It's Even More Fucked
Silver Unit proudly boasts massive capital as an evil organization, along with top-tier concealment to match.
The headquarters' location was kept secret from everyone, complete with rigorous security measures for any contingencies.
Yeah. The kind where guard robots unleash total hell the moment they detect a magical girl's mana.
ENGAGING TARGET. COMBAT PERSONNEL ON STANDBY AT HEADQUARTERS, DEPLOY IMMEDIATELY.
COMBAT PERSONNEL ON STANDBY AT HEADQUARTERS, DEPLOY IMMEDIATELY.
"Fuck!"
Forget fighting back—deploying a barrier to block the attacks was the best I could manage.
And even that wasn't me taking charge; the barrier just popped up on its own.
"Urk."
A bullet aimed right at me whizzed past and slammed into the pillar beside me with a thunk. Depending on where it hit, that thing could've been instant death.
What an idiotic mistake...
With my head full of other crap, it never crossed my mind that the HQ system would pick up on my mana. It was such an obvious fact if I'd just thought about it for a second, but nope—total bonehead move.
I entrusted myself to the barrier while desperately crawling to cover, slipping out of the firing line from the hail of bullets.
At least I'm still alive for now.
Someone from HQ is bound to show up soon at this rate. If they find out I have the exact same mana as Magical Girl Ruby, that's gonna cause all sorts of headaches.
I could even get "fired"—and I don't mean a pink slip; I mean my head rolling across the floor.
At least no risk of getting caught on CCTV.
If memory serves, they'd only installed cameras inside the building out of hacking concerns. Putting any outside would've risked exposing the HQ location—totally counterproductive.
I'd swiped my ID card just before, but no way anyone connects that to me having Ruby's mana.
Yeah, normal assumption here is that Ruby sniffed us out and stormed the place.
First things first: escape, contact Amber, and figure out a plan from somewhere safe.
That's when I spotted a route to slip away from the robots' sights.
"...?"
Hold up. Something's off.
It'd been total chaos just moments ago with the guard robots moving and firing, but suddenly... silence.
It was 6 a.m., the same quiet dawn as always.
Poking my head out from cover, I saw the pack of guard robots in the distance, one by one engulfed in red mana and shattering to pieces.
"No way."
Looks like the mana I'd gotten from Ravi could auto-target attacks.
"...Weren't those robots like 300 million each or something?"
Whatever. Not my problem. Time to bail and think later.
"What the hell happened?! There's no way that brat could've found this place—it's impossible!"
"Calm down, Crystal. Don't get so worked up."
"But Lapis—!"
Silver Unit executive Crystal couldn't settle down despite her boss's words, pacing around frantically and stirring up the room.
Word of Magical Girl Ruby attacking HQ had come just three minutes ago. Lapis's safety could've been at risk.
"I know it sounds weird, but it's not confirmed yet. Could be a system glitch."
There'd been no sign the Magical Girl Association had caught on to them. Jumping to "attack" was too hasty.
Plus, Ruby showing up here right now? Impossible. The system had detected mana from a nonexistent human.
Something—or someone—had interfered, Lapis figured.
Anyway, the two headed to the main entrance to check things out—but
"GyaAAAAH!!!"
A little girl's scream suddenly echoed from ahead. One they both knew all too well.
"That filthy screech... Citrin!"
"Hey... we're all executives here. You gonna talk like that?"
"Who cares right now! Why's that lab rat all the way at the entrance—?!"
An inexplicable dread washed over Crystal. Especially fresh off her precious little brother nearly dying in a traffic accident.
She bolted to the entrance before anything irreversible could happen—and there was
"My rooooobots!!!"
A blonde girl wailing pitifully at the wreckage of her countless guard robots.
No visible injuries. Just crying over her masterpieces getting trashed.
"Uh, yeah. Good you're safe."
Against expectations, no sign of Magical Girl Ruby. Just a few combatants searching the area.
...Already bailed?
But they couldn't relax yet. If Ruby brought her three fellow magical girls for a full assault, Silver Unit was done for.
"My rooooobots!!"
"Enough! Shut up about some busted robots!"
Crystal barked at Citrin, who was still screaming like she hadn't grasped the situation.
"You idiot, each one took me five whole days to make!!"
"That's... not that long, actually..."
Of course, crafting guard robots at that level would stump any nearby scientist even with three years.
But she'd slashed it to five days with her genius brain's wild ideas.
"300 million each, right? I'll give you all the cash you need—make better ones."
"Obviously. Though it'll take time to add mana-suppression field tech..."
Citrin shot back casually at her boss with banmal, then muttered to herself while gathering robot scraps.
"Wait, how are you two so chill?! This place could blow in minutes!"
"You need to chill. No way this HQ's blowing up."
"Huh...?"
The tone was like scolding someone for a slip-up.
"Ruby didn't actually invade."
"What?! She's not here?!"
Crystal's usual composure vanished as she raised her voice in genuine shock.
"That girl never picks 'retreat' as an option. You fought her on the front lines—you know that best."
"True, she's never shown her back... but this is different!"
Calling allies to wipe out Silver Unit? That wasn't "fleeing."
But Citrin logically shot back with a sigh.
"If she was calling backup, she'd use phone or whatever. Giving us this much time? Suspicious as hell."
Handing the enemy time to escape was like tossing away a chance to nab key Silver Unit members.
Citrin sighed again at Crystal's unconvinced face.
"Sigh... Want the biggest proof it wasn't Ruby?"
"Biggest proof...?"
Citrin dug in her pocket and pulled out a bizarre terminal no one would peg as a kid's toy.
A smartphone Frankenstein'd with all sorts of add-ons.
The screen showed footage with these subtitles rolling:
"...Grabel for the commendation."
The island nation was directly opposite Jewel City where they stood.
Meaning Ruby was on the literal other side of the planet right now.
"We talked about it at the last meeting. Figured it was too obvious to bother mentioning."
Silver Unit had already clocked this intel—odd that executive Crystal hadn't.
"Sh-Show me sooner! I... panicked and forgot."
"Always blaming others..."
Anyway, this confirmed Ruby hadn't infiltrated. But issues remained.
"Huff, huff, Boss~! Seniors~!"
With things calming, the last executive, Amber, came dashing up from afar, waving.
"Pant, pant... Heard Ruby attacked outta nowhere... Uwheeeek..."
"Breathe, dummy. This is why you need exercise."
"You're glued to your lab too, Citrin. Pot calling the kettle."
It took a full minute for Amber to catch her breath. She demanded the rundown, and Lapis kindly explained: Ruby's mana detected at the entrance, but she's across the world getting an award.
"Hmm, then why'd the alarm go off?"
"Yeah, that's the issue. No way my system glitched."
Citrin, now sucking on a lollipop she'd pulled out, thoroughly checked Silver Unit's security logs.
And that's when she spotted the shocker.
"Hold up. Timestamp for Ruby's mana detection matches the latest ID card swipe."
"...Whose name?"
Before Citrin could continue, Amber peered at the screen and muttered a name.
"Senior Jade...?"