The Strongest, but the Genre Is Magical Girl

“Grrr…”

The monster hesitated, trembling as it let out a pained grunt, unsure about charging forward.

No matter how immortal the monster may be, it seems pain and fear are etched into its memory.

“Hmph, considering the earnest effort to keep our promise… this time, I’ll let you go as painlessly as possible.”

“…! R-really…!”

The monster, which had been slumped down, slowly raised its head, its eyes widening in disbelief.

To be so delighted just by the promise of not experiencing pain.

Indeed, for these immortal monsters, pain and fear are the only correct responses.

“Alright, let’s finish this quickly.”

“Haha! That’s good news!”

The monster, which had hesitated, stepped forward without fear, roaring like a true beast as it responded to my nod.

It wasn’t a sarcastic remark; it genuinely seemed grateful.

Is it really such good news to say I’ll kill it with less pain?

With a click, I rotated the handle of the staff held in both hands, causing the heart decoration at the end of the staff to split in half.

Then one side retracted into the staff, forming a hook perfect for hanging something.

Seeing the wolf monster charging from a distance, Siyeon, who had been scared just a few days ago, looked at me with a perplexed expression.

“Should I do something too…?”

“Uhm…”

I contemplated what to make Siyeon do. Since we also intended to showcase our skills to others, it wouldn’t look good if I did everything myself.

“Do that cold attack thing, okay? Go ahead and shoot it.”

“Ah, okay! Moon Shower!”

With an energetic answer and an incantation, Siyeon’s staff, adorned with a round moon decoration, pointed toward the monster.

If I symbolize the sun, Siyeon symbolizes the moon.

The sun is incredibly hot, while the moon, at most temperatures, dips down to negative forty degrees.

In simple terms, it means it’s just damn cold.

“Grr, ugh?!”

The moment the wolf monster slowed down, I leaped off the ground with a tiled floor jump, swinging my staff.

“Swinging” might not be the correct term here.

I pierced its flesh with the sharp hook and twisted in mid-air, using the momentum to hurl it sky-high.

The wolf became a small dot against the sky.

In order to keep the promise of causing as little pain as possible in an instant.

I gathered extreme heat, capable of burning any creature to death, at the tip of my staff.

An ultra-hot blue pillar of flame, usable only once a day.

The name of that magnificent spell is…

“DIE-!”

The blue flash that erupted with my roar surged gustily upwards.

It pierced through the white clouds above, leaving a massive scar on the canvas of the sky before vanishing beyond.

Beyond where the pillar of fire disappeared, the thrown wolf monster was gradually taking form as it fell to the ground.

With a thud, the ground broke apart under the impact, sending fragments flying.

Ignoring the bouncing stones, I stepped closer and confirmed the state of the wolf monster, which had turned completely black without even being able to close its eyes properly.

If it had dropped from that height, it would have shattered into an unrecognizable mess, right?

If such a thing happened in a magical girl show, it would immediately be rated 19+.

“Ah, all done now-”

As I announced the conclusion, the most senior, Crystal, clapped twice and naturally guided us to the next agenda.

“Wow, that was clean! Let’s disband and meet again at the café!”

“Yesss-”

And so, in a hidden alley, we each transformed back and regrouped at the café.

The café owner hadn’t even thought about evacuating, remaining in his spot.

When asked if he wasn’t going to evacuate, he laughed, replying, “How many magical girls do you think are here?” as if it were more dangerous to evacuate.

The conversation returned to a peaceful atmosphere.

Given what had just happened, perhaps it was about our skills.

“Wow, Sun’s earlier attack… was that the strongest among us?”

“Right? There’s a reason the monsters aren’t coming!”

“Skill, skill, isn’t it-”

“Did you see that wolf monster? It was so scared!”

Even without the concerned party saying a word, the conversation flowed on its own.

Everyone seemed to be under the impression that things were excellently fine.

There’s really no need to interject, ‘Nah? It would just be better to torture it, though?’

Returning to food focus mode, I took a sip of the now-cold hot chocolate and brought the chewy, hardened honey bread to my mouth.

I wanted to order another, but there has to be some decency.

The price of bread is high these days.

‘Besides, three bowls just for myself is a bit….’

With those thoughts, I stretched out my small hand and clanked my empty bowl.

I wiped around my sweet-coated lips as the clinking sound of the empty bowls echoed through the air.

Eating something sweet without feeling too sugary or bloated felt almost disappointing.

Ah, youth is wonderful.

Anyway, as we chatted about various things, the time somehow neared dinner.

I really don’t know how women can talk for so long.

I’m bored to death.

“Oh dear, is it already this time? I’ll inform the partners about the next meeting.”

Crystal looked between the outside and her smartphone clock, standing up hastily…

“Yes, yes-”

“Good job, everyone-”

Like following the senior veterans who had just finished their meal, the other magical girls also stood up.

Ah. The partners mentioned here refer to the mascots.

It seems the mascots have some shared knowledge amongst themselves since they bring back such information well.

Is this just the laxity of the magical girl universe?

After boarding the returning bus.

I led the sleepy-looking Siyeon well past ten stops, and when it started to get dark…

We finally returned to our shabby but reassuring apartment.

“Whew…”

“Go wash up and sleep.”

“Uh-huh…”

As soon as we entered, Siyeon let out a big yawn and headed to the bathroom while I followed suit with a large yawn, heading to the living room.

At the end of my yawn, I spotted the sea snake crawling in the sky.

“Did you go?”

“Yep, Siyeon is going to wash up and go straight to bed.”

I gave a light greeting to Siyeon’s mascot, who greeted me lightly.

To the bear standing on its head with its legs straight up in the air, I received a courteous bow.

“Welcome back!”

“Yeah, I’m back. Was there any trouble?”

“None, all clear!”

“Great, right away.”

“Puff!”

Once I granted permission, the bear cub upturned from standing on its head and flopped onto the floor.

Its panting belly, rising and falling, sometimes made it feel truly alive, creating a strange disconnect.

“The cub… you’re just a fluffball, it’s hardly tiring, is it?”

When I spoke the truth to the out-of-breath bear, it tilted its head this way, stopped its heavy breathing, and calmly replied.

“Oh. Didn’t you like this performance?”

“Oh… I guess it’s impressive?”

It seemed to show off nonchalantly as if it were deliberately giving a reaction, smirking as it puffed out its cheeks.

Realizing this, the cub’s round eyes and mouth finally stopped moving.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant.”

“Let’s practice walking while standing on your head from now on.”

Just another playful banter as usual.

However, the serious comment that followed made me serious again.

“Such a pain…”

“Hey, what did you say?”

“Eep.”

A moment later.

“Yawn…”

As Siyeon came out of the bathroom, still yawning, I counted how many times I had kicked the bear plushie without dropping it.

This was my first time kickboxing with a bear plushie.

Aside from the erratic bouncing direction, I was doing fairly well.

“Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four…”

“My head, my brain is shaking-!”

With pleasantly loud screams, I managed to shake off the sleepiness.

Siyeon’s drowsy eyes turned toward us, and her sluggish voice followed.

“What are you doing…?”

“Just playing, don’t mind it.”

“Si-Siyeon! Save me!”

Now the bear cub was asking Siyeon for help.

If it had been any other day, Siyeon would have actively stopped this, but…

Siyeon was extremely sleepy right now.

Instead of interfering, she headed to the bed first.

“Take it easy and sleep, Mari. Good night…”

“Okay, you too, Siyeon.”

“Siyeon?!”

Instead of saying to stop tormenting, it was a suggestion to take it easy and a good evening farewell.

After casually saying good night, I tossed the plushie back up into the air again.

For a moment, the expression of despair crossed the plushie’s face.

It didn’t take long for that expression to change to resignation.

I remember, once I hit three hundred, the number of sounds made upon kicking without any air left sounded nonexistent.