Ch.78Chapter 14. Chaos (1)

# Enhanced Translation

“Should I say this worked out well?

We don’t have a TV. We do have smartphones, but we haven’t been using them since we couldn’t let anyone track us.

James and Iris, who had been tinkering with various parts I’d stored in my subspace, apparently found making a ‘screen’ particularly challenging. Come to think of it, that makes sense. Though we casually refer to it as a screen, it’s actually made up of countless tiny pixels packed tightly together.

Unless we specifically acquired a screen somewhere, there probably wasn’t any component that could substitute for it. We had plenty of ‘chipsets.’ Since we originally had multi-purpose computer parts, we could manage to build various devices themselves.

We did consider the idea of disassembling a smartphone to use its screen, but for now, we thought, ‘Is it really necessary?’ After all, we could still gather information just fine without a TV.

We had various parts, but I didn’t want to waste them. Having components available for emergencies versus not having them makes a huge difference.

Anyway, we at least had a radio, so we could get information through that.

Surprisingly, my decision to throw that bomb into the sky apparently wasn’t wrong.

When we went to the clinic that day, there were several police officers with their hats off, which I think was their way of showing respect.

[Would it really have been easy to save people who were pointing guns at you and even shooting? You just said that any decent person would have done it, but how many people would willingly do something good for someone who treated them badly? You could have avoided the bomb situation entirely if you hadn’t gone there in the first place.]

I couldn’t understand why they were debating this incident from two different perspectives, but that’s what was happening on the radio.

The evidence that my actions were ultimately wise was mixed in with those very words.

Thanks to the black hole above that day, debris didn’t fall to the ground. I had simply thought people weren’t hurt because of this, but since almost no fragments fell downward, people didn’t know ‘exactly what had exploded.’

That’s right. They only thought an explosive had detonated; they couldn’t imagine that if I hadn’t gone there, the circuit wouldn’t have activated and there wouldn’t have been an explosion at all. There was no evidence it was a circuit in the first place.

There were fragments extracted from Hayun’s body, but none contained the circuit’s core components.

Some people made guesses after seeing the explosion, but even so, no one knew ‘how it worked.’

[Couldn’t this be staged? If it’s all a setup to change all the accusations against her into false charges—]

[These are children currently on the run. Didn’t you hear what they said then? Didn’t they ask for food and clothing? Do you think that was staged too?]

Well done.

I cheered for that unnamed fighter who was taking my side. Not that winning this debate would directly benefit me right now.

[If we call everything a setup, anyone in the world could be labeled a terrorist. Isn’t it strange to begin with? Does it make sense that an ordinary teenage girl could create a bomb powerful enough to cause such a massive explosion twice? If that were really possible, this country would have already experienced several such terrorist attacks.]

While the opponent struggled to find a response, the debater quickly continued.

[Don’t you think the opposite direction makes more sense when it comes to conspiracy theories?]

[Are you suggesting the government is conspiring? Or the Federation or a corporation? There are already too many conspiracy theories to count. Let me counter: if every government in the world were plotting similar conspiracies, wouldn’t the world already be engulfed in the flames of war? Or have become a terrible dystopia?]

[Looking at precedents, not all governments are always plotting conspiracies. But at the same time, haven’t government conspiracies been revealed as truth far more often than conspiracies against individuals? And look at the scale of the incident. Until now, she was just an ordinary minor with no connection to that world, despite now being called a magical girl. Her only connection was working at Noir Corporation. Are you suggesting this magical girl conspired with the company to commit terrorism?]

[…That’s not what I meant…]

The debate gradually drifted away from what I’d done the day before yesterday, and now moved into whether the incident was a conspiracy theory or not.

Since the discussion had gone off-topic, I lost interest in listening and just changed the channel.

“…Phew.”

I let out a long sigh.

Until recently, I’d felt so suffocated I could barely breathe, but hearing someone speak up like that, even in that way, was somewhat reassuring.

Had they been controlling public opinion until now?

Unless it was a dictatorship, it would probably be impossible to keep suppressing it forever. From a conspiracy theory perspective, it might be more efficient to spread different rumors to divert attention.

In that sense, this recent incident was as difficult to suppress as when I was caught up in the terrorism. At least before, they could just redirect blame to me, but now the story had completely changed.

The identity of whoever planted the bomb still hadn’t been revealed precisely.

What was certain, though, was that my image had… improved somewhat.

I looked at the circuit.

The circuit… wasn’t vibrating. It wasn’t completely inactive, but its operating speed had significantly slowed, eliminating the reason for it to shake.

That… wasn’t actually a good thing. For me to fight, the circuit should be running intensely.

“…Ah.”

As soon as I thought that, the circuit’s speed increased again.

“This is ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous?”

When I muttered to myself while looking down at the circuit, a voice sharply picked up on my words and questioned me.

Startled by the voice, I looked up to see Hayun standing there.

Hayun very naturally sat down beside me.

I was sitting on the doorframe, but since it was a sliding door, the entrance wasn’t completely blocked. It was a spot spacious enough for two seemingly delicate people, unless we were talking about large adult men.

“No, just… the radio content.”

I said that while naturally lowering my left hand.

But Hayun’s gaze still followed the circuit.

Had she figured out what kind of energy I was using?

When Cherry and James were talking, Hayun had been watching them intently.

To normal people’s ears, it would have just sounded like squeaking. Even Iris, who was standing nearby, didn’t seem to understand their conversation.

Had Hayun… understood?

She’s a smart kid. Of course, she probably got those grades by studying hard at home, but still, she gets much better grades than me with similar or even less study time.

Her comprehension ability is simply different, so she might know a little of the Squeakean language.

If so, she might also understand this energy.

But Hayun’s gaze, which had been carefully observing my circuit, suddenly jumped up and fixed on my face.

Then she smiled.

She’s been like this lately.

Worried that Hayun might feel worse, I let her sleep in the best sleeping place here—that is, inside my tent. Since then, it’s been like this constantly.

After that, Hayun would enter my tent so naturally. And she would share my sleeping bag without any hesitation.

When I got my sleeping bag, I bought one anticipating very cold weather outside. It wasn’t extremely expensive, but it contained goose down. It was supposed to withstand temperatures down to -10°C comfortably, so it was almost too warm for the current weather.

Yet strangely, Hayun kept covering both of us with that sleeping bag.

And she would stick right next to me as if we absolutely had to share it together.

If I slept looking at the ceiling, she would hug one of my arms. Objectively speaking, Hayun’s figure was… less pronounced than mine despite my age-inappropriate development, but it was still sufficiently feminine.

So when she tightly hugged one of my arms, how was I supposed to feel? Even if our bodies were the same age, my inner self was different. It made me incredibly embarrassed, perplexed, and unsure of what to do.

I couldn’t dare move my arm. Not just the embraced forearm but all the way to my fingertips. You know what I mean.

But if I turned my back toward Hayun to sleep, it became even more awkward when I woke up in the morning.

At those times, Hayun would always hug me tightly from behind. Naturally… well, you know.

It’s hot, and we’re covered with a thick sleeping bag, so, well. Anyway.

At first, I wondered if Hayun was still sick. When you have a cold with fever, you can shiver from chills, and even a bad scratch can cause flu-like symptoms from bacteria entering the wound.

But doesn’t that kind of fever usually break after sweating profusely?

Every night we both end up drenched in sweat, so it was hard to understand why she kept doing this.

…Maybe I shouldn’t have let her in from the beginning.

Once she thought of it as her spot, did she just keep coming back?

“…”

It’s the same now.

Hayun was sitting so close that her thigh was pressed right against mine.

She did this when I went for walks at night, but now she was doing it openly during the day. It’s not like the other kids couldn’t see us.

And—

Yes, what troubled me most.

I looked at the circuit on my wrist.

There was no vibration.

Since the power hadn’t been cut off, it was clearly still working. It was generating enough energy to power all our devices with plenty to spare. Transformation shouldn’t be a problem for now.

For now, my despair still outweighed my hope.

But… hope is somewhat troublesome.

Public opinion has just started to improve. But I still have many battles to fight. Not everyone in the world is on our side just for verbal arguments.

They probably won’t be in the future either.

Besides, unless I personally plant my fist in the chairman’s face, I won’t be able to completely suppress this anger.

But.

“…”

Hayun gently rested her head on my shoulder.

She smelled nice.

And that’s why it was troubling.

I know I shouldn’t feel hope this way.

I know intellectually that I shouldn’t feel hope just because I learned Hayun is someone who would risk her life for me.

I also know it would be better to get away from here quickly.

But, even so, I couldn’t bring myself to leave this place.

The circuit was slowly, gradually decreasing its speed. The intensity of the vibration had become extremely weak, but I could still feel it.

In just a few days, I was becoming weaker.

To the point where all my previous raging seemed meaningless.

That scared me.

*

So since the day before yesterday, I’d been thinking about ways to distance myself from Hayun.

She followed me around wherever I went, and I couldn’t just say “don’t” to everything she did.

How could I do that to someone who saved my life? And not indirectly, but directly.

I had that much conscience.

I still feel inferior. I’m still jealous. Those sticky emotions remain intact.

But if things continued like this, I was afraid I’d become like I was before I ran away. Like the weak Combatant I used to be.

So, I came up with one idea.

“…Change the bathing order?”

Rose said that and turned her head.

After making extended eye contact with the other magical girls—especially Hayun—Rose looked back at me.

“Why, is there… something you don’t like?”

“…It’s not that.”

I carefully chose each word.

It’s not that I really dislike it. I actually like it, even though the uncomfortable feelings remain.

But… that feeling of liking it is what’s dangerous. For me, right now.

“It’s just that the bathing order is always fixed. Sometimes we might want to bathe earlier, or later if we’re feeling lazy, but it seems like Hayun and I always go first.”

“Oh, have you wanted to bathe later before?”

Rose interpreted my words very innocently.

“If you’d said something, we could have adjusted the order.”

“No, what I’m trying to say is not that.”

I spoke while inwardly breaking into a cold sweat.

What if this just sounds like nonsense?

At some point, rather than being the leader here, I had started following the order set by the other kids.

It couldn’t be helped. I was alone, and there were five magical girls.

Besides, following their order was convenient in many ways. They didn’t even force me to follow it. Whether I slept late and woke up late, they didn’t care and just did their own things.

They didn’t complain about me just eating the food they cooked without helping, or not doing the dishes.

But… as I said before, I have a conscience. I couldn’t just keep saying “no” forever.

Plus, lately Hayun had been sleeping next to me.

In the end, when one of us woke up, we both woke up, so it couldn’t be helped.

…Ah, but that’s not what we were talking about.

“How about we decide fairly at random? Rock-paper-scissors, or drawing lots.”

The magical girls exchanged glances again.

Rather than having some grand exchange of opinions, they probably just didn’t understand the reason behind what I was saying.

“…If you really want to do it that way, I guess we have no choice…”

Rose said, tilting her head.

I nodded.

“I want to. It’s more fair that way.”

I said that while trying my best not to look at Hayun, who was staring at me.

Rose looked at Hayun quietly for some reason. Then she sighed deeply and shrugged.

“Well, fine. If you really want to do it that way. We can always set the order differently later anyway.”

I nodded in relief at Rose’s words.

And then I was startled inside.

Wait, I thought I told everyone here to follow my orders.

How did I end up asking for their agreement?

…There was only one reason.

It was all because of Lee Hayun.

For a completely different reason than before, I’d lost my peace of mind. For reasons that were difficult to put into words.

“…”

I couldn’t bring myself to meet Hayun’s eyes as she stared at me.

That gaze was very similar to how she looked at me when I played with James.

I don’t really understand why she looks at me that way. Actually, I’m afraid to ask.

If we were to discuss our relationship and discover that the angles of our gazes were different…

Even while thinking I should distance myself from hope, I didn’t want to push hope too far away.

I was a bit sick of my own thought process, but it couldn’t be helped that it wouldn’t change easily.

*

I tried to change the order under the pretext that ‘someone might want to bathe first,’ but when I brought it up, no one particularly wanted to go first, so we chose to draw lots.

Even I thought it was a stupid thing to do. There was no need for such a troublesome process.

But since I had pushed for it, it wasn’t right to complain now. Rather, I was fortunate that the kids were going along with it.

After insisting on changing the order, the lot I drew was number 1.

We bathe in pairs. I would naturally be with whoever drew number 2.

If Hayun had drawn number 2, nothing would have changed, but—

“…Ah.”

The one who drew number 2 wasn’t Hayun, but Iris.

Iris, who had frozen for a moment, turned to look at me.

At first, I was relieved.

Until just now, I had been so focused on finding any excuse to be away from Hayun for a while that I hadn’t had time for a second thought.

But only after meeting Iris’s stiff expression and eyes did I realize that second thought.

Actually, I should have thought of this first.

Yes. I would be bathing with Iris.

…That is, with a girl I wasn’t particularly close with.

“…”

Um…

Thinking about it again, this drawing lots idea seemed to be the stupidest idea I’d had since coming here.

I tried not to look in Hayun’s direction.

“Well… so.”

Rose, who was holding the makeshift box with paper slips inside, broke the silence.

“What do you want to do? If you don’t like it, I can let you draw again.”

I stood there opening and closing my mouth, then finally came to my senses.

No.

This might be an opportunity. Just avoiding won’t lead to any answers.

…At least I can push hope away, and despair… well.

At the very least, it would be difficult to have hopeful thoughts.

With that judgment, I gripped the slip tightly.

It was the moment I made the second stupidest decision since coming here.