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I paused for a moment, pondering what to do.

Should I just send Ji-hye back and meet this person separately?

However, illogically enough, I didn’t want to do that.

There was too much I hadn’t told Ji-hye. She was always the one closest to me, yet there were so many things she didn’t know about me.

And that was all because I was hiding the truth.

So, I chose to just meet together and have a conversation.

What this man wanted was to talk to me, not necessarily ‘alone’ with me.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether this was the right choice. Knowing this information might put Ji-hye in more danger.

But still.

“…….”

In the silent gaze of Ji-hye looking at me, I felt a certain emotion.

It was a feeling of “I want to be included.”

I could refuse the request.

But I didn’t want to refuse.

In the end, I decided to keep Ji-hye by my side.

It was somewhat awkward to stand at a slight distance from the man with a red face. I had never been good at making new friends, and to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with James’s underling.

No, more importantly…

“Have you seen James? He seems to be anxiously waiting for the contact from the chairman.”

“Of course, I met him. However, it seems that we both desire the same thing even without reaching out from this side, right? Mr. James must already be assured that the chairman is safe, so there’s no need for any other contact besides that notification of safety.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

I couldn’t tell if he really trusted his subordinate or was just brushing it off. Reflecting on what James had said, it could potentially lean towards the latter… but somehow, there seemed to be an undertone that my situation was more important.

I turned my gaze.

There was the stalker, his wrists and ankles bound with cable ties. Despite his naturally yellowish complexion, he looked even more ashen in my eyes.

For the record, the cable ties looked the same as those on Earth, but their color was oddly different, having a somewhat metallic sheen. It was said that aliens with magic often fell short in idea generation compared to Earth, so perhaps whatever that was might be something brought from Earth and made with alien technology.

“What do you plan to do with this person?”

“We still can’t pinpoint the position of the current chairman. We are in a position where we need to gather as much potentially informative data as we can. It seems your granddaughter determined that she had to directly intervene at the moment of the attack.”

Considering that, they certainly seemed to appear a bit late.

Given their situation, they had hidden themselves well, and if they went as far as to install a machine-gun turret at their granddaughter’s house, it could be said they had done what they could.

If things had soured, perhaps they might have resisted going…

But since it’s someone else’s family business, speculating on it would be pointless.

“I don’t know if you’ll believe me now, but we at Noir Corporation operate with a philosophy of lawful corporate management.”

“…….”

That’s hard to believe. Didn’t the current chairman have no idea what kind of schemes were happening underground?

Maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t know, but rather that he turned a blind eye. James likely didn’t genuinely know, but maybe he just left things alone to find ‘another way.’

For the time being, the anomalies created by the current chairman can operate the circuits directly.

When I didn’t respond to the man’s words, he clammed up and fell silent. That was the one wise choice he made.

“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh—!”

The reporter seemed desperate to plead, struggling and shouting, but both I and the man ignored him.

I don’t know who reported it, but the police showed up, keeping their distance from us. Although they were somewhat friendly towards me, I knew they were aware that I didn’t particularly like the police.

As a reporter, it must have been especially infuriating for him. He was just doing his usual work when he got caught and treated like a near-monster.

[Ji-eun!]

After standing there in a daze for several minutes, I heard Ha-yoon’s voice from the communicator.

[I’m almost there! Which way should I go?]

“The location—”

I held the communicator up to my mouth and told her the exact location. Before long, the sound of air being sliced could be heard overhead, and soon, the magical girls clad in various colorful outfits landed on the ground.

Naturally, some of the people already surrounding us turned to point their smartphone cameras this way. It was indeed an unusual sight.

“I can talk here if it’s fine,” the man with the red face said.

“How about you all? Wouldn’t it be better to talk in a quieter place?”

I turned to the children.

If they had gone to the orphanage first to find us, the other kids would likely know about this man’s very existence.

Seeing Ha-yoon nod, I turned back to the man.

“……As long as it’s not too suspicious of a place.”

“Thank you.”

The man responded with a customer service-like smile as he slightly bowed his head towards us.

*

Where would be a place where minors and one adult could enter and ‘quietly’ talk?

The first thing that came to mind was a café. But in reality, cafés aren’t just quiet, cozy places. Plus, the area was bustling, so it might be a bit awkward for such a large group to fit in.

And it would be a bit too much to make a reservation just to go to a café, especially since there was no time to even think about reservations.

However, it seemed this person had already anticipated the situation to some extent from the start.

Setting aside the fact that they caught the reporter, they had likely thought that at least I, along with the magical girls and my friends, would come along.

The place he led us to was an actual hotel buffet.

Since it was a weekday afternoon, there were many empty tables, making it pretty quiet.

To be honest, if we had simply come to a fancy restaurant, there might have been a shortage of seats.

For reference, once we arrived, Rose already brightened up, grinning from ear to ear, and began piling food onto her plate, while Dalia and Delphinium seemed uncomfortable just sitting quietly at a nearby table, quickly disappearing to get their food.

At a round table sat only me, the red-faced man, Ji-hye, Jua, and Ha-yoon.

All other tables could only accommodate at most four people, so it seemed that the man had pulled some strings to arrange this.

Somehow, the image that this kind of place would accommodate whatever options customers spend money on had crossed my mind.

“All of the surrounding tables are expected to be empty, so feel free to chat comfortably.”

“……The surrounding tables, hmm?”

I asked a bit seriously.

Because upon looking around, this place seemed overly empty.

Given the setup of these tables, it wouldn’t be surprising if…?

But the man only maintained a sales-representative smile, so I decided to drop the matter.

To be honest, as a hungry teenager, I wanted to grab something to eat, but since the man was ready to talk, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

Eventually, when Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium returned with plates stacked high with steak, I decided to speak first.

“So, what is it that you want to talk about?”

“The chairman has a proposal for Ji-eun.”

“A proposal?”

“He is suggesting collaboration until we retrieve Noir Corporation.”

“……Generally, such proposals come with expectations from our side.”

“I can’t exactly say that isn’t true.”

After a somewhat bitter smile, the man suggested.

“He would like assistance in researching the nature of the power you possess, Ji-eun.”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

Does he know if anything happened between James and me? James had treated me like just a research tool.

He was the one who even used Ji-hye against me outright.

James was also present at this table but seated at a somewhat distant table. This was the man’s intention, perhaps thinking James’s presence would be a hindrance during this conversation?

“I apologize for the rude things that our side has done……” He continued. “If the chairman can properly take his place in an official manner, there might be a better apology to be given. However, right now is just not a good time.”

But knowing that wouldn’t be enough to persuade me, the man added a bit more detail.

“It’s well understood that one cannot treat someone like a famous magical girl as an experimental tool. You’re not just someone who is famous; you have various ties as well, right? We believe that a fair compensation cannot be avoided.”

Hearing those words, I found myself at a loss for words.

It wasn’t so much that the other party was logical but rather the sheer audacity of how they could say such things.

Well, he probably meant to say, ‘Don’t you know we can’t harass you?’ turned into, ‘Otherwise, we can heckle you as much as we want if the situation calls for it’, at least from the perspective of an ordinary commoner.

“……That’s just a business condition, so what can I gain from this?”

“Instead of one side gaining something, it would be better to find a way to maximize mutual benefit. The condition I mentioned is something to discuss thoroughly after everything is sorted out, not something we demand right now. To make that happen, however, there is one precondition.”

“The current chairman.”

“Correct. First, we need to remove the person claiming to possess the chairman’s seat—Pung-pung.”

“…….”

The sudden and bizarre name caught me off guard, causing me to grind my teeth.

Looking to the side, I noticed Ha-yoon and Jua’s expressions rapidly drain. It wasn’t just a plain lack of expression; it seemed more like they were forcefully pulling out ‘sad thoughts’ into a manufactured poker face.

Fortunately, Ji-hye seemed unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation. It appeared she didn’t even recognize that ‘Pung-pung’ was a name.

With names like that, Pung-pung and even this man’s name, was it an issue with that planet?

Sorry, Pang-pang. Your name turned out to be the most ordinary! Though calling you that can still feel a bit embarrassing.

“I believe that regarding this matter, we share the same goal, don’t you think? For now, wouldn’t it be best to cooperate until that time?”

“What exactly can you offer for that cooperation?”

“We can provide various equipment. More specifically, we can cover the costs to create the equipment. We wouldn’t want such… entities running wild in the name of Noir Corporation either.”

“So are you saying that what was made under Noir Corporation’s name is not the same?”

“Correct. However, it seems that the diversion of our company’s resources did occur. It also appears that various technologies have been siphoned off. Despite our best efforts to ensure that nothing was leaked outside, we never imagined it would turn into chaos from within like this.”

Rather, it’s likely that the former chairman openly disregarded the current chairman, right? If it weren’t for blatant mutual grievances, such backstabbing wouldn’t happen.

“Well… fine.”

Since the other kids weren’t particularly against it, I nodded for now.

Relationships can be severed. At least with who we are now, that’s possible. The other side was initially proposing this as someone not merely in a corporate role but as the former chairman.

“Thank you.”

The man gave a polite nod of his head.

“Oh, and.”

Just when I thought the conversation had ended, the man opened his mouth again.

“You really don’t have to answer this question, but I think the chairman is quite curious about it.”

“……What is the question?”

“Precisely what kind of principle underlies Ji-eun’s energy? If you feel it’s too sensitive of a topic, you don’t have to say a thing. However, the chairman has been investing considerable research into this situation for quite a while, and he seems very interested.”

“…….”

My power.

It’s not just a mere curiosity about the story of ‘despair.’ They wouldn’t ask for such trivial information since Noir Corporation would already have known that.

After all, it was Noir Corporation that originally created the despair circuit.

So then, where does my power even originate from?

Based on James and Cherry’s assumption, it might be that my despair had overcome the circuit’s operational method and altered the circuit design to my will.

And that modified design is nearly impossible to interpret in a purely technical way. The principle of motion itself operates based on my beliefs. It is, in other words, ‘magic.’

Such instances appear to be a rarity, even among the theatrical literature, and I might even be the first one relating to circuits.

Despair and hope. In a way, it might sound like I’m just suffering from bipolar disorder. I can’t say for sure since I haven’t ever visited a psychiatrist.

“The emotions capable of operating the circuits created by the company and the emotions sufficient to operate the hope circuit would not be interpreted as problematic, right?”

“Well, the chairman suspects that there might be something more fundamental… perhaps a ‘third path’.”

Ha-yoon’s eyes sparkled with interest. Jua had a similar reaction. Ji-hye was just looking at me with a somewhat worried expression.

“Other emotions?”

“Yes. These two circuits, meaning the two pathways that operate in opposing directions, can stir complex emotions that cannot be defined as ‘one’ right? So if there’s another concept that can move towards both directions, wouldn’t it take a more diversified form, like Ji-eun’s energy?”

“…….”

So in a sense, the despair circuit operates by collecting various emotions required to despair, while the hope circuit operates by taking emotions that move in the opposite direction, leading to the conclusion that it’s an emotion encompassing both despair and hope that causes my circuit to operate—

That notion seems plausible.

Emotions are incredibly diverse in their causes.

Despair and hope. What could be the reason for evoking both of them?

Hope is… It’s the emotion of wanting something. Even amidst the darkest places, even in the direst situations, that single thing—whether it’s a dream or something else—it’s the emotion of reaching towards a single ray of light shining through that darkness.

Because that hope is unwavering, the emotion is intensified, allowing magical girls to evoke powerful strength against formidable foes.

As for the despair circuit… it too comes from a longing for something.

You must despair but not lose hope within that despair. Even so, to escape that despair, you struggle, determined not to give up on life in the process while winding your way through dark, intense feelings. That’s the energy to operate the despair circuit.

The commonality between the two is—

Yeah. The commonality between the two emotions is that they arise from wanting something.

So, to put it again, that emotion would be—

Desire—

“Love!”

But just as that thought crossed my mind, someone abruptly cut me off and shouted.

Ha-yoon jumped up from her seat, her expression brimming with excitement as she clenched her hands and shouted.

“The emotion of love! If it’s that, everything can be explained!”

“…….”

Jua, Ji-hye, and I all stared at Ha-yoon with our mouths agape.

And the other magical girls were the same. They froze while moving their forks and knives as they gazed at Ha-yoon with somewhat blank expressions.

“……Wait a second, what do you mean, Ha-yoon?”

What on earth are you saying?

I rubbed around my eyes and asked.

“What I mean is…”

“Because we despair in love, and we nurture hope while watching the person we love! So if it’s the emotion of love, we can explain how the circuit operates in either direction!”

Ha-yoon stated decisively.

Love… No, love has many forms, doesn’t it?

Last time, what Jua mentioned about the feeling of ‘liking’ is somewhat similar.

Friends could love friends; it could be like the ‘love’ spoken of in religion. Parents love their children, and those kinds of love are all different.

While I was trying to process Ha-yoon’s outburst, I noticed the man beside me looking at us without speaking.

“……Hold on, could you clarify what you mean, Ha-yoon?”

What on earth is that train of thought?

I was completely at a loss.

But—

Oh crap, somehow it feels like that makes a twisted kind of sense.

 

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