episode_0010

“……”

The atmosphere became incredibly serious.

And the reason for that was me.

No, well, even if I exclude the fact that I am a combatant of that company… No, ultimately, that’s the cause, so there’s no need to ‘exclude’ it.

So, that’s it. I looked terribly pale since coming out of the restroom.

I’ve realized that I’ve been thinking very wrongly. I place more importance on human relationships than I had thought.

Even in school, I had hardly any friends, and at work, I would respond dryly when people talked to me. Naturally, the number of people who speak to me first is quite low.

At best, it’s Jiwoo, who shows an odd interest in me, and Hwayoung, who shares the same room, and my childhood friend, Hayoon.

… Well, Jiwoo might be excused, but Hwayoung and Hayoon probably don’t like sinister groups like Noir Corporation.

“Jieun, calm down,” said Jiwoo, tapping my arm.

“It’s probably nothing serious. You’re a journalist, even if you are a stalker.”

Hwayoung, who thought I was afraid of such things, tried hard to comfort me.

“Yeah. Jieun, you have nothing to worry about,” Hayoon said firmly.

She had a ‘blossoming’ face. She still wore unknown glasses and a hat.

“I’ll definitely take care of it.”

“……”

After some thought, I said to Hayoon, “Hayoon.”

“Yeah?”

“Today… can we just pretend not to know anything and move on?”

It was a word I spat out after making quite an effort.

Yes, I know I shouldn’t say that to Hayoon. She’s the victim.

But still, there weren’t any extremely critical photos yet. Even if it’s Noir Corporation, they wouldn’t sneak into the bathroom to take secret pictures. If they were the kind of lunatics to do that, they would have done it earlier.

I’m just… trying to distort the truth, aren’t I?

If the Milky Way Federation takes the matter seriously, they’ll resolve it quickly. After all, it’s not the truth itself.

But Hayoon, who heard me, widened her eyes and looked at me.

“… Right, that makes sense,” she said, closing her eyes and exhaling softly.

“Indeed, if I step in now, Jieun and Jiwoo could be in danger in this situation. The other party might retaliate.”

“……”

Oh…

No, I didn’t mean it in that way.

In some sense, retaliation might be appropriate, but at least my words weren’t meant in that sense.

Thanks to the donations from Nuar Corporation, our orphanage was able to function normally. The corporation provided enough clothes so that the children didn’t look deprived, ensured they could eat what they wanted, and regularly replaced facilities to prevent them from deteriorating.

…

Oh, this is much more helpful than I thought. We wouldn’t be able to do this with just subsidies.

“But don’t worry,” Hayoon said, tapping her chest. “We are magical girls, here to protect citizens from such threats.”

…

What is this? In reality, isn’t it a semi-illegal organization that the government doesn’t openly arrest? While Nuar Corporation isn’t exactly pristine, if you were to regulate it solely by ‘law,’ the Galactic Federation would seem even more illegitimate. In reality, they are just overlooking it as if it were a form of diplomatic immunity.

“Yeah, I know,” she said, detecting the subtle change in my expression. “We can’t save everyone. There are probably more people we can’t help than those we can through our activities.”

Although we have been appearing at every site we are contracted to, setting up barriers, it still seems insufficient.

“But… it’s effective. Since we started our activities, the activities of monsters have decreased significantly.”

That’s… true. The firepower of the Hope Circuit is beyond imagination. It says ‘it won’t kill you,’ but if you get hit, you end up in the hospital immediately, and above all, it’s incredibly painful. Nuar Corporation is somewhat lenient in the category of ‘being legal,’ but there’s no chance for those caught engaging in truly illegal activities. Especially extraterrestrial criminals are brutally punished before being handed over to the Galactic Federation.

…

Could that happen to me? By Hayoon? To me?

Hayoon’s hand rested on my shoulder.

“So, don’t worry too much. I will definitely protect my friend.”

“Uh, yeah.”

And I nodded.

What can I do? Are they asking me to say that I’m involved now? No, even if that’s the case, it’s a bit… Just when I was getting lost in my thoughts, Hayoon took out a small item from her bag.

Beep.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this is a communicator.”

When I asked Hayoon about the small device that looked like a vibrating bell, she kindly explained how it worked.

“It’s cumbersome to take out a smartphone for detailed conversations, right? If you press it like this, you can contact your colleagues.”

“Oh.”

Wisdom sparkled in response to Hayoon’s words.

“Does that mean five people will gather here?”

“Yeah… well, they won’t gather here exactly.”

“Then?”

In response to my question, Hayoon replied, “Because everyone has their own style.”

Ah, definitely.

I know this firsthand.

Hayoon is the type to confront her opponents head-on and fight with confidence. After all, she was best known for her face as the “captain” from the start. If this were a tokusatsu show, she would have been the Red Ranger, but this isn’t a magical girl story, is it? It’s just that the most “magical girl-like” one happens to be the captain.

Happy Rose was more of a hand-to-hand combatant than Hayoon, so naturally, they fought head-on. Getting punched really, really hurts. Once, my helmet was half shattered, and I was terrified.

Happy Dahlia is moody. We’re constantly on edge because we never know where she’ll pop up. She’s evaluated as a menace who doesn’t act like a magical girl, constantly aiming for surprise attacks, hence the addition of “beware of ambushes” in our action protocols.

Happy Delphinium specializes in long-range firepower support. Frankly, I’m not equipped to deal with someone like him in close combat. If he gets a shot off from a distance, there’s no way to avoid running away.

…And finally, Happy Iris.

She’s also responsible for long-range sniping and firepower support, but her role is slightly different from Delphinium’s. If Delphinium is indirect fire, Iris is direct. However, these two are famous for not getting along, so they hardly complement each other.

Well, Iris prefers to act separately anyway.

“….”

Wait, so they’re all coming now?

“Don’t worry too much; they’re all professionals. Unless it’s a really serious situation, they probably won’t even need to transform.”

“Wow!”

Ji-hye’s expression seemed to have shed all fear without her realizing. In fact, she almost seemed to be looking forward to transforming.

Well, if I had nothing to do with it, I might have looked forward to it a bit too.

While suppressing the urge to cover my face, I nervously fidgeted with my feet.

Of course, internally.

It’d be too obvious if I did it outwardly.

“….So, you called us here for personal reasons, right?”

Iris said with an incredibly annoyed expression.

Despite saying that, she was the first to rush over. Did it take about fifteen minutes to get here? It seems like her warp point technology under research isn’t only used for attacks.

For some reason, as soon as she arrived, she froze after staring at my face, but Hayoon quickly ran over and started talking to save the situation.

…Surely she didn’t recognize me or anything, right? My helmet is thoroughly tinted. Without telepathy, it’d be impossible to recognize me.

“Yeah….”

“Sigh.”

Iris pushed up her glasses with her finger.

Even though she wore glasses with no prescription or degree, so there was almost no change in Hayoon’s face beyond them, Iris’s glasses had a slight prescription. Her impression softened a bit when she wore glasses.

When transforming, do your eyes improve? Such a setting hasn’t appeared in webtoons, but well, it’s fine. Stalking is a crime after all. Even though there’s freedom of expression in this country… strictly following the law doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the right path.

“…. What are you staring at?”

“Oh? Uh? No, no.”

I guess she’s a character who uses formal language in Korea. Iris is the same age as Hayoon. It’s not just that they’re the same age; they attend the same school. In other words, we’re also classmates. But does one use formal language with someone the same age? Well, of course, it was like that in the webtoon too, so I guess it’s the same here…

“Do you not think it’s impolite to stare so intently at someone you’ve just met?”

…No, it’s not our first meeting. You’ve come to our class occasionally. Of course, you didn’t talk to me, but I sit right next to Hayoon. We often chat. Isn’t it a bit much to completely forget? Well, from my perspective, being more casual would be much better. Iris seemed to glance at me as if she didn’t particularly like me, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of pursuing it further.

I took a small breath, exhaled, then opened my eyes. Iris was looking straight at Hayoon.

“Well, let’s resolve this quickly. From now on, whether legally or illegally, make sure not to take such perverted pictures.”

Isn’t that a bit too harsh? Besides, the atmosphere is different from when she’s in her magical girl form. Back then, she had a much more relaxed vibe, but now she seems rigid, almost like a kid. And the height… huh? The height difference isn’t supposed to be this… Oh, I see. She’s always floating in the sky, looking down… “Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

Once again, Iris was frowning at me.

“Aren’t you being disrespectful in some way?”

“….”

“Ugh, really.”

Iris blatantly pointed a finger at her temple and looked at me.

“… Just because you say you’re Blossom’s friend, you don’t usually show yourself like this. Normally, you wouldn’t show this side of yourself.”

Regardless of what’s normal or not, we go to the same school. And in this world, magical girls are already in an idol-like position, so everyone should know their real names and faces, right…?

“Oh, that’s…”

Hayoon quickly whispered something into Iris’s ear.

Iris’s face turned red.

“Ah, anyway!”

Her sudden increase in volume indicated that she truly didn’t know I was a fellow student at the same school.

… Let’s consider that a relief.

“Well, it’s fine. If you’re victims too, then you’re victims. Let’s clean this up quickly and disband.”

“Other unnie’s haven’t arrived yet—”

“Unlike us students who are on vacation, they have quite a lot to do.”

But all magical girls are minors.

There’s only about a year’s difference in age.

They’re called adult magical girls, but they’re not really ‘girls’ to begin with.

Actually, opinions were divided on whether high school students are magical girls or not. Isn’t magic for ‘youth’?

I kept my mouth shut here because I felt like Iris would get mad again if I said something like that.

“What? Why do you look like you have so much to say?”

Oh, she still says something even when I keep quiet.

She’s incredibly annoying.

“You just thought I was annoying, didn’t you!?”

“Ju, Jua!”

Seeing Iris raise her voice, Hayoon quickly interrupted.

Iris belatedly realized that if she raised her voice, people around her would gather their attention and quickly shut her mouth.

……

There was an episode in the webtoon about Iris having no friends, and it seems like she has a personality that warrants that.

Hayoon is probably the only one who can handle this kind of personality.

Looking at me and feeling a strange sense of camaraderie, she seemed to have something to say again, but Iris kept her mouth shut for now.

“…… Then, shall we start by checking first?”

Iris brought up an article on her phone.

“All the pictures are taken from behind. The picture that came out from a few days ago… though it’s a side view, it was taken as soon as they entered the building. That means they followed and then turned around to take the picture. Have you ever seen someone following you?”

We all looked back for no reason.

Then we shook our heads.

Certainly, after hearing the story, I began to think that they might have taken the picture from a close distance.

There are only two types of pictures that can be taken with a telephoto lens.

Either taken from above looking down, or taken in a place where there are relatively few people.

Given the amount paid, there are many spaces to intervene, and it becomes difficult to confirm the real target if there are many people.

The problem is that right now we are in the midst of a crowded area.

We were in a suitable place in the park, but there were still many people passing by. Some even glanced in our direction, making it more confusing.

“Well, okay. You can take a picture with a phone or whatever… um, this doesn’t seem to be a smartphone. It looks pretty deep.”

Iris continued speaking.

The camera clearly focused not on Hayoon, but on everything around her.

If it’s not to obscure the surroundings, it might be wise. If it looks like it’s just a ‘friend’ instead of a ‘boyfriend,’ it could be awkward.

“The digital camera stores images on the image sensor. Saying that it has wiped out everything other than the subject… Well, I can’t think of anything other than physically doing a close-up. If you open the aperture too much, too much light will enter the camera sensor, making it difficult to take a good picture.”

“So, so?” Ji-hye asked eagerly.

She looked like she was watching a detective solving a case.

Iris seemed a little excited, slightly lifting her chin as she said, “Well, the conclusion is simple.”

Iris spoke while folding her fingers one by one.

“It means that someone is following closely, has a high-performance camera that can produce clean images even in dark indoor settings, and has a lens capable of physical zoom.”

“….”

Ji-hye and I looked at each other, then back at Iris.

Ha-yoon seemed to have already reached a conclusion, but whether out of consideration for Iris, who was explaining with excitement, or simply with a faint smile on her lips, she just watched quietly.

“But since we couldn’t find the person carrying the camera, there are only two conclusions. Either they have a camera with extraterrestrial technology, or their body has been modified. The latter seems more plausible to me.”

“Why? Isn’t modifying the body difficult?”

“I can sense the work of an expert. Besides, no matter how small the camera is, if it’s held separately and used to take pictures, it’s bound to look unnatural.”

Iris said with a smirk.

It was the same smirk she had when she aimed a gun at me.

“And professionals who write this kind of article usually modify their bodies. It’s faster and more convenient to publish articles directly using their ‘heads’ rather than transferring them to a laptop in between. And be grateful. I happen to know someone who fits that description.”

Iris said with a triumphant expression.

“And that person is also a wanted criminal. Isn’t that reason enough for them to be here in this country?”

…Hmm.

Surely she isn’t memorizing all the extraterrestrial criminal offenders in this country and going around looking for them, right?

*

“It’s common for extraterrestrial criminals to hide on Earth,” Ha-yoon explained slowly to Ji-hye.

“Since most advanced countries on Earth are not members of the Galactic Federation, they can somewhat disregard international law.”

There is no extradition treaty for criminals. There isn’t even a database of extraterrestrial criminal offenders on Earth. Moreover, the galactic standard and the Earth standard are rarely compatible, so transferring requires several cumbersome processes.

The Galactic Federation demands various things as the cost of transferring this database to pressure advanced countries. The main goal was to somewhat unify the extradition treaty and legal systems of the Galactic Federation and Earth.

Somewhat loose, but maintaining a form similar to the EU. Let’s move like “Hannara” since we’re at it. That’s why there are many countries that oppose it more.

“…Scary.”

“But you don’t need to worry too much. It’s our job to catch those people.”

“Amazing, really.”

Ji-hye was sparkling with her eyes.

On the other hand, my heart was shrinking little by little.

That damn official James didn’t even say the journalist is a criminal. No, of course, it’s better not to. After all, their company is promoting itself as “legal.”

The problem is that I got involved with that criminal because of it.

“But is it okay to bring civilians around like this? Wouldn’t it be better to exclude them in this situation?”

“Ah…”

At Iris’s words, Ha-yoon seemed to have a slightly displeased expression. It’s not certain. Ha-yoon tends to hide such negative expressions if possible.

Iris and Ji-hye seem to have not noticed.

“…Well, okay. We shouldn’t get scattered for no reason, as the other party might notice.”

Iris stepped back a bit. It means she respects the location of Blossom Island for now.

She’s jealous, but still, it’s Blossom Island.

“First, let’s move the people a bit to the side. Something… a posture that could become a topic. A posture that makes it easy to write a strange article after editing.”

“Oh, that’s…”

At Iris’s words, Ha-yoon immediately came to my side and linked arms with me.

“…”

And Iris couldn’t continue for a moment.

“Ha, okay, well, let’s do that. Once we find it, we’re done.”

Looking at Ha-yoon sticking to me with a giggle, Iris shook her head and said.

Hmm.

I’m starting to feel a bit anxious.

It must be my mood, right?