The Strongest, but the Genre Is Magical Girl

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The truth dawned on me belatedly.

Wait, was that anime-like sound earlier the monster alert?

Are all these people here just to watch?

In Korea, such a scene would be unimaginable, leaving me speechless.

Here, it seems like they’re treated almost like celebrities.

At the same time, I was amazed by the boldness of the Japanese spectators, who could easily get caught up in the fight.

Only when a shockwave sends rocks flying and breaks a pot will they snap out of it.

This monster seemed quite weak, as it was quickly dealt with in a light melee without even a shockwave, amidst cheers.

“Minna, arigatou-!”

One of the few Japanese phrases I could understand.

Basically, she was saying “Thank you, everyone.”

Bending her waist and leaning forward, she waved her wrists as if bowing, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

“Wuaaaaaa-!”

‘It’s like an idol concert…’

Just as I was about to leave.

“Wuaaaaaaaa-!”

As if offering some fan service, she approached the barricades set up by the police.

Naturally, the closer she got, the louder the cheers from the crowd, and since Ms. Pink was heading this way, I ended up covering my ears.

And then, the crowd behind me surged forward.

“Ugh.”

With my ears covered, I was pushed and fell over the barricade with a strange groan.

Luckily, I only landed on some grass, so no harm done.

As I tried to brush myself off and stand up, there was Ms. Pink, transformed, right in front of me.

She seemed to recognize me, her expression momentarily flustered.

Then, after composing herself, she looked at me and extended her hand.

I grabbed her hand to get up and tried to leave, but she grabbed my collar, preventing me from going.

Wondering what she wanted, I turned back, and she gestured for me to wait, pulling out a small piece of paper from her pocket.

She took out a black marker, wrote something, and handed it to me…

[Pink-!]

It was just her name written in a unique font, seemingly without any special meaning.

Confused, I tilted my head, and before I knew it, Ms. Pink flew into the sky and disappeared.

Still trying to make sense of what happened, I noticed the tourists around me staring.

A sense of foreboding crept over me.

The authorities, the police officers, approached me with that ominous feeling.

“XXX, XXXX XXX shiteagemasu.”

“Huh?”

Of course, since it was in Japanese, I didn’t understand and could only repeat “Huh?”

Their gentle tone made it sound like they were offering to do something for me…

All I could show them was my bewildered face.

After the initial conversation, the officers seemed to realize I wasn’t a local and resorted to gestures to get me to follow.

Knowing that challenging foreign authorities as a tourist wouldn’t end well, I quietly followed the two officers.

“Hey, isn’t that Mari?”

“What’s she doing there?”

Amidst the murmurs in Japanese, I heard familiar Korean.

It seemed my classmates had noticed me, their voices just as startled as mine.

Just when I thought I was being taken far away…

Luckily, our homeroom teacher spotted me being led away by the police.

Startled, she asked the officers what was going on, and finally, I could explain the situation in understandable terms.

What I received from Ms. Pink was just an autograph.

It’s customary for those who receive a magical girl’s autograph to be escorted by the police to a safe place, to prevent any harm from overzealous fans.

Finally understanding the officers’ kind smiles, I let out a sigh of relief.

“Ah, so that’s why…”

“Class rep, you’ve got some nerve. You didn’t even know what it was and just followed the police? Weren’t you scared?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong…”

“Wow, you’re fearless.”

Explaining to the teacher that there was no reason to fear the police since I hadn’t done anything wrong, I scratched my head.

If I were in the teacher’s shoes, I’d probably feel the same.

If things got tough, I could just transform and bolt, adding a line of controversy to the wiki entry.

…Of course, I didn’t say that out loud.

Anyway, led by the teacher, we left Kiyomizu-dera.

Caught up in an unexpected commotion, I was the only one to return early to the bus.

Honestly, I wasn’t particularly interested in historical sites, so I didn’t feel any regret about the disrupted tour.

I’m not even that interested in my own country’s history, let alone others’.

Taking a break from my tired legs, I plugged in my power bank and tapped on my phone screen for a while…

Thud, thud, footsteps echoed in the bus aisle.

“We might have to have lunch separately, anything you want to eat?”

It seemed lunchtime had arrived, as the teacher came over to my seat in the nearly empty bus to ask.

Even if I wanted something, how would I know what’s around here?

“I don’t even know what’s available…”

“You can’t go out now…”

The teacher, understanding the earlier commotion, glanced out the tinted window.

Outside the dark window, a Japanese person was still loitering, glancing at the bus.

I wondered why they were so fixated on a mere autograph, but I guess it means a lot to a fan.

Thinking of it as a souvenir, I tucked it into the net under the seat’s cup holder.

Like me, the teacher had been fiddling with her phone for a while.

“How about some eel rice bowl, do you like eel?”

“I’m not picky.”

Without looking up from her phone, she asked if an eel rice bowl would be okay.

Saying I wasn’t picky was a subtle way of agreeing.

It seemed she had been searching for nearby restaurants on her phone.

“Then I’ll go get it, wait here, okay?”

“Sure.”

The teacher exited through the bus’s only door.

Feeling a bit like a sitting duck, I focused on my phone.

While waiting for lunch delivery, a call notification popped up on my screen.

It was from one of the friends who saw me being taken by the police.

Coincidentally, it was the same friend who grilled meat for me at the table yesterday.

I swiped the green answer button and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey Mari, what happened?! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine… I’m on the bus with the teacher.”

Responding to the belated, worried call, I calmly explained the current situation.

The teacher wasn’t nearby, but she would be soon, so I mentioned that.

It seemed they called after not seeing me around lunchtime.

By now, the others had probably finished their tour and were having lunch at a nearby restaurant.

“What was that earlier? There were police, right?”

Amidst the chatter on the other end of the phone, I pressed a finger to one ear to hear more clearly.

The question was about the incident after receiving the autograph.

If you’re not curious about why a classmate got taken by foreign police during a school trip, that would be strange.

Anticipating the question, I quickly answered.

“It was… not as big a deal as you’d think.”

I explained about receiving the autograph from a Japanese magical girl.

And how it’s customary for the police to escort those who receive a magical girl’s autograph to a safe place, to prevent any trouble from overzealous fans.

Given that a fan who seemed quite obsessed was still near the bus, I had no choice but to stay with the teacher.

“Wow, so that could sell for a lot, right?”

“Hehe, maybe?”

It seems the power of the magical girl IP is much stronger in Japan than in Korea.

You could tell just from the crowd’s reaction.

At least in Korea, magical girls don’t have that stage performance vibe, and they generally avoid having civilians around during transformations, let alone fan service.

While this atmosphere isn’t bad, I wouldn’t want to act like Ms. Pink.

Transforming and waving to the crowd with a big smile?

I’d shrivel up like a grilled squid.

Thinking this, I saw the teacher approaching from outside the window.

In one hand, she carried a bag with a black rectangular lunchbox inside.

The bus door opened, and the awaited lunchbox… no, the teacher arrived.

“Alright, the others are probably having lunch now, so let’s eat quickly.”

“Where did you get it from?”

“Hehe, a famous place.”

Even if she told me, I wouldn’t know, but I asked anyway.

The teacher, seemingly excited, deliberately stretched her lips and elongated her pronunciation as she answered, “A famous place.”

“Heh, I’ll enjoy it.”

At her playful and expectant reply, I let out a chuckle, shrugged, and picked up the wooden chopsticks.

On the rice, soaked in sauce and tinged brown, lay large, glossy pieces of eel.

I thought it might be inconvenient to eat since they weren’t cut, but the texture that crumbled like tofu in my mouth made my eyes widen.

‘Wow, this is delicious.’

Beyond the tofu-like texture was the distinct flavor of eel, the savory taste of the sauce, and the aroma of charcoal.

Without any bones or spines, the rice went down smoothly.

I didn’t know what the others were having for lunch, but I was sure it couldn’t be better than this.

I even felt lucky to be having lunch with the teacher.

 

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