READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 315
“Hey, Ji-hye.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“Are you asking if I’m okay? I’m fine!”
At my words, Ji-hye straightened her shoulders and lifted her head.
“Look, I’m a weapon and a shield… Nah, I guess since I’m a shield, I’m not really a weapon? Anyway, there’s no reason for me to get hurt at all, right?”
“I know that.”
Thank goodness. My biggest worry was that Ji-hye would get seriously hurt since I couldn’t evacuate her in that situation.
Plus, going forward, it’s comforting to know that I might have a little less to worry about.
However, that’s not what I meant to say.
“You missed school today.”
Even if we leave now… Hmm, I think we could make it.
Even if it’ll be after lunch, we’d only arrive after more than half the study time is gone.
Unlike me, other Magical Girls have skipped school like this several times already.
Back when the Noir Corporation and the Magical Girls first started clashing, they inadvertently stirred up chaos at any given moment. It seems they only started being cautious after citizens’ complaints accumulated, receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of grievances.
Aside from the noise, getting stuck in the morning subway or a bus unable to move is probably about as annoying as it gets.
Sure, the time the combatants of the company wreaked havoc has been pushed back, but the time for the aliens to show up hasn’t changed.
Moreover, with aliens, it’s not a situation the Magical Girls can ignore. Sometimes they have to leave school early or skip entirely to deal with an alien that suddenly shows up.
Fortunately, up until now, we haven’t faced major setbacks because of it. Although perfect attendance isn’t achievable, it’s treated as an ‘excused absence,’ and in some ways, it’s even considered a kind of community service, which translates to more favorable treatment.
This is only manageable because I, Ha-yoon, and other Magical Girls attend the same school. That school is already equipped to handle such situations.
However, that’s not the case for Ji-hye. She hasn’t been a Magical Girl until now. I don’t know how the news of her becoming a Magical Girl has been received, but it’s likely that the teachers and staff at her school have no clue at all.
“Yeah, well… one day should be fine, right?”
“When did you start saying stuff like that?”
Ji-hye is a model student.
She cut her hair short, and although she didn’t care much about keeping it neat and let it stick out a little, her grades are still good. She studies hard and has never missed a day of school.
“I was surprised when you said you’d become a Magical Girl. You seemed uninterested in that kind of stuff.”
The moment I became aware of the Noir Corporation, I knew Ha-yoon would also become a Magical Girl.
Naturally, I secretly burned with jealousy, but on the outside, I did my best to act like I didn’t care.
“But now, you’re fighting while wearing the boldest outfit among the Magical Girls.”
“…”
At this point, I gave up trying to explain that it wasn’t my intention. She never listens anyway.
“Are you going to keep being a Magical Girl?”
I asked a bit cautiously.
“…Is that not okay?”
Ji-hye asked back just as carefully.
I looked at her expression.
What if she got swept up in the situation and didn’t want to continue?
Everyone can admire being a Magical Girl. But the reality of actually becoming one is a completely different story.
Today, Ji-hye wasn’t a combatant either, and she witnessed an alien. Moreover, shortly thereafter at the place we went, people were dying.
After seeing something like that, would she still want to be a Magical Girl? Today was a first for me too.
“If you really want to, I can’t stop you.”
“So… does that mean it can’t be helped?”
“No, it’s not that it can’t be helped. To be honest, I’d prefer it if my friends were working alongside me.”
That’s how I replied.
Indeed.
Just as I see being a Magical Girl as my dream and hope, others may think the same way.
Telling her not to do it just because it’s my opinion would be no different than the words my foster mother used to say. Ignoring my will and just requesting her not to do it because they’re worried.
“…”
“Are you worried?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah.”
It suddenly occurred to me that the person probably was Ji-hye’s mom.
I couldn’t tell how Ji-hye would take that fact. Sure, she’s much more mentally stable than I am, so she might just shrug it off like it’s whatever.
…
No, maybe not.
I’ve spent my whole life in an orphanage.
So, I know how much those kids wait for their parents.
There’s absolutely no way it could mean nothing to her.
“The officer we caught.”
I casually changed the subject.
“I’m just a bit uncertain about what to ask first when he wakes up.”
I figured the Noir Corporation might soon inquire about that officer, but there hadn’t been any signs of it yet.
Whether he was abandoned or if their own research facility exploding left them disoriented, it’s all something we’ll find out once he wakes up.
The most crucial part, I thought, would be to ask how Pang-pang is doing and where she is.
*
“…”
“Are you planning to not say anything at all?”
I spoke to the black hamster in front of me.
I can’t do something like torture. Even if the government asked me to, I wouldn’t want to. I wouldn’t want to put others through it, either.
Maybe I’ve become too entrenched in the position of being a Magical Girl.
I wasn’t sure if this was a realistic or rational judgment, but there’s really no need to come out so violently from the start.
In the worst-case scenario, I could just make something up and toss it out there. Apparently, answers obtained through torture tend to lack credibility.
“From what I can see, your situation doesn’t seem too favorable either.”
There were others in the room, not just me and this guy.
Behind me stood other Magical Girls, and Cherry was sitting right next to the officer, glaring at him.
“What do you think the company will say when you go back? You were the highest-ranking guy there, right? You caused quite a scene. Think you can go back?”
As is the case with every major corporation, there are sinister rumors surrounding the Noir Corporation.
They bury anyone opposing their company or threaten them… Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if such things happened since they were the type to push people aside as hired hands in the past.
“… I’m being deceived.”
“Huh?”
“I’m saying I’m deceived.”
Suddenly, that hamster stated something, and I didn’t immediately understand what it meant.
Recognizing an alien isn’t an easy feat. For example, there are some that resemble ‘living beings’ like us, but there are also many aliens that just look like walking piles of rocks. Even if such aliens make a ‘sad face,’ it wouldn’t be easy to recognize them.
Even if they look like animals, you can still somewhat tell, but… even so, this squeaky adult alien from the Noir Corporation is hard to read in terms of expressions on a usual day.
You can tell when their emotions shine through vividly.
But with this officer, his face screamed frustration. I was taken aback.
“Deceived? About what?”
“I wasn’t supposed to go to the research facility.”
“…”
“So there was a plot…”
“Are you saying the company plotted something? That they deliberately caused an explosion?”
“…”
“Speak clearly.”
Is this officer just babbling nonsense? It could be an act. The fact that I noticed means his expression was exaggerated.
I glanced at Cherry, but she was just looking at him with a serious face.
“Which company, in the world, would spend astronomical amounts to blow up their own research facility?”
“Didn’t it actually explode?”
I asked, looking at the officer, who was making a contradictory statement.
“There was a different faction.”
“A different faction?”
“That’s right. For sure—!?”
I suddenly jumped up and walked over to Cherry’s table.
Then I grabbed the officer by the collar.
“What is this!?”
But my words froze as I turned the officer upside down. With his head hanging, I glared at him for a while.
“Ji-eun!?”
Cherry looked startled, but my eyes remained fixed on the officer.
“I’m going to give you a chance now. By ‘chance,’ I mean you’ll answer our questions. So, to make it a bit easier for you, it means you only need to respond to what we ask. Got that?”
The officer just stared at me, stiff and unmoving.
“I’m actually holding back here, you know? I don’t care about your background or what your connection is. I don’t give a damn about how the Noir Corporation works, nor do I care if your company keeps in touch with the government. If you came here thinking that matters, you might as well keep it to yourself.”
“…”
Maybe he felt the pressure of my grip slowly tightening, the officer nodded vigorously.
“Good.”
I placed the officer back down on the table and returned to my seat.
“Now, let’s start with this.”
I crossed my legs.
“Where is Pang-pang?”