Ch.73Chapter 13. Counterattack (5)

Ju-a had been feeling a bit concerned lately.

She wasn’t particularly pessimistic about the situation. Of course, as Jeong Jieun had said, things weren’t entirely positive either.

Even if she returned to school, could she properly start again from the second year? Would she be able to graduate on time and go to university?

No matter how she thought about it, reaching a positive conclusion to those questions would be seeing the situation through an excessively optimistic lens.

While she did have worries about the future—well.

Looking at what the five of them had accomplished here, it wasn’t all bad.

Iris—that is, Ju-a—had been able to create a properly functioning device even without the Hope Circuit distributed by the Federation government.

Though she couldn’t say they hadn’t received help from civilization, there was a way to survive. Somehow, she felt like she was just now realizing this.

Here, no one pressured Ju-a to do this or that.

There was no one she had to defeat.

From the beginning, everyone had to work to survive, so they naturally took on tasks.

The more they helped each other, the better things got, and life gradually became more comfortable.

Of course, if someone told her to live here forever, she’d think about escaping somehow.

“…Nothing again today.”

She mumbled as she dried her hair after washing up.

Making a hair-drying device wasn’t as difficult as one might think. With a motor that could rotate, an energy source, and a heat source, she just needed to assemble it so it wouldn’t break. There was no need to connect wires or install batteries, which actually reduced the number of parts and could increase stability.

This was another collaboration between James and Ju-a. All the women here had relatively long hair. Even Rose, who had the shortest hairstyle, had hair that was too long and thick to dry naturally.

Plus, since James was covered in fur, a device that produced warm air was inevitably necessary at some point.

“She probably went out for a walk,” Rose replied leisurely.

Though each magical girl had slightly different ways of accepting the current situation, true to their nature as beings who always fought with hope, none had completely fallen into despair yet.

Everyone showed signs of anxiety, but they all seemed to move as if they were somehow at peace.

“…”

Jeong Jieun, who had arrived here first, was a bit different.

Still, Iris felt something strange whenever she saw her.

The first feeling that came to mind was guilt.

She didn’t think what happened was entirely wrong. The Combatants often did things no different from hired thugs, and she hadn’t felt much hesitation in stopping them.

But that doesn’t mean she felt nothing when confronted with someone she had beaten up.

In particular, Ju-a often recognized Jeong Jieun. Her distinctly visible figure made it easy to spot “the troublesome one.”

She would struggle to the end even when there was no chance of winning. She would rush in and throw punches even knowing she couldn’t succeed.

Ju-a still couldn’t understand that emotion. After all, their situations were completely different from the start.

If the reason she had taken that job was to bring money to the orphanage where she lived…

She finished drying her hair and put down the homemade hair dryer.

After being lost in thought for a moment, she got up.

“Going to look for them?”

Rose asked with an expression that showed she knew what Ju-a was up to.

“…Just going out for some fresh air.”

Ju-a said and went outside.

*

Finding the two wasn’t difficult. There weren’t many places to hide unless you went into the crumbling ruins. They might be hard to find if they went into the forest, but that wouldn’t happen in the middle of the night.

When Ju-a spotted the two sitting near the village entrance, she quickly hid nearby.

Perhaps she didn’t need to, but…

The sight of the two sitting close together in the moonlight gave off an atmosphere that seemed like it shouldn’t be interrupted.

There was no conversation.

No laughter either.

Lee Hayun was just leaning on Jeong Jieun’s shoulder with her eyes closed.

“…”

Crouching a short distance away, hiding behind a wall, Ju-a held her breath with a slightly pounding heart.

Why?

She had no idea why she felt this way.

For Ju-a, or rather Iris, Hayun was an important person. She was a friend… but also a wall to overcome.

There were seniors who had become magical girls a year earlier, but Hayun was different from those seniors.

It wasn’t simply that she was skilled, but rather… how to put it? She had something that shone without even trying.

Hayun’s “hope” was different.

The hope of magical girls usually comes from a sense of purpose. And the sense of purpose of other magical girls came from their job as magical girls.

Because it was a job and a task, it carried some sense of duty, but at the same time, magical girls took a certain pride in their position.

That’s where Iris’s condescending attitude toward Combatants came from.

Strong, righteous beings. Objects of admiration.

It was clear why the Federation gave names like “magical girl” or “hero” to the talents they discovered.

But Hayun’s hope was… much less concrete than that.

Yet it always burned brightly and vividly.

Iris remembered the moments when that burning hope had faltered.

When Jeong Jieun went through those incidents.

When she was hospitalized and unconscious, when she was chased by the police. And when she infiltrated the company building.

Not just Iris, but the other magical girls could clearly tell that Hayun’s hope had dimmed.

She wondered why.

Iris peeked out again slightly to look in their direction.

She couldn’t see clearly. She could only see Jeong Jieun’s profile as she sat there. Her expression wasn’t bright.

The emotion Iris felt was something she had never experienced before.

It was different from jealousy. Nor was it bewilderment. Rather, she was already feeling bewilderment so explicitly that it was easy to distinguish.

“…”

Blossom’s hope.

She didn’t know what its source was, but for some reason, she was a person with the courage to never give up.

A person who could run her circuit with emotions that were clearly dark, yet not be consumed by those emotions.

A person who stubbornly clung to the cliff without letting go, refusing to fall in any situation.

Perhaps that was why Hayun saw that person as “hope.”

Iris recalled again.

That Combatant who had rushed at her, trying to land a hit on Iris’s face with strange tricks.

If their positions had been reversed, could Iris have done the same?

“…”

The conclusion was “I don’t know.”

She wasn’t sure if she had reached that conclusion because she didn’t want to understand and accept the situation, or if she was so arrogant that she thought she could certainly do the same.

If she hadn’t thought of herself as “someone who fights evil with circuits,” would Iris have broken?

She was afraid to reach a conclusion to that question.

As if it would make her less of a person than the courage of a single Combatant.

And then, recalling the type of emotion she had felt at that time, Iris was once again bewildered.

Envy.

Envy toward the person on whom that fierce light of hope was leaning.

Even while knowing how rude and cruel it was to feel “envious” of someone in such a situation, Iris was feeling exactly that emotion.

Hearing the sound of the two getting up, Iris quickly rose to her feet.

It wasn’t difficult to hide her footsteps.

The two didn’t seem to have heard her.

*

It didn’t take long to make a plan.

If I were to lose my reason and attack someone first, there would obviously be only one person.

The current chairman of Noir Corporation.

“Good.”

And that operation was exactly what I wanted.

Though they tell me to think rationally, humans can’t completely ignore their emotions.

Just look at how the people here are moved by despair and hope. It means the source of their driving force is emotion, not reason.

Hope can be grasped even if it’s futile.

Despair can be created alone even in decent situations.

Whoever created this world, they’re quite pragmatic, aren’t they?

“So we just break into the chairman’s house?”

“Well, it’s not that simple,” James said, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“I know where the chairman’s mansion is, but it’s hard to believe that coward would still be there.”

The former chairman also ended up abandoning his subordinates and fleeing when he was in danger, but there’s no need to bring that up and upset James.

“But it’s a good inference. Yes, since he’s not a ‘rational’ person. Since our goal is to make the enemy suspicious of us and protect himself, it would be good to go in and smash everything.”

“Oh.”

I smiled happily for the first time in a while.

“Will there be Kaijin there?”

“Probably.”

“Then we don’t need to fight them, right?”

“Right. Kaijin attacks don’t distinguish between friend and foe. Even if they’re controlled by resonance, it’s impossible to give specific orders.”

James said that, then stared at me as I smiled and asked, “Do you have any questions?”

“I do.”

“What question?”

“How many expensive things are there?”

“…”

James sighed deeply as if dumbfounded.

“That place was originally used by the former chairman. Naturally, the current chairman won’t have that many possessions there. The reason he keeps the house is partly because the current chairman is jealous of the former chairman.”

“Ah, that’s disappointing.”

Of course, I had some regrets about the former chairman too, but at least he never hit me directly.

He said he would hurt Jihye but never actually did.

…

But thinking about it again, the reason Jihye had to go through that was because the former chairman investigated my background.

So I don’t think I’ll feel guilty about breaking a few things. Good.

“Why are you making such a refreshed expression?”

“No, I just feel good thinking about starting our counterattack.”

“…”

James narrowed his eyes and glared at me.

What? Why? What?

You’re the one who came up with the place to raid. Giving me that look won’t change the plan.

“Am I going alone?”

“No.”

Hayun cut in firmly.

When I turned my head, she was looking at me with a stiff face.

“Why? Afraid I’ll get captured again?”

“Yes.”

Hey, isn’t that too quick of an answer?

“I’m trying to show that I’m acting on my own. What’s the point if you come along?”

“I’ll say I followed to stop you.”

“…”

I stared at Hayun for a while before slowly opening my mouth.

“Even if you don’t come, I won’t destroy other people’s homes.”

Hayun gaped blankly at my words.

…Why is she making such a shocked expression?

Didn’t we already finish this conversation last time?

“What about the other side? Any other ideas?”

When I said that, this time Iris raised her hand high.

What’s with you now?

Weren’t you the least emotional among the magical girls? Well, there’s also Delphinium in that regard, but in the original work, your role was to stop reckless operations.

…Ah, could it be that you’re going to say this operation is reckless?

“Going alone is too reckless.”

And that prediction was somewhat correct.

“…Wait, didn’t we already finish this discussion?”

“As long as we’re making plans, nothing is completely finished. If there are deficiencies, we need to address them clearly.”

Rose chimed in next to Iris.

If this had happened shortly after I arrived here, I probably would have ignored those words. At that time, I thought they would just consume my food rather than help me.

But after receiving so much help, it’s impossible to completely ignore their opinions now.

Besides… the magical girls have fought alongside me several times already.

When such people talk about “deficiencies,” there’s a high chance they’re being sincere.

“…Tell me.”

Unable to ignore all three of them, I nodded and asked, “What deficiencies are there?”

“We all had to fight just one Kaijin. Even if you try to avoid them, you know that Kaijin don’t just stick to fighting, right? How do you think you won’t get caught?”

“Well, I have a black hole.”

“What if you get hit on the head and pass out?”

“…”

“As a human, you can’t use magic with your bare body. If you pass out from a blow to the head and have your circuit stolen or destroyed, you won’t be able to return here. You’ll be captured without a chance. Or should I say ‘taken alive’?”

That’s quite a harsh way of putting it.

But she’s not wrong.

What if there are multiple Kaijin? As a magical girl, I have much better dynamic vision than usual and confidence that I won’t be knocked down by a single attack.

But my magic is still less developed compared to the other magical girls.

If by chance the Kaijin in that house are as numerous as they were in the broadcasting station, it could be dangerous.

If we’re just talking about ‘possibilities,’ well, it’s not entirely impossible.

“That’s a valid point. Miss Jeong Jieun, what will you do?” James asked, noticing my bitter reaction to being refuted by Iris.

“…What if you all follow me?”

“First, I can provide support fire. And my support includes ‘warping.’ It might hurt a bit, but I can move you to another location in an emergency.”

Having been hit several times, I’m not exactly thrilled about being hit again.

“And I can pretend to ‘restrain’ you. Your warping creates quite a spectacle and noise, right? If magical girls are trying to stop you, wouldn’t it be stranger if I didn’t intervene?”

“…”

I had nothing to say.

James looked back and forth between me and Iris as if he found my predicament quite enjoyable. I picked him up and handled him roughly.

James squeaked and struggled to escape, but he lacked the strength to break free from my grip. Even if he tried to bite me while I was using my circuit, it wouldn’t work.

…For some reason, Hayun was looking at my hand with cold eyes, so I put James down. Come to think of it, they’re magical girls. Maybe this looks like racial discrimination to them.

Still, she was looking at my hand, not my eyes, so it wasn’t that scary.

“…Fine.”

After buying some time by tormenting James, I still couldn’t think of a rebuttal to their arguments.

“Me too, I want to go too!” Hayun raised her hand high like Iris and said.

“It’s not bad to have someone watching your back!”

“…But you’re coming to ‘stop’ me.”

“It’s okay. We just need to create an atmosphere of confusion.”

I stared at Hayun as she said this.

When our eyes met, for some reason, Hayun twisted her body as if embarrassed. With her eyes raised, looking at me, Hayun was quite lovable but also a difficult opponent.

Had Hayun… ever been this insistent before?

“…”

I thought about it for a moment.

Seeing her talk like this, could the situation actually be quite dangerous? Is that why Hayun is determined to follow me?

Indeed, I might have been too confident and underestimating the opponent.

Both underestimation and overestimation ultimately have negative effects on us.

But if I had to choose which one causes more damage, it would obviously be underestimation.

“…Alright.”

In the end, I had no choice but to answer that way.

Seeing Hayun’s face brighten made me feel like I might have given the wrong answer, though.

*

“Will you be okay? Should we come too?”

Before we left, Rose asked Hayun one last time.

“Of course! We’ll be absolutely fine!”

“…”

It’s not like we’re going on a picnic.

It wasn’t a bad feeling that she… thought well of me, but I wasn’t sure what to say to Hayun reacting like this.

It felt like we had gone back to before coming here. My instinct was screaming that this wasn’t entirely good, but a corner of my heart was still welcoming the situation.

While Hayun’s face was bright, Iris’s was a bit stiff.

“If it’s too hard, you can stay behind.”

“Do you think I would say all that and then back out?”

Iris responded rather sharply to my words. Maybe it sounded like I was trying to provoke her.

…Well, considering the relationship between me and Iris, this makes sense.

But not wanting to get caught up in that and waste emotional energy, I just slightly raised both hands.

“Alright. Are you ready then? Circuit on.”

Speaking with a bit of my old work habit, I nodded.

“…Let’s go.”