I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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Ji-hye, sending Ji-eun off, braced herself for a myriad of unpleasant remarks.

However, the people who had brought Ji-hye didn’t say much at all, surprisingly.

Maybe they thought from the beginning that Ji-hye wouldn’t be able to keep Ji-eun captive.

If that was the case, it was a bit irritating.

“You don’t need to take me back.”

Ji-hye said to someone who looked like they worked for the government and was willing to give her a ride back.

She didn’t think they’d pull any tricks in such a short time.

Not that they planned to abduct Ji-hye outright to use her as a hostage or anything…

Actually, by arranging this meeting with Ji-eun today, it was as if she was already threatening Ji-eun.

It was like telling Ji-hye that something could happen to her.

In that situation, if Ji-eun came back because of Ji-hye, she was sure she’d feel guilty every time she saw Ji-eun.

“…….”

No, she was already feeling guilty.

Even in such a scenario, Ji-hye couldn’t do anything for Ji-eun, who was practically her sister after spending so much time together.

At best, she could only hand over some hastily bought items from the convenience store.

So, wouldn’t it be best if she at least held her ankle to keep her from going too far?

After leaving the building and walking a bit, she came to a main street. She didn’t know where it was, but there’s no way it was outside of Seoul. It wasn’t like they had driven that far.

Using her phone to find directions, she went back to the orphanage.

Returning to the orphanage, she found a teacher with a worried expression on her face.

After reassuring her that everything was fine, Ji-hye returned to her room.

The messy room had been tidied up properly. Unfortunately, the broken machines and Ji-eun’s CDs couldn’t be restored. Although she wanted to either fix them or buy new ones with her allowance, regrettably, Ji-hye didn’t have that much money.

She merely rearranged what was left to make it look somewhat presentable.

Ji-hye, staring at her desk for a while, pulled out a chair and slowly sat on it.

How had it come to this?

Ji-eun just wanted to live a normal life. To go to a school and make friends, it seemed like she needed quite a bit of money.

Thinking back, there was so much she didn’t know about Ji-eun, despite having lived together for so long.

Once, they had that kind of conversation.

“Are we sisters?”

Ji-hye, lying on the floor like usual, had thrown out that question not long after entering middle school.

It was around the time she just started making friends and began to hear complaints or subtle pride about families.

She’d heard those kinds of stories in elementary school too, but maybe because she was entering puberty, such discussions had increased, and Ji-hye, who shared similar feelings, couldn’t help but think about it.

“Yeah? Right?”

It had been a serious question she posed after contemplating, but Ji-eun simply replied like it was nothing.

Ji-hye rose from her seat, staring intently at Ji-eun.

Ji-eun was busy sitting at her desk doing homework, so she didn’t notice Ji-hye sitting up.

“Do you really think so?”

“I mean, we’ve been living in the same room for years. It’s not weird to say we’re sisters, right? Besides, our names are similar.”

As expected, Ji-eun’s response held no special emotion, as if thinking that was perfectly natural.

“While we don’t call each other sister or little sister, isn’t it wrong for anyone to say otherwise?”

“…….”

Upon pondering, Ji-hye realized that was indeed true.

No one knew Ji-eun as well as Ji-hye did in all the years she had lived up until then. It wasn’t that she knew everything about that girl, but at least Ji-hye knew how Ji-eun acted in this house.

Though it was called an orphanage, they sometimes referred to it as “home.”

So, in a way, the two could be considered family.

What Ji-hye was contemplating was something Ji-eun seemed to accept as a matter of course.

Of course, that alone didn’t make Ji-hye think any less of Ji-eun.

Even before that conversation, the bond they had built during their not-so-long life together had been the deepest one they could have established with each other.

So, she didn’t want to lose it.

If Ji-hye were to lose Ji-eun, she would lose her childhood companion.

It would be the disappearance of the only person in the world who thought of Ji-hye as family without a second thought.

That terrified Ji-hye.

But that didn’t mean she could impose what she wanted on her “family.” She had been raised that way.

She didn’t know how the ones with real blood relations lived. There were definitely people who betrayed their families and individuals who resorted to domestic violence out there.

The family Ji-hye wanted wasn’t anything like that.

It was someone who cared for her. Just their existence would provide a sense of reassurance.

Through all this time spent with Ji-eun, Ji-hye had felt that kind of emotion. Though she didn’t show it out loud, she could truly feel Ji-eun considered her a sister through Ji-eun’s usual words and actions.

If the situations were reversed, Ji-eun would surely help Ji-hye without question.

So, Ji-hye wanted to be such a person too.

Someone who could say “I’m your family” without any change of expression, no matter the circumstance.

Could that really be called family if it forced someone to do things just because they had wishes?

Ji-hye touched the desk, then got up again.

Spreading a blanket on the floor, Ji-hye lay down.

Usually, Ji-eun would have been right beside her.

On nights when Ji-eun didn’t come home late, the two would talk about various things for quite some time before falling asleep.

“…….”

Ji-hye struggled to sleep for a while, but eventually, she managed to drift off.

It seemed it would take a long time to get used to sleeping alone.

Whether she could even get used to it was another question altogether.

*

The next day.

Ji-hye went to school with the same appearance as usual.

But the atmosphere around her was distinctly different from usual.

In fact, ever since the fact that Ji-eun was such a person had been revealed on TV, the ambiance around her had never felt normal, but today was a different kind.

Just a little while ago, when other kids talked about Ji-eun in front of Ji-hye, the vibe was almost no different than looking at an “awful criminal.”

Ji-hye had never mentioned to the school kids that she lived in the same place as Ji-eun.

However, she had shared that she lived in an orphanage. Ji-hye never thought of that as something to be ashamed of.

And perhaps because she had talked about that, though she had no idea how it leaked, the kids knew Ji-hye lived in an orphanage just like Ji-eun.

Of course, no child seemed to know that Ji-hye and Ji-eun were close.

Most kids merely thought Ji-hye and Ji-eun were “from the same orphanage.”

Perhaps because of that, when Ji-eun appeared on the news for the first time, those “friends” could treat Ji-eun as gossip.

Ji-hye thought it was something unavoidable. After all, she had shared stories about celebrities on the news with her friends.

Wasn’t it related to the magical girl topic? It was only natural for them to take an interest.

Just a few years ago, those beings were only seen in comics but suddenly existed in real life, so it would be strange for anyone not to be interested.

Besides, magical girls weren’t just military-like beings. They appeared in a fabulous outfit, fighting enemies with magic, completely resembling something out of a comic.

Not that she was thrilled about that fact, though.

…Well, it’s Ji-eun, after all. Others might think Ji-hye was hypocritical for feeling this way, but some things were just out of her control.

Hearing ill remarks about family didn’t feel good.

“Did you see that news yesterday?”

A kid sitting next to Ji-hye asked.

“The sixth magical girl.”

“……Yeah.”

She had watched the news.

Since then, Ji-hye had been keeping an eye on any articles related to Ji-eun. Though it hadn’t been particularly pleasant, she wanted to know what was going on.

“That person, is that the Ji-eun we’ve been talking about? Have people been getting it wrong all this time?”

The child talking was someone who, just not long ago, had thought of Ji-eun as a terrorist.

Ji-hye wasn’t sure if the other person thought Ji-eun was just someone from the same orphanage, but they had the audacity to say, “You must have been frightened.”

All thanks to the news.

Kids in Ji-eun’s class had casually claimed, “I knew it,” and “There was always the possibility.”

Clearly, those must have been the kids who didn’t get along with Ji-eun.

It wasn’t hard to imagine. Ji-eun often complained about kids trying to take advantage of her friend Ha-yoon.

Helping Ha-yoon could not endear her to those types at all.

“That’s right, they were mistaken.”

Ji-hye replied.

At least now, she could say it with certainty.

“Ji-eun wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Uh, uh, right…?”

The child was taken aback by Ji-hye’s reply.

Ji-hye understood how her own demeanor might appear right now.

She must look like a child making a remarkably hypocritical statement. After all, she had never dared to contradict what kids had been saying about Ji-eun up until now.

“Yeah. She wouldn’t even consider doing something like that.”

But that didn’t matter.

From the beginning, Ji-hye had believed in Ji-eun.

No matter what others said, that thought wouldn’t change.

Besides the child who spoke to Ji-hye, many others were discussing the “white magical girl.”

Up until now, Ji-eun had no magical girl name. She was just called “the black magical girl” or “terrorist suspect.”

By now, had she perhaps come up with a new name?

As a magical girl, she must have at least one name.

Other magical girls had names derived from flowers, so what name would suit Ji-eun, who wore that pretty white outfit?

Ji-hye thought—

*

“What about Lilly?”

As she briefly stepped outside to get some fresh air, Ha-yoon blurted out a strange suggestion.

“Lilly?”

When I asked, not quite getting the intent behind it, Ha-yoon shrugged.

“You’re a magical girl, right? I thought you should have a name as a magical girl.”

“…….”

I looked at Ha-yoon with a very lukewarm gaze.

“So you’re telling me I should use that name?”

“Yeah… hate it?”

“I don’t just hate it, I don’t even get why I need such a name.”

The truth is, I didn’t understand why there needed to be a special name for magical girls.

In other comics, it’s usually a situation where they can’t use their real names, but that wasn’t the case here.

After all, all the people around here knew everyone’s real names already.

In this world, a magical girl name served no other purpose than that of a celebrity’s stage name.

Some celebrities have pseudonyms, and some don’t, so I thought I could just operate under my own name?

“Why? Because… you’re a magical girl?”

“So being a magical girl means I need a name? And why am I being called a lily?”

“Because if you think of a white flower, the first thing that comes to mind is the lily.”

Well, that’s true but…

“And having a name as a magical girl would be beneficial too.”

Seeing the ridiculous expression on my face, it seemed Ha-yoon thought she needed another way to persuade me and brought up this conversation as if it were a prepared act.

“It’s beneficial?”

“If we’re going to keep fighting, the people’s perspective matters, right?”

“That’s… true.”

It was unavoidable.

Just having the police nearby made fighting much easier.

Besides that, this time, they even helped out.

There’s no way I could defeat the enemies with just the police’s help alone. But it did increase my chances of winning.

Even if not from a violent standpoint, politicians have to consider the public eye, especially in a country that isn’t a dictatorship. All the leaders in this nation are elected.

Even if they can’t cooperate with me officially, if they think supporting me could shake their approval ratings, they would act much more cautiously against me.

“So, it’s important to make them think you’re one of us.”

“…….”

For now, I decided to keep my mouth shut and listen.

“We all use flower names as nicknames, right? Each tailored to our colors.”

“Were those names you made yourselves?”

“Not exactly.”

Ha-yoon replied, turning slightly red at my question.

Well, she seemed embarrassed too.

Now I was left wondering why I should feel embarrassed.

“Is what we’ve been through not enough?”

I asked, and Ha-yoon fell silent.

“If we’re risking our lives fighting together, that should be enough, right? Already, from what I’ve seen on the radio, it seems people think I’m on your side.”

“That’s true, but…”

Ha-yoon slightly lowered her head.

Her hands were clasped behind her back, and her toes were poking the ground, portraying that she really wanted to call me “Lilly.”

I sighed deeply and scratched my head.

Is that… really important?

Maybe because Ha-yoon had been doing this magical girl thing for over two years now, she thought this way.

Like in the military, there are often things like “I don’t know why we have to do this, but just do it anyway.”

If I think of this as one of those, then fine.

“……Alright.”

“Huh?”

“If you really want to call me that, then go ahead. After all, if I told you not to, and you called me that anyway, it would be meaningless.”

At my words, Ha-yoon’s face lit up.

“Yay!”

Was it really something to get that excited about?

Anyway, I hated names or that white dress… everything about it didn’t sit right with me.

…That white outfit had emerged from my unconscious, but still, I didn’t like it.

Who in this world wears both black and white at the same time?

*

“Now that this is settled, we should become a fourth power.”

While sitting together discussing what to do next, Cherry threw out that idea.

“A fourth power?”

When I frowned and asked back, Cherry nodded seriously.

“Yes. A fourth power that doesn’t depend on the federation, the government, or corporations.”

“Oh. I had no idea you had such ambitions for power.”

“Does it look like I’m doing this for power?”

Well, it probably wasn’t about power.

If asked to choose the weakest two here, without a doubt, it would be Cherry and James.

For now, I was filled with plans to turn James into a meat dish if he stepped too far, yet he seemed to realize that fact and had never completely crossed the line.

Plus, after the circuit had changed, perhaps because of my power, he seemed to have a lot more on his mind, and he no longer interjected weirdly against what I said.

Though he still kept fighting with Cherry.

“Anyway, continue with your story.”

I had to ask again since the two could argue for hours if I left them be.

“……Ahem. So, the idea is to completely become a fourth power that no one can easily touch.”

“What exactly is the benefit of being a fourth power?”

“It would be easier to temporarily form alliances when we need to fight with other powers.”

“Oh.”

I see. That was the intention.

Instead of aligning with one side, it meant establishing an entirely different power and choosing whether to cooperate or oppose according to the need.

“However, our strength is too weak for that.”

James, who had been listening while crossing his arms, voiced up.

“Isn’t a power only called a power when it can put up a meaningful resistance?”

“So I’ve thought.”

At James’ comment, Cherry continued.

“The former chairman is still alive, right? He hasn’t died, has he?”

“…….”

James fell silent at Cherry’s words.

“Noir Corporation isn’t a corporation, right? So the current chairman isn’t really a chairman. He’s just someone who forcibly took control of someone else’s. The federation recognizes it that way as well. That’s part of the reason they cooperated. They probably thought they could oust that chairman and take over the company.”

“I’m sure their thinking has changed by now.”

“Yes.”

Cherry nodded at Ha-yoon’s words.

“That’s right. Just before I got here, there were hints that we should sever ties quickly. Though the federation is a massive organization and the stances of those within it vary, it seems they think that putting all their eggs in one basket, even if it is profitable in the short term, is too risky in the long run.”

“So, are we suggesting we find the former chairman?”

“Not the former chairman, but the next chairman. It’s a private company, after all? In the end, it’s an organization where the person at the top more or less takes everything. So, if we can place someone capable at the top of the company, we can somewhat normalize the situation.”

At least it didn’t seem like Cherry intended to side with the federation.

“…….”

However, James, who was loyal to the former chairman, had a very displeased expression.

Could it be that he didn’t like the idea of “using” his superior?

Surely Cherry seemed to be trying to find and “use” the former or next chairman. It didn’t mean they would immediately normalize the company, but they intended to enter negotiation with the power to “potentially” normalize it.

Normalizing the situation would undoubtedly take a long time. The struggles over the rights related to the circuit seemed to be much more tangled than one might expect.

It was like running with oil.

No, considering the danger, should I liken it to plutonium or uranium?

At this point, Earthlings occupied such a position in outer space.

“Surely, you also want to find it, right? Even if it slightly becomes disadvantageous for the company in the short term, it must get normalized for operations to continue in the future.”

“…….”

At Cherry’s words, James eventually sighed deeply and nodded.

So, he too, had moments when he was moved emotionally.

Well, if he weren’t emotional, he wouldn’t have been able to irritate me so much.

“And let’s make this place more like a ‘headquarters.’ We’ve gained another Hope Circuit. If I join forces, we could utilize the energy much better.”

Cherry clapped her hands as she spoke.

That made sense. If we were going to become a different power, we needed to have the appearance.

…But do we have the parts for that?

 

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