Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Interlude - Conversation Between Two Girls (1)
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With the fate of the Magical Girl now decided.
"Siyul, since you're a deserter, you'll be assigned to a unit right away. Naturally, to Soa..., no, Magical Girl White Phoenix's unit."
The purple Magical Girl delivered the news to me.
"Assignment timing will be right after your psychological counseling ends. And speak of the devil—the police escorts have just arrived."
True to her word, as soon as she finished speaking, several police officers entered the room. One of them was in the middle of cuffing my wrists.
But even as her words echoed in my ears and the cold bite of the handcuffs dug into my skin, no thoughts came to mind.
It all just felt like shit.
I'd been scraping by on part-time gigs, got drafted into the army, got discharged, got dragged to another world to play hero and suffer through hell...
And now they wanted me to become a Magical Girl.
Could there be a more twisted, fucked-up life anywhere? Even the protagonist in some bleak novel wouldn't have it this rough.
At that moment, a single remark from the purple Magical Girl snapped me out of my daze.
"Anything else to say?"
That question wasn't just directed at me. It was for everyone in the room.
Yet not a single Magical Girl stepped forward.
The white Magical Girl had been out of it the whole time, and the others were just exchanging glances.
It meant no one dared challenge a three-star Magical Girl. Or maybe they really had nothing to say.
But I had plenty.
"Me."
"Looks like no one does. Right?"
Of course, my words were ignored.
"I'm right here, you fucking bitch."
"If not, just sign here saying you agree before you leave. Got it?"
Brushed off as naturally as if it had never happened.
It hit me now, but this world wasn't all that different from that other one.
Too many people who wouldn't listen.
No such thing as humanity.
What a truly sad state of affairs. Where the hell was a normal guy like me supposed to find some peace?
"Siyul."
"What?"
Finally, the purple Magical Girl turned her gaze to me. Probably about to ask if I planned to cause a scene on the way out or if I'd behave. I could already guess.
Either way, I only had one thing to say.
"You won't cause any trouble on the way, right?"
"The fuck I won't."
Self-demotion the moment I got my unit assignment.
"Take him away."
"Fuck."
And just like that, I was dragged off again.
By the time white Magical Girl Jin Soa came to, everything was already over.
"Huh?"
Kim Siyul was nowhere in sight.
Not even the other Magical Girls around her.
All that remained was a single Magical consent form covered in Magical signatures.
"Ah."
In other words, the psychological counseling was done.
It didn't feel like she'd blacked out for long, but somehow the Magical business had wrapped up.
Right then, a familiar voice spoke up from beside her.
"Soa, you back with us?"
It was purple Magical Girl Lee Seobin's voice.
A friend she hadn't seen in years.
Her closest Magical Girl friend, at that.
Jin Soa opened her mouth as she looked at her.
"The result...?"
An excessively curt remark. But Jin Soa didn't bother elaborating.
Her friend had always perfectly understood what she meant.
This time was no different.
"Obviously, Magical Girl."
Facing the conclusion from Lee Seobin's lips, Jin Soa slowly nodded.
"...I see."
It wasn't an unexpected outcome.
Kim Siyul, objective Magical metrics aside from gender, was perfectly suited to be a Magical Girl.
He had the Magical intelligence to grasp situations.
He could read and write Magical script properly.
He could even do basic Magical arithmetic in his head.
The ideal Magical talent for becoming a Magical Girl.
On top of that, the other Magical Girls had already signed their consent. Naturally, Lee Seobin's Magical signature was there too.
Reversing the result now was impossible.
Even if it weren't, the process wouldn't be easy.
'Well, hope he toughs it out.'
In the end, all Jin Soa could do for Kim Siyul was harbor vague Magical hopes.
He'd be someone she'd never cross paths with again anyway.
"Oh, right. He's being assigned to your unit."
"Wait, why?"
No, he wasn't.
He'd become someone she'd keep crossing paths with.
Jin Soa bristled instantly.
"Who the hell sent him?"
Who dared assign Kim Siyul to her Magical unit without even her consent?
"Me."
"...Who?"
"I did."
And it turned out to be Lee Seobin of all people.
Why?
She couldn't comprehend it.
Murderous intent flickered in Jin Soa's eyes.
"What are you thinking?"
A question loaded with dissatisfaction, bordering on a threat.
Sharp words for a friend, but instead of bristling, Lee Seobin put on a deliberately downcast expression.
"Not even a hello for a friend you haven't seen in ages? I'm a little hurt, Soa."
"No, I... Seobin. I'm really glad to see you too after so long. But..."
Jin Soa softened her edge and scratched her head apologetically. Lee Seobin smirked faintly, savoring the reaction.
"Kidding. Our Soa's still the same from our 'White Purple' days till now."
"Still, don't bring that up!"
Jin Soa raised her voice right away.
Lee Seobin didn't protest, just smiled leisurely in silence.
She'd long known it was Jin Soa's Magical sore spot.
'White Purple' duo.
The nickname people gave the two Magical Girls based on their colors, from the Monster invasion days to now.
White and purple.
White Purple combined.
But to Jin Soa, it meant something else.
Her body stuck in a youthful state due to mana influence. Her growth was still at a child's level.
"What's wrong? It's the nickname from our glory days together. Doesn't it make you nostalgic?"
"No, fuck! I'm still hairless down there too!"
Down there, naturally.
What started as a combo name somehow turned into a Magical moniker that hit Jin Soa where it hurt.
She half-freaked out every time she heard it. Same as always.
"Well, I'm glad you're a white Magical Girl, Soa. If you were red, we'd have been stuck with 'Purple Red'."
"...Let's drop it, seriously."
Lee Seobin just kept pouring out her gentle remarks, regardless of Jin Soa's reaction.
Jin Soa let out a big sigh.
"Ha."
Her old friend was always like this.
No matter who voiced complaints, she'd slyly deflect. Leaving the complainer too embarrassed to continue.
A true Magical serpent of a Magical Girl.
Not an exaggeration. Mascots usually mirrored their Magical Girls' personalities.
And Lee Seobin's mascot? A snake.
Her Magical Girl name: Purple Snake.
"Hey, where'd all the mascots go?"
"I sent them out for a bit."
"Oh?"
Meaning she'd arranged this spot on purpose.
From her Magical experience, this happened when plotting Magical plans. Probably the same here.
'More viper than serpent.'
Jin Soa wore a complicated expression.
Not that Lee Seobin was bad. Her cunning Magical rhetoric had seized Magical power, passing several Magical bills that protected Magical Girl rights.
It wasn't hyperbole to say she alone built Magical Girls' current social standing.
Without her, they'd be Magical slaves, used up and discarded. Jin Soa included.
But that wasn't the point now.
"So why'd you send him to our unit?"
Why assign Kim Siyul to Jin Soa's Magical unit?
Her question was perfectly valid.
"Because he's a deserter?"
"He's a guy to begin with. Can't use mana."
Kim Siyul was male.
Only women could wield mana.
Meaning he couldn't become a Magical Girl.
"That's all?"
As if.
Of course not.
Jin Soa answered immediately.
"Why our unit of all places?"
Plenty of other options, yet they chose hers. Without even asking her.
"What if he causes a manpower shortage because of one guy? Magical Girls are already short-staffed."
Magical Girl numbers had been strained since the Monster invasions.
If some guy sparked a Magical accident in the unit? Like Magical pregnancy.
"Magical Girls can keep going even if pregnant. I did it myself."
"But anyone pregnant has to take time off, right? You took three breaks yourself."
"Yeah, fair."
"Plus, I hear pregnant ones get pulled from the front lines no matter what. True?"
"Yep. They call it a choice, but it's basically mandatory. Something about healthy births boosting birth rates."
"Exactly why I'm worried."
Not that she'd outright ban flings with Kim Siyul. Blocking it would backfire Magically.
But what if multiple Magical Girls stepped away? If most suddenly dropped from the frontline Magical power?
Could they handle it?
They were barely holding on as is.
Jin Soa wasn't confident.
"I know I couldn't."
But instead of answering, Lee Seobin said something oddly out of place.
"Soa, how old are our kids?"
"Uh... no idea."
Jin Soa scratched her head.
She'd heard rumors of three, but never seen them. Afraid it'd confront her own pitiful Magical reality.
But.
"Really? Never seen them? Not once?"
"Ah... well..."
Still, not reason enough to ignore a longtime friend Magically.
In the end, Jin Soa quietly apologized.
"...Sorry."
"It's fine. Take a look at this."
Lee Seobin, far from upset, smiled warmly and shoved her phone with a Magical family photo at Jin Soa.
Lee Seobin beaming happily with her kids.
As Jin Soa stared holes through the screen, Lee Seobin prodded gently.
"What do you think?"
"Whoa..."
Jin Soa let out a soft gasp of admiration.
Tiny Magical phone screen.
There lay the future Jin Soa dreamed of.
So close, yet impossibly far.
"Jealous?"
"Fucking jealous... No! That's not the point!"
Once more, she'd fallen for Lee Seobin's sly Magical rhetoric. Desperate to steer back, Jin Soa jumped in.
"We're talking about him, so why bring this up─"
"Soa."
But before she finished, Lee Seobin cut in sharply.
"Hey, I wasn't done."
"Jin Soa."
Gone was the light, gentle demeanor. Her face turned deadly serious.
Jin Soa reluctantly answered.
"...What?"
"What do you think of Kim Siyul?"
The response made no sense.
Still, Jin Soa answered honestly.
"Think? Of what?"
Whenever Lee Seobin got like this, it was serious business.
"Just what you think of him."
"Uh... hmm."
Jin Soa pondered briefly before speaking.
"He's weird."
The honest truth.
Among all men—no, all people—she'd met, he ranked as the strangest. Weirder than her own unit's Magical Girls.
"Can't get a read on him at all."
And that was just the start. Impossible to predict. What he'd do, what he was thinking—it was all too elusive.
"That all, Soa?"
Lee Seobin stared intently. Her warm gaze felt like an interrogation.
As if probing for what she hadn't said.
A gaze that pierced straight to the core.
Finally, Jin Soa cautiously revealed her inner thoughts.
"Still..."
She trailed off, then slowly continued.
"He's not a total bad guy..."
In an even quieter voice than before.
But laced with faint conviction.
Of course, she didn't know everything.
Naturally. They'd only met today, talked for mere minutes. Way too short to judge someone.
Even so.
"You really think that?"
"Yeah..."
Not evil.
'No, more like.'
Good. That's just the vibe.
Not certain.
Maybe just a hunch.
But.
He seemed like someone who'd sacrifice anything for something precious.
Even with nothing to gain.
Even if it only cost him.
Even staking his life.
That was the Kim Siyul she'd seen.
"Seems like a good guy to you. Right?"
"...Probably."
This wasn't some conclusion from ten years as a Magical Girl.
Jin Soa's gut feeling as a person.
Nothing more.
"Phew... So why'd you ask that?"
Jin Soa steadied her breath, calming her churning emotions. Baring her honest heart to another was harder than expected.
Lee Seobin smiled faintly at her.
"Then isn't that fine?"
"What?"
Jin Soa replied sullenly. Her heart still hadn't settled.
But.
"As marriage material."
Lee Seobin's sudden words set Jin Soa's heart racing again.
"Ha...?"
Even harder than before.