I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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While spending time like that, there was one thing that worried me.

It was a perfectly reasonable concern: the type of energy I was using had completely switched to its opposite.

I was not someone who was born with a knack for positive thinking, so I had never even thought of things like ‘how to summon hope’.

Despair was simple.

You just had to compare yourself to others.

Imagining what I couldn’t do or what I didn’t have was enough.

There were many people around me who were better than me. A prime example was Ha-yoon, and most of the kids around her were also superior to me.

To get into the same high school as Ha-yoon, I had to study incredibly hard. Even then, I couldn’t get first place.

Fortunately, thanks to the donations coming into the orphanage, I could keep attending a school alongside Ha-yoon.

Seeing those kids attend the school as if it was their birthright while I was attending it with the money I barely scraped together from various places wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight.

Every time those kids approached Ha-yoon, I felt an inferiority complex and jealousy flare up.

Perhaps the reason I reacted so sharply to them was that it allowed me to regain a little bit of my self-esteem.

…Yeah, in fact, there was something I could see as hope.

It was the fact that I had a friend named Ha-yoon.

That if I worked hard, I could achieve grades like that.

That I was poor but not to the point of starving.

But no matter how much I thought about it, despair felt easier than nurturing hope.

“……”

So, I pondered.

How on earth could I possess this thing called hope?

Thinking back to when we fought, Ha-yoon played the biggest role. Perhaps I was holding on to hope by thinking that Ha-yoon would always be by my side.

It was embarrassing enough to heat my face just thinking about it, but what could I do? My mind thought that way.

The problem was that right now, I couldn’t generate that kind of energy by being embraced by Ha-yoon next to me.

“Hey, could you back off a bit?”

Fortunately, it was dawn, and I was awake ahead of time. If I had messed that up, I might not have made it on time.

Having moved once, I thought I would be able to move the same way again. Should I have properly tested it the day before?

“Why? I think if I charge up like this, I could move!”

Ha-yoon, who had tightly wrapped her arms around my waist, said.

Well, I guess that could be…

But my wrist circuit was already emitting a bright light. The vibrations were felt pretty strongly, but it didn’t feel like it was going to get any stronger.

I thought about it, maybe I had adapted somehow.

That’s right.

Despair was the same. Once that despair became a part of everyday life, at some point the stimulus weakened, and the output of the circuits strengthened.

The real problem was that shocking events kept happening to me.

Could it be that hope was like that too?

I felt hope in Ha-yoon being my hope, in the fact that she was by my side, but since she was always there, had I merely become too accustomed to it?

If I thought about it, I should have been far away each morning if Ha-yoon had sent my circuit into overdrive by holding me.

The description was a bit strange, but wasn’t that the only way to describe it?

Yeah, that’s still the only way.

So, the way to hope would be…

While I was lost in thought, Jua, who had been standing a little distance away, came over and gently grabbed my sleeve.

Then, just like every night, she leaned her forehead against my body. This time it was my arm, not my back.

“Ju, Jua?”

“If I do this, the circuit should run better.”

I just closed my eyes.

I couldn’t bear to look at the other magical girls surrounding us. Especially because I thought I could guess the expression on Rose’s face.

It was good that the kids weren’t looking at us with strange eyes. The magical girls, living up to their reputation of being just, were open-minded in many ways, so they didn’t look at us strangely for doing this.

No, in another sense, they looked at us oddly, but it was like a strangely warm gaze, which was a bit embarrassing and irritating.

“……”

But even so, the fact that Jua was doing this didn’t change the fact that it shouldn’t happen.

For the same reason as with Ha-yoon, if Jua clung to me and I was able to transport myself, I would also need to be far away every single night.

There were important words woven into my speech, and I meant them literally, not metaphorically.

When Ji-hye hugged me, it worked just fine.

I opened my eyes slightly and looked at the circuit on my left wrist. It was still shining brightly, but… while it was indeed powerful enough to deal a solid blow in a fight, it didn’t seem sufficient for moving through space.

Was it because it had been so long since Ji-hye hugged me?

Ji-hye was the most common person among the kids I knew. Ironically, due to where my school was and the situation I was in, there were no ordinary kids among those I had personal ties with.

That’s why I was glad that the ordinary girl Ji-hye was still thinking of me even in that moment.

If I had power or wealth, I could ignore the pressure from others.

Yet without those, the fact that she saw me as family and steadfastly supported me amidst the surrounding pressure delighted me.

Ah, the circuit is shining a bit brighter.

“Hmm.”

When I turned my head to see who made that sound, I found Ha-yoon looking up at me with her eyes half-closed.

Ha-yoon wasn’t the type to make that kind of expression.

If I had to nitpick, it was the kind of expression she made when I teased James, but for some reason, she had that expression now.

Objectively, Ha-yoon’s expression wasn’t scary at all. It couldn’t be; she looked so innocent with her pink hair, how could she be scary?

In fact, I’d hardly ever seen her angry.

But still, seeing Ha-yoon with that expression made me feel a bit frightened.

“……I see.”

What exactly does that mean? I wish she would tell me what she meant instead of coming to a personal understanding.

But before I could open my mouth, Ha-yoon stood on her tiptoes.

And just like that—

“Ah!?”

Who let that sound out?

Was it Jua, who was also standing next to me? Or maybe Rose, who had been grinning? Perhaps Dalia or Delphinium?

It’s possible I also let the same sound slip out.

Since my mouth wasn’t blocked, I could produce sound, but I distinctly felt something soft brush past my lips.

Ha-yoon’s face, which had gotten so close, pulled back.

Her face was blushing bright red, almost like it could burst at any moment. Judging by her wavering gaze, it seemed Ha-yoon herself was incredibly embarrassed after kissing my cheek.

But still, regardless of that, seeing her smile widely while looking at me—

—Before I could even think about what was happening, a white light enveloped us.

*

What the hell just happened?

No, I guess I understand the principle.

Isn’t it natural to harbor that kind of hope when the person you like does something sweet?

Whether it was truly for utilizing my power, or she thought it was okay because we were such close friends.

…But I had no time to consider those thoughts.

As you might recall, the place we were trying to go was to meet the Chairman of Noir Corporation, who was being summoned by the prosecution.

And naturally, there were already a huge number of reporters out there waiting for that Chairman.

At that moment, I found myself standing right in the midst of those reporters.

If I had managed to slip out without being noticed, it might not have been such a big deal. However, whether it was despair or hope, the circuits shone the same.

Plus, flanked by two magical girls, and dressed in a slightly revealing white dress while holding a hammer…

“…”

I felt like I might faint.

Just before, I was still disoriented because of the kiss from Ha-yoon and now my heart was racing.

And Jua had her eyes wide open, face reddening, while Ha-yoon was also looking at me with a flushed face.

By the way, the Chairman was still absent.

Click, click… no, the shutter sounds were so numerous they almost sounded like ‘cha cha cha’.

As I stood there, dazed with my mouth agape, I felt someone poking me from behind.

When I turned around, Rose was there.

My face was just as warm as hers; I couldn’t tell if it was because she was embarrassed to see Ha-yoon’s actions or if she was nearly choking back laughter.

“I think it’d be a good idea to say something.”

But even so, her voice came out clearly.

I slowly turned my gaze back to the reporters.

I was standing in the spot commonly referred to as the ‘photo line’. It was a place where prosecution officials would come out to make an announcement or where someone finishing their interrogation would stand briefly under the spotlight.

“……”

Why am I here?

Oh right, it occurred to me that I had never been in a place like this before. The only ‘government’ places I could think of were our local police station and the community center. I knew almost nothing about places like the ‘prosecutor’s office’ outside of what I read in news articles.

If I was subconsciously aiming toward that place, I would just naturally end up in that scrum.

What to do.

Should I let go of Jua and Ha-yoon first?

But I wasn’t the one holding them; they were the ones holding on to me.

Ha-yoon was clinging tightly to my right arm, and Jua was holding my wrist. So, unless I purposefully shook off their grip, they would be stuck to my side.

If I were to forcefully tear them away in this situation, it’d definitely ruin our image. We should be seen as a team united in wanting to take down the Chairman, but I couldn’t do that.

In the end, I opened my mouth unable to do anything.

“…Today, I’ve heard that the Chairman of Noir Corporation would be coming here.”

Once again, the shutter sounds rang out. The intensity of the clicks was still overwhelming.

“I’m sorry to those who wish to investigate him, but we intend to confront him in our own way.”

Still managing to keep my composure and speak, I wondered what I should say to stay focused.

“Perhaps it was too provocative?”

But it was the truth.

“When I was falsely accused as a terrorist and placed in a hospital, those who attempted to transfer me were from the government. No, even if those people weren’t government officials, it still seems odd. Wasn’t the place I was meant to go a national hospital? Whether federal agents came to take me away or corporate people came for me, without a doubt, I cannot trust the government.”

The reporters’ gazes were fixed on me. The flash went off again, and I could hear the shutters clicking. There were several smartphones being shoved toward me.

Surely, there must be a live broadcast somewhere?

Initially, the cameras that were pointed in the direction of where vehicles were supposed to be entering had hurriedly turned toward us.

Even if it was not a live broadcast, they were most certainly recording this moment.

No one among the reporters interrupted my words.

Did they think each word was a story unto itself? Or were they following some sort of reporting guidelines?

“The ones who followed me right after that were police officers. I managed to barely escape after getting shot multiple times. If I had been caught there, I might have met the same fate as those aliens you saw the last time. So, how could I possibly trust the government?”

No one seemed willing to stop me.

Was it because I was a magical girl?

No, I could feel the presence of those kids behind me.

Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium stood there, casting glances at my back.

If anyone were to rush at me, those three would surely stop them.

That eased my mind.

Thanks to Ha-yoon and Jua being next to me, I felt firmly connected to them.

While the circuits stabilized, it didn’t mean the energy was depleted. Instead, it pulled me forward more steadily, lending me strength.

“I can’t prevent that person from talking with government officials. Ignoring the people of this country isn’t an option. But before that, I wanted to confront him directly and talk things through. Before he colludes with those in high positions to gain immunity, I wanted to meet him face to face to ask questions.”

The reporters held their breath. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but the flashes and clicking sounds seemed to lessen a bit.

“I want to ask him why he treated me that way. What is the reason for all this happening here? What exactly are they doing to the people?”

The flash went off again. The shutter clicked.

“I want to ask each and every question. So that he can’t dodge them. Face to face. Because—”

My mind was completely returning.

I spoke intensely, almost burning holes into the crowd with my glare.

“—Because it’s something I couldn’t do before.”

Yes. I couldn’t do it.

For a regular employee of a large corporation to meet face to face with the Chairman was nearly impossible.

But still.

If that company had genuinely wronged the people beneath them, valuing their lives as if they were mere flies.

At the very least, wouldn’t they owe us an explanation?

It’s a world where lives can be bought with money, but doesn’t that mean they should provide valid reasons in return?

I couldn’t help getting injured while fighting as a combatant; I willingly took risks for donations.

But I couldn’t comprehend why I was painted as a terrorist for something I hadn’t even done.

I couldn’t forgive it simply by understanding it, but maybe, I could at least consider it.

If we could meet, explain the situation clearly, offer a reasonable excuse, and sincerely apologize to me.

Perhaps I could let it go with just a few hits.

“I have a question!”

Just as I thought I was done speaking, a reporter near me raised his hand.

When I looked over, he spoke.

“If the Chairman of Noir Corporation saw what’s happening right now, wouldn’t he just turn around and run? What do you think?”

That would probably be the case. I thought about that possibility.

In the first place, there was also a chance he wouldn’t even show up.

“Driving from the Noir Corporation headquarters to here takes time. That’s only natural to consider.”

We hadn’t been dallying around for a week, after all.

We confirmed the time for the Chairman’s summons and calculated the time it would take him to get here. In truth, it took me a bit longer to find my way here, so I got my timings a bit off.

So, the Chairman was likely a bit ‘later’ than we expected.

Even if he were to turn back now, it was already too late.

“So, I’ll go look for him now.”

I said.

There probably wouldn’t be anything special at headquarters. Perhaps the Chairman himself wouldn’t even be there.

But well.

It’d be great if he was; if not, it wouldn’t really make a difference.

After all, that was the mission.

All I wanted was for that Chairman to tremble in fear, perhaps even wet his pants.

It was merely about giving him back that feeling of dread I had once felt.

 

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