I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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“…….”

At my question, the officer hesitated for a moment without giving any answer.

Was he a bit scared?

“…If I tell you where he is, do you all actually plan to rescue him?”

“Of course—wait, what?”

I was about to reply when I suddenly stopped.

The title ‘that person’ wasn’t all that strange. In fact, among polite characters, there are those who use honorifics regardless of who they’re addressing.

But somehow, the atmosphere of that question felt off.

“I asked if you would rescue him.”

“Well, of course we would.”

I stared at James intently.

“Why does it feel like you’re asking politely?”

“…I assume you’ve picked up on at least something.”

“Picked up on what?”

“That day, didn’t you say right in front of me that we’re keeping him alive since we can’t kill him?”

So it was that day.

There was a reason I was able to throw such a tantrum even after seeing Pang-pang.

“What if that condition changed a bit?”

“How has it changed?”

I spoke while resting my chin on the armrest of my chair.

“……”

James pondered for a moment before he carefully opened his mouth again. His voice was oddly polite.

“In order to talk about that, you need to know at least some details to understand.”

I stared at James and said,

“Then summarize it for me.”

“There are factions within the company.”

James quickly explained in response to my answer.

“And I’m technically under the chairman of the company.”

“And?”

“Pang-pang is the chairman’s granddaughter.”

For a moment, the room fell overwhelmingly silent.

Even Cherry, who was nearby James, stared at him with her mouth agape.

“Pang-pang left home a few years ago. Because she disappeared at such a young age, we actually suspected for a while that she was abducted by a rival company, or perhaps that she was kidnapped for ransom instead.”

“But she was here on Earth?”

“She was a clever person even from childhood.”

The reason she ran away might be best heard from Pang-pang herself… but I think I could guess.

Even after running away, Pang-pang lived like this. That means she truly meant to leave home for good, wanting to be independent forever.

…It’s a bit of a cliché that even in wealthy households, there are things that happen inside that they dislike…

“So?”

“So, now, we can’t ascertain Pang-pang’s safety… that explosion was definitely the work of opposing factions within the company.”

I continued to stare at James.

I wasn’t going to say something like, ‘It doesn’t seem like he’s lying.’ I’m not confident I can perfectly read the expression of a well-trained businessman.

Besides, he’s an alien.

Instead, I looked at Cherry.

Cherry, who had turned her gaze from James to me, shook her head and said,

“We had no information about this at all… but at the same time, we can’t say it was entirely fabricated. Until now, there hasn’t been anyone with such access to insider info at the company.”

“I see.”

I nodded.

To be honest, deep down, I felt a bubbling anger rising again.

It wasn’t anger that Pang-pang didn’t tell me. Everyone has things they want to hide.

Pang-pang, who had been so close to me, probably didn’t want to mention that she was the chairman’s granddaughter. I’m always in conflict with that company.

“What was the reason behind Pang-pang fighting so desperately on that last mission?”

I still remember.

Her helmet breaking, and the panicked look she wore as she looked at me.

Pang-pang, who was doing her best to escape.

Why go that far?

If she had just taken off her helmet and come to me at that moment, asking to stop the fight…

“…In the end, she set a condition.”

The officer stated calmly.

“Pang-pang wanted to be able to live normally with you, just like she had escaped from our company.”

“So…”

“So, yes, she set the condition. That after succeeding in that mission, we would never approach or seek her again.”

Of course, it’s uncertain whether that condition would genuinely be fulfilled or not. Corporate people are notoriously known for not keeping their promises.

Though in this case, it isn’t about money.

“Ji-eun…”

Ha-yoon, who had been listening to the conversation from the side, called me.

I’m not even sure what my expression was. To be honest, I don’t want to know.

What if, just what if…

If Pang-pang truly came clean and asked for my forgiveness, would I have forgiven her?

…

Forgiving her or not doesn’t matter. I already know why she made that choice.

It must have been to survive; of course. Fighting from the lowest position without revealing her face to the company was probably for that very reason.

Of course, that too could all be an act.

Pang-pang, who looked so genuine in front of me, might have just been smiling to extract my personal information, and James giving me that video might have just been part of his act to convince me.

But, so what?

That’s something I can’t know unless I hear it from her. That’s all that matters.

If it’s not the truth, I can just cut off my interests. Sure, it would hurt. It might linger in my mind for a while and annoy me.

But if it is the truth…

Then it’s not about whether I could forgive or not. I would just accept it.

So, uh, the conclusion is this:

I’m going to save Pang-pang.

My left hand trembled a bit. Looking down, the circuit was powerfully whirring.

It’s definitely a situation closer to despair than hope.

I don’t know whether Pang-pang is safe or what she might be thinking, but the circuit on my wrist was still whirring away vigorously.

And yet, maybe I can save her. At least I’ve caught someone who knows her whereabouts.

The fact that I don’t know how Pang-pang will respond also means I might hear the reply I want.

I’m starting to think I could understand the mindset of a magical girl at last.

*

‘James’ is probably just a randomly picked name, like Cherry. To us, the words spoken by a Squeaky Adult don’t go beyond ‘squeaky.’ We can’t imitate that pronunciation, either.

Regardless of the reason, that officer’s name is James. So we decided to just call him that as he suggested.

“It’s funny to think you care about Pang-pang this much when you’re headed for prison anyway.”

“……”

“Are you refusing to answer? Well, whatever.”

I let out a long sigh.

At least I knew Pang-pang’s location.

The problem was, it wasn’t on Earth.

The location was near Jupiter.

With current Earth tech, there’s no way to send someone there. Not to mention, getting a spaceship…

“The Federation is bound to find out.”

Cherry replied.

Although Cherry is also an officer of the Federation, it seems like individual loyalty varies greatly since the Federation is a group spread across the entire galaxy.

Cherry’s goal is simply to help us achieve independence technologically from Earth. If it were just a civilian group, they wouldn’t be so actively cooperating; that’s why she’s held onto such information.

“Is it something that shouldn’t be known?”

“What’s inside there is technology the Federation has been unable to complete. Even I don’t know exactly what’s in there.”

“So, if the Federation takes that place over… it means they could very well use it against Earth.”

The Squeaky Adult answered my question.

James remained expressionless, but Cherry lowered her head, looking a bit apologetic.

Thinking back, Cherry really worked hard in front of us. She showed clear expressions while speaking, made large gestures, and infused emotion into her voice.

She’s considerate of us. The difference in demeanor compared to James is absolutely pronounced.

“Just because it’s the Federation doesn’t mean there are only good people.”

I wouldn’t find it strange at all if evil people outnumbered the others.

“So, it’s important that Pang-pang is safe.”

James spoke passionately.

“The best choice remains the chairman.”

“Or, we could just blow up the base entirely.”

I replied.

James remained silent and shut his mouth.

“I’ll try to get a spaceship as quickly as possible. I shouldn’t get caught by the Federation.”

In response to Cherry’s words, I could only nod for now.

Yeah. This is about all we can do right now.

“…You.”

I glared at James. He flinched slightly. It seems I really frightened him.

“If there’s even a single lie in what you said, I might not be able to continue being a magical girl.”

“…At least, I haven’t told a single lie here, so you can rest easy.”

“Fix that tone.”

I said.

“Just the idea that you tried to attach a fake family to me is making me want to press you hard with my hands.”

James fell silent again.

Ha-yoon and Ji-hye placed their hands on my arm.

With that warmth, I felt a bit better.

 

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