NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15 – The Runaway Girl (3)
“It’s a total mess.”
And it literally was.
A mess, a chaotic scene, an apocalypse.
Even in the deep of night, there was no space to step as citizens, police, and paramedics gathered to gawk at the scene. Without a second thought, I slipped into the crowd and made my way towards the chaos.
“Weren’t you just about to escape?”
“Dummy. If I’ve got all this attention, something’s bound to happen. You think they’d just leave the victims alone? I’ll mingle a bit here; should be fine.”
I had my own plan. Wandering around haphazardly wouldn’t lead to someone picking up a lost girl in this ruthless world.
“Jin-ah…”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
I put on my best surprised face and approached Kim Soo-jung, who was bundled in a blanket. One of the officers wrapping her up stared at me with wide eyes.
“Do you know her?”
“I just stepped outside for a bit, and when I heard a loud noise at home, I came back.”
I was playing it cool—after all, I had said I was just stepping out for a quick errand.
“Oh, I see. Come this way. There’s been a big incident. Don’t go home. It’s pretty rough out there.”
Without much suspicion, the officer wrapped a blanket around me too. I wasn’t really worried about raising eyebrows. The connector on my hand was my only proof, and like Ren next to me, it wouldn’t be visible to the average person.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah… but…”
What concerned me more was Kim Soo-jung’s condition. She was shivering and nodding. But then again, she hadn’t witnessed it firsthand.
The sight of a pig getting carved up while still alive.
“So-hyun must be in shock.”
But it didn’t seem like Jeon So-hyun, who had been shielding Kim Soo-jung’s ears and eyes, was in that bad of shape. I approached the spaced-out So-hyun sitting a little further ahead.
“You.”
She pointed a trembling finger at me, and it was shaking like a leaf.
What about her eyes? They looked like a violent earthquake had just hit.
“You’re lucky. If you were here, I couldn’t have covered my ears.”
“Who’s helping whom here? Why don’t you manage your own feelings, sis.”
“…What?”
“No matter how tough you try to act, it’s pointless. It’s clear you’re fragile inside. You have the qualifications of a warrior, but if you can’t overcome that, you’ll just end up devoured by yourself.”
“…”
She looked shocked, her mouth agape like she’d just been punched. Truth be told, she was the only one I was honestly concerned about after Kim Soo-jung.
She even had the audacity to serve me an acorn.
“Anyway, since everything’s wrapped up, forget what you’ve seen today.”
I shared my little wisdom. Back when I adapted to the Demon Realm, one of my methods for mental training was simply to forget everything.
Just wipe it all clean. Why torment myself replaying a myriad of future events that would only bring me down?
“What did you say to your sister?”
“Just told her to hang in there.”
Returning to the present, I smiled at Kim Soo-jung, who seemed to have regained some composure.
“Management Bureau here! Please move aside!”
“Over here!”
Right then, they barged in noisily, creating a commotion at the scene.
“So, Takilas ignored warnings and continued her killing spree.”
“Yeah. We were trying to talk things through peacefully?!”
“…They pulled out their weapons and attacked the moment they saw us.”
“Anyway! We’re leaving! We did cooperate, you know?!”
The magic girls who treated the injured were leaving. The one they’d been speaking with was a young woman, probably a management bureau employee, for some reason rumored to be a department head.
“No matter how rough that girl might be, she’s still a magical girl. A magical girl can’t harm someone who isn’t evil.”
“But Director Oh, you know that the definition of evil that magical girls use isn’t exactly in line with our common sense, right?”
The high-ranking police officer who was shaking his head sighed at her words. I entertained myself with a hot chocolate a citizen gave me while watching the scene unfold.
“We’ve surpassed Code Red. We haven’t investigated everything yet, but the murdered woman was just an ordinary runaway student…”
“Chief! Chief! There’s another corpse!”
At that moment, I heard noise—finally someone must have spotted Kim Kwang-hoon’s body dumped in an alley.
Naturally, chaos broke out once more. Watching the spectacle, I took a moment to compose myself.
“Wha-what’s that face for?”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“That’s the look you get when you’re getting cozy with a criminal organization.”
Ren read my expression and made a fuss. I kicked his foot, then headed over to the woman in glasses, either Director Oh or something similar.
“What’s going on?”
She waved off the police who were trying to block me and smiled at me.
I returned a faint smile. There was a subtle hint of evil in her presence—not the kind you’d expect from a typical person like Kim Soo-jung or Jeon So-hyun.
Meaning she was definitely a super nice person I could trust.
“There was a guy named Kim Kwang-hoon running that runaway gang.”
“Uh…?”
“He had us move strange items periodically in exchange for food and a place to stay. Those items were white powder wrapped in tape and newspaper.”
“…Is that for real?”
“Absolutely.”
I spilled all the details, essentially gossiping.
The intent was twofold: to prevent any potential delays and to polish my image. If they discover they weren’t just your average runaway gang but were actually dealing drugs, it would be a much worse mess.
“Um, am I going to get caught too?”
Being underage means I shouldn’t get in trouble. Of course, I pretended to be scared and held my mouth like I said something I shouldn’t have.
“Oh, no. That won’t happen. What’s your name?”
“It’s Lee Jin-ah. This is Kim Soo-jung.”
She waved her hands in confusion. So far, this was going according to plan.
Now the focus would shift from the killing spree of Code Red’s magical girl, Takilas, to unearthing the runaway gang that was a cover for a criminal organization.
“What did you talk about with that guy?”
“Who knows? We’re not doing anything wrong, you know?”
Returning to Kim Soo-jung’s side, I chuckled softly. Now, all that was left was for me to kick back and observe the situation.
“Come this way. Everyone, let’s take a break and talk starting tomorrow.”
Things were getting late, and the police began gathering us runaways—including me—into one area to take us away.
I climbed into the police car alongside Kim Soo-jung, who was none the wiser as she slept, and Jeon So-hyun, whose face was grim.
It was true that we had run away regardless of being victims, and looking at what we had been doing, it didn’t seem all that clean either.
*
“So, does that mean Takilas was just doing her usual thing?”
“I only stated the facts. Drug dealings, child abuse, running a criminal organization, all are high-level crimes in the eyes of magical girls.”
Oh Yoon-seo, who hadn’t slept a wink, nodded her tired face.
She was talking with high-ranking officials from the Police Headquarters, including the chief. They sighed here and there at her answers, as if they were less than pleased.
“Still, Takilas has to be caught. The number of people she’s killed is over 20 now. She’s not dispatching them when she could easily spare their lives.”
The headquarters erupted into a ruckus. Oh Yoon-seo, who was representing the Management Bureau, listened to all the police’s perspectives and slowly walked out, clearly exhausted.
I could even see the bags under her eyes.
“…Eun-seo.”
“I heard it all.”
Just then, in front of her walked a high school girl, Han Eun-seo—a magical girl actively working under the alias Aria, collaborating with the Management Bureau.
Han Eun-seo naturally offered her a coffee she was holding.
“I’ll find her and definitely break all her limbs.”
“No, don’t do that.”
“She’s a wild child!”
As she shook her head, Han Eun-seo shot back with a fiery attitude. But she was calm.
“You’re the one in danger. Most importantly, your twisted arms. That girl can recover in an instant. She might not be alone.”
“…If she’s not alone, I’ll kill that scumbag behind her.”
“I want to talk to her.”
Oh Yoon-seo forced a smile. She was fundamentally against the magical girl system that thrust young girls into the battlefield.
“That girl seems lost. Hanging onto her performance, it must be why she’s acting so violently and recklessly.”
“…No matter how young and pitiful, if you have power, you need to take responsibility.”
“I’m sure I can set things right.”
She smiled with effort. Knowing her character, even Han Eun-seo couldn’t push further.
“Where are you going?”
“I met some kids yesterday. They had direct contact with magical girls… I’m thinking of testing and counseling them, and if needed, send them to the facilities under the Management Bureau. Want to join me? Those kids could become part of your family.”
“You know I’m independent.”
Even as she said that, Han Eun-seo ended up getting in her car.
The car drove across the road towards the Management Bureau. There were a few girls caught up in yesterday’s incident, handed over by the police.
The Management Bureau, which studied and dealt with everything related to magical girls, deemed it vital to extract information from them as well.