NOVEL NEXT Chapter 123
July 10th
“So, I was thinking maybe I should… limit my contact with Hikari from now on… Hehe.”
“I see.”
“Did I rely on her too much? I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“But that doesn’t mean I dislike Hikari! Just understand that!”
“Of course, I do.”
“Hehe.”
Yuki expressed her feelings as we held hands and walked into the forest of Elysion.
“I’m going to let go of the past and not dwell on it anymore, because I’m living in the present now.”
No more being trapped by the past.
No more depending on old memories.
“Now… I really want to face this world.”
“You want to forget everything? Then I won’t bring up anything about the past with you anymore.”
Yuki shook her head at my words.
“Atone… I will atone by helping everyone while letting go of the past…”
“……”
“Now, this burden will forever remain in my heart, and I will carry it with me.”
“I see.”
Yuki, now jumping ahead, struck a confident pose for the first time, placing her hands on her hips and proudly facing me.
“I’m a magical girl! I really… really realized it too late, though.”
Tears welling up in Yuki’s eyes formed a beautiful contrast to her proud smile.
The girl who was once tangled in the past and complacent in the present was now truly stepping toward the future.
“I have to protect the people who are living now! That’s my dream!”
“……”
“Ugh… I’m tearing up. What should I do?”
Without saying a word, I wiped Yuki’s tears away.
“How did you come to realize that while fighting?”
“Well, you see…”
Flame of love
I thought of a keyword symbolizing the trajectory of life, twisted it like Ichika and Hana.
‘Who would have thought that the word itself was the answer.’
A destiny that only transfers memories to the next world in a world on the brink of destruction.
A way for a fate that’s already served its purpose to move toward a new path.
‘A new alias.’
Animus, Yuki… and me.
The second alias given to those who carve a new destiny that even transcends the world.
Yuki, having blossomed into the destiny of [Love], stared quietly at me, as if red flames quietly flickered in her eyes.
One star
Storm of Ichika
The energy now rippling in the eyes of the girls with strong hearts was also felt in Yuki’s gaze.
“To truly love, you have to face it directly and not hide behind it.”
Yuki’s self-defined notion of ‘love’ felt a bit strict.
The moment I heard it, I felt as if I’d shrunk a little.
‘Parental love for children is also love… But if love also means becoming independent from parents and understanding them, is Yuki’s argument valid?’
Even so, I felt a sense of dissatisfaction with the rather strict definition of ‘love’ that a magical girl puts forth. It felt like Yuki, who seemed to have grown a little after the battle, was now speaking with more strength and severity than before.
That Yuki, now seemingly completely free from [Magical Girl HAZARD].
That Yuki, no longer a weak girl who depended on me.
With both pride and a hint of regret, I teased her.
“Really? I think being protected is also a form of love.”
“Hehe, is that so?”
Swipe swipe
Yuki looked at me with a warm gaze and patted my head.
A kind adult doesn’t bother to argue against a child’s whims.
‘Wow, this is totally being treated like a kid.’
If they knew I was technically Yuki’s father in my original age and could call him ‘Brother Ryota,’ could I still be treated this way?
‘When should I go to Yuki’s house and call Brother Ryota?’
In that moment, a childish rebellious thought flared up, but I let it go.
For some reason, I felt that revealing my real age and original gender would create an unsaid barrier between everyone.
‘Sometimes, keeping things quiet is the best policy.’
After all, I had lived as a girl for over two years, and my perception of gender had long blurred. I didn’t want to establish a delicate barrier with everyone just before the trial.
Trial
The [Plague] magical girl, who had appeared to screw up the second trial, fled into the rift as soon as it ended.
That place was a hole leading to the scars of the stars.
A world where humans and magical girls were originally forbidden to enter.
Even Animus, who voluntarily took on trials and genuinely opposed humanity, couldn’t touch the rift.
Enemy of humanity
Pus of the stars
I viewed the [Plague] magical girl as a genuine enemy of humanity, unlike Animus or Scavenger, someone utterly uncompromising.
‘The curse of the three goddesses only happened once.’
A minor curse that merely weakens the opponent and leads them to death, not one that was uttered to completely ruin [Magical Girl HAZARD].
A power that distorts the world.
Next time, the third trial will likely bring forth a curse of that kind as well.
The [Plague] magical girl, reborn among monsters due to the curse, hadn’t been around for long and didn’t seem to have her own conviction like Animus.
‘She was incredibly weak.’
Though sufficient to disrupt the trial, even without Yuki’s awakening, if she had more time, she could have smoothly overcome the second trial with the help of the magical girls waiting in Europe.
‘If that had been the case, there might have been some casualties.’
Fortunately, thanks to Yuki’s awakening, we swiftly finished it without incident. But next time, if the [Plague] gets a new curse from the three goddesses and strengthens, can we drive her back like we did this time?
“Haah.”
“[Plague]?”
“Huh? Oh, how did you know?”
“It’s all written on your face.”
Poke
Yuki poked my cheek and burst into a laugh, “Hehe.”
Yuki no longer depended on me, walking proudly by my side, trying to face others.
The girl with the strongest heart.
Having burned all of [Resurrection], the girl who became a tiny [Flame] became [Love].
“……”
[Love]’s magical girl.
Though all humans naturally understood this, it was a truly enormous fate that pervaded the world.
‘Perhaps even more than [Hope]…’
After overcoming today’s hardships, perhaps the love that faces the inevitable reality and appreciates it will stay longer in this world and protect people than the [Hope] that fades away.
“Please, Yuki.”
“Huh? Okay! Leave it to me! When the [Plague] magical girl comes, I’ll defeat everyone with the power of the new magical girl!”
“…Okay.”
Please protect the people, Yuki.
Thus, we took a short walk and then dispersed to our respective homes.
I headed to the plaza in Elysion while Yuki went to her home in Japan.
Unlike the magical girls who had faced chaos due to the emergence of [Plague], the reaction worldwide was overwhelmingly joyful. To the casual observer, it appeared they had completely blocked the minuscule monsters spilling from the rift and had defeated a gigantic sea serpent in one fell swoop.
‘They’re starting to treat me more like the goddess of victory, huh?’
Considering how smoothly things had gone compared to Japan, especially with no casualties in the evacuation or the sea battle, it really amplified their joy.
Absolute Belief
Now, the [Hope] magical girl was undeniably a massive faith in itself.
Once the threshold of faith surpassed a certain limit, the leaders of the world no longer summoned me to meetings.
‘I wish they would just politely ask me to join the conference next time.’
Really.
It feels like an intense burden.
From the bodyguards conducting inspections through the plaza and the entire city, to the scene of the interpreter I didn’t need, now equipped with all languages, alongside all the attendants they brought with them.
It seemed they began viewing me as something detached from the human world.
No, to a certain extent, they were correct…
‘I get that it’s related to their safety, but still…’
I just希望 they could kindly ask me to join the meetings from now on.
“Haah. Huh?”
While I was lost in these complicated thoughts, I spotted several golden-haired girls whispering together in front of me. They sat somewhere in an alley, their serious expressions indicating they were discussing something important.
“So, according to Leah, there’s a birthday party culture out there!”
“A birthday party?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a culture that celebrates the day the goddess molded the starlight and created us, the day we were born in this world!”
“Ooh! That sounds amazing!”
“So, let’s celebrate the goddess’s birthday!”
“What about the successor?”
“How dare we celebrate the goddess’s birthday!”
“That’s right, only the goddess can start that conversation!”
“Oh… that’s true. Only the priest has the right to celebrate such a sacred day.”
I quietly sat beside them and listened to their conversation. They were earnestly debating how this unfamiliar culture of a ‘birthday party’ would proceed.
“The goddess’s birthday?”
“Yes! Unlike us, the goddess was created by the Goddess of [Start] just before the trial ritual… oh?”
“I see. In a way, she’s the youngest among you.”
“Successor?!”
“Please tell me more about that story.”