Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Alice Goes to Work!
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'...What a weird woman.'
I should have realized it from the moment she had collected all that outdated Magical Girl merch.
There were just too many people in the world who looked perfectly fine on the outside but were rotten on the inside.
And Magical Girls were prime examples among them.
...Of course, I couldn't exactly exclude myself from that group.
'Should I complain that the part-timer changed again and it's a hassle... or be grateful that at least I know her face?'
Every time the part-timer changed, they reacted the same way upon seeing my age, so it didn't even faze me anymore.
I was plenty self-aware about my looks to begin with.
A Magical Girl's transformation allowed changes to her appearance within a certain range based on her base form.
The fact that I was thriving as a Magical Girl meant my looks held up even accounting for the transformation.
Anyone doing drag needed a certain baseline attractiveness anyway—no need to explain that.
Whatever, if they thought it was pathetic, they could think that all they wanted.
They could at least consider my position: this was how I made a living with these looks.
'...Yeah. People have to eat to live.'
-Creak, clack...
So what was I doing right now? Looking for work.
There were two main ways Magical Girls made money.
One was activity support funds. The other was money earned directly through Magical Girl activities.
I'd explain the support funds later, but... I didn't qualify for them anyway, and they weren't enough to live on regardless.
So Magical Girls mostly earned through the second method.
I'd already explained how they worked as idols, celebrities, or influencers.
Think about how those people made money, and you could guess how Magical Girls did too.
'Tch. The hotshots have managers handling all this for them.'
Has-beens like me had to spend the time ourselves.
-Creak...
"Winter fashion pictorial... pass... variety show regular MC slot... pass... drama supporting heroine... pass... Magical Girl 12-person joint swimsuit pictorial... What the hell is this? Are they insane?"
They sounded like decent-paying gigs at first glance, but I passed on all of them because none fit my conditions for various reasons.
First, fashion shoots. Changing outfits and shooting from multiple angles meant a huge risk of my crossdressing being exposed.
Next, regular slots. Having to show my face on TV periodically was a pain to schedule around Magical Girl duties, and it would draw way too much attention to Alice.
Finally, dramas.
...Do I really need to explain?
No one wants to see a crossdressing guy romancing a leading man.
Oh, and movies? They combined all three downsides, so they were an absolute no-go.
By now, you've probably realized something.
[So doesn't that mean most offers don't fit the criteria?]
Correct.
90% of offers to Magical Girls fell into those categories, so most went straight to the trash without review.
My conditions for accepting: minimal camera movement, minimal movement from me, short appearance, and no setups pairing me with other guys.
Advertising shoots done in 'Alice's' outfit without changing clothes, or talk shows where I just chat for an hour—those were my limits.
The problem? I'd milked those dry, so offers had basically dried up.
-Creak
"Huh."
Just as I was wondering if I'd have to scrape by on my savings this month, one email caught my eye.
Surprisingly, it matched almost all my conditions.
And it was a program in a completely different vein from the ones I'd done before.
* * *
People love ranking everything.
Height, grades, performance, salary, assets—anything quantifiable gets ranked.
In that kind of world, it was only natural that Magical Girls had rankings too.
Commonly known as the Magical Girl Rankings.
It seemed arrogant for beings who just followed orders to have such a thing, but it was a fairly systematic ranking tied to the Mascots.
Mascots might seem focused only on individual Magical Girls, but they had their own society and worked to improve Magical Girls' abilities and dispatch conditions to fend off Abyss incursions more efficiently.
Humans felt guilty about exploiting Magical Girls for free, so they collaborated with Mascots to create a system ranking them based on abilities, dispatch counts, personality, public recognition, and more. Support funds were distributed accordingly.
Of course, with the prerequisite that you could prove you were that Magical Girl.
'If I had that, I wouldn't be living in this tiny, musty place.'
It only existed because the world had improved a lot.
Back when the Magical Girl system wasn't fully established, there were no rankings or support funds.
These days, juniors formed fixed raid parties or groups and even deployed together. The world had gotten better.
Soloing five dispatches a day just made you a bit stronger, that's all.
Or achieving feats like soloing an A-Rank Abyss Being, or MVP in an S-Rank raid—those were what made you a proper Magical Girl.
...Ah. Did that sound too boomer?
What can you do? Modern juniors really were weaker.
I still ran into rookie Magical Girls at dispatch sites sometimes. Seeing them freeze at the sight of an Abyss Being, expose their weaknesses blatantly, or lack proper countermeasures when hit— it just made me sigh.
Even with plummeting mortality rates lately, being a Magical Girl meant risking your life against monsters.
If you weren't prepared to protect yourself and civilians... stay in the bunker and wait for backup instead of transforming and stepping up.
Anyway. You might wonder what gives me the right to say all this...
You'll find out soon enough.
* * *
"Sob... sob......"
-Swish, swish
It was around 1 a.m.
On my first day starting the new part-time job, I was wiping the floor with a mop while sniffling.
"Hic...! So I was saying...! That damn Manager Kim, I stole his tie and..."
"Sir... that's the fifth time you've told that story..."
"Ugh...! When an adult's talking, you listen quietly! No manners!"
"I've listened for like 40 minutes already..."
The boss warned me weird customers might show up from late night into early morning, but I didn't expect one on day one...
I hoped this was the worst I'd see.
Anything beyond this might make me pass out.
"Sir... time to head home, okay...? Where do you live? I'll call you a cab."
"My home... my home... Urgh! This is my home! Who're you chasing out? I bought this place with my own money!!!"
"Yes, sir. I'll call you a cab."
He probably needed a police car more than a cab.
I'd put up with him long enough.
As veins bulged on my forehead and I pulled out my phone to dial 112...
[Mia...! Mia...! An Abyss Being has appeared...!]
"...!!!"
My contracted Mascot appeared.
'A- Angel D? Where? Nearby?'
[It's a bit far, so you'll need to close the distance for teleport to activate... Probably 10 minutes running at your pace...]
'Why now of all times...!'
Dispatches always happened unexpectedly, but I never imagined it'd be my first day on the job—at 1 a.m.
'Any other Magical Girls around?'
[Just one nearby. I sent her a request, but no idea how long it'll take. Don't know her teleport range...]
I called the function letting nearby Magical Girls warp in on emergencies 'teleport' for convenience, but not everyone could use it.
Range scaled with ability, so even I, with experience, had to close some distance after detection before it activated.
'Two including me...? What's the Abyss Being's rank? C-Rank, we could handle it together.'
[Fortunately C-Rank, but... energy signatures indicate more than one. Probably around three.]
'...Gotta go.'
The slower the dispatch, the more casualties—basic common sense.
Leaving mid-shift on day one was insane, but lives mattered more.
"...Sir. I have an emergency. Please leave now?"
"So I was saying!! This is!! My! Home..."
"Yes, yes. Got it, so please go. The store's closing."
Convenience stores ran 24/7, but he was too wasted to understand...
I started shoving him out properly. He resisted a bit, but I dragged him toward the exit in seconds.
Even untransformed, Magical Girls had physical prowess to easily handle normals.
-Ding-a-ling
"Wh- what the, what strength..."
He sobered up briefly in panic, but I'd already shoved him outside and was locking the door with the key...
[Mia. It's handled.]
'...Huh?'
[The dispatched Magical Girl took care of it. Three C-Rank Abyss Beings confirmed eliminated. Recalling the dispatch order.]
'Huh?'
H- how long since detection?
Time thinking, tussling with the drunk, locking up—under 10 minutes total, and three C-Rank Abyss Beings were gone?
'An A-Rank team happened to be nearby partying...?'
Nothing short of that explained the speed.
As you saw, I hadn't even reached teleport range, and it was already over.
I'd get E-Rank maybe, but C-Rank needed 2-3 skilled Magical Girls teaming up—and this fast? Weird.
'W- well, good news is good...'
I unlocked the door with a sour expression and went back inside.
I'd braced for a scolding from the boss, but ending before dispatch? Lucky.
"...Yeah. Time to head home. It's late..."
The customer I'd kindly ejected was sober now, shuffling off.
So my first day at the new part-time job ended safely.