Ch.274IF Side Story: From the Beginning (42)

I stared at the photo for a long time, still uncertain.

There was a resemblance, I suppose.

But isn’t it difficult for children not to look alike? Unless they have completely different skin tones, most newborn babies tend to look similar. That’s why mix-ups sometimes happen.

The problem is that I wasn’t abandoned when I was a bit older.

If I had been at least one year old, my parents’ facial features would have started to show in me, but I was abandoned shortly after birth.

On top of that, I didn’t even have a proper birth registration. Maybe I was born at home, or somewhere else. Definitely not at a hospital.

My birthday was simply the day I arrived at that church. I never cared enough to change it.

By the way, Jihye was in the same situation.

I looked back at the teacher.

She remained serious, watching us both without interfering.

“If someone claims to be a parent, can they meet like this right away?”

When I asked this, the teacher thought for a moment before answering.

“I think that photo is probably real.”

Even so, she spoke cautiously.

“…”

I pondered for a moment.

Well, it’s not actually that complicated. A DNA test would settle everything.

This doesn’t require space technology—it’s something routinely done on Earth.

If this person came looking for me because of money and she’s a fake mother… that would be truly stupid, wouldn’t it?

If she just wanted to deceive me with words, she would have been pouring out all kinds of stories by now.

With her head bowed low, she really looked like someone who had committed a crime.

“Then…”

I was about to suggest drawing blood when something else occurred to me.

If she really believes I’m her daughter, why show up only now?

“What did you want to talk about by meeting like this?”

My words came out harsher than I intended.

Either way—yes, even if she really is my biological mother, appearing only now is very strange.

I never wanted to find my parents. I had only recently started to like myself, and in just a few years, I could have gone out and established myself.

So why appear now and make things complicated?

Either way, she couldn’t be called my mother.

“Well, um…”

The woman claiming to be my mother stammered.

It seemed my direct question had left her at a loss for words.

Was even that an act? I couldn’t tell.

“When I saw you on TV, and that story…”

Does she mean a story she already knew?

I kept quiet for a moment.

“…”

After staring at the woman for a while, I finally spoke.

“Let’s do a blood test.”

The woman looked up at my words.

“I can’t believe whether it’s true or not, and I wasn’t the only one abandoned at that church. You might be mistaken.”

Yes. Thinking that might really be the case calmed me down a bit.

If so, this person couldn’t be blamed too much. She might truly be doing her best to search. Everyone has their own story. Whether we can understand the weight of that story depends on the eyes of the beholder.

That’s why I said that.

If it was a mistake, it would be better to confirm it quickly.

For her sake, and for mine.

*

Even with Earth technology, blood tests are perfectly feasible.

But the results take some time. Not too long—as quick as a few hours after testing on the same day, or up to one or two days at most. It’s not that the test itself takes long, but rather depends on the volume of tests the hospital is processing that day.

Both the woman and I, despite our different positions and thoughts, chose to resolve this quickly.

Earth-based tests might require waiting until tomorrow or the day after, but alien technology is a different story.

Actually, finding traditional Earth-based testing would probably be harder now.

The reason combatants can fight in the next battle even after breaking an arm or leg against magical girls is because they can be immediately healed with magic brought by aliens.

Space travel technology isn’t the only thing that developed after the Galactic Federation’s encounter with Earth.

The genetic test using alien technology takes less than five minutes to produce results.

And—

“…”

I received the results and felt utterly deflated reading what was written.

[Probability of parentage: 99.999%]

Not being 100% doesn’t mean there’s a possibility she isn’t my parent. This is just a kind of formal expression.

So… I am.

This woman’s daughter.

“…”

The woman who took the test with me also wore an expression difficult to put into words.

Rather than joy, it was an expression lacking certainty. After coming all this way and even doing this test.

The three of us, including the teacher who had accompanied us, remained silent for a long time.

I was the first to speak.

“So, should I pack my things and go to your place?”

The woman flinched at my question.

“N-no. Um, I need to clean up first.”

“Clean up.”

Is she trying to delay? Or does she genuinely want to make a good impression? Is she flustered now that she’s seen the results?

I was planning to leave as soon as I became an adult, but is she overwhelmed by the responsibility of taking care of me even for that short time?

“Well…”

“There’s plenty of time,” the teacher quickly interjected.

“Both of you can take more time to think about this slowly. Just because a parent has come looking doesn’t mean you can leave right away.”

We both nodded at that.

After that, neither of us said anything more.

*

“…”

And our silence—mine and Jihye’s—was much heavier than that earlier silence.

I… well.

I’ve never really thought about it seriously. Do I dislike the orphanage, or do I like it?

If I had to say, it wasn’t exactly like a home. I didn’t have my own room, and sometimes I really wanted time alone but couldn’t get it. Younger kids would ask me to play with them or help with homework, and even with Jihye in the same room, I had to be somewhat careful.

But that doesn’t mean I dislike it. If I had to choose, I like it.

Whether it’s tough love or tender love, I’ve grown attached to this orphanage. The old, shabby neighborhood has become too familiar. Only now did I realize I didn’t want to leave this place. Talk about being contrary.

“Hey…”

Normally, congratulations would be in order. If we were about five years younger, Jihye would have congratulated me. Finding family was supposed to be a good thing for us.

Of course, not all adopted children live happily. There can be various conflicts, and sometimes the adopters turn out to be terrible people, despite passing such strict screening.

And reuniting with family that was separated for various reasons—that would be nothing short of a miracle.

All of this would be true if I were younger.

Maybe it would have been fine if she had truly lost me.

“Hey, Jieun.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

Apart from feeling somewhat troubled, I wasn’t completely confused.

“So… this means she’s your biological mother, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You guess so?”

Jihye opened her eyes wide, as if wondering how there could be any “I guess” about this.

“Yeah, well.”

I pondered.

My mind feels surprisingly clear, but the fact that my first thought is “Could this be a wrong result?” suggests that it’s not actually clear at all—just that one thought is so sharp it creates the illusion of clarity.

Because, you see, I am…

A being who crossed over from another world.

Since I was very young, I thought I was found in a baby box because I appeared in this world that way.

I was so curious that I once asked the teacher how I ended up here.

After begging to know what they were reluctant to tell me, I learned that they couldn’t find my parents at all.

Apparently, the CCTV was broken that day. And contacting the police would be problematic since they would track down whoever left a child in the baby box.

Is it true? Did I really have a mother in this world?

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed difficult to accept.

*

“What about the magical girl work?”

“Oh.”

I was a bit taken aback by Yeonwoo’s question.

“We’re still minors. Even if magical girl work isn’t extremely dangerous…”

Fighting with weapons.

If we’re being honest, it’s simply illegal. The government just turns a blind eye.

“Don’t we need to get new consent or something?”

At Yeonwoo’s worried words—soon the other children’s expressions changed to match.

Naturally, mine did too.

…Somehow, nothing seems to be going right all of a sudden.