Ch.312IF Side Story: From the Beginning (80)

I, for one, don’t particularly like the phrase “let’s think about this coldly.”

That’s not to say it’s meaningless. Analyzing small facts, considering how we should act, and moving in ways that produce the best results is certainly desirable.

But honestly, when you start calculating like that, there’s too much you have to give up.

Trying to have both options is stupider than giving up one to fully commit to the other. If two rabbits are running in opposite directions, it’s obviously better to catch just one than to try for both. Hesitate and they’ll both disappear from sight.

And yet, still.

I am a Magical Girl, aren’t I?

Not just a girl. A “Magical” Girl, no less.

I dislike Noir Corporation. They keep trying to ruin my life in various ways. The Federation, if we’re being honest, is pretty close to being invaders themselves, but that doesn’t mean Noir Corporation on the opposite side isn’t villainous.

Rather, the fact that they can use Kaijin like this means they’re probably using non-Earth aliens for their own purposes too—

Thud! Thud!

Those sounds came from all around. I could hear someone screaming too. Had more Kaijin appeared? Or had other Combatants been deployed to match the Kaijin?

“…”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

If they can control Kaijin like this…

Could it be that the Kaijin that appeared near the orphanage last time was for the same reason? If Noir Corporation’s Combatants happened to be nearby at that moment, and that’s how they saved the children… is that an unreasonable assumption?

No, now’s not the time for such thoughts.

First, I need to save Jihye.

And anyway, I need to find that generator too.

I also needed to evacuate the civil servants guarding this place and check the surrounding situation just in case.

Should I call the other Magical Girls again? But if I did that, people in the complex might die.

We’re Magical Girls.

Magical Girls are, literally, beings who save people with magic far more powerful than others possess. Like those Magical Girls in cartoons, we appear before people in danger and spread hope.

…Even if the Federation’s true goal lies elsewhere, at least, that’s why I fight.

Not so different from why Hayun fights.

“Move!”

I know exactly where the safe room is—well, among the several safe rooms here, I know which one Cherry would use. Naturally, it’s Cherry’s office. The thick wooden door was actually just a thin wooden exterior, with thick steel inside.

Bang!

I sent one of the Combatants who had somehow entered the building flying sideways, then smashed my hammer into the head of a nearby Kaijin disguised as a robot.

There was a satisfying clang of metal hitting metal. With a thud, the bear-shaped Kaijin fell flat on its back.

My circuit was working. The safe room door in the distance, though dented in places, remained firmly shut.

So Jihye is safe. Just knowing that gave me hope.

“Hayun!”

“Yes!”

Responding to my call, Hayun quickly turned and thrust her pink light sword under another Kaijin’s chin. The tip of the blade was visible beyond the crown of the Kaijin’s head, making it look like a scene from an adult-oriented Magical Girl show, but she hadn’t actually pierced its head.

Hayun’s mana could make such distinctions.

She had destroyed the mechanical device controlling the Kaijin’s head. Indeed, the Kaijin howled and thrashed even more wildly. With its head control unit destroyed, it couldn’t even turn its neck properly.

Hayun quickly paralyzed the Kaijin by treating its other joints the same way. More effective than my method, as the Kaijin I’d knocked away was already staggering back to its feet.

“Let’s go!”

But that’s not what matters right now.

First, we need to either get into the safe room ourselves or escape with Jihye—I’m not sure exactly where we should go, but we need some way to handle the situation.

Is it really because of the generator? Would they consider going to war with the entire Federation just for that one thing?

No matter how massive a galactic corporation they are, they can’t be bigger than the Federation itself.

Just as Hayun ran over to me after hearing my call—

Creeak.

Perhaps hearing us coming, the safe room door opened slightly from the inside.

But before we could reach the door, a Kaijin lunged toward it. Actually, at this point, I’m not sure if “Kaijin” is the right term. This one looked like a snake.

I couldn’t tell if someone had thrown it or if it had gone berserk on its own and moved insanely fast.

“Jihye! Close the—!”

Before I could finish shouting, the door was already wide open.

And the being beyond it.

“Huh?”

That’s what Hayun said.

As for me, I forgot to make any sound at all. I did inhale sharply for a moment, but that was it.

Because beyond the door stood Jihye in a form I could never have imagined.

Wearing a light green dress that matched her eye color. Thankfully, it wasn’t overly revealing like mine. It was appropriately modest, like Hayun’s or Seohee’s. A true Magical Girl vibe.

The reason I knew this wasn’t just cosplay was the light green shield attached to one arm. Not a physical object, but pure mana energy shimmering like Hayun’s blade.

With her other arm, she was holding the generator tucked against her side.

With Cherry perched on her shoulder.

Bang!

The Kaijin lunged at Jihye, but it folded up from head to tail like a toy spring falling to the floor. It was somewhat comical.

“Eeeek!?”

Not for Jihye, though. She’d lived her whole life keeping distance from anything related to fighting.

The sight of Jihye standing on one foot in terror somehow looked comical too.

“Jihye, that appearance…?”

“Huh? Oh, um…”

Jihye rolled her eyes around before answering.

“Well… I guess, from now on, I’m a Magical Girl too.”

…

Well, I suppose it’s not completely impossible.

I mean, when Hayun brought Cherry to me and put the circuit on me, I was judged capable of becoming a Magical Girl, so I came here to train.

But even in that hopeful situation, I couldn’t transform right away. Only after quite a long period of training here could I finally transform—

Then my gaze returned to the generator tucked against Jihye’s side.

“That generator.”

It was glowing. White.

How?

It was definitely supposed to be a generator running on despair.

“Oh, yes. The energy from this generator… seems to have helped me transform.”

“The generator?”

Hayun asked with the same expression I was wearing.

“It’s just my guess, but!”

Cherry quickly raised one hand and exclaimed.

“Despair and hope might not actually be that different as emotions!”

“Huh?”

What is she talking about?

In cartoons, they were completely opposite forces that couldn’t even interpret each other.

“When you feel an extremely strong emotion, it might turn in the opposite direction! Like how a motor runs in reverse when you apply power in the opposite direction!”

“…”

“Ah, Jieun, behind you…!”

Bang!

Without even looking back, I swung the head of my hammer behind me. Whatever was flying at me got hit in the head and crashed to the floor.

Don’t come at me when my mind is already complicated.

“Jieun.”

Hayun quickly said.

“Now is not the time to think about such things. Let’s consider all this seriously after the fight is over.”

Ah, right.

That’s true.

I was trying to catch two rabbits—no, multiple rabbits scattering in all directions right before my eyes.

So if there are wolves interfering, I should knock them all out or whatever it takes to silence them.

“Right, let’s go.”

“Oh, that’s right, Jieun!”

Jihye thrust the generator toward me. It was still glowing white.

“Hm?”

“This seems to generate mana.”

“Yes. So if we take turns holding it whenever we need to, we’ll definitely fight better. And it’ll be harder for the enemy to steal it.”

Jihye and Cherry spoke alternately.

“Remember one thing, Jieun. Intense hope. Just like you’ve always done, intense hope. If you hold onto that, this won’t be just a burden.”

I placed the generator on one hand and just blinked, then looked at Hayun.

“…Let’s try it, Jieun.”

“…”

I look at the glowing generator once more.

Last time I held it, it didn’t react at all.

…Well, okay.

So that’s how it is.

How did Jihye figure it out?

“Alright.”

If two rabbits—no, if multiple rabbits are running in all directions, there’s only one way to catch them.

It’s simple. Just ride something incredibly fast and catch them one by one before they escape.

Let’s use this generator as that engine.

That’s what I thought.