Volume 10 of Sasaki to Piichan (佐々木とピーちゃん) continues from where the previous volume left off, with Sasaki, Neighbor, and the rest of the group traveling to the United States. They are there to help the government and military handle a terrorist group that appears to be targeting Type-12.
Once they arrive, everyone enjoys a life of luxury provided by the government while waiting for further instructions. These lavish parties and comforts create a sense of uneasiness for both Hoshizaki and Sasaki, as they are not used to such treatment and worry about what will be asked of them in return. Sasaki eventually proposes to help with a task, and the authorities ask him to infiltrate a prison in New Mexico to gather information on specific individuals linked to the terrorist group.
Equipped with a translation device, Sasaki, who speaks only Japanese and very little English, becomes an inmate in one of the most dangerous prisons in the U.S. This leads to several fun hijinks as other inmates try to bully him, only for his strengthening magic to make him far too powerful for them to handle. He even manages to join a Chinese gang during his stay and gets a very visible tattoo on his face while trying to extract information from them.
Neighbor truly is way too adult looking for being in middle school.After obtaining the necessary info, Sasaki and Pii-chan leave the jail to begin the next stage of their mission. While on the street, he saves a woman and a young girl from an assault by armed thugs. Their names are Suiran and Yingling, and they invite Sasaki to their mansion to thank him.
However, Sasaki immediately realizes once inside the mansion that these two are not common citizens. In fact, Yingling is the daughter of a prominent Chinese mafia boss, and Suiran is her personal attendant. To show their gratitude, they suggest that Sasaki become Yingling’s personal bodyguard for a while before they reveal the information he is searching for.
Following various chase sequences where Sasaki protects Yingling, it is revealed that she is actually one of the seven Mahou Shoujo that exist in this world and a close friend of Magical Pink. The situation grows even more dire when the government reveals that a biological weapon is about to be unleashed on New York. Sasaki asks for the group's help to defuse the situation, even though Piichan mentions he could easily clear the threat after it triggers, though at the cost of revealing his true identity.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Piichan, Type-12, and the others, the weapons that were set in the outskirts of the city are disabled and the involved parties are arrested. Suiran eventually betrays Yingling under her father's orders due to her status as a Magical Girl, but she is easily subdued and neutralized.
The volume ends with Sasaki’s identity being leaked by the remnants of the terrorist group. As a result, he is essentially dropped by both the Japanese and U.S. governments, with officials asking him to leave the country for a while. I suspect the group may relocate to the Isekai world for a time in the next volume.
Yingling’s introduction to the cast is a welcome addition, as she is key to learning more about the Magical Girl business that remains hidden from sight. In fact, we get to see another of the Fairy Drops in this volume, which briefly possessed Yingling. Plus she's extremely cute so...
She also seems to harbor animosity toward the entities that transformed her into a Magical Girl and I'm curious how manipulative these were in their "recruiting". While not much is revealed yet, she promised she is not going to give up on Sasaki. This means we can expect her to become a recurring member of the cast and I even caught a glimpse of her in the color illustrations for the next volume.
There was also some slight development on the Isekai side of the story regarding Sasaki’s projects to build a tunnel. He even provided tablet devices to the merchants there, and things are becoming increasingly integrated. I do wonder if it is safe to introduce that much technology into a fantasy world, though.
I am looking forward to reading the next volume soon to see what happens next. Sasaki and Piichan continues to be one of the most entertaining light novel series I have ever read!
