Like Family (5)
Like Family (5)
“Virgo, I just woke up. Sleep isn’t the issue. I don’t need more rest. Hell, I can’t sleep. I’m not tired.”
Even as I spoke to her, my gaze kept flicking down to the object at my feet.
A mechanical part with a dial-like disk.
At a glance, it could pass for junk, the sort of scrap you find in ruins where civilization collapsed. But to someone who knew about the rare technology behind a transformation belt, it didn’t look like junk at all.
It closely resembled the focus-adjustment dial attached to my Belt. More precisely, it resembled the mechanical component I’d once sculpted from starlight in order to use Ursa Major.
Right now, intuition was my entire basis for judgment. Not that I couldn’t back up the hunch.
‘Belt.’
[Yes.]
‘Analyze this machine at my feet.’
[Understood.]
I had a machine here that went beyond cutting-edge, close to outright overtechnology.
Before I’d even finished speaking, the Metal Sphere moved toward the device. A gap opened between the sphere’s halves, and a lens extended out.
Scanning the dial assembly, the Metal Sphere emitted a low humming sound.
Meanwhile, I still had to deal with Virgo.
“So really, I don’t need to—“
“Hmm~ really?”
Virgo grinned and stared straight at me.
“What’re you so focused on?”
A cold shiver ran down my spine. Virgo’s eyes flicked downward, and she spotted the dial at my feet.
“Ah, that? Aha~ so that’s what had your attention. Boys always like this kind of mechanical gizmo, don’t they? Jae-jung, you’re so cute~ Oh, by any chance, were you a science track student back in school?”
Her amethyst pupils slid upward, eerie. Those irises, which resembled the hazy sky around dawn or dusk, raked over me with clear intent.
“Still~ don’t you think it’s awfully rude to be thinking about something else while someone’s talking to you?”
Her voice, laced with aegyo, echoed through the building.
Rude? She’d choked me unconscious, dragged me here, and smashed my fingers. That was a hell of a lot ruder. A heavy ache pulsed from my fractured fingers and my throat, which was almost certainly bruised.
“Hmm~ so~ this is...”
Virgo stepped closer, bent down, and snatched up the dial. She waggled it in front of my eyes.
“Confiscated! Hehe~ should’ve focused on me instead~”
Giggling, her face held a childlike innocence. This wasn’t the first time; it happened often. An immature naivety frequently surfaced in her.
The kind that sees the world as revolving around herself and gets annoyed the moment something doesn’t suit her mood or standards.
’...Belt.’
[Don’t worry. Analysis was already complete.]
You could have told me that sooner.
[Analysis confirms the same individual manufactured it as myself.]
I knew it.
Confirming my guess, the Belt reported the device in Virgo’s hand was made by Sky Polaris.
[It is presumed to be an implement for manipulating its user’s starlight. High probability of a supplementary tool that enables delicate operations the user ordinarily could not perform.]
The function was just as remarkable. A tool that enabled precise starlight manipulation? Wasn’t that exactly what I needed right now?
For me, someone who lost control after a set amount of time, this was a tool to make starlight manipulation easier.
So that was why the Quest appeared. It was because of that item. If I’d killed Virgo, I would’ve never seen it again, would I?
“But why is this thing here? Hmm... whatever! I must’ve picked it up somewhere! Ugh... dirty... what’s so great about this?”
Staring at the rusty, worn-down device, Virgo scrunched up her face. Fair enough. To someone who didn’t know its value, it was nothing but scrap.
Maybe sensing my gaze fixed on her hand, Virgo stopped grumbling and looked at me with a meaningful expression.
“Wow, you really do want this... haha.”
She fanned the object gently, waggling it in her hand.
“Jae-jung, you want it that badly? Then you have to listen to what I say! Got it? If you don’t, I won’t give it to you! Absolutely! No way! You are not getting it! Understood?”
Childish as a little kid threatening not to share a toy. I couldn’t deny it was effective, though. I needed that piece of junk.
“Hehehe~ what should I make you do? For Jae-jung, whose head is all big now~ what~”
Behind the humming, excited Virgo, a voice came through the Belt again. It wasn’t the usual mechanical voice.
[Oppa! Can you hear me?]
It was Jo Ah-yoon. The inter-Belt communication function we’d used before. I whispered, keeping my voice as low as possible.
“Yeah.”
[The hell have you been doing that you don’t answer! God, where are you right now! I’ll come get you! Tell me where you are this instant!]
“No, this place is a little...”
[What! Why are you dragging this out! You’re driving me crazy! Spit it out!]
Ah-yoon, at least give me a moment to speak before you jump on me like that.
Luckily, the psychotic case in front of me was deep in her own delusions, thoroughly lost in her own little world. I explained quickly in a very small voice.
“Dark Matter. I don’t know where exactly. Virgo has me right now, so I can’t talk much.”
[What, you too?! Wait, hold on—Virgo? What bullshit is that? Why is she holding you?!]
Good question. Wait. You too? Did that mean other people besides me were already in Dark Matter?
[Sigh... Figures. You ended up in Dark Matter too. Hate to say it, but same here. And so are the other magical girls who were there.]
I couldn’t let Ah-yoon’s words pass casually.
“...Jae-jung, you’re not paying attention again?”
Just as I needed to focus on what Ah-yoon was saying, Virgo’s attention swung back to me.
“You’re trying to hurt my feelings. Actually, you already did! Why are you doing this? Can’t you see me? Or do you think it’s okay to ignore me?”
[Of course, if I use my magic, I could escape. Problem is, I’ve barely got any starlight left. So I’ve been resting a little. Blue-senpai’s probably in the same boat. We were fighting until recently, so she wouldn’t have much magical power left. And we don’t even know how far it is to the city... why the hell is this place so damn big!]
Virgo’s lilting voice came from in front of me, and Jo Ah-yoon’s grumbling came through the Belt, both at once, jumbling my ears.
Both were serious. One involved my own survival, the other involved everyone else’s.
“Am I someone you should ignore? I’m not someone you can just ignore! Why won’t you listen to me! Why! Why!”
[I found the Japanese one and A-hee. But I can’t find senpai. Since I overheard the comms, it’s a safe bet she’s here too... But you don’t sound like you’re in a great spot either. Just tell me your location for now. I’ll come right away and— Oppa?]
A beam gathered at Virgo’s fingertip.
“Answer me!”
[Oppa? Why aren’t you answering?]
I hadn’t expected this. That the magical girls would also wind up in Dark Matter.
Probably even Jason, who used the ability, didn’t expect it.
This wasn’t a place they were ready for yet. A high-level zone, in game terms.
Everywhere you went here, monsters attacked. A magical girl would have to use magic endlessly, and the result would be magical power hitting zero.
And there was more than one dangerous monster here...
Case in point: the one right here.
“Answer!”
“I’m sorry.”
It felt like my head would fly off if I didn’t answer, so I opened my mouth without hesitation.
“I’m sorry. I’m out of it right now... Virgo, you might not understand this well, but when people get hurt, it hurts. And when morning comes, you get hungry. Unfortunately, I’m dealing with both right now.”
In a surrender posture, I raised both arms and casually angled my broken fingers into view. My middle and index fingers were hideously swollen and purple.
The injury was apparently too grievous even for Virgo to ignore. Her savage eyes softened a little.
“So I zoned out for a second. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, if that was it, you should’ve said so!...Are you okay? No, you don’t look okay. I’ll—I’ll get a splint and cloth right now. Wait here...”
Flustered, Virgo dashed off toward a corner stacked with assorted junk.
From the Belt, a bewildered voice came through as well.
[What, Oppa, you’re hurt? Where! What did that bitch do!]
“Just my fingers a little. Don’t get worked up.”
[If it’s “a little” by your standards, you’re probably good and wrecked! Goddammit... why is that bitch Virgo never any help.]
Jo Ah-yoon’s fury came through vividly, even if it was only her voice. To her, Virgo was practically the reason she’d quit being a magical girl in the first place. No wonder she was angry.
And Virgo’s ability specialized in mass slaughter and magical-girl killing.
Just yesterday, she hadn’t hesitated at all to kill people.
Virgo was someone society couldn’t accept, and someone who couldn’t approach society herself. She’d gone too far for that.
“...Ah-yoon. Do you know anything about Virgo’s magical girl days?”
[Huh? Uh... her active period was a little before mine. I don’t know much either... a couple things, I guess, if I really have to.]
From a distance, Virgo yelled as she came back.
“Found some! A wood board and cloth! Here! Kyahahahaha! I knew it was good to collect stuff!”
[Before I set a new record for lowest fatality rate... I hear she was number one.]
In Virgo’s hands was a square piece of lumber far too large to splint a person’s fingers, plus a filthy black rag that was the opposite of sanitary. Its original color was probably white.
“Here! Use this!”
[If you exclude her final sortie, hers might be even lower than mine. Not that it matters anymore. Now she’s just a slaughterer.]
Virgo thrust them at me as proudly as if she’d discovered treasure on a beach. I answered with a bitter smile.
“I see.”
“What. You’re not gonna use them? Fine, if you won’t use them, forget it!”
The instant she sensed my hesitation, Virgo tossed them into the air and incinerated them with a beam. What a waste. If she’d trimmed it down a little, that wood would’ve been a perfectly good splint.
“And I went to the trouble of finding it...”
[So, I said, where are you? I’ll come crashing in right now and—]
“Let me try handling this first.”
I answered both of them. After ending the communication with Jo Ah-yoon, I took hold of Virgo’s shoulder.
Her hazy and chilling amethyst pupils reflected me. With no whites to them, they were even more unnerving.
“Why?”
“First off, I’m hungry. Let’s go find something to eat.”
“That’s a great idea!! I’m not hungry! But if you are, it can’t be helped!!!!”
Why had the Quest told me to let her live? Just for the various items she possessed? For the treasures truly buried in all that junk?
“You have to listen to me now, okay? Or I won’t give you this scrap! Oh, right. I’ve got a few more pieces of junk that look like this one! If you listen, and listen really well, I’ll give you those too!”
What exactly was I supposed to expect from this monster, so riddled with immaturity?
What was this monster expecting that made her drag me around with her?
“Got it? Let’s go now!”
Virgo strode energetically ahead, and I followed behind her. A thought from when I first arrived here crossed my mind.
**
And around the time we came across canned food or the like, we also came across a certain person.
“...Jae-jung?”
“Vega?”
“Oh my? Aren’t you my junior?”
It was Red Vega.
“Long time no see~!!”
Fweet!
The moment Virgo greeted her with a bright and cheerful hello, she also fired a beam.
And just like that, the battle began.