Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duties

47 – Every Eye Demands a Price

“─Currently, 45 magical girls have applied for Magical Personal Rehabilitation, and 136 magical girls have applied for Magical Emergency Microloans. Magical loans have not yet been fully tabulated.”

“Is that all?”

“Perhaps, upon closer examination, we expect to find more cases of damage than this.”

“…”

The Magical Battalion Commander massaged his head in silence.

He had seized upon the rumors swirling about and confirmed that Kim Siyul would be giving a magical stock lecture.

Not a small gathering, but a large-scale event for the entire unit.

The sole purpose?

To put pressure on Kim Siyul.

Success or failure? Irrelevant. If anything, narrowly succeeding after great difficulty was preferable.

It signified that he had ‘overcome’ the pressure.

And, without a doubt, Kim Siyul had successfully completed the magical stock lecture.

He hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, so he didn’t know whether there was pressure or not, but since the magical girls were all praising it, he considered it a success.

Up to this point, things had unfolded as the Magical Battalion Commander wished.

But.

What followed defied his desires.

After the Magical lecture concluded, troubles began to surface one by one. By the time he’d truly registered them, they’d escalated beyond all control.

The problems themselves, of course, were simple.

Simple enough to be summed up in a single phrase.

Financial woes.

However, just because the problem was simple didn’t mean the solution would be.

While not quite Magical bankruptcy on a grand scale, the number of Magical personal rehabilitation filings had spiked.

Even with Magical loan approvals taking months just to get to the review stage, applications were increasing exponentially.

“Have any Magical Girls actually repaid their Magical loans?”

Was there even a single instance of normal repayment of Magical loans?

“Extremely few. Most, even with existing debt, applied for additional Magical loans.”

No.

Practically none.

“…Why? It’s all debt, isn’t it?”

“They replied they intended to ‘pay it all back eventually, Magically.'”

“…….”

The reason for the chaos that had surpassed the Magical Battalion Commander’s ability to contain it was singular.

Stocks.

“All this… is because of stocks?”

“Specifically, the Korean stock market.”

Not even the American market, but the Korean market.

A market no one in their right mind would touch.

The Magical Battalion Commander was utterly baffled.

“At least the damage to Soldier-class Magical Girls is relatively less severe.”

If there was a silver lining, it was that the damage to Soldier-class Magical Girls was comparatively minimal.

“Is that because they can’t use their phones until Magical duty is over?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The hours they were allowed to use their phones and the operating hours of the stock market didn’t coincide.

Of course, there were a few soldier-class magical girls who kept two phones – submitting one while trading stocks with the other.

Well, it didn’t last long.

They were caught quickly and sent to Magical Confinement.

In truth, the damages caused by soldier-class magical girls were practically nonexistent.

“Then, what about the officer-class magical girls?”

“…It’s a bit serious.”

The problem was, officer-class magical girls.

They had access to the ‘phone’ culture even during their Magical duty hours.

“Tell me.”

The Magical Company Commander hesitated for a moment, then lowered his gaze and slowly opened his mouth.

“First of all, almost all of the officer-class magical girls who attended the Magical stock market lectures are involved. Even those who didn’t attend have started copying them.”

“Then, has the extent of the damages been confirmed?”

“Um…we couldn’t confirm it.”

“Why? Can’t you even get a rough estimate?”

The Magical Battalion Commander glared sharply.

The Magical Company Commander lowered his gaze even further.

“No magical girl would show their Magical stock account, so it was impossible to confirm.”

The Magical Battalion Commander, uncharacteristically, raised his voice.

“No, can’t they just show it!”

“They said they would rather see their Magical stock accounts vanish than open them up.”

“What kind of nonsense is that!!! Then, at least you can make a prediction!!!”

A bit louder than before.

“Even the head of Magical Double Inverse is trading stocks here, so I dare not make a prediction.”

“…”

Well, his voice soon subsided. Anger that had reached its breaking point sealed his lips.

Moreover, there was another problem.

“There are other issues as well.”

“What else…”

Unsurprisingly, most of the problems stemmed from the officer-class magical girls.

It existed before, but cases of diverting Magical supply goods have increased exponentially.

Was that all? There was also a rash of high-ranking magical girls being caught dipping into the Magical funds.

And magical lawsuits from magical girls who borrowed money and then vanished or refused to pay back – that hardly needed mentioning.

Even the Magical Battalion Commander had been contacted by several magical girls asking to borrow money.

“That’s roughly it.”

“Haa…”

The Magical Battalion Commander clutched his head again.

This time, the throbbing was worse than before.

“What in the world happened at that lecture?”

“They’re saying everyone… opened their eyes to something.”

“…Opened what eyes? To what, exactly?”

“Well… I’m not entirely sure myself.”

Whether Kim Shi-yul had felt ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘overcome’ it, the Magical Battalion Commander was certainly feeling overwhelmed now.

Even if Kim Shi-yul had conducted the Magical Stock lecture, it had all started under his name.

If it hadn’t been for the Magical Battalion Commander, none of this would have happened.

Which meant he was shouldering all the blame.

Could responsibility be pinned on Kim Shi-yul too?

Impossible. He could wriggle out of it any time.

“He didn’t… just in case, did that b*stard Kim Shi-yul tell them to buy specific stocks?”

“No, he just explained the method of buying them.”

“Haa…”

It would be one thing if he’d incited everyone to buy specific stocks. But Kim Shi-yul had only described the methods.

The fact that people bought the shares and lost money was solely the result of the magical girls’ choices.

The Magical Battalion Commander, on the other hand?

He had provided the cause: the Magical Stock Lecture.

Truly, a target ripe for the arrows of blame.

Thanks to that, the Magical Battalion Commander was acutely feeling the weight of that two-syllable word: Responsibility.

Right now.

“So, I have to write all of this?”

“You’ll need to draft a Magical Explanation, and a Magical Recurrence Prevention Plan, too. As you can see, there are two or three other things as well.”

“…T-that’ll be all, right?”

The Magical Battalion Commander’s voice trembled.

The Magical Company Commander’s voice, too, held a slight tremor.

“They said that, depending on how this situation unfolds, there could be a Magical Tribunal. Oh, and separately from what I just mentioned, there’s been a continuous stream of Magical Complaints as well.”

“…”

The Magical Battalion Commander buried his head in his hands once more.

Before him lay a mountain of Magical Documents. Documents of a type he’d never encountered since becoming a Magical Girl.

Too much. Just too much. He couldn’t even begin to fathom where to start.

And even if he somehow managed to process all of this, it wouldn’t be the end.

Perhaps this was just the beginning.

And that wasn’t all. From this point forward, the Magical Battalion Commander’s treatment could only worsen; there was absolutely no chance of it improving.

Of course, his career progression being blocked wasn’t particularly concerning.

It wasn’t something he’d ever particularly cared about in the first place.

‘That kind of thing is meaningless.’

However.

The possibility of his position being shaken by this incident… that he couldn’t simply dismiss.

Not good.

Really not good.

How much effort had he put into reaching this position?

How much had he sacrificed to make up for that single, initial ‘mistake’?

He had exhausted nearly everything he possessed, running like a madman, finally arriving here with barely any room to spare.

His goal was within reach. Only a few more pieces were needed to complete the puzzle.

And now, to be brought to a halt?

It was a devastating blow.

Especially given the already precarious situation of the Magical Battalion Commander, even apart from this latest incident.

This, too, was because of Kim Si-yul.

Previously, the Magical Battalion Commander had sent Kim Si-yul into a horde of Aberrants, hoping to put pressure on her.

But.

Ever since then, Kim Si-yul’s backer, the Magical Girl Purple Snake, had subtly begun to harass the Magical Battalion Commander in almost every way.

To the point that even the Magical Battalion Commander dreaded it.

Subtly, viciously, meticulously.

As if a viper, in silence, sinks its fangs.

At first, he’d thought it nothing much, but experiencing it firsthand felt like a genuine death knell.

He’d weathered countless storms, trials by fire of every stripe, but never anything quite like this particular brand of obstruction.

Obstruction was too gentle a word, really. This was malice, pure and unadulterated torment.

‘Right now, I’m barely managing with *her* alone…!’

That stress could genuinely kill a man? The Magical Battalion Commander was living proof.

To have such ill fortune compounded now, like this, significantly hobbled his actions.

For instance, his future voice could be stifled.

The proposals he’d meticulously planned could be disregarded, one and all.

Neither prospect pointed to a favorable course.

‘No…this can’t be.’

Not when his goal remained unachieved.

What’s more, even if he somehow scraped through this time, there was no guarantee that similar incidents wouldn’t arise again. And the chances of it ending after one or two instances? Nonexistent.

If he wasn’t careful, the Magical Battalion Commander’s efforts thus far could all amount to nothing.

‘It truly can’t happen, not yet…’

But what could he do? When it came down to it, it all started with the Magical Battalion Commander himself.

If only Kim Shi-yul hadn’t given that Magical stock lecture, this situation never would have materialized.

Therefore, only one choice remained to him.

To desperately endure. To weather the storm.

To wait for the moment the winds shift.

To cling on tenaciously until another opportunity presented itself. There was simply no other way.

The Magical Battalion Commander wordlessly covered his face with his hands. It wouldn’t change anything, but he needed, if only for a moment, to avert his eyes from the Magical documents before him.

In that instant, the voice of the Magical Company Commander echoed in the Magical Battalion Commander’s ears.

“That concludes the Magical briefing. Is there anything else you require of me, Sir?”

“…If necessary, I’ll call for you later.”

Ultimately, the Magical Battalion Commander issued the dismissal in a hollow voice.

He’d likely call the man back before long, but right now, he needed to be alone. Without that solitude, he truly wasn’t sure he could bear it.

“Understood.”

With the Magical Company Commander’s words, the door to the Battalion Commander’s office closed softly.

“Kim Shiyul, that son of a…!”

The Magical Battalion Commander’s enraged voice echoed faintly from beyond the closed door.

The Magical Company Commander, however, paid it no mind.

‘Thank goodness…’

He was simply preoccupied with secretly sighing in relief.

‘They haven’t caught me using the Magical funds yet…’

Soon after, the Magical Company Commander casually fixed his gaze on his phone screen.

‘Just one big win, and I can cover it all.’

Eyes glued to the stock ticker.

‘If I win this time, I swear I won’t do stocks anymore.’

He made the empty promise.

Before long, a ban on cell phone usage was implemented for high-ranking Magical Girls across the Magical Unit.

Just another peaceful day in the life of a Magical Girl.