That night.
I set my alarm on the smartphone placed by my bedside.
After stuffing prepared earplugs into my ears, I created the optimal conditions for a comfortable sleep.
Before going to school, I also left my lunch box in the fridge.
It might seem early to lie down in bed at 9 PM, but this tiny body has always demanded more sleep.
As a suitable time approached, the overwhelming drowsiness could not be explained by anything else.
A child’s body feels strangely uncomfortable.
“….”
I had a dream.
It was a space filled with monsters, in a place I did not recognize.
I was overwhelmed with exhilaration, surrounded by a pool of blood, smiling brightly as I burned everything around me.
It was a dream where I lay comfortably atop a mountain of corpses, enjoying deep slumber.
Ah, this is it.
This is truly the peace I longed for….
“Mary!”
“Ugh…?”
And just like that, I was brought back to reality.
The entirely black scenery around me gradually led my mind, which was oscillating between dream and reality, back to the real world.
Shiyeon’s hand shook my arm, reminding me that what I just experienced was a dream.
I wanted to dream a little longer.
Though I knew it should be impossible, in dreams, everything can be accepted as it is.
Still, there was a part of me that wanted to slice through those monsters so effortlessly, at least once.
There might not be any blood, but it would serve as a stress relief.
“Haam….”
After briefly setting aside the hopes I felt in the dream, I let out a short yawn, turned my body halfway, and opened one eye slightly.
Looking at the stairs leading to the upper bunk of the bed, I saw Shiyeon peeking out with a rather anxious expression.
Setting aside the earplug that had fallen out while I tossed around, I asked Shiyeon.
“What’s wrong? Is something happening…?”
“I hear a baby crying.”
“A baby crying…?”
The chilling response of hearing a baby’s cry came back to me.
Wondering what kind of nonsense this was, I was about to ask if she was hearing ghosts or something when—
“Aoowoooo—”
A sound like a baby’s cry faintly came from behind the curtains.
Hearing it consistently at short intervals, it clearly sounded like a cat’s meow.
That low, annoying sound must have sounded like a baby’s cry.
If I hadn’t heard it much, I could see how it would indeed sound like that.
“It’s a cat’s meow, a cat’s meow.”
“…Really?”
I waved my hand as if to say it was nothing, yet Shiyeon asked for confirmation again.
“Yeah, really.”
I reassured her that it wasn’t a lie, yet Shiyeon seemed hesitant to leave.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she said….
“I want earplugs too.”
“….”
Hearing Shiyeon say she wanted earplugs, my plan to lie down was abruptly halted.
I had thought one pair would be unnecessary, assuming there wouldn’t be any disturbances.
Her request felt like saying, “Give me your remaining sleep for tonight.”
“Just press here to crumple it and put it in your ear.”
After finding the earplug that had fallen out while I was tossing around, I blinked sleepily and placed the earplugs into both of Shiyeon’s ears.
With that, Shiyeon exited to the lower bunk.
Once even the last earplug was gone, the previously tranquil surroundings mercilessly assaulted my eardrums with noise.
“Meow—!!”
‘What the hell….’
The sharp cat cries, piercing through the curtains and balcony window, scratched at my ears.
Sleep was clearly out of the question.
I decided to gather as much information as I could and turned on my smartphone.
As the maximum brightness of the screen flashed before my sleepy eyes, one eye squinted instinctively.
I searched for the keyword “cat removal” once more.
As I filtered through methods that a person under fourteen couldn’t use and similar crimes born out of anger, a glimmer of a good idea finally caught my eye.
“Capture trap?”
A helpful removal article included a link to purchase a cage-style trap.
It rambled on a lot, but the core message was that trapping for relocation is not illegal.
My drowsy eyes widened at the solution, snapping my mind to attention.
“Oh-ho.”
“This is it.”
While lying face down, I flicked my small finger and thumb together, creating a short snapping sound.
This is it.
There was no other way.
Looking at the top right side of my smartphone, I checked the time.
It was 2:47 AM.
Indeed, the best time when not a single person would walk around that shabby apartment.
As I stepped down the stairs from the bed and opened the closet, the sound of a magnet clanking echoed as the closet door opened.
Along with that unnecessary noise for the late hour, I sensed a presence behind me.
“What are you doing at this hour?”
Without needing to turn around, I knew the owner of the voice was the stuffed bear.
Not taking that flustered voice seriously, I grabbed my mask as if it were only natural.
“I have a sudden plan. If not at this time, I wouldn’t be able to execute it.”
“What exactly are you planning…?”
“Operation: Comfortable Night.”
“??”
Despite hearing my answer, the stuffed bear tilted its head in confusion, showing a puzzled expression.
It’s pathetic that it couldn’t figure it out even after hearing such a grand plan name.
Ultimately, the bear was dragged outside, still perched on my shoulder.
The cats, which had been noisily meowing until a moment ago, fell silent the instant they sensed a human presence by the entrance.
Sharp instinct, I see.
Arrogant little beasts.
“Sun.”
With a short transformation phrase, I bent my fingers at the joints, loosening my hands with the sound of crunching.
The flustered bear clung tightly to my clothing, expressing its bewilderment with all its strength.
“No, if you transform here…!”
“It’s okay. I have my mask on, and no one is watching.”
That’s why I said this could only be done at this hour.
I didn’t need any capture traps in this transformed state.
Today, the power of a magical girl could be misused for personal gain.
I would definitely show those beasts.
“Where are you hiding—?”
Once a cat starts to run away, it can be quite challenging to catch it.
Of course, that’s from an ordinary person’s perspective.
After transforming into a magical girl, it’s like chasing after an ant running away.
“Haah—! Haah—!”
I could hold up to two in my arms.
Successfully capturing one was a black-furred cat from the flowerbed.
And another was an orange-furred cat that was innocently eating kibble, unaware of the person approaching the entrance.
With both cats perched on my shoulders, I bent my legs, finished stretching, and flew high into the sky.
Up until just before taking off, they were scratching at my arms with their claws and hissing.
But the moment I soared into the air, they seemed to understand that it would be terrible if I let them go in this state, freezing as if time had stopped.
Is this their wild instinct? Quite impressive.
I never expected them to grasp the situation so quickly.
“Whew.”
‘This should suffice, right?’
I let the two cats go on a mountain trail far from the apartment and returned home.
The moment they touched the ground, they flailed about, dashing away as soon as I left them.
After repeating this about three times back and forth….
‘They don’t seem to gather here any longer.’
The first-floor entrance was completely empty.
The sound of meowing had decreased to a noticeable level.
The place where the food and water bowls were set seemed to have been thought of as a trap, as even the cats no longer showed themselves at the entrance.
Does that mean they can’t be found here?
It’s clear where beasts would hide.
“I found you—”
Regardless of how filthy I got, I squeezed into spaces an adult might not fit and captured those persistent cats.
The empty space beneath the first-floor balcony, beyond the flowerbed.
Again, after three more rounds, I diligently reduced the number of cats through back and forth trips.
“Whew, it’s done!”
After finishing the refreshing task of handling the stray cats, I got ready to enter the house, feeling a refreshing smile even through the mask.
I wasn’t sure how much time was left before heading to school, but I could probably catch a little nap before the alarm goes off.
“Ugh—!”
While stretching with a groan that sounded like an uncle, I noticed the beautiful world with a bright blue sky filling up with the bright sun’s rays from below the horizon.
Checking the time, I found it to be 4:41 AM, not quite dawn.
When the realization hit that I had been providing cat relocation services for over an hour, everything felt hollow.
But I felt a sense of relief, thinking I could sleep comfortably starting the next day.
However, that was just about the comfort that would come the next day.
It was certainly an undeniable fact that tonight’s sleep was completely ruined.
“Mary, the day is breaking.”
The bear felt the need to point out that undeniable fact, which made my previously refreshing mood suddenly sink deep within me.
In this situation, all I could do was….
“Damn it.”
Just curses.
