The Girl Who Became a Magical Girl (Part 3)
I was about to answer when a voice cut through the chaos.
“Why are you fighting? From the beginning, your magical girls—well, those fairies who attached themselves to you—don’t know a damn thing.”
The crowd’s murmurs died instantly, replaced by a stunned hush. Whispers rippled outward like a stone dropped in still water.
“???”
“She’s new, obviously. The way she looks, she must be young and naive. Snap out of it. The mascots and fairies standing beside her are not justice.”
“Ah, I agree with that.”
Absolute justice? Such a thing never existed. A ring on the nose was justice when you took a swing. The winner decided it. That was the only definition that mattered.
Ren’s fist slammed into my ankle with a heavy thud. I responded instantly, sweeping my leg across the floor and landing a sharp kick right where it would hurt most.
“…We’re not justice either. But this time, we’re taking one step forward. So, magical girl, please step back.”
“How noble of you.”
The guy talking sounded like he’d spent years studying the entire magical girl phenomenon. Protecting civilians was their top priority, which meant they were probably helpless here.
Magical girls’ personalities were probably all the same anyway.
“But I’m different.”
“!”
My shadow detonated like a bomb. He opened fire, but my shadow moved faster than the bullets. I slashed my hand in a wide arc and sent a blade of darkness slicing through the air. His arm came clean off at the elbow.
“You hesitated. A full second.”
“W-what… You didn’t care if the hostages died?!”
“I didn’t care because I could see everything, kid. You don’t even have experience killing people, do you?”
The ones who had eaten the food were the ones who knew how to cook it. The ones who had tried it knew how to do it better. The ones who had killed it knew how to kill it better.
Only the demons I’d personally slain numbered in the hundreds. Anyone with real bloodlust was obvious.
“This isn’t possible… We have a cause…!”
I split his head in half with a casual sweep of my arm. I had no intention of listening to a third-rate villain’s garbage philosophy anymore. With that one strike, every single villain still inside the building simply ceased to exist.
In their place, a steady stream of SWAT officers poured through the doors.
“It’s over, Ren.”
“Y-yeah… but…”
“Time to go.”
I smashed through the nearest window and leaped into the night air. In that final instant, I locked eyes with one of the terrified children still being held hostage. I gave him the most genuine smile I could manage.
“Hah, you could use some better training. No! First, put the fists down!”
“What training? I’ve got a busy schedule ahead.”
Sirens wailed in the distance as I dropped onto the rooftop of the building right beside the crime scene and stared down at the chaos below.
“I can tell exactly what kind of person you are. But everyone in this world already knows everything there is to know about magical girls. The kind of people who like Code Red—cold-blooded murderers—don’t exist.”
“What does that even have to do with me?”
“…Forget the fact that your head is probably too messed up to handle it. You’re going to be watched. That’s the real problem.”
His voice had gone surprisingly serious. Was this actually a big deal? Thinking about it, this wasn’t the Earth I knew.
“Explain it to me slowly and carefully. I want every detail.”
“I didn’t like it at first, but you’re finally showing a normal reaction.”
I had no choice but to listen. I’d need to understand this world if I was going to enjoy myself here.
“As I said earlier, it’s been a while since magical girls appeared on this planet.”
“How long?”
“Twenty years.”
Twenty years. That was a long time by any measure—long enough to get used to the idea, yet never quite normal.
“In those twenty years, the achievements of magical girls have been incredible. There have been consequences too. Especially problematic groups.”
Ren’s eyes suddenly lit up with fierce enthusiasm. He snapped his fingers and a holographic screen materialized in the air. He kept speaking as the projection rotated.
“About ten years ago… Hey, history lessons can wait. Don’t elementary schools even teach that stuff anymore?”
“Skip the nonsense. Just tell me what’s important.”
“The biggest problem was traitors.”
Ren nodded solemnly. I felt zero emotional reaction. It was obvious the backlash would hit them hard.
“But how? The moment they broke the contract, Yggdrasil took everything away.”
“They succeeded in taking the power, but the memories… That was the issue. Back then, no one knew how to delete memories.”
“Ah.”
The traitors gave the public every piece of information they could about magical girls. Thanks to them, everyone now knew everything about their ecology and purpose.
“The busy schedule wasn’t the only problem. Humans manipulated them with religious and political tricks. Magical girls who got dragged into those schemes ended up being hunted as demons or terrorists. The biological data extracted from those hunted magical girls created even bigger waves of chaos.”
“And you’re still not taking responsibility for any of it?”
“W-what are you talking about?!”
“Contracts that were slammed together with zero care, no follow-up, no accountability… And you still act like that?”
“We gave you the power to fight! For lowly creatures like you!”
Ren finally snapped. His face flushed with genuine fury as he realized the full weight of the words he’d just hurled at me.
“You’re right to take that stance. Don’t be so arrogant. Even with a transformation and overwhelming strength, you’re still just an immature human girl!”
He jabbed a finger at me. I didn’t bother denying it. Revealing my real identity wasn’t an option.
“…This world is chaotic. We’re still doing our job. I won’t tell you about justice or dreams. But one warning: reality is harsh. There are no weaklings who can afford to be arrogant these days.”
“How profoundly obvious.”
I stood up. The connector ring on my finger went dark. The transformation dissolved, but my body didn’t revert to anything monstrous. I simply returned to wearing a plain white shirt and shorts. My hair shortened into a neat bob.
“Going home?”
“What do you mean? I don’t have a home.”
Without wings, I couldn’t fly, so I headed for the stairwell. A suited employee who had just exited the locked rooftop saw me and froze, eyes wide, before hurrying away.
*
“Is the information summary complete?”
“Yes, Director.”
“We need to move fast. The President might call at any moment.”
Mid-level executives poured into the conference room. The woman in charge who had prepared today’s briefing took a deep breath, steadied herself, and began.
“Her name is still unknown.”
She tapped the enormous screen. A single photograph appeared.
A red-eyed girl with waist-length black hair flowing in the wind.
The room erupted in chaos.
“Code Red. As a newcomer, her transformation age is probably close to her current age. Taking that into account…”
The murmuring grew louder.
“Within thirty seconds of appearance, she killed six people and slaughtered one Kaijin. Then she entered the building and added twelve more to her tally. Finally, she killed the mastermind holding the hostages—Kim Junhyuk.”
“…I only became director a year ago.”
The director adjusted his glasses with a trembling hand. His voice shook too.
“Even comparing every record we have, this is unprecedented.”
“I agree.”
The woman nodded, then swiped to the next image.
“Her signature color is unprecedented black. Her ability is shadow manipulation at will, but there’s one odd thing—she hasn’t used her Armament even once.”
The noise died completely. Everyone understood how serious the situation had become.
“Estimated rank?”
“At the very least S-Rank, but higher reports are coming in.”
The shock rippled through the room again. The strongest magical girl currently active in South Korea ranked SS. If that target was both one of Earth’s first-generation magical girls and a twenty-year veteran… no one was prepared for this.
“Could we possibly collaborate?”
“H-however, Director. A Code Red magical girl is…”
“I know how dangerous it is. But we can’t just stand by. At least we should talk to her.”
The director let out a shaky laugh at his own words, surprised even himself.
“Talking to a magical girl is pointless. Even if we somehow reach an agreement, they’ll attack without mercy if they judge us the enemy.”
“And we already know that judgment comes from people far above them, not the girls themselves. We all understand how risky it is.”
“We need at least to confirm.”
“Director is correct.”
With the room’s unanimous agreement, the director quickly laid out the plan. They would explain the official national collaboration system and ask her to help.
“Then the only way is for a magical girl to step forward.”
“Indeed. That person…”
“No. If something like this comes up, she’ll blow up. There’s a new S-Rank martial magical girl who’s been cooperating closely with our agency.”
The director recalled the data in his head and suggested it. Everyone around him nodded. It wasn’t just because he was the boss—it was genuinely good advice.
“Then I’ll contact Aria. We need to find this new magical girl and arrange a meeting with the Management Bureau.”
She swallowed hard, then nodded.