Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duties

3 – Stranger From Another World (3)

Who is the magical girl?

A hero who confronts formidable evil with a single magic wand.

An indomitable soul who never gives up, even in the face of hardship.

A guardian of happiness who sings of dreams and hope.

And.

The one and only being capable of facing the monster.

“Thanks to them, we were able to drive out the monster and restore Korea to this level.”

However.

“Really?”

“Why? It’s just the truth.”

Something is off.

With an incident of that scale, the number of invading monsters must have been enormous. Would it be possible for the magical girls, who are so few in number, to handle it?

In my opinion, absolutely impossible.

Even if it were possible, the aftermath would surely be severe. A national crisis isn’t something that can be easily overcome, like a scratch or a cut.

Yet.

The current world before my eyes is far more advanced than before I was dragged to this other world.

In other words, they finished recovering from the damage long ago and moved on to the next stage.

Does that even make sense?

“Even if they are magical girls, is it possible?”

Numbers are a simple and primal, but a very effective form of violence.

“I didn’t see it firsthand, but the number of monsters must have been huge, and each one must have been quite formidable.”

“Ah, that’s true. It was no joke.”

I know it well.

I, too, have crossed countless lines of death whenever I fought against a multitude.

Especially when the members making up the multitude were exceptionally skilled. Unfortunately, the multitudes I encountered were always one of two things.

Those whose skill level was almost the same as mine.

Or those who were one or two steps higher than me.

If it was just one opponent, maybe. But facing a multitude, there was nothing I could unilaterally gain.

To gain something, I always had to give up something else.

A kind of equivalent exchange.

A fluid transaction where the price shifted with every passing moment.

And.

A scale perpetually tipped unfairly.

To take a single step, one had to relinquish their left hand.

To land a single blow, one had to endure three stabs.

When an arm was severed, innards were ripped apart.

Of course, I didn’t die. I survived, somehow.

Only, the pain…it hurt so damn much that I wanted to just die a thousand times over.

Which is why I couldn’t help but question it now.

“But how could the Magical Girls win against so many Fiends?”

No matter how magical, a Magical Girl wasn’t an all-powerful, absolute being. Faced with a multitude of Fiends, they were bound to hit a wall.

Just like I did.

“Well, the number of awakened Magical Girls was just… astronomical.”

“How many are we talking?”

Honestly, it was almost laughable.

How many Magical Girls could there possibly be?

“The entire nation.”

This wasn’t even funny.

I must have misheard.

Even the most batshit insane novels wouldn’t include a setup like that, let alone something like that actually happening in reality.

A world like that… it’s just a crazy world.

“Ah, well, technically, only biologically adult women. But yeah, basically all the women.”

Come to think of it, the world had always been insane.

With those crackpot higher-ups stirring up shit on the regular, the idea of all the women becoming Magical Girls… looking at it now, it wasn’t that far-fetched.

Anyway.

“So, it would be possible, right?”

“…I guess so.”

The North Korean Fiends—that is, the Fiends—how could there be as many of them crossing into South Korea as there were adult women nationwide?

Especially since those higher-ups had been doing all sorts of crazy things trying to save only the women. There were bound to be casualties from the Fiend invasion, but the number of women was still overwhelmingly larger than the number of men.

Besides, if North Korea only targeted South Korea, fine, but they went global, so of course we’d be overwhelmed by numbers.

So, a magical girl must have beaten the Kaiju.

“Of course, many were sacrificed, but still, a magical girl drove the Kaiju back.”

Let’s organize.

First, Kaiju intrusion occurred from North Korea into South Korea, and women all over the country awakened as magical girls, overcoming the disaster.

Then.

Here, we can infer something additional.

“So, the Kaiju are probably in the North now.”

First of all, the current location of the Kaiju.

This is based on the police consistently using the expression “drove back.”

If they had all been killed, they wouldn’t have said “drove back,” but would have used a different expression. Like, eradicated. Or annihilated.

Besides, indiscriminately sending them to other countries would bring a severe backlash later. So, the best option would be to return them to where they came from.

“Mostly, yes.”

“Mostly?”

“Some countries with bad relations did send the Kaiju to other countries no matter what.”

“Ah.”

Unexpectedly, humans often ignore the best option out of sheer malice, wanting to screw over the other party.

Well, anyway.

Also, if there are so many magical girls, they must inevitably form a single group.

That group appears quite often in works about magical girls, even if not always; the names differ slightly, but the practical meaning is all the same.

Right.

“Since there are so many magical girls, there must be a Magical Girl Association, right?”

A Magical Girl Association must certainly exist.

“Yes, as Kim Si-yul said, there is an association for magical girls. The official name is the Magical Association. Well, everyone just calls it the Association.”

Let’s layer in two more facts here.

One is that government organizations, especially the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration, are dead and gone, leaving those positions vacant.

The other is that when the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration disappeared, a group with as much, or more, force suddenly appeared.

Then we can draw a conclusion.

“The Magical Girl Association must be taking over the roles of the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration. Using magical girls instead of soldiers.”

The only way to stop the Kaiju invading from the North is with magical girls, so they naturally must’ve taken over the role.

The officer inclined his head.

An affirmative.

“Hoo.”

A sigh escaped me before I could stop it.

They say ten years can reshape a landscape, but I hadn’t imagined the world could change so drastically without me.

No doubt considerable conflict, incidents and accidents were required to reach this point. It was likely beyond my ability to even fathom, as I am now. And probably there are still problems, large and small, even now.

Compared to ten years of change, the information I’d heard so far was a mere fragment. Yet even still, it was overwhelmingly vast.

The sheer volume throbbed behind my eyes.

“In any case, let’s get down to brass tacks, Mr. Kim Siyul.”

But the officer across from me seemed disinclined to grant me even a moment’s respite.

“Do you have any idea what kind of sentence you’re facing, Mr. Kim Siyul?”

“No, I don’t.”

If I knew, would I even be here, you b*stard?

“Ah, right. You’re playing the ignorant card, aren’t you?”

“Hey, you son of a—”

Another name just got etched onto my complaints ledger. This prick right in front of me.

“Anyway, as a deserter, it goes without saying, Mr. Kim Siyul, you’re headed to prison.”

Regardless of what I thought, the officer simply continued his spiel.

“Having been on the run for twelve years, the severity of your crime means your sentence will be…extended.”

So that’s why the police hadn’t come on strong until now.

Usually, they pressure those whose guilt isn’t certain. If they confess under duress, it’s a quick win, after all.

On the other hand, they treat the already-convicted with courtesy. No point in squeezing blood from a stone, or making things unpleasant for everyone involved.

And I, it seemed, fell into the latter category.

It was so unfair. The injustice burned, driving me half-mad. Though perhaps I was already halfway there.

“No! Hey! You sonofab*tch! Even so, this is—!”

“However.”

The officer cut me off abruptly.

“However…?”

“Perhaps as a testament to this changing world, deserters are now granted certain… concessions.”

“What kind of concessions?”

The real world feels like it’s gone mad.

I claw my way back after ten years of hell in another world, fresh out of service, and they force a choice on me.

Quietly shuffle off to prison, saddled with a deserter’s stain.

Or, if I refuse…

“Complete your military service as a magical girl.”

“…….”

Become a magical girl.

“What is your decision?”

In the end, I only had one option.

“Prison.”

Magical girl this, magical girl that—it’s just another enlistment.

I already did my time, and now they want me back in the army? Absolutely not. Once is more than enough of that living hell.

Come to think of it, prison’s a much better deal than the military. They respect human rights, the food’s decent.

Okay, so maybe the sentence will be long, but I don’t care.

How long could it possibly be?

It’d have to be shorter than those ten years in that other world. Even if it’s the same length, the living conditions would be a whole lot better.

And if I had money, I could live like a king.

As fate would have it, I have plenty.

I’m the major shareholder of Top□ and No□topia.

So, it’s prison for me.

“Magical girl, then. Understood.”

“Hey, I said prison!”

“We’ll escort you to the Magical Judgment Examination Room.”

“No! I said I’m going to goddamn prison!”

Of course, my choice didn’t exactly get honored.

It wasn’t a choice, just an announcement.

“What can I do? I’m just following orders from above.”

No, the whole questioning charade was just some kind of farce.

“Then why the hell did you ask?!”

“Why, you ask? Well…”

That instant, the policeman, who had been consistently radiating a civil servant’s typical apathy and dull gaze,

cracked the first bright smile I’d seen.

“Because it’s amusing.”

“You son of a b*tch, I’m really filing a complaint!!!”

And just like that, I was being dragged away again.