Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Every Eye Has Its Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"─As of now, 45 Magical Girls have applied for Magical personal bankruptcy restructuring, and 136 have applied for Magical emergency micro-loans. The tally for regular Magical loans isn't complete yet."
"Is that all?"
"If we dig deeper, we expect even more cases of Magical financial damage."
"……."
The Magical Battalion Commander clutched his head in silence.
He had latched onto the rumors floating around and decided that Kim Siyul was giving a Magical stock seminar.
Not a small one, either—he'd mobilized the entire unit on a massive scale.
There was only one goal.
To put pressure on Kim Siyul.
Success or failure? It didn't matter. If anything, barely succeeding after a struggle would be better.
Because that would mean he'd "overcome" the pressure.
And sure enough, Kim Siyul had successfully wrapped up the Magical stock seminar.
He hadn't seen it himself, so he didn't know if there had really been pressure, but since all the Magical Girls were raving about it, he figured it was a success.
Up to this point, things had gone exactly as the Magical Battalion Commander wanted.
But.
After that, they didn't.
Problems started cropping up one by one after the seminar ended. By the time he noticed, they had spiraled out of control.
Of course, the problems themselves were simple.
Simple enough to sum up in one phrase.
Magical money troubles.
But just because the problem was simple didn't mean the solution was.
It wasn't full-blown Magical personal bankruptcy, but applications for Magical personal restructuring had suddenly spiked.
And Magical loans? Approvals were nowhere in sight, and even getting through Magical review took months—yet applications were exploding exponentially.
"There are Magical Girls who paid back their loans, right?"
Were there any cases where Magical loan repayments were proceeding normally?
"A tiny fraction. Most applied for additional Magical loans even with existing Magical debt."
No.
Practically none.
"……Why? It's all debt."
"They said they'd pay it back with Magical gains."
"……."
There was one single reason why this chaos had reached a point where even the Magical Battalion Commander couldn't contain it.
Stocks.
"All this…… because of stocks?"
"To be precise, it's the national market."
Not even foreign stocks—it was the domestic market.
The national market that no one in their right mind should touch.
The Magical Battalion Commander couldn't comprehend it.
"At least the damage among enlisted Magical Girls is relatively minor."
The silver lining was that the enlisted Magical Girls had comparatively little damage.
"Because they can only use their phones after duty hours?"
"Yes, exactly."
Their phone usage time didn't overlap with stock market hours.
Of course, some enlisted Magical Girls had two phones, turned one in, and traded stocks on the other.
But that never lasted long.
They got caught quick and shipped off to Magical detention.
In truth, the damage to enlisted Magical Girls was practically nonexistent.
"What about officer-level Magical Girls?"
"……It's a bit serious."
The problem was the officers.
They could access their Magical phones even during duty hours.
"Tell me."
The Magical Captain hesitated for a moment, then lowered her eyes and slowly spoke.
"Pretty much all the officer-level Magical Girls who attended the Magical stock seminar are involved. Even those who didn't started copying them."
"Has the damage amount been confirmed?"
"W-Well…… we couldn't confirm it."
"Why? Not even roughly?"
The Magical Battalion Commander glared sharply.
The Magical Captain kept her eyes even more firmly downcast.
"No Magical Girl would show their Magical stock accounts, so we couldn't check."
The Magical Battalion Commander raised his voice, uncharacteristically.
"What do you mean? Just make them show it!"
"The Magical stock gurus say you're supposed to hide your Magical accounts and never show them……."
"What kind of nonsense is that!!! At least make a prediction then!!!"
A little louder than before.
"With Magical leveraged trading on the national market too, we can't even guess."
"……."
Well, his raised voice settled quickly anyway. The anger had crossed the threshold, leaving him speechless.
And there were more problems besides.
"There are other issues too."
"What else……."
Naturally, most stemmed from officer-level Magical Girls.
Cases of diverting Magical supply goods had skyrocketed, though they'd existed before.
Not just that—officer-level Magical Girls caught dipping into Magical public funds were popping up left and right.
No need to mention the ones sued by the Magical Association after borrowing money from other Magical Girls and vanishing or not repaying.
Some had even hit up the Magical Battalion Commander himself for loans.
"That's the rough rundown."
"Ha……."
The Magical Battalion Commander clutched his head again.
This time, it throbbed even harder.
"What the hell happened at that seminar?"
"They all said it opened their eyes."
"……What kind of eyes, exactly?"
"I…… I don't really know either."
He didn't know if Kim Siyul had felt the pressure and "overcome" it, but one thing was certain: the Magical Battalion Commander was feeling it now.
Even if Kim Siyul had run the Magical stock seminar, it had all started under his name.
If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened.
In other words, all the responsibility fell on the Magical Battalion Commander.
Could he pin any on Kim Siyul?
Impossible. The guy could slip away easily.
"Not that he did, but he didn't tell them to buy any specific stocks, right?"
"No, he just taught them how to buy Magical stocks."
"Ha……."
If he'd incited them to buy specific stocks, maybe. But Kim Siyul had only shared methods.
Any actual losses from buying stocks were purely the Magical Girls' choices.
On the other hand, what about the Magical Battalion Commander?
He'd provided the cause: the Magical stock seminar.
A perfect Magical target for arrows of blame.
Thanks to that, the Magical Battalion Commander was feeling the full weight of the word "responsibility" right now.
"So I have to write all this up?"
"You also need to prepare the Magical explanation report and the Magical relapse prevention plan. As you'll see, there are two or three more besides these."
"……T-That's it, right?"
The Magical Battalion Commander's voice trembled.
The Magical Captain's did too, just a little.
"Depending on how things play out, there might be a Magical hearing. Oh, and separately from what I mentioned, Magical complaints keep pouring in."
"……."
The Magical Battalion Commander clutched his head once more.
Piles of Magical paperwork loomed before him—kinds he'd never seen since becoming a Magical Girl.
Way too much. He had no clue where to start.
And even if he cleared it all, that wouldn't be the end.
This might just be the beginning.
Not only that—his position as Magical Battalion Commander wouldn't improve from here; it'd only get worse.
Of course, promotions didn't matter much.
He'd never cared about that anyway.
'That stuff's meaningless.'
But.
He couldn't just let this incident shake his Magical standing.
This was bad.
Really bad.
How much effort had he poured in to reach this position?
To make up for that one initial "mistake," how much had he sacrificed so far?
He'd burned through almost everything he had, run himself ragged, and barely made it here.
The goal was close. Just a few puzzle pieces left.
And now brakes were slamming on?
A massive blow.
Even without this incident, his situation as Magical Battalion Commander wasn't great—and that was Kim Siyul's fault too.
Before, to pressure Kim Siyul, he'd sent him out with a monster pack.
But after that.
Purple Snake—Kim Siyul's Magical Girl backer—had started subtly harassing the Magical Battalion Commander in every way possible.
To the point where even he was sick of it.
Cunningly, viciously, meticulously.
Like a viper silently sinking its fangs in.
He'd dismissed it at first, but experiencing it firsthand? He genuinely felt like he might die.
He'd been through all sorts of hell, but never this kind of pressure.
It wasn't pressure—it was pure malice harassment.
'Even that one bitch is too much right now……!'
That was his current state: truly feeling how stress could kill.
In that situation, piling on this Magical disaster would heavily restrict his actions.
Like his voice getting shut down.
Or all his planned proposals ignored.
Either way, not good.
'No…….'
Especially since he hadn't achieved his goal yet.
And even if he scraped by now, nothing guaranteed similar Magical incidents wouldn't happen again. Or end after just one or two.
One slip, and all his efforts so far could go to waste.
'Not yet…… not really…….'
But what could he do? In the end, it had all started from his own hands.
If Kim Siyul hadn't done the Magical stock seminar, this mess wouldn't have happened.
So his only remaining option was one.
Just grit his teeth and endure. Endure some more.
Until the Magical storm passed.
Until another chance came.
Nothing left but to cling on desperately, waiting for the moment to strike.
The Magical Battalion Commander silently covered his face with his hands. It changed nothing, but he just wanted to look away from the Magical paperwork, even for a moment.
At that instant, the Magical Captain's voice echoed in his ears.
"That's all for the Magical briefing. Anything else you need me to do?"
"……If I need you, I'll call later."
In the end, he issued a soulless dismissal.
He'd call her back soon enough, but right now, he wanted to be alone. He didn't trust himself to hold out otherwise.
"Understood."
With that, the door to the Magical Battalion Commander's office quietly closed.
"That fucking Kim Siyul……!!!"
A faint echo of the Magical Battalion Commander's rage seeped through the closed door.
But the Magical Captain ignored it.
'Good…….'
She was too busy secretly sighing in relief.
'They still haven't caught me using the Magical public funds…….'
Soon, she naturally fixed her gaze on her phone screen.
'One big win and it'll all be covered.'
With eyes on the national market.
'Just this once, then no more Magical stocks.'
Making a meaningless vow.
Not long after, restrictions were placed on phone use for officer-level Magical Girls in the Magical unit.
Today was another peaceful day for a Magical Girl.