“Suddenly, what do you mean…?”
“Please, I’m asking you. You know you’re the only one I can rely on for this.”
“No, but… this time, if I get caught, my life could be in danger, you know?”
“If anything happens, I’ll help you.”
It’s not entirely clear yet, but it’s certain that the project involving those children is Rankified as top-secret.
Otherwise, there’s no way I wouldn’t even be able to access their personal information.
Even though I’m treated at a general officer level, and it wouldn’t normally be impossible for me to check, when I requested information from higher-ups, they simply told me it was Rankified and that they couldn’t disclose anything.
I’m not so desperate as to threaten that I’ll stop defending South Korea just because they won’t tell me, but the fact that they’re hiding something is suspicious.
“You know as well as I do… If it’s top-secret, even most generals can’t access it.”
“Shouldn’t the Defense Security Command be able to handle this?”
“Well, my clearance isn’t exactly low, but top-secret is on a whole different level. If I get caught, I have no idea what will happen to me.”
“That’s why, if anything happens, just call me. You can say it was my request.”
South Korea can’t afford to abandon me anyway.
So, I can afford to take this kind of risk.
“This is really important. Who knows what kind of insane things the Ministry of National Defense is up to?”
If those children are really minors, I’ll go straight to the source of this project.
For a project to be Rankified as top-secret, it must have been proposed by the Ministry of National Defense’s Joint Chiefs of Staff or the Army Headquarters, where the magical girls are affiliated.
Since the Ministry of National Defense consists mostly of government officials and is more concerned with other matters than the decline in the quality of magical girls, it’s more likely that this project came from the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the Army Headquarters.
Starting with the Army Headquarters seems like the best course of action.
“I mean… haah… fine.”
“If this is just my own baseless concern, then great. But if I’m right and I get caught, I’ll take full responsibility.”
I meant that.
If things go south, I might end up spending my entire life as a machine-like monster hunter.
I just hope South Korea isn’t that rotten.
“If you’re that determined, then I guess I have no choice… “
I’ll give it a try, but don’t get your hopes up.
“Even generals struggle to access top-secret information, so for me, as a field-grade officer, it’s practically impossible.”
“Just the fact that you’re trying is enough. And you’re not doing this alone, so don’t worry.”
I have quite a few connections in the military.
It won’t be easy, but it’s not entirely impossible.
I need to look into other sources as well.
There are plenty of places to poke around.
.
.
.
“Haah…”
After finishing up my work and returning home, I collapsed onto my bed.
‘So damn exhausting…’
How long has it been since I moved around this much?
Even when a Rank C monster showed up a few days ago, I didn’t use that much energy.
A Cyclops isn’t particularly strong for a Rank C, so I took it down with a single strike.
It was Icicle who kept stubbornly attacking, making me move around more than usual.
Even though my body wasn’t too tired, I was mentally drained.
And with how suspicious the Special Unit is, there’s so much to do.
By the time I got home, it was already evening.
I just want to lie here and sleep.
“…Maybe I’ll play a game.”
In the end, gaming it is.
Well, given my job, I don’t really have friends my age.
My workplace is literally the military, so I don’t have any close colleagues either.
Everyone treats me with excessive respect.
And if I don’t go to work, the only thing left to do at home is this.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Bear? Where have you been?”
“Had some business in Fairyland.”
“Yeah?”
Hmm.
“Hey, Bear.”
“Yeah?”
“If I ask about the personal information of magical girls, will you tell me?”
“You already know, don’t you? That’s top-secret.”
That’s true.
The real identities of magical girls are strictly Rankified in Fairyland, treated as a special-grade secret.
Meanwhile, in the real military, information about magical girls is only Rankified as second-degree secret.
Still, compared to regular soldiers, whose information is usually third-degree secret, it’s clear they take magical girls seriously.
Even so…”You sure you wouldn’t answer if someone like me asked?”
“Nope.”
“Damn it.”
Relying on Fairyland was a dead end.
Besides, those people believe it’s natural for children to become magical girls.
If I ask them for information because I suspect children are being deployed, they’ll probably just look at me like I’m crazy.
That’s just the reality of it.
“Haah… Even though I’m a founding hero, can’t they cut me some slack?”
“No exceptions. I can’t access it either. Even Fairyland’s higher-ups are the same. The only ones who know are the magical girl’s assigned mascot and the girl herself. I can’t even reveal your identity by law.”
“My identity is already widely known, though.”
“Well, that’s because you’re a national hero…”
I’m famous as Magical Girl Heart, but also as Sergeant Min Hayul.
There are even plenty of people who mix it with that anime Attack on Ti**n, making jokes about “Sergeant Min” like they did with “Sergeant Lee**.
“Overseas, though, I’m better known as Heart.”
Why?
“Is there a problem?”
“The kids I’m in charge of this time… I think they might be minors. Maybe even really young.”
“Huh? They didn’t seem that way to me?”
“What would a bear know about humans? Of course, they’re only slightly smaller than the average adult, but still.”
It’s not their physical appearance that made me suspect—they just seemed young based on their reactions and personalities.
That’s why I’m not completely certain yet.
“But isn’t that a bit of a leap?”
“More than anything, their magic is deeply rooted in emotion.”
They have the kind of raw, swirling emotions that are typical of young children.
How could I not be suspicious?
If this is just my own paranoia, then great.
But if it’s not… I’m not going to just sit by and do nothing.
“Still, I’ve never heard of a magical girl contract that alters the body that much…”
“Same here, but what can I do?”
Magical girl transformations vary, but they generally don’t stray too far from the original body.
Most tend to shrink rather than grow, but even that is just a trend—it’s rare for a transformation to drastically alter someone’s physique.
I, for instance, made my contract at around 8 or 9 years old and have been active ever since.
Even now, I still have the appearance of a young girl from that age group.
Given that magical girls draw power from childhood innocence and emotions, it doesn’t make sense for a child to transform into an adult.
“O…”There are two possibilities.
Either they are adults with exceptionally rare talent…Or there’s something about magical girl contracts that I don’t know.
The worst-case scenario?
“…Human experimentation. No way, right?”
A child’s body could be artificially grown to adulthood before making the contract.
That would explain their unbalanced magical abilities and unusual transformation forms—they’d have the mind of a child in the body of an adult.
Of course, this is just my worst-case scenario, a baseless paranoia.
“Yeah… I don’t really want to imagine that either.”
“I don’t think it’s that extreme. Probably.”
I just hope I’m overthinking things.
If I get caught snooping?
Well, they can deal with it.
“So, how were the kids? I remember you saying they were pretty unique.”
“Surprisingly, the one with the most passion was a girl named Icicle. She was practically trying to kill me.”
“What the hell did you do?”
The bear looked at me with an exasperated expression.
What do you mean, what did I do?
I didn’t do anything weird.
“It was just the first day, so I had a sparring match to gauge their level.”
“A sparring match, on the first day…? Guess what your father said yesterday didn’t mean anything, huh?”
“Shut up. I told them if they could so much as touch the hem of my clothes, I’d grant whatever they wanted.”
…
Oh?
Wait—there it is!
“Hey, should we ask the kids?”
“…”
“They might tell us if we get close to them. Like, if I reassure them and promise to keep it a secret…”
“That’s called gaslighting. A magical girl shouldn’t be doing that.”
“It’s for the greater good.”
“Cut the bullshit.”
Damn.