Chapter 35: Love and Peace (4)

‘Mediterranean-Atlantic Magical Girl Containment Bureau.’

It was the third-largest comprehensive magical girl organization in the world, capable of projecting immense influence across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

From budget to technology, they overwhelmed the Management Bureau in nearly every aspect.

Their forces were also far greater.

That was because they received massive investments from Jewish capital led by the Rothschild family, as well as from European conglomerate families like the Cbants, Fuggers, and Wallenbergs.

Naturally, they could not escape the influence of those sponsors.

Most of the Containment Bureau’s magical girls were created to be tributes to their patrons.

In fact, once they were deemed useless, they were sent off as the patrons’ “livestock.”

Hojoon also had some rough knowledge of what went on inside the Containment Bureau, but neither he nor the Management Bureau’s leadership interfered.

There was a principle of mutual non-interference among the comprehensive organizations.

Unless it involved war, terrorism, or information leaks concerning magical girls, the organizations had no authority to interfere with each other.

Apart from the time when the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s Witch Bureau attempted a surprise attack on Taiwan using magical girls and was stopped, the Management Bureau had never intervened in the affairs of other comprehensive organizations.

‘…However.’

Hojoon now thought that the Management Bureau was being interfered with by another comprehensive organization.

[Scree-ee-ee-ee-ee]

On the camera embedded in the dead magical girl’s eye, the figure roaming the abandoned building began to appear.

The first thing Hojoon saw was the creature’s white chin.

Then its head and body came into view.

Its body was abnormally long.

It had human arms at every joint, long like a monkey’s.

It scuttled ceaselessly around the abandoned building, moving like a centipede.

Its face was… questionable to even call human.

Its mouth split wide to either side like an insect’s mandibles.

Its skull stretched back unnaturally, and Hojoon thought it looked just like an alien.

Its skin was deathly pale, with a translucent bluish tint.

Underneath, muscles, blood vessels, and organs could be seen faintly through the skin.

And inside its belly—

Something unidentified was moving.

Hojoon reflexively squinted his eyes and looked closer.

Eggs.

The creature was carrying eggs inside it.

It was a form utterly unthinkable for anything human.

[Scree-ee-ee-ee-ee!]

The creature spread its antenna-like jaws wide in a grin.

Rows of shark-like teeth filled the inside of its mouth.

It seemed almost as if it knew Hojoon was watching, performing grotesque acts in front of the dead magical girl’s corpse.

Only the faint red glow remaining in its eyes offered any hint that it had once been human.

And—

Hojoon was certain.

That thing was one of the “low-cost” magical girls “supplied” by the Mediterranean-Atlantic Magical Girl Containment Bureau, one that had suddenly lost contact.

In other words, it was one of the Containment Bureau’s discarded playthings.

“Deputy Director… that thing is…!”

Sourim called out to Hojoon in alarm, but the one who answered wasn’t Hojoon.

“It’s the fate of magical girls…”

It was Ianna.

There was no longer any point in hiding it.

The Management Bureau agents, including Hojoon, had already suspected the truth.

Revealing that the creature was a berserk magical girl carried both risks and rewards.

The risk was that it would justify the purges of magical girls being led by Hojoon.

If it was proven that all magical girls would eventually end up like that, the Management Bureau’s argument for preemptive elimination would gain overwhelming support.

The reward was that research into magical girl berserk phenomena would accelerate.

Defeating that creature would allow them to recover a valuable sample — the corpse.

If they secured it, the Bureau’s biologists would swarm over it, eager to investigate the nature of magical girl berserk states.

That was what the original novel had said.

Hojoon, privately and at his own expense, had been researching magical girl berserk phenomena thoroughly.

Maybe—

Maybe he could find a solution to prevent magical girls from going berserk.

It would save countless magical girls from being targets for execution.

If the berserk phenomenon could be prevented — if the madness could be suppressed — then no one would have to die.

It was the same dream Ianna had once held.

If they could uncover the true nature of ether accumulation and magical girl berserk states, then—

No one would have to die.

No one would have to kill.

Even if it had ultimately been a dream she couldn’t achieve herself.

Maybe… maybe Hojoon would succeed where she failed.

She allowed herself a small sliver of hope.

In the original novel, the results of Hojoon’s research into magical girl berserk states were never revealed, even by the final chapters.

Because Hojoon died before the research could reach completion.

‘…’

There was no helping it.

For now, it was time to reveal the truth to everyone.

Ianna took a deep breath and continued.

“A magical girl that begins to go berserk… eventually ends up like that. Losing their human form… losing their human heart. Only instincts remain…”

Her body trembled constantly.

Even her voice.

Though it was technically due to the side effects of the sedatives, Hojoon — seeing the way Ianna shivered — came to a different conclusion.

That Ianna was simply terrified.

At that moment, concern for the overdosed sedatives no longer crossed Hojoon’s mind.

The sight of what was once a magical girl was too horrifying.

Even Byulmoori stood there, stunned, staring blankly at the creature.

Yet—

One question drilled itself into Hojoon’s mind.

‘…How does Ianna know what it is?’

Hojoon’s suspicions about Ianna were now completely confirmed.

He fixed his gaze on Ianna, but she deliberately avoided his eyes, staring vacantly at the screen.

Determination.

Hojoon made up his mind.

He would uncover what had happened to Ianna — no matter what.

But—

He wouldn’t rush it now.

He would wait.

And when the time came, he would find a better method than simply interrogating her.

“Director, I understand that thing is a magical girl, but… we’ve never seen anything like this before. What exactly is happening…?”

“…It’s happened. Twice.”

Sourim’s eyes widened as she looked at Ianna.

“What kind of cases were they?”

“When a berserking magical girl isn’t dealt with in time. When she clings fiercely to a powerful wish. When she becomes fully consumed by her own strength. When she becomes obsessed with power. The magical girl… forms a cocoon.”

“…A cocoon?”

“Yes. Just like how insects create cocoons to metamorphose into pupae, a magical girl wraps herself in a cocoon formed from her Lemegeton. And then she evolves into that.”

It was a shocking story.

All the agents listening to Ianna gasped in horror.

Seeing their reactions, Ianna smiled faintly to herself and continued.

“Hojoon, you know what decision you have to make, right?”

“Director, don’t worry. We’ve already dispatched all nearby magical girls. We should be able to eliminate it soon.”

“No, that’s not the right answer.”

It was an uncharacteristically cold response from Ianna.

Hojoon forced himself to stay calm.

Truthfully, he wanted to dig into her mind right this instant, but there was more pressing business at hand: they needed to deal with the “grand gift” sent by the Containment Bureau.

Dimensional realm.

It had created a dimensional realm — an abandoned building floating in the middle of the East Sea — and was luring magical girls into it.

Just as a magical girl obsessed with power would do.

[Scree-ee-ee-ee-ee]

The creature was gnawing at the corpse of the synthetic girl it had killed, tearing flesh apart with its jaws and stuffing it into its belly.

It looked—

Exactly like a Misangche.

Hojoon finished all his judgments in a flash.

Immediate elimination.

It could not be allowed to emerge into the real world.

“We’ve requested reinforcements from Strages Unit 2, Heosang, and Cheonching. Patrol Units 34 through 45 are en route to the scene.”

“…That’s the wrong answer too.”

The moment Ianna coldly refuted him again—

Veins bulged on Hojoon’s neck.

He clenched his fists and glared at Ianna without even realizing it.

As the atmosphere grew ice-cold, Ianna shrank back slightly and spoke in a tiny voice.

“It’s not that… Hojoon, you know… who needs to be sent… right?”

Her voice was barely audible, like a whimper.

If the magical girls were deployed as planned, they would all be wiped out or severely injured.

Even Heosang and Cheonching would be forced to retreat — that was how the original story went.

And so, her nerves on edge, Ianna had pushed Hojoon hard.

Because she didn’t want to see any more magical girls die.

If she hadn’t been doped with tranquilizers, she would have surely wet herself from the murderous glare Hojoon gave her just now.

No — she might have wet herself even with the tranquilizers.

Ianna gently grabbed a corner of Hojoon’s sleeve.

A silent gesture begging for forgiveness.

Hojoon responded by roughly stroking Ianna’s head as if pressing down on it.

“…I see.”

He understood what Ianna was trying to say.

Now wasn’t the time to sacrifice magical girls.

Now was the time to hunt that thing.

Having steeled himself, Hojoon spoke softly.

“Order all other magical girls to stand by.

Send a support request to the ‘Magical Girl of Supplication.’”