Episode 20 : People's hearts have to be there, right?

　Returning to our normal duties, we continued to wait for customers who showed no sign of coming today as clerks at ``Magiya'' where the quiet birds were chirping as usual.

　I was a little worried because the person in charge of picking the lock was Koyomi, who was rather clumsy, but for the most part, she mopped happily, and thanks to her unfounded worries, she didn't really have to do anything else.

　I glance at Yukina, who is mindlessly hamstering social games, but she's so engrossed that she can hamster laps, so there's no way she'll notice.

"Hey, no matter how many customers we don't have, don't just play social games during work hours."

　Hazuki, who was tidying up the refrigerator and checking the food with Mayu today, pouted her lips, perhaps frustrated by the current situation.

　Somehow, I understand how she feel.

　Even though I had a fairly serious part-time job in my previous life, it's not like I didn't have feelings for my junior who was constantly touching social games under the guise of taking bathroom breaks.

"Hmm, we rarely have customers other than government officials and the usual people, huh? Hazuki should do the same."

"Maybe it's just in case!"

　Even Hazuki, who was yelling, seemed to understand that it was hopeless to get customers.

　Dear fellow citizens, we are using tax money to run a maid cafe that only allows customers to come in on an emergency basis.

　No, if this is really found out, there will be a riot. Even though ``Akatsuki no Sora'' is full of troublesome people, it would be a bad thing if people were inspired by it and sympathized with it.

"And our secret weapon! How long have you been mopping? You have so many other things to do like cleaning the table!"

"...Eh...ah...y-yes...s-sorry..."

　I can't help but feel sorry that Koyomi was the target of such anger.

　They've been fighting each other since the beginning, or rather, Hazuki has a one-sided relationship with Koyomi, which is something that happens all the time, but I wonder if things can be resolved without me intervening.

　Human beings, to a greater or lesser extent, tend to believe that others can do what they can do, and Hazuki is particularly prone to this tendency.

"Stop it, Hazuki."

"But, Senpai…!"

"As I said before, unnecessary friction will hinder operations. It's great that you are so enthusiastic about your work, but other people have their own pace."

　As for Yukina, who brazenly slacks off, it's probably her own fault, but Koyomi has no other faults other than being slow at work.

　If you get annoyed while you're getting annoyed, it's inevitable that you'll lose your patience, but it's really unseemly to get angry.

　Things were going well like that until I intervened today and managed to settle the situation.

　However, the fact that Saijo Chihaya is still alive is having a negative effect on the relationship between Hazuki and Koyomi.

　In the original story, Koyomi and Hazuki increasingly form a joint front to fill the void left by Chihaya Saijo, and their bond deepens as they do so, but unfortunately in this world, I am alive. There is.

　What's wrong? In that regard, there are still many outstanding issues regarding the future.

　It would be nice if the world's corrective power would work on our relationship, but I know that things won't work out so conveniently.

　The key to successfully establishing the reconciliation flag is for Hazuki to reconsider Koyomi, but there is no way to prevent such an event from happening.

　While I was idly thinking about this, my smartphone vibrated and a synthesized voice that had passed through silent mode announced a special state of emergency.

``A special state of emergency has been declared.I repeat, a special state of emergency has been declared. All nearby residents, please evacuate to the nearest shelter immediately.''

　We turned to the colonel who was wiping the glasses dry and asked for permission to sortie.

"As you heard. Rush to the scene immediately and subdue the critical beast."

"roger that! "

　As soon as permission was given, we all ran to the changing room, except for Koyomi, who was in charge of opening the door and closing the store.

　The location where a special state of emergency has been declared is displayed on my smartphone. Worst of all, the hole created by the earthquake was right in the middle of the city.

　It appears that first-class magical girls and the Self-Defense Forces are handling the initial response, but it is inevitable that some people will die no matter what.

　If I know the original story, I might be able to get ahead of the critical beasts and destroy them, but basically magical girls can't move without the approval of the government or related organizations.

　Even if she were to take action on her own and put the situation under control, it would be even worse if she ended up in a punishment cell for several months and was given a ``frozen punishment.''

　Once a person is placed in a frozen state, they are kept in a state of forced cryo-sleep at all times, except when the government deems it truly necessary. Being sent to a punishment cell is cute compared to this.

　The reason I was able to move freely when I was at Eichiin Academy was only because the magical girl side was given the discretion to decide the strategy there.

　Therefore, magical girls basically have no choice but to deal with it in a reactive manner. As far as the world is concerned.

　Koyomi, who was closing the shop, joined us, changed into our uniforms, and started running towards the underground catapult.

"Can you hear me, guys? ? "

"I agree, something happened."

　The colonel's voice, which sounded unusually panicked, echoed from the bushes and from the communication device attached to his left ear.

　It would be helpful if you could turn down the volume a little more, but I guess you're in a situation where I can't say that.

　Because the critical beast that we have to fight this time is...

``We have received a report that a first-class magical girl who was responding to the initial response has been seriously injured. Everyone, please be on high alert and go into battle! "

　Speaking of first-class magical girls, even if they aren't as good as us special-class, they have extremely powerful magical conquests and are able to use magical power.

　The fact that she was seriously injured simply means that the opponent's attack method was able to break through the first-class magical girl's magical barrier.

　The same goes for golems, although magical girls' bodies are strengthened by magical power, they basically rely on magical barriers for defense.

　Conversely, the reason why magical girls are able to fight critical beasts that are beyond human comprehension is because they have a magical barrier.

　If you have to fight an enemy that can break through that, whether it's special class or third class, you have no choice but to approach the battle with the mindset that if you get even one attack, you'll die.

　Is it a crap game? It was a shitty game.

"As you have heard, I suggest that we should fight on the assumption that this enemy can break through this magical barrier."

"Senpai, that's..."

"If we get attacked even once, there is no guarantee of our lives either. We need to watch the enemy's movements more than ever before and fight."

　For the time being, I'm aware of the gimmick and behavior pattern, so it's naive to think that it'll work out somehow...

　However, she had the advantage of knowing what kind of existence this critical beast was and what kind of attacks it would use.

　In other words, my role is to be in charge of the most dangerous vanguard.

"There's no need to worry. I'll take over the vanguard... and you'll have to provide support. We'll definitely defeat him."

　With a smile on my face as a reliable senior, I declared this to the four magical girls.

　I know I'm saying this, but to be honest, it's really scary.

　It was the same when I fought Pig Surge, but it's not a game where you can continue as many times as you want just because you know something, so once you die, that's it.

　Still, I have no choice but to do it. With determination, I place my foot on the catapult.

　In the original story, Hazuki was in charge of the vanguard, and Koyomi, Yukina, and Mayu provided the logistics support, so this battle, which could have been a good start, was a turning point.

　If you struggle, Hazuki, who is in charge of the vanguard, dies. On the other hand, if you charge too much in order to fold, Koyomi will die.

　If the main character Taru Koyomi dies, the game is over, but even if Hazuki dies, the story continues in a harder mode, an event that shows the creator's malicious intent.

　I guess they don't have a human heart after all.

　Can you give in to such crap? I was disappointed when I first saw it, but I've been playing this shitty game with dead eyes in search of salvation.

　Fueled by my fighting spirit and my grudge against the development team, I call for the decoding of "Dress Up."

　The battle had begun.

　As I was being ejected from the catapult into the blue sky, I clenched my fists tightly, trying to shake off the fear.