Embracing Hope (4)
In the hands of Han Byeol-hwa, the Magical Girl of the Constellation, was Remegeton.
She was ready, if it came to it, to cut down any human who stood in her way.
That was how desperate she was. She needed the truth. What was controlling Ian-na's body? Was she truly being controlled at all—or was this someone else entirely, wearing only the same face?
She had become obsessed with Ian-na's condition to an almost unhinged degree, as if something had suddenly seized hold of her.
It was guilt.
If Ian-na had done nothing wrong. If her mind was so clouded she could no longer make rational judgments. If she still remained what she had always been—an idol among magical girls, a noble presence—then everything that had been done to her was Han Byeol-hwa's fault.
It was her fault for not stopping the two of them from approaching. Her fault for not going to save her in time.
The guilt kept her awake at night. She could not bear the thought of a good person suffering under misunderstanding and conspiracy. She could not simply stand by and watch while the schemes of vile vermin dragged someone into the abyss.
Han Byeol-hwa had awakened Remegeton at a very young age.
Against Unknowns, the power was nothing special. All it amounted to was swinging a dark blade whose size she could freely control.
Against humans, though, it was lethally effective.
Anyone stabbed deeply enough to draw blood lost their mind. There were no exceptions. They drowned in absolute terror and went mad.
Perhaps because of Remegeton's influence, a strange, chilling aura always clung to Han Byeol-hwa.
An uncanny valley.
Just as people felt an inexpressible revulsion toward something that imperfectly resembled a human being, those around her felt that same unease. A sense of wrongness hung over her. The darkness that wrapped her body stirred fear. Ordinary people shrank from even approaching her.
Even her only living blood relative had done the same.
Only one person had ever reached out a hand to someone like her.
The one who treated every magical girl as an equal.
Ian-na.
In the past, when the whole world had rejected her, Ian-na alone had taken her in and held her close. That was why, this time, she wanted to be the one to hold Ian-na.
She wanted to show her warmth. She wanted to save her.
Han Byeol-hwa believed her own theory was correct. She needed it to be. Only then would she have the justification—the righteous cause—to save Ian-na.
Please. Let it not be that Ian-na submitted to the Bureau of her own free will…
And so, hurrying along the corridor to find her, Han Byeol-hwa—
Thud!
—ran into something. Someone. She collided with a body.
The impact was not severe. The person she had struck was a girl of almost vanishingly small stature—about Ian-na's height, or perhaps a little taller.
"…Ugh."
The girl staggered backward and fell. Without thinking, Han Byeol-hwa reached out and helped her up.
"Are you all right…?"
"Yeah."
The girl answered curtly and said nothing more.
Her frame was small and delicate. Her eyes shone. Mechanical devices were affixed to various parts of her body, and the model number 7 was etched in tiny characters across her forehead. Her hair was black, gathered up and tied behind her head.
"What generation are you, big sister…?"
"…I'm not one of those."
"You're not… a magical girl?"
The girl asked with open curiosity, and the Magical Girl of the Constellation decided to correct her.
"I mean I'm not an artificial girl."
"…Oh. I see."
For some reason, the girl looked distinctly dejected.
Just as a still-rattled Han Byeol-hwa was about to move on—
"What are you doing, Spring… Hurry up……!!"
"If we're late, Teacher-sis said she'll give us less candy……!"
From farther down the hall, two more girls came trotting into view at a quick little run. They looked much the same as the one called Spring. Only their hair colors differed—one a deep navy, the other a brilliant gold that shone like sunlight.
All three shared one feature in common: prosthetic eyes that glowed with a red light.
"…Who's this big sister?"
"The Magical Girl of the… Constellation……."
"You received a name…? What generation are you, big sister? If you got a name, you must have been in the Crusade too…!?"
The girls crowded in close, their artificial eyes gleaming red, and Han Byeol-hwa found herself more than a little flustered.
This had never happened to her before. Almost no one ever approached her. Aside from the occasional exchange of greetings with Illusion, and with Ian-na, that was essentially everyone.
She had spent her childhood alone, and social interaction still came hard. For the Magical Girl of the Constellation, conversing with strangers was genuine labor.
Talking to people was unfamiliar. Even now.
"Uh, ah… I-I did take part, yes……."
"You did!? You really saw the enemy's nest…? What did it look like!? Tentacles writhing up and down like octopus arms? Skeletons sleeping under the ground in heaps…!?"
"Is there any candy……? Is there nobody who gives out candy like Teacher-sis…?"
"Death and chaos—that's all that lies beyond the veil. Right, big sister?"
The three of them fired off everything they wanted to say in a rapid-fire barrage, driven by the curiosity and energy peculiar to small children.
At most, they looked about seven years old. Of course, their true ages were impossible to know.
…
These three were artificial magical girls. Synthetic girls.
Built from the brains, spinal cords, and outer forms of children too young even to have started elementary school.
Weapons of war.
"Is that Remegeton…!? How did you make it? What's its power? What's the technique called……?"
"I'm dying of low blood sugar. Big sister, do you have any candy…?"
"Remegeton is the power of death. You mustn't use it carelessly."
The cross-shaped sword of Remegeton that Han Byeol-hwa held tight in both hands was an irresistible temptation to the three of them—far too magnificent a form for young children to resist.
They trembled all over and threw themselves at her. Before she even understood what was happening, hands were everywhere—Remegeton, her eyes, her nose, her mouth, every other part of her body. Looking thoroughly fascinated, the three of them bounced against her and scrambled for the weapon.
Any thought of their circumstances vanished completely. She was far too agitated. Her head was spinning.
The black-haired girl called Spring kept murmuring things she couldn't quite follow. The blonde with the number 8 on her forehead asked for candy without pause. And the navy-haired girl marked with a 9 was pressing in with shining eyes, determined to have every last curiosity answered.
Never once in her life had Han Byeol-hwa experienced anything like this. She had no idea how to respond. Her social skills were, if anything, a little worse than these girls'.
In the end, she froze solid.
And while frozen, she thought.
These girls were probably third-generation artificial girls who had finished their training—the Strages. She had seen them a few times recently, and had even fought alongside them in the field more than once.
There was just one peculiar thing.
"Big sister, what are you fretting about so hard…!?"
"Please give us candy……."
"Are you afraid?"
They had selves.
Third-generation Strages artificial girls had self-suppression chips driven deep into their brains. Dolls that obeyed the Bureau's every command and nothing else—that was what a Strages was supposed to be. Nothing more, nothing less.
Could it be… that they still…?
She guessed the chips had not yet been implanted—but that was strange, too. Artificial girls came fully prepared when they were "made." Like machines rolling off a factory line. Free of defects, fully equipped, and sent straight into training.
Unable to reach a conclusion, Han Byeol-hwa stood paralyzed in a quiet panic, her lips trembling—
"Time's up! Spring, Summer… we have to run……!"
"Candy's waiting for us…!"
"Another time."
—and the three of them vanished like a shot, sprinting full-tilt down the Bureau corridor, racing one another toward the medical wing.
"…What on earth was that."
Her head throbbed. Just thinking about Ian-na was already more than she could handle, and those three had shoved their way into the middle of it until the world spun before her eyes.
…Even so.
Han Byeol-hwa started moving again. She put the whole disturbance behind her and set out once more to find Ian-na.
She knew where to look. Magical girls could sense gamma ether. If she followed the faint traces left by the Magical Girl of the Waning Moon—by Ian-na—she would reach her. She was certain of it.
Ian-na was just ahead.
…Only.
She had no idea what to say. She could hardly open with something as stupid as Are you being controlled?
First she would talk—keep the conversation going—and from that, gauge Ian-na's state. Speaking with a complete stranger was hard, but Ian-na was no stranger. With her, conversation came easily. It always had.
Even if, always before, Ian-na had been the one to speak first.
…
She would think of it as the roles reversing. She was no longer a child. She had grown far taller than Ian-na now.
All this time, Ian-na had been the one to reach out her hand.
This time, it was her turn to reach out.
For Ian-na's sake.
"…Excuse me."
A familiar voice reached the Magical Girl of the Constellation's ear.
Ian-na's voice—small and soft, almost like a child's breathing.
But.
For some reason.
Ian-na was looking at her with a face twisted by sheer terror.
…Why?