An evil organization.
A group formed for wicked ambition, committing all manner of evil deeds.
Good examples would be an organization that captures pocket monsters to aim for world domination, or a turtle legion that kidnaps the princess from the neighboring town every other day.
They harbor grand ambitions and occasionally strike at society's dark underbelly, but more often than not, they end up as nothing more than experience points to aid the protagonist's growth.
All the more so if one is a mere underling not even granted any narrative significance.
That was why I had firmly believed there was no way someone as insignificant as myself would ever become entangled with a magical girl worthy of being called this world's protagonist.
"P-Please go out with me!"
At least, until I was confessed to by Ruby—the magical girl who enjoyed global popularity as humanity's hope.
"...Hmm."
Given her appearance and personality, there was no reason to refuse her anywhere in the world, yet accepting this confession was utterly impossible.
Because I was a mere underling of the Silver Order—an evil organization hostile to the magical girl before my very eyes.
I had absolutely no idea why she would confess to a mere underling like me instead of an executive, but—
No, that wasn't all. There was a decisive reason I could not accept this confession.
"I-If it's all right, could you give me an answer? Of course, I'll do my utmost to ensure my duties as a magical girl don't interfere with our relationship—"
Ruby pleaded desperately, her eyes sparkling brightly, but none of it registered in my head.
But I had to say something now. If I aroused unnecessary suspicion here, there was a chance of the Silver Order being discovered.
"Ah, yes. So, basically."
In other words, clearly.
"I understand, so for now, please untie me from this."
I said this, holding up the ropes wrapped around my arms.
***
It was a peaceful morning where a magical girl had sortied to suppress a monster's rampage.
I spoke to the orange-haired girl sitting across from me, sipping her coffee.
"Listen seriously. There's something I really want to discuss with you, as a Silver Order executive and as my friend."
"Why so formal between us, Senior Jade?"
The girl let out a theatrical scoff as she delivered a stylish line.
"Please tell me anything. I'm quite close-mouthed."
"Amber..."
An adorable girl who still calls me senior even though she was promoted first. She can be a bit flighty, but what choice did I have but to trust a friend I'd run alongside for the past year?
Here, I would trust her and speak honestly.
"...I got confessed to yesterday. At this café."
The moment I broached the subject, Amber's eyes widened in surprise and she lifted off her chair.
"Eeeeh?! Someone confessed to you, Senior?!"
"My eardrums are going to burst. Is it really that surprising?"
True, I'd never call my own face handsome even on my deathbed, but this reaction was simultaneously dissing both me, who received the confession, and Ruby, who gave it.
"No, I was just a little surprised..."
Amber lifted her coffee cup to her lips, then continued the conversation as if she had calmed down.
"So? Who exactly confessed to you?"
"She goes to the same school as you. A second-year at Jewelry Academy."
Perhaps startled that it was someone unexpectedly close, Amber's pupils widened for a moment.
I fully understood. I had been fairly shaken when I was suddenly confessed to by a girl in uniform too.
"What's that girl's name?"
"...Ruby."
"Ruby? That's an unusual name. Not like Magical Girl Ruby or anything."
Amber tossed out those words half-jokingly, but to me, it was no joke whatsoever.
"That's her."
"Huh?"
"Magical Girl Ruby confessed to me. At this café."
The air froze over in an instant. How to put it... like when I spoke up in middle school and the entire class suddenly fell silent, countless gazes stabbing into me.
Enough nonsense. Anyway, the story couldn't begin unless she believed me.
Amber seemed to fall into deep thought for a moment, then suddenly changed her expression entirely and—
"Puhahahaha! Haahahat! Agh...! Wait... kekeuk, my stomach..."
Clutching her stomach as if she found this genuinely hilarious, she burst into uproarious laughter.
"..."
Should I kill her?
She laughed for quite a while, only returning to her senses after about two minutes.
"Phew, that was a good laugh. You say such amusing things, Senior. That you're from another world, that you got confessed to by Magical Girl Ruby... That's too much, even for you."
"Both of those are true..."
I had begged her to believe the former about seventeen times, only to fail in the end. When I mentioned my real name or the country called Korea, she had genuinely worried about my mental health.
"I know it sounds strange, but it's really not a lie, okay?"
Until yesterday, I had sincerely agonized over whether I was having some kind of nightmare, but this was nothing other than reality.
To Amber, however, this story seemed to sound like nothing more than a simple joke.
"Ah, could this be that? Are you trying to confess to me by going the long way around?"
"Cut the crap."
Even if her face is somewhat cute, I had absolutely no intention of dating a brat like her.
"I wouldn't mind dating you as a test run, Senior. I like older guys."
Amber straightened her long hair seductively, putting on a devilish smile.
Let me correct myself. Even if she's very cute, I probably have no intention of dating a brat like her.
"Believe it or not, I really did get confessed to. We promised to meet again at two o'clock."
Honestly, I had roughly expected this kind of reaction.
That's why I had formulated a plan to make her believe by letting her witness the conversation directly.
"So she'll be coming here soon? A child with a few screws loose claiming to be Magical Girl Ruby?"
"There's a limit to rudeness."
Well, even if she believed me, that level of reaction would be reasonable.
But I knew it was the real Ruby. She had transformed right before my eyes yesterday to prove it personally.
"Well... even if we assume by some miracle that Ruby confessed to you. Why don't you just date her? She's pretty, after all."
"That's..."
Could I really tell her even this? It felt like I was slandering someone tremendously.
No, the water had already been spilled. What was the point in hiding more?
With a serious expression, I began to tell her what Ruby had done to me yesterday.
"To tell you the truth, she tied my arms up with rope and restrained—"
"Let's go to the hospital."
It took roughly an hour to persuade Amber, who was trying to drag me to a mental hospital.
"We still have some time before the appointment, so hide somewhere nearby. You'll know once you see her yourself."
"Sigh... I said I got it, really."
Amber made a displeased expression, picked up her coffee cup, and rose from her seat.
As one of the Silver Order's important figures, she was an elite who had joined the organization and immediately earned recognition for her abilities, securing an executive position.
I wondered what it looked like for such a person to hide behind the counter to eavesdrop on someone's confession, but she herself showed no awareness whatsoever.
Rather, she was simply going along with Jade's words to escape this situation quickly.
'No matter how much he wants to date me, this is too much. Yeah.'
His sudden actions felt like nothing more than expressions of affection toward her. She firmly believed they already shared a relationship of mutual love born of overcoming hardships together.
Amber's guess was that he had probably hired some random girl with money to provoke her jealousy.
'Seriously, Senior. You don't need to go through this trouble. I was planning to provide for you after graduation anyway.'
She had already received enough money from the Silver Order to last a lifetime, and she even had plans to continue a life of comfort after just a bit more work.
'How many children would be good? I think about three...'
Just as Amber was continuing her meaningless future plans, footsteps suddenly sounded from beyond the café door.
Since it was an underground café, the sound of footsteps on the stairs was especially audible.
'Looks like she's here.'
A brief silence followed, and the one who opened the door and stepped inside the café was—
"Oh, Lavi?"
Amber couldn't hide her agitation upon confirming the identity of the one who had entered. It was none other than a classmate from the same classroom.
Kind-hearted and straightforward, she was popular with both boys and girls alike, and her grades were excellent as well. That was the impression of the girl named Lavi.
They weren't particularly close since they belonged to different groups, but Amber remembered conversing with her a few times.
'Hmm... She didn't come here just as a customer, did she?'
Unlike how she looked at school, she was wearing fresh casual clothes and had put effort into her makeup. It was undoubtedly her who had dared to confess to Amber's senior.
The biggest problem was that if Jade's words were true, her classmate was Magical Girl Ruby.
Amber desperately wracked her poor brain. Just how much of this was the truth?
'Even if we assume, with a hundred steps of leeway, that Lavi confessed to Senior, the idea that she's that Ruby is a bit...'
Before the shock could even subside, the situation worsened further.
"Haa, haa..."
"...?"
What caught her eye was Ruby breathing heavily as she stared fixedly at her senior.
Slightly widened pupils with an expression that looked somehow pitiful.
"Uh... are you okay?"
"Yes, my head hurts a little."
Jade didn't seem to notice, but Amber, being a girl herself, could intuitively tell.
The fact that it was the face of a 'female'—coquettishly demanding love from her target.