Ch.87Chapter 15. Difference in Direction (2)

I forced a strange smile to hide my emotions, then did what I needed to do.

Six kaijin remained.

The other magical girls’ circuits were all operating intensely. Whether they were drawing energy from me or from Hayun, I decided not to dwell on it.

The cleanup wasn’t simple.

Thanks to Hayun with her fiery eyes, we managed to handle it reasonably well, though taking hits was unavoidable.

But what truly troubled me wasn’t getting hit while fighting the kaijin.

Every time I swung my hammer at a kaijin, every time Hayun neutralized their circuits…

Cheers erupted from below. I thought I heard applause too. Thankfully they weren’t chanting like at a soccer match, but honestly, it was disconcerting to have people react so enthusiastically to my every move.

“…Haa.”

After neutralizing the circuit of the final kaijin, the atmosphere around us finally began to calm down.

But that didn’t mean the excitement had completely dissipated.

Even as we arranged the fallen kaijin in a row on the ground, the police officers surrounding us from a distance continued to murmur among themselves.

As if some new hero had appeared.

When just a short while ago they were treating us like terrorists.

After placing the last kaijin alongside the others with Hayun, I straightened my back, looked up at the sky, and exhaled deeply.

The sun hadn’t set yet. The sunlight beating down on my head felt slightly warm.

After staring at the sky for a moment, I lowered my gaze to look at Hayun.

Still transformed, Hayun was smiling brightly while looking at my face.

What am I going to do?

If Hayun made this expression every time I looked at her face after returning home, I wouldn’t have the confidence to meet her eyes. Even now, I was slightly turning my head away to avoid her gaze.

“Let’s head back for now.”

I muttered. It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular. If anything, it was directed at myself.

And habitually, I tried to create a black hole—

—tried to create one.

“…”

Nothing happened.

“Huh.”

I let out a surprised sound.

I concentrated again, trying to recall the sensation of creating a black hole.

Instead of creating a black hole, I floated up into the air.

No, that wasn’t what I was aiming for. It was as if my body had forgotten how to handle magical power and used a “different spell” instead.

The murmuring among the police officers grew louder.

To make matters worse, my hammer glowed brighter, as if releasing magical power with nowhere to go.

…I wonder if I could use this like a staff?

Come to think of it, it has a generator inside. Dahlia and Delphinium would wave their staffs to create magic bullets, and Iris would do something similar.

So, couldn’t I create something with this too? Like the black hole I created when I wanted to escape.

I raised the hammer up and concentrated, but…

…the only result was that the light from the hammer shone even brighter.

“Wow!”

I heard someone shout from below.

Applause followed.

“Oh my.”

Looking down, I saw everyone cheering.

Even Hayun was clapping along, caught up in the atmosphere. She was looking up at me with a bright smile.

What the…

Now that I think about it, I’m still…

Still wearing white clothes. They were dirtier than before, with scrapes and tears here and there, but most of it was still snow-white.

The image of me floating in the sky in a white dress, holding a glowing staff high in one hand.

Am I in my right mind?

As I looked down, my eyes met with Iris’s.

For some reason, Iris gave me a half-rotten smile when our eyes met. That smile was similar to the one she had when we fought while I was a combatant.

Snap.

Iris’s finger pointed at me.

She didn’t actually speak. She was too sensible to say it out loud.

But I clearly saw the shape of her lips.

A very concise word made up of two syllables—

Panties.

—As soon as I saw that, I plummeted straight down.

*

I wished I could just pass out.

I seriously considered pretending to be unconscious.

But this hope circuit—though what had been on my wrist was definitely a despair circuit—seemed to function completely differently from the despair circuit, as it successfully kept my mind perfectly clear until Hayun grabbed my arm to help me up.

As a result, I had to move to another location while fully remembering how I had flown high into the sky in a magical wedding dress, performed a victory display, and then fallen due to embarrassment.

Fortunately, the transformation itself wore off quickly.

It seemed I had managed to feel some despair upon realizing I would have to live with this horrific memory for the rest of my life.

In truth, if we wanted to escape, we could have. Both I and the other magical girls had the ability to fly.

But even if we escaped, none of us knew the exact location of where we had been staying.

So escaping would mean starting over from scratch.

Since I couldn’t create a black hole. And Iris didn’t know the exact location of our base either. It was my fault for not allowing anything like GPS in the first place.

As a result, we were… “escorted” in a manner of speaking.

“It’ll be fine.”

Hayun said with a very relaxed expression. Her smile was so full of confidence that I couldn’t help but furrow my brow.

As if reading the “how would you know” expression on my face, Hayun continued with an even brighter expression.

“You showed them you’re really a magical girl. You showed them saving people, so who could say anything against that?”

No, isn’t that too much like a fairy tale?

Haven’t I looked enough like a magical girl until now? I’ve transformed, used magic, and everything. I’ve defeated kaijin too.

Even after saving people, I was treated like a criminal—having nets thrown at me and getting shot. If they were going to treat me like a magical girl just because of this one display, wouldn’t they have done so much earlier?

Well, though it was an “escort,” the treatment did seem relatively good.

They didn’t put handcuffs on us or take away our circuits. We were just comfortably traveling in the bus that had come to pick us up.

However, rather than the barred buses you might see near protest sites… you know those “mini-buses”? The ones that transport soldiers returning from leave. That’s the kind of bus we were on.

It seemed a bit… too ordinary for transporting magical girls, but if someone asked what kind of vehicle would be appropriate, I wouldn’t have an answer.

Armored vehicles are apparently quite cramped inside, and this might actually be more comfortable for immediate transport.

“The circuits…”

“After what happened last time when they took our circuits, they probably won’t take them easily,” Rose said with a very confident expression.

Ah, is she referring to the incident when Jihye was taken hostage?

The magical girls did arrive late then.

If it hadn’t been for me, the incident might have escalated tremendously.

Jihye might not have been safe either.

…

No, by normal people’s standards, that situation could already be considered “unsafe.”

Ordinary people don’t get involved in life-threatening hostage situations or get threatened by people coming to harm them.

“Besides, we’re heading to a completely different place. At least it doesn’t seem to be a Federation building. Perhaps government people?”

Iris made her own conjecture.

“Would people who’ve kept quiet until now have a reason to suddenly act?”

Dahlia expressed doubt.

“…Maybe they’re acting now precisely because they’ve been quiet.”

Something happened inside the company.

I was the one who blew up the wall, but what poured out afterward were kaijin.

And unlike before, these were kaijin that clearly resembled Earth humans.

…No, maybe “clearly” is a bit ambiguous. There probably aren’t any Earth humans who are 3 meters tall.

But regardless of appearance, the fact that they could directly manipulate circuits meant they couldn’t be aliens.

Aliens directly handle magic. Of course, it’s somewhat different from the “fantasy” we imagine—they have very complex equipment that amplifies magical power, and there are specially trained individuals who can collect magical power separately.

Earth humans and all Earth life forms cannot directly manipulate magical power, but on other planets, many living beings are born with some magical ability, and magical power is often concentrated in fossils hundreds of years old. They use “fossil fuels” to move their space battleships, just like we use coal or oil.

Or perhaps they should be called “magical fossil fuels,” since those fossils contain magical power.

If the company’s reason for creating Earth human kaijin was for “fuel,” then they’ve essentially created living oil fields. They’ve created beings with “circuits” that generate magical power from human emotions, and at a level almost comparable to magical girls.

In the end, considering we defeated kaijin that outnumbered us, they seem to be at a level that “could potentially match” us rather than “exceed” us.

“…”

As I kept quiet, the magical girls also fell silent, seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

After driving for about an hour, we finally reached our destination.

“Where is this?”

“I don’t know. It’s not a building we recognize.”

Hayun answered my question. I looked at the other girls’ faces just in case, but they all shook their heads.

Even if you’ve lived in Seoul for quite a while, you don’t know every street. I could recognize landmarks and major buildings along main roads, but I couldn’t tell exactly where we had come to just by looking at the passing scenery outside.

In truth, I wasn’t really focusing on the outside.

I was honestly a bit scared. The last time I got involved with the government, I almost became a research subject.

I’m still not sure if they were sending people to arrest me or if they were really trying to change hospitals to do something to me. Maybe I could have been among the kaijin we defeated today.

“…”

I looked at James.

James was sitting across from me, on the other side of the aisle in the middle of the bus. The seat was actually too big for a hamster alone, but I didn’t want to have him sit on my hand. James wouldn’t like that either.

Seeing Cherry sitting in the seat next to him, it seemed the police were treating them as separate “individuals.”

He seemed to notice me staring, but didn’t say anything to me.

Was it because he had nothing to say? Or was he too shocked by the situation to speak?

I didn’t have anything to say to James at the moment either, so this silence was a relatively comfortable one.

Even after the bus arrived, it remained stationary for a long time without letting us off.

I couldn’t see the driver’s seat at the very front clearly. They seemed to be discussing something, but it was too quiet to hear properly.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, the front door of the bus finally opened, and the person sitting in the front seat stood up.

He was still wearing a bulletproof vest and had elbow and knee pads on—a police officer. The tactical pouches on his bulletproof vest probably still contained magazines.

At least he had removed his bulletproof helmet, revealing clear marks where it had pressed against his head.

He looked to be in his early 40s. Considering that people in this line of work are often exposed to sunlight and might appear older than they are, he could actually be in his mid to late 30s.

“We’ve arrived.”

“This isn’t where I live.”

I deliberately said that.

It was a question I threw out wondering if he would get angry, but the response was quite polite.

“Yes, I’m truly sorry… but it seems there are people who would like to have a conversation with you all.”

“Are we under arrest?”

He couldn’t bring himself to answer that question.

I decided to interpret it as “nothing has been decided yet.”

Well, if they try to detain us as soon as we go inside, they’d be the ones in danger. My circuit doubles as a despair circuit.

It’s fortunate that I’m feeling “hope” right now, but the moment I despair, a black hole will appear and help us escape.

Besides, they probably don’t understand how this works. To them, it might just look like I can create light and black holes.

I held onto that very faint hope.

When I lightly placed my hand over the circuit, I felt a subtle vibration.

…Has the design really changed?

In the end, we decided to obediently follow the police officer’s instructions for now.

*

The place we went to wasn’t an interrogation room.

It looked more like a break room. It seemed quite spacious, and the tables, though somewhat dirty and worn, were arranged like a café.

In one corner, there was a place for snacks and instant coffee, and it was actually filled with various items.

We sat at the largest round table and waited silently, until the break room door opened again and someone entered.

I wondered what kind of intimidating person it might be, but the person who entered looked like a tired civil servant.

“Hello.”

He tried to greet us in what he probably thought was a gentle manner, but his voice, worn out by fatigue, didn’t sound particularly friendly.

He was carrying a rather thick file folder.

As he was about to sit down, he noticed that we were occupying the entire six-person table and hesitated, then pulled over another smaller table and sat down.

He carefully placed the file he was carrying in front of his seat.

It was an awkward posture in many ways, but he apparently didn’t intend to forget his duties, as he continued speaking as respectfully as possible.

“I’m Kim Su-hyeong, here to provide you with… various explanations. Pleased to meet you.”

I’m not sure if that’s his real name. He didn’t even mention which organization he belonged to.

When no one responded and just stared at him, Mr. Kim Su-hyeong went straight to the point.

“I’m not sure if you know how the current situation is unfolding.”

“The company is doing strange things behind this country’s back, and the Federation has its own ulterior motives, right?”

When I spoke, the man blinked.

“And the government is plotting something too. That’s why you brought us here right away, isn’t it?”

It might have seemed a bit rude, but I didn’t feel particularly guilty.

I don’t know how high-ranking this man is. I don’t know how involved he was in what happened to me, or if he was involved at all.

But that doesn’t mean I want to have a pleasant conversation with a government person trying to persuade me.

The reason we’re here is solely because I couldn’t create a black hole.

“…Yes, if we don’t delve too deeply, that could be said.”

“I know the Federation is trying to do something strange with the company, and I can feel that the government is turning a blind eye to it.”

“That’s right. But if you look more closely, you’ll see that the three groups are actually competing with each other.”

“…”

It doesn’t really seem that way right now.

“I understand if you don’t believe me. However, that’s why we’d like to make a proposal to you all.”

“A proposal?”

“Yes. Would you consider… forming an alliance with the government?”

“…”

What the…

Honestly, among the three groups, the government seems the weakest and most foolish.

What have they done so far? Apart from sending police to stand by, they’ve only had negative impacts on me.

“Ahem.”

Seeing my expression, the man seemed a bit embarrassed and cleared his throat.

The other girls were all keeping quiet. I’m not sure if they were leaving the entire conversation to me or not, but they didn’t seem to oppose what I was saying.

“…I’ll hear you out for now.”

“When I say alliance, I don’t mean for you to come under us. To be more precise… it’s about forming a kind of service contract.”

“A contract?”

“Yes. The government provides benefits, and you provide a certain level of assistance—that kind of relationship.”

“…What can the government offer with something like that?”

“Services that the Federation and the company could never give you.”

Judging that the conversation was going well, the man was speaking more comfortably.

“For example, we can send you back to school. We can also arrange for you to live comfortably without fear of arrest, and provide a place for magical girls.”

“…So, you bring us all the way here out of nowhere, and you’re saying we should sign a contract right away? With those conditions?”

“I don’t mean for you to sign immediately.”

The man quickly said.

“We’re aware of the unfair treatment you’ve experienced. Properly addressing that would be the priority. Since it takes time to form a contract, let’s first have a discussion, make more detailed adjustments, and if you’re satisfied, then we can form the contract.”

That makes sense.

It’s also related to the Federation and the company. The circuits used by the other magical girls were developed by the Federation, and mine was developed by the company.

This conversation could get complicated if it drags on.

I placed my hand over my circuit and thought.

…I feel like I should think of something despairing.

Could I make use of this man?