I Became a New Magical Girl Priest

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Of course, I regretted that ‘second dumb thought’ deeply.

If I felt awkward with Ha-yoon, how could I not feel even more so with Iris?

Still, we managed to have a decent level of conversation, and since it was a situation where we had to share ideas about what needed to be done and created in the future, we talked quite a bit.

But that didn’t mean… that being in the same space, just the two of us, was okay.

Sure, we both attended the same school, but we were not in the same class, and we weren’t exactly friends either.

I couldn’t be the only one feeling uncomfortable. Iris must be feeling incredibly baffled too.

In the end, we found ourselves sitting back to back, with neither of us really having thought about properly washing up.

Still, I did my best to turn my head.

What should I do to escape this awkward situation? Should I at least try to make a few remarks? I do that with Ha-yoon.

“…”

Okay. This was my third dumb thought.

After quickly gathering my thoughts, I decided to take the alternative route of ‘let’s wash up and step out quickly.’

In the small basin I had placed outside the bathtub, there was some water to pour over my head. It was one of the few alternatives we had since we didn’t have a shower.

I filled warm water into one basin on each side of the bathtub, each for us to use, and placed a bucket in each.

I was just planning to splash a bit of water on my head and put in some shampoo—

“… Jeong Ji-eun…?”

Iris suddenly called out to me, and I stopped, halfway up, with my hand reaching out.

“Uh… um.”

Taking that as a response felt a bit awkward, but I waited a moment.

“Can I call you that? Jeong Ji-eun?”

“A little, doesn’t that feel weird?”

“Is it weird?”

Doesn’t she know it’s weird?

I pondered for a moment.

It is true that in the webtoon, Iris was a character who spoke formally. In Korea, using a formal tone with your friends can seem somewhat unnatural, but then again, this was a webtoon based on a theme that blatantly took from subculture—Magical Girls.

Even if there was a somewhat Japanese manga-style setting, no one would say anything about it.

Since that jumped into reality, it was only normal for the way we addressed each other to become tangled.

If we were office workers, that way of speaking wouldn’t be so unusual. Colleagues usually don’t just drop the formal speech with someone of the same age right away. As time goes on, there might be someone who attempts to speak semi-formally, but generally, even if there’s a considerable age gap, it’s common sense to use formal language with someone you just met.

Not that some people don’t—usually, those people are whispered about behind their backs. It’s quite likely that making that mistake isn’t their only fault.

“No matter how you look at it, using ‘ssi’ with me feels strange.”

“…”

At my words, Iris fell briefly into silence.

“How do the others call you?”

“First of all, the titles for those who work with me are all predetermined.”

Ah, that’s right.

All Magical Girls had their designated names—Magical Girl names.

When calling Ha-yoon, I didn’t need to say ‘Ha-yoon-ssi,’ I could just call her ‘Blossom.’

Korean names might have various modifications afterward, but with English names, just calling them by their first names doesn’t feel awkward at all.

But then, that leaves a little bit of a question.

“So what about the others?”

“… Do I really have to call them?”

“…”

Uh…

Well, I mean, not calling them by their names wouldn’t stop us from having a conversation.

Besides, Iris was a Magical Girl. Even if she might not be as popular as Ha-yoon, I’m sure there would be plenty of others who would initiate conversations to get in good with her. Plus, her parents must be quite something too.

“Then can’t I just call you by your name?”

“Can I call you Jeong Ji-eun-nyang?”

“No, that also feels a bit off.”

Words like ‘nyang’ or ‘gun’ were things I’d never really heard before, let alone used.

If I at least had a Magical Girl title, I could just say that directly, but unfortunately, the only thing I had now was the tentative label of ‘Black Magical Girl.’

“Just call me Ji-eun.”

“Ji-eun?”

“That works.”

“Then Ji-eun, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

Uh, somehow that feels a bit off too. It sounds like she’s a foreigner who just learned Korean.

Her pronunciation and that feeling seem better than mine, though. She’s quite clear.

But bringing it up here would only muddle the name issue even more, so I decided not to delve into it.

“Why did you join Noir Corporation?”

“…”

Once again, I regretted coming in here with Iris.

Iris must have been sitting with her back to me, as her voice didn’t quite reach me directly. She was probably feeling as awkward as I was right now.

But contrary to my immediate thought to escape, it seemed Iris thought this was a golden opportunity.

For reasons I didn’t understand at all.

“Why are you asking that…?”

“Well…”

At my question, Iris seemed to think for a moment.

A brief silence followed.

But this time, I didn’t plan on running away. In many senses, I genuinely became curious about the reason behind that question.

“Could I ask a different question?”

Would that question be completely unrelated to the one I just asked? Or would it serve as a segue to explain why she asked what she did?

I had no idea how she judged my pondering intent, but anyway, Iris threw out another question without waiting for my approval.

“Wasn’t it you who pointed out inside my skirt during that battle?”

“…”

I fell silent again this time.

What could I even say to that?

Of course, I was quite desperate at that moment. After all, I was genuinely facing off against a Magical Girl. There was no real noble cause behind it, nor did I have any of that ‘I’ll accomplish something’ mindset, it was just my stubbornness.

It wasn’t about wanting to win. I just wanted to hit her once. I ultimately failed that day.

“…”

But this time, Iris remained silent as if waiting for my response to her question.

I wanted to break free from the discomfort while simultaneously feeling curious about why that question came up, and ultimately, that curiosity got the better of me.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“And after that, you were in every battle that followed.”

“Yeah.”

“So you mean it was you who specially blocked my way during that fight.”

“… And?”

Iris fell silent at my answer.

In the prolonged silence this time, I felt a bit annoyed, and asked, “Is that an important question?”

“I don’t really know if it’s important.”

Hearing Iris’s answer took me by surprise a little.

It wasn’t so much the content of her answer that bothered me; rather, it was the tone of her voice that felt somewhat concerning. It kind of felt like it was caving in on itself somehow.

“Just… I wanted to confirm.”

I briefly opened my mouth, not knowing what to say, and then asked again.

“But how did you find that out?”

At my question, Iris seemed momentarily at a loss for words.

Well, she did say she noticed due to the dent in my helmet, but that didn’t feel right to me.

I didn’t use the same helmet all the way back when I met her. I received upgraded helmets whenever the circuit malfunctioned, so Iris should have at least not recognized me twice.

Yet she recognized me consecutively, which felt a bit odd.

“It was just a feeling.”

The answer that came back felt a bit vague.

“Did you have a way to tell? Like, identifying someone by their individual power levels or something?”

“… No, it’s not like that.”

At my question, Iris appeared flustered.

“Honestly, it was just a feeling I had.”

Feelings, huh.

Well, I suppose that makes sense for a Magical Girl. After all, they say sometimes detectives have those intuitive feelings. Like, ‘Oh, that person must be a criminal,’ or something along those lines.

Of course, plenty of innocent people have suffered due to such feelings, but if the other party isn’t just a regular detective but a Magical Girl… well.

“But what’s the importance of that?”

At my question, Iris seemed to have regained a bit of calm. Maybe it was just circling back to the original question.

“… Usually, when we appear, the combatants lose their morale. They tend to run away as soon as they come under attack.”

That’s true.

They might pay a decent amount of money, though. They don’t give away small amounts, either. After all, among the combatants, there are quite a few who come from far-off planets just to earn a living.

But that doesn’t mean anyone wants to fight—with broken bodies and injuries.

There’s no shame in running away; it’s not a job where you get praised for it like students, and it’s not like staying put and fighting earns you more rewards, so nobody would stay until the end.

Given that I was the only one who stayed till the end, I realized that I’d certainly attract some attention.

I wasn’t just staying put; I charged in, giving it my all, so I would have definitely been a thorn in their sides.

“Not only I stayed till the end.”

But if we go by that assumption, I have something to say back, too.

Earth Buddy… Pang-pang also stayed put until he collapsed. Had he run away right when the battle started, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt that severely in that day’s attack.

Well, considering Pang-pang’s nature, it’s hard to exactly pin down his intentions.

And there were others like Jo-jang who wouldn’t run until they fell, even among officers.

By the way, I wonder how Pang-pang is doing. Is he still living in that house? I haven’t heard about any combatants being deployed lately. Though I suppose he can somehow make a living working on-site, it could be tight since something he always did has disappeared.

Given that no special reports have come out on the news, it seems like they haven’t caught anyone. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little worried. I couldn’t contact him or visit him, so that made it even harsher.

As I got lost in thought, Iris seemed to be lost in her own musings too.

“Somehow, no matter what happens, you were the only person who charged in, trying to hit even once.”

“…”

Is that so?

“And you managed to achieve some results too.”

“Are you curious about that?”

“Yes, I’m curious about why. Because that will help me understand you a bit better.”

“You want to understand me?”

“Like it or not, we’re going to be spending time together for a while, so shouldn’t I make an effort to understand you?”

“…”

“Why do you say that?”

“It just crossed my mind that you think you understand me.”

Water splashed.

Did Iris just glance my way?

“What does that mean?”

The question felt a bit harsh. It seems I might have ruffled Iris’s feathers a bit.

“It’s not that deep.”

If I were to talk about how I distinguished myself from others, that’s something that takes place amongst the Magical Girls. That’s something I cannot know about.

If I revealed that I knew, Iris would think I heard it from Ha-yoon.

After a while, my back felt a bit prickly, but Iris sighed deeply and sat back down. That’s what it felt like. The water splashed again.

Since I was already turned away, I couldn’t see.

“… I don’t always show a sharp side.”

She seems to realize she’s quite the prickly one herself.

“So does that mean you’re not planning to answer my question?”

Should I?

Just a few days ago, I wouldn’t have answered such a question. I would have acted much pricklier than Iris does now. I might have even said something absurd just to make them feel bad on purpose.

How did I become this soft?

Maybe it’s because over the past few days, with Ha-yoon confidently taking up the seat next to me, I had been unable to focus on the opposite side.

“I just wanted to win.”

In the end, that’s what I decided to say.

“I wanted to win.”

“Uh-huh.”

I took a long breath.

“I’m tired of losing every day.”

Iris didn’t respond to my words.

Does she think it’s ridiculous? Did I think it was ridiculous for charging in every time when I knew I wouldn’t win anyway?

But in her return, there was none of that emotion.

“That’s true.”

“That’s true?”

That response felt a bit strange.

“When you’re still fighting like this, don’t you have similar thoughts? You don’t want to just lose to whatever it is, no matter who they are.”

It looked like Iris kind of twisted my explanation a little.

“So you’re not giving up?”

“No, I didn’t mean to put it so positively.”

“I know that much.”

You’re aware of it and still put a positive spin on it?

I squinted forward while tilting my head.

“…”

I sensed she might have more to say, but Iris didn’t press on.

Eventually, that conversation for the day ended just like that.

*

Is Iris a Magical Girl, too?

I found myself pondering while waiting outside for the others to finish showering.

I suppose she initiated the conversation to shake off the awkwardness, even if just a little. It’s a form of consideration on her part.

Magical Girls have strong personalities that could make them think there are parts that don’t get along due to differences in thoughts and feelings.

So from Iris’s perspective, I might have come across as an incomprehensible person.

She might have disliked me. Still, I understood where she was coming from; because of something I said when I was a combatant back when she was still in the thick of it.

Since we didn’t continue the conversation, I couldn’t find out her true reasons for asking, but being able to talk, even if quietly in opposite directions, felt better than just sitting silently.

“…”

It feels a bit strange.

It’s like being at the beginning of a semester. In a way, conversing with Iris feels as if it’s like trying to break the ice with someone sitting in front of you.

After staring blankly while hugging my knees, I heard clattering from the side and turned to see Cherry fiddling with a mechanical part.

Upon seeing me staring, Cherry looked up at me.

Then she smiled brightly. I suppose that’s how it looked. The way her facial muscles moved was similar to how James looks when he smiles.

But compared to James, her face seemed far purer.

“… What are you doing?”

Since we met eyes without saying anything, I asked like that.

“I’m improving the radio.”

Just as she said, Cherry was holding a radio in her hands.

It looked like she was opening up the back, probably to fiddle with the circuits.

“I think if I raise the sensitivity a little more, the sound will be clearer.”

“The radio sound is already clear.”

“No, it can be improved further.”

With James teasing her, Cherry responded confidently.

“Are you saying that what I’ve built isn’t perfect?”

“Didn’t say that?… I’ve been curious since a while ago, why do you get so picky about everything I touch?”

“Because you’re messing with something I made without fully grasping how the circuit operates.”

“Wait a minute, it’s not something you solely built anyway! If Iris could touch it too, isn’t it fine for me to do so?”

That’s right.

While Iris indeed might not know how the circuit works, she could build and fix other devices that worked with that circuit.

If Cherry had heard the principles, it’d make sense that she could do an even better job.

“Rather, aren’t you trying to extract more information about the circuit from me?”

“Snap.”

Did she just click her tongue? I seriously pondered over what Cherry’s sound meant.

It didn’t seem like an insult, but given how James’ plump body trembled slightly, it must not have been a compliment either.

“If I only know the principle, I can build it myself. I’m not some fool.”

“Fool…?”

Fool works in translation.

“It’s basically people who made the circuits for Magical Girls or so. Made to withstand a much more intense output than yours. The circuits that the combatants use are too weak, so if even a fraction of the energy of that girl’s level hit them, they would’ve broken several times over, right?”

Cherry looked up at me.

Well… that’s not incorrect.

James did say he had made this circuit in advance, but…

“Especially, no one has a near-given energy to create such a circuit without absurdity.”

“But even five people have ample energy.”

“…”

Quite a lively exchange.

Of course, to my eyes, it looked like two hamsters arguing. The back-and-forth was pretty serious and important, but it nevertheless felt utterly trivial viewing it like this.

Now that I think about it, is Cherry a girl? Her voice sounds feminine. She definitely looks like a girl, too.

If James is a boy… then wouldn’t it be possible for them to have babies?

No, should I call them kids instead of babies?

“…”

James is looking up at me.

“What?”

“Your gaze is highly unsettling.”

“Are you saying something like that to someone who is way younger than you?”

“You don’t know how evil a person she is. Do you know what she said to me?”

“What could a kid possibly say worth noting?”

James seemed genuinely angry, his chunky body trembling.

Good job, Cherry. Bury the Evil Overlord with logic!

By the way, kid?

If he’s saying that while talking to me, does it mean he’s actually older than me?

A hamster older than me… sounds strange.

I watched in amusement as James got verbally thrashed by Cherry for a while.

Later on, he urged me to say something, but I just kept smiling silently.

Their bickering continued until Ha-yoon and Dalia, freshly washed, stepped out of the kitchen.

Something felt off with both of them as they remained tight-lipped upon seeing Ha-yoon.

… What’s going on?

Why does she look so down again?

Is this once again my fault?

 

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