Ch.58Chapter 10. What Can Be Done (5)

The opponent’s weakness was simpler than expected.

Its eyes were split in two like a crab’s, and its head was a soft, amorphous form where I couldn’t tell exactly where the mouth was, but it always spat in only one direction.

There were beings attacking from both sides wielding terrifying melee weapons, others shooting lasers from a distance, and occasionally large mana clusters flying through the gaps between them.

Even far away, Delphinium had created a huge mana cluster above her head and was standing by.

“Tch!”

Rose planted a punch directly in the monster’s face. The monster spat at her hand, but Rose’s circuit was already synchronized with Hayun’s mana and spinning rapidly.

Her gauntlets were thickly coated with mana.

It wasn’t visible to the eye. But I could see the monster’s spit being crushed and evaporated before it even touched her fist.

Being this close, it tried spraying its spit like a mist as it had done to us, but that was equally useless.

Rose’s punches were fast. She wasn’t just throwing single, heavy blows, but delivering several punches in the blink of an eye.

And in the wake of those punches and gauntlets, small whirlwinds formed.

Whirlwinds of mana.

The mana that could block bullets capable of piercing human limbs created these whirlwinds, and naturally, the finely dispersed mist particles became completely ineffective.

It was a terrifying sight. Had I really been fighting things like this? Honestly, it was somewhat impressive. Back then, I didn’t even have combat gear like I do now.

Not that the monster could do anything about it.

Even if it somehow managed to escape from the front, Delphinium’s mana cluster would immediately fly at it.

The reason that cluster hadn’t been launched yet was very simple. It was obvious that allies would get caught in it.

And that itself served as a warning.

If it attempted to escape, it would be knocked unconscious by that cluster.

Well, they probably wouldn’t kill it, at least.

The monster stretched its arms and legs to form a spider-like—or crab-like—shape, but those extended limbs were cut off by Hayun’s blade.

Perhaps because of her experience fighting multiple monsters before, dealing with just one didn’t worry her much, or maybe—it was simply because she was fighting alongside me.

Hayun’s face was quite bright.

And the pink mana extending from her staff was bright too.

“…”

Strangely, I didn’t like that.

As I frowned, the monster’s hand flew toward me.

Whoosh.

But I wasn’t going to be taken down easily either. Once I saw the weakness, all that remained was to beat it up.

“Graaah!”

Both our arms fell off simultaneously. One was cut, the other was broken.

The monster’s body fell to the ground with a splash.

As if making one last desperate attempt, its head turned toward Rose and spat out a long stream of saliva—

Rose roughly grabbed its face with her gauntlet.

Hiss.

I heard the sound of the gauntlet’s surface melting, but Rose didn’t seem particularly concerned. Maybe because it was in glove form?

Looking closely, there seemed to be a small gap between the gauntlet’s surface and the monster’s skin. It probably wouldn’t last long, but it was enough to hold it for a moment without injuring her hand.

…That’s different from me.

I felt somewhat puzzled.

My body can also be coated with mana. I can block most attacks quite easily. I’ve actually protected myself several times thanks to that.

But coating my weapons with it was still difficult. Mana does coat my weapons, but not enough to protect them like my body. Even though the generator inside is spinning so intensely.

Is it because I use all the energy for propulsion?

Or is it because the type of energy I use is different?

Maybe it’s simply because I’m only half a magical girl.

Rose held the monster’s head with her right hand and clenched her left fist.

Then she struck the monster’s head.

It was quite a violent action for “not killing,” but it couldn’t be helped. Monsters continue to rampage as long as they’re conscious.

It’s like a biological circuit.

While the exact mechanism of their luminescence hasn’t been clarified, the fact that this only happens on Earth suggests it’s connected to human emotions.

So all we can do is either cut off all its limbs to render it completely immobile, or hit its head hard enough to knock it unconscious.

In this era, if there’s a skilled healer, restoring limbs is relatively easy. That’s why I could attend school normally the next day even after breaking so many bones. But cutting off arms and legs is still another matter.

It’s just… you know. Breaking bones is one thing, but…

After taking the blow to its head, the monster’s limbs went limp.

“…”

Rose stared at its face for a moment, then slowly lowered it to the ground.

There was still a hissing sound as something melted on the ground, but at least it didn’t burrow endlessly into it.

“…Good.”

Rose muttered, then raised her head.

And looked at me.

No, it wasn’t just Rose. All the magical girls were looking at me.

Hmm.

In the end, I was robbed of my prey. On the surface, it looked like we cooperated, but what actually happened was that six people rushed in at once to subdue what I had been hunting alone.

And now, this situation… isn’t it quite dangerous for me?

“Let’s retreat now.”

James said.

“We’ve shown all we needed to show. The fact that magical girls arrived during the fight means they must have considered your activities dangerous.”

I nodded at James’s words and carefully stepped backward.

“Wait!”

Just as I was about to create a black hole, Hayun urgently extended one hand and shouted.

“Wait… just wait.”

I paused my steps as she asked.

This isn’t really a rational decision. I remember getting shot last time because I hesitated a bit too long.

I heard footsteps behind me. It didn’t sound like police moving, but rather magical girls walking, with a few sets of footsteps spaced slightly apart.

Iris, Delphinium, Dalia.

All three are magical girls specialized in long-range attacks. If they’re aiming at me, they might attack the moment I try to escape.

Though I’m not sure what they could do to me as I escape far away through a black hole.

Come to think of it, Delphinium never ended up launching her magic. That means it must still be floating in the sky.

“Hooh.”

Seeing this situation, James made an interested sound.

Why? Do you find it entertaining that I might have to fight these kids again? Your personality is unnecessarily sharp.

If I had the time, I’d find a rat meat recipe somewhere and post it inside the tent. Maybe skewer it from anus to mouth and roast it?

“I… I know you don’t trust me.”

Hayun said.

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

Of course I don’t trust her completely. A part of my mind still believed in Hayun, but blindly trusting magical girls in this situation would just be foolish.

Even if Hayun personally had no intention of harming me, the thoughts of the other four magical girls surrounding me, and the numerous police officers, would be different.

Civil servants are people who follow orders. I understand that. They can’t refuse when ordered from above.

But from the receiving end, it’s impossible not to be angry. While I don’t intend to directly assault the police, I hope they’d understand if I break a few pieces of equipment.

Since I’ve thought about it rationally and understood, shouldn’t they also think rationally and understand me?

“I, until now…”

Hayun started speaking but then closed her mouth.

And looked at me with a pained expression.

“Until now?”

I asked, trying my best to maintain my composure.

“…”

Hayun couldn’t continue even after my question.

I waited for a moment, then created a small hole behind my back.

The dirt scattered on the ground began to swirl around the hole. My back brightened slightly. It was because the black hole was absorbing light.

“Jieun, just wait…!”

Hayun shouted.

“What’s the point of waiting?”

I asked.

Waiting here would only result in their reinforcements arriving. I’ve already been marked by the three largest powers in this country.

No, perhaps not just this country, but governments around the world might be keeping an eye on me. If they think it could happen in their countries too, it’s quite reasonable.

“There’s nothing good for me in just waiting here.”

I don’t want to say harsh things.

But such words were flowing from my mouth.

It wasn’t just controlled by my mind.

In the end, these were the thoughts I had.

Thoughts I had been suppressing all along.

Since overflowing my despair circuit once, I’ve found it difficult to control my emotions.

Or maybe I no longer need to. There’s no point in hiding myself from others anymore. I’m already broken. Maybe I’m just living like this because I can’t go back to how I was.

Even if it’s ugly, I don’t want to care anymore.

It’s not like caring would change anything.

Rather than being in that suffocating school, I felt more at ease in the abandoned building.

I didn’t like it. I didn’t think I would ever come to like it. When I looked up at the ceiling, when I lay in that narrow tent, I felt utterly miserable. After coming to another world, I had nothing.

But still, that was all.

I didn’t have to deal with those rich brats who envied my only friend at the start of each semester despite me having nothing, and I didn’t have to study like crazy from the beginning of the semester just to convince myself that I belonged next to Hayun.

I didn’t have to worry about others finding out I lived in an orphanage, and I didn’t have to feel anxious when Hayun subtly expressed her desire to visit where I lived.

The future looked bleak and hopeless, but that was all. In fact, I had never forgotten that feeling since coming to this world.

And because I was someone who could only think such pathetic thoughts, these unspoken feelings had slowly accumulated deep in my heart.

To the point where they would burst out whenever I opened my mouth.

I don’t like this. This situation. The fact that Hayun is trying to tell me something. And myself.

Whatever Hayun says, I’ll reflexively resist.

But in the end, whatever she says, I’ll be persuaded by her words.

I hated all of it.

“…Are you going to ask me to come back?”

Yet, why am I asking this?

Why am I carefully choosing my words and asking for reasons?

Perhaps it’s because I’m someone who can’t completely break away from Hayun—no, someone who doesn’t want to break away.

In the end, no different from those worthless trash who orbited around her.

If Hayun wasn’t the heroine, would I have stayed by her side?

Would I have endured so much opposition to remain there?

I wanted to think not.

So, as if denying that thought, I spoke harshly again.

“Are you going to ask me to attend school again? Or to go back to that orphanage?”

Going to school would only mean facing enemies. People who dislike me. At best, only Hayun would like me, and I don’t want to go back to such a place.

The orphanage… I dislike it for different reasons. It scares me. I’m afraid of what the people there would think of me.

Even if the whole world hated me, I hoped that the people there, at least those who shared my childhood—

I hoped Jihye wouldn’t hate or fear me.

Even after causing such a mess, I was still thinking like that.

“It’s too late.”

I whispered.

“I’ve come too far.”

To go back.

At my words, Hayun’s expression crumbled.

An expression that looked like she might cry at any moment.

It was a familiar expression.

But the roles were reversed now.

Whenever the world hurt Hayun, I was there to comfort her.

Sometimes with completely irrelevant nonsense. Sometimes by forcibly stuffing something sweet into her mouth.

Now I had become one of those people hurting her.

This feels awful.

The wind grew stronger.

The circuit vibrated more intensely. Percentage—I hadn’t been paying attention to it for a while. Whether it was a hundred percent or whatever, at some point I stopped caring and transformed without a second thought, summoning black holes without hesitation.

That means, at some point, my circuit has been running at over 100 percent continuously.

I am constantly in despair.

Whether I feel good or bad, deep inside my heart, constantly.

The opposite of Hayun feeling hope whenever she sees me.

“So—”

“…No!”

As I took another step back, Hayun shouted with all her might.

Even in the midst of the wind swirling like a small storm, Hayun was slowly walking toward me.

“That’s not it!”

Hayun shouted.

Tears were flowing from her eyes. Her face was completely crumbling now.

Had I ever seen Hayun cry like this before?

After causing this, I was the one who stopped in my tracks.

“I’m not asking you to come back. I won’t say you’ve come close either.”

Hayun said.

“Everything that’s happened until now, all of it, was too… too much, I know that. I know that a simple apology won’t be enough for forgiveness.”

“…”

This time, I was the one who couldn’t continue speaking.

“So… so, just let me do one thing.”

“One thing.”

“Yes, just one.”

I closed my mouth.

I didn’t agree.

At least, I didn’t verbally agree.

But my feet didn’t move. My head and heart were screaming at me to move, but deep in my soul, I was begging not to. It was as if something was holding my ankles.

Hayun had somehow approached to just a few steps away from me.

How long had I been waiting?

Saying I would leave, thinking she shouldn’t come close.

And yet—

“…”

An expression appeared on Hayun’s face.

It could be described as “resolute.”

And it was around then that I realized I had been thinking something wrong.

I tried to turn my body.

I moved my feet hurriedly.

But Hayun was faster. She had probably been thinking about this since she arrived here, from the moment she started fighting alongside me.

That’s why she could hold onto hope throughout the fight.

Hayun grabbed me tightly.

She embraced my waist firmly from behind with both arms.

But—she wasn’t stopping me from leaving.

—That’s not it.

Just as Hayun had shouted to me earlier.

“Just one thing.”

I heard Hayun whisper in my ear.

The tearfulness had completely disappeared, and it was a voice that didn’t quite match the resolute expression I had seen moments ago.

Just the normal voice of Hayun that I had heard countless times.

The arms embracing my waist tightened. Soft yet firm. Hayun’s body against my back was soft.

And warm.

How long has it been…

“Let me, come, with you.”

Hayun whispered softly like that.

As if afraid others might hear, just as we always did. Just like when we would stick close together and speak quietly so other classmates couldn’t hear.

…

That’s cheating.

Cheating.

Holding me tight like this. Pressing her body against mine.

Whispering in my ear.

For me, who had been separated for so long, it was all cheating.

Did Hayun do this knowingly?

Or was she just acting the same as always?

I’m not sure.

If it was the latter, then it simply means that Hayun’s existence itself is cheating for me.

What is that?

That’s too much.

That’s too much…

Really…

*

For a moment, the black hole flared up intensely, as if it would devour everything nearby.

Absorbing the surrounding light, and even small objects on the ground.

The first to be sucked in were the black magical girl and Blossom who were nearby.

Blossom threw her entire body to grab the black magical girl, but was it because she couldn’t overcome the speed?

Or was it because she couldn’t withstand the strong gravitational pull of the black hole?

They disappeared into it.

The same happened to the magical girls who had been approaching to surround the black magical girl.

As if trying to rescue their leader who had gone inside, they all jumped into the black hole at once.

Right after all the girls’ silhouettes disappeared into the light.

The black hole, which had been hovering with an intense presence, vanished without a trace in an instant, as if it had never been there.

All that remained were the traces of the intense battle.

And the police officers surrounding the area.

“…”

For a while, none of the many personnel made a sound.

“…We’re fucked.”

Only after about thirty seconds did someone mutter that to themselves.

There were no voices agreeing with those words for a long time afterward, but—

Many inwardly sympathized with that statement.

With the fact that something had gone terribly wrong.