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Revenge is said to be empty, right?

I wiped out all those who opposed me, and the gazes of those who had seen me as a thorn in their side changed.

So—well, yeah.

Now, there was no longer any reason for me to wear a 24-hour circuit on my wrist, and I didn’t have to worry about who might barge in. I also didn’t have to fear my friends being suddenly kidnapped or some cosmic corporation coming to woo me.

So, um, yeah.

One purpose in my life has vanished.

Now that the revenge is over, naturally, I should feel empty—

But why would I?

Not at all. As someone who has truly succeeded in revenge, I can confidently say that, honestly, it felt refreshing like a breath of fresh air.

It’s not that I don’t worry about the future. Next year, I’ll be in the third year, and it’s about time I start worrying about the college entrance exam and all.

However, for the time being, I have something resembling a job. I could probably do that for quite a while after graduating high school.

Besides, I’m not in the third year just yet. Currently, I’m still a second-year, and that too before the second semester has even started.

Since peace had finally returned, I thought I might as well enjoy it a little.

I popped a CD into the player—one whose title and artist I wasn’t sure of—and settled down to leisurely listen to the music.

I randomly tossed a cushion on the floor, laid my head on it, and prepared to relax when—

The door burst open.

This room is shared by Ji-hye, Ha-yoon, Jua, and me. True, I did steal Ha-yoon, but for some reason, Jua also ended up staying here at this orphanage.

I thought I might get a bit of quiet time since I was alone in the room—

“Hey, girl.”

Where did she learn that kind of tone? Rose looked down at me as she said it.

Behind her were a bunch of kids. They were all children from the orphanage.

Rose was very popular among the kids. Perhaps it was because of her laid-back personality; she played well with them. During the time that magical girls stayed at the orphanage, Rose was the one the kids followed like a leader.

“…Why?”

Even if it’s not the second semester yet, isn’t Rose in the third year? Why is she here?

Ha-yoon has trouble with her parents, and Jua initially followed me because she liked me. So it’s not illogical for them to be in my room…but it’s not something I fully understood emotionally.

“Why are you here?”

It was a bit rude for a junior, but it was hard for me to filter my words. My way of speaking had completely stuck to my tongue.

I no longer felt any animosity towards magical girls, but unfortunately, I wasn’t the polite type to the point of using honorifics.

“Huh? Isn’t it natural to visit a friend?”

Rose replied, her red hair flowing.

“….”

Friend.

When I first heard that, I thought she was referring to me, but looking again, it seemed like that wasn’t it.

Even if I talked back to her, she wouldn’t find it strange at all. The category of “friend” could very well include “little kids around five years younger than me,” and it wouldn’t be weird at all.

“So, what’s the reason for coming to this room?”

The music was still playing softly in the background. It wasn’t cheerful music at all, and honestly, it didn’t suit the situation at all.

“Oh, that’s—”

Rose looked at me and smiled.

“I want to play soccer with the kids, but it seems like we’re a bit short on players.”

“Soccer.”

I repeated without thinking.

“Uh, soccer.”

So, she wants to play soccer with the kids from the orphanage. She just barged in on a peaceful weekend and declared that.

When I was younger—or rather, even until last year—I used to play around with elementary school kids sometimes. But then I suddenly got too busy right before I became a magical girl.

Well… now that the reasons for aliens suddenly showing up have evaporated, I certainly have plenty of time, but I did roll around pretty hard for a while, so I wanted to take a break.

I was all alone in this room.

Ji-hye said she’d step out for a bit. She probably went to the convenience store nearby. Ha-yoon was busy growing flowers since she arrived here, so she went out to tend to the garden. Jua followed her.

So really, I was finally alone for the first time in a while.

…..

It’s not that I’m saying being alone is great. I want my friends around me. Ideally, I like it when the room feels full while I’m sleeping at night.

But no matter how many people love me, isn’t it nice to occasionally just lie back and relax all by myself?

“….”

Seeing Rose looking at me with sparkling eyes, I eventually let out a big sigh.

“Why, do I have to be there?”

“It seems like the number of players should be even.”

I touched my forehead with my hand.

Rose wasn’t the only one with sparkling eyes. All the kids around her were looking at me with the same glittering gaze.

Hiding my face, I thought for a moment, sighed deeply, and got up from my spot.

“Okay, I got it. Let’s go.”

What can I do?

Since I’ve received so much here, I ought to repay it accordingly. Playing with the kids is also part of that repayment.

Once I was dragged outside by Rose, I realized it wasn’t just the kids there.

Ha-yoon, Ji-hye, and Jua were all there too. Even Dalia and Delphinium were present.

“…Pang-pang?”

“Hehe.”

Excluding magical girls, Pang-pang was probably the only existence I could proudly introduce as a “friend.”

So, it seemed Rose wasn’t really planning on solely playing soccer with “just the kids.”

This made it a bit awkward to bow out if I ended up injured in the middle of it.

Even though I let out an obvious sigh, I found myself thinking maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all, which made it clear I had changed a lot.

Well, indeed, revenge is not empty.

There’s no way it would be empty to remove the worst obstacle in my life.

*

After running around for a while, I realized that I seemed to have gained quite a bit of stamina.

Even without the circuit, I could run around longer than I could before. I mean, considering how hard I fought, it would be pretty unfair if I didn’t develop any muscle at all.

I grabbed a drink from the pile Ji-hye had stocked up.

The flavor of this sports drink, which is hard to describe in words, quenched my thirst. It wasn’t a bad taste. It had a slight lemony flavor, a bit cloudy in color, and the label was blue.

After running for a while, the sports drink tasted really good.

While I was absentmindedly watching the kids run around, someone plopped down next to me.

Thanks to the vibrant red I saw from the corner of my eye, I quickly figured out it was Rose.

“Seeing the kids run around is just great, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah.”

I think I finally understood why Rose liked the kids.

Sometimes they would act out in ways that were annoyingly stubborn, flip my things, or just casually walk into my room and irritate me—but well, if they’re playing among themselves, it’s not a sight you get tired of easily.

Most of the kids running around were boys, but there were girls among them, too.

Even those who weren’t running were cheering hard.

Before I knew it, the soccer match Rose planned had turned into some strange sport where it was hard to tell who was on which team.

They ran around freely, then took breaks whenever they wanted, joining back in whenever they felt like it. Without any real idea of how many people were on each team, they just kicked the ball toward the goal. The ‘goalkeeper’ was earnestly trying to stop the ball, and if a goal was scored, the kids cheered, seemingly just happy to be playing together. Even the goalkeeper.

“At this point, can we even call it a sport?”

I mumbled while watching Ji-hye, who just scored a goal and was celebrating—a goal she managed to score on her own team’s net. Still, I remembered which team the magical girls were on.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“….”

“Just running around without any thoughts. Not getting caught up in weird stuff and not having to fight off scary-looking aliens.”

Rose’s words left me speechless.

Yeah. I wasn’t the only one who had fought villains. In fact, Rose had been fighting against them much longer than me, even more than Ha-yoon.

From her perspective, having children happily running around like that must have been a beautiful sight, considering she had battled aliens since her childhood.

“Not needing to be divided into my side or your side is nice, isn’t it?”

I began to reflect on the times we fought.

When I opposed magical girls, and they treated me as just another pesky villain.

At some point, there was no longer any wall between us.

Even among them, one was destined to become the head of the Noir Corporation.

“…Yeah,” I replied, feeling a slight sense of refreshment.

“Just mingling around is way better.”

“Right?”

Seeing Rose smile made me chuckle a bit, too.

 

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