I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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There’s no reason for us to move right now.

If we shift to another place and can’t hold this position, that would be a big problem in its own right.

In the end, we spent the day staring blankly until evening.

As for meals… we had them at that house.

Even when we tried to refuse, they insisted we couldn’t just leave, so we ended up sitting at their table and having quite an extravagant feast.

It wasn’t that it tasted bad, though.

Watching them try to connect with the children, making small talk, made me think maybe this was all a ploy to draw us in.

That girl got signatures from the others.

Everyone but me.

I wasn’t particularly disappointed. In fact, if they had asked for my signature, I might have felt worse about it. I probably would have hated not being able to refuse.

And as we spent our time in a daze until evening—

“…Hey.”

Suddenly, she spoke to me.

The girl who had apparently made a report. She didn’t talk to me much at school. It wasn’t just shyness; she had no problem chatting up Ha-yoon, laughing her head off right in front of her. Today, she was trying hard to get in the good graces of the other kids.

For the record, today was the first time she had ever approached me.

“…What?”

I pondered how to answer without sounding too friendly, while simultaneously not appearing too standoffish.

Keeping my reply brief would lessen the emotion behind it.

Or maybe I’d just come off as rude due to how short my response was?

“I want to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“How did you become friends with the other magical girls?”

“…Huh?”

I didn’t quite grasp the intent behind her question, so I turned my head and asked it back.

“…”

That question seemed genuine.

The girl stared silently at me, as if evaluating something.

Yeah, I get what you’re thinking.

Being a magical girl isn’t exactly a stable position. Sure, we get paid decently, and the job isn’t super hard, but if you ask how long we can keep doing this, that’s a different story.

A makeshift group formed by the delicate relationship between the Federation and the government.

And we were all young. That’s why we’re called “magical girls.” In other countries, not only magical girls but also adults operate under the title of heroes, but in our nation, magical girls are closer to idol status.

And even then, they’re all just idols made up of “girls.”

Things will probably change as we grow older. The relationship between the Federation and the government will eventually get sorted out.

So, I understand why they might look down on me to some extent. The others will likely still hold positions as they grow older, but since I’m from the orphanage, I’d just end up all alone with a little capital.

“Every time you talk, your story never seems to end. It’s fine for Ha-yoon, who’s always there, but you even manage to include the seniors and Iris in your tale. It feels like you’re trying to gauge their interest a bit.”

“…So?”

The girl just shrugged.

“I was just curious. From my perspective, you don’t seem to have a very pleasant personality.”

No, I think I’m actually pretty social at school.

The ones who dislike me are more likely the other way around. I simply respond normally when someone addresses me. I only ignored them because I felt some dismissiveness in their tone.

“So, what if I tell you?”

I don’t really know the answer in the first place. We just became friends somehow after talking and taking chances.

But I was oddly curious, so I asked like that.

“If you tell me, will we become friends?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

The girl said.

“It’ll be beneficial for you, too, right?”

“…Beneficial?”

“Yeah, beneficial. As you can see, we work pretty hard together. In fact, compared to supporting the research facilities, our foundation is way more stable than magical girls.”

Well, that might be true. Magical girls are flashy and thus famous, but if you ask whether they play a crucial role for the Federation, I have some doubts.

A company can exist legally, so they can buy land and build factories or whatever. The government would also likely welcome job creation. If you ask for money, the conversation might change, but Noir Corporation usually executes everything using their own funds.

On the other hand, the Federation isn’t fully in league with the government yet. Obviously, it’s impossible to buy land and construct a huge research complex. That’s why they borrow land from collaborators to build various facilities and conduct research.

I’ve heard they even seem to be gathering abandoned facilities.

So, delegating such an important facility is proof that they can truly be trusted, regardless of their nature.

If the magical girls vanish, their status would remain secure.

“If you’re so impressive in that way, what’s the point of getting close to magical girls?”

I asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

…Except for me, all the magical girls have parents involved with the Federation, coming from wealth.

And they can also satisfy their personal vanity. Knowing celebrities is likely more socially acceptable than saying your uncle owns a big company.

“…Looks like you don’t want to tell me.”

The girl said.

“I could tell you, but I don’t know if you can do it.”

I said, almost taunting.

I could see how there might be calculated reasons to befriend them. But I didn’t like the idea of them thinking that was the only reason I got close to those girls.

They think I became friends with the magical girls because I dreamed of becoming a Cinderella—that’s what I believe.

The girl stared at me intently, as if daring me to say it.

“I fought.”

“What?”

“I said I fought. Hard.”

“…”

“I fought and fought and fought… Well, I kept fighting until we became friends. There were no conditions. We just clicked naturally.”

It’s pretty much like how you make friends at school.

Just sitting next to each other in class, chatting with friends of friends. After hitting and pushing a few times.

I don’t really know why we became friends, but somehow, we just vibed together and became a team.

That’s what I think ‘friendship’ is.

Friends you have just because they have money, or friends because their parents are successful… Unfortunately, I just lived an ordinary life in my past. I never even made friends like that, so I have no prior experience of those conditions.

That was all I knew to share.

“…Ha.”

The girl said after hearing my story.

“Are you saying it was just good luck?”

“That’s a nice way to put it.”

I smiled as I replied.

“Yep. It was good luck.”

Really, it was good luck.

I still don’t fully understand what the person who brought me into this world was thinking, but at least I was lucky to have met Ha-yoon.

It was good luck that Ha-yoon asked me to be like a magical girl and to become close with the other magical girls.

All pure luck.

What other way is there to express that?

“…”

The girl looked as if she wasted her time, but—

Before either of us could throw any more words at one another, my communicator went off at my waist.

“Uh, what’s going on—”

[Ji-eun, it’s a big deal!]

The voice on the communicator was Cherry’s.

“A big deal?”

[Yes, something big happened at your house!]

I didn’t quite grasp it right away, hearing that for the first time.

Our house?

Of course, she must have been referring to the orphanage, but what could suddenly happen there?

I left the girl and dashed towards the others while shouting.

“Why? What’s going on?”

[An alien, an alien…!]

“An alien?”

[And Noir Corporation is involved! The combatants are trying to stop the alien!]

“What does that mean?”

Before I could say anything more, I ran into the other magical girls in the yard.

“Ji-eun!”

Ha-yoon shouted.

Her face was pale.

Without waiting for someone to say anything first, we moved immediately.

“Wait!”

The girl who had just spoken rushed over as well.

“If you leave like this, what will happen here?!”

“Something important came up right now!”

I replied.

That wasn’t a lie.

The aliens only target magical girls.

So we had to go.

In fact, we had already been here for a few hours. There was no sign of the combatants arriving.

Moreover, if we prioritize a more urgent matter, it’s a matter of human lives on the line, and above all, the combatants were already out there.

…I can’t comprehend why that is.

I guess I’ll find out when we get there.

Thinking that way, we flew toward the orphanage without looking back.

*

It didn’t take long. We were operating in Ha-yoon’s neighborhood.

In terms of distance, it wouldn’t even take thirty minutes walking, and flying like this, it was obviously just a matter of minutes.

And what caught my eye was—an alien demolishing a building.

And very strangely, combatants doing what they were supposed to do.

They were combatants, but they weren’t fighting. If a magical girl and a combatant started fighting, it’d probably end up in shambles in an instant.

But still, they were fiercely helping the students and teachers to run away.

My heart raced like mad.

I tried to search for Ji-hye as best as I could.

“Ji-eun!”

I heard Ji-hye’s voice. In the distance, she was waving her hand with the children.

I exhaled small breaths.

At least, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.

 

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