NOVEL NEXT Episode 56 – The Virtue of a Magical Girl (6)
At the promised location, an abandoned building nearby, Seria, cloaked in hiding magic, was seen swiftly crossing the sky towards this place.
I was waiting for her openly, without hiding at all.
“You made it. But that look in your eyes says you can’t believe it.”
“Who are you? No, who are you?”
Her eyes shook violently as she landed upon seeing me. Since I was perfectly concealing my status as the Demon King, I could tell she wasn’t completely convinced yet.
This was a bit weird. If I strolled down the street in this form, no one would mistake me for anyone else.
“Well, who do you think I am?”
I asked with a faint smile. She flinched and bit her lip. At a glance, she seemed unsure of her thoughts.
“There’s another Takilas I know…”
“So?”
“That person is a king, a ruler of a world. And here you are, calling me as if you know me… you are the Demon King Takilas, aren’t you?”
Her voice trembled, sounding quite confused. Considering this was her first time seeing me like this, it must be tough for her to figure out how to respond.
“No. I am Magical Girl Takilas. Your senior.”
So, I decided to clarify things. As I pointed to my chest with a grin, Seria flinched again.
“And you are Magical Girl Rene. My junior. That’s all there is to it.”
I pointed at myself and her in turn. Whether she understood the meaning or not, her gaze shifted slightly.
Originally, once transformed, a magical girl becomes an entirely different being. Both she and I were the same. Setting aside our identities as the tentacle Demon King and the wizard princess, we operated as equals in the realm of magical girls, entirely different beings.
Though it didn’t bother me, it needed to happen for her deviation to have significance.
“I simply called you first to let you know not to be surprised. Whatever we do here is our own freedom, so let’s not concern ourselves with each other. We’re both entirely different beings.”
“…Understood.”
She still looked quite bewildered, but at least she understood enough not to use honorifics with me. That was satisfactory.
I retrieved Ren, who was gnawing at my shoulder, leaving Seria standing there in a daze, and exited the building.
“I guess she’ll adapt well enough. Even in a different world, she’s entirely different, so no need to stress.”
“What could she possibly be thinking…”
Ignoring Ren’s grumbling from my shoulder, I flew into the sky as I exited the building. I was already late, but since I had stepped out briefly during school’s lunch period, I needed to hurry back to avoid suspicion.
“I’ve become quite the popular figure now.”
“You’re an SSS-grade candidate, having taken down Mamute solo. What did you expect?”
Along the way, I could feel numerous gazes directed my way.
Those mixed emotions in their looks… Honestly, I was not one to enjoy such attention, but it was the consequence of my own actions, so I didn’t overly concern myself.
“What’s this now…”
But then, in that moment.
Something was shot at me, rapidly approaching. Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, I quickly ascended.
“M-Missile!”
“What a cocky bunch.”
Trailing behind me was a missile about half my size, fired who-knows-where.
I scrunched my face but quickly released my magic, crushing the missile in mid-air and suppressing the explosion.
I didn’t take a scratch, yet I was boggled.
I never imagined I could be shot down by a missile right in the heart of Seoul. Thankfully, no follow-up attacks came.
“Who in the world did this…?”
“Regardless, we have to return. You’re already over five periods late. What are you going to tell the teacher? They’ll definitely punish you.”
As I searched for the culprits below, Ren tugged on my hair, wanting me to stop.
I bit my lip as I stretched Ren’s ears, suppressing my scream. Restrictions, my daily life was full of them.
Was living the life of a 14-year-old girl truly the life I desired? Just as I had told Ren, being a magical girl was no longer just a pastime for me; it was becoming a way of life. I was somewhat satisfied with that.
So, how about this daily life as Lee Jin-ah?
It was a disguise I had no choice but to adopt, to blend into a society already steeped in order, but was there really anything I could gain from this mundane routine?
“Yes, yes. Even now that I know your true identity and circumstances, my thoughts haven’t changed. You’re definitely enjoying that routine. You feel a sense of stability. So, enjoy it as much as you can. Continuously…”
“Does it really look that way? That I, the Demon King Takilas, am happily pretending to be a little girl?”
Ren, still dangling from my ear, continued its bold declarations.
Yet the reflection of my crumpled face in those big black eyes of his was slowly finding stability. I hoisted Ren back onto my shoulder.
Truth be told, maybe it really was. Perhaps the struggles I had endured over the past century had exhausted me more than I realized.
The advice I had given to Seria was merely applying to myself as well.
“It feels like the game is getting more serious.”
Disguised, I landed on the school roof and reverted to my normal form, heading back to class.
*
“Hmm. Did you see it?”
“The tracking failed. It seems some form of magic was involved.”
“Honestly, any researcher would be intrigued. The strongest so-called magical girl. I wonder what secrets lie within that tiny body if we were to dissect her alive.”
O Insun lowered the binoculars she had been holding.
Despite being called the strongest and most fearsome, the infamous “Code Red” magical girl showed no hesitation in taking lives, and yet they had fired an anti-tank guided missile in the heart of Seoul and remained unscratched.
It was because they had attempted this with a well-calculated premise.
“Code Red, demon girl, whatever—she’s just a young magical girl.”
“Looking at the time, it’s clear. She merely stepped out during school lunch. Seeing her rush back inside, even the most fearsome magical girl must fear their instructors? We might find clues if we search nearby schools.”
At O Insun’s words, her colleagues snickered.
It was already common knowledge that a magical girl’s transformation had its limits. The fact that they lost much of their power when not transformed was undeniable.
Besides, given their inherent nature as part of society, magical girls tended to conceal their true appearances as much as possible. That was precisely when they were most vulnerable.
No matter how strong a magical girl is, if not transformed, a single, random bullet could reduce their skull to mush.
“Well, what really matters is not Takilas. How about other teams? Did they have any success?”
“No. That can’t be the case.”
“Well, that’s good. At least we made the trip worthwhile.”
She smiled at her colleague’s words. The organization’s plans were steadily progressing.
“Going forward… huh?”
That was when a phone call came in.
“Who is it?”
“Member Jeong.”
She answered the call as if it were no big deal, but soon frowned and pulled the phone away from her ear. The other side’s angry voice was noisy enough to be heard outside.
“What in the world did you do?! You fired a missile at Takilas in the middle of Seoul!?”
“What’s there to worry about? It was all calculated, and thanks to that, we managed to glean some of that criminal girl’s identity. Is the Korean government incapable of doing something so simple?”
At her words, O Insun smirked, unfazed. On the other end of the line, Jeong Chan-hyuk, the Member of Parliament, was left speechless, taken aback by her attitude.
“That girl is uncontrollable, even if she has flown all the way to America. Fortunately, she’s been quiet lately, so there’s no reason to provoke her.”
“That’s your concern, not mine. How dare you, a vassal, try to meddle in the affairs of a great nation?”
“Profit…”
Jeong’s face twisted at the insult of being called a vassal, but he could not rebut it. He could only begrudge his peers who had dumped this matter onto him.
“I won’t cross any lines, so just watch. You all have already sold out for your own gains—your country, your meager honor, your very essence, and even the children of this land.”
“Shut up. If too much attention is drawn, we’ll have nothing left we can do, so be careful. Tsk.”
O Insun’s scoffing made him hang up quickly.
She had said it all with truth, which left him with a bit of remaining conscience, as he realized how embarrassing it was.
“Disgraceful fools. Corrupt and evil yet incompetent. Do they think we’ll accept their betrayal just because they’re full of themselves?”
“I have no interest in politics. Let’s just secure the specimen and conclude this experiment.”
O Insun, who moved according to the orders from above, scoffed at the political factions in Korea who had been actively cooperating to bring the organization, The One Road, into the country and search for children to use as experiment subjects.
Of course, the overseas branch of The One Road was structured like a multinational corporation, with numerous foreigners like Danny, of American descent, involved.
Whether it was those from the top or the volunteers who participated in the research, their ultimate goal was singular.
To uncover the secrets of magical power and use it for their own strength.