Clearing the Misunderstanding
The leisurely, rustling footsteps of one person echoed alongside the frantic, dirt-kicking strides of another.
The gap between the two sounds seemed as if it would close, yet it remained parallel, until one of them finally ground to a halt.
I lowered my head, let out a silent sigh, and slowly turned around.
"You...!"
Just as I thought.
It was a familiar sight.
Pitch-black hair that looked as if the night itself had been melted into it.
A girl wearing a lavish, princess-style dress that didn't suit this mountain path in the slightest.
It was Harang, her face flushed from running so long, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"*Wheeze, gasp...*"
To be precise, it was Harang in her magical girl form, Snow.
Stopping in front of me, she rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath before throwing a desperate plea my way.
"I'm... I'm not done talking to you yet..."
"..."
Well, sure.
Her passion was certainly something else.
Maybe I could listen to her for just a second.
"Why... why are you on the monsters' side? When you're a magical girl just like us...!"
"..."
"And what you said before, what did you mean by that? Are you being blackmailed or something? If that's the case, I... we can help you. So...!"
...I knew this was going to be a long story.
Where should I even begin explaining this?
I'm not on the monsters' side, and I'm definitely not a magical girl.
"Well."
I opened my mouth to correct her, but quickly shut it again.
Explaining it would just be a waste of time.
Besides, I was starving.
I should just brush her off and send her on her way.
"...You guys can't help me."
"How can you be so sure?! You don't know that until you try! You said the world was going to end!"
Her voice rang out so loudly that the nearby birds took flight in a startled flurry.
I didn't bother replying to her.
What do you mean, "you don't know until you try"?
Do you really need to touch fire to know it burns?
She really is still just a kid.
"I'm leaving."
As I muttered those words with my back turned, my vision began to blur.
"Wait—!"
An afterimage of Harang rushing forward and clenching her fists flashed by.
My vision warped, and the space I was standing in shifted in an instant.
Having completed the teleportation, the tips of my toes landed softly on the dry ground.
At the same time, a fluffy, small, doll-like figure popped out from my chest.
"Popo."
"Mir!"
Popo hovered around me, scanning the surroundings with concern, before asking in a curious voice.
"That magical girl from earlier... is it okay to just leave her like that? I feel like she's going to keep bothering you."
Instead of answering, I pulled a cola-flavored candy out of my pocket.
I peeled off the rustling wrapper and gave it a light lick.
A sweet yet fizzy flavor spread gently across my tongue.
Mmm, yes. This is the stuff.
There really was nothing like sugar when you were stressed.
"...Not really. I don't care."
I slowly licked the round candy and took a step forward.
*Pitter-patter—*
"Ah."
I stopped in my tracks, my head dropping automatically.
She was here again.
She was seriously persistent.
Ugh.
I take back what I just said.
I don't think I can just leave her alone.
Our dear Snow has some terrifying tenacity.
If I leave things like this, we might end up playing hide-and-seek all night.
Should I just have a quick, frank chat with her and then send her packing?
That would probably be less of a hassle.
I rolled the cola candy to one side of my cheek and slowly turned around to face Harang.
Even in the darkness of the night, her blue eyes were still sparkling brightly.
Pretty.
Now that I think about it, all magical girls get those flashy eyes when they transform. I wonder why.
"*Pant, pant...* I... I finally caught you...!"
"..."
With my hands shoved deep into my pockets, I stood there silently, looking down at her with a look that said, Go ahead, let's hear it.
"...! Y-You're finally willing to listen to me?"
When I didn't run away and stood waiting, Harang's face instantly lit up.
Seeing those innocent eyes sparkling with anticipation, I let out a dry chuckle.
"A little bit."
Only because you've been so annoyingly persistent, though.
"Ah!"
Determined not to miss this opportunity, Harang hurriedly pressed on.
"Y-You've been approaching magical girls and making weird proposals to them, right?"
"..."
What is she on about? I haven't been able to grasp the point of her questions since earlier.
"Is that all you wanted to ask?"
I thought I told her before.
"N-No, that's not it! I didn't mean to ask that...! I just... I need confirmation for my theory."
"Confirmation?"
Confirmation of what?
When I narrowed my eyes and asked back, Harang swallowed hard and began to rattle off words like a machine gun.
"Well, you can speak, so you're not exactly a monster, but you're too different to be a magical girl... and you use magic, so you're not a Ma-in..."
Hold on.
"...A Ma-in?"
Now, this changes things.
A Demon Human.
How did Snow know about something even Popo barely knew?
A strange curiosity began to creep up from the corner of my chest.
I narrowed my eyes and took a slow step toward Harang.
"Tell me more about what you just said."
"W-What do you mean...? The Ma-in?"
Harang asked back, her face suddenly flushing red.
"Yeah. Everything you know about the Ma-in."
"Fine...! But on one condition. You have to answer my question properly first!"
"Hmm."
So that's how she wants to play it.
The kid is surprisingly good at negotiating.
Proposing a trade the moment I show interest.
I didn't think much of her since she's just a middle schooler, but between our sparring match last time and now, her guts are definitely on par with an adult's.
"Fine."
But here's the thing.
"You go first. I'll talk after I hear your story."
"Eh, but...!"
The world isn't that easy, kiddo.
For starters, I hold all the cards right now.
Even though I stopped of my own free will to talk to her, Harang was the one who chased me down.
I could run away whenever I wanted.
No matter how much the word "Ma-in" piqued my interest, it was still just a passing curiosity.
It was obvious that the desperate one here wasn't me, but Harang standing right in front of me.
"If you don't want to, then forget it."
"Ugh..."
Harang's lips trembled at my threat.
"...Fine. I'll speak first. But you have to answer me, okay?"
She slumped her shoulders like a puppy that had completely tucked its tail.
The sheer look of injustice on her face as she let out a deep sigh was actually pretty cute.
"So, I actually heard this from my senior..."
Still pouting, Harang cautiously began her tale.
"Oh?"
Her story was surprisingly detailed.
It was roughly about the person called the first magical girl.
From how she was betrayed, to how those mysterious entities called the Ma-in came to be in the process.
"...And that's it."
"Hmm."
I see.
So that woman who was screaming in my house last time was one of those?
I didn't know about the grand title of the "first magical girl," but either way, betraying and backstabbing such an amazing person meant the Ma-in were the bad guys.
Curiosity satisfied!
"A-Are we good now? I told you everything I know. So... will you answer me?"
"Yeah. What do you want to know?"
The moment I gave her permission, Harang took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and blurted it out.
"I'll get straight to the point. Are you on the good side, or the bad side?"
"..."
Was that really all she wanted to ask?
Then why did she beat around the bush so much?
"Is that really such an important question?"
"Yes. It's extremely important to me."
Seeing Harang nod with absolute seriousness, I gave a light shrug.
Why was she even asking this?
It's not like I've done anything bad.
I didn't force the magical girls to give up their powers.
If anything, I was just offering them a fair trade to free them from their grueling duties.
I've never harmed anyone, so being asked if I'm on the bad side felt a bit unfair.
Ah. Wait, is it because of that?
Thinking back, I remembered the day I first ran into Red.
Through a series of coincidences, a massive monster had spawned right next to where I was standing.
Hmm.
Reconstructing the scene from Harang's perspective, who knew absolutely nothing about the situation at the time...
...I really had been speaking in a super ambiguous way.
It was no wonder she misunderstood. I must have looked like a total mastermind behind the scenes. I'll admit that.
Seriously, I just can't fix this habit of beating around the bush.
I used to get chewed out by my juniors at the company for this exact thing.
Wait a minute.
Is that why every kid I met lately glared at me with such venom in their eyes?
Because they thought I was a villain, or some kind of bad guy?
Oh my god. No wonder my sales pitches weren't working.
To think such a terrible misunderstanding was lurking underneath.
Now I finally understood the whole truth.
If that was the case, I had to correct it now.
"I'm on the good side. Your side."
So please tell the other kids to stop doubting me and donate their magic power generously from now on.
I only have half my annual leave left. At this rate, I'm going to end up completely broke.
"Are we done now? I think I've answered you enough."
"I knew it... I knew you were!"
Perhaps she had finally cleared up her misunderstanding.
Harang smiled and pumped her fist toward me.
"Don't worry! I—no, Senior and I, we will definitely save you!"
"...?"
Huh?
Save me?
Why is she saying that all of a sudden?
It felt like she was making another bizarre misunderstanding.
How on earth did her train of thought lead to the conclusion that she needed to save me?
"Like I said, I'm just on the good side."
"Yes, I know. I understand everything, so don't worry."
"Ah."
Nope.
Those eyes did not understand a single thing.
Sigh.
Of course.
I was the fool for expecting a serious conversation with a middle schooler, even for a second.
"...I'm leaving."
I didn't even have the energy to reply anymore. I let out a deep sigh and turned around.
"Oh, and."
Just before disappearing, I glanced back and glared at Harang.
"Don't follow me."
Stop stalking me.
This is a clear invasion of privacy.
*Whoosh.*
With those final words, my vision blinked out.