Chapter 33 : The Main Road

September 21st

It was nearly two months since I established the Garden.

“Are you going?”

“Yes, I have a lot of things to do.”

“…”

Master looked at me with a complex gaze for a moment.

Over the past two months, I received help from Master in getting a passport and obtaining various documents.

He also helped me buy things needed for the trip and even dropped me off at Shinjuku Station.

“Weren’t you curious about me suddenly preparing something?”

I joked to the Master, who looked a bit gloomy.

Master relaxed his stiff expression and quietly smiled as he answered my words.

“Haven’t you always been preparing for something as if being chased since two years ago?”

“…”

“I actually knew.”

“…”

“I’m glad that now, even though you grumble with your mouth, your expression looks so peaceful.”

“…”

We didn’t say anything for a while.

If I hadn’t come to this world, cried for a long time, and then found Master’s shop to eat.

Would I be figuring out how to survive alone by now?

The connection I had built with him over two years, when he was merely a supporting character appearing in the original work, had now become an undeniable part of my life.

He was no longer a supporting character in my life.

“Whatever you’re preparing for, I pray it becomes your happiness.”

Pat

Master placed his hand on top of my head.

His hand, which had been roasting coffee beans until this morning, smelled of the cafe’s aroma that had supported me for two years.

Rough and crude with all sorts of scents mixed in, but it smelled more profound and deep than any coffee aroma.

It wasn’t the ink smell of a few letters in a light novel, but the scent of a father who had lived for 63 years, grieving and living in solitude after losing his daughter.

It was the scent of a benefactor who warmly welcomed a stranger to this world.

“…Was today’s special drip coffee’s main bean Ethiopian Yirgacheffe?”

“After working for two years, you know well now.”

“…Medium grind, taking time.”

“So the aroma doesn’t escape.”

“…Enjoy every moment of brewing.”

“I have nothing left to teach you now.”

“I was good from the start, you know?”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

Master chuckled and then lowered his hand from my head and said.

“Go and come back; your friends seem to be waiting.”

“Yes, I’ll be back. Master.”

Master’s expression wasn’t simply that of seeing off an employee going abroad for a few months.

His expression seemed to reveal the numerous hardships that would unfold for me from now on.

‘Could it be…’

I had never told him that I was [Beginning] or a magical girl. Because he always helped without asking for details.

But maybe…

‘No, it’s probably just that Master has an affectionate personality.’

I shook my head, then greeted Master and approached Ichika and the others waiting in front. As I approached, they started chattering as if they had been waiting.

“Oh, Leader~ It’s your first time going abroad, aren’t you going to dress up?”

“Hikari-chan looks good in anything!”

“Come back healthy!”

“Hehe…”

I felt the solemnity I had shared with Master earlier flying away as I watched my companions speaking lightly.

Actually, unlike residents, the owner of the domain could enter the domain anytime.

They’re probably acting like this because magical girls can continue to see each other even when I go abroad.

“The keyword for our meeting room is always the same, right?”

“Ahahahaha! No one else knows that except us!”

Magical girls could meet privately by sharing coordinates of small spaces created in the garden. The keyword we set to refer to our space was…

“Odaiba Magic Show!”

“Ahahahaha!”

“Pfft…”

“Ugh, Hikari-chan sometimes says things that smell like an old man…”

Sorry, Hana-chan.

I’m actually an old man.

“Ichika, then I’ll leave the troubles happening in Tokyo to you for now.”

“Heh, thanks to the security force guys running around and the Walpurgis guys racking their brains, there aren’t many acting up recklessly without countermeasures anymore, but…”

Crack

Ichika said while raising her fist.

“If I catch them, I’ll wring them out like a rag.”

“…Don’t beat them too much, just moderately.”

“If they wanted to get hit moderately, they shouldn’t have acted up in the first place.”

“Haah.”

“Anyway, I’ll clean your room occasionally too, Leader.”

Ichika, who shows powerful one-on-one combat skills even among born 2-stars, should be able to solve most troubles with her two fists.

Ichika occasionally said, ‘My fists are whining’ and went out at night. She crushed the cute pranks of villain magical girls, becoming an urban legend-like existence in the magical girl community.

I turned to Kyoko.

“Kyoko, I’ll leave the cafe work to you.”

“Leave it to me! This actually suits me quite well!”

Literally, Kyoko often came to help with work at our cafe instead of loading and unloading part-time jobs after that, and many customers liked Kyoko’s cheerful voice and energetic attitude.

She learned so fast that if you consider only skill, the enthusiastic Kyoko gradually became better at many things than I, who had just put in the time.

“Hikari-chan!”

“Hm? What is it, Hana-chan?”

Hana waved her hand gently, signaling a secret talk, and I bent my knees slightly to bring my ear close to her.

“You know~ I helped troubled people again the other day~”

“What kind of people?”

“I helped a grandmother who was sitting down on the street exhausted~ and took a salaryman rushing because he was late!”

“Ah…”

I worried that ordinary people might have been injured experiencing Sato Hana’s transcendent speed, but seeing no particular mention from Walpurgis or the security force, it seemed she had probably protected them with psychic power while taking them.

“This is a secret from Mom too!”

“Haha…”

Actually, it seemed the Sato couple vaguely noticed that Hana was going around helping people a little as a magical girl.

Still, good deeds were a secret shared with friends and a heart-pounding deviation from routine for her.

A deviation from boring daily life being helping others… She was such a pure child that I wondered if it wasn’t fate that this child became a magical girl.

“Hey, Leader~ The train time is almost here!”

“If you want to get on comfortably, we should go now!”

“Is it already that time?”

I picked up the backpack I had left on the bench while talking and wore a black baseball cap to cover my noticeable silver hair.

Just covering my heterogeneous appearance with a cap greatly concealed it and disguised me as an aspiring singer often seen on the streets.

“What’s with that little luggage when you’re going abroad for months.”

“Actually, the longer you go, the less luggage you should take.”

“What about underwear and clothes?”

“There are clothing stores and convenience stores in Korea too.”

“Aren’t you taking things like cosmetics, lotion, towels, or lunch boxes?!”

“Do you think I’m going to some remote grasslands?”

Why would I take a lunch box?

I vaguely realized that in Kyoko’s subconscious, overseas travel was understood as an extension of a picnic and answered moderately.

“Since Leader eats spicy food well, there’s no worry about adapting to Korean food.”

“Hikari-chan, aren’t you scared to go abroad alone?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to book accommodation online from here?”

“Did you study Korean a bit?”

“Hikari-chan, should I go buy a Korean conversation book right now?”

“Haha…”

From these kids’ perspective, it must feel like a close friend is going to an unknown world they’ve never been to, so they’re saying this, but it was somehow funny and they seemed to worry about everything.

Since they’re saying this out of concern for me, I didn’t particularly refute.

“It’s okay, Hana-chan. I studied everything.”

[Narita Airport, the train for Narita Airport, will depart soon.]

We hurriedly walked towards the line where the train was coming in.

“Hikari-chan!”

Hana called me.

“You have to come back well!”

“…”

Suddenly, I remembered the day Hana first called me Hikari-chan.

Her disability of lower body paralysis was so clearly visible that all passersby would either look with pitying eyes or pretend not to see.

That’s why the Sato couple avoided crowded places during weekend walks and came into Master’s relatively quiet cafe.

-Pretty…

-Hm? Me?

-Yes…

As if it really came out without her knowing, Sato Hana hurriedly lowered her head with the picture book she was holding.

I was happy that Hana, who seemed shy and intimidated, spoke honestly to me. I often spoke to her or acted familiar, and we gradually became friends over two years.

-Sister… am I… not annoying?

-No? Not at all.

-I see… everyone avoids me when they see me…

-I like it when Sato-san talks to me.

-Sister… then… will you… be my friend?

-Sure! Then shall we call each other more closely?

-Hika…ri-chan.

-Yes, Hana-chan.

-Hikari-chan!

I found out that Hana’s disability was not a congenital disability that healing magic couldn’t work on, but due to an acquired accident, after she became able to walk on her own.

The futile and tragic accident of their daughter becoming paralyzed in her lower body after falling down stairs while chasing a butterfly was virtually taboo for the Sato couple, so they only told me after the miracle had soothed their hearts.

Sadness over the tragedy of the small child I had seen for a long time.

Regret that if they had told me, I might have been able to use my healing ability earlier.

Desperate prayer that what lies ahead of Hana is now hope, not tragedy.

My determination to make it so from now on.

Various emotions boiled up as I heard her greeting.

I hugged Hana with all my might.

“Hana-chan!”

“Hi…kari-chan?”

“Thanks to Hana-chan, I was able to have courage.”

The small child I had encountered by chance, who didn’t even appear in the original work, had now become a pillar of support in my heart.

“Thank you, Hana-chan! For becoming my friend.”

“Thank you Hikari-chan! For becoming my friend!”

Ding dong

Ding dong

Ding dong

[The train for Narita Airport will depart soon. Passengers please…]

“I’ll be back!”

“Oh, come back safely, Leader!”

“Haha, it would be awkward if you cry here when we see each other in the garden!”

“I’m not crying!”

“Come back safely Hikari-chan!”

I pulled down my cap and boarded the train.

The doors closed and the train slowly moved forward.

The main road my father once told me about.

I was moving towards that road.

[When we had the accident, many people helped us, Hyeonwoo.]

[Dad thinks it’s all because we lived honestly that it came back to us.]

[Sometimes, it might seem right to take a narrow path that only you pass through, but in the end, you’re bound to come back.]

[Be a person who takes the main road.]

* * *

“Hmm…”

Dozens of monitors were flickering in the office that smelled because of garbage bags that hadn’t been thrown away.

In the deepest part of the office, a girl with ash-gray hair grown long enough to cover her back was swinging her feet on a gaming chair.

[Passenger Name: Shirogane Hikari]

[Japan Narita International Airport > Korea Incheon International Airport]

“How can a person’s name be silver light.”

“Ugh! Look at this office smell! Dorim! I told you to clean up a bit!”

“Ah, mister, really!! I changed my name!!”

“What’s wrong with your name being Dorim!”

“I’ve heard the wordplay asking why my surname isn’t Sin and why I don’t go to Sindorim* a million times, that’s why!” (tl/n: Sindorim is a station on Seoul Subway)

“So you changed your name to Kang Eunseol?”

“It’s better than Kang Dorim, isn’t it!”

“Anyway, the Minister said to thoroughly grasp and report on the recent situation of Japanese magical girls this time, so organize it well!”

“Shit, am I easy? Always me? Tell that crazy bitch to do it!”

“Haah, you’re one crazy bitch too! You bitch.”

“If you keep messing around, I’ll spill all your search history from last night?”

“Ugh fine~ I’ll go into hiding for a week saying I’m embarrassed and then retire.”

Lelelele

Oh Sanghyuk, the team leader who had stuck out his tongue and made an annoyed expression, threw a pile of documents on the girl’s desk and left.

Flutter

Flutter

On the desk where the documents were falling, there was a dusty nameplate.

[Executive Director, Korean Supernatural Ability Countermeasures Team]

“There are other bloomed 2-stars in Korea besides me. Why do they only make me do it?”

Dorim grumbled but put on her ash-gray VR goggles, her unique weapon.

Bloomed born 2-star magical girl of [Cyberbrain]

Kang Dorim

“…No matter how I look at it, our Eunbit seems to be [Beginning].”

For the first time, a serious light flashed in Dorim’s eyes.

---

Tll/note: While the MC’s name Shirogane Hikari (銀 ひかり) means ‘silver light’ in japanese, Eunbit (은빛) means the very same ‘silver light’ in korean. So this name was just literally translated. This also will be explained later, but I thought it’s better to let you know here what this suddenly popped up name is.