Chapter 18: Between Battles and Everyday Echoes

Anyway, the situation was over.

Letting go of the lingering taste with some regret, I grabbed the handle of the bag I had briefly set down while dealing with the monster.

“Ugh, that smell.”

As soon as I bent down to pick up the bag, the fishy scent of seafood hit my nose.

A faint trace of ink and the lingering stench of the squid monster that had turned to magical dust remained, marking its presence.

Perhaps because summer was approaching, the awful smell seemed to spread even farther.

“Let’s get back and wash this off quickly,” I thought as I returned to the apartment.

As soon as the sound of the door opening echoed, I heard the footsteps of short strides.

There was no need to guess who it could be—only two people lived here, after all.

“Mari! I heard a monster showed up! I’m sorry I couldn’t be there….”

“It’s fine, I handled it by myself. Did you have fun with your friend?”

“Yeah! Yesul saw Mari, and… um, I talked a lot with her mom too.”

When I asked if she had fun, Siyeon’s limited vocabulary couldn’t fully convey all her exciting experiences from today.

Fearing that the fishy squid smell would seep into the house if I listened too long, I cut the conversation short and placed the bag on top of the shoe cabinet.

“Hold on, I’ll listen more after I wash up.”

Taking off my sneakers, I headed straight to the bathroom.

A bathtub still big enough to accommodate Siyeon and me together was attached to the wall.

Even if I stretched my legs fully in the swaying water, it barely reached halfway.

By the time Siyeon reaches high school, we won’t be able to use this tub anymore, I thought.

My fingers, like baby-soft skin, stayed smooth even after soaking in water for a long time, showing no signs of wrinkling.

Briefly impressed by this excessive youthfulness, my thoughts quickly shifted to the backlog of chores awaiting me.

With a splash and the sound of water draining from my body, I stood up.

Tiny droplets slid down my taut skin like they were rolling off a waterproof fabric, tracing curves before dripping to the floor.

I grabbed a perfectly dry towel from the shelf and wiped off my smooth skin, which showed no signs of the age it should have.

I felt the same as when I was a pure-hearted elementary school girl, and the sight of my body brought no particular thoughts to mind.

The only thing on my mind was whether I should toss the towel into the washing machine first or the clothes.

“Sigh.”

With a sigh, I left the bathroom, carrying a basket full of clothes, and headed straight to the washing machine on the veranda.

Today was the day to wash whites and towels.

The drum washing machine, which I chose because my height made it difficult to use a top-loading one, hummed to life.

As I watched the laundry spin inside, the innocent girl inside me whispered softly.

“What would it feel like to spin in there?”

“It’d break, wouldn’t it?”

I shut down the wild child inside with the obvious reality of financial consequences and continued stuffing the white clothes into the machine.

The familiar beeping sound of the washing machine’s buttons and the noise of water filling it followed.

After getting the machine started, I picked up the black plastic bag I had forgotten by the front door.

The crinkling sound of the bag drew Siyeon’s gaze away from the computer screen and toward me.

“What’s that?”

“Didn’t you see the newsletter about mixing it with milk?”

While answering Siyeon, I tore open the paper pack and pulled out the sticks one by one.

Strawberry flavor, banana flavor, chocolate flavor, and finally cookies and chocolate flavor.

The sound of the mouse clicking was followed by the video pausing, and Siyeon approached, showing interest.

Since I didn’t particularly care about which flavor, I asked which one she liked first.

“Which flavor do you like?”

“I like… strawberry!”

Without much hesitation, she grabbed the light pink strawberry stick.

I used to love strawberry flavor too when I was younger.

There’s no special reason for liking a certain flavor.

‘Well then, I guess I’ll buy more strawberry flavor next time.’

I put the rest of the flavors back into the torn paper pack, except for the strawberry one Siyeon liked.

There were some kids who liked eating these straight from the pack, but I didn’t really get it.

Isn’t it just flavored sugar if you eat it like that?

When I felt like I had finished most of the house chores, Siyeon, who had been staring at the computer, looked over at me lying on the first-floor bed and said,

“By the way, by the way! Yesul said she likes Shar better than Merrily!”

‘That story’s not over yet, huh?’

The conversation, which seemed to have been paused due to a lack of vocabulary, resumed again.

Listening closely, it seemed she had a small argument with a girl named Yesul over their favorite character in an anime.

Merrily, Shar… Oh, the green-haired one and the blue-haired one from that magical girl anime?

Come to think of it, magical girls in anime do tend to move around in packs.

There are probably more than just one or two of them.

But they’re all on the same side, right?

They’re probably fighting together with all their might, cheering each other on, so what’s there to gain by arguing over who’s better?

‘Kids, I swear…’

I have no idea about this stuff anymore; my emotional sensitivity has long dried up.

Isn’t it always the same? They argue a bit, face a crisis, and barely win thanks to the power of love or something.

Right now, I’m just nodding along at the right moments, saying, “Oh, really?” like a puppet.

As I was responding in a way that matched Siyeon’s level…

“Who do you like more, Merrily or Shar?!”

“…Huh?”

A question that came flying at me out of nowhere.

If I had to choose, I dislike both of them.

Wait, don’t I actually feel more sympathy for the monsters?

They arrive from space in massive ships using advanced technology to teleport to Earth.

If it weren’t for the magic girl setup, they’d have colonies all over space and would be pretty well-off, right?

And despite all that, they don’t settle for the present but continue to focus on Earth, persistently attempting invasion—a relentless, self-made bunch.

When you think about it from an adult’s perspective, they’re pretty impressive, aren’t they?

Still, I shouldn’t say that out loud.

I’ve never even met this Yesul kid, but it’s better to side with the person right in front of me.

“Merrily’s better, yeah.”

“Right?! Merrily is the best!”

I thought the conversation would end there.

However… the determination of young children was truly remarkable.

Especially for lower-grade elementary schoolers, who could focus all their attention on whatever captivated them.

Even though I thought the conversation was over, it still lingered in their minds and carried on to school.

“Mari said she likes Merrily too!”

“Whatever! Sharr is way prettier!”

During break time, I was dragged into the hallway by Siyeon, who had come from another class. Beside her stood a girl named Yesul, who I assumed was the opponent from their last argument.

I couldn’t be sure, but based on what they were saying, it was obvious.

‘So, why am I even here…’

“What’s so great about Merrily! She can’t even beat monsters properly!”

“That’s not true! She helps a lot!”

Their passion, able to fuel such anger over a single character, was remarkable.

They had even dragged me into this, yet were now talking amongst themselves.

Exhausted by the situation, I found myself staring at the horizontal safety bar installed by the school’s window to prevent falls.

“Ugh…”

A long sigh.

I took three steps forward, draped my arms over the bar, and gazed up at the blue sky.

Whether the clouds understood my frustration or not, they floated by, swimming across the sky like the sea.

Children’s arguments, which arise over incomprehensible and trivial reasons,

There’s nothing more tiring and draining than being forced to get involved in those.

It feels like watching your younger cousins fight during family gatherings on holidays.

I wondered if elementary school teachers constantly have to suffer through these kinds of fights.

I fully opened the stiff, half-open window in the hallway and muttered to myself in frustration,

“This sucks. Damn it…”

At this point, it would be better if a monster appeared.

Even though I had wasted the entire break, no clear conclusion had been reached.

Usually, I would dread the bell signaling the start of a boring class, but now, it felt like a relief.

Even after school, faced with the prospect of getting roped into more of that endless magical girl debate, I chose to head straight home.

On the narrow path leading away from the main road toward the apartments, Gomteng(bear), in a low voice, asked,

“Mari, do you not have any friends?”

An abrupt and rude question.

For a moment, both my steps and my thoughts froze.

What the hell? Out of nowhere? Is this a challenge?

My steps came to a sudden halt.

Sensing a bad vibe from my unnatural pause, he hastily blurted out an excuse,

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Are you so bored with life that you’ve started longing for pain?”

The back of my smartphone case.

The creature that had clung to the back as if it were just an ordinary decoration, I grabbed it tightly and tore it off.

*To be continued*