Ch.41Chapter 8. Weapons (2)

Naturally, Jihye was also troubled.

How to find the missing Jieun, and what to do once she found her.

But there was nothing she could do alone.

Since she had no intention of finding Jieun to send her to prison, reporting to the police wasn’t an option. Besides, the police were already using all their resources to track Jieun down. She had already been labeled a “terrorist.”

As for asking others for help, that wasn’t possible either. She didn’t know anyone who did that kind of work. Even if she did, they wouldn’t do it for free.

Jihye had friends, but they were all just kids her age. What could her school friends possibly do to help find Jieun?

The room remained as it was.

Jieun wasn’t officially discharged from the orphanage yet. Even though there were photos and videos of what Jieun had done, she wasn’t a “criminal” until the court made its ruling. That seemed to be the teacher’s thinking.

Regardless of the truth, people who knew Jieun didn’t believe she would commit such… terrorism.

What happened in Gangnam was definitely done by Jieun in her “Magical Girl” outfit. But at least she heard no one died that day.

Above all, charging in to fight and planting bombs to kill people were completely different things. The latter required much more expertise.

Where did she get bomb materials, when did she have time to go in and plant them, and how did Jieun even access such an important facility?

Even though she had been a Combatant, Jihye didn’t think things could have happened so easily.

“…”

Jihye stared blankly at Jieun’s spot, then went outside.

Fortunately, there weren’t journalists camping outside. Since the last time, when stories spread online about journalists barging into the orphanage, they had become more cautious. Or perhaps they decided there was nothing more to learn here.

Despite the series of terrible incidents, the world hadn’t changed much.

The neighborhood was quiet on weekends as usual. Then again, there wasn’t much to do around here, so there was no reason for it to be noisy.

She took a bus to the bookstore Jieun used to visit.

Unlike the quiet neighborhood, this place was extremely crowded. Honestly, it was almost too crowded, even for Jihye who enjoyed lively atmospheres.

Jieun’s idea of “rebellion” was just coming to places like this. She didn’t have many friends and didn’t know how to get into any real trouble.

Just as Jihye often went out with her friends on weekends, Jieun apparently came here frequently with Hayun. Jihye hadn’t joined them before. Jieun never thought to invite her, and Jihye didn’t think to intrude when they were with their own friends.

The last time Jihye had inserted herself between them had been on impulse.

So despite sharing a room for so long, Jihye didn’t know Jieun that deeply. At least, that’s what she thought.

She knew who “Jeong Jieun” was and was familiar with her habits and preferences, but she never bothered to learn what kind of person Jieun was at school or which friends she hung out with. She only knew about Hayun because she was “Hayun.”

“…”

She still had Hayun’s number in her phone.

But she couldn’t bring herself to call. In this situation, a call would only make both of them feel worse.

For about an hour, she wandered around the crowded bookstore, getting jostled by people.

There was no sign of Jieun. Of course not. It wouldn’t make sense for someone in hiding to be in a place like this.

Her nose stung. If she kept thinking about Jieun here, she might burst into tears in the middle of walking and become that weird girl, so Jihye tried to hold back her tears.

It was the same these days.

At school, kids often asked about Jieun. Students who hadn’t even known Jieun existed before had been showing great interest since she appeared on the news.

Perhaps it was because Jihye had many friends at school.

And because she had so many friends, Jihye couldn’t bring herself to deny their speculations. Neither side had any evidence, after all.

But there was one thing she definitely hated.

She hated that Jieun had become gossip fodder.

She hated kids who talked as if they knew more than Jihye, who had lived beside Jieun all this time. She hated those who believed everything on the news and spoke of Jieun as if she were truly a terrorist.

Leaving the bookstore, she sat on a bench.

It was early February, so the weather was a bit chilly. But thanks to that, no one else was sitting on the bench, which made her feel more comfortable.

“Jieun…”

She looked up at the sky and murmured.

Jieun, who had been a Combatant fighting against Magical Girls, and now had become a Magical Girl herself.

She really didn’t understand what was going on.

When Jieun’s name came up, she could only smile awkwardly while her throat felt too tight to speak, perhaps for these reasons.

Because she knew nothing.

Because she didn’t know how much she should know.

Because this situation was too unfamiliar.

Now…

“…I miss you.”

Jihye murmured to herself.

Whatever Jieun had done, it didn’t matter. To Jihye, Jieun was just Jieun.

“Can’t even listen to music.”

Since Jieun didn’t like people touching her things carelessly, Jihye still hadn’t touched anything on her desk.

Jieun might not have thought much of it, but Jihye had really enjoyed listening to music together. Lying on the floor, wiggling her toes, listening to music from the speaker—she had liked that.

Would there ever be a day when they could do that again?

“What am I hoping for?”

Was she hoping Jieun would turn herself in? Was she hoping that if Jieun had committed crimes, she would quickly repent and just come back? Was she hoping they could lie in the same room again, passing time with meaningless conversations and listening to music?

Was she hoping for a return to normal life?

…Even knowing things could never be exactly the same if that happened, Jihye might have been thinking that way.

And realizing that such thoughts came from not fully trusting Jieun, Jihye buried her face in her hands.

*

I’m not completely thick-skinned either.

Once the physical pain subsided, the first people I thought of were Hayun and Jihye.

The reason these two came to mind is simple. They were the only people I was close to. While I knew the orphanage teachers and other children and had decent relationships with them, it wasn’t the same as with Jihye.

I still see Hayun occasionally. She doesn’t look particularly well, which worries me more each time I see her, but at least I know she’s eating and alive.

Besides, even when I can’t see her, she appears on the news. From what I hear, Hayun is “safe” for now. It was a relief to know she wasn’t seriously injured.

The problem is that I have no way of knowing how Jihye is doing.

…I know one of the reporters bothered Jihye.

Since almost no one at my school defended me, they went to the orphanage to harass Jihye.

Even though her face was blurred, seeing Jihye so flustered made my blood boil.

I wanted to rush in and push them all away, but of course doing that would accomplish nothing and only get me caught—

…

Yeah.

The truth is, sometimes I just want to give up.

My stubbornness only hurts the people around me.

Maybe it would be better to just give up and turn myself in—I’ve thought that before.

But in the end, I’ve been indecisively continuing like this.

“Here.”

As I was lying down feeling depressed, someone placed a canned drink on my forehead.

I grabbed it in surprise—it was canned coffee.

It was Earthaboo.

Since I rarely went outside except for work, shopping was mostly Earthaboo’s job. I helped when we went out to work together, but on other days, James would make a fuss if I even tried to go out. He said there could be problems if I went out too often, even in disguise.

I sat up, holding the coffee that seemed freshly taken from the refrigerator.

Earthaboo had already opened her can and was pouring it into her mouth. Seems like today was a day off.

“You look super depressed.”

“…”

I looked down at the canned coffee, then finally opened it.

Imitating Earthaboo, I poured it into my mouth, tasting the intense sweetness like sugar lumps dissolved in water.

“Well, I guess you would be depressed.”

Earthaboo said just that much and didn’t continue, just sipping her can.

I stared at Earthaboo for a moment, then asked.

“…Why do you help me so much?”

Earthaboo looked at me with wide eyes.

“I’m grateful, but helping me doesn’t benefit you in any way.”

It probably wasn’t appropriate to ask such a question now. There are many people in the world who are kind enough to help others without expecting anything in return.

“Well.”

Earthaboo tilted her head.

“I’ve always just done what I wanted, so honestly, even if I tried to answer now, I don’t really remember the reason.”

“…”

I was at a loss for words.

“Because I like Earth people… no, that’s not it. No matter what, I don’t like all Earth people. I’m only interested in cute ones like Magical Girls.”

That’s quite sobering coming from someone who was going on about Voyager.

Though she was drunk when she said that.

“Are you saying I fit that criteria?”

“You’re pretty, aren’t you?”

At that, I lost all desire to ask further questions.

If she had given a serious answer, I might have been serious too.

Wait, could this also be her way of being considerate—

“If it had just been James, I would have kicked him out right away.”

“…”

James’s ears twitched from across the room where he was tinkering with some machine.

“Well, it wasn’t just about your looks. I thought someone like you could be trusted. I’ve never been betrayed by you, so there’s no reason for me to betray you either.”

I don’t know what Earthaboo’s planet is like, but perhaps this is a cultural characteristic.

Just as on Earth, it’s almost universal culture that “when there are guests, you treat them with sincerity, and guests behave respectfully toward their hosts.”

Well, I’m not saying the entire planet is like that. There must be many countries on that planet, and Earthaboo must be from one of them.

“You mentioned Voyager before.”

I subtly changed the subject.

“Was that true?”

“Of course!”

Earthaboo said with a delighted smile.

“Beings whose lifespans don’t even reach 100 years launched a rocket into space just because they wanted to see beyond their world. They even included what could be ‘humanity’s last words.’ Isn’t that romantic? That they put songs on something that might be too small to find on a cosmic scale!”

“That’s incorrect. It’s a fabrication by the Federation.”

Huh?

Earthaboo and I looked at James simultaneously.

James had somehow approached and was sitting near us.

Seeing him hugging one of the snacks Earthaboo had laid out, I wasn’t sure whether to call him shameless or cute.

After snorting, James said,

“What are you talking about? If you apply the laws of physics to everything you did that day, barely a few seconds would make any sense.”

He said with an extremely incredulous expression.

“What?”

Why is this coming up now?

While I was feeling a bit perplexed, James continued with a smug expression.

“If you throw something against the speed of falling, naturally a greater force must act on your body in the opposite direction. In other words, Blossom and the Combatant you kicked upward should have received much more energy than just falling. At the moment you kicked them.”

“…”

Oh.

“Don’t tell me you hadn’t thought of that? I thought you were doing such bizarre things to take some magical measures.”

James’s eyes narrowed.

“Well, that’s what magic is. It’s a miraculous power that overturns the laws of physics just by thinking ‘it’s possible.’ It’s absurd that a human who can do such impossible things, even creating a ‘harmless black hole’ in midair, can’t use simple magic like ‘flying.'”

Sighing deeply and shaking his head, James looked up at me as if I were some ‘hopeless case.’

“Anyway, aren’t you someone who can clearly ignore the laws of physics? Couldn’t you naturally swing something like this? I think it’s at least more realistic than flying. There are videos of you pushing cars with one hand on streaming sites right now.”

Having gained nothing from my comment, I kept my mouth shut.

“I made it in the shape you wanted, would you like to try holding it?”

With a slightly disgruntled expression, I approached the hammer.

It looked similar to a hammer I’d seen in some American superhero movie. A truly brutish rectangular hammer.

However, the handle was quite long. He must have made an effort to match the shape I called a sledgehammer.

“The head is enlarged because of the generator, right?”

“Yes. There would be no point in using a core if it couldn’t be controlled.”

I reached out and grabbed the handle.

The circuit is still running. In fact, it has been running continuously since I first put on the circuit.

So there was no reason I couldn’t lift this.

Despite its appearance and size, the hammer lifted too easily in my hand.

“…”

I quietly looked at the hammer.

“How is it?”

“…I won’t know until I try using it.”

At my words, James snorted again.

He must have realized I deliberately said that because I didn’t want to say something he would like.

He’s too perceptive.

For now, even the Magical Girls are restraining their movements. I think it’s because Hayun’s hope hasn’t returned yet.

So I thought the opportunity to use this would come a bit later.

But unfortunately, I ended up using it just two days later.