What Is a Magical Girl, Really? (2)
The lecture ended with a simple declaration.
"...That concludes my report."
It was a massive hall. Slightly too large to be called a conference room. Inside, several people were listening intently to one woman's words.
The explanation that had just finished seemed to have struck everyone present with considerable shock. At least, that was how Kim Jiah—who had been delivering the presentation—felt about it.
In the midst of the confused atmosphere, one person raised a hand and directed a question at her.
"Is that source reliable?"
She had striking dark navy-blue hair, with inner strands that glittered as if embedded with specks of glitter. Her pupils were the same cold navy shade, which made Kim Jiah wonder whether her magical girl name represented the universe or something closer to the deep, dark ocean.
She might appear warm at first glance, but inside she was colder than the cosmos itself. A person who wouldn't hesitate to lay hands on others if it served her goals. Someone whose depths were darker and deeper than the abyss, utterly unknowable.
She opened her mouth to address the entire group.
"Well, since Blossom herself is vouching for it, shall we trust the information? What do you all think of the story?"
The moment she finished speaking, the hall fell deathly silent. The atmosphere was so chilly that even a large-scale freezing spell wouldn't have made it this cold.
Was she deliberately saying such things to mock Kim Jiah? Or was she genuinely asking for everyone's opinion?
...It was obviously the former.
"Assuming, as Blossom says, that they truly function as beacons, does that mean there's a possibility of a large-scale monster invasion in the near future?"
"That is how I see it."
"...Hmm? You'd better choose your words carefully, Blossom."
At some point, this gathering had shifted from a meeting into something closer to a hearing.
The atmosphere was razor-sharp, stretched taut. Kim Jiah had sat through countless situations like this, but lately they had become almost unbearable. She could hear the sound of someone swallowing right beside her ear.
"We can't declare a national emergency based on mere speculation. If what Blossom says is true, we'd have to mobilize every magical girl's protection capabilities. That would require a massive budget, wouldn't it? Can you shoulder that responsibility?"
"......"
"A monster's magic circle that we cannot interpret or erase... It's natural to feel a sense of crisis, and it's certainly an urgent matter. But if you're going to draw such a conclusion, shouldn't you at least have brought a credible witness?"
She swept her gaze across everyone in the hall as she spoke.
"Someone who could convince not only every magical girl here, but me as well."
Her tone was bold and overflowing with confidence. Perhaps it even came across as arrogant, but given her position, that was only natural.
The one who commanded and led all the magical girls of South Korea. Setting aside her magical prowess, she was a master at handling people and calculating moves. The current Second President of the Korean Magical Girl Association, her magical girl name was Infinity Universe.
"...Huaaam."
"Is Jihye in a bad mood today?"
"She looked upset ever since we got to school this morning..."
"Maybe it's because of the rain today."
"The gloomy weather makes me feel a bit sluggish too..."
It seemed the kids were discussing my condition among themselves. They were whispering so I wouldn't hear, but even if I couldn't make out the exact words, I could easily guess what they were saying.
I felt both grateful and touched that they were trying to cheer me up, but at the same time it was burdensome.
...No, "burdensome" wasn't quite right. It would be more accurate to say I felt guilty.
Now that some time had passed since waking up, the details of the dream had grown hazy. But I still remembered the general tone of the conversation that had taken place.
Thanks to that, my feelings toward the children weren't exactly comfortable.
"Huu..."
"Oh. J-Jihye just sighed."
"Does she have something on her mind? Ah! Maybe it's because of what happened over the weekend?"
"Maybe she's still angry at those sunbae-nims..."
"I thought everything was resolved with Jiah unnie back then... so maybe not. Or perhaps something happened on Sunday that we don't know about."
"S-Something we don't know about..."
"Yeah. Or maybe..."
Suddenly the gazes directed at me felt far from ordinary. Especially the way they were staring holes through my stomach—what on earth were they thinking?
I didn't want to worry the kids any more, and I was getting tired of moping around, so I stood up from my seat. If I stayed sitting, I might fall asleep again and have another unpleasant dream.
"Stop chattering. Have you two grasped the concept yet?"
"Yeah. I think I get it roughly."
"I-I've roughly... understood the feeling!"
"Really? Then let's check if you truly understood it properly."
"Okay. Transform!"
"T-Transform!"
At the signal, the class president and Mijeong transformed into magical girls. The process so far was no different from a normal magical girl transformation, but I had given the children one specific instruction.
"Hmm... Did it work?"
"S-Sehyul! Look, look! A ring appeared here!"
"For real? You succeeded too, Miju?"
"Ah...!"
The children were closely examining the rings that had appeared on each other's hands. They were plain silver rings with no decorations whatsoever. But these rings had not existed on the two of them in their magical girl forms just an hour ago.
"It worked."
"F-Finally..."
"You succeeded in just one hour. So with this, you can change the shape of your weapons, clothes, or accessories, right?"
The class president and Miju looked thrilled, as if they'd achieved a great feat. As expected, hands-on education that produced visible changes got an excellent response.
"Transforming your unique weapon works differently from this method... but everything else should be possible. Puuhaam."
"Really? I've always been a little anxious because my skirt is so short. Now I can freely adjust the length—I'm so relieved."
"M-Mine is too stuffy... I want to make it a bit cooler..."
"You're right. Even I thought Miju's outfit looked way too constricting. The hood is long, and the whole outfit is long... It's fitting for a sniper, but it did look uncomfortable."
"R-Really?"
Having learned the technique for modifying their magical girl appearance—specifically, adding external equipment—the children immediately began listing their future plans. No matter how much they were magical girls, they were still pubescent girls deeply interested in fashion and appearance, so I decided to wait until they calmed down a bit.
About ten minutes passed. The children finally noticed that I'd been sitting silently the whole time.
"Ah... Sorry, Jihye. We got too carried away, didn't we?"
"S-Sorry..."
"If you'd kept going for one more minute, I was seriously going to just go to sleep. Good thing you stopped at the right moment."
"Eek!"
Anyone listening would immediately recognize my tone as sarcastic. The two girls, who had been chattering excitedly moments ago, now looked like baby chicks with their beaks shut tight.
"...Haaam. Anyway, since you've more or less understood the kernel up to this point, from now on we'll gradually start modifying your personal magic kernels to suit yourselves. We'll begin with changes to your transformation appearance and proceed slowly. I'm planning to give this quite a long timeframe."
"How long exactly, teacher?"
"...Hearing you suddenly use honorifics feels awkward. For now, the schedule is... about a year?"
"A year..."
When the children looked startled by the rough number, I gave them a real-world example.
"Usually we consider it takes about three years. It could be done in a year with Spartan-style training, but the side effects are too severe and the risk of failure is high, so I didn't consider that option."
"I-If it goes wrong... w-what happens...?"
"Oh. Mijeong asked a good question."
"It's Miju, not Mijeong..."
Whatever. In my head the two names registered as the same thing anyway, so it didn't matter.
"If kernel optimization fails... your body could explode while using magic."
"Eh?"
"Huk!"
"Like a balloon—boom!"
"Eeeek!"
"Ugh... Just imagining it feels awful..."
Not the entire body would explode, but accidents like arms being destroyed or internal organs rupturing could occur. Of course, such things could also happen from misusing magic, not just kernel optimization. Still... there was no need to tell the children that.
"That's why you must be extremely cautious when modifying your kernel. Since you have me, the accidents I mentioned won't happen."
"W-We believe in you, Teacher Jihye!"
"W-We believeee!"
Thud.
The children went beyond bowing—they were literally prostrating themselves before me. Were the side effects that scary? Maybe I had exaggerated my explanation too much. I'd unintentionally frightened them.
Seeing them still lying flat on the floor without moving, I spoke up.
"Hey... How long are you going to stay like that?"
"We believe in you!"
"We belieeeeve!"
No matter how much I tried to stop them, the class president and Mijeong remained glued to the floor. They seemed to have gotten a taste for it and were now acting like a cult of fanatics treating me as a god.
Um... I knew they were joking to cheer me up, but this was a bit much...
What if someone saw them?
Just then—terrible timing—the training room door opened and someone walked in.
"Oh. Little kid..."
"Little kid? No, more importantly, unnies. I'm upset, you know? Why did you three go out and have fun on the weekend without me... Huh? What are you two doing right now?"
Well, you see, it's like this. There's a deep reason behind...
Argh, I don't even know anymore.
So.
"You want to try too?"
I still can't forget the pitying look Salbyeol gave me from behind the little kid at that moment.
Damn it.