Chapter 8: Promise of a Painless Farewell

The monster hesitated, letting out a pained groan, as if reluctant to charge forward. Even an immortal beast seemed to have pain and fear etched into its memory.

“Hmm, seeing as you tried to keep your promise… this time, I’ll send you off with as little pain as possible.”

“……! Is, is that true…?!”

The monster, which had been slumped over, lifted its head slightly, its eyes wide in surprise. To be so overjoyed at the mere promise of a painless death… Truly, for these immortal beasts, pain and fear are the only proper ways to deal with them.

“Yeah, let’s finish this quickly.”

“Kehaha! That’s good news!”

The once-hesitant beast, upon seeing my nod, suddenly took a step forward without fear, growling like a true animal. It wasn’t sarcasm—the beast seemed genuinely thankful, roaring loudly with joy at the prospect of being killed more mercifully.

How could the idea of being killed less painfully be such welcome news?

With a soft ‘click,’ I turned the handle of the staff I was holding in both hands. The heart-shaped decoration at the tip split in two, and one half retracted into the staff, forming a hook perfect for grabbing something.

As the wolf-like beast charged from afar, Siyeon, who had been scared just a few days ago, now asked me with a bewildered expression.

“Should I do something too…?”

“Uh…”

I thought for a moment about what I could have Siyeon do. After all, we were showing off our skills to others, so it wouldn’t look good if I handled everything on my own.

“That cold thing you do, can you shoot that?”

“Oh, sure! Moon Shower!”

With an enthusiastic response and a chant, Siyeon pointed her staff, adorned with a round moon decoration, at the beast. If I was the sun symbol, Siyeon was the moon symbol.

The sun is extremely hot, while the moon can be as cold as minus forty degrees Celsius at its coldest.

In other words, it’s simply really, really cold.

“Kuh, uh…?!”

As the wolf beast’s movements slowed, I stepped up onto the sidewalk and swung my staff.

Though “swung” might not be the right word. I hooked the beast’s flesh with the sharp hook and twisted my body midair, using the momentum to throw the creature high into the sky.

The wolf, now a small dot in the sky. To keep my promise of making it as quick and painless as possible.

I gathered the extreme heat at the tip of my staff, a heat so intense it could burn any living creature. A blue pillar of flame that I could only use once a day.

The grand spell’s name is…

“Just die!”

Matching my roar, the blue beam shot up instantly, piercing the white clouds and tearing a massive wound into the canvas of the sky before disappearing beyond.

As the blue pillar vanished, the wolf beast, now falling from the sky, began to take shape again as it plummeted toward the ground.

With a loud ‘thud,’ the beast crashed into the pavement, shattering the sidewalk and sending pieces of it scattering. Ignoring the flying debris, I approached and confirmed that the wolf beast was completely blackened, unable to even close its eyes properly.

Normally, if someone fell from that height, they would be shattered into unrecognizable pieces.

If something like that happened in a magical girl series, the age rating would instantly jump to 19+.

“Ah, it’s over.”

As soon as the situation was announced as over, Crystal, the oldest among us, clapped her hands twice and naturally guided us to the next step.

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

“Yeees~”

So, we each de-transformed in a secluded alley and regrouped at the café.

The café owner, far from evacuating, remained in his spot.

When asked if he didn’t evacuate, he laughed it off, saying, “With how many magical girls are here, it’d be more dangerous to run.”

Back to our peaceful gathering.

The conversation naturally shifted to our abilities, perhaps due to what had just happened.

“Wow, that thing Sun did earlier… Isn’t she the strongest among us?”

“Right? There’s a reason the monsters don’t come around.”

“Skill, huh…”

“Did you see that wolf monster trembling in fear?”

The conversation flowed without a word from the person in question, moving along smoothly.

The situation had already escalated into a flattering misunderstanding.

There was no need to clarify, “Nah, you just have to torture them enough.”

I returned my focus to my food, taking a sip of my now-cold hot chocolate and biting into the honey bread that had become chewy and hard.

I wanted to order more, but I did have some shame. Bread prices these days are steep.

“On top of that, three plates by myself is a bit much…”

With that thought, I reached out my small hand and stacked the empty plates, making a clattering sound.

I wiped my lips, now coated with sweetness, feeling a little sad that no matter how much sweet stuff I ate, it never felt too rich or heavy.

Ah, youth is a beautiful thing.

Anyway, while we continued chatting, it was almost evening before we knew it.

I have no idea how women can talk for so long. It’s boring me to death.

“Ah, it’s already this late? I’ll let the partners know about our next meetup.”

Crystal checked her phone and the outside, looking hurried as she stood up…

“See you all next time~”

“Great job, everyone!”

As if following the lead of senior officers after finishing a meal, the other magical girls also got up.

Oh, and by partners, I mean the mascots.

Apparently, the mascots share some sort of common knowledge or network because they always bring back this kind of news.

Maybe it’s just one of those loopholes in the magical girl universe.

After boarding the bus to head back, guiding a sleepy-looking Siyeon past 10 stops, we finally arrived at our shabby but comforting apartment as dusk set in.

“Fwaaah…”

“Go wash up and sleep first.”

“Okay…”

Siyeon, yawning as soon as she entered, headed to the bathroom, while I followed suit with a big yawn, heading to the living room.

At the end of a yawn, a sea serpent crawling through the sky caught my eye.

“You’re back?”

“Yeah, Siyeon’s going to wash up and go straight to bed.”

A light greeting was exchanged with Siyeon’s mascot.

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

“Welcome back!”

“Yup, I’m back. Anything to report?”

“Nope, nothing unusual!”

“Good, then.”

“Whoa!”

As I gave the permission, the bear, which had been holding the handstand, collapsed onto the floor. Its belly heaved up and down, almost convincingly like a real living thing, giving me an odd sense of dissonance.

“You little… It’s all stuffing, you’re not even tired.”

As I pointed out the truth to the bear pretending to pant, it twisted its head toward me and nonchalantly stopped its exaggerated breathing, speaking in a calm tone.

“Oh. Don’t you like performances like this?”

“Wow, you’ve really got some nerve.”

I asked sarcastically, with my lips curled, mocking the fact that the bear was acting like it was deliberately putting on a show for me. Only then did its tiny bead-like eyes and mouth freeze, as if realizing its mistake.

“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant.”

“From now on, you should practice walking while standing on your hands.”

Just the usual teasing.

But the words that followed, disguised as a joke, were not something I could brush off so easily, bringing me back to a serious mood.

“You little…!”

“What did you just say?”

“Oh no.”

Moments later.

“Yaaawn…”

When Siyeon emerged from the bathroom, still looking sleepy with a big yawn, I was kicking the bear plushie, counting how many times I could keep it in the air without dropping it. Playing hacky sack with a bear plushie for the first time. Not bad, except for the fact that the plushie’s trajectory was completely random.

“Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twen—”

“My brain! My brain is rattling!!”

Listening to the bear’s delightful cries, I managed to chase away my drowsiness.

Siyeon’s sleepy eyes blinked as they focused on us, her voice still sluggish.

“What are you doing…?”

“Just messing around, don’t mind us.”

“Siyeon! Please, save me!”

The bear, having reached its limit, started pleading with Siyeon for help.

Normally, Siyeon would’ve intervened at this point, but…

She was so sleepy that instead of stopping me, she headed straight for the bed.

“Don’t overdo it, Mari. Good night…”

“Yeah, you too, sleep well.”

“Siyeon?!”

Instead of telling me to stop, she merely asked me to take it easy and wished me goodnight.

After a casual “sleep well,” I resumed kicking the bear plushie back up into the air. For a brief moment, its face was painted with a dark color of despair. It didn’t take long before that expression turned into one of resignation.

If I remember correctly, by the time I passed three hundred kicks, the sound of the bear hitting my foot had stopped entirely.