Chapter 53: Hideout.

“It’s been ages since I came to a library.”

At a library in Seoul, I’m sitting on a bench in the first-floor lobby with Hong Jihyun.

“You don’t like books much?”
“I don’t read often. When I do, I usually buy them, not visit a library.”
“When’s the last time you read a book?”
“Hmm… about eleven years ago?”
“Wow, that’s rough.”

Jihyun looks at me, incredulous.

“There weren’t any books in the demon world!”
“I know, I know, just teasing.”

I’m a bit lacking in culture for my age.
But since I mentioned preparing for the high school equivalency exam, I’ve started studying to catch up.
I’ll get to reading when I have time.

That’s not the point right now, though.

“I didn’t know you kept in touch with other magical girls.”

Maple, the only active second-generation magical girl, says she has something to tell me about artifacts.
Details will come when we meet.

“We got close while I trained her for about a year.”

Jihyun doesn’t interact much with newer magical girls, but it’s different with the second generation.
She’s familiar with them, built bonds, and stayed connected even after retiring.

“Sorry for making you wait. I should’ve come to you… oops!”

A woman trips in front of me.
Wearing a knit sweater and a plain long skirt, she rubs her knee in pain.

“You okay?”
“Ow… it’s nothing. Happens all the time.”

She giggles, taking Jihyun’s hand to stand.
Does she always trip in a place like a library with no obstacles?

“Looks like she’s off work. This is Kim Ga-eul, second-gen magical girl Maple.”

Jihyun introduces her, and Ga-eul straightens up, fixing her clothes.

“No way, you’re Scarlet? Nice to meet you! You look so young, I thought you were Jihyun’s sister!”

She claps her hands excitedly.

“You know I’m an only child. Keep your voice down, people might hear.”
“Sorry, got carried away…”

Ga-eul covers her mouth playfully.
She looks mid-to-late twenties but has a cute side.

“But looking like that and being Spica’s peer? That’s cheating nature!”
“It’s because I can’t untransform.”
“You can’t untransform?”
“I don’t know the details myself. It’s been like this from the start.”

Magical girls don’t age.
And I’m a magical girl who can’t untransform.
Adjusting my perception-blocking magic lets me live normally, but my appearance stays teenage.
Sounds like a perk, but living like this comes with plenty of inconveniences.
Normal is best.

“Jihyun told me about you. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise!”

Despite her plain look, she’s high-energy.

“I’m heading out.”
“Already?”
“Gotta make dinner at home.”

It’s just past 6 p.m.
I want to suggest grabbing dinner together, but her daughter’s waiting.
Getting older makes hanging out with friends harder.

“See you next time.”

Jihyun leaves the library.

“I heard I can call you Lily, right?”
“Yup, skip the Scarlet.”
“Sounds like a foreign name! Let’s go.”

We’re heading to a place tied to the secrets of artifacts.
I follow Ga-eul as she starts walking.

Since Jihyun’s friend seemed trustworthy, I revealed I’m Scarlet to Ga-eul.
Most others don’t know the truth.
It’s partly because proving it is a hassle, but more because I don’t want to stir confusion.

I was active in an era when magical girls were elusive.
I avoid attention, and I’m awkward with juniors.
Plus, citizens mourned my death with a funeral.
They’d be thrilled I’m alive, but what then?
Celebrate my return only to hear I’m retired?

It’d be better if I were like Spica, a legendary figure who rarely appears.
I don’t even have that.
Saying “I’m back!” feels awkward, so I let Scarlet stay dead.
It’s a bit haphazard, but I don’t think it’s a mistake.
Not while the stench of blood lingers on me.
The pure version of me people remember is as good as gone.

“We’re here.”

Ga-eul leads me to a building in a quiet shopping district.
Faded or missing signs, over half the shops closed—a rundown place ripe for demolition.

“This is the hideout?”
“Yup, come on.”

She gestures me inside.
This is supposedly where Märchen Aria had her hideout.
Like the playground where Stella, Spica, and I hung out, it was a space for teammates to chat freely, though it wasn’t used much.

We climb the stairs.

“Why the rooftop?”
“Seeing it’s faster than explaining.”

At the rooftop door of the three-story building, I expect her to open it, but no.
Ga-eul peeks down the stairs, then transforms.
Her hair evokes autumn leaves—Maple, the most senior active magical girl, appears.

“Opening the door with magic?”
“Sort of, but different.”

As I watch, she touches the wall, not the handle.

And then—

“Huh?”

Light bursts from the wall, and a gate opens.
Unlike the dark rifts monsters emerge from, it’s a white crack.

“You’ve never seen this, right, Lily?”

Ga-eul turns to me, smug.

“What is this?”
“An alternate space Armo made for us. Someone might come, so let’s go in.”
“Uh, okay.”

Not connected to the demon world, I hope.
Unsure if she senses my unease, Ga-eul steps into the rift.
I follow.

“What the—?”

I’m so shocked I repeat myself.
Beyond the gate is a room.
Bookshelves, sketchbooks, paints, cooking tools, and random machinery clutter a white space.

Ga-eul grabs a canned drink from a metal shelf and hands it to me.

“It’s a bit messy, but make yourself at home.”

I sit on a cushion on the floor.

“You said this is an alternate space. Not heaven or the demon world?”
“Yup, a completely different dimension.”
“Didn’t know mascots could make something like this.”

The passage closes automatically after we enter, likely controlled by channeling mana.

“It came from artifact research.”

Artifacts were meant to enhance second-gen magical girls.
Earth’s thin mana led to failures, but there were successes too.
This space was one.
Like great inventions born from accidents, an attempt to draw heavenly mana created this alternate space.

“Why set up a hideout on a shopping building’s rooftop?”
“Low foot traffic, easy for second-gens to access. Got abandoned quickly, though.”

The bookshelf is packed with magazines, novels, and high school workbooks.
There’s a canvas stand and art supplies in one corner, and a shelf of clothes, untouched for years.

“Seems like a cool secret base to abandon.”
“Alternate spaces have a big flaw.”
“What?”
“No signal. We tried camping batteries and a computer, but charging’s a pain, and no internet.”

Yeah, that’d do it.
No wonder it feels like a boring place to linger.

“Look at this.”

Ga-eul pulls a trash can toward me.

“Only second-gen magical girls know this place. We kept it as our memory spot, not telling juniors. Jihyun heard about it but never came.”

I’m honored to be invited.
I thought she wanted to chat, but her expression turns serious.

“That was the plan, but someone’s been here.”

She reaches into the trash can and pulls out a blood-stained bandage, dried but not old—recently used.

“Whose blood?”
“No clue. I don’t know the second-gens well.”

She puts the bandage back.

“My peers are all living normal lives now. They’re not magical girls anymore, no reason to fight monsters or hang out here.”
“Makes sense.”

Treating wounds here is odd.
So, someone outside the second generation visited.

After a pause, Ga-eul reveals the answer.

“It was Mirage Illusion.”

That clicks instantly.
Märchen Aria, the evil organization’s leader, is also second-gen.
She’d know about the hideout and likely told Mirage Illusion, who needed a refuge outside home.

“Look at this too.”

On Ga-eul’s palm is a trinket with a crystal in the center.

“A Magical Gem. Or, technically, an artifact.”

Unlike the tainted one Reaper Mors received, it’s pristine.

“My guess is this is an artifact prototype. That’s why I wanted to show you through Jihyun.”