Chapter 114

“Sohee, it’s practically like you killed her.”

Ding, my head rang.

– I’ll go alone.

– But, unnie.

– It’s fine.

The image of Sohee trying to stop me from going alone came back to my memory.

“No… Sohee isn’t dead. She’s not dead.”

“Sigh…”

At the words that spilled from my lips, Eve avoided my gaze and scratched her head.

“Right. I misspoke earlier. Sorry. And, Sohee probably isn’t dead yet.”

“R-right? That’s right?”

At Eve’s words, I clung to her collar desperately.

I wanted to find some proof in Eve’s words that Sohee wasn’t dead.

“Well… I don’t know for sure. But you, the minion. If the summoned minion dies, it returns as magic power, right?”

“Ah.”

Now that I think about it. That’s true.

The magic power circulating in my body, the inventory, there was nothing that returned as Sohee’s magic power.

“Chilho, come out.”

I opened the inventory and called Chilho, who soon appeared between Eve and me.

“You called, noona.”

“Sohee, did she come back?”

Chilho, who would have greeted me with a cheeky smile before, froze as soon as he saw our expressions.

My disheveled appearance, Eve’s stiff face, and Dusik, who also appeared with a hardened expression.

In this situation, not understanding the mood would be strange.

“No, there’s no sign of that. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, never mind. Good job. Go back in.”

“Yes, understood. Noona.”

But still, I feel uneasy.

What if there’s something I don’t know?

What if, again, I don’t know, and Sohee really died and disappeared?

What if I can never see her again?

There’s not even a production device.

Can I never see her again?

“Ah. The hairpin, the hairpin…”

If I hold the hairpin and call Sohee, maybe she’ll come back.

But no matter how much I searched the dress, the hairpin wasn’t there.

I must have left it stuck in the ground and never picked it up.

Even my younger sibling’s precious artifact, I treated it like that.

“Ha, haha. Ahaha…”

A laugh, as if I’d lost my mind, flowed like a river between us.

“Yoon-Woo.”

At the voice calling me, I looked up at Eve.

I must have collapsed at some point, as even lifting my head took effort.

“…Sleep more.”

“How can I sleep in this situation…”

Suddenly, my consciousness fades.

*

“Dusik. Take care of her. Change her clothes and put her to bed.”

“Yes, unnie.”

After knocking out the Mother-Body, I caught her collapsing body and handed her over to Dusik.

The torn and dirty white dress seemed to reflect the Mother-Body’s current feelings, making me feel bad too.

“Eve.”

“What.”

Even at Karin’s call, she answered irritably, scratching her head.

If the Mother-Body were here, she’d scold her to wash up, but the Mother-Body is currently unconscious in bed.

“What are you planning to do?”

“Do what? I can’t go in now.”

“About Escario.”

“…Hmm.”

Even if he’s a god, is this level of violence acceptable?

Eve doesn’t know the details either.

Even the oldest magical girl, Miracle Princess Eve, has only been around for ten years.

The history of the heavenly realm, which is said to surpass human understanding, and its rules, it’s impossible for Eve to know everything.

“And, Eve.”

“Why do you keep calling me?”

It’s annoying.

It’s not the first time Karin has asked like this, but in this situation where there’s nothing I can do, it’s even more irritating.

“Do you really need to go that far with the Mother-Body? Originally, just handing her over would have been fine.”

“…”

At the sudden question, I was left speechless.

Logically, Karin’s question is right.

Originally, it’s not an enemy organization. Just maintain a balance with a plausible excuse, and it would be fine for the divine realm above.

Whether the Mother-Body is sad or not doesn’t matter.

Moreover, even if Escario appeared, he doesn’t seem overwhelmingly strong to me.

Even if he’s a god, his power isn’t much different from Eve’s, and he’s alone.

Eve, who has become SS-rank, Aquamarine, an S-rank, and over fifty A-rank magical girl branch leaders.

With this force, it’s not impossible to face him.

Right.

Frankly, even if the Mogmog Group is left to perish, and it becomes a two-power struggle between the magical girls and Core Light, it’s not a problem.

“Don’t you think you’re acting strange too?”

“Shut up. What do you know, you unicorn.”

“That’s harsh.”

Karin snorted.

But what can she do? One strike from the Fanatic Spear, and she could turn into horse meat.

“Whether it’s harsh or not, I’ll decide. Shut up.”

I can’t just leave it.

“Do I need a reason? I just want to help. And that bastard Escario, he’s so damn annoying. His face, his actions. Should I just hand over the Mother-Body to him?”

That’s crazy.

“Don’t say scary things that might appear in my dreams. Rather than giving her to that bastard, I’d…”

What?

“I’d what? Why did you stop talking, Eve.”

“…It’s nothing.”

Why am I saying such strange things?

First, I need to check if all the gates to the Light Realm are closed.

Of course, they’re all closed, but I still need to check.

“Baekhwa,”

A voice came from the empty air.

“Yes.”

“Call all the branch leaders. Three hours later, 11 AM. Tell them if they’re late, I’ll personally break their heads.”

“Understood.”

*

“Everyone here?”

Exactly 52 branch leaders. Including the vice-president Aquamarine, 53 people.

“The Light Realm gates are all closed. Escario is doing something crazy.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

It was Evangelin.

In her pure white dress.

Behind that… no, never mind.

“The Light Realm has closed itself off. The divine realm will send an investigation team in a week. We don’t know what will happen in that time.”

Silence fell over the meeting room.

I looked around.

Even though they’re always half out of their minds, they seemed to understand that this was no ordinary emergency.

“As you all know, we belong to the Light Realm. But since Escario, our god, lost his mind, strange situations keep happening.”

“Just get to the point. So, what are we supposed to do?”

“Concord, try to understand. This is an emergency.”

Before I could say anything, Aquamarine took charge.

“So, what’s the point? Why is this an emergency? You need to explain the situation. You called us here, closed the gates, what are we supposed to do? I have a shop appointment at two. Hurry up.”

The branch leader of Yeoju, Concord.

A fire-type magical girl with a quick temper, her body moves before her head.

A typical, lower version of Aquamarine.

“To explain, you need to shut up, don’t you?”

“What? Eve, are you done talking?”

“Shut up before I stick a spear in your mouth. I’m really pissed right now, so be quiet. I’ll explain. I’ll explain so even an idiot can understand. Got it?”

“…”

As I released my aura and growled, Concord pouted and shut up.

Some only listen when you get angry.

“Escario, as you know, is the god of our Light Realm, and a former criminal. Since gods are for life, he still holds the position, but you all know he’s gone crazy over the Mother-Body and got involved in this mess, right?”

No answer came.

But silence is also an affirmation.

“So, he plotted something, and the Mother-Body barely escaped, and then he closed all the gates to the Light Realm. In the worst case, we might have to consider a scenario where he leads the Light Realm army to invade and reclaim the Mother-Body.”

“What, he’s going that far over one girl?”

That’s the problem.

“A week, the divine realm will send an investigation team in a week. In that week, we’ll see what this guy is up to, what his plan is. Until then, everyone be on emergency standby. Branch leaders, tell your members to be armed and ready at all times.”

A sigh filled the meeting room.

But there’s no choice. We don’t know what Escario is planning, what his scheme is. To protect the human realm, we have to do something.

“Everyone, don’t forget. If Escario invades and the human realm is destroyed…”

I looked around once more.

“All the money and power you love so much will just become scraps of paper.”

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