Chapter 30 : False Accusation (4) Part-2

“It wasn’t Jieun. Someone else planted the explosives… Everyone else knows it too.”

“But we’ve received a report. Now that she’s been identified as a suspect—”

“Where were you planning to take Jieun?”

Hayoon spoke in a low voice.

The man couldn’t answer.

It wasn’t that he was stuck logically, but it was more likely because of the expression on Hayoon’s face.

“Tell me.”

Feeling Cherry’s small hand gripping her shoulder tightly, Hayoon spoke again.

“Were you really planning to take her to the police station? Or were you not planning to move her to the hospital?”

“We were just making sure she couldn’t escape—”

“How was she supposed to escape?”

She had seen it.

Hayoon had seen Jieun escaping with a force that no ordinary person could possibly stop, all the way up to this point.

But still, she couldn’t admit it.

She couldn’t think that Jieun had done something wrong.

The Jieun she had seen until now wasn’t that kind of person.

Jieun had always worked hard, never cared much about the way others saw her, and even when Hayoon was feeling down, Jieun would always try to cheer her up.

On the outside, Jieun might have seemed a little cold, but in reality, she was warmer and more delicate than anyone.

If a person like that were in this situation…

Wouldn’t she naturally want to escape? Wasn’t there no other choice but to run?

With an expression that looked like she might burst into tears at any moment, Hayoon looked around at the people.

“What? Tell me! How is someone who was in a coma for an entire week supposed to escape like that?”

“……”

No one could say they hadn’t seen it.

The blade of the staff was shimmering.

Hope hadn’t completely disappeared yet.

As long as she was here by their side, her words were getting through.

It seemed like the other side didn’t understand at all, but still, Blossom was a magic girl.

If the Galactic Federation or Noir Corporation really intended to take Jieun, they couldn’t just ignore Hayoon’s position as a magic girl.

“Jieun… I’ll take her. As long as she doesn’t escape, that’s all, right? If a magic girl is protecting her directly, they won’t have any complaints, right?”

“Blossom.”

But as soon as she finished speaking, a voice calling Hayoon interrupted.

It was a familiar voice.

“Stop it. Continuing like this, isn’t going to end well.”

Pushing through the crowd was Rose.

Behind her was Iris.

Seeing Jieun lying there, Iris showed a complicated expression.

Although she knew that Jieun had been someone who had fought countless times, seeing her act like this made it impossible to feel anything but discomfort.

In fact, Rose, with a grim expression, looked at Jieun lying there and surveyed the surroundings.

“And you all. This should have been enough, don’t you think? Who uses live ammunition against a human?”

An unnatural light, different from the surrounding lights, caught their attention, and their gaze shifted toward it.

Delphinium was holding a magic book in one hand and waving her staff, chanting a spell.

Beside her, Dahlia stood awkwardly, holding a somewhat hastily repaired staff, her expression wary.

“We’ll take over from here. …Escort the injured, and put down your weapons. I don’t know why you were trying to transport her secretly, but at this point, there’s nothing left to hide.”

At Rose’s words, the surrounding soldiers exchanged looks and slowly lowered their guns.

Hayoon let out a small sigh.

However, as soon as Rose moved closer to Jieun, Hayoon flinched and shifted her body to block her path.

“I’m just trying to check if she’s okay.”

Hayoon shook her head.

“What… what are you trying to do? Are you planning to take her directly to the Galactic Federation?”

“That’s the only way. Is there another option?”

“No!”

“Blossom… no, Hayoon.”

Rose let out a small sigh.

“You need to think calmly.”

“Even if I think calmly, Jieun didn’t do anything like that!”

Hayoon shouted.

Iris’s eyes widened.

It was the first time she had seen Hayoon make such an expression.

The other magic girls had different levels of concern, but their expressions were all similar.

“She was just fighting as a combatant! Normally, you’d just let things go, so why are you acting like this now? You’ve never thought it was such a big crime before!”

That was how it was.

She had fought thinking it was the right thing to do.

But they never considered their enemies’ actions to be unforgivable.

After all, combatants were just following orders.

In the end, the reason she had let them go, and why she hadn’t protested their actions, was because she knew nothing would come of tormenting those people. It was futile.

However, Hayoon had never considered that someone she knew might be involved.

Especially someone as kind as Jieun, Hayoon thought such things wouldn’t happen to her.

So, which side was wrong? Could it be that the other side was just an ordinary office worker?

She had heard countless times that the company had never broken any laws.

Each time, she had gritted her teeth, thinking something was wrong.

But now…

Could the belief in justice really crumble so easily?

“Hayoon, calm down. We’re just—”

Rose, who had extended her hand to calm Hayoon, widened her eyes.

And then, she lunged at Hayoon.

Normally, Hayoon wouldn’t have been thrown off by something like this.

She would have calmly assessed the situation and thought about why Rose was acting this way.

But right now, the situation was a little different from usual.

“Ah!”

Flustered, Hayoon moved her hand.

Her blade pierced Rose’s arm.

Without changing her expression, Rose continued to move and threw Hayoon to the ground.

“Seohi…”

But before Hayoon could speak, Rose immediately got up and pulled Hayoon along.

“Delphinium!”

Rose shouted, and Hayoon’s body was spun around.

With Rose gripping the collar near Hayoon’s neck, Hayoon finally understood why Rose had lunged at her.

It was the black sphere she had seen before.

The one that had enveloped Jieun’s body.

“Jieun!”

Hayoon shouted, but Rose had already pulled Hayoon tightly from behind. Hayoon’s feet dragged across the ground.

Her staff was left lying on the floor.

“Jieun!”

No matter what Hayoon shouted, the black sphere melted through the thick wires and snapped them apart, exploding upwards like an eruption.

“Delphinium!”

“No!”

Rose shouted, and Delphinium swung the staff.

A large white sphere flew towards the much larger black sphere.

But the white sphere could not reach the black one.

Before the two spheres collided, a hand emerged from within the black sphere.

It was a pale hand.

The hand was covered in wounds.

But Hayoon could recognize that it was Jieun’s hand.

The hand that had always grabbed Hayoon’s hand and helped her up whenever she felt like she might collapse.

A loud explosion was heard.

The white sphere exploded in the sky and disappeared.

“Everyone, retreat!”

Rose shouted, and the soldiers below quickly turned around. People fled in all directions.

“Delphinium!”

“I’m preparing!”

“Dahlia!”

“Yeah!”

Dahlia cast her magic, but it couldn’t break the sphere.

Iris also provided supporting fire.

The attacks from the magical girls were all aimed at Jieun.

“Stop… Please, stop…”

Blossom, who was tightly held by Rose, muttered.

Had the attacks been effective?

The black sphere was slowly shrinking.

The more it shrank, the faster it contracted, and eventually, the sphere became the size of a person.

Then, the blackness seemed to peel away, like shedding a cocoon.

The squelching sound could be heard from here.

Szzzt.

The shell was peeled away by hand, and a human body emerged.

The body twisted as if forcing its way out of the fitting space, contorting several times.

The expression was one of pain.

The light of hope couldn’t reach that blackness.

When that being first emerged, its body was soaked in black liquid.

Just like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, it stretched its back like a bow with its head tilted backward.

Slowly, the body began to regain its color.

“Jieun…”

Hayoon murmured.

What was there was Jieun.

And, as if—

As if she were dressed like a magical girl.

A simple design dress, predominantly black.

Unlike the other magical girls, it wasn’t a flashy outfit, but that didn’t mean it was weak, as everyone knew.

“What… what happened…?

Even Rose murmured softly.

Slowly, Jieun opened her eyes.

Even after the black liquid completely dripped off and her clothes dried, Jieun remained covered in wounds.

Her cold gaze looked down at Hayoon and the magical girls.

No.

Hayoon wanted to say it immediately.

That she hadn’t attacked.

That she just wanted to save her.

But her voice wouldn’t come out.

“Now, you say that?”

Someone in her mind murmured.

“After everything? After you broke me, ripped me apart, crushed me… Now?”

Hayoon couldn’t refute those words.

Jieun stayed suspended in the air for a while, staring at the magical girls.

Suddenly, a sphere appeared behind her.

It looked like the black hole from a movie.

Rose shouted something.

Delphinium and Dahlia prepared, and Iris fired.

But Jieun didn’t launch any attack toward them.

The space around the black hole twisted.

When Hayoon regained her senses, Jieun had already vanished.

The sky was empty, as if nothing had ever happened.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

Only then did the strength leave Rose’s arm.

Hayoon knelt on the ground.

And with that, she collapsed, crying helplessly.