Ch.10Chapter 2. Private Life (4)

“…..”

The atmosphere had become incredibly serious.

And the reason was because of me.

No, I mean, even if we exclude the fact that I’m a combatant for that company… Actually, that’s ultimately the cause, so there’s probably no need to ‘exclude’ it.

So, that’s it. I had been extremely pale since coming out of the bathroom.

There was something I’d been completely wrong about—I actually care about relationships between people more than I thought.

I barely had any friends at school, and when people at work spoke to me, I’d respond half-heartedly. Naturally, the number of people who would initiate conversation with me had become quite small.

At most, there was the Earthaboo who showed strange interest in me, Jihye who shared my room, and Hayun, my childhood friend.

…Well, the Earthaboo aside, Jihye and Hayun probably wouldn’t like an evil organization like Noir Corporation very much.

“Jieun, calm down.”

Jihye patted my arm as she spoke.

“It’s probably nothing serious. He may be a stalker, but he’s just a reporter.”

Jihye tried hard to comfort me, thinking I was afraid of this situation.

“Yeah. Jieun, you don’t need to worry.”

Hayun said energetically.

Her face looked like ‘Blossom.’ She was still wearing glasses without lenses and a hat.

“I’ll take care of it for sure.”

“…..”

After thinking for a moment, I said to Hayun.

“Hayun.”

“Yes?”

“Today… could we just pretend we didn’t see anything and walk away?”

It took quite an effort for me to say those words.

Yes, I know it’s not something I should say to Hayun. After all, she’s the victim.

But still, there probably weren’t any critically damaging photos yet. Even Noir Corporation wouldn’t go into bathrooms to take hidden camera footage. If they were that crazy, they would have done it much earlier.

They’re just… trying to distort the facts, aren’t they?

If the Galactic Federation takes the matter seriously, they’ll resolve it quickly. After all, it’s not even true.

But Hayun looked at me with wide eyes after hearing what I said.

“…I see, that makes sense.”

Hayun closed her eyes and exhaled softly before speaking.

“Certainly, if I step in now, you and Jihye might be in danger. The other side might retaliate.”

“…..”

Um…

No, that’s not what I meant.

In a way, it is retaliation, but at least what I was saying wasn’t that kind of retaliation.

Of course, the orphanage was running normally thanks to Noir Corporation’s donations. The reason we could provide clothes so the children didn’t look deprived outside, let them eat what they wanted as much as possible, and regularly replace facilities when they got old was thanks to Noir Corporation.

…

Oh, this is actually helping a lot more than I thought.

We definitely couldn’t do all this with just government subsidies.

“But don’t worry.”

Hayun thumped her chest and said.

“That’s why we magical girls exist—to keep citizens safe from such threats.”

“…..”

What the heck.

Aren’t they actually a semi-illegal organization that the government openly arrests?

Noir Corporation isn’t exactly clean, but in terms of ‘legality,’ the Galactic Federation side is probably more illegal.

They’re essentially being given something like ‘diplomatic immunity.’

“Yes, I know.”

Somehow sensing my expression becoming subtle, Hayun continued with a serious face.

“We can’t save everyone. There are probably more people we can’t help than those we can with our activities.”

Well, they do show up at every labor dispatch site and interfere.

“But… it still has an effect. Since we started our activities, the Kaijin activities have decreased significantly.”

That’s… true.

The firepower of the Hope Circuit is beyond imagination.

They say ‘you won’t die,’ but if you get hit, you’ll end up in the hospital, and above all, it’s incredibly painful.

Noir Corporation is somewhat tolerated because they fall under the category of ‘legal,’ but there’s no chance for those caught doing truly illegal things. Especially alien criminals who are severely punished before being handed over to the Galactic Federation.

“…..”

Could that happen to me too?

From Hayun? To me?

Hayun’s hand landed on my shoulder.

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

“Oh, yes.”

And I nodded.

What else could I do?

Should I tell her now that I’m involved with them?

No, that’s a bit too much.

As I was lost in my own anguish, Hayun took out a small object from her bag.

Beep.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this is a pager.”

When I asked Hayun about the small device that looked like a vibrating bell, she kindly explained.

“It’s cumbersome to take out a smartphone and have detailed conversations, right? Pressing this sends a message to my colleagues.”

“Oh.”

Jihye’s eyes sparkled at Hayun’s words.

“Does that mean all five of you will gather here?”

“Yes… well, they won’t all gather ‘here.'”

“Then?”

Hayun answered my question.

“Everyone has their own style.”

Ah, certainly.

I know this well from direct encounters.

Hayun tends to fight by revealing herself honorably in front of her opponents. After all, she’s the ‘leader’ whose face is most well-known.

If this were a tokusatsu show, the leader would be Red, but isn’t this a magical girl series? The most ‘magical girl-like’ one is naturally the leader.

Happy Rose is even more combat-oriented than Hayun, so she naturally fights head-on.

Her punches are incredibly painful. Once, I was terrified when my helmet was half-shattered.

Happy Dalia is moody. We get major headaches because you never know where she’ll pop up from. Unlike a typical magical girl, she keeps targeting from behind, which is why ‘all-around vigilance’ was added to our action guidelines.

Happy Delphinium specializes in long-range fire support. Honestly, she’s not someone I, as a regular combatant, can handle, so the only option is to run away as soon as I’m spotted from a distance.

…And finally, Happy Iris.

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

Well, Iris herself prefers to act separately.

“…..”

Wait, so all of them are coming now?

“They’re all professionals, so you don’t need to worry too much. We probably won’t even need to transform unless it’s really serious.”

“Wow!”

Jihye seemed to have completely thrown away her fear.

She even seemed to be secretly hoping they would transform.

Well, if I wasn’t involved, I might have been looking forward to it too.

Fighting the urge to cover my face, I just tapped my feet.

Internally, of course.

If I did it outwardly, it would be too obvious.

*

“…So you called me for such a personal reason.”

Iris said with an extremely annoyed expression.

Despite saying that, she was the first to arrive. Did it take about fifteen minutes to get here? It seems the warp point technology she’s researching isn’t just used for attacks.

For some reason, she stared at my face as soon as she arrived, which made me freeze, but Hayun noticed and quickly went over to talk to her, saving me.

…Surely she doesn’t recognize me? The helmet has thorough tinting. It would be impossible to recognize me without X-ray vision.

“Yes….”

“Sigh.”

Iris pushed up her glasses with her finger.

While Hayun wore glasses without lenses or prescription, making little difference to her appearance whether she wore them or not, Iris’s glasses had some prescription. Her impression seems a bit softer when wearing glasses.

Does her eyesight improve when she transforms? That setting hasn’t appeared in the webtoon.

“Well, fine. Stalking is a crime after all. Even though this country has freedom of expression… just following the law doesn’t necessarily mean doing good.”

“…..”

“…What are you staring at?”

“Huh? What? Oh, nothing.”

How should I put this.

She’s a formal speech character in Korea.

Iris is the same age as Hayun. Not just the same age—they attend the same school. That means she’s also the same age as me.

But she uses formal speech to someone her own age?

Oh, of course, she did that in the webtoon too, so she’d do it here as well, but…

“Don’t you think it’s rude to stare so intensely at someone you’ve just met?”

…

No, we haven’t just met.

You’ve come to our class at school several times. Although you didn’t speak to me, I sit right next to Hayun.

And I often chat with Hayun.

Isn’t it a bit much that you don’t remember me at all?

Well, for me, it’s actually better if this is the impression she has.

Iris glared at me as if she didn’t like me much, but she didn’t seem to want to pursue it further.

She took a small breath in and out.

Then, opening her eyes, Iris looked directly at Hayun.

“Let’s resolve this quickly. We need to make sure that such perverted photos can’t be taken anymore, legally or illegally.”

Isn’t that a bit extreme?

Besides, her demeanor is different from when she’s in magical girl form. Then, she has a much more relaxed vibe, but now she seems like a stiff kid.

And her height… huh?

The height difference, wasn’t she originally taller—

Ah.

I see.

Since she’s always floating in the air looking down—

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

Iris was looking up at me again, frowning.

“Weren’t you just thinking something rude?”

“…..”

“Sigh, really.”

Iris openly put a finger to her forehead as if showing off, shook her head, and looked at me.

“…I’m only showing you this side of me because you’re Blossom’s friend. Normally, I wouldn’t show this side of myself.”

Regardless of what’s normal, we go to the same school.

And in this world, magical girls are already in positions similar to idols, so everyone probably knows their real names and faces…?

“Ah, well….”

Hayun quickly went over and whispered something in Iris’s ear.

Iris’s face immediately turned red.

“A-Anyway!”

Judging by her suddenly raised voice, she really didn’t know I was from the same school.

…Let’s consider that fortunate.

“Well, fine. You’re victims too… let’s get this over with quickly and disband.”

“But the other unnies haven’t arrived yet—”

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

No, all magical girls are minors.

The age difference is at most one year.

Adult magical girls? They wouldn’t even be ‘girls’ anymore.

Moreover, there was debate about whether high school students could be magical girls. Aren’t they magical ‘teenagers’?

I kept my mouth shut, feeling that Iris might get angry again if I said such things.

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

Ah, she has something to say even when I keep quiet.

She’s an incredibly annoying personality.

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

“J-Ju-a!”

Seeing Iris’s voice rising, Hayun quickly intervened.

Iris also belatedly realized that raising her voice would attract attention from people around, so she quickly shut her mouth.

…

There was an episode in the webtoon about Iris having no friends, and I can see why with this personality.

Probably only Hayun can tolerate this kind of character.

Feeling a strange sense of kinship, I must have made a face that suggested I had something to say, but Iris kept her mouth shut for now.

“…Well, let’s start by checking.”

Iris pulled up the article on her phone.

“All the photos are taken from behind. The photo from a few days ago that came up in the search… it’s a side profile, but it was taken just as you were entering a building. This means they took photos while following from behind and capturing the moment you turned. Have you noticed anyone following you?”

We all needlessly looked behind us.

And shook our heads.

Certainly, now that I think about it, the photos might have been taken from quite close.

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

Either looking down from above, or shooting from a relatively uncrowded place.

In a crowded area, there’s space to squeeze in between people, and when it’s crowded, it becomes difficult to identify the actual target.

The problem is that we’re currently in the middle of a busy street.

Although we’re standing in a suitable spot in the park, there are still many people passing by. Some even glance our way, making it more confusing.

“Well, fine. They could be taking photos with a phone or whatever… hmm, this doesn’t look like a smartphone. The depth of field seems quite deep.”

Iris continued speaking.

The camera had definitely blurred everything around Hayun.

I’m not sure if that’s wise instead of pixelating the surroundings. To create a ‘misunderstanding,’ the surroundings should be somewhat visible. It would be problematic if the ‘boyfriend’ looked like ‘just a friend.’

“Digital cameras store images captured by the image sensor. To blur everything except the subject like this… well, I can only think they physically zoomed in. If the aperture is too wide open, too much light would enter the camera sensor, making it difficult to shoot.”

“So, what does that mean?”

Jihye asked excitedly.

She looked like she was watching a detective making deductions.

Iris, seeming a bit proud, lifted her chin slightly and said.

“Well, the conclusion is simple.”

Iris folded her fingers one by one as she spoke.

“It means they’re following from close by, have a high-performance camera that can produce clear images even in dark interiors, and on top of that, have a lens capable of physical zoom, right?”

“…..”

Jihye and I looked at each other, then back at Iris.

Hayun seemed to have already reached the conclusion, but perhaps out of consideration for Iris who was excitedly explaining, she just smiled silently.

“But since we couldn’t find anyone carrying a camera, the conclusion is one of two things. Either they have a camera with outer space technology, or part of their body has been modified. I think the latter is more plausible.”

“Why? I heard body modification isn’t an easy thing.”

“I can sense a professional’s touch. Besides, no matter how small a camera is, if you’re holding it separately in your hand, it will inevitably look unnatural somewhere.”

Iris said with a smirk.

It was the same smile she had when shooting at me.

“And professionals who write such articles usually modify their bodies. It’s faster and more convenient to ‘write’ with their ‘heads’ and publish articles directly, rather than transferring to a laptop in between. And, be grateful. As it happens, I know an alien like that.”

Iris said triumphantly.

“And that person is also a wanted criminal. Doesn’t that give them plenty of reason to be in this country?”

…Hmm.

Surely she doesn’t memorize all the alien criminals in this country?

*

“It’s common for alien criminals to hide on Earth.”

Hayun slowly explained to Jihye.

“Most developed countries on Earth haven’t joined the Galactic Federation, so they can somewhat ignore international law.”

There’s no extradition treaty for criminals. Nor does Earth have a database of those alien criminals. Moreover, Galactic standards and Earth standards are rarely compatible, so transferring requires going through several cumbersome processes.

The Galactic Federation is pressuring developed countries by making various demands in exchange for transferring that database. The main points include an extradition treaty and some degree of unification between the Galactic Federation’s judicial system and Earth’s judicial system.

They’re an organization that maintains a form similar to the EU, albeit loosely. They want to move as ‘one country’ as much as possible.

And that’s why many countries are resisting more.

“…That’s scary.”

“But there’s no need to worry too much. Catching such people is also part of our job.”

“That’s amazing, really.”

Jihye’s eyes were sparkling.

On the other hand, my heart was gradually shrinking.

That damn executive James didn’t even mention that the reporter was a criminal. Well, it was probably better that he didn’t. After all, they’re promoting their company as ‘legal.’

The problem is that because of this, I’m about to get involved with that criminal.

“By the way, is it okay to bring civilians along like this? Wouldn’t it be better to exclude them in this situation?”

“Ah….”

At Iris’s words, Hayun made a slightly displeased expression. I’m not sure. Hayun is the type who wants to hide negative expressions as much as possible.

Iris and Jihye didn’t seem to notice.

“…Well, fine. If we scatter, the opponent might notice.”

Iris backed down a bit. It means she respects Blossom’s position for now.

She might be jealous, but still, it’s Blossom.

“First, let’s go somewhere with fewer people. Is there any pose that could make for a good article? A pose that would be good for editing into a strange article.”

“Ah, that.”

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

“…..”

And Iris momentarily couldn’t continue speaking.

“Sigh, fine, let’s do that. Once we find them, that’s all that matters.”

Looking at Hayun who was giggling and clinging to me, Iris shook her head and spoke.

Hmm.

I’m starting to feel like my heart is shrinking to the size of a walnut.

Is it just my imagination?