Ch.142Chapter 23. Line (5)

When I snuck into a government-controlled site with six friends to steal a massive, severely damaged spaceship, my mind was surprisingly calm.

You might think I’d reached some kind of enlightenment after everything I’ve been through. Fair enough—I’ve barged into buildings and demolished them, beaten up aliens who turned into monsters, mouthed off to government officials, fled from police, and destroyed police equipment. This should be nothing in comparison.

But that’s not the only reason I felt so calm.

“You… you had something important to do, right…?”

That’s what the security guard said when he encountered us.

It makes sense that this ship is enormous. One or two people examining it for a few days couldn’t possibly inspect everything inside.

The technology itself isn’t Earth technology but alien technology, and it’s vastly different from conventional tech. Even across the entire galaxy, it would be difficult to interpret without the technology of “leading corporations” or the Federation itself.

Of course, the government couldn’t just sit idle after acquiring this ship, so they apparently put various people inside to investigate it.

They had already cleared away all the fallen parts and even cleaned up glass fragments, probably to prevent accidents for the workers inside.

Instead, various other equipment had been brought in, and security personnel were patrolling around.

“You had a reason to sneak onto this ship, right?”

That’s what the security guard who encountered us asked.

It wasn’t completely unexpected. There were already numerous security personnel around the ship, some of them police or military, even carrying weapons and standing guard. It would be stupid to think there wouldn’t be someone watching inside 24 hours a day.

But I didn’t expect the guard to react like this when he saw us.

I had even transformed, thinking we might have to fight.

“Um…”

Caught off guard by his unexpected words, I hesitated for a moment.

“Well… you see…”

Although I’d gotten better at speaking in front of my friends, I still felt uncomfortable talking to strangers.

If he had been openly hostile, I could have just been rude to him, but he was speaking like an ordinary citizen in a hero movie who helps the persecuted hero. The kind of person who would say “I was just doing what needed to be done” even while facing repercussions from higher-ups.

…Have I forgotten how to have a polite conversation?

While I was seriously pondering this, Hayun stepped forward.

“Yes.”

Hayun’s answer was very simple.

“We need this ship. I can’t tell you exactly why right now, but we have something to do out there in space.”

“Is it related to people’s safety?”

“Of course.”

Hayun’s attitude was even confident.

“I see…”

The security guard thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Then… I’ll tell the others.”

“Ah, wait.”

As the guard was about to move, I finally realized what had been bothering me and stopped him.

“If you just let us go like this, you might face problems.”

I didn’t need to spell it out, but it was mainly about his job…

If this had been back when I was treated like a villain, I would have simply tied this guard up, left him outside, and stolen the ship to escape. After all, I was treated that way no matter what I did, and if I needed this ship to survive, I had no other choice.

…I would have hidden behind such justifications.

But it’s different when someone is trying to help me. Not just looking the other way, but actively helping.

If this person faces repercussions later because of this, what am I supposed to do for him?

“…”

The guard lowered his head in thought at my words.

I figured he might change his mind after hearing this. Maybe he has children to raise, or at the very least, himself to feed.

“I… have seen you all in action. Especially you, Lily. You overcame such difficult situations and chose to fight against evil.”

Um…

No, I was just rolling around trying to survive somehow. I never deliberately moved with righteous thoughts.

It just happened that the targets I faced were in pretty serious conditions.

“Besides, my wife was helped by magical girls about a year ago.”

“…”

I couldn’t respond to that.

“She was one of the civilians rescued from a place where Kaijin were rampaging. I don’t know how much worse the damage would have been if you all hadn’t been there.”

The guard raised his head and looked at us as he spoke.

“So this time, I want to help you. If it’s absolutely necessary, what can I do? We already know from seeing it multiple times that you’re not the kind of people who would threaten ordinary people’s safety.”

That was trust.

Stories about magical girls had already spread widely through the media. Not just heartwarming stories—some people tried to demonize magical girls by associating them with me to make money, and others tried to create controversy by taking photos of me kissing another girl.

But the good deeds built up by magical girls don’t just disappear. People who received help remember that help.

Originally, we had planned to subdue everyone inside and put them outside. No matter what they said, if we immobilized them and put them outside, everything that happened in here would be blamed on us.

But how could I forcibly tie up and put outside someone who spoke like this?

“You don’t need to worry too much about us.”

The guard spoke as if he had read my expression.

“When you return after saving Earth, who could criticize our actions?”

That’s true, but…

“Conversely, if you fail to save it… then there’s nothing to be done anyway.”

The guard’s expression was so composed as he smiled that I couldn’t respond at all.

*

In the end, we were able to take over the ship that way.

Besides that guard, no one else wanted to fight us. Whether they were swayed by majority opinion or thought they couldn’t win against us, the outcome was good anyway.

I don’t know exactly what’s happening near Jupiter. I don’t know how much time we have either.

But the fact that James sent such a signal means the situation is urgent.

There’s a small chance it could be a trap, but—well.

Can I trust James? At least Cherry and the other magical girls trust him.

Did James send the signal thinking we would come looking for him after receiving it?

I still don’t know.

Then we should go and find out.

Whatever happens, I want to finish this.

“Alright, then.”

We gathered again at the place where we had caught Pung-Pung.

Scratched and broken areas were clearly visible everywhere around us. Is it really okay for such an important place to be this damaged?

“Can you fix it?”

At my question, Cherry nodded with a solemn expression.

“I’ll try my best. Jieun, could you wait over there?”

The place Cherry pointed to was where that energy mass had been before.

I, or more precisely, my hammer, would substitute for that role.

As I stood there as Cherry instructed, Cherry opened a corner of this space and found a control panel to manipulate. Ju-a was hanging beside her.

After a few minutes, lights came on around us.

My hammer, or more precisely, the generator inside it, also slowly began to glow.

“Good. It’s not too badly damaged. It seems the most critical parts were spared.”

“Can it function normally?”

“Yes. It might be impossible to use all the ship’s functions perfectly, but we should be able to reach the coordinates.”

Then Cherry looked at us with a serious expression and said:

“The coordinates show Jupiter filling the entire view. Do you know what that means?”

The rest of us looked at each other, except for Ju-a.

“It means there’s a tremendous amount of radiation outside.”

Ju-a completed Cherry’s statement.

“Jupiter constantly emits an enormous amount of radiation.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Cherry said with a serious expression.

“I don’t know how much your energy can block that radiation. So don’t go outside under any circumstances. You must stay inside the ship at all times. Otherwise, you should only be inside the facility that the chairman built.”

We nodded.

Only after hearing Cherry’s words did I feel a little scared. Well, being scared doesn’t mean I won’t go, but still.

And that little bit of fear wasn’t enough to stop the Hope Circuit from spinning.

Because—

“Good. Many of the ship’s functions are still working. We should be able to make a faster-than-light jump. If we have enough energy.”

“Without a separate warp point?”

“Once we leave Earth’s orbit and get into space.”

Cherry said.

“And using a warp point requires an enormous amount of energy. Obviously, if we can’t use that function, the mission stops. It would be impossible to reach there in the first place.”

We nodded seriously.

But to put it another way, there’s no way we could lack energy.

The reason is,

“Well, now… I guess we have to do it?”

Hayun said with a blush.

Hey, I wish you wouldn’t abbreviate your sentences like that. Just saying “do it” makes things sound even weirder.

Seeing Hayun slowly approaching me, Jihye shouted:

“Wait!”

“Huh?”

“We haven’t decided who gets to kiss you! Why are you naturally approaching first, Hayun?”

Whew, seeing Rose whistle, I glared hard in her direction. Rose didn’t even turn her gaze away and continued watching us.

Dalia and Delphinium also looked a bit embarrassed but weren’t much different.

Pang Pang was watching us with sparkling eyes.

She seems to have absolutely no prejudice whatsoever. Well, in a world where aliens are already all over Earth, having prejudices would be stranger.

“That’s right.”

Ju-a interjected.

“We haven’t decided yet.”

Jihye and Hayun looked at her with bewilderment, but true to being a magical girl, Ju-a confidently withstood their gaze.

“So, how do you plan to decide?”

I asked, feeling a bit dumbfounded.

If I were dating one person or just had one person I liked, I might have felt embarrassed. You know, that kind of sweet feeling.

But the current situation feels more like watching carnivores fighting over prey.

I’m not saying I’m herbivorous—

Looking at the gazes directed at me after my question, I couldn’t help but shrink my neck.

“…I mean, why, because time is short.”

Despite my awkward phrasing, the girls nodded in agreement.

“Okay, then…”

Hayun thought for a moment and said:

“Anyway, the more energy, the better. And Jieun… though I feel a bit awkward saying this, you are affected by the number of times…”

No, stop abbreviating your sentences in weird ways.

Not that adding the word “kiss” would make it a normal sentence, but you’re making an already weird statement even weirder.

“That makes sense.”

Ju-a said.

“Besides, in this situation, it seems like no one is going to back down.”

“Fine.”

Jihye spoke up at Ju-a’s words.

“Then, let’s just decide the order.”

That’s weird too.

I decided to just keep my mouth shut. Somehow, as the situation has developed, I really don’t care anymore.

…Not that I dislike it, but I have enough intelligence not to say that out loud.

*

In the end, the order was decided as Hayun, Ju-a, and Jihye.

The method used to determine the order was rock-paper-scissors.

While I was blankly watching the girls shouting “rock, paper, scissors,” Rose tried to tease me more, but I just let it go in one ear and out the other.

And then.

“…”

The three gathered around me.

Hayun stood in front of me first.

“Even though we’ve done this several times, standing like this makes me shy.”

“…Talking about it just makes it more embarrassing.”

I complained but embraced Hayun as she leaned against me.

Human body temperature is so warm. But no matter how many times I experience it, I never get completely used to it. In a good way.

The soft feeling of lips too.

“…”

Ju-a, who approached after Hayun, didn’t say anything special.

With an expression that I couldn’t tell whether she was smiling or angry, she closed her eyes and slightly pursed her lips. I thought it was cute, but…

As we embraced each other, I felt a strange guilt.

It was about having just kissed Hayun moments ago. I became afraid to look at both Ju-a’s and Hayun’s faces.

…

Her lips were soft and her body warm, but they were different. Moreover, Ju-a was subtly shorter than Hayun, making me feel the difference more acutely. Especially since we were kissing consecutively in a non-combat situation.

Finally, Jihye.

Jihye embraced me actively. She even pressed her lips firmly against mine as if angry.

I reflexively embraced Jihye back, but I was a bit surprised to feel her lips moving slightly.

Jihye was different from Hayun or Ju-a too. Especially her body movements were very different, so I couldn’t help but be conscious of this case as well.

Even as I received kisses from the three, I wasn’t comfortable. If the three had no feelings at all, that would have been unpleasant in its own way, but now—

Well, fine.

It’s for work anyway. Right now.

“…”

Looking at my brightly glowing circuit, I couldn’t make any excuses.

I looked at Cherry.

Cherry nodded and gave me a thumbs up.

I took a deep breath and looked at the hammer floating in front of me.

“…Alright, let’s go.”

I grabbed the hammer with my hand.

The white light spreading from my wrist to my body flows along my arm toward the hammer handle.

And it reaches the hammer head. The light gathers, and the back of the hammer head splits open.

The white light visible there was truly like a ball of light.

I closed my eyes, then opened them again and said:

“Let’s go save the universe.”

I said something a bit embarrassing to blow away the worries in my mind.

The girls who had been watching me with serious expressions burst into laughter.

“Yeah, we need a slogan like that.”

Rose said.

“Cherry!”

Hayun shouted.

“Got it!”

Cherry shouted back and pressed a button.

Slowly, I felt the ship rising upward.

“…”

Pang Pang looked at us with what seemed like a moved expression.

“Pang Pang, why don’t you shout something?”

When I looked at Pang Pang and said that, she showed an unusually flustered expression.

“Shout? Me?”

“You have a super important role too.”

When I said that with a smile, Pang Pang looked around.

Rose extended her palm upward toward Pang Pang as if yielding the opportunity, and Dalia and Delphinium weren’t the type to shout such slogans in the first place.

Jihye was smiling, and Ju-a shrugged her shoulders.

Hayun nodded.

“Uh, umm…”

I tried to understand the feelings of the flustered Pang Pang.

As I called her an “Earthaboo,” Pang Pang genuinely loved Earth. From talking about Voyager to liking various aspects of Earth culture.

She even declined the position of next chairman to come to Earth and live day by day.

One of the beings Pang Pang liked was magical girls.

And now she’s about to go on a space journey with those magical girls.

…To be honest, I’ve never liked anything that much, so I can’t fully empathize—

Pang Pang took a deep breath.

And shouted with all her might:

“Let’s go!”

—Well, I think I can empathize a little with those words.

Indeed, what other words could be more fitting for this situation?

“Let’s go!”

I shouted along with her, and the other girls shouted too.

There was no fear of danger on their faces.

Magical girls are beings who always move forward looking toward hope. Now, well, there are other energies too, but I still like the word “hope.”

Because in any desperate situation, the reason I couldn’t give up was because of hope.

I can see the backs of Hayun standing slightly ahead of me, and the backs of the other magical girls standing nearby.

Those girls I always desperately wanted to belong with, and despaired over.

“…”

Jihye held my hand from beside me.

I couldn’t help but smile a little at that warmth.

I have reasons not to give up, reasons to fight. I realized it a bit late, but still.

Yes. I’m standing here now. With the girls.

Finally, I’ve caught up.