Ch.292IF Side Story: From the Beginning (60)

I waited for a moment, but the Combatant showed no signs of running away.

However, they didn’t seem ready to fight seriously like usual either.

I could see their determination to complete their mission somehow. Though I couldn’t see their expression, they continued carrying the researcher on their shoulder, ready to sprint at any moment.

This was different from fleeing. Here, “fleeing” would mean abandoning the researcher and running away to save themselves alone. Like the other Combatants running over there.

The police hadn’t arrived.

Strictly speaking, both sides were breaking the law, but if we compared “breaking and entering” versus “illegal building expansion and unauthorized research,” the latter was overwhelmingly the more serious crime. Our side wasn’t entirely innocent either.

“…That’s right.”

Good.

I charged forward, gripping my hammer.

This Combatant was a being who couldn’t use circuits.

If they had been an Earthling, things might have been different.

I don’t know much about Despair Circuits—even less than I know about the Hope Circuits I use—but I at least remember the theory from the comics.

More precisely, I remember reading a comment where a reader speculated that the Despair Circuits used by Combatants don’t work when they’re running away.

“You need to continuously feel the emotion to keep the circuit running. If you abandon that emotion, the circuit stops working too.”

That’s why my circuit stopped working after I met my fake mother. I needed to constantly feel hope to keep the circuit running, but after meeting that person, I had doubts about whether I could continue this work.

Maybe there was some happiness in that. I might have fallen into despair, but perhaps I could have lived happily with a family that truly cared for me.

A fake family.

…In that sense, I was grateful to that Combatant for helping me back then.

If that Combatant could actually use circuits, they might gain strength when they refuse to give up, like now. Since they weren’t an Earthling and couldn’t use circuits, I couldn’t tell whether their emotions were despair or hope.

I swung my hammer. I controlled my strength. I didn’t want the Combatant to get too badly hurt, but the researcher could be in serious trouble.

And because of that, I thought they would try their best to dodge.

But they didn’t.

BANG!

“Huh?”

The Combatant raised their arm to block my hammer.

The visor part of their helmet was facing me. I could feel them staring straight at me through that black glass. What expression were they making?

It wasn’t just the sound of impact. There was something else, like something had been hit wrong.

Any other Combatant would be rolling on the ground clutching their arm in pain.

“You…!?”

But before I could react, my hammer was pushed back. After blocking with their arm and creating space by pushing the hammer away, they ducked under my hammer with all their might and started to run.

Unfortunately for them, there were no other Combatants standing nearby now.

And even if there had been, they would have been taken out by Ju-a and Chaeyeon keeping watch from above, and Yeonwoo’s offensive magic.

Seo-hee grabbed the researcher’s white coat.

The gauntlet had all five fingers. Though it was supposedly modeled after gloves, it actually looked more like knights’ armor gauntlets.

Naturally, when gripping with strength while running the circuit, it wouldn’t be easy to escape.

Riiip.

The coat tore, but the researcher didn’t fall from Seo-hee’s hand. The Combatant’s feet lifted into the air once, and both the researcher and Combatant rolled on the ground.

The Combatant immediately got up again and tried to drag the researcher—

Hayun’s sword passed through that hand. It wasn’t a big problem. The magical blade could avoid cutting people.

Instead, it only cut through the Combatant’s glove and the researcher’s clothes.

“…”

The fingertips were blue. Of course they’d be an alien since they had no circuit.

“Hey, stop it. It’s all over.”

I approached with my hammer and said.

“Struggling more will only hurt you.”

They were always the last one standing, but that was just because they were stubborn, not because they were stupid.

Whether it was to protect their pride or for some other reason, they probably just wanted to beat me at least once.

“Um…”

Hayun spoke to the Combatant who was trying to hoist the researcher onto their shoulder again with weakening strength.

Everyone was awkwardly watching. Probably because they were aware this person had saved me before.

We might have fought normally, but no matter what, we couldn’t be too harsh to someone who had helped us.

Tap.

Seo-hee knocked away that hand. The Combatant staggered backward. One arm hung limply at their side. That was where my hammer had hit.

“Stop and go to the infirmary. It’s over.”

As I said that and approached, the Combatant stared blankly at me.

I couldn’t help wondering if the eyes behind that visor looked a bit dazed.

“You’re hurt…”

“…”

The Combatant stood still for a while, catching their breath, then turned toward me and raised their hands.

Not above their head, but in front of their face.

They raised even their injured arm, taking a fighting stance.

I looked at them for a moment.

Somehow, I had a bad feeling.

Were they always this desperate? Did they always think they had to succeed this badly?

I don’t think so. Sure, they always stayed until the end to challenge me, but until now, it seemed like they enjoyed challenging me rather than desperately wanting to succeed in their mission.

Now it’s different. Now they were solely focused on taking that researcher away. As if they wanted to complete this job at all costs to get whatever payment or reward.

Taking this stance against me was probably for the same reason. Like they were determined not to give up until the very end, doing everything they possibly could.

“Is it because of Noir Corporation?”

I asked.

I could see those blue fingertips. Fingers that reminded me of someone else’s. Did this one also come to Earth from somewhere far in space? Did they come dreaming of making money, but ended up neither earning properly nor being able to return home, stuck here on Earth?

Pang Pang got drunk when she drank coffee. And whenever she met us, she always chose to be drunk.

That might be because she liked the sensation, but… I thought it might also be her struggle to forget the hardships of life on this planet.

Was this one the same?

I shook my head.

No, this wasn’t the time for such thoughts.

I wanted to end this quickly too.

“…Fine, if you don’t want to answer.”

I gripped my hammer tightly.

“I’ll end this in one go.”

The Combatant charged at me before I could move.

I reflexively swung my hammer.

There was a dull sound of impact, followed by a cracking noise.

The fatigue from fighting Kaijin. The tension from knowing people who were like family to me had been in danger today. Irritation at why this person was acting this way. And anxiety about the news articles that would come out.

All these emotions and my physical condition overlapped, and I might not have controlled my strength as well as usual. I might have lost some control over my arm.

Maybe I just wanted to get everything over with quickly so I could go home and sleep.

What’s certain is that I hit their helmet, and some part of it broke off.

Helmets breaking happens fairly often. But Noir Corporation at least made sure of one thing: the guarantee that you wouldn’t die even if hit by a Magical Girl.

Otherwise, who in the world would want to fight Magical Girls or heroes?

Even if it broke and the inside became visible, usually the person inside was safe. Even without circuits, aliens could basically handle a little mana. There were protective suits that ran on such things—

But the person inside being safe wasn’t the end of the problem.

Still, I had hit someone’s head. I hurriedly looked in the direction the Combatant had flown.

I even ran over there. To check on the condition of the Combatant who had fallen to the ground—

But before I could reach them, the Combatant sprang to their feet.

As if they had absolutely no intention of ending things here.

And then.

Our eyes met.

Yes.

I could see through one side of the heavily tinted visor on the Combatant’s helmet.

Though it was just one eye, I knew the eye that met mine. This was certain. Because it belonged to a close friend I often visited.

The first person I ever gave an autograph to.

“…Pang Pang?”

Blood was flowing inside the helmet, perhaps from a cut on the forehead. She reflexively wiped the eye with her hand, and only after hearing my name did she seem to realize what had happened.

Pang Pang blinked. She looked at me in surprise through the visor.

“Is it really you, Pang Pang?”

The other Magical Girls except Hayun looked at each other in confusion. No, Hayun was surprised too. Her reaction was just a bit different from the others who didn’t know Pang Pang’s face.

Pang Pang took a few steps back.

“Pang Pang, wait—”

But before I could finish, Pang Pang turned around and started running. It was a full-speed sprint unlike anything I’d seen from the “Combatant” until now.

I ran after her.