The Big Catch
My sister always said that if you were going to be a hero, your heart should burn hot—but your head had to stay cold. If the fire in your chest ever climbed all the way to your skull, she used to tell me, even the things that should have succeeded would fall apart.
But I thought I finally understood. Times like this, you didn't need a cold head at all.
When the fire in your heart was already scorching your whole body to ash, how were you supposed to stay calm?
I had cut every procedure I could cut and run through only the essentials required for a sortie, and still the waiting felt like eternity.
"S-Senior. Your face is scary…"
Sky muttered beside me, stealing glances at my expression, but even as she spoke, only that monster flickered through my mind.
From the day my sister vanished, I had searched for her without missing a single day. Even when the people around me gently suggested I give up, I never did.
She was my eternal hero, my world, my everything.
And someone who looked like her, who knew the things she used to say to me, who moved almost exactly the way she did, was in Incheon.
Even if that monster turned out to have nothing to do with my sister at all, I still had to go.
"…Telling you to stay calm would be meaningless, wouldn't it, Miss Sky? I'll leave Miss White's support to you. Watch the battlefield with a cool head in her place and help her. Miss White—you may go."
"Y-Yes…? Why me—"
The moment the Association President's permission landed, I tucked Scanning Sky under my arm and launched skyward.
This time, I wouldn't let her get away.
I found a bed that had been abandoned but was still in pretty good shape, tidied it up a little, and lay down.
It was far more comfortable than the place I'd been calling home, so I figured making this my new house wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Whether from a bombing or something a beast had broken through, about half the ceiling was gone—but I could deal with that somehow.
Scavenge some boards, patch it with plastic sheeting or a banner. If there really was no other way, I could always just seal it with darkness.
I was going to store everything inside the darkness connected to me anyway, and I was a homeless wanderer to begin with.
So then and there, I decided this place would be my new home.
Cleaning up while the thought was fresh would have been the proper thing to do, but I was too exhausted for now. I decided to rest my eyes for a bit.
That unpredictable monster who had called herself Hemoregia had been running around skewering humans as if she meant to wipe them out completely, so I didn't have much reason to worry about being attacked in my sleep—and my client didn't seem about to hand me a job anytime soon.
Just as I closed my eyes and started to drift off, a light bright enough, for a moment, to pass for sunlight flashed across my eyelids.
There was no sound, so it wasn't an explosion or a pair of heavy hitters flexing at each other. Wondering what it was, I got up—and saw the answer.
Radiant White, pouring out light far brighter than the last time I'd seen her.
She wasn't flying in a straight line. She was circling the sky overhead, and no matter how I looked at it, it didn't look like a path she was merely passing through. She looked like she was searching for something.
I had no idea what she was trying to find here, but then I remembered her promise—that she would come back to repay her debt to me.
Had that not just been for form's sake? I'd taken it for the exaggerated way girls her age talked.
If it was genuine, wasn't she pushing herself too hard?
She'd been down for a full day, then woken up and left this place—and it still hadn't even been a day since then.
No matter how grateful she was, wasn't she rushing things?
As I watched that pure white light cut across the sky, worrying about her, she stopped at some point.
…No. Correction. She was coming closer. The light growing steadily brighter made that unmistakable.
Had she found me?
Even with a magical girl's physical specs, she shouldn't have been able to recognize a face at that distance.
I knew magical girls' physical capabilities from when I'd been researched as a substitute for them, so I knew that no matter how keen the senses got, recognition at that range was impossible.
But magical girls each had magic that overturned common sense. Maybe she had that kind of ability.
Whatever it was, I'd know when I saw her. Radiant White wasn't my enemy, so I didn't particularly bother preparing a weapon.
"Nice catch, Sky! I knew it—there's nothing your eyes can't see!"
"…Aaaaaaaah!!! Senior, stop! We're going to crash—uwaaah!!!"
But the closer she got, the more clearly I heard a woman's voice I didn't recognize.
Who was that? What was that? An enemy? She was calling her senior, so a junior—same kind of magical girl? That didn't guarantee she was an ally, though.
As a compromise, I finished preparing to draw a weapon from my coat at any moment and received Radiant White. She greeted me with tremendous cheer and set down the girl she'd been carrying under her arm.
"It hasn't been that long, but it's been a while, Benefactor! By any chance—"
"Before that—is the woman you brought an ally, or an enemy?"
I cut off the words she was about to pour out in that strangely excited rush—happy, I supposed, to meet someone she at least knew—and demanded she identify the girl.
Whatever she wanted to talk about, I couldn't do it without knowing who that girl was.
"Ah… this is Scanning Sky, my junior… If she's in your way, Benefactor, shall I go put her somewhere for a bit? If that's what you want…."
"Ah—no. No need for that."
She was about to treat a person like an object as if it were nothing, and I found myself flustered enough to say there was no need.
It wasn't as if I was going to spill any big secrets, and if Radiant White knew it, there wasn't much problem if this magical girl called Scanning Sky knew it either.
"So—what business brought you looking for me?"
"Ah, well! Y-yesterday a monster called Hemoregia ran wild here, and I was wondering if you might have any information on that monster you could share. I really need information on Hemoregia. Please, Benefactor. I'm begging you!"
She poured the words out so excitedly I needed her to organize them a little.
"I know. That was the one that wrecked my house, wasn't it. What you want is information on that monster?"
"Yes! Anything is fine—if you know anything, I really hope you'll tell me! Which way she went, how she acted…! I-I can pay any price, so please—could you tell me!"
"S-Senior. That's a bit…"
"Sky, bad timing!"
"Hiii…"
She begged so desperately I was about to agree without thinking—then I managed to recall that I had fought that monster, and that the monster was Seong Min-a's mother.
Even if she had turned enemy, she was still family, and I didn't think Mina would have no feelings left for her.
Even if I kept the fact that I'd sold the information secret, what I should take in return—and what excuse I'd make if it came out later—were both headaches.
So keeping my mouth shut here seemed the wise call.
"…Sorry, but I only know of her. I barely know any information on her myself. I know she leaves a bloodbath every time she appears, but you already know that much."
"Is that so… Still, if you happen to learn anything later, please contact me at this number! Thank you for cooperating! And I'm sorry—I'll repay the favor a little later!!!"
Radiant White dumped out everything she had to say like that, scooped up Scanning Sky—whom she'd discarded like a worn-out shoe—and vanished in an instant the way she'd arrived.
So she'd come looking for the monster called Hemoregia. Well. There was no way she'd fly all the way here just for me alone.
But something still felt off. Looking at her strangely excited attitude and expression, she didn't seem particularly consumed by a desire for revenge.
Then why was she searching for that monster?
…She must have circumstances that made her have to find her. Deciding there would be a reason for it, I figured I might as well ask my client once, just in case.
After all, being able to demand anything from a magical girl was a pretty sweet offer.
Today as well, I was leisurely torching the comment section of an internet article covering Hemoregia's exploits and floating "Radiant White is overhyped" bait on magical girl fan communities, when—
Suddenly a call came into my phone from an unknown number.
It wouldn't be spam, so I wondered if it was voice phishing and picked up meaning to mess with them—
"It's me. Something urgent came up, so I had no choice but to call."
It was Su-hyeok.
…Whoa. So there are times when this guy calls first?
While I let out a little gasp of wonder, Su-hyeok called my name and asked if I was actually there.
"Ah, yeah. I'm here. Just… it's weird that you called first."
"Is it that much of a deal?"
"It is that much of a deal, even if you don't get it. So—what do you want to say?"
"The magical girl Radiant White is searching for the monster Hemoregia. She just made contact with me a moment ago, asked if I knew anything, and left."
…Radiant White was already chasing me?
Well. I had baited her to call her out, that much was true—but wasn't the effect a little too good? I never thought she'd pop up in less than a day.
"…Did you say anything?"
"That's what I'm calling to ask. Mina—is it all right if I pass on whatever I know about Hemoregia to Radiant White?"
I was about to say no—then I realized I didn't particularly need to oppose it.
Right now, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the two of them to connect completely naturally had dropped into my lap.
Did I need to kick that away?
Originally I'd planned to have him investigate Radiant White, force a point of contact, then pray they hit it off on their own.
But if things went this way, I could just throw him a job to investigate Hemoregia, then appear before him in monster form and drip-feed my information bit by bit.
Then Su-hyeok would pass information to Radiant White and grow naturally closer to her.
On top of that, it was a good opportunity for me—not just for Su-hyeok.
A chance to become not only Radiant White's arch-enemy, but Kang Su-hyeok's arch-enemy as well.
Then, as the arch-enemy of both protagonists, I could thrash the two of them at once and build their real combat experience.
Not only that—I might get to watch Su-hyeok and Radiant White joining forces against a common enemy…
Do it. Right now.
"Yeah. Do whatever you want. Mother has already crossed the line. Ah, right. While we're on the subject, I'll give you a job now. Mothe— the monster, Hemoregia—investigate her thoroughly. Can you do that?"
"You're giving me an awfully difficult job. I accept."
I'm a little sorry toward Radiant White and Kang Su-hyeok… but it's for your sake.
Play along on my board for a little while, okay?
Grinning, I wondered what information I should leak when I met Su-hyeok.