16
Chapter 16
Mina ran.
'Master. Suhyun.'
She ran so she wouldn't lose them again.
She ran and ran.
Then, her legs tangled, and she ended up tripping.
Thud-!
"Ugh......."
Mina grimaced, looking down at her right knee.
Her clothes were stained red.
Even without rolling up her pant leg, it was obvious her knee was bleeding.
"It hurts......."
A few tears welled up, but Mina endured the pain and tried to stand back up.
She reached to put the shoe back on that had slipped off when she fell.
"Huh......?"
Only now did she realize she had rushed out in such a panic that her shoes were mismatched.
There was no time to go back and change them now.
She couldn't stop.
Grabbing her trembling legs, Mina stood up once more.
Her scraped wounded area throbbed, but she ignored it and kept running.
She had no idea what might be happening right at this very moment.
'This isn't the time to be sitting around.'
Mina took out the tracking device to check it.
'It broke down, just as I thought.'
The tracking device was still pointing to Yuna's House.
A tracking device had been planted inside the artifact acting as Suhyun's limbs.
After leaving the lab, Mina had managed to reach Yuna's House by following the location shown on the tracking device.
However, traces of Suhyun were nowhere to be found.
It was while searching thoroughly around Yuna's House that Mina realized the tracking device had a malfunction.
Not knowing what to do, she was just stomping in place.
Then, catching the delicious smell wafting from Yuna's House, she realized she hadn't eaten a proper meal in days.
The moment she realized this, the hunger she had forgotten came rushing over her.
All strength suddenly left her body, and she ended up collapsing.
She hadn't eaten or slept properly for days due to her immersion in research.
Her energy was completely depleted.
And in that state, she was attacked by Suhyun.
It was a miracle she could even stand and move at all.
Having drained every last ounce of energy, Mina's body couldn't hold on any longer, causing her to faint.
When she woke up, her only thought was that she needed to put something in her mouth.
Instinct.
After all, she needed to survive first to do anything else.
She was so hungry that while she scarfed down the cake, she completely forgot why she had come here in the first place.
'But where is Master?'
Mina recalled the moment she woke up in the lab.
Chanhoon was already gone.
Various artifacts were missing, and Chanhoon had left not a trace behind.
Chanhoon had clearly gone out to chase after Suhyun alone.
Seeing that, Mina had also rushed outside in a panic.
Mina had grabbed a few artifacts too, but since they were mass-produced types, their effectiveness was questionable.
'Still, I have to bring Master and Suhyun back safe.'
She couldn't just stand by and watch another tragedy unfold in their father-daughter relationship.
'I should call Master first.'
Mina turned on her phone, its screen cracked from the impact of Suhyun's blow.
Fortunately, it worked properly.
Mina pressed the contact saved as Master Park Chanhoon.
The call ring tone sounded a few times, but he ultimately didn't pick up.
Ominous thoughts surfaced in her mind, but she quickly shook off the stray thoughts.
'Wait for me, both of you. I'm coming.'
Mina gathered every last ounce of her strength and dashed forward.
"......."
"......."
Behind her, Joohyun and Yuna were watching the spectacle with dumbfounded expressions.
"What is she doing......? Is she running or walking?"
"I know, right......?"
Her arms were flailing as if she were drowning in water.
Her legs, gaunt from her unbalanced lifestyle, were wobbling violently.
It looked like a jellyfish sluggishly suspended in a swimming drift near the surface of the water.
"Also, she left a few minutes before us, so why is she still here?"
"I...... wonder......?"
Yuna also stared at Mina with a face full of incomprehension.
It was true.
Mina thought she was running as hard as she could, but she was still wandering near Yuna's House.
Yuna called out to stop the sluggishly moving Mina.
"Ms. Mina! Let's go together!"
When Yuna called her.
Only then did Mina stop her legs from trembling like an aspen tree and look back.
"Pant, pant, huff-"
Mina was panting heavily, like someone who had just finished a 42.195km marathon.
On top of that, sweat was raining down her entire body.
It was to the point that sweat was dripping down onto the asphalt floor.
She looked like a person who was literally melting away.
"Wow, looks like she went to the pool by herself?"
Poking only his head slightly out of Yuna's bag, Joohyun let out a dry chuckle at the sight of Mina.
'Is it really going to be okay for her to become a magical girl?'
Shouldn't she get a health checkup somewhere before becoming a magical girl?
'Right now, we don't even have the funds to support a health checkup.'
Joohyun promised himself that he would definitely make her get a health checkup once they gathered enough money.
With that, the three regrouped and headed to the location shown on the news.
* * *
The location from the news wasn't too far from Yuna's House.
It was a place about a 20-minute walk away.
It was a scene without any police line or anything similar set up.
"How are we supposed to know where she went from here?"
"I know, right. The road splits into four paths, so I don't know which way to go."
"......Should we split up?"
Joohyun and Yuna looked at Mina with unimpressed expressions.
"Like you'll actually find anything if we split up. It's obvious you'll collapse with a plop after just a few minutes."
"That's right....... Plus, it's dangerous, so I think it's better if we stick together."
Even on the way here, Mina had been panting and had collapsed with a plop a few times.
She claimed it was because she had walked too much for the first time in a while.
Anyway.
Joohyun and Yuna couldn't possibly send Mina off on her own.
"Then, where should we go?"
At Yuna's words, Joohyun made a decision after some hesitation.
"First, let's head toward Eunha's school. Eunha's safety comes first."
"I think that would be best."
"You don't have any complaints either, right?"
"......Yeah."
At Joohyun's question, Mina slowly nodded her head.
In truth, as long as they didn't know the target's exact location, anywhere they went was the same.
Having made their decision, they picked up their pace and moved again.
Actually, because they had to match Mina's speed, they couldn't move that fast.
How far had they gone like that?
From a certain alley, a voice calling Mina could be heard.
"......Mina."
The three sets of eyes naturally turned toward the source of the voice.
There.
"Master?!"
Chanhoon was crouching down, leaning against the wall.
It was such a narrow, unlit alley that it was hard to notice a person was there unless you looked carefully.
As soon as Mina spotted Chanhoon, she scurried over to his side.
"What in the world happened here?"
"Wow, you know how to use honorific speech? I genuinely thought you didn't know how. Right, Accountant Yuna?"
"Shh, please be quiet!"
Yuna silenced Joohyun, who was throwing a sneer from inside the bag.
Anyway.
Outwardly, Chanhoon didn't seem to have any major issues.
However, anyone could clearly see the exhaustion written all over his face.
At Mina's question, Chanhoon let out a dejected chuckle and spoke.
"In the end, it was just my own greed......."
Chanhoon let out a deep sigh as he gazed at the tall tower rising high above.
Due to accumulated damage, Chanhoon had no choice but to give up chasing after Suhyun.
He could only watch and let his daughter go as she quickly disappeared before his eyes.
"No, she had already left my side a long time ago."
It was true.
Chanhoon knew it, too.
That all of this was nothing but his own stubbornness.
That reviving someone who was already dead was a betrayal of ethics and the principles of life.
"But, but I just wanted to see my daughter one more time. To hold my living daughter with these hands again......."
Tears welled up in Chanhoon's eyes.
"Wow, isn't that mister being way too melodramatic? Do something about it, Accountant Yuna."
"Come on, be quiet!"
Saying that, Yuna blocked the opening of the bag with her hand.
Joohyun struggled vigorously inside the bag.
"......Get up, Master."
Mina gripped Chanhoon's shoulder tightly as she spoke.
"Huh?"
Chanhoon looked at Mina with confusion.
"I said, get up......!"
"......!"
He stared at Mina with bewildered eyes after she suddenly yelled.
It couldn't be helped.
Because she was different from the Mina Chanhoon had known all this time.
"......Are you giving up like this? Are you just going to sit back and watch your daughter harm innocent people!"
Did he want to give up?
There was no way he wanted to give up.
What parent in the world would want to give up on their own child?
At Mina's words, Chanhoon also flared up in anger.
"I don't want to keep giving up either! But....... How am I supposed to stop a daughter who doesn't even recognize me......."
Chanhoon spoke in despair.
He wanted to save his daughter, too.
But there was no way.
Words didn't reach her. There was no way to persuade her.
Mina let out a dry laugh as she looked at Chanhoon.
"......Master, do you remember? Back when I first entered college."
"......What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"......Back then, Master, you said that there is always an answer to everything. That if you keep going without giving up, the day will eventually come when you find that answer."
"......."
Mina vaguely recalled the events of the past.
When she was first blocked by a wall and wanted to give up on everything.
The back of Chanhoon, who had given her guidance.
'Mina, do not give up. Failure isn't something you can choose, but giving up is a choice you make. There is a massive difference there.'
If she hadn't taken the hand Chanhoon reached out to her back then, the current Mina definitely wouldn't exist.
Now it was time for Mina to provide guidance for Chanhoon.
Mina held her hand out to Chanhoon.
"......Let's go, Master. You will definitely be able to find a way, Master."
"Do you really think I can find a way......."
"Of course, you're the Master I acknowledged, after all."
'You aren't giving up.......'
Mina wasn't giving up on bringing Suhyun back.
Even though he, her father, was halfway toward giving up.
Seeing Mina like that, Chanhoon was overcome with shame.
"You haven't changed from being arrogant, then or now......."
Mina grinned at Chanhoon's words.
Her sweat-soaked blonde hair fluttered in the wind.
That sight looked just like a blooming dandelion.
"Let's go. Suhyun must be hoping that we won't be giving up on her, too."
"Yeah......."
Chanhoon took Mina's hand and stood back up.
Watching them, Yuna reacted.
"Sniff-! I'm not really sure what's going on, but it's so touching......!"
She sniffled as she said that.
"Hmph! What's so touching about it?"
Joohyun quickly turned his head to avoid Yuna's eyes.
It was because he didn't want to get caught with reddened eyes over nothing.
Even though he couldn't hide the tissues he seemed to have blown his nose into.
Yuna looked at Joohyun contentedly, as if she found him cute.
"We wasted too much time here unnecessarily. We need to move quickly."
Once the situation was somewhat settled, Chanhoon said that.
"......So where did Suhyun go?"
"......Probably toward downtown."
"......What?! Then this is no time to be standing around!"
As soon as they heard Chanhoon's words, Yuna and Mina diligently began to move their feet.
Chanhoon stared blankly at Mina's back.
'You've already surpassed me. You were a total kid when we first met.'
He recalled Mina, who had gotten early admission into a university at an age when she should have been in elementary school.
Mina, who was incredibly smart but still showed obvious signs of being young.
'Hmph! You're a professor?! You don't look like much at all?!'
'Huh? You can't even do this right as a professor? It's really laughable!'
'Waaah! Why isn't it working? My theory definitely wasn't wrong, so why!'
'Master! Look at this! Hehe! I succeeded!'
As Mina's younger self overlapped with her current self, he couldn't help but smile.
'I guess she doesn't need my hands anymore.'
With that thought, Chanhoon began walking after the two of them.
He directed his steps toward downtown.
* * *
"Hmm......."
After finishing school, Eunha was outside a pet shop downtown, browsing through dog cushions.
"Which one would be good?"
She had stopped by because she remembered seeing Joohyun sleeping on just a blanket yesterday.
She was pondering for a long time about what kind Joohyun might like.
"Huh?"
As a water drop fell on her face, Eunha lifted her head and looked up at the sky.
"It's raining......."
Raindrops started falling one by one, beginning to wet the ground.