READ NOVEL ONLINE The next day, elementary school.
Clonk, clonk.
Someone was trembling their leg, making the plastic desk shake unsteadily, pretending to be still.
If I were to ask whose shaky legs were the cause of this apparent anxiety, it would naturally be mine.
‘She must have definitely told her mom on me.’
The obvious and basic thoughts of a lower-grade elementary student.
Step 1. Trigger: they made fun of a classmate or provoked a fight by acting up.
Step 2. Process: and then they got hit.
Step 3. Result: it doesn’t matter who was at fault; they report it to their parents anyway.
If you gathered a hundred elementary students and put them through this process, I can confidently say about 99 of them would reach the same outcome.
The anxious factors that followed that result were precisely the reason my legs were shaking now.
When would the mother of the little brat I hit show up?
When would she storm into the classroom, demanding to know who hurt her child?
Just the thought of it felt suffocating, as if my lungs were filling with storm clouds.
First period passed.
Second period passed.
Third period. Fourth period…
Lunch time came, and the combination of curry and kimchi was always spot on.
Fifth period, and then school ended.
‘…What the?’
The overwhelming worry that consumed me suddenly felt empty; nothing happened at all.
I had come up with about five different response scripts in my head, but surprisingly, it was now time to go home without needing any of them.
With a sigh of relief, I headed back to the apartment.
I walked while glancing at the random news articles scattered across my smartphone screen.
No matter which site it was, as long as it related to magical girls, everyone was scrambling to publish articles.
The fastest news could generally be found here.
[What’s the secret to this city’s significantly lower monster appearance rate compared to other areas?]
[Is the identity of the magical girl an invader from outer space?]
[Representative Kim declares priority for magical girl support policies amid criticisms from the citizen group ‘Pedophiles’…]
[Magical girls need to directly arrange support and alternatives for the destruction of the city during battles…]
‘Maybe I should just quit.’
I quickly scanned through the articles.
The moment I saw an article blaming the magical girls, I felt a surge of anger flaring up.
Isn’t it a classic case of flipping the script? They should create a world without monsters instead.
It’s like saving someone from drowning and then being asked to pay their hospital bills.
It was just barely past one o’clock.
I got back to the apartment, threw my bag down haphazardly, and collapsed onto the floor.
The bear cub, which was disguised as an accessory dangling from the bag, also lay down beside me, tearing itself loose from the keychain.
“Things have been pretty quiet lately.”
“What do you mean, you little brat?”
It sounded as if there should have been more work to do.
Wondering what kind of crazy nonsense this was, I lifted my head slightly and glanced.
Just yesterday, I had been beating up a brainless monster in the dead of night… what do you mean, it’s quiet?
This brat is unbelievable.
“No, no, no, I meant compared to a few years ago!”
The little fluffball waved its little finger-less hands intensely, trying to explain.
Ah, compared to a few years ago? Sure, it has definitely decreased since then.
Slumping back into my original position, I let my actual thoughts spill out.
“I thought you meant you wanted to get hit more than usual.”
“…”
There’s only so much you can do in an apartment without a computer; a smartphone is about all I’ve got.
With these tiny fingers, typing on a keyboard is a challenge.
I need to at least get past the lower grades to have a chance at playing any games.
With nothing to do, I was wandering through the magical girl gallery when the cub poked me with its fluffy little fists.
“Oh, did you hear about that?”
“Huh?”
If it was going to spout some useless nonsense, I was ready to separate its head from its body.
I turned my head in annoyance to look up at it while still lying down.
“There’s going to be a regular meeting for the magical girls soon.”
That wasn’t useless nonsense.
I hadn’t heard about it.
It’s something you have to be informed about; it’s not just something you learn by hearing.
I was so taken aback that I turned off my smartphone and sat up.
“…Hey, you have to tell me, you brat.”
“Oh, I forgot to mention that.”
Seeing its face look as if it had genuinely forgotten made me want to strangle it immediately.
Did it drop its guard just to get hit?
“Ugh…”
With a long sigh, it suddenly looked afraid and flinched. It seemed it had misinterpreted my intentions as wanting to hit it.
I at least needed to know the time and place, so I wouldn’t lash out just yet.
“When and where?”
“Uh… this Saturday at 1 PM, at the usual Starlight Cafe…”
“Oh, got it.”
Now that the business was done, it was my turn to twist its neck.
“Gaaah…?!”
Before it could even scream from the sudden attack, its head and body were already separated.
Who is the idiot that reminds me of a promise for the next day, the day before it?
And then what? Oh, I forgot, did I?
The fact that I’m not tearing it apart and burning the pieces makes me an angel.
While the neckless plushie waited to return to normal, I wondered if a monster might appear, but…
As the cub said, the frequency of monsters showing up here has noticeably decreased compared to a few years ago.
It was a relaxed day with not a single monster in sight for the first time in a while.
That comfort lasted until midnight, allowing us to reach the weekend in good spirits.
“Leave it to me today!”
Being a magical girl is something akin to a job, so when I head to another region, I need someone to fill in for me.
So, occasionally, magical girls from other areas do come to fill in for us when they have the spare time.
The magical girl in front of me, who looks like an ageless elementary school student after transformation, is actually of middle school age.
“Well then, I look forward to your help.”
“Thanks for your help.”
“Okay! Have a good time!”
With polite bows, we temporarily passed our responsibilities to each other.
Siyeon and I took a bus, needing to travel more than ten stops.
If someone were to ask why we didn’t just transform and fly, that’s because it’s a cafe right in the center of the busy district, and if we flew there, we’d get caught for sure.
No matter how oblivious the world is about face recognition, some things are still off-limits.
Once on the bus, I presented my transportation card.
“Two children, please.”
Beep, beep, beep.
The sound of the driver operating the fare machine.
As I held my card up to the machine’s beeping, a familiar female voice chimed in.
“It’s for multiple passengers.”
“Sit down quickly.”
Siyeon, who followed in, helped me sit down quickly as the bus started moving, making sure I wouldn’t fall.
The small child privilege kicks in.
Even if I dash to sit on a seat with an awkward pink cover that’s vacant, no one would say a thing.
As the bus continued on, approaching the tenth stop, I raised my arm, stretching it up to pull the bell…
And one of the seemingly indifferent men pressed the button for me.
“Thank you.”
I made sure to express my gratitude.
However, no reply came back.
As if it was a given, he merely smiled slightly and looked my way as a response.
The Starlight Cafe, right in the heart of the bustling district.
At this time, just after lunch hour.
Siyeon and I came here without filling our stomachs.
Why on earth do we hold the magical girls’ regular meeting in this cafe in the bustling area?
“Welcome, you two… it’s Sun and Moon, right?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah!”
A former magical girl, Seo Hyun-a, who looks great with her long hair.
That’s right… it’s because this cafe was established by someone who retired from being a magical girl.
In this harsh working environment where we can’t even reveal our identities or call each other casually, it’s not hard to understand why a big person would lend the whole place during our regular meetings.
Anyway, with Siyeon’s bold reply capturing attention, the other magical girls who had arrived early turned their heads towards us.
Although transformed to look like elementary students, there are actually ranges from actual elementary students to high schoolers and even full-grown adults mixed in.
The purpose of these regular meetings is to share strategies, preparation against monsters, and various other know-how…
“So, you can’t even freely date anyone, you know.”
“Oh, I can totally relate. Just when you think the atmosphere is nice, a monster alert kills the mood.”
“Especially during holidays, how many eyes are watching. No one’s playing around, yet so many seats are empty…”
It’s just a place where everyone understands each other’s situations, making it easy to vent.
What’s an actual elementary student going to say if they get mixed in here? Probably not much at all.
Just filling their stomachs comfortably and that’s that.
“I’ll add honey bread and hot chocolate!”
Such things are rarely the kind of food I would buy with my own money.
When adults offer to buy, those are the best things to order immediately.
Stuffing my face with sugary desserts like I hadn’t eaten in days, Stella, a magical girl sitting across from me, asked,
“Moon, isn’t being a magical girl difficult?”
“It’s fine! Because I can bring smiles to people!”
Siyeon recited lines that sounded as if she jumped straight out of an anime.
“Hah— I used to be like that… how about you, Sun?”
The question directed at Moon was seamlessly passed to me.
Wasn’t it obvious that being a magical girl is tough? I don’t have the loyalty to say it’s alright like Siyeon does.
“I’m holding on for the money.”
The sudden call back to reality from an anime line made the other senior magical girls fall silent.
I guess they would all relate.
“Sometimes, it doesn’t even feel like I’m talking to an elementary student, right?”
“Capitalism really is this dangerous.”