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We decided to move.

It’s not like we’re going to stay here for the rest of our lives.

We strayed quite far from the initial plan, but my intention to somehow get a hold of the chairman hasn’t completely vanished.

My feelings were rather complicated in many ways.

I wanted to push everything away with a vengeful heart, but for some reason, Pang-pang kept lingering in my thoughts.

What would happen if I completely fell into villainy? What if I stopped being a Magical Girl?

…Well, she’d probably treat me the same as before. That much I was certain of. After all, we met while doing villainous deeds, and even before I became a Magical Girl, Pang-pang saw me in a good light.

“…Today, I’m going to somehow get more food. If possible, something not related to vegetables. Oh, yeah. Coffee too, if needed.”

Before I left, when I said that, Pang-pang burst into laughter.

“Coffee, huh. I haven’t had any in a while. Remember? You said you’d never get addicted to it?”

“Right, seeing your hands steady, it does seem that way.”

I replied a bit absurdly.

Our conversation was being closely watched by the other Magical Girls.

Especially by Ha-yoon and Jua.

“……”

Pang-pang briefly held my hand and then let go without saying a word.

With my worried feelings still intact, I moved with the kids.

*

After people learned about what Noir Corporation did to me and what the police did to me, the government tried to persuade me.

One of their methods of persuasion was to touch Ji-hye as if it were perfectly natural.

I… didn’t like that.

Ji-hye was already a child who suffered because of me. Her room turned into a mess, she was terrified, and slept while inhaling unidentified sleeping gas.

At that time, I just wanted to get out of the situation as quickly as I could.

Of course, Ji-hye had no idea what happened to her and was probably worried sick.

“……”

And Ji-hye came to me, carrying a large plastic bag filled to the brim.

A bag full of food so that I and the Magical Girls could hold out. No, it wasn’t just food. It had underwear and spare clothes too.

It must have cost a pretty penny for Ji-hye.

“…Thank you, really.”

As I said this with tears in my eyes, Ji-hye shook her head with a smile.

“I’m just grateful we could meet like this.”

Have I been taking everything for granted until now? Even though there’s so much around me, I was just filled with dissatisfaction all by myself.

All of that was ultimately my fault.

If only I had been satisfied just being friends with Ha-yoon. If I hadn’t had some strange inferiority complex.

…If that were the case, maybe I could have just lived normally.

What did I know about what Noir Corporation was doing? Surely, Ha-yoon and the Magical Girls could have figured it all out…

But there was no time to think like that.

“…Someday, I’ll come back.”

“Yeah. I’ll be waiting. So don’t worry about me.”

How could I not worry?

The connections I had and didn’t even realize I had.

Maybe I’m someone who could truly be called a ‘villain’ in this world.

*

In the meantime, I paid a visit to the Magical Girl HQ. After bringing Cherry, who was the mascot for the Magical Girls, we had a serious discussion again.

And we concluded that there was no need to stay here any longer.

It was annoying that the government was lingering around us, but at least the atmosphere wasn’t hostile anymore.

Trying to survive on the leftover food was only stubbornness, and we decided it was time to take a more proactive approach in drawing them out.

“First, let’s just go.”

I said.

“If they say no, then— we can just come back later.”

Ha-yoon, Jua, Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium all nodded.

Only Pang-pang looked a bit worried.

“It’s okay.”

I reassured her.

“They’re all nice people. The teachers and the kids living there… um, there are some troublemakers, but basically, they’re all good kids.”

Honestly, I couldn’t be sure.

I’ve gotten familiar with the faces of those many kids to some extent, but that didn’t mean I knew them individually. There might be someone weird among them, but I wouldn’t be able to notice.

“……”

After some thought, Pang-pang smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“Yeah, I trust you.”

Seeing that smile made me feel a bit relieved.

*

The teacher readily agreed.

There weren’t many rooms that could be shared, so we had to live together in a cramped room, but we could do everything else outside except sleep. No choice but to use the bathroom and shower inside, but surely we could get some fresh air outside the building.

The reporters were chased away by the police guarding our building.

Though, they couldn’t help taking distant pictures with telephoto lenses, which was a nuisance but better than shoving cameras in our faces.

Plus, we could eat properly and buy clean clothes. We could even order takeout without worrying—well, if we had money, that is.

Still, I had a little money in my bank account, and no one was stopping me from withdrawing it. The others couldn’t say anything either.

“……”

However, even after coming this far, Pang-pang’s anxiety didn’t disappear.

Was it perhaps because someone had broken into her house before?

Right after that, Pang-pang seemed pretty calm for a long time.

“Were the kids from the orphanage bothering you?”

Of course, there were kids around the same age as us. It wasn’t just little ones at the orphanage.

But Pang-pang shook her head at my question.

“No, it’s not that.”

“…Then? Are you worried someone might break in again? There’s no need to be worried. I’m here with the others.”

“……”

Pang-pang just smiled weakly at my words.

She didn’t drink any more coffee. She probably thought it was a bit strange to look like that in front of little kids.

Moreover, after seeing me, Ha-yoon, and Jua chatting outside the building even at night, Pang-pang seemed reluctant to come out.

I could never find out the reason behind that in the end.

…I should have found a way to figure it out, even if I had to annoy her about it.

*

This incident came too easily.

And too suddenly.

“…What?”

Even so, the chairman hadn’t attacked around the orphanage until now.

Did he think he had to maintain a minimal image? If he ever had dealings with the Eun-ha Federation, he’d certainly need to keep up appearances.

But this time… was different.

Monsters appeared in the sky above the orphanage.

We did know how those monsters came into being. They were either created or cultivated similar to Earthlings, and those Earthling monsters all had circuits running inside them.

“……”

That was the problem.

[There’s a request.]

A voice came from one of the monsters.

Monsters shouldn’t be controllable at their core. No, maybe they were being controlled somehow with a force coming from that circuit… if only they could stiffen their bodies.

The chairman’s voice seemed to come from a speaker attached to one of the monsters.

[There’s an alien among you. Hand over that alien, and we will disappear from Earth forever.]

“……”

If it’s an alien, is it Pang-pang?

As I blinked in surprise, the voice flowed out again.

[I know you’re hiding it.]

I couldn’t grasp the intent behind those words.

Were they going to take just one hostage? To shackle us?

No, if that were the case, we wouldn’t need to do such a thing in the first place.

If we got rid of all the monsters here—

[I know what you’re thinking. To prevent that from happening, I made sure to take precautions.]

Just once, but the chairman’s displeasing voice was saying that.

[Something is going to happen soon… If you don’t stop it, many people’s lives could be at risk.]

“……”

[Before that happens, choose. The lives of many people—or the safety of that one being who is not an Earthling. I won’t promise not to kill.]

What nonsense.

Crack.

I heard the sound of teeth grinding.

Breaking into my home and then demanding my best friend?

I absolutely can’t allow that.

I will definitely protect this time without giving up.

[You’re making a foolish choice. Well, I guess you’ve always done so until now.]

The voice said as it saw me raising my weapon.

Right. I’ve always done so in the past.

But I’m not going to do that anymore.

 

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