LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 310
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen on a Monday morning.”
“Oh, no. You’re a Magical Girl, right? Stuff like this happens sometimes. I’ve had to wait a few times too.”
“…I see.”
Ji-hye probably said that without much thought, but hearing it made me feel a bit uneasy.
Could it be that I’m expecting too much from Ji-hye? Always asking her to do this and that…
If you were to ask me what the most important thing in my life is, I wouldn’t really be able to pinpoint it.
Ji-hye is precious.
As my family. The teachers are the same, and the kids living with me at the orphanage are of course important too. But among them, Ji-hye is undeniably the most crucial person.
Ji-hye and I have always been together. Since the moment I first gained proper memories in this world up to now, we’ve never been apart.
Honestly, at this point, I couldn’t care less about the fact that we don’t share blood. Even if there were someone in this world I shared blood with, our bond would be far weaker. Meeting them now would feel like meeting a stranger.
But Ha-yoon is important too.
Not more important than Ji-hye, but how should I put it? Our friendship is different. If Ji-hye is family, then Ha-yoon is my best friend. I think Ji-hye is more important than anyone else in the world, but Ha-yoon… Ha-yoon is also special in her own way.
And the other Magical Girls are also important friends, and Pang-pang has now become a friend I can open up to as well.
If I had to choose, I could carefully weigh things out like that. But there’s a big difference between ‘I can’ and ‘I want to.’ I don’t really want to do that.
“It should be fine for now.”
Cherry said calmly.
“When you think about the distance from school to here, they can take this and still make it in time. There’s enough time.”
We nodded at Cherry’s words.
Honestly, I was a little anxious.
Everything started happening all of a sudden again. Just like last time when our duties clashed with the orphanage, this time urgent matters overlapped with what we needed to do.
I tried to hide my nervousness. Ji-hye was right next to me.
Ha-yoon didn’t insist that I should be okay or calm down. Just by having that conversation, Ji-hye might get flustered or worried.
Fifteen minutes felt like an eternity.
One thing I could say for certain from the years I’ve spent as a Magical Girl is that the ‘schedule’ that the Federation refers to is remarkably precise.
I didn’t measure in seconds, but whenever they said they’d come, they never arrived even a minute late or early.
Space navigation has its peculiarities. The range of influences can span across planets or be defined by the speed of light, which might actually mean less impact, or something like that.
So, when it came to ‘12 minutes,’ it was undoubtedly too short a time for the Federation to reach…
Thud.
After waiting for 12 minutes, I heard that sound.
Ha-yoon, Ji-hye, Cherry, and I all looked up at the ceiling because the sound came from there.
Thud!
That sound was louder and followed by other noises. I don’t know why it resonated like that in this situation, but it sounded just like gunfire.
Yeah. It was similar to the sound of combatants shooting at us when we broke into the Federation building.
“Is that the sound of the Federation people?”
I asked just in case, but—
“No, that can’t be.”
Cherry shook her head immediately.
“This isn’t the sound of landing. It’s set up in such a way that it absolutely wouldn’t land like that for safety reasons—”
What followed was an alarm sound reminiscent of a fire alarm. Suddenly, the alarm system of the headquarters started blaring. A piercing sound digging into our ears.
“…What the…?”
Cherry muttered.
“What? What’s going on?”
Before Cherry could say anything further—
“Aliens!”
Someone shouted that while rushing toward us from where we were. It was one of the regulars here.
“Aliens, armed aliens…!”
Armed? Aliens?
Both felt a bit awkward. Aliens aren’t usually the sort of people who can use weapons, and most importantly, they usually don’t come out in groups. The probability of becoming an alien in the first place is extremely low.
However, that doesn’t mean I could ignore what was being said.
Ha-yoon and I exchanged glances and nodded to each other.
“We’ll go check it out.”
“Okay, got it.”
Cherry replied.
“Ji-hye.”
I looked at Ji-hye.
Then, after trying to find the right words, I mumbled out a reply instead.
“…I’m sorry.”
It’s ultimately my fault.
Isn’t that right? It was my hesitation that made them bring them along.
It’s us who thought this place… could get dangerous. And if it could become dangerous, it could become infinitely more so than we expected.
In that case, civilians shouldn’t be here. From the very beginning.
“No.”
But Ji-hye shook her head at me with an expression that showed she wasn’t blaming me at all.
“I had fun too. I’m glad you called me.”
The fact that it’s not a lie, with no hint of insincerity, is something I’ve come to know well after sharing a room with Ji-hye all my life.
Ji-hye truly felt happy to be with us.
Even under such circumstances, she wouldn’t regret it.
“I’ll be back.”
I responded. Ji-hye nodded.
*
“Seems like you really have a special bond.”
Ha-yoon remarked.
“We’re like sisters.”
“I see.”
Ha-yoon paused for a moment, then said brightly,
“Then let’s work hard to solve this so Ji-hye won’t realize!”
“Okay.”
We kicked the rooftop door open and rushed out.
And the first thing we saw was the mess of a flowerbed.
It was a flowerbed that Yeon-woo had diligently tended to over the past few years. To be honest, it didn’t quite suit buildings that take on such roles. Who knows what might land on top of it?
However, most spacecrafts don’t hover over things by just blowing away what’s underneath. That’s magic for you. Given that we’re people working under the Federation, there’s no reason for things like helicopters to be landing here.
…What was hovering above, was clearly made from that alien technology of the Federation’s ships.
But it was small. No, it even seemed questionable whether a person could fit inside. If I had to categorize it, it was a drone, and underneath it was something like a claw typical of claw machines, presumably for transporting containers.
And below that. From what had fallen onto the rooftop—
“…What’s that.”
“…Yes, it’s definitely aliens. And it’s true they’re armed.”
There were various types of aliens. Four of them. A being shaped like a bear. A creature standing on two legs resembling a lion. And a wolf and a wild boar.
The peculiar thing was that they were all clad in white armor, as if trying hard to look ‘robotic’… However, the armor was poorly fitting, almost falling apart. The gunshots earlier seemed to have been aimed at those aliens from the Federation.
“Growl…”
The aliens appeared to be controlled by the armor. I couldn’t be certain. The joints of that armor looked like they could break at any moment.
If they tried to control them, it seemed they hadn’t done a perfect job. Just by looking at it, that armor looked too weak to hold the aliens inside securely.
“There are four of them. Do you think we can handle it?”
“I have to, of course. Ji-eun.”
Ha-yoon smiled in response to my question.
We put everything we had into fighting when dealing with just one alien, and yet here we were, able to smile even in front of four aliens—because we had to be that kind of existence.
A Magical Girl, after all.
There’s something to protect behind us. So we have to protect it.
And there’s no other option.
And—
I clenched my fist. I could feel the circuits spinning.
I have the strength. The strength to protect.
That strength is proportional to my hope.
“Let’s go!”
“Sure!”
I raised my hammer high, and Ha-yoon drew her sword from her wand, dashing forward with all our might.
*
Ji-hye trembled at a sound that was incomparably louder than before.
She was scared.
But oddly enough, I didn’t regret having come this far. Instead, I felt something breaking through the fear.
“Ji-hye, are you okay?”
Cherry asked.
Cherry was standing atop some strange platform. I wondered if that was what Ji-eun and the other kids were trying to protect.
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
I replied in a strangely clear voice, even though I was scared.
If I truly showed I was scared here, it would obviously be a hindrance to Ji-eun…
Moreover, it wasn’t just that.
As the Magical Girl known as ‘Happy Lily,’ Jeong Ji-eun, I genuinely cares for Ji-hye, who grew up alongside her.
I had felt that truth keenly over the past few days.
Even here, in a place filled with equally famous and important people, Ji-eun had earnestly searched for Ji-hye. She’d met her eyes and smiled sometimes while mingling with the other kids, even going out of her way to place grilled meat in Ji-hye’s bowl.
Every action, every expression proved that the bond between us hadn’t been severed.
That feeling was so precious.
Just moments ago, Ji-eun’s response to Ji-hye had been so precious that Ji-hye could feel fear but still not be truly afraid.
A contradictory feeling. But at the same time, I thought that it couldn’t be helped.
“…Let’s go to a safer place.”
Perhaps sensing the ongoing sounds of fighting as something dangerous, Cherry said.
Ji-hye nodded.
Ironically, the voice of Ji-eun, who fought so fiercely for Ji-hye, erased any worries about ‘school’ from Ji-hye’s mind out of fear.