I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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In my teenage years, I often wondered why time seemed to drag on so slowly.

School hours felt like an eternity. Sure, part of it was due to the boring teachers, but no matter how interesting the subject, reading from a textbook would put me to sleep.

Back then, I couldn’t even think about drinking caffeinated stuff like an adult, which probably made it feel longer too.

Later on, I found out that time actually does flow slower during childhood. It’s not so much that time ticks slowly, but rather the way we perceive it changes with our thoughts.

Definitely, once I became a working adult, time zipped by faster than I anticipated. The work was as dull as studying—complex and the kind that makes you want to quit just by looking at it. The people I encountered at the office were often infuriatingly boring.

But at the same time, time seemed to pass much quicker than when I was a student. Well, unlike school, work was directly tied to my livelihood, which might have contributed to that slight tension.

Right now, I was still a teenager.

But strangely enough, unlike in my past life, middle school seemed to drift by in slow motion.

Not quite as fast as a shooting star—but quickly enough that before I knew it, I was standing at my high school entrance ceremony.

If I think back, my school life was enjoyable in its own way.

It wasn’t without struggles. The first time I faced an Alien—getting hit a few times really hurt. Although, when I went flying, the other Magical Girls were furious and pounded the Alien into a pulp.

…Well, I guess it was only natural that they reacted, but it did seem a bit emotional.

Noir Corporation remained steadfast, no matter how much we obstructed them. They even sent Combatants to interfere, and recently, even Officers had started to pop up.

In the end, we managed to drive them away, but it still felt annoying and frustrating. Especially when it happened during school events or when we were in the middle of having fun.

Well, to be fair, scenes like that often popped up in the original material, and those were mostly for comedic effect.

From a distance, it was comedy; up close, it was a bit of a hassle.

Anyway.

Thanks to all that, I piled up quite a few memories.

And there were still many things I hadn’t experienced yet.

I wasn’t the only one with untried experiences. Even the kids who were well-off had a lot of things they couldn’t do at this age.

Excluding things like alcohol or tobacco, or whatever else you can only enjoy freely once you’re an adult, we had plenty of things we wanted to try but hadn’t yet.

So, for example—

*

“Shall we head to the sea?”

The day before our entrance ceremony, having just graduated middle school and with time to spare before starting high school, Seo-hee suggested that.

“It’s still winter.”

“No, I mean when summer comes.”

When Yeon-woo interrupted, Seo-hee looked at her in disbelief.

That’s right. Even though some time had passed since we got to know each other, we hadn’t gone anywhere far together.

It’s something that could be expected, though. I didn’t recall ever going on a summer trip with friends during my middle school years. If I did, it was probably with family.

It’s not like my friends were that close to my parents either, and going alone as minors… well, could we even manage to find accommodations?

Seo-hee, who became a high schooler a year before us, seemed disappointed about that.

“Look, we’ve known each other for almost three years now, right? Doesn’t that mean we should have at least some memories together?”

“Do you have memories of traveling to the beach with your friends?”

“Not really, but…”

Watching Seo-hee and Yeon-woo banter, Seo-hee shot me a hopeful glance.

“What do you think? Doesn’t it sound fun?”

“It does sound fun,” I replied. “But don’t we need at least one guardian if we’re traveling as minors?”

“We have Cherry! She’s an adult!”

“Oh.”

Seo-hee casually declared that she’d take the Magical Girl mascot along.

For reference, Cherry is really easygoing with us. Even though she’s technically our superior, she doesn’t mind at all whether we speak casually or formally with her.

Plus, she looks incredibly cute—a pink hamster with a fluffy tail like a fox, and she listens and understands human speech, replying in an adorable voice.

I’d even occasionally pat her head when no one was looking.

…Yeah, guess Cherry would be fine. The question was whether she’d agree to it.

“Ha-yoon, what about you?”

“Um, me? Oh,” Ha-yoon stammered and eventually responded. “Sure, why not?”

But she soon answered with a rather serious expression, looking my way as she did.

Honestly, I hadn’t really been bothered by it lately. Over the past few years, I’d had kids suddenly give me attention quite often.

Especially when opinions needed to be gathered, those curious gazes would come around.

It’s a strange story, but I really felt like I had inherited Ha-yoon’s position.

She still was the best fighter among us. And when it came to flexibility of thought and intelligence, she had the best balance.

I managed decent grades, but it was more like I crammed the textbook material into my head. To be honest, I barely remembered anything after exams.

The reason I kept my grades up was simply to have a reason to be beside Ha-yoon. Now, I didn’t have to bother with it as much, but worried about being judged by classmates if I let my grades slip, I kept maintaining them somehow.

On the contrary, I was extremely biased towards a martial arts approach in combat. My role was to get up close to the enemy and smash their helmets with a hammer.

Not exactly a tactical position, if you ask me.

I did give Jua various advice so she could take a ranged position, but to be honest, that was just based on what I remembered from the original story.

“…Well, alright then.”

I breathed out lightly and answered.

Only after I said that did the kids’ faces brighten up.

“The sea…”

Jua murmured, looking as if she was already dreaming. Chae-yeon, who always quietly read her book, had also put it down and was lost in thought.

The sea, huh.

……

Wait, does that mean we’d have to wear swimsuits or something?

“Sure, we need to have at least one cool memory while in high school.”

Seo-hee said with a bright smile.

Thinking back, Seo-hee, Yeon-woo, and Chae-yeon were all in their first year last year, so now all three had moved on to their second year.

Next year, they’d all be exam candidates. Even as Magical Girls, we kept our education in mind since we didn’t know how long we could continue being Magical Girls.

……I think there was an episode about us getting pissed off and heading out because an Alien showed up during an English listening test.

Seeing the three with bright faces, I thought about how they were still such kids, even though they were my seniors.

And once again, I recalled the reason time feels so fleeting in our teens.

*

So, at the very least, we decided to go to the beach together during our first year of high school in the summer. Once we actually went on a trip, I’m sure we’d come up with other plans too.

We had already had several Christmas parties. Plus, we also celebrated White Day, Valentine’s Day, and even November 11th. We’d rotated through birthday parties as well.

Who knows? Maybe we could go on a trip together in winter. Or perhaps after the university entrance exams next year, we could join the seniors’ graduation trip.

Nothing was set in stone, and it was mostly just daydreaming, but time didn’t wait for us and continued to fly by at breakneck speed.

Years change every year, and graduation ceremonies come around every three years, making it all feel even quicker.

“Ji-eun.”

“Yeah? Oh.”

Ha-yoon poked my arm.

The entrance ceremony.

Looks like the principal’s long-winded speech had finally reached its end.

“Let’s head to the classroom.”

Ha-yoon and I were in the same class again this year.

From middle school up to now, having been in the same class this whole time could be seen as a miraculous coincidence.

Or maybe, they deliberately assigned us to the same class since we were both Magical Girls?

Although, to be fair, Jua was in another class.

……But whatever.

What mattered was the fact that we were both in the same class again this year. Just like in the past, we had the chance to keep attending school together.

I was really happy about that. Back then, and now. Always.

Ha-yoon shyly smiled while pulling my sleeve, and I couldn’t help but grin as I followed her.

Ignoring the gazes directed at us, we headed to our classroom where we’d spend a year together.

And naturally, we chose to sit next to each other.

“Let’s have a great year.”

Ha-yoon offered a slightly awkward greeting.

“…Yeah, you too.”

With that, we became high schoolers.

 

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