Whereabouts of Emotions
Translated by LyraDhani
Edited by LyraDhani
A few minutes after Tsugumi left his seat, Bell felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort. She felt as if she had forgotten sothing important.
She tilted her head.
—By the way, where did the device she just knocked down go? She rembered that Tsugumi picked it up, but she didn’t know what happened to it after that. It was a governnt-issued device, so it would have been bad to lose it.
It was most likely in the possession of Tsugumi. But if that’s the case, why didn’t he give it back to her?
–Did he forget to return it… Or did he not return it on purpose?
Bell shook her head, thinking it was impossible.
Although they had only known each other for a short ti, Bell had a pretty good grasp of Tsugumi’s personality. He was basically an obedient man. Unless sothing happened to him, it wasn’t likely for him to act in a way that would disobey Bell’s wishes.
The only exception to this rule was in the case of his sister.
“…Wait a minute. Didn’t he say his sister was traveling to Hakone?”
The worst possibility crossed her mind. There was no way that Tsugumi wouldn’t go to save his sister, Chidori.
But even if he told her, he would have known that Bell would object. That’s why he didn’t say anything.
Belle imdiately looked for Tsugumi’s location. As long as Tsugumi wore the ring of contract, she could detect wherever he was.
And, unfortunately, her prediction ca true.
“–I knew it! That big idiot!!”
Tsugumi’s current location was in Kanagawa Prefecture — halfway up Mount Hakone.
Bell confird this and imdiately flew to the location. Through a gate that had been opened by a rift in space-ti, she passed through subspace to a deserted forest of dead trees, where she found Tsugumi, in the form of a Magical Girl, sitting on one knee in a daze.
Tsugumi was staring intently into the void, twirling the glass plate in his hand – a terminal for contacting the governnt. There was no emotion on his face.
“I found you! –Do you know what you’ve done?”
Bell shouted howlingly.
The space around her was distorted by the divine power that leaked from her uncontrollable rage. Excessive interference in this world ant deportation to the place where God stayed – but even knowing this, this anger was unbearable.
Tsugumi looked at Bell, who suddenly appeared, and said with a troubled smile.
“That’s very quick. –No, or was it too late?”
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
–Ti went back a few minutes.
—A the operation room, the manager of Demon Beast Counterasures Headquarters, Inaba Honoka, was impatient.
“Number 28, Arisato Botan has refused!”
“Agatsuma Suoho, number 83, is no good either. The contracting God in charge was furious…”
“Damn! Not even those strays who don’t have the Transportation skill!”
He slamd his hands on the desk, frantically thinking and searching for the next move he could make.
The grade of the Demonic Beast, estimated from the magnitude force, was an A-class. An ordinary Magical Girl would be no match for it.
Although evacuation advisories had already been issued for the areas surrounding Hakone, it would be difficult to quickly evacuate everyone, including tourists. Because there were only about ten minutes left until the appearance of the Magical Girl.
“Ah, there has never been a problem with the Yata no Kagami until now! Why is this happening today!”
A new operator raised his voice in distress. Inaba agreed, but complaining about it now wasn’t going to get anything done.
–The “Yata no Kagami” prediction system was certainly responsible for the failure of detecting the appearance of an A-class. Normally, the system should have been able to detect it five hours before the event, but only this ti they were able to know about it 15 minutes before the event.
The schedule for dispatching Magical Girls was also completely disrupted because of this.
The C and B classes had been predicted to appear in advance, so they were able to take care of the situation without any problems, but the cooldown ti for the Transportation skills of the Magical Girls belonging to the governnt was interrupted by the dispatch of the new Demonic Beast.
He hurriedly tried to contact stray Magical Girls who had Transport skills and those in the Hakone area, but the result was a disastrous failure.
…Originally he had no expectations for stray Magical Girls. They weren’t obliged to dispatch for ergency services, so he couldn’t complain if they refused to do so. Even if he expected them to be dispatched out of the goodness of their hearts, the Demonic Beast was too bad to deal with this ti.
“What about the mbers of Rikka? Even if we don’t make it in ti to erge, the damage must be kept to a minimum…!”
“A governnt helicopter is on its way to pick up Suzushiro-sama and Hitsugi-sama. But, it will take another 30 minutes to reach Hakone!”
Inaba bit his teeth at the report. Thirty minutes from now would an allowing the Demonic Beasts to overrun the area for about twenty minutes.
…In the worst-case scenario, the damage could exceed the catastrophe of a decade ago.
“Manager. Shouldn’t it be better to contact the higher-ups and ask for permission for forced Transportation by the contract God? It seems odd that it is available to the stray Magical Girls, but not to the governnt.”
Another staff mber offered an opinion, but Inaba shook his head.
“Surely, if we could do that, it would solve everything. But the higher-ups would never give us permission. –The governnt’s ban on forced transfers is based on the will of Amaterasu. No matter how urgent the situation may be, there is no way they will give permission.”
They said there were various reasons why Amaterasu forbid forced Transportation. According to so, it was for humanitarian reasons, others feared that it would increase the authority of the contracting Gods, and many other speculations were made, but it wasn’t certain.
Inaba’s position didn’t allow him to know the true reason for this, but perhaps soone in the higher-up would know more about the situation.
–But whatever the case may be, I cannot disobey the will of Amaterasu at this point in ti. As a governnt official, that’s an absolute rule that he couldn’t break.
“If I could buy the ti at least for 20 minutes…”
“Why don’t you ask the strays to fight again? Let’s contact them again, but only those who have a record of A-class subjugation.”
“…Ah, let’s give it a try.”
Inaba clenched his trembling hands tightly and was about to call the strays Magical Girls again when he heard the tinkling of a bell.
“Hey, it’s ringing!”
“It’s number 96. When I contacted her earlier, she abused pretty hard. Maybe it’s a complaint…”
–A stray Magical Girl. Serial number 96, Hagakure Sakura. Her current grade was C. A rare talent with a Transportation skill.
However, it was always the contracted God who contacted them, and none of the staff had ever spoken to her personally.
Her contract God was famous for her temper. She wasn’t soone you want to talk to at length in this dire situation.
Inaba clicked his tongue loudly and picked up a pair of headphones nearby. He’d just have to tell her that this was an ergency and ask her to leave the complaint for a later date.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll get it over with right away.”
–Let’s just cut to the chase and hang up the call. Inaba thought so and pressed the button on the caller ID.
“Yes, this is Inaba in the operation room of the Demon Beast Counterasures Headquarters.”
“–Good. It’s connected properly.”
A cool voice tone ca through the headphones, different from the contract God he rembered. It was clearly a woman’s voice.
Inaba was relieved and asked in a quiet tone.
“Don’t tell , is this Hagakure Sakura-san herself?”
“Yes, I am. Is this the right way to contact the governnt? This is the first ti I’ve made contact like this, so I’m not sure how to do it…”
“Oh, don’t worry, any contact from a Magical Girl is always connected to this place. How can I help you?”
“Regarding Hakone, which you contacted about earlier–there is no local broadcast on which ans that you haven’t decided on the Magical Girl to be sent yet, have you?”
“…Local?”
“I’m in Hakone right now. I can only hear the evacuation alarm so far, but do you think you will be able to dispatch the Magical Girls by the ti the Demonic Beast appears?”
Inaba swallowed.
-At the mont, she is in Hakone. Can I expect her to know why she’s there with her Transportation skill?
Inaba opened his mouth while suppressing his feelings.
“No, I am sorry. I have dispatched two mbers of Rikka to the site urgently, but it is unlikely that they will be able to reach the site in ti.”
“How long do you need?”
“Eh?”
“–I’m asking how long do I have to make up the ti…”
–This is it.
“Will you fight for us?”
At Inaba’s loud voice, the staff around him turned around with a perplexed look on their faces.
Inaba swallowed and switched the receiving line of the call to a room-based one. If the other staff mbers heard this conversation, they would know what action to take. He could hear the upset voices around him, but he couldn’t worry about that right now.
“I contacted you with that intention. Um, I should take the oath first, right? –[I swear by my God] I declare that I will intercept those who co down here. …Is this correct?”
Saying so, Hagakure Sakura finished the [oath] as if it was nothing more than a simple matter. This oath was the key and cage for Magical Girls to create barriers.
The word “cage” ant exactly what it ant. By taking the [oath] through a governnt terminal in a place where Demonic Beasts were expected to appear, that Magical Girl wouldn’t be able to escape from the battle.
She wouldn’t be able to move from the place until the Demonic Beast appeared, and when it appeared, a barrier would be automatically drawn in, pulling the Demonic Beast in. In other words, she would be locked in a cage.
–Hagakure Sakura had only recently beco a C-class. The accuracy of her technique and everything else wasn’t enough to take on an A-class Demonic Beast. And he was sure she knew it well.
When he contacted her contracted God, she ridiculed him for calling those who go into battle as “pawns” to be thrown away. She must have heard that too. And yet, she ca forward like this.
He didn’t know what kind of communication took place between her and the contracted God, but she was probably already prepared for her action.
Inaba felt like crying at his own inadequacy. He knew that this work was necessary, but in the end, he and the others were just ordering the girls around, and there was little he could do to help them directly.
Inaba and the other staff mbers in the operation room were basically in a position to bear a grudge. This is because they sotis had to issue orders to dispose of Magical Girls.
Magical Girls belonging to the governnt weren’t given the right to veto ergency dispatches. Therefore, there were a lot of tis when they had to give a rciless order.
If a governnt-affiliated Transportation skill holder had been available at this stage, Inaba would surely have ordered the child to go to Hakone as the head of the office. Even if the child’s grade was E-class.
So of the staff mbers were even attacked by the grieving families of Magical Girls.
–But this is the organization, and this is our mission as protectors of the nation.
There was no ti for sentintality. He just had to keep doing the best he could.
And Inaba calmly reported the ti.
“Twenty minutes, no, if you give enough ti to earn thirty minutes, the two Rikka mbers will arrive at the site. I’ll be sure to make it in ti…!“
“I see. –Well, can I ask you one thing?”
“Yes, anything you want.”
Inaba braced himself for whatever was to be said. Her dispatch was completely in good faith, not an obligation as a matter of duty. She had a right to complain to the governnt, which had created the situation that compelled her to do so, even if it was due to a glitch in the system.
But the words that ca out of her mouth were different.
“Please take care of the rest. Oh, but if I have defeated a Demonic Beast, please apologize with to Rikka for coming all the way to Hakone!”
She said this calmly with a slight laugh. In response, Inaba was speechless.
–How could she smile so calmly in the face of death? Inaba just couldn’t understand. He could hear the gasps from the staff around her.
“…I will surely dispatch soone who can win. Absolutely, I will not let the city be hard.”
Inaba clenched his fists hard.
It felt terribly sad to lose Magical Girls. But there was no ti to stand still.
–I have to do my part to repay the Magical Girls who are fighting for us. Even if they call evil.
She let out a relieved breath at Inaba’s words.
“I’m counting on you. …Oh, I’m sorry. It looks like the ti has run out–”
“Hagakure-san? Hello? …It has been cut off?”
With these words, the call with Hagakure Sakura was cut off.
Inaba gently put his hand on his chest, closed his eyes, and exhaled. -I have to change my mind.
When he opened his eyes, Inaba looked back and said.
“You all heard the call earlier, didn’t you? –Hurry up and get on with the work you have to do!”
–Yes! All at once, the voices rose up. So of the staff mbers were in tears. He knew how they felt but this wasn’t the right ti to cry.
“…I guess it’s my ego that wants to win and survive.”
Inaba muttered to himself, shook his head loosely, and returned to the work he had to do.
Reviews
All reviews (0)