Chapter 65 – Light and Darkness (5)
“Eun-seo… you’re okay, right?”
“I’m fine. But this is just the beginning. How are you going to stop them now?”
“That, um…”
Oh Yoon-seo hurried to Aria but flinched. She had no way to counter Aria’s words. The new type of Magical Girl Rene, different from Takilas, had an unpredictable power, and there was no way to control it.
“I’ve decided to challenge the impossible. As I’ve said before, the ability of a Magical Girl is to overturn the limits of reality.”
“I know. The judgment of the law is always correct… but honestly, it sounds like a dream.”
“You might think it’s meaningless and futile. But that doesn’t mean we can just sit back. So from now on, the executives, I mean, the adults need to do something more. Even if it’s not perfect, at least allow for some possibilities.”
Aria looked at the assailants being handed over to the ambulance and police. Principal Kim Chan-seok, who had been knocked out by Aria, showed no signs of remorse. The one who judged such a person was the very law and justice that Aria wanted to protect.
However, she was no longer a child.
She understood that it was impossible to confront all the absurdities and contradictions of this world by herself.
“…If you don’t cooperate, I’ll just become a meaningless existence and be forgotten, and the Magical Girls led by Rene will take my place. Is that what you want?”
“Yeah. I get it. I won’t let it be in vain.”
Oh Yoon-seo, who had been wavering, was now receiving orders from Aria, who she had always taught. This was, in fact, common knowledge.
One thing that Aria had realized during this time was that she couldn’t change everything alone.
The entire rotten society needed to progress. There should be no room for the self-righteous Magical Girls to take the lead.
“…It was wrong from the start.”
The outsider Magical Girls only needed to catch monsters. People’s issues should be resolved by people. Aria sighed and left the place.
There was more piled up for her to deal with than a mountain of work she had caused herself.
“Seriously, does that make any sense? That the words of some rookie should change how the law applies?”
“Your Honor, that’s not what…”
The advisor was flustered. The commotion caused by the rookie Magical Girl Rene during broad daylight, which had been broadcast worldwide, was effectively a declaration of war.
And the target of that declaration was none other than the corrupt and incompetent order and justice of this realm. Naturally, the parties involved were furious and could not help but lash out.
“The police and prosecutors are a problem too. They just do their jobs based on public opinion…”
“Y-yes, but acting like Takilas would be madness. I’m worried they might retaliate, especially since they belong to the same faction as Takilas.”
“…!”
The furious judge froze at the advisor’s words. More effective than any talk of proper execution or law was one single name.
A being so dangerously irrational that she could storm into his master bedroom at any moment and brutally slaughter him and his entire family if provoked. In front of such a figure, even the feeble idea of personal protection was utterly useless.
There was a slight misunderstanding, but nonetheless, he swallowed hard with trembling eyes.
“…I-I did it by the book. Surely, they wouldn’t retaliate. I’m not the one who makes the laws.”
“That’s correct.”
Eventually, he immediately tucked his tail between his legs. It didn’t stop there. All individuals related to the incident, which had suddenly garnered national attention, lowered their postures.
Aria, who had been observing the situation in case things escalated or the media intervened, shook her head bitterly.
In the end, even though it seemed as if everything was being handled well without her intervention, it was not due to the righteous sense of justice or belief held by individuals, but because of an ironclad fear.
‘Ultimately, what’s important is a realistic way to realize ideals.’
Aria clenched her fist. She was learning one by one.
“I’m sorry. You’re mad at me for trying to stop Rene’s actions, right?”
“No, I’m okay since the punishment is proceeding properly now.”
Not long after the incident, Aria discreetly sought out the victim, Kang Jin-woo. He shook his head at Aria, who was bowing her head.
“But there are many who won’t think like me. Just look at the internet…”
“That just means people are disappointed that much.”
He awkwardly mentioned the internet. Not everyone supported Aria’s actions.
Just as there were Magical Girls who supported Rene’s intentions, supporters of Rene began to emerge from the general public as well. They criticized Aria for stopping Rene’s ‘judgment’ and condemned the existing order.
As a result, the online world was split between those supporting the existing rule of law and those supporting Rene, who were fighting like crazy.
“But I still don’t think I’m wrong. If this opportunity can start to change things, then there’s hope.”
“…Do you really think that’s possible? Even politicians can’t do it.”
“We can do it. It’s my duty to make it happen.”
Aria’s resolve was unwavering. She didn’t have an entirely empty basis for her confidence.
When she knelt and begged, unlike Takilas, who wouldn’t listen to the words of the weak, Rene had listened to her.
With that, Aria inferred that Rene was trying to engage in some sort of ‘politics’.
“Rene and her group could serve as a justification. People would have no choice but to change in accordance with my words, too, out of fear of the ‘judgment’ they wield. That would be enough.”
She had no intention of denying Rene. In fact, she thought she could use her.
There was no need to uproot the concept of justice and morality to replace it. All she needed to do was regulate and correct the absurdities, corruption, and abnormalities to return things to normal.
Aria firmly believed that the standards of justice and morality she had learned on modern Earth were not inferior to those owned by Rene.
“They’re more influential than I thought. Could it be that Takilas — no, Rene — intended this from the start?”
“That can’t be. No way…”
After meeting with Kang Jin-woo, Han Eun-seo walked the streets, dazed, as she listened to the news breaking quickly through her phone.
In just a few months, Takilas had accrued significant influence in this world. After three years of effort, she couldn’t even see the possibility of surpassing Takilas’s influence, no matter how hard she tried.
“But I still need to take action. Only then can true justice be empowered.”
“This…! It’s evil. There’s malevolence stirring nearby!”
Soon, LuLu sensed the evil moving and, avoiding detection, transformed. Aria began to run, kicking the ground.
Now, she no longer acted under the directives of the Management Bureau. Instead, from this moment on, she became a true guardian who acted according to her own judgment to stop evil.
And this evil was different from the monsters she used to catch for results. It encompassed all the corruption and abnormalities in this land that impeded the growth of true justice.
Regardless of whether they were powerful figures or social underdogs, she wouldn’t discriminate against her targets. Before Rene took action, she intended to judge such individuals first.
*
“The world… no, Earth has gone mad.”
“That’s right. But is this really the time for you to be saying that?!”
While Earth was in a noisy uproar, there was another place equally chaotic and loud.
“More and more Magical Girls are violating the company’s policy, acting unilaterally, even forming groups among themselves and openly bypassing us. All of this started with that rookie Magical Girl… no, Takilas! It all began with the emergence of that variant! Speak up if you’ve got something to say, Rana!”
An old man with a long white beard began to vent. His voice gradually grew louder as he fixed a magnified scene of Earth on the mana screen he had conjured, particularly pausing on the news broadcast a second ago.
“…What I have to say is precisely what I just said.”
This was a hearing room. A hearing questioning CEO Rana.
“I acted according to regulations.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Are you referring to the ancient supreme law?”
The fairies gathered around Rana, biting their lips in frustration or shouting in anger. While they could intimidate and threaten her, there was one reason they couldn’t impose direct sanctions.
It was because the ‘real’ regulations outlined in the supreme law established by their ancestor, Yggdrasil, were not the rules modified and filled by the companies they were meant to follow.
“I understand.”
“…Chairman!”
Amidst this, someone who had been quietly watching stepped forward. A middle-aged man with a sturdy physique and a resolute expression even managed a faint smile.
“You must have been quite frustrated that your company isn’t growing. I’ve heard about your reputation when you were just a regular employee, Rana. Capable, sharp, and assertive. But the world doesn’t work that easily, does it?”
“That, that’s…”
“But even so, there are rules to follow. While everyone is working hard, you can’t just pick up a few variants here and there and sneak around. You know we can’t let this slide.”
Though his words didn’t correspond with the actual content being discussed, he nodded as if he understood completely. Rana, who was managing to hold her ground, suddenly felt a chilling sensation and took a breath.
‘Ah, it’ll be fine. They won’t lay a finger on me.’
Having come into contact with all sorts of brutal crimes and incidents in the human world through Magical Girls, she knew that according to the fairy supreme law, that could not be the case, yet the image of a dark torture chamber floated in her mind.
“You don’t even have to break the supreme law to be sanctioned. You can just watch how the variants you hired suffer and collapse.”
“Ah. Me, or… them?”
The chairman confidently spat out those words. However, after taking a moment to process the meaning, she had to desperately hold back the laughter that wanted to escape.
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