Chapter 47: Plea (3)

Covering my beet-red face with both hands, I left the infirmary.

“…Bedwetter.”

I forced myself to ignore the whispering behind me.

It was too obvious to even bother denying it.

It was unbearably humiliating.

I felt like biting my tongue and dying on the spot.

“It’s okay. We understand….”

“M-Me too….”

Hojoon and Byeolhwa, who were supporting me, offered comforting words.

But they didn’t reach my ears.

“…Deputy Director, Aeweon’s magical girl says she’ll wait in the reception room.”

“Understood. Once the preparations are complete, we’ll send the Director over.”

I had worried that I might run into Aeweon as soon as I left the infirmary, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Why did she want to see me?

More importantly, why such extreme security for just a simple audience?

The wide Bureau hallway was filled wall-to-wall with agents.

Each one was tense, closely watching Hojoon’s and my every move.

Aeweon’s magical girl.

It was just a magical girl requesting a meeting with the Bureau Director, and yet—

The entire Bureau had erupted into chaos, like they were on the highest-level alert.

“Hojoon, um… It’s dirty….”

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“…Okay.”

Hojoon’s back was broad.

Why was Hojoon willing to go this far?

If he truly intended to discard me like a used organ, he wouldn’t need to be so considerate.

Hojoon was a complex figure.

Based on the flat characterization in the novel, there was no way to predict his true intentions.

He seemed to care, but it didn’t feel like it came from pure goodwill.

Hojoon and Ianna.

Was there some connection between them that I didn’t know about?

Even thinking such a thing felt dangerous.

Hojoon could vaguely read my thoughts.

To hide my true nature, to stay seated in this position, to maintain my identity—

I couldn’t afford to provoke Hojoon or draw unnecessary attention.

I knew he was plotting something. I didn’t know how he intended to realize it, but—

There was definitely something.

Something he was hiding.

Ianna once said she could freely conceal memories.

Hojoon and Ianna surely shared a deep, tangled bond—one from a far-distant past that I knew nothing about.

If I could restore that connection, maybe even Hojoon could be saved.

Why did Hojoon hate magical girls so much?

And why, despite that, did he seem to care for me?

In truth, I wanted nothing more than to stop thinking about Hojoon.

But—

If it were Ianna—

Would she have turned away from him?

No.

Ianna tried to save everyone.

Especially Hojoon—she even spoke of him by name, saying she wanted to save him.

She wanted to prevent the grim future he was headed for.

I would carry on Ianna’s will.

By saving Hojoon, I would make Ianna smile again.

…My heart was earnest, but.

“…Still wet?”

“It’s fine.”

I still couldn’t grasp Hojoon’s true intentions.

With only fragmented information, there was no way to truly understand him.

Other than his desire to purge magical girls and the fact he would eventually be found dead with a sword through his chest, I knew nothing.

If even Hojoon was a victim of this story—

Then I had no choice but to save him.

“Han Byeolhwa, help the Director change into a fresh outfit.”

“…Yes.”

Before heading to the reception room, we stopped by my room to change clothes.

I couldn’t keep wearing these soaked clothes forever.

While Hojoon waited at the door, Byeolhwa silently wiped me down and helped me into new clothes.

I could have done it myself, but I didn’t reject her kindness.

‘…Byeolhwa.’

Byeolmuri’s magical girl was a serious problem in her own right.

I was especially curious about the necklace she was wearing.

But—

I couldn’t bring myself to speak to her.

After witnessing the Lieutenant’s condition firsthand, I couldn’t say anything to Byeolhwa.

It weighed heavily on my mind.

Every time Byeolmuri’s bare hands touched my skin, my heart would pound nervously.

Not in excitement, but in a way that felt closer to fear.

“U-Um…”

“Yes, Janwol-nim.”

I forced myself to muster the courage to look Byeolhwa straight in the face.

Tear stains were clear on her cheeks.

Her eyes were swollen, puffed up from how much she had cried.

Why had she cried?

Was it guilt over what she had done?

Regret?

Without thinking, I reached out and gently stroked Byeolmuri’s cheek.

It was a habit left over from another time.

Because magical girls so often lost comrades.

Their partners, seniors, juniors — people they had bonds with would die cruelly right before their eyes.

Unidentified entities devoured magical girls’ bodies.

Leaving nothing behind.

Not even a trace.

Oksana had met such an end too.

Magical girls had always witnessed such scenes with their own eyes.

And they had always cried.

Afterward, there was little Ianna could do.

At most, she could wipe away the tears from their cheeks and try to comfort them.

The moment I saw the tear-streaked face of Byeolmuri, my body had reacted instinctively.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Not to me… Apologize… to the Lieutenant….”

“Yes….”

At this moment, at least—

It felt like I had returned to being Janwol’s magical girl again.

Byeolmuri clung to me and cried endlessly.

Maybe it was guilt from deep within her heart.

Whatever the reason didn’t matter.

As long as she was truly remorseful—

‘…’

It was irresponsible thinking.

But I couldn’t help it.

I justified forgiving her by telling myself that.

I didn’t want to give up on either the Lieutenant or Byeolmuri.

Maybe it was selfish, maybe it was indecisive.

But I was certain this was the path I wouldn’t regret.

Neither I, nor Ianna—

Would ever regret this choice.

I could swear to that.

[ Director, time is running short. ]

“Yeah….”

Ianna, still clinging to Byeolmuri, finally revealed herself.

Hojoon, with his usual emotionless face, said nothing as he walked alongside us.

And—

No one noticed the white band now fastened around Hojoon’s wrist.

***

Turning your back at this point would be suicide.

Aeweon’s reputation was no exaggeration.

Countless people had lost their lives at Aeweon’s hands.

Even Ianna, at her peak, could not surpass her.

Indeed—if things had gone as they were supposed to, Aeweon could have single-handedly wiped out half the world’s population.

The battle with Aeweon was the grand climax of the novel.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that.

Even when Heosang united every surviving magical girl to fight, most died or were crippled before they could finally defeat Aeweon.

Heosang lost an arm and an eye in that battle.

While recovering from her injuries, a massive invasion by unidentified entities began.

Cheonching.

The only being called the “hope” of this novel was Cheonching.

However, Cheonching had serious personality flaws.

It wasn’t something that appeared because she became a magical girl — she was born that way.

‘Picaresque.’

One of the genres of this novel.

While Heosang’s exposure to ether energy magnified her sadism—

Cheonching’s exposure actually reduced hers.

It was absurd, but that’s how the novel depicted it.

Cheonching only did what she found amusing.

Before the strong, she was groveling; before the weak, she was arrogant.

She had no concept of ethics and always followed her own whims.

The reason Cheonching followed Heosang was simple.

Because it was fun.

Because Heosang was fun to follow. Because Heosang’s face suited her tastes. That too.

They should be in Taipei by now.

Traveling around Taiwan, sightseeing, vacationing.

That’s what the original story said.

Cheonching killed people purely for fun.

There was no grand reason behind it.

Approaching anyone she found attractive, regardless of gender, and then killing them — that was

Cheonching’s way of relieving stress.

However—

The Bureau had no way to deal with Cheonching.

Heosang protected her, and she was one of the rare magical girls who possessed more than one Lemegeton.

She was too valuable a military asset to discard just because she killed dozens or hundreds of civilians.

Even in the novel, it was Cheonching who eventually ‘sealed’ Aeweon.

It was disgusting, but there was no choice.

The only option was to try to guide Cheonching down a better path.

Aeweon could be considered a potential enemy, but without Cheonching, it was impossible to fight her.

Even if the Bureau threw everything they had at Aeweon now, they couldn’t even seal her.

I didn’t know why Aeweon wanted to meet me.

But if she came openly—

I would face her head-on.

I wouldn’t run or hide.

Because I had sworn it.

I had sworn to open a tomorrow for Ianna.

All I had was courage.

Fragile, delicate courage — but unyielding nonetheless.

I would fulfill my duty.

With pride.

I opened the iron door to the reception room.

Creaaak

And then—

“…You’re not Ianna, are you?”

As Aeweon’s voice rang out—

I soaked Byeolmuri’s clothes completely while she was holding me.

I felt like I was going to faint.