Ch.186IF Side Story: Galactic Love (11)

Surprisingly, having a magical girl enter this abandoned building was actually beneficial for us in many ways.

How should I put it? We literally gained an extra pair of hands.

If you think about it, magical girls are essentially highly skilled professionals in their own right. Especially when it comes to handling magic, which significantly improved our living conditions in this abandoned building.

For example, our food situation improved somewhat.

Of course, it was only a slight improvement. Humans fundamentally need protein and fat, and the types of food you can get from growing things are very limited.

We planted James’s food supplies and some extra seedlings he had brought along, accelerating their growth to produce as much food as possible.

…Well, it was still much better than having nothing at all.

Additionally, the physical labor that had been difficult for just Pang Pang and me became manageable when we all worked together.

Rummaging through junk to find useful items.

Lining the room with plastic sheets to keep out the cold air.

And using the leftover plastic to create another layer of tent-like covering to make it habitable for people to live in.

…Though to be fair, Pang Pang and I had been sharing a single tent from the beginning, so it wasn’t a major issue for us.

“…”

However, despite the dramatic improvement in our living conditions, my psychological state hadn’t improved much.

Because, well, there were more people now.

It’s not simply because I’m an introvert. It was a more fundamental issue.

Pang Pang and I know each other, and Hayun and I know each other too. But those two barely know each other.

And when it comes to the other magical girls, they’re complete strangers. If anything, Pang Pang only recognizes their faces.

Plus, Pang Pang was my friend from when we were both combatants.

Those girls might not know it, but it was a relationship that could make Pang Pang uncomfortable.

“Um, well…”

For the past three days, I’d barely spoken. I had enough sense to return greetings when offered, but I didn’t know how to engage in deeper conversations.

I couldn’t become the tyrant of this place. If I were the type who could comfortably take on that role, I would have been much less hesitant, but well, I just couldn’t bring myself to do that with these two friends in front of me.

“So, you’ve been helping Jieun until now?”

“…Yeah.”

Pang Pang nodded awkwardly in response.

True to her nature, even while answering awkwardly, she didn’t show any signs of discomfort. She just scratched the back of her head slightly.

“I see.”

Hayun replied and then fell silent again.

Already tired of our uncomfortable silence, the other magical girls kept their distance from us. At least during the day, they weren’t inside. They would look for various tasks outside or unnecessarily check on the fields again.

It’s not that we three weren’t working, but we had already finished our assigned tasks before coming in.

Hayun couldn’t even avoid it. She would enter the building at exactly the time I finished work, as if it were the most natural thing.

I had some idea of whether she wanted to talk to me, but every time, Pang Pang was there beside me.

Looking at it again, the relationship between those two didn’t seem to be just about the “shyness of not knowing each other.”

The usually sociable Pang Pang hadn’t approached Hayun or the other magical girls for three days, and Hayun, who normally liked to chat about various things when by my side despite her shyness, was now keeping her mouth shut as if uncomfortable.

It wasn’t a situation for jokes. Not that I was planning to make any.

Hayun’s wandering gaze settled on the tent. A tent far too small for two people.

What could she be thinking?

“We do have another tent.”

I quickly said.

“Huh?”

Hayun’s eyes widened as she looked at me. Her expression seemed to ask why we weren’t using it.

“In case of emergencies when we can’t communicate with each other.”

I explained.

In truth, it was more because I felt lonely being alone in a tent at night.

Although Pang Pang was the one who initially barged in, I had somehow gotten used to having both of us in there.

In this lonely fugitive life, having someone beside me making small talk was comforting. Well, it was certainly better than a hamster that only made cynical remarks whenever it opened its mouth.

But somehow, I didn’t want to say that… It felt too personal.

So without realizing it, I was making what sounded like excuses.

“The other tent is packed in that bag over there. It’s an emergency bag. If there’s a real emergency, we can grab just that and run.”

Originally, it was a bag I had packed for Pang Pang. If we had to flee, it would naturally be Pang Pang who should escape.

But once I said it out loud, it actually sounded like a decent excuse.

Smaller tents are easier to fold and pack into bags, after all. Good for keeping as emergency supplies. Above all, it was big enough for both of us to sleep in right away.

“I see…”

Hayun responded with her mouth slightly open, looking dazed.

Then she blinked and looked back and forth between Pang Pang and me before asking:

“But what are you going to do? Are you two going to keep sleeping together like that?”

“…”

For a brief moment, I was at a loss for words and looked up at the ceiling.

I could see the plastic sheets. They weren’t perfectly smooth, but they were draped like a tent from the inside, which seemed sufficient to keep us warm. Above all, we had a generator, so we could extract heat from it.

So, strictly speaking, we might not need the tent anymore.

But…

Somehow, I found it difficult to say.

Why? Why didn’t I like the idea of sleeping separately? Maybe I had already gotten used to it.

During all that desperate running away, Pang Pang was always waiting for me. When I wasn’t around, she would clean up the place, and when I returned, she would have a place ready for me to rest.

In other words—she helped me keep my sanity from completely collapsing.

It was natural to feel embarrassed.

Not being able to sleep well without someone beside me? What am I, a three-year-old?

“Well…”

But before I could answer, someone else spoke up.

It was Pang Pang.

“I don’t think it would be bad to keep sleeping as we have been.”

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s much warmer inside the tent. And it feels like our room.”

“Our room?”

Hayun blinked again.

“Yes. The one we used to use.”

“…”

Hayun’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“And even before coming here, Jieun was with me.”

Hayun’s gaze turned to me.

“Well… that’s true. I needed a place to hide…”

I felt even more embarrassed.

It wasn’t that I was embarrassed about sharing a room with Pang Pang.

I was embarrassed because it felt like I was confessing that I had clung to her so much that Pang Pang ended up coming all the way here.

When I did the broadcast last time, I felt completely relieved. It was like I had spit out all the resentment that had been in my heart at once.

But in the end, nothing was really over yet.

We were still in this fugitive state, and Pang Pang was in a situation where she might or might not be able to return home.

Unless the government or the Federation suddenly admitted that I had been wronged, it was still an impossible story.

“For a while, I hid in her room, worked to earn money, and prepared to escape. We ended up fleeing much earlier than expected, though.”

As I sighed deeply, Hayun, who had been staring with her mouth open, slightly lowered her head.

“I see…”

“Then, let’s do this.”

Pang Pang spoke up.

“Now that we have more people, we won’t need to flee in such a hurry, right? Even if we do escape, we can secure food, and if we all carry a bit, we can manage the amount that fits in one bag.”

Pang Pang turned to me and said:

“So, do you want to set up another tent? Having multiple rooms would allow the others to take turns resting too. No matter how well we’ve set up this tarp, it would be much more comfortable to sleep in a properly warm place. We’re also short on sleeping bags.”

“That’s… true.”

I quickly agreed.

In truth, it would be more accurate to say I was looking for any way to escape this topic.

“Great, let’s set it up now. No point in delaying since we’ve brought it up.”

Seeing Pang Pang stand up, I got up too. Hayun also rose somewhat hurriedly.

Setting up the tent didn’t take that long.

But at least during that time, I didn’t have to say anything as I concentrated on the task, which made me feel a bit more at ease.