Chapter 33: Love and Peace (2)

I thought calmly.

Hojoon.

Why would the man who served as the backbone and command tower of the Bureau mobilize his maximum available force and reveal himself directly?

‘…It’s an emergency.’

Sure enough, the transmitter and radio attached inside my jacket had delivered the message: it was an emergency.

Directly from none other than Hojoon.

Hojoon must have been in a situation where he couldn’t leave his post even for a moment.

In practice, Hojoon was the real director, the true head of the Bureau.

For someone like him to come find me in person when the Bureau was facing a crisis meant—

‘Byeolmuri…’

Hojoon’s surveillance network stretched throughout the Bureau.

Except when I was in my own room, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I was constantly under watch, no matter when or where.

Hojoon must have seen Byeolmuri harming my aide and rushed over in a panic.

He must have thought, like with Heosang and Cheonching, that Byeolmuri was threatening my life.

The magical girl of Janwol, Ianna, could not be allowed to die yet.

Hojoon intended to use Ianna’s body to the very end; he wouldn’t want any variables messing up his plans.

However.

The synthetic girl standing next to Hojoon.

They were still in the secret developmental stages.

They were described multiple times in the novel as being under development, hidden as Hojoon’s secret weapons.

They only appeared during the “Girls’ Rebellion” caused by Heosang and Cheonching.

By the timeline, it was way too early for them to appear.

There should have been no way they were active yet.

Prototype.

It was highly likely that they were the first incomplete chimera prototypes.

The reason they were wearing full robes must have been to hide their unfinished exteriors.

But.

Hojoon had no reason to bring them out now.

Unless he was in an extremely desperate situation, there was no way he would reveal his most important card so openly.

It would be an enormous risk for Hojoon.

Even within the Bureau, only an extremely small number knew about the existence of the chimeras.

If other agents overheard even by accident, it would cause an enormous scandal.

Furthermore, the chimeras were still under development.

They couldn’t possibly demonstrate their full performance.

Each unit’s strength would likely be just about equal to Byeolmuri or slightly higher.

If the goal was to suppress Byeolmuri’s “rebellion,” it would’ve been better to bring other synthetic girls.

Hojoon had plenty of them ready to be deployed — ones that could easily overpower the current Byeolmuri.

Third-generation synthetic girls who had their sense of self stripped away, synthetic girls who showed blind loyalty to Hojoon…

No matter how you looked at it, there was no reason to bring out the chimeras now.

…Once again, I thought calmly.

Hojoon had definitely said “emergency,” and had rushed out with the chimera synthetic girls to stop Byeolmuri.

‘…Where are the other magical girls?’

Since earlier, besides my aide and myself, not a single person had appeared in the hallways.

Not even one.

Given the size of the Bureau’s personnel, that made no sense.

The hallway I was in usually had a lot of foot traffic.

It felt like all the puzzle pieces had fallen into place.

Emergency.

There was only one type of emergency serious enough to cause this at the Bureau.

‘A magical girl’s rebellion or rampage.’

The appearance of unidentified beings wasn’t considered an emergency anymore.

Not after the “Magical Crusade”; it was practically a routine occurrence.

What the Bureau truly feared was the rebellion or rampage of magical girls.

And this one… was approaching in the worst possible form.

From here on, the future Ianna knew overlapped with reality.

It didn’t take long for Ianna, now certain, to realize exactly what had happened.

‘…Definitely.’

All of the Bureau’s agents must have been moving urgently.

The magical girls too.

That’s why no one was in the hallways. Hojoon had no magical girls left to use — not a single one.

Except Byeolmuri and the chimeras.

The light reflected from the hallway lights gently wrapped around Ianna.

The two eyes of Ianna, who had momentarily regained her former self, were shining brightly.

Ianna was calmer than she had ever been.

Like a past that could never be returned to.

“…Hojoon, this isn’t the time for this, is it? We shouldn’t be leisurely confronting Byeolmuri right now. A magical girl has started to rampage.”

When Ianna shouted, Hojoon looked slightly surprised.

The fact that a magical girl had gone berserk was something he had planned to keep secret from Ianna until after bringing her into the control room.

Based on past experience, Ianna had always refused to stay in the control room during magical girl rampages.

Ianna’s guess was spot on.

Hojoon had pushed himself to rescue Ianna, even at the risk of overreaching.

To save his daughter from the crazed Byeolmuri.

It was a desperate situation.

There was no time to spare.

His absence would completely paralyze the Bureau.

Nothing would function properly without him.

That was the structure Hojoon had built within the Bureau.

But.

He couldn’t overlook the fact that Ianna was in mortal danger.

To save her, he had even brought the incomplete chimeras.

They were the only card he could play right now.

Hojoon unconsciously pulled out a white wristband from his pocket.

If he put this on, he could “forcibly” project Ianna’s brainwave signals and roughly figure out what she was thinking.

He wanted to know how Ianna had grasped the situation so precisely.

It couldn’t be explained by sedatives alone. It had been the same last time.

Even for a magical girl of Janwol, it was impossible to analyze an unidentified being’s weakness just by glancing at a monitor.

‘…Maybe.’

Maybe Ianna really…

“Hojoon, there’s no need for that… I’m not hiding anything. I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Without a speck of falsehood.”

“…I wasn’t doubting you, Director.”

When Ianna stopped him, Hojoon hesitated, putting the band away. He was worried it might harm Ianna’s brain.

Watching all this, Byeolmuri was left utterly bewildered.

‘…Why?’

Her father — the root of all evil, the parasite who had thoroughly trained and manipulated Ianna into committing countless atrocities — was…

Why was he listening to Ianna’s words?

Byeolmuri did not think this meant Ianna wasn’t being controlled.

That couldn’t be. It must not be. Ianna had to be morally flawless.

She had to be either thoroughly manipulated or blackmailed.

Otherwise, there would be no justification.

There would be no excuse she could offer to the countless magical girls who had already died.

“…Janwol-nim.”

A seed of doubt was planted in Byeolmuri’s heart.

The spark had been lit.

Ianna.

No matter how much she trusted Ianna, Byeolmuri couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

She couldn’t even guess.

Ianna only gently stroked Byeolmuri’s head. Comforting her.

To prevent the situation from escalating between father and daughter.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

Ianna thought Byeolmuri was simply tense.

That she was scared.

“Hojoon, you saw, right? There was a bit of a misunderstanding… but it’s resolved now. Send the aide to the infirmary. After that… let’s go back to the control room and discuss countermeasures.”

“You’re the one exploiting Janwol-nim, you psychopath…”

Byeolmuri’s words made Ianna flinch slightly.

‘…How much does she know?’

It seemed Byeolmuri had realized she was being used by Hojoon.

Ianna looked back at Byeolmuri again.

…Maybe.

Maybe Byeolmuri would side with her.

When the Bureau and other magical girls tried to eliminate her, maybe Byeolmuri would fight with her.

Of course, that was a story for the distant future.

Ianna decided she needed to talk more with Byeolmuri. Somewhere without Hojoon — like a private room.

For now, she had to settle the situation before any side effects kicked in.

If left alone, one of them would definitely die.

Judging from the situation, it would most likely be Byeolmuri.

Byeolmuri was a precious magical girl who might stand on her side someday — she couldn’t just let her die.

Resolving the conflict between the two of them could wait.

Right now, in this extremely limited time, she had to find a way to break through the immediate crisis.

While Ianna was struggling with these thoughts—

Byeolmuri still didn’t let go of her suspicions about Ianna.

It didn’t seem like Ianna was being controlled.

Even Hojoon had halted at Ianna’s words.

‘No…’

She stubbornly denied it in her heart.

No way. It couldn’t be.

Her guess couldn’t be wrong.

Ianna had to be thoroughly controlled by Hojoon.

She had to tremble in fear at him.

However.

Doubt begets more doubt.

Byeolmuri’s personality was highly suited to fostering doubt.

As suspicion turned into certainty—

“…Both of you.”

Ianna spoke in a heavy voice.

“Stop this at once… Take the aide to the infirmary and let’s return to the control room. We don’t have time for this.”

“…Director.”

“Hojoon.”

For a brief moment, a heavy silence hung in the air.

Ianna stared straight into Hojoon’s eyes.

Without any fear.

And then.

“This is an order.”

Ianna’s voice, heavier than before, echoed hollowly down the corridor.

***

My chest wouldn’t stop trembling.

It was painful just to breathe.

But even so, I couldn’t stop.

I could feel Han Byeolhwa’s warm body temperature.

Her back was soaked in sweat, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.

Currently, Han Byeolhwa was carrying me hurriedly on her back.

Along with Hojoon.

Fortunately, my aide hadn’t suffered any major injuries — just unconsciousness.

Bzzzzt.

“Deputy Director!”

“…What’s the situation?”

The pale-faced agents shouted as they saw Hojoon.

Alarms were blaring in the control room.

The red light had drenched the entire space.

The ‘Red Alert’ had been issued.

“All SPES units deployed at the site have been annihilated.

Formula 6 and 7 of the second-generation synthetic girls have died. Formula 9 is continuing the engagement. Formula 14 is severely wounded and retreating.

We’ve requested reinforcements from Heosang and Cheonching, and Strages Unit 2 will be heading to the site as soon as repairs are complete.”

“This is the worst.”

“…I apologize.”

Hojoon, uncharacteristically, showed emotion.

Clenching his fist, Hojoon turned his gaze to the monitor.

I, riding on Byeolmuri’s back, also turned to look at the monitor.

The massive monitor displayed the interior of an abandoned building.

A pitch-black darkness, with no light penetrating anywhere.

Aside from the pools of blood soaking the floor, nothing else was visible.

But.

Something was writhing in the corner of the screen.

A chill ran down my spine.

‘…It’s already begun.’

I knew exactly what that thing was.