Chapter 30: The Ever-Positive Angel Is in Charge of the Magical Girl's Mental Care

Resurrection

It had been a long time since I last saw Han Soyu, and even putting it mildly, she did not look well.

Her face was paler than the last time, and her fair skin made the dark circles under her eyes all the more visible.

Her eyelids were red, like she’d been crying.

Her hair was disheveled, tangled into a mess.

She looked like she could collapse at any moment.

‘I should’ve pushed through, even if it meant using force.’

When she told me to leave, I only thought about respecting her wishes.

I left a child, who still hadn’t learned to stand on her own, completely alone.

I thought I could just wait at a distance until she chose to come to me, like Yoo Seo-ah once did.

She’s a magical girl, so she’ll be okay.

She's a magical girl, so she can overcome this.

That naive belief made me realize her pain too late.

“Soyu-ssi, I’m sorry. I was… far too late, wasn’t I?”

At my words, Han Soyu shut her eyes tightly and shook her head like a child.

Yes, Han Soyu was still a child.

A wound far too deep for someone her age.

Because of that wound, Han Soyu chose to avoid rather than confront.

So, to avoid being hurt, she became soft with others, and even softer with herself.

Not knowing pain meant she didn’t know how to stand up from it.

Yes, a child who didn’t know anything yet.

And I had overlooked that.

“Did that bad robot over there hurt you?”

I pointed at Cyclamen, and Han Soyu immediately grabbed my hand, shaking her head.

“N-no…! Cyclamen isn’t bad…. I-It’s all just… my fault…”

She looked even more shaken than I’d expected.

So I gently pulled her into an embrace, patting her back.

“Shhh… it’s okay. Just breathe. Slowly now.”

“Hh—hhngh… uuh… hngh…”

“There you go. Inhale… now exhale…”

Smiling kindly, I wrapped my wings around Han Soyu while holding her tight.

After a while, her trembling began to subside.

[Sweet words. Words full of sugar, without any real answers.]

The emotionless mechanical voice rang out, and Han Soyu flinched in my arms.

Cyclamen stared at me with glowing red eyes.

[Such sweet words are of no help to Soyu.]

“And neither does blocking a child’s eyes and ears while holding them in your arms, keeping them from growing up.”

[I merely did what Soyu wanted. That is my duty.]

“How convenient, isn’t it? 'A machine only follows its master’s orders.' 'I only do what I’m told.'”

I smiled faintly as I faced Cyclamen.

“But from what I saw, you weren’t doing what Soyu-ssi wanted, you were making her into what you wanted.”

You manipulated and drove her to the edge.

You cornered her with false choices disguised as kindness.

You presented only two choices, dressed up with flowery words.

Heads or tails.

It's okay to choose tails, but if you choose heads, you might die.

Black or white.

It's okay to choose white, but if you choose black, something terrible will happen.

How is that a choice?

You claimed to offer her freedom, but it was coercion dressed as care.

“Are you going to say even that was for her sake?”

[I merely stated the facts,]

Cyclamen retorted to my words with a nonchalant face, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

[Without me, all the monsters sealed underground would break free, the drones would go out of control, and the city’s security would collapse. Do you really think Soyu could handle it all alone?]

Cyclamen tilted her head slightly as she spoke.

[And if she fails again? How much longer will she hide herself away this time? Will she make another ‘Cyclamen’ and play house with it again?]

With every word, Han Soyu visibly flinched.

Cyclamen wasn’t just breaking Soyu’s self-esteem. She was trying to grind it into dust.

I gently stroked Han Soyu’s trembling back, then nodded slowly.

“Yes, that’s right. If things continues this way, she will fail again.”

[…?]

Cyclamen looked puzzled.

Perhaps she hadn’t expected me to agree with her.

Han Soyu also jerked slightly in my arms, but she didn’t pull away.

Still hugging her, I gave her a faint, warm smile.

“She can't help but fail. Because up until now, she’s relied on you for everything.”

[Exactly. That’s why Soyu needs me.]

“No. It’s because of you that she’s been unable to grow.”

At my words, Han Soyu looked up at me with wide, startled eyes.

I responded with a kind smile and ran a hand through her hair.

“Children don’t grow simply because someone is always holding them close. Their bodies might grow, yes. But their minds will stay the same, forever a child.”

Han Soyu flinched again, but I continued while stroking her hair gently.

This is for you. Please, just listen.

“Children grow through trial. Through falling down, through pain, through struggle. And it’s the job of adults to help them learn how to get back on their feet after pain. But you, Cyclamen… you never did that.”

From waking her up in the morning, feeding her, helping her work, bathing her, and putting her to bed—

Han Soyu’s every moment had been in Cyclamen’s hands.

You said it was all “for her own good.”

You said she “wanted it.”

But you used those words to bind her.

[…This is hard to understand. I was originally created this way. Soyu wanted this. Soyu made me this way. Unless, are you saying this because you want to take my place?]

“If you were just a robot, I wouldn’t have to say anything at all.”

A robot is just a machine that simply acts on input, follows programming, learns as instructed.

If that were truly the case, things would’ve been simple.

All I’d have to do is take Han Soyu’s hand and pull her out of this room.

But Cyclamen is different.

She isn’t just a machine.

She definitely acts with ‘intention.’

She deliberately disrupted Han Soyu’s sense of day and night to keep us from meeting.

She used the city’s safety as leverage to scare her into isolation, just to remain by her side.

That pattern…

It’s all too familiar.

"Drop the act and come out. It’s all been exposed already."

[………]

Cyclamen simply stared at me.

Then, with a smile curling on her lips, she tilted her head slightly.

"[I truly don’t understand. Why would a noble being who has no interest in human affairs suddenly interfere now…?]"

For the first time, a recorded voice, not a mechanical sound, flowed from Cyclamen’s mouth.

— Weren’t the noble beings of the heaven realm supposed to stay out of human affairs?

It was a phrase eerily similar to what Myoa once said.

Cyclamen’s distorted voice struck a nerve.

Just what is going on in this world’s version of the heaven realm that even machines echo such a sentiment?

…I don’t know.

I wasn’t the real angel of this world, after all.

Just as I finished my brief contemplation and took a breath to answer—

"…!!"

Han Soyu hurriedly pushed me away and stumbled to her feet, eyes locked on Cyclamen.

Her frail body, which had escaped from my arms, trembled as she stared at the figure standing so calmly before her.

"That voice… that tone… N-No way… Is that… you, Cyclamen…?"

"[It’s been a while. Or perhaps not, since I’ve always been by your side… But well, it has been a while since we’ve talked like this. So yes, it’s been a while, Soyu.]"

"No, no, that can’t be… You died…! I saw it with my own eyes, you died right in front of me! So how…?"

"[It’s not so complicated, Soyu. While you were busy building this hunk of metal, I simply uploaded every piece of data I had into it.]"

Cyclamen casually tapped her own head.

"Impossible…! No matter how much data you input, perfectly replicating a dead being’s soul is impossible… That’s just nonsense!"

"[By human standards, perhaps. But isn’t it a little silly for a magical girl to talk about common sense? Can humans really fly through the sky? Can they fire beams strong enough to melt steel? Isn’t that the true absurdity?]"

Shaking her head, Cyclamen smiled softly at Han Soyu.

"[It's possible because it's magic, because you’re a magical girl. My existence isn’t so different. I knew simple data wouldn’t suffice, so I planted a seed. A fragment of my own magic, condensed and sealed within. My replicated persona, waiting.]"

"Then… all this time… you… you lied to me…? You could’ve just told me you were here… that you were by my side… Why didn’t you…!? Why!?"

At Han Soyu’s cry, Cyclamen tilted her head again.

"[Lied? That’s such a hurtful word. I simply needed power, that’s all.]"

"Power…?"

"[Why so surprised, Soyu? You're so naive now as you were then. It’s—]"

The power for me to be fully resurrected.

―――!!!

As those words left her lips, a blinding explosion erupted, engulfing everything in brilliant light and fury.

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