Chapter 79: Trial (1)

The point of contention was none other than Ianna.

An argument was raging over Ianna’s treatment.

Hojoon, unable to back down even a single step, subtly moved Ianna behind him and confronted Miko head-on.

Miko, finding Hojoon’s actions presumptuous and unpleasant, gradually raised the intensity of her remarks.

Steven quietly waited for his moment.

Ianna, witnessing all of this in real time, had, at some point, completely soaked her skirt.

Still, with a rather defiant air, she curled her legs and sat there as if nothing had happened, maintaining her usual demeanour.

Colorless and odorless.

And tasteless.

Unless one saw it with their own eyes or inspected the soaking wet white skirt, the anomaly couldn’t be noticed.

Ianna’s self-esteem was being chipped away moment by moment.

“…The Director could be a master key for improving the combat skills of new-generation magical girls. Considering ‘pest extermination’ and what comes after, supporting the Director will clearly bring greater benefits to the Bureau.

Please reconsider.”

It was Hojoon’s usual magnanimous and gentle demeanor.

However, it wasn’t an appropriate attitude for addressing a superior.

An attitude as if soothing a child.

Miko felt a surge of irritation at Hojoon’s detestable smile.

‘Was this really the Hojoon who always carried out any order without complaint?’

‘Could it be that something else had been swapped in his place?’

It was gradually becoming absurd.

Miko wanted to know the reason.

‘…That kind of preference?’

Ianna’s body was no different from that of a child.

‘Hojoon… surely not.. Leaving aside this body right in front of him, which perfectly exemplifies adult maturity.’

‘Has he developed lustful feelings for Ianna?’

Miko glanced over Hojoon’s shoulder.

Ianna.

Ianna, with her legs drawn together, sat with an anxious face.

Like a puppy needing to pee.

“…Just a moment.”

Squinting and looking closely, she was surprised.

‘Saliva?’

No, Ianna’s mouth was closed.

The mysterious liquid was gushing out from between Ianna’s white skirt as if a dam had burst.

Miko, instantly deducing the answer, recoiled in horror.

“Hieeek…!”

Hojoon, bewildered by Miko’s sudden horrified reaction as she looked at Ianna, also turned around.

“S-Sorry… I’m sorry…”

Ianna, having soaked the floor, hung her head low and repeatedly apologized.

‘This wasn’t supposed to happen.’

‘I didn’t want to show such an unsightly appearance to others.’

The act of urination had already become a serious trauma for Ianna.

Although her infantile regression had stopped, the parts that had regressed until now wouldn’t return to their original state.

Ianna could only sniffle back tears.

“…Let’s take a short break.”

Steven, unable to look Ianna straight in the eye due to pity, said as he left the private room.

He quickly exited, a strong cigarette in his mouth.

Partly because he could no longer bear to watch Ianna, who resembled his daughter.

And partly to finalize the plans he had made so far.

‘Is this the last cigarette I’ll smoke….’

Steven quickly disappeared into the darkness.

“…Very well.”

Miko, feeling disgusted, covered her mouth with a fan and hurriedly left.

Her eyes, filled with contempt, remained fixed on Ianna until the moment she departed.

Ianna, feeling so wronged and sad, cried her eyes and nose out.

For a while, only the two of them remained in Hojoon’s room.

‘Thinking about it, it was unfair.’

‘It’s not like it’s full of waste products; if you think about it, it’s clean coolant that goes into the human body.’

‘Is it something to be so horrified about and run away from just because it flowed downwards?’

‘No, in the first place, it wasn’t even her fault.’

‘To change her body like this without her consent and then despise her just because her bladder control weakened.’

‘It was too unreasonable a story.’

Ianna thought so, but she couldn’t dare to say anything to Hojoon.

No, she couldn’t even make eye contact.

However.

Hojoon said nothing.

He wasn’t angry, nor did he blame Ianna.

“…Excellent.”

“What…?”

Ianna doubted her ears.

Was Hojoon mocking her like this?

Feeling so wronged and sad, tears continued to flow.

“It was excellent acting. Realizing the situation was unfavorable, you feigned indignity to buy time. Indeed, I’ve learned a thing or two, Teacher.”

Hojoon, after having Byeolmu-ri neatly clean up the mess, lifted Ianna into his arms.

“Wha—”

“You don’t need to shed tears in front of me. Your acting, whenever I see it, gives me goosebumps. It was acting so superb it fooled my eyes for years… It’s only natural that Miko would be deceived.”

Although the situation was taking a strange turn, Ianna didn’t bother to point out Hojoon’s words.

She stopped sniffling, shook her head vigorously twice, and reinforced the idea that ‘it was actually all according to plan.’

In fact, even from Ianna’s own perspective, the atmosphere was unusual.

Miko’s attitude was not that of someone addressing a subordinate.

A potential competitor.

Miko’s gentle voice was laced with hostility and distrust towards Hojoon.

It was impossible to think she was dealing with an ally or someone from the same faction.

Starting with Aeweon’s matter, to keeping Ianna alive.

And, if Miko’s claims were to be upheld, her own head would surely be the first to roll.

Ianna, goosebumps rising all over her body, quickly changed her expression back to her usual pale, anxious look.

At least for now, at this moment, she was indeed in the same boat as Hojoon.

A situation of Wu and Yue in the same boat.

(TL Note: An idiom meaning people who are usually enemies are forced to cooperate due to shared danger.)

“Right now, Steven is the only one who could restrain Miko and side with us, but that man seems to have some other ulterior motive. Since it’s an internal conflict within the same faction, he might just be observing the situation to reap benefits.”

“……Other than persuading Miko, there’s no other way… you mean?”

“Precisely. You must convince Miko of your usefulness, how effectively you can serve the Bureau, and Miko herself. I, too, am walking a perilous tightrope, risking my life. Please make an effort.”

Matters brought before the Judgment Committee are passed by a majority vote.

Although Miko’s influence was slightly weaker than the external faction, it wasn’t difficult to obtain a majority of affirmative votes.

If Miko, intending to cut off Hojoon and Ianna, were to halt the ‘Janwol Project.’

It would mean the very first button for humanity’s purification would be fastened incorrectly.

The wealth of Kakoshinomiya was not to be underestimated.

Ianna steeled her resolve.

A body that wouldn’t last a week without the Bureau’s care.

She wasn’t afraid of dying.

But she couldn’t die now.

She hadn’t saved anything yet.

She hadn’t accomplished any of the things Ianna had asked of her.

‘If I give up now and wash my hands of it.’

‘How would I be any different from that person I truly despise…?’

A heavy responsibility rested on Ianna’s shoulders.

Whether it was her own will or someone else’s, she couldn’t tell.

But the will itself definitely existed.

The justification Hojoon put forward was ‘education for future magical girls.’

In fact, she had recently been teaching the brats with Han Byeolhwa.

If she presented the justification of improving the combat skills of future magical girls, i.e., the third-

generation magical girls that the Bureau would use as its limbs.

Miko would surely understand and continue to invest.

The Bureau’s magical girls could be treated like private soldiers by the higher-ups if necessary.

Who would oppose their own soldiers becoming stronger?

Moreover, these were third-generation artificial girls with no risk of rebellion.

***

“W-With those eyes…….”

“Shut up, Anna! You bedwetter…!”

“Uuu…….”

For some reason, Miko no longer approached Ianna.

She genuinely hesitated to get close.

Even when Ianna insisted that what she had accidentally ‘leaked’ was colourless, odourless coolant, completely clean, Miko didn’t listen at all.

It was natural not to believe her.

Because Miko didn’t believe anything.

Because her characteristic paranoia was accompanied by fanatical suspicion.

Miko, having pushed Ianna far away, pondered deeply about the advantages of Ianna that Hojoon was presenting.

‘…Trying to raise private soldiers?’

And, Miko’s suspicion began to veer off in an unexpected direction.

‘As expected.’

‘Han Hojoon was preparing a rebellion against her and the Bureau.’

‘That black-haired beast.’

‘Who was it that raised him to that position?’

Miko clenched her teeth, a smile on her face.

To tear down everything Hojoon had planned and then thoroughly mock him.

Whatever their relationship, Ianna was the first target.

Ianna, her heart deeply wounded, was unknowingly shedding tears.

This time, it wasn’t her bladder that had malfunctioned.

It was her heart.