Chapter 19 : Contention (4) Part-1

For now, I tied up the girl with the broken ribs and brought her down to the first floor.

At first, she resisted quite a bit, but when she saw the soldiers crowded on the first floor, her movements stopped.

It seemed like she realized that the life-or-death situation was entirely in our hands.

I didn’t actually intend to kill her though.

The squad leader, seeing that I had brought her, froze for a moment and stopped moving.

“…”

Just a moment ago, the squad leader had been keeping a close eye on me, but now it seemed like he

realized something was off with the situation.

We exchanged a silent glance, and I shrugged my shoulders first.

The squad leader pointed at the girl with broken ribs and then opened his palm upward.

I shrugged again.

It seemed like the squad leader was either pretending not to know, or maybe he really didn’t know.

Since I couldn’t see his face, it was hard to tell if he was pretending or not.

I’ll assume for now that he didn’t know.

After all, it wouldn’t only be my problem if things went wrong.

We remained silent for a moment and then nodded.

The squad leader pointed at me and then gestured toward himself with his thumb.

He was telling me to follow him.

Then he pointed at Jiguppa and another combatant, gesturing towards the girl.

They were supposed to stay and guard her.

It was a little amusing to see how the girl’s eyes darted around as she followed our pointing fingers.

We divided into groups.

The soldiers assigned to guard outside the first-floor room would also keep an eye on the housekeeper.

If, like the daughter, she suddenly showed up, they would rush in, bind her up, and toss her aside.

We could’ve tied them up right from the start, but it was better to block all possibilities from the beginning.

We also chose a combatant to guard the girl.

Even if she yelled through the gag, they wouldn’t be able to hear from far away, so we decided to keep a distance.

Fortunately, the only place near here where we could keep an eye on the house was the mansion we entered earlier by car.

After dividing up, the rest of us went into the underground facility.

Luckily, the squad leader found the passage to the basement.

It wasn’t in a very difficult spot.

It looked like a boiler room at first, but there was a section of the floor covered with plywood.

It seemed hastily covered, but considering not many people would come this far, it wasn’t a big issue.

They probably didn’t know we were going this far.

…Now that I thought about it, it felt a little scary.

This is a crime, right?

Even if the government might turn a blind eye, we tied up a minor.

Anyone who thinks this won’t become an issue is the one with the real problem.

88 percent.

The circuit’s reading stayed at that level, probably because of thoughts like this.

Let’s finish this quickly, whatever the outcome.

I removed the plywood and realized why the squad leader had called me.

The entrance… was in the form of a vault.

There was a dial in the center, and if you turned the dial to the correct numbers, it would open.

Anyone unfamiliar with it might assume it was a personal safe.

Around the vault entrance, there were scorch marks, and the outer part had melted slightly.

There were already used grenades scattered nearby.

So, they couldn’t open it.

That’s why they needed my help.

There were other soldiers wearing similar combat gear to mine, but for now, I was the only one here.

I wondered why.

Could this mission be related to me?

I quickly shook off that thought.

Focus.

I wanted to finish this unpleasant task and get out of here as soon as possible.

It would be nice if a magical girl popped up right now.

That way, I could use it as an excuse to run.

But with 88 percent of my strength, I could definitely break open this vault.

Even with all this equipment, if we couldn’t beat a magical girl, just how strong were they?

I sighed deeply and entered the vault.

Unlike the slightly messy and dusty boiler room, the inside was quite clean.

Well, it was a research facility.

It felt like the setting of a zombie game series.

The research might not have been on zombies, but it probably had something to do with circuits of hope or something similar.

I took out the grenade-like device I brought and pulled the pin.

I rolled the cylindrical device, and it emitted a little smoke, but there were no lasers.

Maybe it was because it was a research facility.

Anyone entering here should have been able to navigate it without trouble.

The leader came in behind me and patted me on the back.

He pointed in the opposite direction of where I was looking with his finger.

What kind of expression was on his face?

Was it annoyance that I was brought in?

A sense of resignation?

Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t a good expression.

I was relieved, though.

Since we were both wearing helmets, we couldn’t see each other’s faces, so there was no risk of arguing.

We split the soldiers into two groups and began searching.

*

The secret facility hidden in the mansion wasn’t as large as I expected.

We couldn’t dig into the adjacent building, and it wasn’t like we could randomly dig down into the earth in the middle of Seoul.

So, the scale was about two floors, roughly the size of the mansion above.

We found the researchers quite easily.

“Ugh!”

I tied up the researcher just like the girl from the first floor and slung her over my shoulder.

She didn’t struggle much.

She probably realized the situation was as bad as it could get.

She was a high school girl getting carried by a full-grown man on her shoulder.

It probably didn’t look that unusual to others.

As we approached the door we originally came through, we heard footsteps from the other side.

Two researchers were rushing toward us.

The squad leader, probably smiling confidently under his helmet, raised a finger and pointed upward—

Boom!

A loud noise came from beyond.

We all froze and looked up.

No one had entered the boiler room yet—

“Ugh!”

The distorted voice from the combatant’s helmet echoed.

We looked back at each other.

“Damn it,” the squad leader muttered.

I felt the exact same way.

I had expected this.

*

While it wasn’t the same incident I saw in the original, magical girls always seemed to show up whenever we were causing trouble.

Maybe it was because they replaced the Galactic Federation’s soldiers.

“You guys…”

When we arrived at the building, a girl with red hair was standing confidently, blocking the way.

The girl still tied up downstairs was watching Rose curiously, as if wondering why she wasn’t being untied.

I guess I understood why.

Having the hostage running around would only make things harder.

Beside her was another girl with a purple ponytail.

Were the others still on their way?

“You thought you could maintain a secret facility like this without regular reports?”

The red-haired magical girl, Happy Rose, said, sounding almost mocking.

Nearby, the soldiers were lying unconscious.

Beeep beep beep!

A sense of dread overtook me as I heard the sound from my helmet.

91 percent.

Is this even possible?

Can we do it?

Iris’s attacks hurt, but at least if I took a hit, the fight would end there.

But Rose was different.

Her attacks were pure hand-to-hand combat.

If I took a hit, it would mean immediate capture and arrest.

I would be released soon, so I didn’t need to worry about that, but once the helmet came off, Hayoon would definitely recognize me.

Plus, I had shown my face to those two at least once before.

93 percent.

I could feel the cold sweat running down inside the helmet.

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw one combatant twitch.

Was it Jiguppa?

She was creeping toward Rose, slowly crawling forward.

Could it be?

“Mmph!”

The researcher on my shoulder struggled.

Maybe they thought there was hope of escape.

Alright.

There was only one option anyway.

It had always been the only one.

“Let’s go!”

The squad leader said, running forward.

Because the researcher was on his shoulder, his movements were a little slower than usual.

A white beam appeared, and the squad leader rolled on the ground.

“I won’t make the same mistake as last time.”

He screamed as he rolled, but Iris calmly raised her gun at the recovering squad leader.

This time, it wasn’t a warp round.

It was a hostage rescue mission.

Beeep beeep beep!

96 percent.

My heart was pounding wildly.

I sprinted forward.

A white light beam came flying toward me.

It seemed to split into a thin beam, clearly not aimed at the researcher.

Fortunately, this was something I could block without a battery.

“Ugh!”

It hurt, but…

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Rose lunged at me.

But Jiguppa quickly grabbed her foot.

“What the—”

For a brief moment of surprise from Rose, I dashed past her.

Iris’s beam came flying again.

This time, I used a battery to block it perfectly.

However, I couldn’t reload it.

I was using both hands.

The squad leader, along with another combatant, was still carrying the researcher and running.

Iris aimed at them and fired another beam.

The researcher screamed through the gag and fell to the ground, but the speed of the fall slowed midway.

It was Iris’s magic.

Iris spun elegantly, her skirt fluttering as she turned toward me.

It was as if she was dancing in the air, her movements graceful and fluid.

I rolled forward. I protected the researcher’s body as much as possible. I didn’t want the hostage to get hurt… not like this.

I let go of the researcher partway and rolled a few times before standing up.

Thunk!

I heard a fist strike Jiguppa’s helmet.

The helmet cracked, revealing Jiguppa’s face inside.

She collapsed to the ground, limp.

98 percent.

I unfolded my blade.

This time, instead of retreating, I charged forward.

Right toward Iris.

Iris, as if she had anticipated it, calmly aimed at me.

She aimed perfectly—

And fired.

“…Ugh!”

I managed to block it after quickly inserting a new battery, but the impact wasn’t fully negated.

Ping!

I saw the fuse come out of Iris’s rifle.

It was different from usual.

Ah.

The reason for the fuse in the gun is to control the power.

If it’s too strong, the gun can’t handle it. If done wrong, it could kill someone.

Iris had swapped the fuse.

For something that would definitely overpower me.

Her face had no trace of a smile.

99 percent.

Beeep beep beep.

I could hear the shrill noise in my ear.

I heard the sound of wind cutting through the air beside me.

I quickly turned and swung my blade.

“Oh dear.”