What is Right (7)

What is Right (7)

‘It’s there.’

Jung Chan-hyuk reacted stupidly, screaming in surprise. He had essentially proven that something was hidden. Aria, who had thought it couldn’t be this sloppy, approached the computer with certainty.

“Stop her! What are you all doing!”

He shouted randomly, scolding his aides. But even if the aides rushed in, ordinary people can’t defeat even a D-rank Magical Girl.

“Hah. Let go of me.”

She quickly shoved away one of the aides who was trying to grab her from behind and choke her, knocking him down.

Naturally, the aide fell hard, rolling on the floor and groaning in pain. Aria looked down at him. She felt nothing. They were criminals after all. They were evil.

It wasn’t impossible to actually lay hands on them.

She even kicked and sent flying the person trying to destroy the computer.

“Taquilas once said this. If you have nothing to be guilty about, you don’t need to fear yourself, or a Magical Girl. It seems that’s not the case for you all?”

“You bitch, are you doing this because you’re in cahoots with that crazy woman?! Your personal information! It’s already saved in government agencies. Do you want to see your parents suffer because of you?”

“…I’m sorry, but I don’t have a family.”

Aria sneered at Jung Chan-hyuk, who was either recklessly shouting or still slow to grasp the situation.

Moreover, she felt unstoppable upon realizing that Jung Chan-hyuk was bluffing without even knowing about her well-known background.

“And don’t test my patience. Can you talk like that in front of Taquilas too?”

“?!”

At her rebuke, Jung Chan-hyuk immediately shut his mouth. Thorough strong against weak, weak against strong. That had been the belief he had lived by until now, like Taquilas’s strongman zone.

‘Disgusting. I still can’t agree. Living like that.’

Aria frowned in disgust at that ugly sight.

“Damn it, this is nonsense. There’s no way a court would accept evidence collected like this. This is a liberal democratic country.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway.”

Jung Chan-hyuk, subdued along with his aides, muttered as he watched Aria secure their confiscated phones and computer disks.

But she only laughed at that.

“Whether the court accepts the evidence or not. What you did is true, isn’t it? Do you think people will care about that? They’ll curse the court instead.”

“You, you don’t mean…”

Aria’s mention of public opinion made Jeong Chan-hyeok turn pale. He finally realized her true purpose.

‘I’m screwed!’

And he trembled more violently than ever before.

In fact, the computers and phones in the congressman’s office only contained circumstantial evidence of minor corruption, not the crucial materials related to The One Road or Lee Jong-pil that he truly needed to protect with his life.

But if she was aiming to provoke public criticism against him, that’s a different story. With mountains of work to do, facing such social backlash would be practically the same as having confidential documents exposed.

Without public support, their plans would be derailed from the start, no matter how much backing they received. After all, as he himself had said, this country was a liberal democracy.

“You, you crazy bitch…”

“Why so surprised? We’re just catching ‘criminals’ and ‘corrupt politicians’. Like proper magical girls punishing evil. Just as we’ve always done.”

Aria smiled faintly, pleased with his reaction. It was so unlike her usual self that even Lulu, standing silently beside her, was taken aback.

“The results will be good, right? My biggest worry is that the police and media won’t do their part.”

“We’ll do our best to make sure they do. Don’t worry, Eun-seo.”

As dawn broke, Aria stood with Oh Yun-seo on the rooftop of the Management Bureau, having completed her mission.

Last night, several police stations were literally turned upside down. Magical girls had barged in, openly reporting some politicians along with evidence of crimes like embezzlement and bribery.

Now that information just needs to spread through the media. Frontier had already tipped off the news agencies.

“But by acting like this, we’ll face even more hostility from politicians.”

“What matters is the people. Let’s trust them. And there are surely politicians who don’t hate you. Those who think of the greater good and stay clean.”

Oh Yun-seo tried to comfort Aria. Knowing she had changed recently, she wanted to embrace her as much as possible.

“This might be the last time. But I’ll try to believe. I still don’t want to see Takilas smiling and saying he was right.”

Aria was no longer a child. She had long been worn down and disillusioned by the harsh realities of the world.

To keep from losing her own convictions, she desperately hoped the world would answer her cry.

***

“W-what on earth is going on here?”

“Calm down, Representative Park. And don’t speak if your head hurts. You don’t know how many people have come to see me already.”

The events of last night flared up intensely as soon as morning came. Especially Lee Jong-pil, who had to toss and turn in bed, answering phones ringing from all directions before he could even fully wake up.

“Those cute and bold actions… I heard Casilena moved, but other magical girls who were in conflict with them were also involved. The Management Bureau insists that those kids have gone beyond their control, but does that make any sense?”

“Sir, that’s not the issue right now. The media outlets we’ve already recruited contacted us first, but articles are already being uploaded to the internet through small-scale media outlets one by one!”

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s rather good. If they dared to challenge us with conventional political methods!”

Unlike the anxious party representative, Lee Jong-pil even laughed out loud. After all, he was a monster who had rolled around in this political arena for decades.

Recently, the support he and his faction received from outside to dominate Korean politics has been enormous. Huge funds to recruit media and public officials, numerous civil organizations created in advance within the country, and The One Road.

Based on his experience, Lee Jong-pil was confident that he would never lose this duel that the opponent had initiated first.

“More than half of the opposing party’s members are already our people, and we’ve finished recruiting the president’s close associates. It’s a game we can’t lose. Representative Park, you should move quickly too. First, block the media. I’ll try to move the police.”

“Will it be possible to completely bury the media?”

“Hmm. It would be perfect if an incident broke out at a time like this. If there isn’t one, we can just create one. A few celebrities won’t be enough, we’ll need a bigger incident.”

He muttered while stroking his rough beard. It was something so familiar… and something he thought was natural.

“Father, don’t you think you need personal security anyway?”

“Ha! What are you talking about?”

After Representative Park left, Lee Jong-pil leisurely had breakfast and shared a cup of tea with his son, who, like his past self, was serving as a member of the National Assembly.

“But those crazy women are causing havoc, ignoring common sense and laws.”

“Last night, 15 members of our faction were attacked. This is blatantly targeting us, targeting me. But have you thought about why they didn’t come for me, the leader, last night when they clearly know about me?”

“That’s…”

“It means they need to be cautious too. This fight absolutely must not gain public criticism. In other words, they don’t want to give us any leverage. They won’t allow us to frame this as a political scheme.”

He scolded his son and leisurely sipped his coffee.

“It doesn’t matter. We overwhelmingly have the speakers on our side. Public opinion among the masses is still split. If we promote the One Lord more and push forward based on their achievements, if we stick to the frame of them being a lawless group, we’ll win.”

“If that’s the case, we won’t be attacking. Phew.”

His son, Lee Su-chan, finally let out a sigh of relief as if he was now at ease.

“You only realized that now? You fool… That’s why you need to move more actively. Rather, since those thundering idiots didn’t attack you, you can use that to your advantage and move forward with the image of a clean politician…”

“Do you really think so?”

However, just as Lee Jong-pil clicked his tongue and was about to advise his son on future moves.

A clear and beautiful woman’s voice softly echoed in the living room where only the father and son were present.

“You…”

“Eek! H-How?!”

In a corner of the living room where there was clearly no one and no sign of presence, someone’s figure began to appear gradually as if a blurry screen was becoming clear.

A fluttering golden dress and short hair, faintly glowing blue eyes looking down at them indifferently. The inscription she had burned into her slender wrist herself was clear.

“It would be best not to misunderstand. The reason we didn’t come for you last night wasn’t because you’re special or anything.”

Taking a step forward with the sound of clicking heels, Renée opened her mouth again as she looked at them.