Ch.296IF Side Story. From the Beginning (64)

I couldn’t tell other children the story deep in my heart.

The story that everything happened because I’m here.

Regardless of whatever political reasons might be behind it, or whose children they might be, a Magical Girl is a Magical Girl.

Children who truly wish for world peace and have righteous hearts that stop villains who torment people.

Of course, the world is complicated and one cannot always act with true justice, but I knew well what hearts these children fought with.

I was also a Magical Girl among them.

…Only, my existence wasn’t as pure as theirs.

Anyway, since they were such good kids, if I told them such a story, they would surely try to comfort me. And probably, that wouldn’t resolve my feelings.

So there was no particular reason to bring up that story. I didn’t want to see the children struggling either.

However, even so, there was one thing I wanted to do that I could talk about.

“So, you’re saying you want to find that kid named Pang Pang?”

“Yes.”

Because I had decided to.

I wanted to know what had happened. If it really became that way because of me. I wanted to know.

And if possible, I wanted to help her escape from any difficult situation.

Because I was a friend.

Although we hadn’t known each other long, she was a bit different from the other kids I’d met. Different from the friends I’d become close with as Magical Girls, she seemed like a child who genuinely lived to enjoy her life.

For some reason, I didn’t like the idea of such a child getting entangled with that corporation. Above all, she didn’t seem to want it either.

…No, maybe that’s what I want to ask. Whether that’s really true.

Perhaps I just want to ask if she was a child who approached me because I was a Magical Girl or not.

“If that’s the case, we definitely need to help.”

But despite such a selfish request, the children nodded.

Seo-hee spoke with a serious expression.

“She’s the one who helped you a lot when you were in that situation. I don’t understand why she’s still with the corporation… why she’s working for the corporation even after doing such things.”

“…Maybe that’s exactly why she can’t leave.”

Someone answered Seo-hee’s words. It was Chae-yeon.

Chae-yeon was lost in thought with quite a serious expression.

Seeing our gazes focused on her, Chae-yeon continued.

“I can’t know the exact reason. It’s in the realm of speculation. But, at the very least, she would have known that Pang Pang had a connection with you.”

“…You think so?”

“I’ve examined a Combatant’s helmet before. It definitely had cameras and tracking devices.”

“That’s right.”

Ju-a, who had been listening, added.

“If they weren’t constantly monitoring the Combatants’ situation, they certainly couldn’t have sent additional Combatants. Especially that day, when such a large force was mobilized. They must have been watching that person Pang Pang’s situation in real-time.”

“And, the situation itself might have been planned from the beginning.”

Yeon-woo finished Ju-a’s thought.

“They probably weren’t trying to capture you. They couldn’t win even if they sent several Combatants. Rather, they were trying to hide Pang Pang. Mixing her among the Combatants. The way they attacked you was also obviously more about delaying you somehow rather than directly hurting you.”

“…Why?”

I asked.

“Is there a reason they need to take Pang Pang away like that? Combatants are mostly just employees, right?”

The Combatants working for Noir Corporation are just employees. And not even in high positions, just regular employees.

At least they’re not hired through other companies as subcontractors, but even so, their position within the company can’t be considered high.

If there were Combatants that Noir Corporation gave special treatment to, they would more likely be Earth humans.

Not because Earth humans are particularly exceptional, but probably because they can handle the circuits provided by Noir Corporation well.

“…”

The children were silent for a moment at my question.

Hayun broke that silence.

“Jieun.”

“Yes.”

“Well…”

Hayun thought for a moment before speaking again.

“Maybe Pang Pang could be someone high up in Noir Corporation.”

“Pang Pang?”

I said that while looking around at the other children’s faces. Seo-hee’s expression was ambiguous. Not that her thoughts were unclear, but she had a “really?” kind of expression. Chae-yeon’s face was expressionless. But Yeon-woo and Ju-a were nodding with serious expressions, as if agreeing with Hayun’s words.

“But, Pang Pang…”

If she held a high position in Noir Corporation, would she have stayed in a semi-basement? Couldn’t she have stayed in an apartment, or somewhere even better? Noir Corporation might have its headquarters in Korea, but it was actually a massive company spanning the galaxy. Why would someone working there need to…?

“It could have been a disguise.”

Yeon-woo said calmly.

“Jieun, think about it. When you first met Pang Pang.”

She collapsed in front of us while drunk.

That might not have been very difficult. She could have just drunk caffeine and pretended to be drunk in front of us.

Is that what they think she was aiming for?

“I find it a bit strange though.”

Seo-hee said.

“If they were really that close, she wouldn’t have helped us then. At that exact moment, she did what we couldn’t do instead. She was in a position to let Jieun fall, but why would she give that up?”

“Maybe it was a power struggle.”

“No, don’t you think that’s still strange? I don’t want to point fingers, but… isn’t it too troublesome?”

“…”

Both sides had somewhat reasonable points.

But perhaps because of that, we all came to one conclusion.

“Anyway, the point is we should follow her somehow. Whether that Pang Pang is really captured by the corporation and can’t leave, or if she’s really a corporate person, we need to confirm it.”

At Seo-hee’s words, we all nodded.

She was right.

And—

To be honest, I didn’t really care if Pang Pang was actually a company executive.

If that were the case, I’d just confront her and turn her back into a friend.

Just as I’ve always done.

*

While we were wondering where to start, a mission was assigned to us.

“Last time, our research facility was attacked.”

Cherry gathered us and said.

“And… it seems the Federation doesn’t want to see us just taking hits.”

To be honest, it was a somewhat strange story.

If anything, Noir Corporation was the one taking hits. After all, we’re the ones who jump out and interfere whenever they try to do something.

Well, it’s not like we’ve directly attacked Noir Corporation’s facilities that often. Conversely, our facilities have been attacked many times.

And when we do attack Noir Corporation’s facilities, it’s usually after our facilities have been attacked first.

This time too, the Federation seemed to want to execute some kind of retaliatory operation.

“To be honest…”

But this time, Cherry spoke with a somewhat serious expression.

“To be honest, this time might be a bit dangerous. The photos already appeared in the news like that, and if we’re discovered, we’ll be in the newspapers again.”

“The Federation won’t resolve it this time?”

In several operations over the past few years, articles were published featuring environmental destruction caused by Noir Corporation building such facilities, or the destroyed homes of people, or interviews with people suffering from noise or other problems nearby.

The Federation isn’t sitting idle in the public opinion battle either.

But Cherry shook her head at my question.

“This time might be a bit difficult.”

“Difficult?”

“Yes. Because we’ll have to attack a Noir Corporation branch in the middle of Seoul.”

“…”

We all blinked at those words.

“So…”

“Yes.”

Cherry said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t receive proper information either. Just orders to do it that way. So… probably, it’s not just about retaliation. It means the Federation has noticed there’s something inside.”

Cherry’s black eyes looked at each of us in turn. They were hamster eyes, but not so small that you couldn’t see the worry in them.

“There’s an important object inside. They want us to destroy it or bring it back.”

This time it’s not simply venting anger.

We go inside and destroy or take something that Noir Corporation is seriously protecting.

That’s what Cherry seemed to be saying.

“And, try not to get caught if possible.”

Cherry said.

“They asked us to avoid catching the media’s attention. This involves other parties too… Probably if it’s not obvious enough to catch the eye of passersby, it will be buried. It must be something that even Noir Corporation can’t immediately speak about.”

We looked at each other.

And then back at Cherry.

“What is this object?”

“They didn’t tell me that much.”

“Then, how do we destroy or bring back this object?”

I asked.

“…They said we’ll know when we see it.”

Cherry said with a somewhat pained expression.

Once again, we were left speechless.