Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Once More, A Single Breath, And
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Once more, a single breath.
"Ha."
Jin Soa was utterly bewildered.
'What the hell is going on here.'
The situation had spiraled off in a direction she simply couldn't comprehend.
'This isn't what I had in mind at all...'
Originally, what Jin Soa had planned for today was nothing major.
Just another attempt at the Magical night crawl that had failed last time.
Of course, since it had failed before, she tweaked the plan this time around.
Instead of sneaking directly into Kim Siyul's bed, she'd hide in the bed of a Magical Girl who was out on leave.
'Magical Girl Blue Fox—real name Sora, right.'
But when she actually put the plan into action, what happened?
The Magical barracks were completely deserted. Not just Kim Siyul, but every other Magical Girl in his barracks too.
And it wasn't just his barracks—every single one was the same.
'This is weird.'
Jin Soa couldn't wrap her head around it.
Roll call was long over, so shouldn't there at least be some Magical Girls catching sleep before night watch duty?
If a Monster had shown up, this would make sense, but none had appeared today.
'What's going on...?'
In the end, Jin Soa had trudged out of the Magical barracks building, full of questions and feeling utterly deflated.
That's when she spotted a group of Magical Girls sprinting desperately toward the barracks. Her instincts screamed danger, so she quickly backtracked in the opposite direction.
And that was how Jin Soa ended up intervening in the fight.
'No, wait—not a fight.'
A fight implies a two-way exchange of blows. What she'd witnessed upon arrival wasn't that.
It was a one-sided Magical dismemberment.
And the victim wasn't Kim Siyul—it was Magical Girl Mint Turtle.
A Magical Girl who might have the personality of a sewer rat, but whose pure skill placed her solidly in the upper ranks.
'Name was Seiki, I think.'
Yet that Magical Girl hadn't put up any resistance as she underwent Magical dismemberment.
At the hands of Kim Siyul, who was missing an arm himself.
'And his severed arm was missing fingers too.'
Naturally, that raised a ton of questions.
What exactly had happened here? How had they both ended up so injured? And if it was the result of a fight, how had Kim Siyul won?
So she'd heard the full sequence of events from the Magical Girls involved, but...
"Ha."
It only made her head hurt more.
Of course, the story itself wasn't complicated.
It was ridiculously straightforward.
First, Seiki and Kim Siyul had a Magical duel, and Seiki lost.
But Seiki refused to accept the outcome, threw a tantrum, and crossed the line—ambushing him and slicing off his arm in the process.
However.
After that, Seiki got absolutely demolished by Kim Siyul and nearly died.
In simple terms, a foolhardy idiot picked a fight with someone way out of her league and got crushed.
Much like that time Seiki had tried cozying up to Jin Soa and nearly ended up crippled overnight.
Except.
'Does any of this even make sense?'
The "someone way out of her league" was Kim Siyul, of all people.
A regular civilian. Not even a Magical Girl.
And on top of that, a guy.
In other words, zero connection to magic whatsoever.
As one would expect—no man in this world could wield mana.
Yet Kim Siyul had flat-out used magic, or so they said.
And not just any magic—he'd wielded it in all sorts of ways, toying with Seiki so thoroughly it was almost pitiful.
And it packed real power, too.
Of course, Jin Soa hadn't seen it herself.
It was all secondhand info from eyewitness accounts.
But there was evidence.
Seiki had parts of her body—eyes included—dissolved away like she'd been eaten by something.
It might not seem like much at first glance. Seiki's injuries were severe, but she'd barely survived at the level of functional disability.
However, the victim was Seiki.
Considering Seiki was tough enough to withstand one of Jin Soa's spells, that proved Kim Siyul's magic had real destructive force.
You couldn't injure her without magic.
Well, the proof was already in when Kim Siyul reattached his arm right in front of Jin Soa like it was nothing.
Honestly, even seeing it firsthand didn't make it feel real.
Using mana like threads to stitch his arm back on?
'His mana control is way better than mine.'
It even made her half-wonder if Kim Siyul's stories about another world and being a hero were true.
Of course, she still didn't buy it. He just felt like some kind of Magical mutation case.
'No idea why I feel that way.'
But the real reason Jin Soa was still so confused had nothing to do with that.
It was the trigger for Kim Siyul starting all this.
He claimed it was simply because he hated the idea of Seiki going on leave.
But the truth Jin Soa uncovered herself was a bit different.
Magical Girl Gold Retriever.
Real name: Ray.
Seiki had forcibly blocked her leave.
'How is this bitch still this dense?'
So Kim Siyul stepped in.
To get Ray's leave back for her.
But Kim Siyul vehemently denied it.
No one had asked or begged him for help. He'd done it purely out of disgust for Seiki, to keep her from going on leave once and for all.
Extreme Magical individualism.
That was how Kim Siyul described his own actions—no frills, no excuses.
It left Jin Soa deeply troubled.
Truth be told, she didn't want to punish him at all.
What benefit did he even gain from this mess?
'None.'
Nothing but losses, really. Pure downside.
Frankly, the best move would have been to do nothing.
And yet Kim Siyul jumped into the fray willingly.
For someone he barely knew, staking everything.
It was pitiful, and at the same time, incredibly cool.
For a fleeting moment—just a split second—he'd even felt like a real hero.
'Still can't believe it, though.'
That's why Jin Soa didn't want to punish him. It was basically upholding justice.
But.
With Kim Siyul digging in like that, she had no choice but to treat it as personal misconduct.
Well, his actions weren't incomprehensible.
In Jin Soa's eyes, it was actually pretty clever.
If this stemmed from a favor or backroom deal, others involved could get dragged down too.
Like sparking Magical conspiracy theories.
'Worst case, someone ends up a Magical hostage.'
To prevent that mess preemptively, Kim Siyul chose to shoulder it all alone.
So no one else would be implicated.
The problem was, with him taking that stance, Jin Soa's options were limited.
'I'll cut him as much slack as I can.'
She had no choice but to follow regulations.
Of course, with her authority as the top Magical Girl—the strongest and highest-ranked—she could bend the rules without issue. No one would call her out.
But.
Could she really break the rules herself and then demand others follow them?
Pure hypocrisy.
Jin Soa couldn't stomach that.
Plus, most of the regulations were drafted by her friend Lee Seobin.
If Jin Soa blatantly ignored them, how awkward would that put Lee Seobin in?
It'd make her a target—prime ammo for attacks.
'Gonna have to apologize later.'
She couldn't add more burden. With that thought, Jin Soa shook off her regrets about the rules.
Separately, there was one thing putting Jin Soa in a real bind.
Kim Siyul refusing Magical treatment.
More precisely, he'd handled basic first aid himself and saw no need to go to the central Magical hospital right away.
Not until he'd settled things with Seiki.
Even though the duel result was voided, he insisted on seeing it through.
In other words, a Magical grudge match born of extreme individualism.
Kim Siyul wouldn't budge an inch on it, so Jin Soa gave up trying to convince him.
Even Seiki was the same, despite her agony from the disability.
In the end, Jin Soa reluctantly made them a proposal. They both agreed immediately.
'No helping it.'
So what was Jin Soa doing now?
In a highly tense atmosphere.
At the center of a crowd of Magical Girls.
"You both ready?"
She casually addressed Seiki and Kim Siyul, facing off right there.
"Yes."
"I'm ready too."
Seiki and Kim Siyul each nodded. Seeing their agreement, Jin Soa spoke up.
"I get that there's complicated history between you two. But you're both in rough shape, so let's end this once and for all right here."
Jin Soa took a breath and continued.
"Like I said earlier, this has nothing to do with your previous duel. Just vent all the pent-up emotions here and now—no holding back."
Then she fixed them with a sharp glare.
"Got it?"
Seiki and Kim Siyul nodded silently, eyes locked on each other.
"Good."
Alright then.
Jin Soa stepped in as the official witness.
"Let the Magical showdown begin."
For Kim Siyul and Seiki's grudge match.