LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 64
The night was bearable, at least.
Of course, I couldn’t help but think about just how warm that tent could really be.
Even with a heating stove nearby, covering the gaping holes of this abandoned place with just a layer of plastic wouldn’t entirely block out the midnight chill.
During the day, the temperature would rise to just a tolerable warmth, but at night it would drop significantly—though not enough to freeze to death. Spring and autumn in this country were seasons of vast temperature differences.
“I have a good idea; wanna hear it?”
While Ha-yoon and Ji-eun were washing up, Iris spouted her idea.
It wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it was worth a shot.
After dinner, Ji-eun, with a strangely displeased expression, vanished into the tent, and the remaining Magical Girls began to discuss what to do next.
First, they went to the forest near the abandoned house to find some decent twigs. They needed something at least as big as the stove Iris made.
Collecting branches that could potentially serve as firewood took about an hour. Initially, I trembled a bit when I stepped outside, but as I moved around, my body warmed up a bit, making it easier to go on.
The materials weren’t too far off; they were quite close.
There were other houses with stoves nearby. More accurately, most of the abandoned places here were similar. Consequently, there were a few ruins with stacks of firewood piled up in their backyards.
Cutting thick logs into pieces was pointless, but there were places where slightly thicker branches were piled up.
The girls picked out the longest, sturdiest-looking ones.
Then, they moved the stove closer to the tent and propped the thick branches around it. The floor of the house, whether concrete or cement, was sturdy enough, so they found some bricks to balance it out.
Thus, they set up a larger temporary tent connected to Ji-eun’s.
Made of clear plastic, it didn’t look particularly appealing from the outside, and one had to bend quite low to move around inside.
But at least it could better retain the heat from the stove.
The five girls outside looked at their makeshift shelter with a sense of accomplishment.
“…Can we really call it ‘temporary’?”
Delphinium muttered nervously, causing a mild dip in their enthusiasm.
“…I guess we’ll have to dismantle it when summer comes anyway.”
Rose joked lightly, but that didn’t lift the children’s spirits.
Would they really have to stay here until summer?
No, exactly until when were they supposed to stay?
Excluding Ha-yoon, I figured all the other kids were having similar thoughts.
In a sense—no, by any measure, all the kids gathered here were runaways.
“…”
Still, no one was foolish enough to state the obvious out loud.
The first person to enter was Ha-yoon.
She seemed to take it all in stride, moving about without hesitation.
Earlier, during their wash, there had been a hint of reluctance, but now she showed none.
The remaining four exchanged glances.
“Haah.”
The first to move was Iris.
She sighed deeply and went inside the ‘temporary’ tent.
Next was Rose, scratching her head.
Then came Delphinium and Dalia.
Thankfully, their efforts weren’t in vain; the inside of the tent was quite warm.
Even while covering themselves with the makeshift blanket of dry leaves, they could endure the night.
…I wonder how the others are reacting.
Lying on the hard floor, Iris thought while gazing up at the ceiling through the plastic.
The radio emitted limited information. It only talked about how Magical Girls had disappeared, and many were trying to find them.
There was no mention of how citizens reacted or what would happen after they found the Magical Girls.
Were they controlling the information?
It scared her.
How would her parents react when she returned? She had quit school, abandoned her duties as a Magical Girl, and disappeared with even her circuit.
Rose, Delphinium, Dalia. The three girls who were a year older than Iris and Ha-yoon looked anxious too. They were even exam students this year.
Ha-yoon was in this situation because of Ji-eun.
As for Ji-eun herself—
…I can’t even imagine.
Iris had enjoyed everything Ji-eun could not until now.
If she took everything away from that kid who had nothing left—
Iris trembled slightly.
Iris had recognized Ji-eun during battle.
She hadn’t known who it was, but she had recognized her every time they met.
And she had relentlessly tormented her.
She had aimed repeatedly to shoot her down, sending her away.
She had never thought about what came after.
Just… because they were bad people.
Those who burdened the weak while hiding behind a company. Those who prevented this planet from participating in the Galactic Federation. Even though those companies came from beyond the galaxy—
Did that mean all the people earning money from those companies were evildoers too?
Was filling in the gaps left for kids at the orphanage with the payment from working at those companies all evil?
She had never thought about it.
It was just that the combatant who refused to fall in battle had rubbed her the wrong way.
After many fights, falling, and getting hurt, she found this combatant persistently getting back up and attacking annoying—
—she wanted to break her.
“…”
Had it hurt? It probably did; of course, it did.
Iris had never experienced being hit by her own shot, but she wasn’t foolish enough to think it wouldn’t hurt at all.
No, she had calculated that it would hurt, that’s why she used it when attacking.
She had returned limping from a severe injury that she didn’t even know about.
Why hadn’t she thought of that aftermath?
If a Magical Girl got hurt, she could just return to receive treatment. Because there was always a designated resting space. They could receive support anywhere…
If she had only thought a little, the combatants wouldn’t have had that luxury.
She knew that thinking about such things in the middle of the night wouldn’t help her sleep, but she couldn’t help but dwell on it.
Eventually, it was long after all that before Iris finally fell asleep.
*
When she woke up in the morning, the inside of the tent felt strangely warm.
Sure, it was a decent insulating tent, but usually stepping outside the sleeping bag was met with a rush of chilly air.
When she got up and touched the entrance of the tent, it felt even warmer.
They had a stove outside, but could it really be this warm?
It wasn’t until she unzipped and crawled out that she realized the kids had made another tent inside the house.
It must have been created to endure the night’s cold. It still felt a little cool.
The stove was still running well, receiving her energy.
There were no blankets or sleeping bags, so they had apparently used plastic to make makeshift bedding. It was a blanket filled with adequately filled dry leaves.
“…”
Seeing the embodiment of raw wilderness before her left her momentarily speechless.
Are you serious?
Do you really intend to stay here?
Why? Do you really want to help me that much? Cutting ties with the federation that had employed them until now to stick around here without attending school?
No one inside was awake.
The light outside was bright through the plastic. Were they all out doing something?
I crouched slightly and crawled out through the plastic.
“Ji-eun!”
As soon as I stepped outside, I heard Ha-yoon’s voice.
The place where the kids were standing was a field.
Having called her name and feeling awkward just standing there, I walked slowly toward where the kids were.
It was a vegetable garden.
It wasn’t just a sprout growing; it was clear crops growing tall towards the sky.
Just as the kids said, they looked like they would be ready to eat ‘soon.’ It seemed they would be able to harvest by next week.
“…”
Ha-yoon looked at me with a bright expression, but I could only stare in silence at the sight.
On the kids’ wrists were circuits powered by my energy. They weren’t using their own energy; they simply operated by resonating with mine.
With energy like mine, these kids had sprouted plants.
“Ji-eun?”
At Ha-yoon’s words, I raised my head.
I didn’t know what expression to show.
Smiling felt weird. Just a little while ago, I had been filled with grievances. I had never felt like smiling.
Then again, getting angry felt… pathetic.
No, it was natural that I was a pathetic person. Ever since I learned about the existence of Magical Girls, I had never once envied them.
Ultimately, even my selected actions were just pathetic.
I turned around to head back home.
I wished there was something else I could do—
Biiing—
Before I could even get back home, the calling device rang.
The calling device of the Magical Girls.
Of course, since I was still holding onto the other devices, only mine rang.
“…”
I took out the device from my pocket for a moment and checked it.
A message popped up saying a monster had appeared and to come if I heard the call.
Just reading the message made it sound quite urgent. After all, they had been relying on the help of Magical Girls until now.
The police had introduced some equipment to catch monsters, but they still hadn’t managed to respond perfectly to all monsters. Just the other day, one had incinerated wires.
I looked back.
The faces of the Magical Girls were pale.
They looked like they wished to run but were unsure if I would allow it or not.
Ha-yoon even avoided my gaze.
She looked like she purposely couldn’t say, “Let’s go.” Just a moment ago, her vibrant expression had drained, shoulders slumping.
“…”
What should I say?
Should I tell them they’re not Magical Girls anymore? Or that they should follow my orders while they were with me?
I might not say the former, but I had already said something like the latter. Thanks to that, I was able to do nothing yesterday.
I looked up at the sky.
It was clear. In spring, there were often dusty days, but strangely, the sky was clear.
Well, that was the case ever since the Galactic Federation arrived in this land. The Federal Union was supporting a lot of initiatives to improve the environmental state of this world.
And they had brought the monsters with them, for reasons still unknown.
More accurately, they were people who could potentially become monsters.
Just like how an ordinary person could become a criminal.
“…Let’s go.”
In the end, I mumbled and turned toward home.
I heard the footsteps of the five girls following behind me.
*
What happened that day, Ji-hye still didn’t fully know.
“All in all, there wasn’t any major damage,” said the medical staff of the hospital Ji-hye had entered.
When asked if the others were okay, the doctors gave a somewhat serious expression, but ultimately declared, “Everyone is fine.”
The teachers were okay. Most of the kids were too.
But some little ones had issues.
They didn’t know what kind of gas had been dispersed in the orphanage. For now, it was said to not cause significant harm to the human body, but lethal doses were always relative. If a dose could make an adult faint or fall asleep, it could have a much more pronounced effect on the much smaller kids.
There was still a child who hadn’t woken up.
The medical staff seemed at a loss about what to do. While it wasn’t serious enough to be a critical risk, those kids were still “sleeping.”
“…”
What could have happened that day?
What were those intruders trying to do?
Despite something happening at the orphanage, there weren’t any news articles or reports about it.
At the school, the kids only knew that Ji-hye was hospitalized because she was unwell.
And once they learned of the situation, Ji-hye could tell without anyone deliberately telling her what was going on.
“Don’t say anything.”
That was probably it.
It would be better not to say anything to anyone. Not even to the teachers, who didn’t mention anything regarding that day.
The orphanage had oddly returned to normal.
There wasn’t any lack of funds for the hospitalization of kids. There were subsidies available, and Ji-eun’s earnings… were still around.
The broken areas had been repaired. The teachers and kids were simply brushing everything off.
Only Ji-hye vaguely suspected that the incident had something to do with Ji-eun.
After that, Ji-eun reappeared once more. She even faced off against monsters with the Magical Girls.
And from then on, her news suddenly stopped.
There were no articles to be found. The ongoing story of the Magical Girls’ disappearance had been abruptly halted at some point.
However, the rumors surrounding the internet and among kids didn’t completely vanish.
The Magical Girls betrayed the Federation. They say the black Magical Girl teamed up with the criminals, and now they seem to be becoming no different than criminals…
Of course, the whispers in such situations were mostly sensational and malicious.
There were murmurs about Ji-hye’s hospitalization around her too. Naturally, the rumors wouldn’t speak directly to her, so she couldn’t be quite sure what they were all about.
Regardless of what all the rumors were, the conclusion was the same.
So, who will deal with the monsters now?
The police might handle it. The military could take over if the police couldn’t.
Of course, there might be far more casualties involved than if Magical Girls stepped in to take hits instead. The monsters’ attacks were of a level that could kill an ordinary person in one strike.
The Federation remained silent, the government seemed disinterested from the beginning, and the companies were busy promoting their own combatants.
Those who once threatened to devour Ji-eun seemed to have lost their connection to her entirely, acting as if that story had never existed from the start.
It felt suffocating.
Ever since returning from the hospital — no, it had been since before that, ever since Ji-eun had disappeared from her side—
Ji-hye felt heavy in the chest.
Did Ji-eun know? That her room had become such a mess? That Ji-eun’s beloved audio equipment and CDs were broken?
Did she know that someone might have come and done something to Ji-hye’s body that day?
It was terrifying.
The only person she could share such things with was Ji-eun. The very family who used to lie side by side every day. No one could understand as well as Ji-eun.
But now Ji-eun had disappeared. She could no longer meet her.
So, after that, her heart—
Jiiing.
Her phone vibrated.
It wasn’t just Ji-hye’s. All phones in the classroom, even the teacher’s, were ringing.
The teacher pulled their phone out.
So did Ji-hye. So did the other kids.
It was a disaster alert.
A message stating that a monster had appeared, instructing not to go near the area.
The teacher casually put their phone away and continued with the class—
But Ji-hye stood up abruptly.
What was she thinking? Ji-hye herself wasn’t quite sure.
It was during class.
“What’s wrong?”
The teacher looked at Ji-hye with wide eyes.
There was no malice in that look, just pure, ordinary confusion.
That’s how the world was. Even with Ji-eun gone, even with the disappearance of Magical Girls, everyone continued to act as though nothing had changed.
After receiving so much help. After going through so much torment.
“Uh, I…”
Ji-hye opened her mouth.
Sweat broke out beneath her uniform.
And without intending to, she lied.
“I… I need to go to the restroom…”
A few kids giggled. It was just innocent laughter, nothing malicious—only that the situation felt slightly amusing.
If Ji-eun wasn’t gone, if it hadn’t happened, and if Ji-hye weren’t herself but rather another child, she might have laughed too.
“Alright, take care.”
The teacher chuckled and responded lightly.
Ji-hye bowed her head and quickly left the classroom.
Sweat was now pouring down her face.
Could she go?
Would it be okay to go where a monster was? Last time she had gotten caught and caused a nuisance.
But she simply couldn’t remain still. If she didn’t go, there was no chance she’d meet Ji-eun.
Even if Ji-eun wouldn’t come, the possibility was certainly there—
So, Ji-hye walked.
She moved through the corridor to the end, toward the bathroom.
But Ji-hye didn’t enter the restroom.
Instead, she dashed toward the stairs.
She rushed down the stairs as quickly as possible and bolted out of the school. She sprinted across the playground.
No one called out to Ji-hye. They were unaware that she had even left.
Ji-hye ran. There was no time to look back or hesitate. She thought she heard the security guard at the front gate say something, but she ignored it.
Ji-eun seemed like she might disappear again.
Again, before Ji-hye could even speak to her, she might just disappear—
…..No, the people around would undoubtedly make it so.