Ch.91Chapter 15. Difference in Direction (6)

After the meeting, a policy was decided.

We would continue with our existing work.

The company’s image had already taken a major hit. After all, hadn’t that incident occurred right in the middle of crowded Yeouido?

This world had already experienced several incidents involving Kaijin, so people had adapted to the situation in their own way.

When a Kaijin appeared, the surrounding area would be closed off and people evacuated. The same applied when the company’s Combatants clashed with the Federation’s Magical Girls.

This wasn’t just a theoretical plan—it meant that by this world’s standards, they had already experienced several “real situations.”

But no matter how thoroughly they prepared, there were always limitations.

Simple residential areas were manageable. Commercial districts were fine too. People vacating their homes for a few hours didn’t significantly impact the economy.

Similarly, small business owners losing a few hours of sales was an acceptable loss compared to people dying.

But when businesses stopped operating, the impact was substantial. Whether small or large companies, the more interconnected they were, the greater the damage. Compensation measures existed, and the Federation offered their own compensation, but compensation wasn’t always a perfect solution.

As a result, in densely populated areas with numerous skyscrapers, evacuation was inevitably limited.

After all, there hadn’t been any Kaijin capable of completely destroying buildings—strictly speaking, just one criminal with special abilities.

They would try to clear areas where people might film with their phones, but once a Kaijin started flying around, the situation changed completely.

At least, this was the first time a Kaijin could fly like a Magical Girl. And as far as I could remember, it was also the first time buildings had been so thoroughly destroyed.

Videos taken from a distance clearly captured our images.

There was a limit to silencing the police, and various stories were already spreading through people who had formed positive impressions of us.

“The company has been experimenting on Earth people.”

“Perhaps the Federation has been doing the same.”

“The Magical Girls escaped from them.”

It seemed both true and not true, and being at the center of these rumors left me feeling confused.

Well, whether true or not, it was good that those rumors ultimately worked in our favor.

“We will thoroughly audit Noir Corporation.”

I wasn’t sure how sincere that statement was, but that’s what the government announced.

The Kaijin in the video had a human silhouette, another large explosion had occurred in the laboratory, and I had become the “White Magical Girl” in the public eye.

While they might have been able to push the terrorist or villain narrative when I was surrounded by ominous energy, they couldn’t maintain that stance after seeing me in completely opposite colors, cooperating with the police.

Setting aside the color change, how could police cooperate with terrorists? That made no sense.

“We will resolve our misunderstandings with the Magical Girls and cooperate with the government for a better future. We promise maximum cooperation as long as the Republic of Korea government permits it.”

That was the announcement from the Galactic Federation Civic Delegation.

This was because Magical Girls and heroes from other countries were becoming restless.

Publicly, it wasn’t yet revealed whether the company and Federation had joined hands. However, since they fought using circuits, and the “Earth Kaijin” confirmed for the first time had circuits on their chests, they couldn’t simply ignore the situation.

After all, heroes and Magical Girls from other countries were all Earth people like us.

I suspected both sides made these announcements partly for us to hear—a message that if we cooperated with them, we could at least take down the company.

However—

“There’s no apology, not a single apology.”

I muttered this while taking a big bite of my warmed hot bar.

That’s right.

For that reason, I still had no intention of cooperating with either of them.

I have a personality that tends to inconvenience others in various ways.

If someone has wronged me, they should tell me directly. There are many ways to do that even without meeting face-to-face.

Is it so difficult to say I’m not a terrorist? If they had just said that one thing, I wouldn’t have had to flee from that place last time.

Fortunately, the others here seemed to sympathize with me, so I didn’t get any more irritated about it.

…Anyway.

For those reasons, our immediate task remained unchanged.

Tormenting Chairman Hyun somehow. Making it clear that was our only purpose. Our ultimate goal was still the research complex, and confirming what was really happening inside.

But at the same time, we had an additional goal for the “other thing” we were trying to do.

Becoming the “Fourth Force.”

We still didn’t have impressive equipment or facilities. We were just repurposing this abandoned place that clearly belonged to someone.

We had no running water, so we drew water from a nearby stream. For electricity, we weren’t tapping into power lines but using battery-powered devices. Those batteries were charged with energy from the circuits.

To at least maintain appearances, we needed to make this place look credible. Since we lacked personnel, we needed various equipment and facilities to make it look impressive to others.

And we decided to take those materials from the company.

“We can make this place quite impressive by extracting circuits from Kaijin bodies,” Cherry said.

“It might be difficult to completely renovate the interior or exterior of the building. That’s construction territory. But we can make cleaning tools and air conditioners. And screens that double as situation boards.”

“But for screens, you need actual screen components.”

“We can use projectors instead. We have hologram technology too, so we can utilize that.”

Cherry answered my concern smoothly.

“Of course, I could make a projector with what we have now, but it’s not really suitable as a ‘situation board.’ Those usually need to be at least 100 inches, right?”

Cherry had already brought a device containing map data of the Republic of Korea.

It seemed Cherry wanted to make this place not just “impressive in appearance” but “truly functional as a headquarters.”

It wasn’t something I could object to. If they wanted to make it more livable for themselves, I would just go along with it.

“…Pinpointing Chairman Hyun’s location probably won’t be too difficult.”

And James, who had been wearing a reluctant expression, eventually went along with our plan.

Perhaps he thought opposing would be meaningless since he was so outnumbered, but at least he helped with planning.

“The government said they would conduct an audit. That means they’ll eventually summon Chairman Hyun for questioning.”

“He could escape off-planet.”

“I doubt it. Someone who couldn’t even kill the former chairman properly doesn’t seem likely to do that. He has strong pride despite lacking ability. He’s also very interested in immediate benefits. In such a situation, he knows better than anyone that if he vacates his position, the real chairman will appear and take his seat.”

James said with a somewhat blank expression.

“He’d rather invade this country. That would be the worst possible move, but still.”

“…Then what would happen?”

“Initially, the company might appear to have the advantage. After all, we don’t know how many of those Earth Kaijin they have.”

“And then?”

“You all would probably emerge. And by then, the Federation would have to act as well. Their ultimate goal is the energy of this planet’s people, but they still need to outwardly champion justice. You know the Federation isn’t completely unified, right?”

“What if some of them side with the company?”

“The Federation’s most accomplished circuit expert was so outraged by your treatment that he came all the way here.”

“…”

I couldn’t argue with that point.

Not everyone in the Federation is completely righteous.

But at least they adhere to certain principles more than Noir Corporation’s current chairman. After all, the Federation also serves as a government.

“Earth was recognized as a planet inhabited by intelligent life from first contact. If they reverse that now, other planets would think ‘positions can be reversed at any time.’ I hate to say this, but one of the planets that would worry about this first would be our Squeaky Planet.”

Among aliens, there are hamster-like beings, bear-like beings, and dog-like beings.

There are even rock-like beings completely outside the realm of ordinary life forms.

Those corpses are… well, “useful” in a way, but from a humane perspective, some choose not to use them.

Despite such examples, I couldn’t completely dismiss my concerns.

Even on Earth, there have been people who didn’t treat fellow humans as “people.” No, throughout history and across cultures, such people have always existed, so it would be more accurate to say they “still exist.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you should feel completely at ease,” James said with a shrug, as if reading my thoughts.

“Just remember that Noir Corporation can only exist as a company because it’s on Earth.”

I could only nod at that statement.

“…Ah, right. And one more thing.”

“Another question?”

“This circuit.”

I showed James the circuit on my wrist.

The circuit was still emitting a faint white light. It was completely different from when it had reverted to despair before.

“What happened to this? Wasn’t the structure different?”

“Of course the structure is different. If it could be reversed so easily just because the direction is opposite, the Federation and Noir Corporation wouldn’t waste time researching each other’s circuits.”

“…Then, this is…”

“As I mentioned before, I suspect it’s some kind of magical harmony.”

“But you need a functioning circuit to use magic in the first place. Are you saying magic changed the circuit’s direction when the circuit wasn’t even working?”

“…Perhaps your hope affected another Magical Girl’s circuit.”

“My hope.”

“Yes. You already know about resonance. Perhaps your hope intertwined with Blossom’s hope-filled energy and created some magic I’m not familiar with.”

“It’s not… common, is it?”

“Common or not, this is my first time seeing it. The circuit itself was created after coming here. Usually, we use objects with magical power to extract that power. And non-Earth beings can use magic directly.”

“…”

“…However.”

Seeing me tilt my head in confusion, James spoke up.

His tone was more cautious than usual.

“However, we—that is, the former chairman—had a hypothesis.”

“What hypothesis?”

“Why despair and hope specifically, not other emotions? While individual emotions can move circuits slightly, we needed the complex emotions from those despair and hope situations to create ‘meaningful energy.'”

James closed his mouth for a while, as if debating whether to say this directly, then slowly continued.

“So we came up with this hypothesis: ‘Despair and hope are merely differences in direction.'”

“…Differences in direction.”

“Yes. If intense emotions drive circuits, then the situations needed to create those most intense emotions might be similar in essence, just different in direction.”

Despair is an emotion of endless falling.

But the circuit craves “endless despair.” If a person feeling despair completely gives up and refuses to feel more despair, the circuit stops working.

To meaningfully use the circuit, one must feel despair yet never give up—like me.

Conversely, hope works the same way.

Only those who can continue forward, clinging to a thin ray of light from far away, can move the circuit.

Perhaps the fact that all circuit users in this country are Magic “Girls,” and that they all came from relatively well-off families, might have a significant correlation.

“…Huh.”

Hearing this made me feel strangely deflated, and I slumped my shoulders.

So… if what James said was true, I had talent from the beginning.

I don’t know what being put me here. But that being didn’t just abandon me here.

Did they give me some kind of power? A talent of sorts?

Or did they put me here because I had talent?

I’m not sure. I’ve never met or talked with them directly.

But one thing is certain.

…Despite having such talent, I didn’t believe in myself.

I only envied Hayun, and tried to win by going in the opposite direction.

“I see,” I said with a long sigh.

James didn’t bother to respond to that.

*

I had slept outside the tent last time, but the tent was still my room.

It was getting too warm to sleep with a winter sleeping bag. I was gradually removing the plastic sheets from inside the room.

To be honest, I could have just slept outside, but whether I did or not, Hayun would still sleep right next to me.

And I felt embarrassed showing that to the other children.

So I chose to hide in the tent, and Hayun kept following me.

I couldn’t refuse at this point. It was obvious that refusing now would only make the misunderstanding grow uncontrollably.

“…”

“What’s on your mind?”

Hayun always lay down facing me so naturally, which meant I always lay with my back to her.

Facing each other was obviously not appropriate.

I had often done that with Jihye, but she was like a sister to me. Besides, even with Jihye, lying face to face in such a narrow space would be awkward.

If I lay on my back looking at the ceiling, Hayun would very naturally rest her cheek on my shoulder.

I thought it must be an uncomfortable position, but Hayun seemed determined not to give up.

And with her cheek on my shoulder, her face would almost touch certain protruding parts of my body. More precisely, she would be in a position to look down at that area.

Plus, being so close meant she would embrace my waist, and she would even place her leg over my thigh.

I know it’s not intentional. When I lie straight, the already narrow tent becomes even narrower, and we have to get closer to secure space.

When we move around in our sleep, we inevitably end up in such positions.

…It seems similar even outside the tent, but anyway.

So I always lay with my back to Hayun.

Then Hayun would very naturally embrace me from behind.

I could feel her arms wrapping around my waist and her body softly pressing against my back.

Sometimes her forehead would touch me, sometimes her cheek.

But occasionally, it felt too comfortable.

Perhaps uncomfortable feelings fade when you don’t see the face.

“Jieun.”

“…Yeah.”

“What’s bothering you?”

When I didn’t answer, Hayun gently asked again.

I had nothing to say.

How could I tell Hayun about my unreasonable jealousy toward her? About how I had the ability to reach a similar position from the start, yet acted out and created this mess?

James might blurt it out someday. Somehow I feel Hayun wouldn’t be too disappointed to hear such things, but… well, that’s just my assumption. It might just be me fantasizing to justify myself, like how I lived as the “Black Magical Girl” or “Combatant” until now.

So I didn’t want to talk about it yet.

Actually, if possible, I never want to talk about it.

This was the result of understanding and accepting everything on my own.

“…If you have any concerns, please tell me.”

Finally, Hayun took a step back.

“Whatever you’re worried about, I want to help you solve it.”

Hayun’s kindness was always dazzling.

It was me who unreasonably envied that kindness and went off in a strange direction.

…A difference in direction, he had said.

Perhaps the direction I initially took was simply wrong.

Even if I’ve found the right direction now, can I go back?

It’s ironic that I’m saying this now after what I used to think, but…

Have I come too far to turn back?

Has Hayun been caught up in my twisted feelings?

No, she definitely has.

If so, I have the responsibility to restore things to how they were.

“…”

I clenched my fist, eyes closed, trying to fall asleep.