonal menu soon."
We did discuss introducing bingsoo as a summer seasonal item since it's almost that time.
Right, Amber!
With my head all jumbled, I'd forgotten—but I need to contact her ASAP. She's probably worried sick since I just swiped my ID and bailed.
"Sophia, mind lending me your phone? Mine's gone AWOL somewhere, and I gotta reach Amber quick."
"Oh, sure, no problem. Hope you find yours soon."
What a sweet attitude. Makes me feel ashamed for suspecting her of hidden yandere vibes.
The moment Sophia hands over her smartphone in its blue case—Sapphire's personal color—
…it rings at a miraculous timing. From someone.
If it were a normal call, I'd just hand it back, but…
The screen displays the name of the culprit who stole my virginity and bolted not long ago.
"……."
This is a golden chance to talk to Ravi on the sly.
Good thing it's on silent—Sophia hasn't noticed. If I pretend it's Amber and chat with Ravi—
[ Ah, Jade! ]
"……."
It's clearly Sophia's phone, but how does she know it's me? At this point, it's less scary and more baffling.
[ I figured you'd call soon. I got embarrassed and ran at the end last time… ]
"…You took care of it properly after, right?"
[ Protection? Of course! I wouldn't burden you like that. ]
No need to worry—you've burdened me plenty already.
Still, relief. I blew nearly 200,000 on related books, but now I don't need to probe Ravi's awareness.
"From now on, I'm reporting everything you did to the Silver Unit. That cool?"
If this gets out, Magical Girl Ruby's rep tanks hard, and the Silver Unit—rid of a headache—accelerates toward world conquest.
[ ……. ]
She goes quiet, clearly thrown by my words.
Maybe she's about to say she didn't expect me to go that far. Sorry, but you sowed the seeds—
[ …You still haven't told anyone? ]
"What?"
She hits me back with a genuine question, tone full of bewilderment.
Still haven't told? What the hell does she mean?
Publicizing this would end her magical girl career for sure.
[ As expected, Jade. You're on another level from other people. Someone who can truly care about others… ]
And after that, I couldn't make heads or tails of a single word she said.
"One more time. No, rewind from there. Back—no, forward? Anyway, rewind it."
The three Silver Unit executives glare at the recorded CCTV footage, rewinding intently.
"…From this angle, it's still kinda obscured."
To keep HQ's location secret, Silver Unit only installs CCTV in tricky spots, so they can't monitor right up to the front gate.
"God, you little squirt… This happened because you ditched your post!"
"Eek! S-sorry!"
A man in Silver Unit uniform bows 90 degrees at Citrin's sharp tone.
To cover CCTV blind spots, they rotate guards at the front gate every half day.
But he hit the bathroom at the worst possible moment and missed the whole incident.
"What's done is done. Just report whatever you remember to the boss in detail."
"Y-yes, ma'am! All hail Lapis!"
The guard scurries off to write his apology report at Crystal's order.
Citrin sighs at the sight and resumes security system checks.
"Magical Girl Ruby's mana detected at 5:28 AM. Employee Jade swiped his ID at 5:28 AM. What are the odds?"
"Coincidence…? Now that you mention it, it feels like they're connected."
"Biggest possibility: that Jade guy had something infused with Ruby's mana."
"…That runt's?"
The security system detects Magical Girl Ruby's mana.
Fatal flaw: it triggers on any mana matching her wavelength, even if not from her directly.
"In other words, even a 100-won coin with Ruby's mana sets it off. Get it now?"
"Thanks for the kind explanation."
"Well, not impossible that this Jade has mana at Ruby's exact wavelength…"
"Nah. Amber said he has zero mana."
Chris glances at Amber, head hung low in the distance.
"Scratch that line, then… But one thing I can't wrap my head around: all my robots got wrecked."
Science's finest, 300 million a pop, reduced to scrap. No way that's normal.
"Argh, still pisses me off thinking about it! Whoever did it is dead meat!"
"We can rebuild the robots. Amber's the issue right now."
As Chris recalls, Jade was a subordinate Amber treasured deeply. Even after promoting first, she stubbornly stuck to calling him "senpai," which hinted at it.
"He's still young. Losing someone precious would leave a trauma for sure."
"We haven't confirmed he's dead. No body."
"Citrin… Watch your words."
As Chris and Citrin bicker across the room, Silver Unit leader Lapis approaches the dejected Amber. The usually bright, morale-boosting girl shows a dark expression Lapis hasn't worn in ages—one she never wants to see again.
"Boss, if something happened to senpai…"
"Don't worry. He's fine."
"R-really?!"
Amber's gloomy face lights up instantly.
"One of the grunts found him. Sending a pic now…"
"Haa~! Seriously, making people worry!"
She sighs in relief, checking the photo on the terminal Lapis hands over.
There, oblivious to her worry, is her senpai—wandering the streets with a grin alongside some girl from his grade.
"Who's that next to him? Hanging with a chick."
It's been a year since Jade and Amber met. They'd trusted each other without even petty arguments, running this two-man triangle show.
"…Huh?"
That day, for the first time, Amber snapped.