“Thus spake the magical girl, ‘Behold, tteokbokki and kimbap have arrived!'”
With a playful tone as if quoting from the Bible, she kicked the door open and entered.
“You’re here?!”
In both hands, she carried black plastic bags full of tteokbokki and kimbap.
The moment the glorious food made its way into the house, Siyeon’s face lit up with joy.
She quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed a large adult-sized bowl and four pairs of chopsticks, and sat down at the low table.
Taking the hot tteokbokki out of the plastic bag, she poured it straight into the deep bowl, loosening the opening.
The perfect timing of the tteokbokki and kimbap arriving when hunger was at its peak.
She would have liked to buy some assorted fried foods too… but with her small body, even six pieces of tteokbokki, two slices of fish cake, and one roll of kimbap filled her up completely.
She handed a roll of kimbap to the two lazy creatures, her beast alarm guards, and sat listening to the TV chatter while browsing on her smartphone.
Even as she dipped the kimbap into the sticky tteokbokki sauce with her right hand and brought it to her mouth.
“How to get rid of cat-feeders…”
Her gaze stayed on her phone, and with her other hand, she was searching for useful information.
Various unknown online communities, galleries, random news stories, and more.
There were stories about how people had dealt with these nuisance feeders, but most of the methods were impossible for her to carry out.
“Join the apartment app and write a post about the cats in your apartment.”
“File a complaint to get the place removed.”
Either way, as a lower-grade elementary school student, none of it was feasible.
Why, you ask? It’s obvious considering her age.
“God, this country is so messed up, kids under 14 can’t do anything…”
Realizing that most of the methods suggested online were useless, she lamented her unfortunate situation.
“Maybe I should just take advantage of the juvenile law and stab someone?”
She barely managed to push away the bad thought that momentarily crossed her mind and washed the sticky tteokbokki bag, throwing it into the pile of plastic waste.
Similarly, the aluminum foil that wrapped the kimbap was crumpled and tossed into the general trash bin.
Now that her belly was full and she hadn’t slept properly, a wave of drowsiness washed over her, so she laid down immediately.
Ah, if only she could fall asleep like this.
A lazy Sunday afternoon. There’s no better time to doze off.
Still wearing her outdoor clothes, she tore open the packaging of some earplugs from her pocket so the noise wouldn’t disturb her sleep.
Soft and orange, the earplugs were bigger than a knuckle.
She expertly scrunched them up and stuffed them into her ears, blocking out as much noise as possible.
Not perfect, but the best option.
Just as she was beginning to drift off peacefully into silence…
Thud, thud, something soft was tapping her shoulder, rousing her from her sleep.
“What is it?”
It was the bear cub.
It seemed to have something to say.
“…It’s an emergency.”
“What?”
Unable to hear properly through the earplugs, she pulled one out and blinked her eyes, asking for clarification.
“It’s a monster emergency.”
Hearing what I had suspected all along spoken aloud once again brought on a fresh wave of anguish, and with a cry of frustration, my body twisted, pouring out groans and resentment.
“Goddamn it… just leave me alone, please…”
“Uh, should I go by myself…?”
In the midst of my outcry, I heard a voice.
Seeing how tired I looked, Siyeon said that.
If we were both adults—or even just middle schoolers—I would have gladly thanked her for offering to go alone.
But what cooled the rage boiling up inside me was the concern coming from Siyeon’s innocent heart.
The fury toward the monsters and the world instantly melted away, replaced by cold calm.
Yeah, how could I let her go alone?
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up, shut them tight, and with a sluggish effort, inched my way toward the closet. I tugged at the door, feeling the magnetic latch give way, and pulled out the mask hidden inside.
“No, let’s go, we have to…”
Yawning with grogginess, I trudged down to the first floor.
At the sound of my approach, the cats gathered around their bowls scattered into the nearby flower bed.
Clearly excited by the sight of the wild animals that are rare around here, Siyeon tugged on my sleeve, pointing at the cats hiding in the flower bed with gleaming eyes.
“Wow, cats! Mari, Mari! Look at them!”
“I saw them earlier.”
“They’re so cute-”
‘They’re so gross-’
I muttered to myself, words I couldn’t bring myself to say to Siyeon, who was gushing over how cute they were. Together, we walked to a quieter spot.
The location of the monster’s appearance was deep in the heart of the city, right in the middle of an apartment complex.
And it was a playground, no less, the kind of place where lots of kids would likely be running around, complete with playground equipment.
There, a huge cat with orange and white fur, easily bigger than a large dog, was prowling around.
‘Of all things, why a cat.’
With the tension already rising over the cats, I could only imagine the uproar this monster would cause in the apartment complex.
“It’s a cat!”
“Hissss-!”
The moment Siyeon cheerfully shouted, the massive cat’s fur bristled with hostility, hissing fiercely.
It looked like a cat, but it was still a monster.
Though it lacked the intelligence to speak, it kept its eyes wide open, hissing continuously.
A cat that size was basically a tiger.
Imagine a tiger escaped from the zoo, wandering around the playground of an apartment where children played.
That’d be enough to turn the world upside down.
“I’ll handle this one by myself!”
For once, Siyeon was eager, stepping forward.
“Alright, give it a try.”
Maybe because this monster didn’t look particularly terrifying, unlike the werewolf monster from before, she seemed much braver this time.
“Moon Shower-!”
A cool, bluish energy shot out from the crescent moon-shaped staff Siyeon held, freezing the monster cat’s legs in place.
The cat, now unable to move, stood frozen in place, its legs trembling as it continued to hiss, eyes wide in a futile attempt to free itself.
Although it was good to have blocked the movements, the problem was what came next. Since I always did the final touches, it was uncertain how Siyeon would handle it. The two of us were a set: Siyeon with movement-blocking or restraining magic, and I with overwhelming destructive power.
…But since I’m so strong, Siyeon rarely gets a chance to shine. So in community posts about magical girls, the stories about us always followed that flow. In the destruction tier category, I was always at the top, while Siyeon was at the bottom. In terms of cuteness, Siyeon was at the top, and I was at the bottom. We were the extremes in many ways. Well, the reason I was at the bottom in cuteness was because of the essential black mask I wore.
“Uh, wh-what should we do now?”
As expected, Siyeon, who had successfully blocked the movements, hesitated to finish it herself. It’s one thing to end monsters that openly declare themselves as villains, but it’s quite different with beasts that can’t speak. For someone like Siyeon, who simply likes animals, this role was too cruel.
“Close your eyes and turn around.”
“…”
“It’s okay, you did well.”
Siyeon’s voice sounded dejected. Even so, her willingness to try alone was something I could commend. The cat beast, frozen in place, flinched and shoved its head towards me. Even if it’s a beast that can’t speak, it’s still a monster that can harm people. It mustn’t be treated as just pitiable. As I thought before, what’s in front of me is akin to a wild beast escaped from a zoo. If left alone, it would lead to harm.
The heavy conviction that comes with the light name of a magical girl. Siyeon would eventually face this realization head-on someday. ‘Until then, it’s up to me.’
“Sun, you’re so kind.”
“If you keep talking, I won’t finish this with a mere smack on the head.”
“.”
As the cub flying in the sky came over and subtly praised me, I silenced it with a threat to keep quiet.
Taking a step forward, I stood in front of the fiercely resisting cat beast. It thrashed desperately to save itself. Another step. The growling that revealed its teeth showed the beast’s extreme anxiety.
“Haah—! Haah—!”
‘At least, without pain.’
I gripped the magic staff tightly in both hands. It was like a scene from a martial arts comic. A skilled swordsman preparing for a final strike, holding up a long sword with reverent posture. With a clean, straight downward strike, a massive shockwave hit the beast’s forehead from the tip of the staff. The colossal impact was visible, with rising dust and cracked ground. The giant cat, unable to even scream, began to scatter as magical dust.
Not even the monster’s drooping appearance could be seen. Only after that figure completely disappeared did I open my mouth, looking at Siyeon, who was still covering her eyes tightly.
“It’s over, you can open your eyes now.”
After finishing off the monster and removing the transformation, we had walked a bit away from home and were now back near the apartment. Siyeon’s expression was sulky, and it was evident that she was feeling dejected. It seemed like she wasn’t happy about dealing with it all on her own.
Thinking that a clumsy attempt at consolation might make things worse, I chose to stay silent and just walked beside her.
“Oh, cats…”
Once again, the cats had gathered at the entrance on the first floor. Siyeon, who had been sulking, finally reacted to this.
Still, the cats didn’t seem to be easily tamed. Despite having seen me about three times, they quickly disappeared into the flowerbeds and watched the situation from a distance before I could get close.
‘…Hmm??’
Feeling an unusual gaze besides the cats, I looked around and, just in case, turned my head towards the window of the apartment upstairs. There, the woman, who was presumed to have placed the cats’ food bowls, was focused on the spot where the bowls were placed.
‘Crazy woman…’
I was struck by a terrifying fear stemming from her obsessive behavior, and a chill ran down my spine.
We have changed this week’s timetable and will try to release Chapters regularly every day
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Thank for the chapter