“You’re… alive.” Ben trembled with eyes that became out of focus. He was unable to resist the urge to reach out and touch her cheek. It had been quite some time since he’d accepted that this loop was a miss. That his friend would die without his help.

That arrogant thought was shown to be false.

Seeing the blonde prisoner reach out for her, Rina became more guarded. Warily looking at the strange woman’s eyes. She could see so many emotions that were being stirred all at once. These were the eyes of someone who had walked the desert to find water.

Only to find their oasis.

“Do I know you?” She couldn’t help but ask.

She seemed different from the feisty yet immature girl he knew. Rina had grown up. She was no longer that friend who would joke around with him. Having become a cold and boring adult like the rest. It made him want to ask the girl so many questions at once.

Only to boil it down to one inquiry:

“Can you still rap for the opening of my game? I’ve been waiting on that promise for years now.” Ben might not have had his computer or design sheets on him, but he was still waiting regarding this. She died before she could help him create his masterpiece.

A game that once funded his efforts into the occult.

Rina suddenly stepped back. A nearly forgotten figure overlapped with the one in front of her. The face was different, but that attitude and insistence to talk about this hypothetical ‘game’ was unique. She’d only remembered one person who’d acted like this.

“…Ben?” Her face started twisting.

“Wait! Don’t cry! I was just happy to see you again after so long, bro.” Ben acted like he smacked her shoulder without actually touching her arm. His voice loud and rambunctious. A lot cruder rather than having improved in this prison environment.

Unaware of what the girl before him was thinking.

There were teardrops falling from her eyes.

A heartbroken expression that made him quiet.

Not daring to joke around.

“…I’m sorry.” He wasn’t sure what mistake he was owning up for, but it felt like things would go awry if he didn’t say so. These words made the now matured Rina look at him suspiciously. Her face alternating between various subtle stages of different emotions.

“What are you sorry for?” Rina let out a sigh.

“Not reaching out to you.” Ben lowered his gaze.

Reluctantly admitting that he never wanted her to know of his situation. She would only worry. This physical change and sensitive circumstances would have ruined her. If she defended him, there were great odds of her being considered his accomplice.

No… That was his excuse…

As time went by, Ben started to doubt if she’d even recognise his current self. He’d suffered enough from the indifference of his parents. Even to this very day, they still believed he was ‘missing’ by his own accord. Living well despite not seeing his face.

Could he handle Rina’s indifference?

The answer was obvious. She had been part of the reason he’d looped in the first place. A feeling of shame hit him when he realised his cowardice. He’d put his own petty feelings above her safety. Making him wonder if his resolve was as tough as he hoped.

“Did I abandon her?” This thought he’d ignored for so long… had only occurred to him at THIS point of his life. He had been able to justify his actions when she wasn’t around, but what about now? Could he really say abandoning her to fate was necessary?

If she had died, maybe he would’ve never knew.

Never knew what ‘shame’ was.

Despite his talkative personality, Ben had no words at this moment. No quips or jokes. He could only share a gaze with her. One that was no longer able to connect their thoughts. They had both grown, and the current them couldn’t understand each other.

A silence engulfed them and strained the air.

“You two were acquainted?” A girl beside her asked.

Ben raised his brows when he saw the blue-eyed girl wearing a different ‘Magical Girl’ uniform. The only similarity between the girls being the frills and both wearing their signature mouth mask. She had an aquamarine blue theme weaved into her colours.

Two wings on her back…

They were not majestic or angelic, but similar to the kind of animalistic mutation Rina went through. A pair of bird wings that were too small to realistically allow her to fly. Those blue eyes of hers were most definitely dyed from activating her transformation.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

He pretended not to know who she was…

Looking away from her.

“We know each other.” Rina’s acknowledgement made him look at her in surprise. She winked at him playfully. Showing the youthfulness he thought she’d rejected after growing up. His arms continued to tremble, but this time his eyes held pure delight.

His heart melted from her compassionate gaze.

“…I see it’s complicated.” The girl clicked her tongue.

“Very.” Ben acknowledged her assumptions. Feeling a sense of kinship towards this former comrade. It was hard to describe this feeling of seeing his former ally meet his old friend. Despite this being their ‘first meeting’, it looked like they were hitting it off.

Exchanging gazes with each other.

“That’s enough. Regardless of our prior connection before this, it doesn’t change anything. You are being drafted by the government’s supernatural ops. Your sentence will be null and void if you accept.” Rina looked cold again while speaking of their intentions.

“Me…?” Ben pointed at himself.

It was the first time he’d heard of a supernatural operations unit. Maybe because he was mostly a solo act that sometimes allied with Magical Girls crafted by that scum he’d despised. There was also the fact that he did nothing at all to warrant being drafted.

“You’re a Mana User now, aren’t you?” Rina crossed her arms confidently. It seemed like they’d used a method other than cameras to spy on him. It wasn’t like those without the ‘sense’ could pick up on the changes in ethereal energy in the atmosphere.

Mana being invisible without the right training.

“I’m not that strong.” He didn’t want to disappoint.

His skills were by no means powerful. They weren’t at the level of having any impact on a team funded by the government. There was a higher chance that the current him without his Innate Gift would slow them down. Be in the way when they were fighting.

Not wanting to repeat the past like this.

“We can’t be picky. There is no law against learning to use Mana, after all.” Rina tried to put his mind at ease. It didn’t seem like the supernatural world had any deep ties to the government. Someone like him would’ve been ignored if they knew his uselessness.

Being a Mana User alone was nothing special.

“There really isn’t a law?” Now this was surprising.

Wouldn’t this only create more rogue Mana Users?

Then turned his head to see the blue girl laughing.

“Obviously! What do you think a law is? How can anyone uphold a law like that? Tell the world it’s possible to learn how to use Mana? It’d be taking one step forward, and two steps back!” There was this narcissistic grandeur in the maiden’s tone.

She sounded really egotistical.

Even making a graceful gesture to demean him.

“Can you talk about this here of all places-?” Just as Ben finished that sentence, he’d realised that there wasn’t anyone awake. Some kind of unknown interference beyond his understanding had been at work… or maybe this was Rina’s ability amplified.

Having no idea how powerful she had become.

The question arose once again.

How did she survive?

Was it due to him not intervening in her life?

“Let’s go. The team leader is waiting.” Rina didn’t forget her duties. She opened the prison door and let him walk out on his own. They descended the stairs and saw everyone sleeping peacefully. Unaware that a prisoner was walking away before being pardoned.

Ben was escorted like he was a VIP.

Without cuffs or restraints.

It took a while before he was taken out of the prison and into a different facility. There didn’t seem to be any of the other Magical Girls around. Remembering that there were two more besides that blue-eyed bird girl. Maidens who possessed extraordinary strength.

Were they not found yet?

Ben decided to stop thinking about it and focused on the present. Rina was still alive, but did this mean that her nemesis was too? If that bastard was still running around, then the world was in danger. He had to focus in order to ‘fix’ the problem he’d left.

The place he was escorted to looked simple.

They avoided the public eye. Using routes that had officers stationed everywhere densely. They did not seem to react weirdly when seeing the Magical Girls in frilly dresses. In fact, many of them had nodded at the two warmly. Still abiding strict military conduct.

“Better give me a hundred more push-ups!”

Ben turned his gaze when hearing an instructor training the soldiers. His eyes widened when seeing that most of them were big and buff men. There was a sense of incongruity at the sight. Each of them had proportions that couldn’t be possible naturally.

They, including the instructor himself, were larger than the average adult man. Their bodies completely trained into human weapons. He had no idea that this kind of unit existed in the past. Why is it he was only seeing these conspicuous super soldiers now?

“How toned…” He looked at them enviously.

Then looked down at the sacks of meat on his chest.

Feeling a chill when some secretly glanced at him.

Most of them staring holes into his rear.

When he turned his head, Ben saw the instructor and soldiers were dutifully training. His gaze then turned towards the two Magical Girls. Their inability to hide their suppressed laughter gave him an answer to what he felt. It made him uncomfortable.

Maybe he should leave?

When he got to the commander’s tent, there was a clear difference in security and technology. He felt like this large dark green military tent was extremely dangerous. Glaring lights shined down on him from above. His only source of comfort being Rina.

Sure that she’d protect him if anything happened.

“Why isn’t she cuffed?” An older man with a cigar between his teeth narrowed his gaze. His badges and stripes seemed to show he had the highest position in this place. The way he rudely spoke to the two girls also made Ben understand what was going on.

Thus, he did not speak.

“Our new recruit is a former acquaintance I’d lost touch with a long time ago. I guarantee that he… I mean, ‘she’ will not cause any harm.” Rina almost forgot about Ben’s current appearance. Hoping that har slip up wouldn’t be focused on between them.

“…Don’t do this again.” The man did not argue with her. He put down his cigar and walked up to them while showing his intimidating presence. Among the soldiers that Ben had seen, this man was a Goliath that stood tall like a giant. His shadow was great.

Rina gritted her teeth.

There was no reaction from Ben’s side. He had his hands in front of him and showed no resistance to the intimidating stare. Looking at the larger man in the eyes, but not gazing combatively or demanding of anything. Even showing a little fear in his heart.

Was this person even human?

“I’m guessing my Special Agents, Samantha Plum and Rina Doyle, have filled you in.” The commander put emphasis on them being ‘his’. There was likely not only one unit specialised for fighting off the supernatural. This hypothesis made a lot of sense.

After all, these people seemed too strength-focused.

They wouldn’t be able to deal with trickier foes.

“I’m honoured to be of service to the city and world at large.” Ben picked up some acting habits from when he was active as an exorcist. Trickery had always been a specialty of his, so his kids would not be seen through… nor even suspected at this point.

He deliberately bowed lightly to the commander.

“I like your attitude, and I feel like we can definitely be friends from now on. Call me Vascovitch, or just Vas for simplicity. We are in need of someone with your particular expertise.” There were no ulterior motives in the man’s eyes. It was a simple gesture.

He extended his hands to shake Ben’s hands.

There was a lack of physical pressure in the grip.

He was treating her like a dainty lady.

The connection with Rina must’ve been important.

Ben had no idea why they were suddenly recruiting him if they knew his specialty. They could’ve just directly sent him to be a weapon-manufacturing machine for magical weapons, but chose to give him an interview instead. Was this the mundane’s trait?

In the supernatural world, it was eat or be eaten.

This kind of basic humanity was extremely rare.

It made him see this unit in a favourable light. He was still disgusted by their gazes sometimes, but the commander overseeing them was a good man. There was no reason to hold back in trying to improve the city’s defences. He underwent the interview.

When directed to a chair, he walked toward it with courage even when Rina had been told to leave.

Only he and Commander Vascovitch were left.