September 21st
It was almost two months since the garden was established.
“Are you going?”
“Yes, I have a lot to do.”
“……”
The Master looked at me with a complicated gaze for a moment.
For the past two months, I had received help from the Master in making my passport and printing various documents. He even helped me buy things I needed for my trip, and he came to see me off at Shinjuku Station.
“Were you not curious since I suddenly started preparing something?”
I joked with the Master, who looked slightly melancholy.
The Master relaxed his stiff expression and quietly smiled as he replied to me.
“You’ve always seemed to be in a hurry preparing something since two years ago.”
“……”
“In fact, I knew.”
“……”
“I’m just glad that you seem so calm despite complaining about it now.”
“……”
We didn’t say anything for a moment.
If I hadn’t cried my heart out after coming to this world and had not found my way to the Master’s shop for a meal,
I might have been pondering how to survive alone by now.
The bond we had built over two years, which started with him being just a supporting character in the original story, had now grown to an undeniable size in my life.
He was no longer a secondary character.
“Whatever you prepare, I pray it becomes your happiness.”
Pat
The Master placed his hand on top of my head.
His hands, which had roasted coffee beans until this morning, carried the rich aroma of the café that had supported me for two years.
It was a rough, earthy smell mixed with various scents, yet it was deeper and more profound than any coffee aroma.
It smelled of a father who had lived 63 years, lost his daughter, and spent lonely days.
It was the scent of a benefactor who warmly welcomed this foreigner into their world.
“Was today’s main bean for the special drip coffee Ethiopia Yirgacheffe?”
“You’ve learned well after working for two years.”
“…Medium grind with a little patience.”
“Don’t let the aroma escape.”
“…Enjoy every moment of brewing.”
“I have nothing left to teach you.”
“I was good from the beginning, you know?”
“I don’t think so.”
The Master chuckled before bringing his hand down from my head.
“Go on, it seems like your friends are waiting.”
“Yes, I’ll be back soon, Master.”
The Master’s expression was not simply that of someone seeing off an employee going abroad for a few months.
It seemed he understood the many trials that awaited me starting from now.
‘No way…’
I had never told him the word [Start] or that I was a Magical Girl, as he always helped without asking for details.
But perhaps…
‘No, he’s just a person with a lot of affection.’
I shook my head and then approached Ichika and her gang, who were waiting ahead. As I approached, they began chattering away as if they had been waiting.
“Oh, Leader~ This is your first time going abroad and you’re not going to show off?”
“Hikari-chan looks good in anything!”
“Be sure to come back healthy!”
“Uh-huh…”
Watching my team’s lighthearted banter, I felt the seriousness I had shared with the Master dissipate.
In fact, as the domain’s owner, unlike ordinary residents, I could enter the domain at any time.
Even while I was abroad, the Magical Girls could continue to see each other’s faces.
“Our meeting room keyword is always the same, right?”
“Hahaha! Only we would know that!”
We shared coordinates of a small space created in the garden, allowing Magical Girls to meet privately. The keyword we designated to refer to our space was…
“Odaiba Magic Show!”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Puhuhuhu…”
“Ugh, Hikari-chan sometimes says things that sound like an uncle…”
Sorry, Hana-chan.
I’m technically an uncle.
“Then Ichika, I’ll be relying on you for any trouble that comes up in Tokyo for a while.”
“Well, thanks to the guards running around and the Walpurgis coming up with ideas, the number of troublemakers has decreased…”
Thud
Ichika raised her fist as she spoke.
“If caught, I’ll wring them out like a mop!”
“…Don’t beat them too hard, just enough.”
“If you want to get beat moderately, you shouldn’t have been rampaging in the first place.”
“Ugh.”
“Well, I’ll clean your hideout every now and then.”
With combat skills that show great prowess even among Born 2-Stars, Ichika could easily handle ordinary troubles with her two fists.
Ichika often went out at night claiming, “My fists are crying,” and crushed the adorable mischief of villainous Magical Girls, becoming a sort of urban legend in the Magical Girl community.
I turned to Kyoko and spoke.
“Kyoko, please take care of the café.”
“Leave it to me! This surprisingly suits my strengths!”
Kyoko didn’t just work odd jobs elsewhere; she often came to help in our café afterward, and many customers loved her cheerful voice and lively attitude.
Her learning speed was incredibly fast, so in terms of skill, she was getting better at things than I was, who had just filled in time.
“Hikari-chan!”
“Yeah? What is it, Hana-chan?”
Hana was gently waving her hand as if signaling that she wanted to share a secret, so I slightly bent my knees to bring my ear closer to her.
“I helped some people again the other day!”
“What kind of people?”
“I helped a grandma who was sitting on the street looking troubled and took a company worker who was running late to where he needed to go!”
“Oh…”
I worried about whether ordinary people would be injured after experiencing Sato Hana’s otherworldly speed, but since there hadn’t been any reports from Walpurgis or the guards, it seemed she had protected them psychically in her own way while helping.
“This is a secret from Mom too!”
“Haha…”
Actually, I guessed that the Sato couple had vaguely noticed Hana going out to help people as a Magical Girl.
Even so, it seemed that for her, doing good deeds was a shared secret with friends and an exhilarating adventure.
Escaping a mundane daily life through helping others felt almost like fate for this pure child to become a Magical Girl.
“Hey, Leader~ We’re almost at train time!”
“If we want to board comfortably, we need to leave now~”
“Has it already been that long?”
While talking, I packed my backpack that was on the bench and hid my noticeable silver hair under a black baseball cap.
Just hiding under the cap made it so that my outlandish appearance was mostly covered, and it helped me blend in like a wannabe singer frequently spotted on the street.
“Where did you get that small amount of luggage to take for several months abroad?”
“It’s better to bring less luggage when going for long periods.”
“What about underwear and clothes?”
“Korea also has clothing stores and convenience stores.”
“Aren’t you taking makeup, lotion, towels, and lunch boxes?!”
“Do you think I’m going to the plains or something?”
Why am I bringing a lunch box?
As I realized that Kyoko unconsciously perceived overseas travel as an extension of a picnic, I answered appropriately.
“You eat spicy food well, so you won’t have any worries adjusting to Korean food.”
“Hikari-chan, aren’t you scared to go abroad alone?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to book accommodation over the internet?”
“Have you studied Korean a bit?”
“Hikari-chan, should I go buy a Korean conversation book right now?”
“Haha…”
From their perspective, it felt like a friend who had never been to an unknown world was going for the first time, but I found it amusing and slightly absurd.
Since they were just being nice and worrying about me, I didn’t feel the need to refute.
“It’s fine, Hana-chan. I’ve studied everything.”
[Narita Airport, the Narita Express will soon depart.]
We hurriedly walked toward the train’s boarding area.
“Hikari-chan!”
Sato Hana called out to me.
“Make sure to come back safe!”
“……”
Suddenly, I recalled the day Hana first called me Hikari-chan.
Her visible disability from hemiplegia made passersby look at her with pity or ignore her completely.
That was why the Sato couple avoided crowded places for their weekend walks and chose the relatively quieter Master’s café.
‘So pretty…’
‘Huh? Me?’
‘Yeah…’
It seemed to be an unconscious murmur, as Sato Hana hastily lowered her head with the fairy tale she was holding.
Being shy, Hana was usually withdrawn, but she seemed happy to say honest things to me and would often initiate conversation or acknowledge me, and we gradually became friends over two years.
‘Sister… Am I… a bother?’
‘No? Not at all.’
‘Ah, I see… Everyone avoids me…’
‘I’m glad you talked to me, Sato-chan.’
‘Sister… then… will you be my friend?’
“Sure! Want to call each other more familiarly?”
“Hika…ri-chan.”
“Yeah, Hana-chan.”
“Hikari-chan!”
I realized that Hana’s disability wasn’t inborn but rather due to an accident later on, which means healing magic wouldn’t work on her.
The tragic incident of her tumbling down the stairs while chasing a butterfly—something completely mundane—was a taboo subject for the Sato couple, revealed only after a miracle had comforted their hearts.
The lingering sadness about the little girl’s tragedy I had watched for so long.
The regret of thinking that if I had known, I might have used my healing ability earlier.
Desperate hope that what lay before Hana was no longer a tragedy but a future filled with hope.
My determination to create that future for her.
All these emotions surged as I listened to her farewell.
I hugged Hana with all my might.
“Hana-chan!”
“H-Hikari-chan?”
“Thanks to you, I could be brave.”
The little girl who had not shown up in the original story and whom I had stumbled upon had come to be a support in my heart.
“Thank you, Hana-chan! For being my friend.”
“Thank you, Hikari-chan! For being my friend!”
Ring
Ring
Ring
[The Narita Airport-bound train will start soon. Passengers are kindly reminded…]
“I’ll be back!”
“Okay, have a safe trip, Leader!”
“Haha, if you cry here, it’ll be awkward when we see each other in the garden!”
“I’m not crying!”
“Come back, Hikari-chan!”
I pulled down my cap and boarded the train.
As the doors closed, the train slowly moved forward.
I was heading towards the great road my father had once spoken of.
[When the accident happened, many people helped us, didn’t they, Hyeonwoo?]
[Dad thinks that’s all because we lived honestly.]
[Sometimes the narrow path you think is only for you eventually leads back to everyone.]
[Be someone who walks the great road.]
*
*
“Hmmm…”
In an office that smelled due to an unemptied trash bag, dozens of monitors were flickering.
In the deepest part of the office, a girl with long gray hair, long enough to cover her back, was wiggling her feet on a gaming chair.
[Passenger Name: Shirogane Hikari (白金ひかり)]
[Japan Narita International Airport > Korea Incheon International Airport]
“How can a person’s name be silver?”
“Ugh! Smell this office! Dorim! Didn’t I tell you to clean?”
“Ugh, Mr. come on!! I officially changed my name!!”
“What’s wrong with the name Dorim? Why?”
“Your last name is Shin, that’s why I keep hearing ‘Shin Dorim’ jokes a million times!”
“Is the name you changed to Kang Eun-seol?”
“Kang Dorim sounds better!”
“Anyway, the Minister told me to thoroughly grasp the situation of the Magical Girls from Japan and report back, so get it sorted out well!”
“Do you think I’m easy? It’s always me, tell that crazy girl to do it!”
“Ugh, you’re also a crazy girl! You brat.”
“If you keep messing with me, I’ll expose all your search history from last night!”
“Ugh, yay~ If I get embarrassed, I’ll just dive for a week and retire.”
Flick
The team leader, Oh Sang-hyuk, who was clicking his tongue in irritation, threw a pile of documents on the girl’s desk as he left.
Flap
On the desk where papers fell, there was a dusty nameplate.
[Head of Korea Supernatural Ability Response Team]
“Besides me, there are other 2-Star Bloomed individuals in Korea, so why is it only me that they ask?”
Dorim grumbled while putting on her signature gray VR goggles.
Bloomed Born 2-Star [Cyber Brain] Magical Girl
Kang Dorim
“…No matter how you look at it, our silver girl seems like a [Start].”
For the first time, a serious light flickered in Dorim’s eyes.
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