Chapter 75 : Aftermath

“…Thank you for saving me.”

“It’s okay. I was startled when I suddenly felt an unfamiliar person’s unconsciousness above the village.”

Huhu.

In front of my eyes, a girl with purple hair wrapped in a purple aura was floating around, smiling beside the bed I was lying on.

…And behind her, on an old living room sofa, a girl with the same appearance was sleeping, holding a purple Glass Star.

Bloomed born 2-star magical girl of [Dream]

Cho Yeonseo

The magical girl of [Dream] in the original work comforted people who had lost family members or were in despair with her ability to handle the dream world.

She was a guardian who protected the area around the nursing home in Gyeonggi-do where she lived by putting demons and raiders to sleep with powerful sleep magic.

…That would have been the case if she had bloomed after this summer.

“Huhu, after blooming, I was able to live a normal life, so I came to Russia, my mother’s homeland, following my maternal grandfather.”

She had lost both parents in a gas explosion accident and suffered from severe acquired narcolepsy due to grief. Even after becoming a magical girl, her narcolepsy, which was greatly affected by mental issues, persisted.

“If there was no knocking sound for more than 3 minutes in the hospital bathroom or shower room, the nurse or my grandfather would come and save me…”

Only after blooming her ability to handle sleep and dreams was she able to live a proper daily life.

And seeing this, her maternal grandfather decided to return to his homeland, Russia, to live together.

“…Would you consider coming with me? I need your help.”

Cho Yeonseo’s purple doppelganger quietly shook her head while smiling gently.

“The people here need me.”

“…”

As she said, apart from the old bed where I had been lying unconscious for 3 days, there were numerous beds and sleeping bags in the living room.

Purple energy flickered on the eyelids of the people lying there, each sleeping while having happy dreams. Some were shedding tears of longing.

Mental images of joy and longing.

They were truly being saved by dreams.

A small village located near Yekaterinburg, an industrial city on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains.

Befitting a city famous for commerce and industry, there were many villages around Yekaterinburg where numerous workers lived together.

Among them, a village where the owner of dreams lived, spreading secretly by word of mouth.

A house where people gathered after hearing rumors of a girl who shows dreams that soothe desperate reality.

“…”

Seeing people forgetting their despair through dreams in real life, just like in the original work, I felt mixed emotions.

Even if I wanted to bring up reality, it felt like I would hurt people clinging to precarious happiness that seemed about to collapse at any moment.

Thud thud

With footsteps, a large old man with a kind face walked into the living room.

“Asya, when will that girl wake u… Oh. You’re awake.”

Anastasia was the name Cho Yeonseo used in Russia, and Asya was a nickname.

Creak

With a kind smile, the large old man sat down on the sofa next to where I and Cho Yeonseo’s doppelganger were talking. A good-natured smile spread across the old man’s face, which had traces of the distinctive Asian features of the Ural ethnic minorities.

“Strange things kept happening, and now even a beautiful girl like this falls from the sky, hoho. It’s a strange era.”

“Grandfather, how is it outside?”

“Always the same, the military bastards turn a blind eye appropriately, strange-colored beasts can’t take a single step into the village thanks to your ability, and outside there’s a commotion saying ‘Nuclear war has broken out!’”

I could vaguely guess why Cho Yeonseo hadn’t been summoned as a state-recognized magical girl.

‘No wonder I saw people in military uniforms among those sleeping in the living room…’

They must have been allowed to live quietly in the village in exchange for showing kind dreams to them.

And the nuclear war mentioned by the old man.

Thousands of nuclear weapons that should have struck Russia and America originally disappeared along with white arrows.

‘How on earth did I notice and eliminate missiles even on the opposite side of the earth?’

That day.

That moment.

For a very brief moment, when I drew the white arrow, I could vaguely know everything happening on this planet.

Like a god.

“…”

And I fired the arrow, wishing only for nuclear war not to happen.

“…”

But I couldn’t remember the spell and ability that the girl with the same face as me had told me then.

The identity of that girl was probably…

“So do you have somewhere to go now? If you don’t have a suitable place, you’re welcome to stay here.”

“Thank you. But I have somewhere I need to go.”

“I see. Take care.”

I got up completely from the bed and walked towards the front door. Then I heard Cho Yeonseo’s voice from behind.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sorry I can’t go with you.”

“…It’s okay. If you already have people to protect, it can’t be helped.”

In the original work, the nursing home in Gyeonggi-do that she was protecting collapsed due to demons, and she joined Yuki’s journey.

A comrade called by the nickname Asya.

A comrade who, though resigned to the desperate reality, at least didn’t mock Yuki’s words.

I finally found out the location of the magical girl of [Dream].

‘Would Yuki be happy to know? But even Natalia, the magical girl of [Navigation] who was also an original work comrade, pretended not to know on purpose…’

Yuki was hesitant about seeing people related to the original work that had been reversed due to regression.

‘Someday, if Yuki’s heart becomes a little more at ease…’

I slowly left the house where the girl who protects people through the dream world and her grandfather lived.

Hong Nayeon, the magical girl of [Sea], had opened her heart a little but was still an unbloomed magical girl, and Cho Yeonseo, the magical girl of [Dream], had bloomed but had already found a place to protect.

When I rummaged through my hoodie pocket, I felt Doctor’s fluorescent green Glass Star and my Glass Star.

Cho Yeonseo had just put me to sleep with her doppelganger, and it didn’t seem like she had rummaged through anything in particular.

‘Actually, I’ve passed the stage where it would be troublesome if I was found out to be [Beginning] now…’

I took out the Glass Star that had regained some light, transformed, and returned to the domain.

Whoosh

The Garden I returned to with dazzling light was originally quiet, but it seemed even quieter today.

Click click

Even though I transformed, I didn’t feel energetic, perhaps due to the aftermath of using a great power that even I didn’t fully understand. My shoulders drooped, and every joint in my body creaked with each step. I tried to keep my back straight and walk as proudly as possible, as bending over looked unsightly due to my already large chest, but my back made cracking sounds.

‘My physical condition is really bad. It feels like I have the flu and body aches at the same time.’

Still, I couldn’t just lie down and rest.

When I woke up in Russia, I couldn’t hear any radio transmissions from the Sirius on the short-range communicator and translator that Kang Dorim had made for me.

‘I hope everyone returned safely.’

I left my phone at home worrying it might break during battle.

I wanted to go check the news quickly.

The aftermath left by the huge event of a nuclear war crisis would be terrifying.

I’m also worried about the situation in China.

‘I wonder if Ichika is okay.’

I headed towards the central garden where the Grand Council was, with difficulty.

“Hmm…?”

Wheat field, bamboo forest, gray castle, rose garden.

I couldn’t see the representatives of the self-governing bodies in any of those places.

“Everyone must be busy with the aftermath…”

I came out of the empty central garden and entered the Council building through the Council warp gate.

I needed to go to Sumire quickly to hear the progress report and discuss future measures.

In the warp gate office, an unbloomed magical girl in a suit was frantically creating a waiting list.

After using the warp gate without permission a few times before and messing up the usage records, I started reporting my entry and exit diligently after hearing Sumire’s pleading voice.

“Excuse me…”

“Ah! Yes! Just a moment! There are too many people hoping to warp right now, so please wait!”

“No, I’m the one who returned from Russia…”

The administrative magical girl looked up sharply at those words.

“Huh?! Your Majesty?!”

“That title is a bit… Please just call me [Beginning].”

The administrative magical girl suddenly grabbed my hand and sobbed.

“Are we really establishing a country?! My house is in Sapporo, so the self-governing body can’t be too far away…! Even if we establish one, will we also establish warp gates?”

“Huh? What do you mean by country?”

“T-this time, the representatives of the self-governing bodies are creating a huge alliance together with the Free Magical Girl Federation people to establish an independent magical girl country, according to rumors…”

“Huh? Free Magical Girl Federation?”

“It’s an organization formed by magical girls who have been secretly taken from other countries by America all this time, expressing separatism from the country out of disappointment with America due to this incident…”

I could only be dumbfounded by all the shocking news coming from her mouth.

The administrative magical girl and I blinked and looked at each other.

“Did you not know?”

“No.”

The administrative magical girl’s complexion gradually turned pale.