Chapter 12
This was my first time returning to the scene since becoming a magical girl.
Of course, I'd always fled the scene as though running away after killing a monster.
When I arrived, many people were rushing about.
"Please press down hard there—we need to stop the bleeding!"
"We've found a survivor!!"
"Are there any other injured people?"
From police officers and firefighters to paramedics and various civilians, people had gathered to clean up the scene and rescue others.
Because I hadn't done what I was supposed to, people were helping one another in my place.
It was then, as I watched them in silence.
A man shouted in front of the rubble of a collapsed building.
"Isn't there anyone who can help!? Someone's trapped under here!!"
It was clearly a piece of rubble far too large for a human to lift.
It was too large even for several people to move.
The person's life was in danger, but they couldn't wait for heavy machinery to arrive.
Even if they could clear it, the unstable rubble would collapse as soon as it lost its balance, causing even more damage.
But rubble this size was nothing to a magical girl.
After all, magical girls could easily kill the monsters that produced rubble like this.
"Damn it…! It won't bu—huh…?"
Rumble――…
I held up the rubble with both hands to keep it from collapsing and looked at the stunned man.
The moment he saw my face, he flinched and looked away.
"Um… please rescue the injured person first."
Though I said that, the man merely nodded without saying a word.
I heard no thanks, praise, or cheers.
It was only natural that I hadn't.
I had killed the monster and disappeared instead of saving people, despite being a magical girl.
No… If I'd simply disappeared, I might at least have heard someone thank me.
―Then, everyone, have a good day too!!
Covered in monster blood, looking at that gruesome scene, and leaving the injured behind.
I'd smiled as if nothing were wrong and told them all to have a good day….
'To everyone else, it must have looked like nothing but mockery.'
At best, an oblivious crazy bitch; at worst—
Well, there was no need to say it.
"…."
The moment I showed up at the scene, people's reactions turned cold.
There was no hatred or contempt, but they were filled with fear instead.
What would that lunatic do this time?
I could see that thought plainly on their faces.
But they didn't run or back away.
I approached them with one thought: I couldn't run away again.
"I'll help you."
I didn't say I was sorry or that I'd done wrong.
I had no right to say either.
'It's okay. I'll fix things little by little from now on.'
I had no intention of giving up just because it was too late.
Nor did I intend to let go, thinking there was nothing I could do now.
―Ms. Seo-ah! Let's go! To protect the people!
Because I had an angel who believed in me.
What I had to do was exactly what the angel had told me.
"Does anyone need help!!"
To have faith and reach the stars.
* * *
Watching Seo-ah on TV, I shuddered at an indescribable sensation.
It felt as if a shard of ice slid from the nape of my neck all the way down to my lower back.
It wasn't unpleasant in the slightest.
How should I describe this?
I didn't know.
But one thing was certain: this sensation definitely fell within the realm of pleasure.
"Uuuh…. Hnnng…!"
Look at her—not breaking despite the despair and emptiness of discovering she'd been deceived all this time as a magical girl.
Look at her standing back up even with a heart torn to shreds and covered in wounds.
How noble…. How sublime.
"Aah…! Nghhh…!"
I covered my face with both hands and trembled.
Even though my hands covered my eyes, a light bright enough to blind me burst forth.
"Haa, hhhh…."
Damn it, Yoo Seo-ah…! What the hell is that nobility?!
The halo…. The halo keeps shining…!!
"Hoo…."
After trembling all over for a while, I could finally stand only after the news switched to another scene.
"Ugh, uuh…. I can't feel any strength in my body…."
Maybe because I'd practically convulsed, I had no strength left in my entire body.
If I hadn't been able to float in midair, I'd have been sprawled on the floor like Mr. Yamcha from some manga by now.
Being an angel is nice, but I really wish someone would do something about this glowing halo.
Especially when it flashes like that and leaves me half-incapacitated.
"This will be a problem if it keeps happening…."
I need to help the other magical girls, so it would be a problem if it suddenly flashed and left me incapacitated.
And an angel making strange noises and trembling like that isn't exactly a pleasant sight, either.
"Phew…. I suppose I need to get used to this, too."
This was my first time experiencing it, but if similar things were going to happen in the future, I needed to get used to this little by little, too.
…Honestly, I didn't think I could, but I had to.
I couldn't show such a vulgar side of myself in front of the other magical girls.
"For now, I should calm down and clean up the house."
Once I had recovered some strength, I began preparing so Seo-ah could rest comfortably when she returned.
Preparation meant nothing more than cleaning the house and making food she might like.
Even so, I prepared everything with care and sincerity.
So that when she returned, she would feel like she was home.
That was when, as I was cleaning the room and cooking,
a strange report came from the TV I'd forgotten to turn off.
[There was a large-scale monster outbreak in C City the other day. The incident was resolved by Magical Girl Blue. However, unfavorable stories about Magical Girl Blue have been circulating among some citizens. What are your thoughts, Doctor?]
Blue? Not Black?
The topic caught my interest, so I turned off the gas stove and went to stand in front of the TV.
[Yes, such stories are certainly circulating. If you look at this data…. Magical Girl Blue is attempting to privatize C City. She is infringing on citizens' rights under the pretext of safety…. Yes, those are the kinds of claims being made.]
[Privatizing a city…. Infringing on rights under the pretext of safety…. Every one of those is a weighty topic. As I understand it, C City is considered the safest city of them all, so why are people saying such things?]
[Perhaps it's because of its surveillance system, which differs from those of other cities?]
The doctor said so as a visual appeared on the screen.
The footage showed a photograph with an astonishing number of drones nearly covering the sky.
Without the buildings below, one could have mistaken it for a sheet of paper dotted with specks rather than a city.
The anchor gasped in amazement and covered their mouth the moment they saw the image.
[That's an astonishing number. Just how many are there?]
[There are more than 400 in the photograph alone. With that many drones per block blanketing the city… There must be at least a hundred thousand, wouldn't you say?]
[A hundred thousand? That's a staggering number. Weren't there about that many city CCTV cameras in the old days?]
[Yes, that's right. But unlike CCTV, these drones could be used as weapons with some modifications, and they have no blind spots. To be honest, I think it's only natural for citizens to feel uneasy. Yes.]
[Certainly, if that many drones were flying overhead, you'd feel as though your every move were being watched, even setting safety aside. By the way, wouldn't it cost an astronomical amount to maintain that many drones?]
[Wasn't Magical Girl Blue the one who made those drones? Since she has never been seen maintaining them, I presume she's sustaining them with her magical power.]
[So even you don't know the details, Doctor.]
[Haha, that's right. I'm not a magical girl.]
The doctor eased the mood with a light joke before resuming the discussion.
The discussion continued along similar lines.
Even if they were magical girls, weren't they still human? Could one person really privatize a city?
Magical girls were beings beyond the law. In the current situation, where monsters and supervillains existed, the extralegal actions of a single human could not help but be accepted.
Whether it was talk of magical girls as beings beyond the law or the controversies among the citizens, none of it had anything to do with me.
There was only one thing on my mind.
No, one person.
"Magical Girl Blue…."
It was the girl who had covered her sky with cold machines.
I hadn't finished dealing with Yoo Seo-ah yet. Was it really okay to start moving already?
What had happened to the other magical girls?
Just then, as all those worries swirled inside me,
I turned off the TV when I heard the click of the door opening.
Naturally, it was Yoo Seo-ah who came through the door.
She looked a little tired—unlike when she usually returned after killing only a monster—but her complexion was much better.
It must have been because she'd unburdened her heart.
"You're back?"
"Yeah, I'm back."
I couldn't say anything for a while at the sight of her answering with a gentle smile, as if relieved.
If I told her I was going to leave her for a while and go to another magical girl, what would Yoo Seo-ah say?
"Would you like to have dinner first? Or take a bath?"
"I'll take a bath first."
For now, I'd wait a little.
It wasn't something I needed to think about right now.