LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 50
If I had something more to lose, my plans with James would have been a bit more meticulous.
If that were the case, I would have differentiated between what I could lose and what I couldn’t, and if I had lost something, I would have been able to distinguish what I could give up and what could not be sacrificed.
As it stands, I ended up losing everything I had.
“We still have things to lose, right?”
James said.
Ah, right. From someone else’s perspective, it might not seem that way.
After all, we still have Ji-hye and Ha-yoon.
“Aren’t both of them still alive?”
It’s quite fortunate that the guy next to me said that, indicating they were ‘entities we absolutely couldn’t give up for now.’
Otherwise, I might have smashed that very head with a hammer.
“Ji-hye is someone we can’t meet right away. That means it’s almost like we don’t have her.”
Right, we can’t meet her. If I were to go see Ji-hye for whatever reason, problems would surely erupt.
First, my location would be exposed, and people would think I was close enough to Ji-hye to give up everything to see her, being a criminal and all.
In reality, our connection is one that I value highly enough to not just go and see her lightly.
“And Ha-yoon is a Magical Girl.”
My stance with Ha-yoon is practically null. Every time the Magical Girls come across me, they’ve attempted to subdue me.
Okay, I get it, let’s say that’s understandable when I first infiltrated the company. The Magical Girls probably regarded the items I held as extremely important, thinking of it as a competition.
But then, when I subdued the monster—
I saw the Magical Girls charging towards me.
They went to help me while I was getting shot.
No less, Ha-yoon just stood there with a blank expression.
Isn’t that strange?
If they’re really Magical Girls, they must be able to tell that I am not the culprit. I don’t know how deep they can dig through the Federation’s records, but they ought to know since we fought in that very area.
I am not a criminal.
“So, are you saying you’re going to destroy everything?”
James said while he rolled his eyes. That ‘rat-like look’ of his.
He proposed this kind of battle strategy, yet he speaks as if it’s my choice to make.
Well, I suppose it is my choice. It’s just that there was only one option.
“It’s annoying, isn’t it?”
I escaped because I didn’t want to be punished for a crime I didn’t commit, and I’m still on the run.
Yet the Magical Girls haven’t said a single word in my defense up to now.
I understand… I tried to try to understand.
Aren’t they still kids? Just like Ha-yoon, most of them likely reflect their parents’ intentions strongly while playing the role of Magical Girls.
But still.
Even so—aren’t they fighting for justice?
Do they know how many times my bones have broken and been crushed for that justice? Do they know that the people they brought down were, in fact, those who had fought all the way from distant planets to protect their families?
Well, they probably don’t know.
They likely have no intention of knowing.
Even if I were a Magical Girl, I probably would feel the same.
Would a thief be defended because they were poor? Would someone who works as a thug get compassion for that reason? Probably not. If someone committed a crime due to poverty, it might be weighed to some extent based on circumstances or behavior, but a crime is still a crime.
So then, a crime I didn’t commit is not a crime.
Alright, I decided to think of just one thing.
If everything I suddenly broke gets counted as a crime later, I guess I’ll just have to accept it.
But for now, I can’t stop. At the very least, I must clear my injustice. Even if a more despairing ending awaits at the end of it, I don’t care. After all, I’ve already lost everything.
“Let’s make sure to clarify one thing before we move on.”
Even with my words, it seemed James didn’t trust me completely, asking in a serious tone.
“If we execute our plan, we’ll inevitably run into the Magical Girls. Among them will be your friend, Blossom.”
“……”
“If we do end up in a fight, will you be able to fight seriously? Will you be able to subdue her? I’m not just saying this out of emotion. It’ll be troublesome if you can’t win in terms of skill.”
I thought for a moment.
Could I attack Ha-yoon?
It didn’t take long to reach a conclusion.
Up until now, I’ve confronted Ha-yoon several times. Naturally, I’ve even tried to attack her.
I know that the attacks I made were ones I could only execute because I knew they wouldn’t work, and that wouldn’t change now. After all, Ha-yoon is a Magical Girl, and in this world, even if a few arms or legs get broken, they can be healed in just a few hours.
So then, could I win?
This conclusion came to me a bit later.
“…Isn’t it a plan where we’re not sure if it will succeed?”
James said that, and I naturally agreed with him.
Every time I see James, I rib him for being like a rat or whatever, but truthfully, I’m no different. I’m cornered like a rat.
So, I’m just trying to ask at the end.
“Did you factor in whether I’d be able to win against Ha-yoon?”
I could attack her.
But could I break her arm while looking her in the eye, exposing my face?
That’s a completely different narrative.
It’s similar to how Ha-yoon hasn’t been able to bring herself to attack me since she saw my face.
More than anything, I… could genuinely hurt Ha-yoon now. It’s different from when I was a Combatant.
I can attack, but it’s possible I might not manage to break anything—
Would I be able to carry it through to the end?
That’s a completely separate question.
Even after I fumbled my answer, James nodded, as if he’d already expected that.
“Well, that’s fine. We aren’t aiming for the Magical Girl after all.”
“What about you? Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
At my question, James looked up at me.
He seemed to be looking at me with an expression of disbelief.
“Why?”
“No, it’s just strange that you would ask me that question.”
“Is it strange for me to be worried about you?”
“That’s part of it, but hmm.”
James tilted his head, thinking for a moment before speaking.
“Let me put it this way. Have you ever had loyalty towards the company you work for?”
“Uh…”
“It seems you were sincerely loyal to me during your time as a Combatant. That’s quite a touching story, but I’m not foolish enough to have loyalty towards the company I work for. I’m just in the relationship of selling my abilities for money.”
Hmm.
Would it be okay to slap him once? I think I know how to hit him without killing him.
“Of course, while there was a relationship of cooperation for mutual objectives, what significance would there be in trying to cooperate now?”
“You have a pretty straightforward character than I expected, huh?”
“I wonder what the meaning of that comment is, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. As long as the Chairman of the company is alive, I can keep carrying out my plans. But to do that, the obstacles in my way must be thoroughly eliminated.”
I thought he had given up completely, but in reality, he was just being stubborn.
So the guy is just betting on another possibility right away.
“Hey, how about becoming a Magical Girl?”
I think that mindset fits quite well with the Hope Circuit.
“I don’t really understand what kind of joke that is.”
James responded with a frown.
“…Then, I’ll apologize for that.”
“Ah, no, I actually never thought of it that way.”
Before leaving home, I looked back at Earth Buddy, who tilted his head.
His expression seemed so indifferent that I almost couldn’t help but chuckle.
“When the two of us are chatting, you’ve just been quietly waiting without saying a word.”
“Well, it wasn’t a conversation I could interrupt.”
Yeah, that’s true.
As I rolled my thoughts around in my head, Earth Buddy opened his mouth first.
“It’s better to have someone else around than to be alone all the time. There’s someone I can drink coffee with when I need to. It’s better to split the bills than to pay them alone.”
But, at the same time, it was incredibly dangerous. If it’s the Federation, they probably wouldn’t try anything strange towards an Earth Buddy, but the story would differ with the company.
Besides, Earth Buddy lost the job where he could earn a lot of money because of me. The situation with the company had become absurd because of me.
There are indeed many people in the world who would get angry about that. In fact, it might be more normal for them to get angry. Many people tend to pour their frustration towards the immediate cause since they don’t know where to direct it.
…Just like me.
“But it was fun. I had someone to talk to when I went out to work, and more than anything, there was a Magical Girl nearby, right? A special being that can only exist if they’re not an Earthling?”
“……”
If you say that much, I really have no words.
Earth Buddy is… “Earth Buddy,” after all. If he says that’s all good, then whatever.
“It’ll be hard to see each other from now on.”
I hadn’t planned where to run. James said he hadn’t thought of a place either.
This operation was truly ‘lightning’ in nature.
It was to escape as far as possible while the other side was recovering from the situation. That was the plan we established.
James thought about the dangers of staying in the same place, and I contemplated that if I remained here, I would eventually be discovered. I didn’t want to endanger someone who had helped me out of goodwill.
“That’s a shame.”
Earth Buddy said.
“But we might see each other face to face again, right?”
“……”
I thought about Earth Buddy.
How many friends had I made since coming here? I’ve never seen Earth Buddy as a friend.
I’m not sure how things were back on the planet I used to live on, but Earthlings are generally quite passive about having alien friends.
In the early days when aliens first landed, more people expressed a desire to make alien friends. But as time went on, the number of people wanting to get close to those who were classified as the privileged class dwindled. In some sense, it divided into those who could and those who couldn’t.
Some tourists looked at Earthlings like they were some primitive beings, and that only worsened the mutual images. Throw in the monster problem, and even if people don’t openly participate in anti-alien protests, it’s overflowing with people giving them wary glances.
Moreover, Earth Buddy is engaged in labor work. Isn’t he quite distant from the ‘privileged class’ with whom he should be close?
Perhaps, for Earth Buddy, I may be the only friend he has gained on Earth.
“…Once it’s all over.”
I replied.
I have no intention of dying. Even in the worst-case scenario, it’ll probably just be a matter of getting captured or something like that.
So, well.
Even if I end up in prison and he’s still living here, we might meet again.
Trying to say that as casually as possible without making it feel conspicuous, Earth Buddy shrugged his shoulders and reached out his hand.
I looked down at that hand for a moment and extended mine to shake it.
“Oh, and if you happen to leak that we were here to others, then Ku-chi!?”
Since James in my bag said that, I quickly put my hand in and pinched his cheek.
“Well, I’ll see you next time.”
After contemplating for a moment.
“…Pang-pang.”
I called out that name.
No matter how I think about it, it’s a name that doesn’t stick to my mouth. In that planet, in that country, it might be a fitting name, but—
“Next time we meet, Ji-eun.”
Pang-pang waved my hand as she said that.
“I’ll buy you a cup of coffee next time.”
I said that and turned around.
I didn’t look back, but I could tell the sound of the door closing came a bit late.