NOVEL NEXT Chapter 79
A hospital room filled only with the sharp beep of machines and the faint whimpers drenched in pain.
The children lying on the beds were suffering from various diseases. From power-related strokes that could be cured but required a fortune, to untreatable diseases that even their names were unknown…
Beside these ailing children were their parents. They weren’t suffering like their children, but their expressions were equally grim. After all, how many parents can remain composed while watching their child in agony?
A middle-aged man panned the camera over the room full of patients and cautiously approached them, opening his mouth.
“─You’ve all worked hard so far.”
“……Huh?”
“You don’t have to suffer anymore.”
As he spoke, he pulled out a slightly reddish liquid. Once injected instead of the IV, a child lying on the bed slowly opened their eyes.
The child, now awake, looked at their parents and carefully spoke.
“……Mom?”
“Uh, wh-what?”
“Mom, why are you crying?”
“Ugh, I-I wasn’t crying, that’s just…?”
“Don’t cryyy…!”
While the child and mother hugged and burst into tears, the man turned to the camera and spoke.
“I will share your pain.”
[Evilus Foundation supports underprivileged children like those with untreatable diseases… For donation inquiries, call 030-XXXX-XXX…]
* * *
Not long ago, I conducted research on the world’s enemy, the magical girls, and the fairy queen who appeared in City H.
As a result, I realized that the world’s enemy and the fairy queen were in cahoots, and even the H City government and major corporations were tangled up with them.
After that, it was smooth sailing. I completely expelled the fairy queen from this world. To be precise, she freaked out and fled when I poked her just to check something.
Of course, I didn’t do it out of some sense of justice. It wasn’t because I felt sorry for the millions of citizens subjugated by H City and the corporations, but rather because those guys had made the first move, so I just gave them a taste of their own medicine. Just your typical villain reason.
‘Didn’t expect to find her again.’
I rummaged through the materials I had scribbled about the fairy queen back then and attempted to connect once more with the Spirit Realm.
Without that gigantic landmark of the fairy queen, finding the Spirit Realm again, which left no trace, was incredibly difficult. If I hadn’t left a coordinate, I probably would have never found it again.
Coordinates in a dimensional realm change in real-time. Earth itself doesn’t just orbit and rotate in intervals; nothing in this world stays still.
‘The Spirit Realm… do I have to go there myself?’
Once I located the coordinates of the Spirit Realm, the next problem became that I couldn’t just enter it myself. How could I just waltz in without knowing what was inside?
I couldn’t just throw anything in there either; it had to be able to interact with whatever was inside.
In the end, what I could put into the Spirit Realm were the beings that originally lived there… in other words, just the spirits.
“Ayle. Do you know that person’s home address?”
“Uh? Who…?”
“The one you fought.”
Naturally, Ayle knew Flame’s address. It was information typically not disclosed to civilians, but what was she, a civilian? She was an evil magical girl, the president of the World Enemy, who gave purpose to the magical girls by controlling the world’s enemy.
Once I quickly found out Flame’s address, I headed there with Ayle. Too small of a house for a magical girl to live in.
Thinking of how other famous magical girls lived lavishly in penthouses like celebrities, this place seemed more like a home for a young breadwinner than a magical girl.
“Is this really the right place?”
“Yes… I sent a package here before.”
After a moment of doubt, trusting Ayle’s previous visit, I rang the doorbell.
A moment later, a red-haired girl appeared, scratching her behind. When the door opened, a waft of ramen scent escaped, indicating she was probably eating ramen.
Upon seeing our faces, Flame scrunched her face and immediately got into a stance to transform into a magical girl.
“What the heck- why are you guys here?”
“We’re sorry- but wow, for a magical girl, this is super cramped.”
“What? Hey-! Where do you think you’re going…!”
Without receiving permission from the owner, I just walked into the house and quickly realized she wasn’t eating ramen but instant noodles.
A quick look around revealed numerous strands of hair scattered everywhere, thick layers of dust, and disposable trash, telling me what kind of life she usually led.
Honestly, it felt more like a home of a hermit or a grad student than that of a magical girl.
“Why are you just barging in!”
Sitting down on the sofa without a word, Flame stomped up to me, fuming. Was it because I mentioned I was a civilian, or was it because we both entered unarmed? Instead of transforming into a magical girl to kick us out, she just yelled at us.
“Miss Flame? First, please take this.”
“Get out already─ huh? What is this…?”
I said and handed over the gifts I brought. They were gifts given by Evilus Corporation to employees every holiday.
From canned hams and tunas to all sorts of foods that I felt were too precious to buy with my own money but would gladly eat if given, it was brimming with goodies.
Part of me wanted to bring steak and such, but Ayle mentioned that since Flame lived alone, I changed my mind. Meat wouldn’t be a great gift for someone living by herself; it’d just be a hassle to cook and clean.
Upon visiting her house, I realized that decision was spot on. Whether out of laziness or just from a lack of cash, a magical girl living on instant noodles probably wouldn’t bother grilling steak.
“It doesn’t seem polite to come empty-handed.”
“……What’s with this. So, why did you come? Get out.”
Flame, who had been glaring at us as if she’d kill us just a moment ago, softened her gaze the moment she saw the gift.
Seeing that quick change, I thought how miserably a magical girl was living. I quickly explained the reason for our visit.
“I came with a request. It’s something only a magical girl can do.”
“A magical girl? That’s over there, right? Why me…?”
“Um- can I say this?”
I glanced at Ayle, and she cautiously nodded her head. Apparently, she had no qualms about revealing that she was not a real magical girl but a fake one.
After all, many media outlets were already hinting at the possibility that she wasn’t a true magical girl. Other magical girls had shown things she couldn’t do; stuff like villainous acts or evolution.
“Ayle- the evil magical girl is not a magical girl. She’s a fake I created.”
“……A fake? What does that even mean?”
“If a magical girl is a being made by the power of spirits, an evil magical girl is a being created by the power of science.”
“Science? Science, you say?”
“Yup, science.”
Flame looked back and forth between Ayle and me with an expression of disbelief. Her gaze contained the implication that I wasn’t just some suit from an agency.
Seeing that look, I subtly smiled and revealed my identity.
“Nice to meet you. I’m an executive from the Evil Organization. Evil Scientist Eight, at your service.”
“The Evil Organization… is that the one in City E…?!”
“Yup, that’s the one.”
I could feel Flame tense up the moment she learned my identity. The Evil Organization was one of the world-class villain organizations holding multiple S-class villains under their wing.
Naturally, she’d be perplexed that an executive from such an organization had come all the way here, not to mention how I claimed to have created an evil magical girl.
The reason I came to find her and revealed my identity was straightforward. I figured revealing my identity wouldn’t create much of a problem, and—
She was the only one who could help me find what I was looking for.
“Anyway─ there’s something only Miss Flame can do.”
“……I’m a magical girl. There’s no way I’d work with a villain-”
“It’s to find your partner who was supposedly dead.”
At those words, the flame magical girl halted.
Her two eyes burned brightly with anger.
It was a light protest to not take it lightly. The reason she wasn’t hurling insults like before was not because her anger was trivial, but because she understood my identity.
I began to explain again.
─Aren’t you curious why the world’s enemy suddenly disappeared?
─Why the spirits couldn’t return to the Spirit Realm?
─The cause of the fairy queen leaving all this behind?
All those events were my doing.
And I intended to go even further, not stopping here.
“─If you help me, I will resurrect your deceased partner.”
“……You will bring them back?”
“Yes. Of course, assuming they’re still alive…”
I was confident.
There was simply no way the fairy queen would just take away such immense power and not return it afterward.
The fairy queen had never acted that way up to now.
The magical girls thought to be devoured by the world’s enemy and presumed dead were likely still alive.
From the moment they died until now.
Still.
“You’re the only one who can save them.”
At my words, Flame’s head slowly bowed down.