Chapter 83: Those With Memories

[Recently, there have been more extremists who shout that the end of the world is near.]

[A magical girl alliance has been formed to punish the enemies of humanity, and it’s become a hot topic.]

[The government is having a hard time due to the demands of groups that follow monsters.]

[Voices condemning magical girls are growing louder.]

If you were to talk about the content that’s been on TV recently, it’s all the same.

The world is ending, the enemies of humanity must be found and punished, etc., etc.

Was the original also like this?

The atmosphere of the humans was extremely ominous in many ways.

If you go outside, you’ll probably find a bunch of lunatics.

The despair of those humans was quite palatable, but I didn’t really want to go and eat it when Tamako was there.

“Akarii… I’m home…”

“You came back earlier than I thought today.”

I greeted Emerald as I lay down on the sofa.

To be honest, it’s better for me if you come home late.

Emerald, who had come walking weakly, lifted my body up.

It’s not like I’m lifting up a pet that’s taking up space, tsk.

“Ugh, today was really hard…”

“…Can you not bury your face in my neck and breathe?”

Goosebumps appeared at the feeling of her breathing on the back of my neck.

A month after the end of the search for Mia.

Only a month had passed, but Emerald’s treatment of me had become incredibly strange.

I’m sure she was really wary when we first met, but how did it end up like this?

‘She said she’d cling to Emerald and suck out her despair, but…’

Emerald had been too hopeful recently.

She tried not to let out hopeful energy in front of me, but from my perspective, who was clinging to Emerald’s despair, even that didn’t seem very pleasant.

If you’re going to raise a monster, prepare at least some quality despair, right?

“Aubuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…”

“Haa…”

Emerald, who was sitting on the sofa, made me sit on her lap.

And then she started making strange noises and rubbing her face against my back—

Seriously, I couldn’t help but sigh.

It seemed like things were getting weirder and weirder as time went by.

“I don’t know how lucky I am to have Akari…”

Emerald’s voice was slightly wet.

She was never discouraged when dealing with monsters, but she was quite different when dealing with humans.

After all, humans were not beings that could be dealt with using hope energy like monsters.

I wondered what it would be like to use magical girls to deal with humans, but…

“Why, should I scold the humans?”

“…Don’t say things like that, Akari.”

It wasn’t a joke; it was serious.

Emerald answered in a serious tone, as if she had remembered what had happened in the previous world.

Well, even if Emerald had nowhere to go for help, she wouldn’t reach out to me.

“Still, thank you for saying that. Just saying it gives me strength.”

“Ugh…”

The rising hope made me feel nauseous.

As a magical girl, you shouldn’t let go of hope when a monster asks you, “Human, should I deal with you?”

To be honest, I thought it was intentional.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“… Excuse me, can you let this go?”

I glared at Emerald, who was surprised and put me down, then laid down on the floor.

Ah, I hate hope. I like despair.

I let my sagging body go and slowly blinked my eyes.

‘What will happen in the future…’

The human world was becoming more and more chaotic due to an inexplicable phenomenon.

What kind of effect would this chaos have on Emerald, or on others?

My despair circuit began to pound with strange anticipation.

If my thoughts were correct, then surely—

***

“Is he really here?”

“Yes. The apostles have confirmed that he has made this place his nest.”

“Finally… we can welcome him.”

In the darkness, the humans whispered, revealing their beliefs.

Preparations to welcome the end were complete.

We will attack the residence of the magical girls who are holding him captive and set him free.

The fanatics with only that one goal began to slowly enter the house.

Squeak—

“What are we going to do with the magical girls?”

“We’ll take care of it. The world we want doesn’t need magical girls.”

The blade hidden in the sleeve revealed itself to the world.

A blade designed solely to kill humans.

It was a weapon used by humans who took advantage of the fact that the untransformed magical girls’ bodies were weaker than the transformed magical girls’ bodies.

“We will offer the hearts of the magical girls to him, and we will receive the grace of despair.”

A door beyond the door.

They slowly walked toward the bed inside.

The moonlight shining through the cracks in the window illuminated them, but they didn’t really care.

They just had to end their lives before the other person saw them.

“…Your benefactor, sir.”

“…!!”

“…It was just a simple sleep joke. Don’t panic.”

One of the humans flinched in panic at the girl’s small muttering.

It might have been natural, since they had never killed a magical girl who was awake—no, a human.

Of course, for the human at the very front, the consciousness of the target was not a very important story.

What was most important right now was—

“How interesting.”

“?!”

– the fact that the being they looked up to so much was behind them.

“Don’t humans call those who break into someone else’s house and try to attack with a knife robbers?”

The end, who looked like a girl, opened her mouth.

Just that one fact was enough to confuse the humans’ minds.

The end in their memories had clearly not spoken.

However, the being before their eyes was clearly speaking human language.

Could it be that they were mistaken?

No, that couldn’t be the case.

There was no way they could have dared to forget that appearance.

“End, we have come to set you free.”

“…”

The man in front lowered his posture.

The girl didn’t feel anything, but she knew that she wasn’t just any girl.

If you go against her, she will kill you.

Those who recalled the scene of destruction that remained in their memories shrank even more.

“Free me? Me? From who?”

The girl tilted her head at the man’s words.

Her expression seemed as if she didn’t understand at all.

It seemed that Jong-eon didn’t realize that she was being held captive by magical girls.

Because of the tricks of the evil magical girls.

“Of course, I came to free you from the magical girls.”

“…Puh, puhaha…!!”

The girl started to laugh at the sight of the man speaking confidently.

It wasn’t a laugh that came out because she felt good, but a laugh that was intentionally let out to make fun of the other person.

The humans swallowed dry saliva as they looked at the girl.

The corners of the girl’s mouth, reflected in the moonlight, were upturned, but her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

What that meant was clearly…

“Hh, hh …

“…Stupid thing.”

The man gritted his teeth at the humans running away screaming.

Don’t you know that it’s better to ask for mercy than to provoke the other person?

Leaving those fools alone, the man quickly knelt down.

Right now, lowering his posture as much as possible would help save his life.

“This is interesting.”

“…”

“Are you asking for mercy?”

“…”

“I guess that’s what I was in your memories.”

A word full of laughter.

Even so, the man just quietly lowered his head.

Because his life was no longer his own.

Even though the gaze that had been watching him disappeared, the man did not move.

It was already his limit just to keep the screams and last words in his head from afar.

***

“W-You didn’t say anything about speaking!!”

“Is that the problem?! It was a ridiculous plan from the beginning!”

“Freeing me from a magical girl…!!”

There was no particular reason for them to run away.

The sense of dissonance at the fact that something that shouldn’t speak had spoken.

The terrifying feeling of witnessing a giant tiger suddenly speaking human language.

The humans ran, ran, and ran.

Out of breath, their legs trembled, and their mouths stank.

“I, is this enough?”

“I can’t do this kind of crazy stuff anymore. I’m quitting!”

“Me, me too… The problem was going to meet that monster in the first place.”

It was a plan that was wrong from the beginning.

Who on earth would free whom from whom?

It was a monster in the first place.

A monster that should never be approached.

What they wanted was the world when that monster was rampant, not the monster itself.

Rustle—

“Who, who are you?”

“Who are you over there?”

Their heightened nerves made them sensitive to even the slightest sound.

The humans looked around as if there was a monster standing behind them, but they couldn’t find anything in the darkness.

Extreme tension.

The moment they took a breath, a sharp sensation as if their throats would fly off, and a small cry rang in the ears of those who were staring into the abyss.

Woof, woof, woof—

“What the… was that a dog…”

“Damn, my heart is racing…”

“…I slept a lot tonight, tsk.”

However, there was something they were overlooking.

Woof, woof! Woof woof woof—

!!! “Hey, something’s weird— Aaaah?!!!?!”

“Ugh, euaaaahh…”