Chapter 17
Yoo Seo-ah is a powerful magical girl.
This isn't about physical strength.
Of course, Yoo Seo-ah is quite powerful too, but what truly makes her strong is her heart.
How many people could willingly step forward to protect others while suffering from horrific trauma?
How many people could quietly do what they have to do while suffering from nightmares that torment them every night?
That alone would be more than enough to call her remarkable.
But what truly surprised me was something else.
The day the magic covering her eyes was dispelled and she faced her long-standing nightmares and despair head-on.
Even in a situation where it would have been perfectly understandable for her to despair at her powerlessness and have her spirit broken, she didn't evade it or pretend not to see or know about it, as she had before.
Rather, she accepted and acknowledged it, then tried to solve the problem in her own way.
A magical girl with such a strong heart.
Why had she clung so desperately to a single cigarette, unable to quit?
She couldn't help it because, apart from cigarettes, she had nowhere else to turn.
It was to forget her painful memories.
She couldn't help it because she couldn't sleep without them….
To be honest, all of those were perfectly understandable.
But in my opinion, that wasn't the whole story.
She had nowhere to turn apart from cigarettes?
She couldn't sleep without them?
Then what had she done before that?
She was thirteen eight years ago. That meant she was twenty-one now.
She had said she didn't smoke when she was underage, so she could have started smoking no more than two years ago.
Then where had she turned for support, and how had she fallen asleep, during the six years before she started smoking?
Right. She hadn't turned to anything.
She had tried to overcome it on her own.
While making an effort hard enough to cut into her bones and make her cough blood, so she would never repeat the mistake she'd made.
Until she earned the title of the strongest.
It wasn't to forget her painful memories, either.
Neither her training to become stronger nor her efforts to save people had been for that.
It was because she didn't want to repeat the nightmare of that day, not because she wanted to forget the painful memory.
Why, then, had someone like that clung so desperately to cigarettes?
―I'd decided to quit smoking.
Why on earth would someone who could quit smoking the moment she set her mind to it…?
…There is one likely culprit.
"The organization of evil."
It's just that, until now, there hadn't been any reason to suspect them in particular.
Because in the original story, they only planted hints and never actually appeared.
But on the way to dinner with Yoo Seo-ah today, I encountered someone I suspected belonged to the organization of evil.
―I hope you manage to quit smoking.
The man who calmly smiled and handed a child a piece of candy containing some unidentified black substance.
That's why I came here.
If that man really was part of the organization of evil, I intended to do something about it, one way or another.
I didn't want Yoo Seo-ah to get caught up in something like this after I left.
"There it is."
I perched on the rooftop of a building and looked down at the convenience store.
I wondered whether the part-timer had changed after so much time had passed, but the same part-timer I'd seen then was still working inside the convenience store.
'That's a part-timer?'
Yoo Seo-ah usually went out to buy cigarettes during the day.
That was between two and three in the afternoon.
The fact that she and Yoo Seo-ah were acquainted meant that this part-timer must have been there then, too.
It had been five when we went out to dinner, and it was three in the morning now.
'At least twelve hours….'
What part-timer in the world worked at the same convenience store for more than twelve hours a day, every day, for over six years?
Even the owner of the convenience store wouldn't work that much.
'Suspicious after all.'
As I watched the part-timer with a frown, the part-timer came outside the convenience store.
Once outside, the part-timer reached into his clothes, took out a cigarette, and put it in his mouth.
Looking closely, I saw that it was the same cigarette he'd tried to give Yoo Seo-ah earlier.
The part-timer lit the cigarette and took a deep drag.
More than half the cigarette burned away in an instant.
I frowned at the way he smoked; it seemed strangely familiar.
The part-timer didn't stop there and drew in an even deeper drag.
Soon, the cigarette had burned right up to the filter.
The part-timer dropped the butt on the ground, then raised his head and looked at me.
I hadn't imagined it.
The part-timer looked directly at me, smiled faintly, and exhaled smoke.
The smoke he exhaled was pitch-black, like exhaust fumes.
It was the same kind of black smoke that had come from the candy.
'He's provoking me quite blatantly.'
Right. I hadn't intended to hide myself, either.
I spread my wings and slowly descended in front of the part-timer.
"Good evening, Angela. Or was it Engela? Or perhaps…. Shall I call you an angel?"
"…You already knew, then."
"Haha. How could I not, when you're displaying your wings and ring so blatantly?"
The man answered with a hearty laugh.
"So…. What brings an angel here at this hour? Late-night snacks aren't good for you."
"You're the one behind all of this, aren't you?"
Since he didn't seem to have any intention of hiding it, I confronted him directly.
Perhaps he hadn't expected me to ask so bluntly, because the man blinked, then burst out laughing.
"Pfft…. Pahahaha! Ah, I suspected as much, but I never imagined you'd ask so directly."
"Answer me."
"My, aren't you impatient? But did you really think I'd answer obediently just because you rushed me?"
The part-timer grinned, put a new cigarette in his mouth, and continued.
"Yes. That's right. I did it. I infused the cigarettes with a minuscule amount of magic so that her mascot would absorb magic every time she smoked, corrupting her; I used the magic that accumulated in her body to give her nightmares and induce insomnia; and I summoned monsters every day for her to kill, creating her trauma. I did all of it."
"Why are you doing this? What did the magical girl ever do to you?"
"Why am I doing this…."
The part-timer trailed off, lit his cigarette, and blinked silently for a while.
He wasn't taking so long because he was thinking of an excuse.
The part-timer genuinely looked as though he didn't know what he should say.
After smoking silently for quite some time, the part-timer spoke with a deep sigh.
"I wonder why…."
"…What?"
"Because I hate magical girls? No. That isn't it. I don't particularly hold any grudge against magical girls. Because I like watching them suffer…. Hmm. That's too malicious. Who wants to watch people suffer? And I don't particularly want to accomplish anything, so I can't exactly say it's for some grand cause…."
At first, I wondered if he was deliberately acting this way to anger me.
But that wasn't it.
"Because I want to bring chaos to the world. No, that's not quite it, either. If the world fell into chaos, I'd lose my job, too. Revenge for the tragedy eight years ago? Hmm. That's not it, either. I don't have any family or friends."
"What does that mean…."
"I mean exactly what I said. I don't know why I torment them, either."
This madman was truly tormenting the magical girls 'for no reason at all.'
"Perhaps it's because that's what I was made to be?"
As he said that, the part-timer exhaled pitch-black smoke.
A distorted face emerged through the black smoke.
Three red eyes set in a pitch-black exoskeleton resembling dragon scales stared at me.
I'd never heard the full story from Yoo Seo-ah, but I knew instinctively.
This was the monster who had driven Yoo Seo-ah into despair eight years ago.
"A monster…!"
The monster, having blatantly revealed its identity, spoke with a sly smile.
"Shh…. This is just a secret between the two of us, okay?"
"Don't be ridiculous! There's no way I'd keep this a secret!"
"I'm not trying to be funny. I'm serious, you know?"
As he spoke, the monster pointed toward the apartment complex.
"If you show any sign that you're going to tell Ms. Yoo Seo-ah about me, I'll kill as many humans as I possibly can between now and when Ms. Yoo Seo-ah arrives. It's the middle of the night, too…. I could probably kill a few thousand."
"Do you think I'll just stand by and do nothing?"
The monster grinned, baring teeth as sharp as a shark's.
"Then shall we make a bet? Whether I'll kill more people, or you, angel, will save more."
I clenched my teeth at the way he said it with a smile.
[Noble beings cannot interfere in human affairs!]
[An angel who forgets how an angel should act will fall! (It hurts a lot!)]
It hurts a lot…?
I wonder just how much it would hurt.
If I accepted those conditions and backed down here, how badly would Yoo Seo-ah be hurt?
Would she, who was only just beginning to rise above her wounds, be broken again?
No—even if she wasn't broken, wouldn't she become corrupted, blinded by a desire for revenge?
Would protecting myself here really be for the magical girl's sake?
'No.'
I'd made a vow when I entered this world, hadn't I?
I'd make the magical girls happy in place of that damn author.
Fine, then. I could take a little pain.
"…Go ahead. No matter what happens, I'll make sure you can't kill a single person."
I drew out all the remaining wings I had stored inside my body and faced the monster.
If necessary, I intended to embrace him and fly straight up into the highest reaches of the sky.
After a long standoff, it was the monster who backed down first.
"Phew, as expected. A being who has steeled themself is frightening. I lost. I'll withdraw this time."
"Are you running away?"
"Let's call it a strategic retreat. Because of you, I can no longer bring her down with any half-hearted tricks."
The monster shrugged and drew out membranous wings.
He was saying outright that he intended to flee.
"Who said I'd let you go?"
"Haha. I had a feeling you'd say that. Then how about this?"
Soon, the monster's hand was covered in pitch-black scales, and an immense energy began to gather.
"What…!?"
"If you don't block it, people might die, you know?"
The orb containing immense energy began flying toward the apartment building before I had a chance to stop it.
If I didn't stop it, people would die.
At least dozens, perhaps even hundreds, might die.
If I blocked it, I'd let the monster get away.
In this situation, I had only one choice.
"Y-you evil monster…!!"
"Haha. What an adorable curse. Then do your best to block it. I'll be off."
The monster said that and flew to the opposite side of the orb.
I bit down hard and flew toward the orb at high speed, beating my wings hard.
Before the mass of energy could reach the apartment, I spread my wings in front of it and stopped the mass of energy.
――――!!!
Along with an enormous explosion, a burst of light erupted, bright enough to make the predawn sky look like midday for a moment.
* * *
…Haa. Haa. Ngh, this is truly unbelievable."
The monster, Ska, looked down at his trembling hand and forced a smile.
'All the angel had done was stand there.'
A seraph with all six wings unfurled.
The overwhelming pressure radiating from that creature was beyond anything a mere magical girl could withstand.
'If it had come at me instead of protecting humans, I would surely have died.'
"Kehat…!"
The question had been: Why do you torment magical girls?
I couldn't answer before, but now I think I can.
"Khehe…."
Because a battle in which he might die is unbearably enjoyable.
Ska laughed as he trembled all over, watching the angel fly through the sky without a single scratch.
"I hope we'll be able to meet with smiles when we see each other next time."
Saying that, Ska disappeared into the shadows.