episode_0058

The weakness of the opponent was simpler than expected.

The eyes were split into two like a fish, the head was in a shape where it was hard to tell where the mouth was, but spitting out saliva always had a single direction.

There were beings wielding terrifying close-range weapons from both sides, beings shooting lasers from a bit of a distance, and occasionally a large cluster of magic flying in between.

Even far away, Delphinium was waiting with a large cluster of magic above her head.

“Thud!”

Rose punched the monster’s face head-on. The monster spat saliva towards that hand, but Rose’s circuit was already swiftly moving in sync with Hayoon’s magic.

The gauntlet was thickly coated with magic.

It wasn’t visible, but it was evident that before the fist even touched, it was crushed and evaporated.

Even though it sometimes sprayed saliva like a misting gun, there was no use.

Rose’s fist was fast. Instead of simply hitting with force, she struck with several punches in the blink of an eye.

And where that fist and gauntlet passed, there was a small gust of wind.

A gust of magic.

The magic that could pierce through a person’s limbs and block even bullets caused the misting particles to be useless.

It was a terrifying sight. Did I fight against something like that before? Honestly, it was somewhat impressive. The me back then didn’t have the combat suit like now.

But the monster couldn’t do anything.

Even if it managed to dodge from the front, the Delphinium’s cluster of magic would soon come flying.

The reason why that cluster didn’t fly was very simple. It was because it was about to entangle a comrade.

And it was a warning in itself.

Even if you tried to escape, you would lose consciousness if you were hit by that cluster.

Well, they wouldn’t kill you, though.

The monster extended its arms and legs, creating a spider-like—or perhaps a crab-like form, but those extended legs were cut off by Hayoon’s sword.

Perhaps because of the experience of facing several monsters before, I wasn’t too worried about facing one more, or—maybe it was just because I was fighting alongside her.

Hayoon’s face was quite bright.

And the pink magic emanating from the staff was bright as well.

“….”

Strangely, I didn’t like that.

As I frowned, the monster’s hand flew towards me.

Boom.

But I wouldn’t go down easily. If a way to dispel appeared, the next thing to do would be to beat it up.

“Grrrr!”

Both arms of the monster were severed simultaneously. One was cut off, the other was torn off.

The monster’s body fell to the ground with a thud.

Perhaps in a last-ditch effort, its head turned towards Rose and spat out saliva—

But Rose grabbed its face with the gauntlet.

Sizzle.

The sound of the gauntlet’s surface melting could be heard, but Rose didn’t seem to care much. Maybe because it was a glove?

If you look closely, it seems like there is a slight gap between the surface of the gauntlet and the monster’s skin. It may not be able to be maintained for long, but at least for a moment, it seemed to be in a shape where it could grab and not hurt the hand.

… It’s different from me.

I had some doubts.

My body can also hold magic. I can block most attacks quite easily. In fact, thanks to that, I was able to protect myself several times.

However, it was still difficult for me to wear such things on my body. Even though weapons have magic imbued in them, they cannot protect the body to a certain extent. Even though the generator inside is running so fiercely.

Is it because I exhaust all my propulsion power?

Or is it because the type of energy I use is different?

Maybe it’s because I’m just a half-baked magical girl.

With her right hand holding the monster’s head, Rose clenched her left fist tightly.

And she struck the monster’s head.

It was a very intense gesture considering that she was not trying to kill it, but it was inevitable. The monster would continue to rampage until it regained its senses.

You could call it a bio-circuit.

Even though the mechanism of luminescence has not been precisely elucidated, it is presumed to be related to human emotions, given that such events only occur on Earth.

So, the only things I can do are either sever all its limbs to render it completely immobile, or knock it out by striking its head.

In this era, if there are exceptional healers, they can easily restore broken arms and legs. The reason I was able to go to school the next day even with broken bones lies there. But cutting off arms and legs is a different matter altogether.

A little… that’s fine. Even if bones break.

After receiving a shock to the head, the monster’s limbs drooped.

“….”

Rose gazed at its face for a moment, then slowly laid it on the ground.

Even though it felt like something was melting on the ground, at least it didn’t penetrate deep inside.

“….Okay.”

After murmuring like that, Rose lifted her head.

And she looked at me.

No, it wasn’t just Rose. All the magical girls were looking at me.

Hmm.

In the end, it seems like I’ve been taken away. Although it may seem like we cooperated with each other, it was actually all six of them rushing at me together and subduing me.

Moreover, the current situation… seems to be quite dangerous for me.

“Let’s start retreating slowly,” James said.

“I’ve shown them what I wanted to show. The fact that magical girls came in the middle of the fight means they must have seen your actions as dangerous over there.”

I nodded at James’s words and cautiously took a step back.

“Wait!”

When I was about to create a black hole, Hayoon hurriedly reached out her hand and shouted.

“Just a moment… just a moment.”

I paused as she said.

It’s not a rational decision. I remember being shot a little late last time.

I heard people walking behind me. It didn’t seem like the police were moving, but it sounded like a few magical girls were walking a bit apart.

Iris, Delphinium, Dahlia.

All three of them are magical girls specialized in long-range attacks. If they were targeting me, they might attack when I try to escape.

I don’t know what they could do to me if I escape far away through the black hole.

Come to think of it, Delphinium’s magic didn’t reach me in the end. So it must still be floating in the sky.

“Hmm.”

Seeing the situation, James made an interesting sound as if he found it intriguing.

Why does he find it amusing that I’m in a situation where I have to fight with the kids again? Just being monotonous.

If I have time, I should find a skewered meat recipe and paste it inside the tent. Skewer from the anus to the mouth and roast it, maybe?

“I… I know you don’t trust me,” Hayoon said.

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

Of course, I can’t fully trust them. Even though there is still a part of me that believes in Ha-yoon deep down, trusting the magical girls completely in this situation would just be foolish.

While Ha-yoon herself may not intend to harm me, the thoughts of the other four magical girls surrounding me, along with the numerous police officers, are likely different.

Civil servants are people who act according to orders. I understand that. They have to do what they’re told from above.

But it’s inevitable to feel angry when you’re the one being targeted. I don’t have any intention of directly assaulting the police, but I wish they could at least understand if I break a few pieces of equipment.

I understood it rationally, so naturally, they should understand it rationally too, right?

“I, up until now…”

Ha-yoon spoke, then bit her lip.

And she looked at me with a pained expression.

“Up until now?”

I asked, trying to maintain a sense of calm.

“…”

Ha-yoon couldn’t bring herself to continue speaking.

I waited for a moment, then created a small hole behind me.

Dust and dirt scattered messily on the ground, swirling around the hole I created. The area behind me brightened a bit. It was because the black hole was absorbing the light.

“Ji-eun, just wait…!”

Ha-yoon shouted.

“Wait for what, exactly?”

I asked.

Waiting here will only result in reinforcements from the other side. I’m already targeted by the three largest factions in this country.

No, perhaps not just in this country, but governments all over the world might be watching me. It’s entirely possible if they think something similar could happen in their own country.

“There’s nothing good waiting for me here if I just stay put.”

I didn’t want to say harsh words.

But those words kept flowing out of my mouth.

It wasn’t just being controlled by my emotions.

In the end, that’s what I was thinking.

Even though I kept holding back.

Since the despair circuit overflowed once, it was difficult for me to control my emotions.

No, perhaps it’s because I don’t need to do that anymore. There’s no point in hiding myself more in front of others. I’m already broken. I can’t go back to how things were, so maybe I should just live like this.

Even if it’s shameful, I didn’t really care anymore.

It’s not like caring will change anything.

In fact, being inside the stuffy school felt more relieved than being in the tent, looking up at the ceiling, lying in the narrow tent. It felt incredibly miserable. I had nothing when I came to this different world.

But still, that was all I had.

Every semester, I had nothing, and I didn’t need to study like crazy from the beginning just to compete with the rich kids. I didn’t need to worry about revealing that I lived in an orphanage to others, and I didn’t need to fret when Ha-yoon expressed a desire to visit where I lived.

The present seemed bleak, and the future seemed hopeless, but that was all. In fact, I had never forgotten that feeling since coming to this world.

And because I was someone who only knew how to have such miserable thoughts, the things I had never spoken of before slowly accumulated deep within my heart.

They would burst out as soon as I opened my mouth.

I didn’t like it. This situation. Ha-yoon trying to say something to me. And me too.

Whatever Ha-yoon says, I will definitely resist.

But in the end, no matter what she says, I will be convinced by Ha-yoon’s words.

I hated all of it.

“…Are you going to ask to go back?”

But why am I asking this, carefully choosing my words and reasons?

In the end, maybe it’s because I’m the kind of person who can’t completely break free from Ha Yoon—or rather, doesn’t want to break free.

There’s no difference between me and the useless trash wandering around nearby.

If Ha Yoon wasn’t a hero, would I have been by her side?

Would I have continued to endure despite facing so much opposition?

I wanted to believe the answer was no.

So, as if denying that statement, I spoke harshly again.

“Now you want to go back to school? Or back to that orphanage?”

There’s no point in going to school. It’s just filled with people who hate me. At best, Ha Yoon might be the only one who likes me there, but I don’t want to go back to such a place.

The orphanage… in a different sense, I hate it. It’s scary. I was afraid of what the people there would think of me.

Even if the rest of the world hates me, I hope at least the people there, the ones I spent my youth with—

I hope they don’t hate me or fear me like Ji Hye did.

Even though I put myself in such a situation, I was still thinking that way.

“It’s too late.”

I whispered.

“You’ve come too far.”

Too far to go back.

Ha Yoon’s expression faltered at my words.

A look that seemed like she could cry any moment.

I’ve seen that look before.

Back then, it was the opposite.

Whenever the world hurt Ha Yoon, I was there to comfort her.

Sometimes with completely irrelevant nonsense. Sometimes by forcing something sweet into her mouth.

Now I’ve become one of those people.

I feel terrible.

The sound of the wind grew louder.

The circuit vibrated more intensely. Percentages, I stopped caring about them at some point. Whether it’s a hundred percent or a few percent, at some point, I stopped caring and called forth the black hole without a care.

That meant my circuit had been running at over a hundred percent for some time now.

I’m still in despair.

No matter how I feel, good or bad, deep inside my chest, it’s always there.

While Ha Yoon finds hope whenever she looks at me.

“So—”

“…No!”

I took a step back, and Ha Yoon shouted with all her might.

Even in the swirling windstorm, Ha Yoon was slowly walking towards me.

“It’s not like that!”

Ha Yoon shouted.

Tears were streaming down her face. Her face was completely broken now.

Have I ever seen Ha Yoon cry like this before?

I was the one who caused this mess, yet I was the one who couldn’t take a step forward.

“I’m not asking you to come back. I won’t even ask you to come closer.”

Ha Yoon said.

“I know everything that has happened so far has been too… too much. Just apologizing won’t be enough for forgiveness.”

“…”

This time, it was me who couldn’t continue the conversation.

“So… so, just let me have one thing.”

“One thing.”

“Yeah, just one thing.”

I bit my lip.

I didn’t agree.

At least, not verbally.

But my feet didn’t move. My head, my chest were screaming to move, but the deepest part of my soul was pleading not to. It’s like if I were to say my ankles were being held down.

Ha Yoon had come so close that we were only a few steps apart.

How long had I been waiting for this moment?

Saying I would leave, thinking she shouldn’t come close.

And yet—

“…”

A certain expression crossed Ha Yoon’s face.

That expression could be described as ‘determined.’

And it was around that time that I realized I had been thinking wrong.

I tried to turn my body.

My feet moved quickly.

But Ha-yoon was faster. Perhaps she had been thinking about fighting with me since we arrived here, from the moment we started fighting together.

That’s why I could hold onto hope throughout the fight.

Ha-yoon grabbed me tightly.

She wrapped her arms around my waist from behind.

But she didn’t stop me from leaving.

“It’s not like that,” Ha-yoon shouted at me a little while ago.

A whisper from Ha-yoon reached my ear.

The crying had completely disappeared, and it was a voice that was not as determined as the one I saw a while ago, but slightly softer, just like Ha-yoon’s ordinary voice that I had heard many times before.

Her arms wrapped around my waist with strength. It was gentle but firm. Ha-yoon’s body against my back was soft.

And warm.

How long has it been…

“Let me, let’s go together.”

Ha-yoon whispered softly like that.

So that others couldn’t hear, just like we always did. Whispering quietly while sticking close to each other so that other classmates couldn’t hear.

…

It’s cheating.

Cheating.

Holding on like this. Pushing my body against hers.

Whispering in my ear.

For me, who had been separated for so long, it was all just cheating.

Is Ha-yoon doing this on purpose?

Or is she just acting the same as usual?

I don’t know.

If it’s the latter, then Ha-yoon’s existence for me would just mean cheating.

Come on, that’s too much.

That’s too much…

Really…

*

For a moment, the black hole rose up intensely as if it would swallow everything nearby.

Absorbing the light around it, even the small things on the ground.

The first beings to be sucked into it were the nearby Black Magic Girl and Blosum.

Blosum threw herself at the Black Magic Girl, but was it because she couldn’t match the speed?

Or because she couldn’t withstand the strong force of the black hole?

She disappeared into it.

The other magic girls who were surrounding the Black Magic Girl also did the same.

As if trying to rescue the leader who had entered inside, they all jumped into the black hole.

After the light of all the girls disappeared.

The black hole, which had emerged with a strong presence, disappeared without a trace as if it had never been there from the beginning.

All that was left were the intense traces of battle.

And the police officers surrounding the area.

“….”

For a while, the many people there couldn’t make a sound.

“…Shit.”

It was only after several tens of seconds that someone muttered that alone.

Although there was no echoing response to that word for a while—

Many people silently agreed with that word.

That something had gone terribly wrong.