The Virtues of a Magical Girl (6)

The Virtues of a Magical Girl (6)

The nearby abandoned building was the meeting place. Ceria, concealed by an invisibility spell, could be seen flying quickly through the sky towards this location.

I stood there openly, not bothering to hide myself, waiting for her.

“You came. But your eyes show disbelief.”

“Who are you, or rather, who are you supposed to be?”

As soon as she landed, her eyes shook violently upon seeing me. Since I was perfectly concealing my status as a demon lord, she seemed unable to be certain yet.

This felt a bit strange. In my current form, there shouldn’t be anyone who wouldn’t recognize me if I were to walk down the street right now.

“Well, who do you think I am?”

I asked back with a faint smile. She flinched and her lips quivered. It was obvious that she wasn’t confident in her thoughts.

“Among the beings I know… there’s another Tequilas.”

“So.”

“That person is the king of a world, a ruler. And you, or rather, you who summoned me as if you knew me… Are you indeed the Demon King Takiras?”

Her voice was trembling and she looked quite confused. Well, it’s understandable since she’s seeing me like this for the first time and probably wondering how to deal with it.

“No. I am Magical Girl Takiras. Your senior.”

So I decided to clarify things. Pointing to my own chest and grinning, I saw Seria flinch at my gesture.

“And you are Magical Girl Rene. My junior. That’s all there is to it.”

I pointed at myself and her alternately. Her eyes changed slightly, as if she understood what I meant.

Originally, once a magical girl transforms, she becomes a completely different being from her original self. The same goes for me and her. Putting aside our identities as the tentacle demon king and the magician princess who made a blood pact, we act as completely different beings on equal footing as magical girls.

It doesn’t matter to me, but this is necessary for her deviation to have meaning.

“I called you first just to warn you not to be surprised. Whatever we do to each other here is our own freedom, so let’s not worry about each other. You and I are completely different beings.”

“…I understand.”

Although she still seemed quite confused, she seemed to understand well enough not to use honorifics with me. A satisfactory response.

I retrieved Ren, who was gritting his teeth, and left the building, leaving Seria standing there in a daze.

“She’ll adapt well on her own. It’s another world, but since she’s a completely different being herself, she shouldn’t feel burdened.”

“What on earth are you thinking…”

Ignoring Ren’s grumbling on my shoulder, I flew out of the building and into the sky. Even though I was already late, I had to hurry back to avoid suspicion since I had slipped out during the school lunch break.

“I’ve become too popular.”

“Of course, you’re an SSS-class candidate who single-handedly defeated a mammoth.”

In the process, I could feel numerous gazes directed at me.

Those gazes mixed with various emotions… Honestly, I’m not the type to enjoy such things, but since it’s the karma I’ve built up myself, I didn’t particularly mind.

“What is this…”

But at that moment.

Something shot towards me, approaching rapidly. Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, I quickly increased my altitude.

“Mi-missile!”

“Such insolent bastards.”

What followed behind me was a missile about half my height, fired from who knows where.

I grimaced and immediately released my magical power, crushing the missile in mid-air and suppressing even its explosion.

I wasn’t hurt at all, but I was dumbfounded.

I never imagined I’d almost be shot down by a missile in the middle of Seoul. At least there were no follow-up attacks.

“Who on earth…”

“We need to go back for now. You’re already more than halfway late for your 5th period. What excuse will you give to the teacher? You’ll surely be punished.”

I looked around the visible cityscape to find the culprits I wanted to tear apart, but Ren pulled my hair to stop me.

While stretching Ren’s screaming ears, I bit my lip. Restrictions, daily life was a restriction for me.

Was living the life of a 14-year-old girl really the life I wanted? As I told Ren, being a magical girl was becoming not just a simple entertainment for me, but a way of life. I was somewhat satisfied with it.

Then what about the daily life I’m living as Lee Jin-ah now?

It was a disguise I had to choose to blend into this highly ordered society, but is there really anything I can gain from that daily life?

“Ye-yes, even now that I know your identity and circumstances, my opinion hasn’t changed. You’re clearly enjoying that daily life. You feel a sense of stability. So enjoy it as much as you can. Keep…”

“It looks that way? That I, the Demon King Takiras, am satisfied with living a life pretending to be a young girl?”

Ren, dangling from my grip on his ears, continued his honest speech.

However, my crumpled face reflected in Ren’s large black eyes gradually found stability. I put Ren back on my shoulder.

It might have actually been true. The life of struggle I’ve been living for the past 100 years may have made me tired.

All the advice I gave to Seria applied to me as well.

“It feels like the game is getting more and more serious.”

After landing on the school rooftop while hiding my appearance, I undid my transformation and returned to the classroom.

*

“Hmm. Did you see?”

“The tracking failed. Seems like there’s some kind of magic at work.”

“Honestly, any researcher would be tempted. The magical girl estimated to be the strongest. What would we find if we cut open that small body alive?”

Oh In-sun put down the binoculars she was holding.

They were fine even after firing an anti-tank guided missile in the middle of Seoul at the Code Red magical girl, who was evaluated as the strongest and most vicious, said to have no hesitation in killing people.

It was because they had attempted it with some calculated basis.

“Even if they’re called Code Red or demon girls or whatever, they’re still just teenage magical girls.”

“Looking at the time frame, it’s clear. They just came out briefly during the school lunch break. Seeing how they hurried back in, it seems even the most vicious magical girl is afraid of their homeroom teacher? We might be able to find clues if we search the nearby schools.”

Oh In-sun’s colleagues snickered at her words.

It’s already widely known that magical girl transformations have limits. It’s also an undeniable fact that their power is greatly reduced when not transformed.

Moreover, as they are members of society, magical girls tend to hide their true identities as much as possible. That’s when they’re most vulnerable.

No matter how strong a magical girl is, in an untransformed state, a single stray bullet could shatter their skull and turn their brain to mush.

“Well, what’s important now isn’t Tequilas. Did the other teams have any results?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then that’s fine. It was worth coming all the way to a foreign country.”

She grinned at her colleague’s words. The organization’s plan itself was progressing steadily.

“From now on… huh?”

That’s when a phone call came in.

“Who is it?”

“Congressman Jung.”

She answered the phone nonchalantly, but soon frowned and pulled the phone away from her ear. The angry voice of the caller was loud enough to be heard from outside.

“What on earth are you doing?! Firing a missile at Taquilas in the middle of Seoul!?”

“Why are you so worried? It was a calculated action, and thanks to it, we’ve partially identified that criminal girl. Is the Korean government incapable of even such a simple attempt?”

Oh In-sun responded with a sneer, not batting an eye as if there was nothing wrong. In fact, Congressman Jung Chan-hyuk on the other end was so taken aback by her attitude that he was at a loss for words.

“She’s out of control enough to run wild all the way to America. She’s been quiet lately, and there’s no reason to provoke her unnecessarily.”

“That’s your problem. Are you, a mere vassal, daring to interfere with a great nation’s project?”

“Ugh…”

Insulted as a vassal of a tributary state, Congressman Jung grimaced but couldn’t refute. He could only inwardly resent his colleagues who had pushed this task onto him.

“I won’t cross the line, so just watch. You aging lot have already sold everything for your own advancement, haven’t you? This country, your threadbare honor, your roots, even the children of this land.”

“S-Shut up. Anyway, if too much attention is drawn, there’s nothing we can do either, so be careful. Tsk.”

He hastily hung up the phone, mocking Oh In-sun’s laughter.

It was because he knew, with what little conscience he had left, that everything she said was true and he felt ashamed.

“Pathetic fools. Corrupt and evil, and incompetent to boot. I wonder if they think we’ll accept traitors like them.”

“I don’t care about politics. We need to rescue the subject and conclude the experiment quickly.”

Oh In-sun, who only moved according to orders from above, thoroughly mocked the Korean political factions that had actively cooperated in bringing her organization, The One Road, into the country to search for and kidnap children to use as test subjects.

Of course, The One Road’s overseas branches took the form of multinational corporations, and there were many foreigners like Danny, who was American.

Whether it’s the higher-ups or those who voluntarily participated in the research, the purpose was ultimately one and the same.

It was to secure the secrets of magic power and make it their own strength.