The Strongest, but the Genre Is Magical Girl

Chapter 228




Realizing the ultimate purpose of the festival, by the time we ventured deep into the park in search of cherry blossoms.

On the grass where the fully bloomed cherry blossoms were clearly visible.

A small sign installed behind a low fence caught my eye.

[Please do not step on the grass. It hurts.]

A short notice next to a cute drawing, asking not to step on the grass.

Regardless, many people had already ignored the sign and laid out mats inside.

They should have planted flowers here instead of grass.

Lifting one leg, I hopped over next to the sign and joined the crowd.

Siyeon, who had been hesitating outside the fence, asked.

“Ca… Can I come in?”

Inside the fence, the grass was already trampled and lying flat.

Seeing that it couldn’t get any more trampled, I felt no guilt.

“It’s already all trampled anyway.”

I answered indifferently, creating an atmosphere that subtly suggested it was okay to come in.

I took one strap off the bag I was carrying, slung it over my front, and unzipped it with my fingers.

I pulled out a rolled-up mat and laid it on the sparse grass.

A plain silver mat without any special patterns.

Sitting down to keep it from blowing away, I immediately took out the lunchbox.

The wooden chopsticks I had brought from the store made a ‘tick’ sound as I separated them.

Three rolls of kimbap wrapped in crumpled foil.

In a black plastic container with a transparent lid, inari sushi lay neatly in the same direction.

As if enchanted, I kept picking at the food with my chopsticks, feeling like I was on a school picnic.

“It’s delicious.”

“Yeah.”

Every time a strong wind blew, cherry blossom petals fell in droves.

It wasn’t as romantic as I thought it would be; too many petals were falling.

With each gust of wind, hundreds of petals would fall…

“Ugh.”

Unless there were only about ten petals in sight like in a cartoon, the sheer number of petals was overwhelming.

Unintentionally letting out an annoyed sigh, I waved my hand as they poured down, making the situation a bit different.

Dozens of petals fell on the mat, the kimbap, and the inari sushi, creating an environment that was hard not to get irritated by.

Other people seem to relax just fine in places like this.

I quickly devoured the inari sushi and kimbap set.

Having come all the way to the park and set up our spot, it felt a bit disappointing to just go back.

Amid the lively atmosphere of nearby conversations, I lay down on the foil mat.

“Ughhh!”

Then, Siyeon lay down beside me, letting out a refreshing sigh.

Breaking away from the repetitive routine of home and school, maybe it was a bit of a mood change.

Using the bag I brought from home as a pillow, I blinked and stared blankly at the sky.

This feeling of lying down and doing nothing.

It felt like a true rest, more so than lying down and playing with a smartphone, calming my mind.

If it were just a bit less noisy, I might have wanted to close my eyes and sleep like this.

But soon, I returned to reality and quietly opened my eyes.

“How are things with your classmates…?”

While relaxing, I was about to ask Siyeon how things were with her classmates when…

“Oops.”

Right as I opened my mouth, a cherry blossom petal flew in.

Spitting out the petal soaked in saliva outside the mat, I heard stifled laughter from beside me.

“Pfft…!”

It seemed she had seen it all, as Siyeon’s laughter didn’t stop.

I get that it’s funny, but was it really that hilarious?

“Ptui… Etui.”

Even though it was just a petal, the feeling of something unwanted in my mouth wasn’t pleasant, so I spat three more times onto the grass.

I was about to ask something and ended up in trouble.

After spitting a few times, I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and sat up cross-legged on the mat.

Looking around with half-closed eyes, I saw ants that had come out to greet spring exploring our mat.

I flicked the ant off the mat with my thumbnail.

After flicking the ant away, I tidied up the eating area and gathered the trash.

The park’s trash bins were already overflowing, seemingly useless for disposing of anything.

“Let’s look around a bit more before we go.”

“Okay.”

At the suggestion to look around a bit more, Siyeon quickly got up, ready to pack the mat.

The time spent in a carefree, thoughtless state.

Before folding the mat, I lightly shook it out, rolled it up, and put it back into the bag.

After tidying up our spot, we wandered around the park a bit more, not wanting to leave just yet.

As we moved away from the chicken house and convenience store, the number of people and trash decreased.

Enjoying the outing vibe, we strolled around the walking path, taking pictures of spring flowers.

After enjoying our own cherry blossom festival more than we imagined, we started heading back the way we came to exit.

And so, we returned home, ending the day on a good note.

“Ugh.”

“Ah!”

…That would have been a nice story.

Just as we were about to head back to the entrance from the middle of the park, a pressure stabbed between my stomach and side.

At the same time as the pressure on my stomach, Siyeon let out a single scream of ‘Ah!’, and I immediately knew what was happening.

Probably, the sea snake had pressed on Siyeon’s stomach too.

‘Looks like a monster’s about to appear.’

Right after the mascots’ signal, we looked around for a quiet, deserted place.

Even though it was late, the middle of the grand park was in full cherry blossom bloom.

From the grass to the public restrooms, there was no place for us to transform.

Eventually, holding hands, we wandered the park until the alarm started ringing.

It wasn’t faintly heard from afar as usual.

“Attention, citizens. A monster has appeared in the lake park inside the grand park. Please evacuate safely and quickly. We repeat…”

After the alarm rang once, the evacuation announcement clearly sounded through the park’s loudspeakers.

The park’s people, initially unsure about the alarm, started looking around in panic at the following announcement.

People hurriedly packed their mats or carried their children to evacuate.

Some leisurely packed their belongings, while others left their things and ran.

Usually, by the time we arrive at the appearance site, all citizens have evacuated, and there’s no one left, so it was a strange feeling to see it from the same place at the same time.

As people evacuated in one direction, Siyeon and I briefly conversed while looking at the park map.

“Where did the broadcast say?”

“Lake park, so… over there?”

“Our location is here… Oh, that’s right.”

Pinpointing the monster’s appearance location and our position using the guide signs.

Having such a conversation while looking at the signs in the eerily quiet middle of the park felt like a scene from a horror movie.

Today was my day to handle the monster.

Looking around for the glint of CCTV lenses, but surprisingly, no cameras seemed to be watching us.

It was an environment practically encouraging theft.

From our perspective, needing to transform, it was a blessing, but was this really okay?

“Sun.”

With a slightly uneasy feeling, I uttered the spell.

Perhaps because she was beside me, Siyeon confidently said the spell she had found awkward in front of peers.

“Moon power, transform!”

“Are you coming along?”

On odd days, it’s my responsibility, but for some reason, Siyeon transformed and flew up with me.

Since Siyeon had strictly separated the days based on our responsibilities, I asked with a surprised expression.

“What’s the point of me being there alone?”

At that question, Siyeon blinked and looked at me as if it was absurd to even ask.

Right, we could just transform together and sneak back home.

Maximum savings on transportation costs.

“That’s true.”

We didn’t have to fly far, arriving at the lake park quickly.

In the open environment with nothing obstructing the view, the strange figure writhing in the lake was immediately noticeable.

Like swimming, the monster was causing ripples in the calm lake.

At the sudden appearance of the monster, a family of ducks, having lost their place, was flapping their webbed feet outside the lake.

“Ah, the ducks! Poor things…”

“Since we’re here, they’ll probably go back.”

A fish-like monster with four long, blade-like legs.

We were silently observing the decently sized monster from the sky.

The monster, lying on its side, looked up at the sky with its eyes, then startled, flapped and submerged into the water.

Thinking it would return to the spaceship, it surprisingly resurfaced.

“What’s that guy doing?”

At the monster’s panicked movements, as if something had gone terribly wrong, Siyeon and I descended to attempt a conversation.

And through the conversation, we learned a shocking fact.

“I, I dropped the device in the water… It’s broken.”

“What an idiot.”

 

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