Ch.319IF Side Story: From the Beginning (87)

Jeong Jieun asked us to do something simple.

Gather the Kaijin in one place as much as possible. And make sure there are no people around.

The teachers were already evacuating the children anyway. None of those creatures had entered the building yet.

The other Magical Girls were all scattered in their homes, so it didn’t seem like multiple Kaijin would attack just us like last time. They seemed to have split up to ambush the Magical Girls in smaller groups. Otherwise, Ju-a wouldn’t have needed to contact us like this.

Fortunately—if you could call it that—no Combatants had come to help.

Maybe it was because these were different types of Kaijin.

Until the last time we saw them, the Kaijin seemed to come from various origins. There were many that looked like beasts such as bears or tigers, but they weren’t limited to just those two.

But now, they all looked like twisted versions of humans. Ones that still maintained some semblance of Earth humans.

They were directly operating their circuits, but fortunately, they couldn’t generate as much power as we could. There was no power generator nearby, and the energy that Jihye and I produced came from hope, which was naturally opposed to Noir Corporation’s energy.

“I’ll take the front.”

Jihye said.

Her shield glowed more intensely. Bright enough to cast a soft green light around us, even though it was still the middle of the night.

Normally, light of that color might seem ominous, but because of Jihye’s smiling face, it looked rather blue-green instead. Or maybe it was because the color reminded me of Jihye’s eyes.

“———!”

A Kaijin shouted. Some of the children were startled by the sound and burst into tears.

That’s right.

But I couldn’t let Jihye take all the attacks by herself. The energy transmitted through the shield must be substantial. And people feel pain when they keep getting hit.

I grabbed my hammer and ran.

I ignored the Kaijin approaching Jihye and instead struck the back of the head of another one that kept turning its head as if annoyed by the children’s crying.

Since it was a Kaijin, its head didn’t crack from just this much. Instead, it glared at me as if extremely angry.

I ran back toward Jihye, and she blocked the Kaijin’s attack.

Then I jumped up high and brought my hammer down hard to harass the Kaijin. Despite their howls, they didn’t leave our vicinity. Thankfully, their thinking was simple.

[Great! Then I’ll head over there first!]

“Huh?”

Ju-a shouted through the communicator. Her shout was energetic, but also seemed somewhat tired.

But before I could react.

Pop.

With that sound, Ju-a popped out of thin air.

She rolled across the ground.

“Ju-a?!”

Wasn’t the warp technique perfected? Unlike in the original work, Ju-a had become concerned about how much her opponents got hurt and didn’t use that incomplete warping technique on just anyone. So she must have been researching it all this time.

“I’m fine!”

Before I could even ask if she was okay, Ju-a jumped up from the ground. And she staggered just a little bit.

Ju-a’s outfit was only slightly more modest than mine. Obviously, rolling or scraping against the ground in it would be incredibly painful. There were no major injuries, and even if there were, they would heal soon thanks to magic, but still.

I quickly ran over and gently grabbed her waist to support her staggering body.

“Haah.”

Ju-a let out a small breath. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, perhaps from overexertion.

“Sorry.”

While supporting Ju-a’s back, my hand inevitably touched the exposed skin there. Since we’re both girls, I wondered if she found it uncomfortable. Well, that doesn’t mean any random guy touching her wouldn’t be uncomfortable either.

“N-no. It’s fine.”

Ju-a’s circuit was spinning vigorously.

Perhaps due to the relief of having perfected her magic.

“More importantly, the Kaijin…”

“Ah, right.”

I let go of Ju-a and looked at the Kaijin.

Fortunately, they weren’t all focused on Jihye. The one whose head I had struck hard still seemed dazed, looking around, and the other one was looking toward Ju-a and me. Even with their simple minds, the Kaijin seemed to have learned that getting hit by a hammer is incredibly painful.

“So, about the warp?”

I asked, positioning myself to run straight to Jihye. Probably because Ju-a had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Jihye was staring in our direction with her mouth agape.

“I’ll prepare it right away. My mana has been restored now.”

Hope.

Using magic definitely tires the body. But that tired body can somehow endure with newly created mana.

When we use our wands to cast magic, the mana disperses again, but as long as we don’t lose hope, mana continues to be created through the circuit.

An extraordinary energy that completely ignores common sense like thermodynamics.

In other words, it’s “cheating.” No matter how much magic we use, we never run out of mana, like a mage character in a game.

“Go to Jihye. I’ll follow right away.”

“Got it.”

I flew toward Jihye like a shot.

On the way, I struck a Kaijin’s waist. The Kaijin, who was about to swing its arm at me, collapsed sideways.

“Jieun?”

Jihye spoke with a somewhat subdued voice. She must be tired from fighting too. No matter how much mana covers for it, stamina depletes rapidly without basic training. Plus, Jihye had already protected me several times with her large shield.

“Sorry.”

I said, putting my arm around Jihye’s waist. It might be uncomfortable, but I had no choice. I couldn’t think of any other way to firmly support her weakened body. Fortunately, Jihye’s outfit didn’t expose her back, so my arm didn’t directly touch her skin.

“Ah! N-no, it’s fine…”

Jihye’s face turned slightly red.

I think I understand why. When people get too tired, they start feeling feverish.

We need to end this fight as quickly as possible.

“Ju-a!”

I called out, running toward Ju-a while holding Jihye. Jihye’s shield glowed brighter as if she was squeezing out her last bit of strength.

“…Why does Jieun always grab people by the waist?”

For some reason, Ju-a asked such an odd question.

“Ah, no. Don’t answer that. You player.”

“Huh?”

Before I could even process what Ju-a had said, she was already holding her gun with the barrel pointing upward.

Ju-a pulled the trigger.

And the next moment, the three of us were rolling on the ground.

*

It didn’t hurt that much since our bodies were protected by mana.

However, after regaining my senses from the dizziness of rolling and spinning on the ground, I realized we were in quite a predicament.

Both Ju-a, whose skin was somewhat exposed like mine, and even Jihye, who wasn’t as exposed, were in incredibly embarrassing positions. Both of them had their faces buried against me.

…

No, not there.

“!?”

Thankfully, both of them quickly lifted their faces from my abdomen and jumped up. They also quickly removed their hands that had been touching my sides and back.

It seems that while rolling on the ground and trying to protect them, I had inadvertently tucked them against my sides. If things had gone wrong, their faces might have ended up in an even more embarrassing position.

I really should change my outfit.

…

Well, the truth is I can’t change it, which is why we’re in this situation.

Fortunately, Ju-a’s circuit was spinning vigorously. Perhaps even more than before.

Probably because her plan had succeeded perfectly. Naturally.

Jihye was also squeezing out her strength. Her face had turned even redder. She must be feeling shame on top of everything else. I feel a bit sorry for that.

As I got up—for some reason, Lee Hayun and the other Magical Girls were staring at us from a distance.

Even though the Kaijin were staggering to their feet far away.

“What?”

I asked.

“…Nothing.”

Hayun replied flatly. She looked terrible too. Her hair seemed to have been tied up when she transformed, but it was now dirty with dust all over. Her pink outfit was in the same state, and her exposed shoulders showed various small injuries. Just like me, Ju-a, and Jihye.

“Let’s talk after we fight.”

Some of the Kaijin were already completely subdued, lying limp. Had they been taken down before Ju-a arrived?

“Besides, we have more work to do.”

Hayun said.

“More work?”

“Yes. Something’s happening at the research complex too.”

…Another diversionary tactic?

This is really getting tiresome. According to James, the company is currently under different leadership due to the coup.

“It seems like the person who staged the coup is trying to leave Earth.”

“…That would be problematic.”

I gritted my teeth. Hayun, who had been somewhat flat, nodded seriously after seeing my expression.

“Let’s not let them escape.”

“Right. Absolutely not.”

I gripped my hammer tightly.

My circuit spun vigorously.

I learned from these children how to find hope even in situations where there should be none. Always looking at the positive side and moving straight in that direction. That’s how you don’t lose hope.

The direction this time is…

The hope that if we catch that fleeing person, this might all be over.

With that in mind, I decided to run, fly, and smash.