Have you ever seen Jieun get angry?
She showed signs of annoyance.
I’ve seen her cry while watching sad movies.
I’ve seen her laugh too.
We’ve been together for so long that it would be strange if she didn’t show any emotional side.
But even so.
I have never seen Jieun get angry.
She seemed like a child.
As if she was spitting out everything that had been building up inside all at once.
Like a child who doesn’t know how to get angry, she flails her arms and legs more than she thinks, acting like a little kid.
But the results didn’t seem like a child throwing a tantrum at all.
The ground around was crumbling, sounds like explosions were heard several times, and the sturdy armored car was crumpled like a piece of paper.
Jieun’s roar sounded painful.
Today, what Jieun did was something that, no matter how you look at it, couldn’t be considered a bad deed.
She rescued Ji-hye, who had been taken hostage, and together with the magical girls, she defeated the rampaging monster.
She didn’t hurt the police, nor did she show any particularly hostile behavior.
If any of the many people here wanted to talk with Jieun, she would have gladly engaged in conversation.
On the surface, she seemed a bit cold, inexperienced, and brusque, but she was definitely not a bad person.
Bang!
With a downward strike from above, the armored car’s waist collapsed.
A large crack appeared on the ground.
The middle of the car was dented and embedded into the ground.
Perhaps because Jieun was scared, the people standing around couldn’t attack her.
Light was flowing in the sky.
Don’t be afraid.
Since everyone around was scared, at least Ji-hye shouldn’t be.
Because the kid over there is Jieun.
No matter how she looked, she’s Jieun.
The one I was searching for so desperately.
But in the end, Ji-hye sat down on the ground.
It wasn’t just fear.
If anything, there must have been many reasons mixed together.
She was so tense that her legs went limp, and she couldn’t fully understand what was happening.
It was the first time she saw a monster so close, and the first time she almost died.
She was just exhausted because she had gone through so much today to endure all of it.
The ground was thudding, and there were monstrous screams that sounded like screams.
Jieun looked up at the sky.
What is she seeing beyond that?
What is that black hole?
Did Jieun create that too?
After looking up at the sky for a while, Jieun looked back at Ji-hye.
There was nothing left on her expression.
Not a single tear.
It was just an empty expression, as if she had emptied everything inside and left nothing behind.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
She tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn’t respond.
I have to grab her.
If I can’t grab her here, I might never be able to.
But Jieun didn’t wait for anything.
She just disappeared.
She blinked once, and Jieun left no trace.
The light that was flowing in the sky, the black hole that seemed to swallow everything, nothing.
There was only a completely wrecked armored car and the ground crumpled everywhere.
For a long time, no one spoke.
Hayoon started to run after regaining consciousness when Jieun moved.
“Wait!”
Hayoon shouted towards the teammates running towards Jieun.
Are they going to capture Jieun?
Are they planning to hurt her again?
She tried to move quickly.
But because of the black hole in the sky, it wasn’t easy.
If she flew up, it seemed she would just be sucked in.
No. It’s still okay.
She has enough magic power.
Her circuits were still functioning properly.
She was about to run forward with all her might towards Jieun when Jieun disappeared.
Again?
—No, the black hole is still there.
Not all magic disappears at the same time the caster disappears, but Jieun’s magic has been like that so far.
She’s still nearby.
Just as she was about to regain her composure and look around.
Bang!
Soon after, that sound was heard.
In the distance, among the police, Jieun was moving.
It was a sight of Jieun she had never seen before.
She was rampaging in anger.
Jieun.
“Jieun-ah?”
She thought it couldn’t be heard here, but she muttered it unconsciously.
“…Ah.”
That’s expected. She must have had a lot building up inside.
It’s inevitable for a human.
She became a national wanted person not because of something she did herself.
Not just taken as an accident, but she was labeled a terrorist who killed people.
Everything in the world must have been resented.
She must have been holding it in until now.
A scream was heard.
It was a scream from Jieun.
A voice filled with terrible pain.
Her body was stiff, unable to move.
If only, in a situation like this, if Jieun had attacked first, the story might have been different.
In that case, Jieun might have been seen as the one at fault.
But Jieun was shot as a price for saving people from danger.
Before that, she even threw a net over Jieun as if she were trying to capture her.
If you do that to someone who showed you kindness—
At one moment, the scream stopped.
After a brief silence, suddenly everything became normal.
The black hole that seemed like it would swallow everything was gone, and the light flowing in the sky disappeared.
Hayoon instinctively knew that Jieun had disappeared.
She hadn’t even been able to speak to her yet.
She thought they could finally talk, but it ended before that.
Why?
Why?
Why are you interfering like that?
Is having a single conversation such a problem?
Hayoon walked slowly towards where the people were gathered.
As Hayoon approached, the people looked over and quickly stepped aside.
Walking the path they gave, she went to where Jieun had been a little while ago.
There was a badly damaged car there.
It was so destroyed that it was hard to recognize its original form.
The damaged car drew Hayoon’s attention.
Why?
Did she seem like she wanted to say something?
Did she think Hayoon would immediately chase after Jieun?
Were they expecting Hayoon to capture that unidentified magical girl?
“Blossom.”
Iris cautiously spoke up.
Hayoon looked at Iris.
Iris had a bewildered expression.
She also seemed worried.
Her lips twitched as if she was about to say something, but in the end,
Iris couldn’t say anything to Hayoon.
Was she trying to tell Hayoon that it wasn’t her fault?
But it was Hayoon’s fault.
From the beginning, she should have thought things through properly.
If you’re a magical girl, your job is to protect people.
She had been thinking of people in terms of good and evil, trying to solve everything with brute force.
Only after seeing Jieun caught in the middle as a victim did she regret it, but by then, it was already too late.
…..
·Because the situation had already turned out this way.
She turned her gaze back to stare blankly at the wrecked armored car before looking away again.
This time, the person she made eye contact with was Ji-hye sitting on the ground far away.
“Jieun-ah?”
As soon as I returned to the room and stretched out, Ziguppa was alarmed and approached.
Then, seeing my bleeding left shoulder, she quickly opened the first aid kit and took out bandages.
Jieun was sitting on the ground, having collapsed.
Blood was smeared on the floor mats, but there was nothing she could do about it.
She was completely powerless now.
The pain she had forgotten due to the excitement of the battle came rushing back belatedly.
“I… messed everything up.”
She muttered.
She couldn’t have the cool appearance of rescuing someone magnificently like a magical girl later.
She showed some cooperation in her own way, but that was the end.
People didn’t trust her.
She even lashed out at the police who shot her.
The armored car, which was a national asset, became completely unusable.
It probably wouldn’t be usable for a long time.
She had destroyed it immensely while fighting, and in her final rampage, it ended up like that again.
Moreover, due to the black hole, things were flying everywhere, causing much more damage than what she directly broke.
Maybe the windows of nearby buildings were shattered too.
From today onwards, the people chasing her would be much more vigilant.
They would have confirmed the danger of the weapons she possessed, so they would be even more determined to find her.
If they encounter her, they might even shoot.
“Sorry.”
She offered an apology that didn’t really warrant one.
To Ziguppa, who was bandaging her shoulder.
After all, she was practically living at his place for free and had dirtied his house.
And to James, who had come up with a plan and made weapons for her.
Well, she was grateful but not entirely, but this time, it was her fault.
However, James didn’t say anything to her.
He just placed his hand under his chin, lost in thought, and then said,
“The weapon is gone.”
He said that.
“……Huh!?”