Ch.68Chapter 12. Requirements (4)

“What are you thinking?”

Rose asked with a hint of concern.

Of course, considering our current situation, we weren’t exactly in a position to have a relaxed conversation.

So our exchanges were brief, fragmented between attacks.

I tried to focus on breaking the restraints on the joints in one go, but they wouldn’t break so easily.

Perhaps because the numerous Kaijin from before had ultimately been subdued by the Magical Girls, the armor was much sturdier now.

I succeeded in breaking the elbow joint, but the leg restraints were far more robust.

That was certainly a wise choice on their part.

Between natural arm movement and natural leg movement, if you asked which has a wider range of motion, the latter would obviously be much greater.

I struck the robot’s right leg with my hammer, then rolled down to avoid the counterattack that followed, and hammered its back again.

Rose, who had been standing beside me, dodged a series of attacks aimed at her by rolling under its arm and coming to my side.

“To show that they can’t be controlled.”

“Us? Or the Kaijin?”

“Both.”

I spat out my answer and thrust my hammer between the Kaijin’s legs.

I positioned the hammer head horizontally, then opened both boosters to maximum.

“…!”

Naturally, the stronger force was from behind. From the Kaijin’s perspective, it was the right leg, and the boosters that could easily launch my body skyward caused the Kaijin’s legs to spread wide apart.

That wasn’t my intention. I was just hoping the booster’s heat might damage the device a bit.

The other side would be just as hot. But more importantly, the hammer that shot forward struck the leg, causing it to tear in the opposite direction.

Crack.

The sound was painful just to hear, but it wasn’t the sound of the Kaijin’s leg breaking.

There are “joints” around the waist too. To control the legs properly, there would naturally be control devices running alongside the pelvis.

Hiss.

As that control device bent sideways, something seemed to go wrong with the energy conduits, and black liquid spurted out like oil from a broken hydraulic system.

That wasn’t just oil. It was probably pure energy generated by the circuits.

Though the legs were torn, the Kaijin’s body was sturdy and the armor itself was so solid that the two legs didn’t completely detach from the body.

Instead, the Kaijin fell forcefully to the right, smashing its head against the ground.

Crash!

“GRAAAH!!”

The Kaijin howled.

It immediately turned and planted its hands on the ground, and terrifyingly, its claws dug into the earth, creating deep furrows. If anyone had been there, even a Magical Girl wouldn’t have escaped unharmed. Honestly, I was a bit scared too.

But what makes a Magical Girl a Magical Girl?

It’s fighting with courage and never giving up, no matter how bizarre the enemy before you looks.

Not me.

Girls like Hayun.

Even while Rose and I were rolling back, Hayun stood firmly guarding the front of the Kaijin.

And as soon as I toppled the Kaijin sideways, Hayun rushed at it.

“The shoulder! There’s a control device in the shoulder!”

When I shouted, Hayun immediately charged toward it. The Kaijin quickly tried to rise, but before it could fully stand, Hayun’s blade reached its left shoulder.

Sometimes when passing by hardware stores, I’ve seen them cutting metal rods. The sight of metal grinding against metal, sending sparks flying everywhere, always seemed quite threatening. They even wear protective gear over their faces.

Hayun’s blade tip was like that.

There wasn’t a sound like a saw cutting through metal, but pink sparks flew. Intensely. They showered over Hayun’s body and face.

Yet Hayun didn’t even blink as she pushed the blade deeper.

I rushed at the Kaijin and mercilessly hammered its back. Then without removing the hammer, I used the booster at full power.

The Kaijin’s arm, which was trying to rise, seemed to lose some strength. It quickly tried to regain its posture, but that moment of weakness was enough. It gave Hayun’s sword time to penetrate deeper.

Beyond the sparks, Hayun looked at me. As our eyes met over the Kaijin’s back, Hayun smiled with her eyes. I avoided her gaze.

The pink sparks gradually dulled, then turned black.

Crack!

A sound of something violently colliding came from inside. It sounded like paper caught in a fan.

And then—

A loud explosion.

“…Hayun!”

Before I knew it, I was running toward Hayun, who had been thrown backward.

“Jieun?”

When I grabbed her hand to help her up, Hayun looked at me with wide eyes.

Realizing my impulsive action, I quickly let go of her hand. Still looking somewhat surprised, Hayun stared at the hand I had held.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—we didn’t have time to dwell on our first physical contact in a long time.

A terribly angry sound came from behind us.

Until now, it had sounded somewhat bear-like, but not anymore.

Perhaps even that had been “controlled.”

At this point, I had to admit it, whether I wanted to or not. Whether it was humane or inhumane was for others to judge, but this company’s technology was undeniable. It meant they could weaponize Kaijin.

Well, common sense would dictate that no one would approve of this.

Thud, thud.

Perhaps because one of the circuits attached to its shoulders had burst, the Kaijin’s left shoulder was blown off. The arm didn’t detach, but the shoulder bone was exposed, showing a serious wound.

With the body covered in fur, the blood soaking into it and spreading made the condition look even worse.

Parts lay scattered around the damaged arm. Some were still dangling, attached by wires or other components.

This… looks dangerous.

Our mission to capture the Kaijin remained unchanged, but we couldn’t kill it.

Even if the government and the Federation stood against us, the person who became this Kaijin likely bore no guilt.

No, they might be no different from me, captured by the company and used as a weapon. If I hadn’t escaped and had been taken to another hospital, I might have ended up like that.

Or worse. I might have just become something like a power generator.

If it’s officially subdued and goes through administrative procedures, they won’t be able to deny that it’s a “Kaijin.” Though the documents created through those administrative procedures would probably be classified.

What about the police?

From what I could see, they seemed quite confused.

The company wouldn’t have sent such a being without considering this. They must be confident they can silence everyone even if discovered.

Well, they can probably control the “evidence.”

Looking up briefly, I noticed the people who had been watching from above were already gone.

There weren’t even helicopters flying in the sky. There were a few drones, but they bore the Noir Corporation logo.

“They really go all out, don’t they.”

Those who are dull-witted but strong, pushing through what they want without much thought.

That’s how I felt about those who sent this thing.

“Can it be healed?”

“…It’s already healing a bit.”

Delphinium, who had approached nearby, said. Her staff pointed toward the Kaijin’s shoulder.

As she said, flesh was gradually returning to the exposed bone.

Rather than flesh covering it, black liquid was spreading over it.

“Looks like a self-repair function,” Iris said, loading a fuse into her rifle.

“It’s not properly healing the wound, but it should stop the bleeding. And it’ll also cover the parts where the armor was stripped away.”

“…They really do think of everything.”

I sighed deeply and gripped my hammer.

“But since we’ve come this far, we need to take it down anyway.”

“Yes.”

Hayun responded to my words.

“Then let’s finish this quickly and go,” I said.

“There’s nothing to gain from this fight anyway.”

It’s a battle with no compensation.

Better to end it quickly before we lose our strength.

Smoke began to flow from my hammer.

It was like the smoke that appears when launching a rocket, as if burning fuel.

Well, in reality, there might be no reason for it. This too might be an effect created by my imagination.

Still, it seemed to have an effect.

Seeing the smoke, the police backed away in fear.

That’s right.

The Kaijin is about to go wild, so keep your distance.

I’ll try to contain it, but I can’t promise anything.

…If they’re going to be stubborn till the end, then I’ll be stubborn too. I’ll make sure the police never want to come out here again.

Even if I become a public enemy, well.

I already am one anyway.

The fact that they called us here suggests that someone on their side thinks they need us.

Yes, there was never any hope to begin with. I’ve never had hope in this kind of world.

But I don’t want to be the only one drowning in despair.

If that’s the kind of fight they want, I’ll make sure they fall into the same pit of despair as me.

I heard the sound of air being cut around my body.

From the front part of the hammer, where the auxiliary thruster was attached, black smoke flowed out instead of fire.

What started as just smoke gradually became something like a liquid.

Bang!

Almost simultaneously with it solidifying, it collided with the Kaijin’s crown.

Crack.

Whether it was the sound from the Kaijin’s helmet armor or from the hardened mana I had applied to the hammer.

Something seemed to crack.

And those broken pieces stuck to the Kaijin’s body.

“Grr?”

The Kaijin looked up at me.

My mana flowed into the cracked helmet.

“…!”

The Kaijin covered its face with its hands.

Well, that’s the idea.

In a situation where I had to fight alongside other Magical Girls, I couldn’t just spill sticky substances all over the ground.

But pouring it on the Kaijin’s body was possible. It didn’t matter if I couldn’t completely restrain it.

The mana that had entered its eyes and ears was already doing its job.

The Kaijin roared and swung its arms in all directions. It was threatening. In fact, it was even harder to predict its attacks since it was swinging blindly without sight.

But at the same time, the enemy’s blind spots increased.

Not just the eyes, but the ears were blocked too.

And that’s not all. The mana that flowed into the helmet was slowly hardening inside.

I wasn’t sure about the wide-open mouth, but if it reached near the nose, breathing would become difficult too.

Bang, bang, bang.

My hammer and Rose’s gauntlet struck the Kaijin’s body several times.

With attacks coming from front and back, and its vision and hearing blocked, it might have even panicked if the substance flowed into its mouth and nose.

Even a rational being would panic in this situation, let alone one relying almost entirely on instinct.

Iris, who had been targeting the head persistently, was now aiming at the arms and legs. She seemed to have noticed what I had done to the head.

Hayun also rushed in, and Dahlia rose into the air, almost bombing the Kaijin.

“…!”

The Kaijin roared.

Black fragments shot out from the cracked parts of the helmet.

For a moment, I heard a deafening sound that felt like it would tear my ears.

In that instant of hesitation, the Kaijin’s arm flew at me, pushing me sideways.

I barely managed to plant my feet and brake without rolling on the ground, but the Kaijin was already lunging forward.

“Ahhh!?”

The troops standing near where the Kaijin was charging panicked. Some tried to back away but couldn’t because of the people behind them, while others raised shields in an attempt to block.

But there was no way riot shields could properly block a Kaijin’s attack. Even if they were reinforced for Kaijin, there’s a limit to how much weight a person can carry. They couldn’t just make them arbitrarily thick.

Gunfire was directed at the Kaijin, but that only heightened its aggression.

Wires flew in, but the Kaijin’s unnecessarily powerful artificial claws tore through even those. It pulled with force and slashed forward, tearing at the wires so they couldn’t completely restrain it. Even with layers of wires, the Kaijin had the strength to drag them all forward.

Above all, it was moving so quickly that the wires couldn’t properly settle on its head.

If anything, because of this, the blinded Kaijin seemed to orient itself toward the direction from which attacks were coming.

“Delphinium…!”

Hayun shouted.

Delphinium, who was already preparing her magic, created a thick wall in front of the Kaijin.

It was similar to what we had seen earlier, but this time it was so thick that the other side was barely visible.

“GRAAAH!?”

The Kaijin, having charged full force into that wall of mana—

“…!”

Recoiled in shock and jumped back.

The flat Kaijin from earlier had panicked even after touching a thinner wall. This time, the wall was too thick to break through, so it was a natural reaction.

But Rose was already charging at the Kaijin as it jumped back.

“Hyah!”

With a powerful shout, Rose leaped and delivered a drop kick toward the Kaijin.

The size difference between the Kaijin and Rose was nearly two and a half times, but Rose’s strength was also greatly enhanced by her circuit.

Rose’s two feet struck the Kaijin’s feet, and the Kaijin was thrown back in the opposite direction.

Next was me.

Flying in with the thruster at maximum, I drove the hammer head into the Kaijin’s abdomen.

Something like saliva flowed from near the Kaijin’s mouth.

The final blow to the Kaijin, whose abdomen was pinned against the wall by the rocket, came from Hayun.

“I’m sorry.”

Saying that, Hayun drove her sword into the Kaijin’s arm.

The other circuit that was still operating without bursting was pathetically detached by Hayun’s sword.

Having seen the explosion earlier, Hayun seemed to have handled the opposite arm a bit more safely.

“Excellent.”

James, who had been watching us from the sky until then, said.

“The more components in the circuit, the better. Let’s take them as they are.”

“…”

I looked up at James.

“GRAAAH!”

As soon as the circuit was removed, the Kaijin sprang from the wall as if awakened.

The energy from the circuit is used to control the Kaijin.

Bang!

But the emerging Kaijin was hit by the hammer again, collided with the wall, and then collapsed to the ground, twitching.

…Besides control, it also assists with strength and enhances defense. Having worn the combat suit, I already knew that much.

Confirming that the Kaijin had fallen, Delphinium waved her staff, and the wall disappeared as if melting. Beads of sweat had formed on Delphinium’s face.

Does using magic consume physical energy too? Well, there can’t be no penalty.

“…”

Silence.

The police were silent as they looked at the fallen Kaijin.

Actually, are they really regular police? They might be from a different affiliation. At any rate, they’re not just ordinary patrol officers.

I raised my head again to survey the surroundings.

There was damage everywhere. The asphalt was broken in many places. Some areas were destroyed by me, others by magic.

It will probably take some time to repair.

Hmm.

How should I put this?

In the end, we gained nothing by coming here. Just wasted energy.

Maybe because it was 2 versus 6, none of us were seriously injured, but…

After opening another can when we get back, we’ll have to survive mostly on vegetables. We have beans, so we might manage to supplement protein somehow—

Just as Hayun was about to say something to me, there was a commotion in the distance.

A girl was shouting loudly. Somehow, the voice sounded familiar.

But that voice was drowned out by the voices of others that followed.

It seemed someone was trying to come this way, and the police were stopping them.

I ran toward the sound.

The owner of that voice was—

“—Jieun!”

Jihye shouted energetically when she saw me.

Her distinctively loud voice reached my ears clearly.

Police officers surrounded her.

When I landed beside her, the police backed away.

Jihye was breathing heavily, as if she had run all the way here.

Her face was drenched in sweat, with hair sticking to it.

“…Jihye.”

I couldn’t help but sound dumbfounded.

Jihye looked at me for a while without saying anything. Or rather, she had an expression that suggested she didn’t know what to say.

Looking at my disheveled hair, clothes, and body, Jihye spoke with a trembling voice.

“Are, are you doing okay?”

“…Yeah.”

I couldn’t say otherwise to Jihye, so I just nodded.

Well, I’m not doing too badly.

Even if I’m just 2cm away from the standard of “not doing well,” I’m still in a manageable state.

“I, I see…”

Jihye’s head dropped slightly.

After hesitating, she abruptly held something out to me.

It was a plastic bag.

“…What’s this?”

“No, on the way here, just in case.”

Jihye said.

“I bought some things.”

Did she stop by a convenience store?

When I opened it, I found it filled with instant foods, underwear, socks, and similar items that seemed to have been hastily gathered.

While each item wasn’t particularly expensive, if she bought them with her allowance—

“This?”

“T-take it.”

Jihye said.

“You need it, right?”

“…Ah.”

Did she see the broadcast?

“I—”

“It’s, it’s fine, just take it.”

Jihye said and smiled at me.

“I’m doing well, so don’t worry too much. …That’s what I wanted to say. I knew you’d be worried.”

But you’re worried too.

Various thoughts crossed my mind.

Jihye had been hospitalized. Was her body a bit better now? Did she have any aftereffects from that gas?

I opened my mouth, but—

“Jieun!”

I heard Hayun calling from behind.

At the same time, there was a sound from the sky.

More drones were approaching us. Containers similar to the previous one were attached beneath them.

Could we handle all of them?

We had just barely dealt with a Kaijin in reinforced armor. We could capture them somehow, but considering the energy I’d expend, it might be better for me to leave.

Hayun probably made the same judgment, which is why she called.

“…Go.”

Jihye said.

“Jihye.”

“…You have to go, right?”

“…”

Looking at Jihye’s expression, I couldn’t say anything.

How much must Jihye have worried after I disappeared.

If Hayun is an object of jealousy for me, Jihye is one of the few beings in my life with whom I can comfortably let my guard down. We’ve been so close since childhood that it feels stranger when she’s not around.

Jihye came all the way here to give me this.

“Go, hurry!”

“…Next time, let’s meet next time.”

I replied to Jihye’s words.

Jihye smiled at me.

I want to tell her to come with me.

But at the same time, I know that if she follows, she won’t see anything good. That place… doesn’t even have a proper bathroom.

A black hole formed behind me.

Hope is so fleeting that even when it’s right in front of me, the despair pulling at my legs emerges. In the end, what reached me was a dark, deep maw.

“You should go somewhere else—”

“Since I’ve come this far, I’ll be called in as soon as I go to school anyway.”

Jihye interrupted my suggestion.

She was right.

Unlike me, who could keep running away, Jihye was just an ordinary girl.

She had to go to school and had a life to continue.

Unlike me.

Rather than making her escape to another place from here, it might be better for her to be questioned right away.

I pressed my lips tightly together.

“Next time, let’s meet next time.”

And Jihye spoke as if urging me on.

Watching Jihye wave her hand, I could barely squeeze out my voice.

“Yeah. Next time.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

…At least I saw Jihye’s face.

She’s awake again.

Seeing her in her school uniform, she must be properly attending school again.

I heard the sound of children running toward us.

I heard something falling from the sky.

Thud, thud.

Several loud sounds came in succession. There was also a sound like something bursting, similar to when the container boxes opened.

Gritting my teeth, I took a step back.

The last glimpse I had of Jihye showed her forcing a smile.

*

The visit to the convenience store was partly because of the broadcast.

Seeing people guarding the street, Jihye was about to rush in, but she barely managed to turn sideways and enter the convenience store.

As soon as she entered, she grabbed a basket near the entrance and started throwing in instant foods from the ready-to-eat section indiscriminately.

The person who looked like a part-timer was staring at Jihye with surprised eyes, but she didn’t care.

She also put in some canned goods and even a few bags of snacks, as well as underwear, stockings, and socks. She knew Jieun’s size. They had always been together. They even did laundry together.

After filling the basket, she went straight to the counter and paid.

She didn’t properly hear how much it cost, but fortunately, there seemed to be money in her debit card.

Jihye ran with it.

There were people approaching as if to check her, but Jihye swung the bag she was holding. While they were turning to avoid it, she ran.

There weren’t that many people all the way to where the police were gathered.

She was out of breath.

Had she ever run this much in her life?

The video seemed to have been cut off, as there was no sound coming from the earphones she was wearing. The same was true ahead. Despite so many police officers.

A few people saw Jihye.

She had managed to avoid two people earlier, but with so many people coming at once, she couldn’t help it.

“Jieun!”

Jihye shouted with all her might.

She was so out of breath. Her throat hurt, and her chest ached.

But still.

She wanted to deliver this at least.

“Jieun!”

Just as she was screaming at the top of her lungs, there was a thud, as if something had fallen.

The people around backed away.

The girl in front of Jihye was Jieun.

There was something black smeared all over her body, and she was covered in scratches as if she had been scraped somewhere. Her Magical Girl outfit, which she would have teased her about under normal circumstances, saying it suited her well, was torn in various places, beyond even joking about.

She didn’t want to imagine what had happened.

She had admired Magical Girls. They were righteous beings who stood against evil.

But she had never once wished for Jieun to take that place.

She couldn’t remember clearly what they talked about; her mind was too hazy.

Still, she managed to deliver what she had been holding.

She also confirmed that Jieun was at least alive.

With a dazed corner of her mind, she thought she wanted to follow her.

…But she’d probably just be a burden.

Thanks to that voice from a corner of her mind, Jihye was able to hold back just that one statement.

Jieun left Jihye with only a sad smile and stepped back.

The wind that had been blowing roughly disappeared the next moment.

As if it had never been there from the beginning.

As if those few minutes of face-to-face time had been fake from the start, her vision emptied.

“…”

But the sensation of the plastic bag handles digging into her fingers remained.

Jieun had taken what Jihye handed her. Without refusing.

…At least that much, she could help.

That alone gave her a little peace of mind, and Jihye exhaled softly.