Isekai, meet Machine and Magic

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: So, Isekai?

{Operative}

The alarm went off and, through ingrained training, I woke up... or at least, I opened my eyes, turned off the alarm before grudgingly doing my morning routine. I just really hated waking up early in the morning; it was simply too annoying. But, I was a high school student so I still had to go to school. And, with that, I have to wake up early.

There was no one else in my house. Both of my parents had volunteered to join a space colonization program. Or rather, my dad was "kindly asked" to go because of some political shenanigans and my mom, who was completely smitten with him for more than 20 years, left on the second ship two years after. At least she was still sane enough to teach me how to take care of myself before, as well as leaving me a sizable amount of money for living expense. And just in case, she had also contacted her sister — a CEO of a very prestigious engineering conglomerate — in order to keep me fed and watered. It had been ten years already and monthly supplements were transferred into my account.

Not like I would need their money considering that I had one hell of a job. The eccentricities and insanity of my dad aside, he was a highly respected and fearful military commander. Before his critical injuries, his file of that period was covered in a ton of black ink. I had no idea how helpful it was in landing me a job with Security Bureau...

As it turned out, my dad had been at the forefront of the War even before it took place. Five years waging the war in shadow, he had crippled a good deal of the enemy force and was only stopped when he had lost all four of his limbs in a single op. Even that could not stop him from being a brilliant front-line commander in the war.

To say I had to walk in his shadow was an understatement. But five years within the Bureau and a few hiccups had helped me to forge my own path. Just like my dad, I would become a silent guardian of the Terran Federation, safeguarding humanity from the horror within and without. Especially within.

Munching toast while holstering a pistol around my ankle, I ran over the diagnosis of my tools. The smart-watch with direct satellites was on my wrist, and an arm-band opening up a small hyperspace arsenal was secured around my forearm. My backpack was equipped with a bulletproof lining, and I had a few simple survival tools stashed inside.

Time to earn my paycheck then.

Jumping on my scooter, I sped toward the house at the end of the block. And, right on time, Shinonono Yukino appeared through the door. She was my charge, and I was her guardian. And I was also her executioner if needed. It was a punishment that humanity dealt upon the magical kind. Harsh, brutal, but it was very effective. Mankind would push forward to help the mystic to integrate and hopefully be accepted in their society, but humans were also ready to deal with the "fifth column" in the most brutally efficient way possible.

At least the second part was not really necessary anymore; Yukino had already proved her loyalty to the Terran Federation, single-handily subdued five other witches planning for a mass summoning of demons. She saved my life in the process, and I took three lightning bolts for her. Just because.

Things were strange after that for us. High Command cleared her name, freeing more social liberties for her, but they also stuck her on me. Not that I minded, of course, she was quite cute and pleasant. A bit of a mama-bear when she found out that I had been injured —no one told me what happened after I had passed out— but she was pleasant enough to hang out with. In addition, she was quite intelligent and one hell of a lifesaver in Chemistry and Biology. It was a nice save for me because sometimes I just mucked them up.

It was being proved right now as she was quizzing me on Chemistry. More likely than not, the teacher would give us a small questionnaire today, and I hate having a bad mark on it. Yeah, it was a joke, a spy kid was afraid of having a terrible mark. But I had seen stranger things over the course of my training and career, and I had done worse too.