Chapter 21: The Story Begins (4)

She couldn’t believe it, even seeing it with her own two eyes.

“Director.”

The first thing she noticed was the neatly arranged brown hair of her adjutant, cascading below her chest.

“Thank goodness, really…”

A slender jawline, pale skin, eyes that looked perpetually closed, and a sharp nose shimmered before her.

It was the face of her adjutant, embodying the classic image of an East Asian beauty.

“Ah…”

She was at a loss for words.

She didn’t know what to say.

Her whole body trembled with joy, unable to contain her excitement.

Without thinking, she reached out to grab her adjutant.

This time, she would never let go again.

Reaching out was an instinct embedded in Ianna’s unconscious.

She had endured countless farewells—family, friends, comrades, students, even partners she had harboured special feelings for—all of them had left her.

The pain was unbearable.

But Ianna had endured it all, pressing forward.

Recalling the duties of a magical girl taught to her by her mentor and favourite partner.

To protect the weak, to defeat the strong.

Ianna never showed her loneliness.

She was a magical girl first and foremost.

Even if it was just one person, she would save innocent lives, so that her magical girl sisters, her family in all but blood, would die less often.

She just kept moving forward.

When she lost someone close, or had to let a comrade go, or faced a permanent goodbye, Ianna simply reached out her hand.

She wanted to hold them back.

So they wouldn’t leave her, so their lives wouldn’t disappear in vain, so they wouldn’t be killed unfairly—she reached out, praying with all her might.

As a magical girl, it was her unwavering will to protect the weak.

As Ianna the person, it was her desperate need for affection.

Ianna, with her boundlessly kind and compassionate heart,

Just wanted to help.

She simply didn’t want to see any more innocent people die.

She just couldn’t bear the loss of someone close.

She never wanted to lose her adjutant again.

She never wanted to lose anyone else close to her again.

So,

She reached out.

Thud!

“Ma’am!”

Her weight tipped forward, and she rolled right off the hospital bed and onto the medical room floor.

One by one, the tubes stuck all over her body came loose.

From needles piercing her skin to hoses connected directly to her veins, all those cumbersome things were removed.

Her adjutant rushed over and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

A soft lavender scent lingered at the tip of her nose.

Kneeling beside her, the adjutant held her in a firm hug.

She held her so tightly it became hard to breathe.

“…Is this a dream?”

“It’s not a dream…”

Her adjutant’s voice trembled.

Tears welled in Ianna’s eyes as well.

She knew she shouldn’t, that she should greet her with a smile.

But she couldn’t.

She couldn’t suppress her emotions.

“Hrk, ugh…”

Her head spun.

Relief that her adjutant wasn’t dead, joy at being reunited—her heart felt like it might burst.

Excitement, trembling, joy, sorrow—all overwhelmed her body.

Like a dog seeing its owner after a year apart, she couldn’t contain her joy.

She rubbed her overheated body against her adjutant.

Ianna didn’t know how to express affection.

Or rather, she was awkward at it.

Even with the partner who made her feel these intense emotions, all she could manage was holding hands.

Physical contact with fellow magical girls had been almost nonexistent.

Even just holding hands made her cheeks flush.

As the most senior of the Twelve Stars, having become a magical girl decades ago, Ianna had little opportunity for close contact.

This awkward rubbing was the best expression of affection she could offer.

It didn’t feel bad.

A warm sensation spread through her whole body.

Every second in her adjutant’s arms felt vivid, and she wished this moment could last forever.

Regression.

Ianna’s mind was deteriorating.

So was mine.

Until now, we’d held on thanks to sheer mental fortitude.

But because of what happened, the regression had progressed considerably.

Ianna’s psyche was being pushed to the edge, unable to bear reality.

To avoid going insane, to maintain some degree of sanity and remain helpful to other magical girls,

Her defense mechanism dragged her mind to the very depths of an endless swamp.

‘…’

She was afraid.

The novel was heading toward catastrophe.

A bleak future, a guaranteed bad ending.

Countless people Ianna had sought to protect would die.

The alien entities would attack more ferociously than ever.

Magical girls would begin to lose control, and the Magical Girl of Plea would slaughter the innocent.

If the trauma of Ianna’s childhood—one filled with violence, neglect, and abuse—resurfaced now,

Nothing could be changed.

A scheduled destruction would descend upon everyone.

Or worse.

‘I don’t want that.’

She wanted to protect them.

More than ever, she desperately wanted to protect everyone.

Because she knew the future, she couldn’t look away.

It wasn’t in Ianna’s nature to turn away.

She didn’t want even one innocent person to die a senseless death.

She wanted to protect her dear comrades, the younger magical girls.

She couldn’t die like this. She didn’t want to die.

“Hic, hnghh…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s all over now…”

She didn’t want someone like her kind adjutant to die.

She couldn’t let someone who had risked their life for her, who was comforting her now, die.

It had been so long since she felt affection.

Trapped in a concrete prison, waiting to be butchered in a cage,

Her adjutant seemed dazzling.

It felt like she’d finally found an ally. The only one in the whole world.

Ianna sobbed in her arms.

Relief.

What finally calmed her swelling chest was the comfort of her adjutant’s warm embrace.

Her heart gradually began to settle.

‘…’

She was relieved.

That her adjutant was alive.

That the two of them hadn’t harmed anyone innocent.

‘Yes, surely… it was all… a m-misunderstanding…’

Surely. It had to be a misunderstanding.

That unspeakable, unforgettable, nauseatingly horrifying moment she couldn’t stop replaying whenever she closed her eyes,

Couldn’t have been intentional. It was a misunderstanding. It had to be.

Heosang was—

The Heosang she cared for, the Heosang who followed her—would never do something like that.

She was sure.

It had to be a mistake, a misunderstanding.

No one had died. So she could forgive it.

It was clearly her junior’s mistake.

Ianna’s severely constricted pupils began to tremble violently.

‘…Stomach.’

Ianna looked down at her stomach and wrapped it protectively with both hands.

Even now, even at this moment,

She feared the two of them might walk into the infirmary.

Still, she was truly relieved.

She didn’t know why someone had said her adjutant was dead,

But the two of them were still alive…

“Blegh…”

Unable to hold back, Ianna vomited blue fluid all over her adjutant’s shoulder.

“S-Sorry… I’m sorry… I’ll c-clean it… I’m sorry… so sorry…”

Horrified, Ianna tried to pull away from her adjutant’s arms.

“It’s okay, Director…”

But her adjutant simply held her tighter.

She felt the warmth of her adjutant.

And naturally, she thought of the other two.

Those two who had probably never felt warmth like this.

“T-They’re… r-remorseful… They’re hurting… surely even… Heosang… s-so please… forgive them…”

Ianna believed Heosang must be full of regret.

Tormented by guilt for ruining her revered senior’s body, unable to sleep, looking haggard.

Though she’d likely faint just meeting Heosang’s eyes again, she knew she couldn’t ignore this.

She had to face the two of them head-on.

Like carefully untangling a knotted thread, she needed to resolve the misunderstanding and prepare for the days ahead.

She didn’t want to see them hurting because of her.

Just like always,

She believed she had to lead them.

That was her duty as a magical girl.

Compassion and forgiveness.

Ianna engraved those two words, emphasized time and again by her partner, deep in her heart.

…And maybe,

If she could truly resolve things with them,

Then perhaps…

Again.

‘…’

Around this time, Heosang was spending day after day in a solitary cell fully equipped with the latest amenities, alongside the other two.

Of course,

She felt no guilt whatsoever.

Just boredom and tedium.

Lying upside down on the sofa with her feet propped on Celeste’s face, she heard Hojoon’s voice.

[…The Director has regained consciousness.]

The corners of Harsha’s lips curled up high.