Ch.125Chapter 21. A Magical Girl’s Duty (1)

We should have had more discussions about this.

As the situation kept unfolding in unexpected ways, we probably should have shared more opinions and thought things through.

But we didn’t have that kind of time.

Come to think of it, I’ve never had time to prepare for anything.

Right after I was born into this world, I was abandoned without a family.

When I was finally trying to adjust during childhood, I had to move to the orphanage.

Just when I thought I had adapted to that life, I discovered what kind of world this really was.

Even after that, time and again, whenever my life seemed to be stabilizing, whenever I started to feel even slightly at ease, everything kept getting turned upside down.

Completely regardless of my will.

When I chose to escape, that choice always led to a dead end. My footsteps always led me to places I didn’t want to go.

It’s happening again now.

“…”

The burning smell is terrible. We were about 200 meters away from the scene, but the smell of burning still stung our noses.

The once-clear sky is barely visible now. Smoke, dust, and ash fill our vision.

The Noir Corporation complex is enormous. It’s so large that it’s often used as an example when explaining important locations in the country. And it hadn’t even been built that long ago.

Police cars and ambulances are gathering around, and many fire trucks are visible too. Injured people are being carried out on stretchers—

I wonder if anyone died?

“Hey.”

Someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned to see Rose.

“It’s not your fault. Don’t make that face.”

“…”

“The kind of people who would do this would have done it regardless of you… No, wait.”

Rose paused in thought for a moment before speaking again.

“If you hadn’t been struggling all this time, you might have been among the enemies we just took down, you know?”

I didn’t respond to Rose’s words.

Maybe that’s how it looks to others.

But I… I knew a lot of things. I might not have known everything that happened in the webtoon, but I could have done something.

Yet, I only thought about myself.

I despaired at being born into this kind of world in this role, and jealous of Hayun being the protagonist, I did strange things.

…In the end, things didn’t go wrong because I was weaker than the magical girls, but if I had actually possessed some kind of power…

If everything had gone according to the wishes of the being who sent me to this world, the story could have been completely different.

Though I still don’t know anything about that being.

After closing my eyes briefly and being lost in thought, I took a deep breath and said:

“…Let’s go.”

I’m not even sure why I’m saying this now. Wasn’t this originally something Hayun should say?

When I turned to look at her, there was only Hayun’s smiling face looking at me.

Right. What’s the point of thinking about all this? Through situations that changed ridiculously many times, I’ve come this far.

If that’s the case, there’s only one thing I can do.

“Let’s go. We need to do what we can.”

I’ve never been officially recognized by the Federation. My relationship with the government is also ambiguous. But despite that, many people still think of me as a magical girl.

If that’s the case, I should at least do work worthy of that name.

To be honest, I’m not really into it. I don’t have any of the sense of duty that a magical girl is supposed to have.

But even so, I can’t ignore what’s happening right in front of me.

My opponent is the Chairman.

The trash who turned me into this state.

At the very least, I won’t feel better until I land one punch on his face.

*

The “magic” in the name magical girl isn’t just for show.

“…”

As Delphinium stood over the scene with her eyes closed, chanting a spell, wind began to blow around us.

It wasn’t a gust or a strong wind. Rather, it was a gentle breeze that felt somewhat cool. It seemed too weak to clear away the black smoke obscuring our vision—but well, magic is magic for a reason.

The smoke swayed gently, mixing with the movement of the air.

Then the smoke abruptly disappeared from its source.

While it couldn’t extinguish all the fires at once, it was enough to control the flames around us.

“…This is the worst,” Dalia muttered.

“First, we need to get people out. We’re the only ones who can enter this place right now,” Rose said.

“…But at the same time, we need to find those people in there. We still don’t know what they were thinking, doing something like this.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

We exchanged glances with each other. Even Delphinium, who had her eyes closed, briefly opened them and nodded.

“We should divide into the same teams as before. Since we need someone with strength on this side too, I’ll stay here,” Rose said.

“Be careful,” Hayun said, to which Rose flashed a smile.

“Don’t worry. We know, right? This level of danger won’t hurt us.”

Then she fixed her expression and looked at us with serious eyes.

“I should be more worried about you all. …No one knows what might be in there.”

Her gaze was directed at Jihye.

“I…” Jihye said.

“I want to go with Jieun.”

“…”

Hayun and Ju-a’s gazes turned to Jihye.

“…Alright.”

Hayun was the first to speak. Jihye seemed a bit tense, her shoulders trembling.

Hayun is at the center of the magical girls. Now that I’m actually here, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who’s explicitly the leader, but she’s still the central figure in the magical girls’ relationships.

“Jihye’s power will definitely be helpful. It’s the power to block everything, right?”

Hayun smiled at Jihye as she spoke.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Y-Yes!” Jihye nodded vigorously in response.

*

As Hayun said, Jihye’s power was helpful.

“Jihye, above!”

Seeing me shout, Jihye naturally extended her hand toward the sky.

The burning debris falling toward us was all blocked by Jihye’s shield. Once Jihye blocked it, we quickly moved out from under it.

I crushed and cleared away any debris I could handle, and Ju-a shot down and destroyed anything falling from the sky that her gun could hit.

And—

“Haah!”

The machine blocking our path was split in half by Hayun’s sword.

We haven’t encountered any Kaijin yet. Fortunately or unfortunately, we haven’t encountered any Combatants either.

There have been no casualties. The rescue team probably hadn’t made it this far yet. There were machines blocking our way, but most of them seemed to be malfunctioning due to the explosion.

“This way,” James guided us, flying beside Hayun who was leading the way.

“How do you know the way so well?” I asked.

“Despite appearances, I’ve been with Noir Corporation for quite a long time. I know how the people of this company hide things when they want to. Above all—”

“You can tell by following the direction of the smoke,” Cherry finished James’s sentence.

“The place where the explosion occurred is likely where the fleeing Chairman has what he wants most.”

I see.

…The place where my entire life got completely tangled up.

Was everything planned here from the beginning?

Gritting my teeth, I ran with all my might.

*

“This is…”

After clearing obstacles one by one and running, we arrived here.

Several floors below the surface where we had been standing, a scene I couldn’t have imagined was unfolding.

Actually, the process of getting down here itself was like that.

We didn’t come down by stairs, but followed a path that had been opened in the floor.

“…My God.”

Even Ju-a, who almost always maintained a cool expression, muttered those words at the sight.

In front of our eyes was a massive pit. It was similar to sinkholes sometimes seen on the news. But its size… was too enormous.

It’s impossible to gauge its exact size. Black smoke was continuously rising from below. If Jihye hadn’t been with us, we would have all collapsed from suffocation by now.

No, even if we hadn’t collapsed, we wouldn’t have made it this far. There’s no way we could have endured in such toxic gas.

“How on earth could they prepare something like this?”

Aliens have only been in contact with Earth for 5 years. Noir Corporation was established after that, and considering the time it takes to build this complex, they would have had much less time in reality.

Yet, they had prepared such a massive space down here.

“…”

James was silent.

“Hayun, what should we do?” Cherry asked, sounding a bit perplexed.

Whether to jump into the hole or not. That’s probably what she was asking.

Hayun was silent for a moment, lost in thought, then looked up.

“…Ah!”

Ju-a followed her gaze, looked up, and shouted.

“We need to evacuate everyone above!”

Then she urgently called out.

There were cracks in the ceiling. Like crevasses in glaciers formed over thousands of years, the cracks looked deep even to the naked eye.

But the cracked area wasn’t thick glacier ice.

It was the floor supporting this massive building. A huge explosion had occurred below, and it was even affecting the upper floors. It’s more surprising that the building is still standing.

“Evacuation isn’t the only issue,” I muttered.

“Even we’re in danger.”

But Ju-a wasn’t wrong. We could at least warp out, but the people up there…

“Can everyone hear me?” Hayun moved immediately. A crackling sound came through the communicator attached under her circuit.

[Hello?]

Fortunately, despite the noise, communication wasn’t impossible.

“Above is dangerous! The building is about to collapse entirely! Everyone needs to evacuate! If there are people, get them all out!”

[Got it.]

Rose responded to Hayun’s urgent cry. There was no need to continue the conversation after that. Rose probably relayed the message to Dalia and Delphinium, and they would try to get out of here immediately. Since they can fly, it shouldn’t be a problem.

“Everyone gather around me,” I said.

The hole is still in front of us, but entering it right now is too dangerous.

It would be better to retreat, regroup, and come back—

But before everyone could gather around me and before I could cast my spell, the ground shook violently.

It was such a massive tremor that it felt like an earthquake. Well, occasionally there were mild earthquakes in Seoul, but nothing like this.

I reached out as I saw Hayun, Ju-a, and Jihye running toward me.

Hayun grabbed my arm.

Ju-a grabbed my other arm. Jihye instinctively grabbed my waist.

James and Cherry’s drones flew toward me as if falling. I embraced the two drones with their propellers turned off.

My vision shook wildly up and down.

Crack.

Before I could make any judgment, we heard that sound above our heads.

A massive chunk of concrete, large enough to cover our entire field of vision, fell toward our heads.

*

“…”

I didn’t lose consciousness.

In that situation, I stupidly just huddled with the others, holding them close. Could I have used magic if I had tried? Since powerful magic requires concentration to use, it’s uncertain whether I, in my panicked state, could have successfully cast a spell.

But at least we survived.

I gently opened my eyes.

In front of me were shattered pieces of concrete.

Those pieces surrounded us like a heavily cracked wall, following the invisible hemisphere that covered us.

A structure that seemed about to collapse on our heads, but didn’t.

I exhaled softly.

“Jihye.”

“…W-We’re alive…”

Jihye said, exhaling while tightly holding onto my back.

Ironically, my hammer was standing like a pillar in that hemisphere. The generator attached to the hammer head was glowing white, and that light seemed to be providing energy to the sphere.

“…”

This feels a bit strange.

It’s somewhat out of place to think about now, but I keep remembering Hayun’s claim that “the energy of the circuit is love.” We were all crammed into this small hemisphere after all.

Of course, the shield itself is clearly Jihye’s power, but…

“…Alright,” I muttered.

Since we’ve survived, we need to think about how to get out of here.

As I tried to concentrate again to warp—

“Eek!?”

Jihye cried out and clung even more tightly to my back.

Hayun and Ju-a didn’t scream, but they gripped my arms tighter.

The ground is shaking again. No, it’s not just shaking.

Slowly, it’s ‘rising up.’

The concrete pieces arranged over the hemisphere shield began to scatter slowly as they vibrated. Through the widening gaps, the light from the sky gradually leaked in.

…Wait, leaked in?

The complex had exploded in the middle and was spewing enormous amounts of smoke.

Naturally, at the center of it, visibility was nearly zero, and the underground area where we were standing was even worse. It was already dark, and now enveloped in smoke.

But now…

As the concrete completely scattered, the blue sky became visible. It’s a rare sight in Seoul during this season. Spring is the season of fine dust after all.

But as if mocking that fact, the sky was clear.

No, more than that.

“…No way?” Ju-a, who had jumped to her feet, muttered.

The ground continued to vibrate, and large pieces of concrete were slowly falling away. The place where we were standing seemed flat at first glance, but in reality, it had a very gentle slope.

Like the top of an airship.

No, that’s not it.

It’s not “like” – this is the top of some massive airship.

When I turned around, an unbelievable landscape came into view. A horizon stretching far into the distance. It’s a sight difficult to see when standing on the ground, but even areas that would normally appear rugged with mountains looked like mere shallow hills when viewed from the sky.

…I see.

So, this is the choice the Chairman made.

I don’t know how long it had been prepared, but the Chairman must have been ready to leave Earth at any time.

This is a massive ship.

One that can travel through space.

Probably equipped with countless means of protection against Earth’s attacks.

He must have taken advantage of the fact that this country is not yet part of the Federation, and therefore couldn’t import many of the weapons the Federation exports.

“This is ridiculous,” I laughed involuntarily.

“James.”

“…Yes.”

James, who had landed his drone on the ground and opened the canopy, looked up at me and answered.

“What is this?”

“…”

James couldn’t bring himself to answer.

“Did you know the Chairman was building something like this? No, more importantly, did the former Chairman not know? How is that possible? Something like this being built under the largest industrial complex in this country.”

Well, let’s say the government might not have known. The other party is an alien after all. Beings dealing with technology that even they don’t fully understand.

But even so, Noir Corporation should have known.

“No, more than that,” I quietly asked James.

“…Was the former Chairman building this?”

“…I didn’t know the identity of this ship. The former Chairman didn’t tell me either.”

I questioned whether such a ship could be built without Squeakean technology, but for now, I just listened quietly.

“But, yes. You’re right. …If something like this was being built, the former Chairman must have known about it.”

I closed my eyes.

My hands were trembling. Probably from anger.

So, it’s true that the former Chairman and the current Chairman are fighting. They’re probably fighting for control of the company.

But their goals are different.

As James said, the former Chairman was researching something for what seemed like a religious belief,

And the current Chairman was thinking about making money with it.

…I should have realized that their ‘means’ could be the same.

“For now… for now, we need to do something about this place,” I muttered as I opened my eyes.

Then I gripped the hammer handle tightly with both hands.

“But you know, I’m angry too.”

Yes, let’s say we got here because of my choices.

But even so, people have limits.

There are boundaries.

After being used like this, how could I possibly let it go without landing at least one hit on the opponent?

“…After catching the current Chairman, I need to punch the former Chairman at least once too.”

James couldn’t respond to my words.

Hayun, Ju-a, Jihye, and Cherry were looking at me.

I took another deep breath and exhaled.

“…Let’s go.”

Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium would know the situation by now.

Even though I still find it absurd how I somehow became a magical girl… still, there’s only one thing a magical girl should do.

Beat and drive away enemies threatening Earth.

Now that the enemy is clear, there’s no need to despair or anything else.

“A magical girl should do a magical girl’s job.”

“Yes!” Hayun responded cheerfully to my words.