Chapter 9: Towards Death (3)

The chocolate that the adjutant bought.

It was a high-end brand of dark chocolate, the kind you rarely see.

It was quite large too—so big you had to hold it firmly with both hands, or it might slip away.

I peeled off the wrapper and placed the chocolate in my mouth, chewing slowly.

A bitter sweetness, unlike any other chocolate, spread across my tongue.

The cacao content must’ve been pretty high.

Little by little… I tried to let it melt in my mouth as slowly as possible, but it showed no signs of diminishing.

Still, I couldn’t eat it too quickly.

I’d die.

No joke—I would actually die.

Ianna’s body couldn’t handle a rapid intake of sugar.

Especially not chocolate.

Her condition was akin to a critical diabetic patient.

That’s because Ianna didn’t have a pancreas.

Instead, her body relied on artificially created organs to take its place.

The pancreas is an essential organ for humans.

It distributes digestive enzymes and secretes insulin to regulate blood sugar.

Ianna’s body was equipped with artificial organs that mimicked the pancreas’s function.

But they couldn’t fully replicate it.

The compatibility between her body and these artificial organs was low.

In other words, they couldn’t function at full capacity.

While her digestion wasn’t affected, the distribution of insulin was compromised.

Without regular insulin injections, she wouldn’t survive.

More of Ianna’s body was artificial than natural.

She was little more than a walking corpse kept alive by countless surgeries.

Naturally, all kinds of side effects emerged.

It was the result of forcibly inserting organs while ignoring rejection responses.

This moment, right now, was a prime example.

Because her insulin levels were slightly below normal, consuming too much sugar meant instant death.

It was like having undiagnosed diabetes.

The adjutant.

They may have smiled on the surface, but inside, they were probably a nervous wreck.

If I died, the adjutant wouldn’t get off lightly.

It wouldn’t end with a demotion, suspension, or a transfer like some bureaucratic punishment.

Not in the magical girl bureau that had cast aside human ethics and employed any means necessary to fight against the Unknown Entities.

Not in the organization that wielded unchecked power, beyond the reach of the law.

There’s no way they’d leave the adjutant alone.

They’d hold them responsible for the failure to manage the ‘Magical Girl of the Waning Moon’—and erase their entire family, down to the last trace.

Dying peacefully would be lucky.

What they’d suffer would be so horrifying that death might be preferable.

In both Ianna’s memories and the novel’s narrative, the bureau was filled with darkness.

They didn’t tolerate traitors or failures.

Not a shred of mercy was given.

They used fear to bind their members.

Because it was the most efficient method.

They would make an example.

The adjutant’s execution would be broadcast live to every agent in the bureau.

Even in the novel, there were several such scenes—executions of agents who made grave mistakes or magical girls who had betrayed the bureau.

Only those episodes were rated 19+.

‘…’

The adjutant bought me chocolate even though they understood all of that.

Over the past month living together, I’d come to realize something: the adjutant treated me like a child.

‘Ianna’ was not a child.

Though her physical growth and aging had completely stopped, her mind was fully mature.

She had lived for decades.

She hadn’t earned her legendary reputation for nothing.

Due to the nature of magical girls being replaced frequently, most only lasted around ten years, but Ianna had held her position for decades.

It was thanks to the power of Zanwol.

Zanwol, literally the “Waning Moon,” was a lunar-based power, and among all magical girls throughout history, it was one of the most unique.

That was how Ianna had been able to retain her seat.

Lemegeton was usually inherited.

Most magical girls succeeded the Lemegeton of their predecessors.

Only a few ever acquired a new one.

Furthermore, the number of magical girls who could even obtain a Lemegeton was limited.

Twelve.

Regardless of the era, there were only ever twelve ‘natural’ magical girls.

They alone were chosen to inherit the Lemegeton and be selected as magical girls.

Vacancies might occur, but there could never be more than twelve.

Naturally, it was impossible to block the worldwide rifts with just twelve.

Hence the creation of artificial magical girls.

Initially, the magical girl management bureaus in each region considered artificial magical girls as auxiliary forces.

But when they performed better than expected, mass production began in earnest.

As a result, the number of magical girls swelled excessively.

And then the secret purges began.

…Anyway, Ianna utilized Zanwol’s power to its fullest.

That was only possible thanks to her strong will and self-restraint.

Magical girls constantly exposed to Aether would inevitably go insane in the long run.

No one was an exception.

Ianna remembered all too well how previous generations, junior magical girls, and countless artificially created ones had lost their minds.

When the power started to run rampant, the Aether inside their bodies would become completely twisted.

The only way to stabilize Aether was to devour and drain the life of another organic being.

If a magical girl went mad, over ten thousand lives would be lost.

Thanks to the bureau’s strict media control and close cooperation with nations, such events were disguised as ‘natural disasters’—but in truth, they were magical girl rampages.

Ianna had killed countless magical girls who’d gone berserk.

No matter the situation, her creed prioritized human lives.

She had been doing that for decades.

Among all magical girls alive today, Ianna was the oldest.

Despite looking the youngest.

It seemed the adjutant didn’t fully grasp Ianna’s reality.

They appeared to think of her as a much younger sibling.

That was the impression I got after living with them for a month.

The adjutant was obviously assigned by upper management to keep watch over me, but I didn’t dislike them.

I couldn’t say I fully trusted them either, but they were someone I could lean on comfortably.

“…Hey, here.”

I fully unwrapped the chocolate I’d been chewing and broke it in half, handing a piece to the adjutant.

“Director…?”

“I don’t think I can eat it all by myself…”

The adjutant accepted the chocolate with a nod, visibly touched.

Even if they were a watchdog, that was fine.

For now, I’d keep them by my side and observe.

They didn’t seem to hate magical girls like Hojoon did.

Gaining their favour wouldn’t hurt.

Even if they reported my every move to their superiors, there was nothing I could do about it.

My body already had a tracker implanted. They could know what I was doing, when, and where—everything.

Even my thoughts weren’t hidden.

“…It’s delicious.”

The adjutant and I continued to chew on our chocolate as we moved forward.

“I wonder if those two would like this too…”

I asked half-sincerely.

Alone in the darkness, Ianna longed for friends she could open up to.

It was a mild regression into childhood.

She craved love.

She wanted to reconnect with a once-close junior.

She hoped to befriend the new protagonist magical girl and hunt the Unknown Entities together.

Of course, hunting them was no longer a reachable goal.

As the bittersweet taste of chocolate spread in Ianna’s mouth, its stimulating intensity overtook her brain.

She began to perceive it as something more valuable. This chocolate she was chewing.

So… if she gave this chocolate to those two.

Maybe they’d open their hearts to her… she thought.

Because she was lonely.

Just once more, she wanted to make a precious friend.

That was Ianna’s wish.

Even with her mind frayed and her body practically dead…

Ianna longed for love.

“…Of course. I’m sure they’ll love it too.”

“Mm, thank you…”

The adjutant’s eyes went wide with admiration.

Their expression of pride made me a little uncomfortable.

I quickly looked away.

Creak.

The wheelchair rolled on as we wandered aimlessly through the bureau.

I wanted to get a better grasp of the layout.

In other words, to find an escape route… just in case.

“Shall we return to your room now?”

“No… I want to go to the lounge…”

“You’re unusually lively today.”

“…I-I’m in a good mood.”

Normally, Ianna didn’t wander around the bureau like this.

She only visited a few places.

Within the bureau, Ianna was granted considerable freedom.

Except for a few restricted facilities, she could go almost anywhere.

Perhaps it was guilt for turning their one-time protector into a living corpse.

Well, I didn’t know the reason.

Nor did I need to.

Click click.

Eventually, tired from wandering, I headed back to my room.

“You’ve returned, Director.”

“…Hojoon?”

I found myself face to face with Hojoon, emerging from my room.

Behind him stood doctors in surgical attire.

That’s when I realized—

Something was terribly wrong.