Chapter 18

“Anyway, situation over.”

Letting go of the bittersweet feeling, I grabbed the handle of the bag that I had set down for a moment to defeat the monster.

“Ugh, fishy smell.”

As I bent down to grab the bag, a pungent, fishy scent assaulted my nose.

The faint ink marks and lingering fishy hints of the squid monster, now reduced to magical powder, remained, signaling that it had indeed existed here.

Perhaps because summer was approaching, that awful smell seemed to spread particularly far.

Thinking to wash it off quickly, I returned to the apartment.

Just after I heard the sound of the front door opening, I heard short footsteps.

It was obvious who could be coming out of the apartment room where only the two of us lived.

“Mary! You said a monster showed up! I’m sorry I couldn’t come…”

“It was fine on its own, and I had a good time with my friend, right?”

“Yeah! Yesul saw Mary and, um… talked a lot with the lady too.”

When I asked if she had fun, Shiyeon’s limited vocabulary couldn’t fully encompass the enjoyable experiences of the day.

If I continued listening, it felt like the smell of squid would seep into the house, so I briefly interrupted her and placed the bag I was holding on top of the shoe rack.

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

I took off my sneakers and headed straight to the bathroom.

The bathtub attached to the wall could still hold Shiyeon or me comfortably.

Even if I stretched my legs in the swirling water, it was just over half its length.

I thought that by the time she reached high school, I wouldn’t be able to use this bathtub anymore.

My fingers, which didn’t shrivel up even after soaking in the water for a long time, felt like the supple skin of a baby.

Just as I marveled at the excessive youth, I couldn’t help but think of the postponed housework, which meant I couldn’t linger like this.

As the sound of water sloshing around echoed with the weight leaving my body, I stood up, splashing some water in the process.

Little drops of water slid down my taut skin, tracing curves as they flowed to the floor like sliding off a waterproof cloth.

I grabbed a dry towel from the shelf and wiped my smooth skin, devoid of any protrusions that would befit my age.

It felt strangely similar to the pure days of being a male elementary school student, leaving me with no particular thoughts.

The only thoughts occupying my mind were whether to put the towel in the washing machine first or the clothes.

“Ahh.”

With a sigh, I picked up the laundry basket full of clothes from the bathroom and headed straight to the balcony where the washing machine was.

Today was the day to wash white clothes and towels.

The front-loading washing machine, difficult to use due to my height, was chosen instead.

Looking at the clanging sound of the washing machine, the pure inner child in me whispered softly.

I wonder what it would feel like to go inside there and spin around.

‘It would break, right?’

I covered the action I shouldn’t do with common sense, then pulled clothes out of the basket one by one.

After suppressing the wildness of the inner child with practical thoughts about money, I threw in the whites as originally intended.

The familiar beeping of the washing machine and the sound of water filling it up filled the air.

After running the washing machine once, I grabbed the black bag from the entrance that I had forgotten about and took out its contents.

At the sound of the crinkling bag, Shiyeon’s eyes shifted from the computer screen to me.

“What’s that?”

“This is something to mix with milk; didn’t you read the notice?”

As I answered Shiyeon, I tore open the paper carton and took out the sticks contained inside one by one.

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

With the clicking sound of the mouse, the sound of the video paused, and Shiyeon approached, showing interest.

Since I had no particular preference for the flavors, I asked her which was her favorite.

“Which flavor do you like?”

“I love… strawberry flavor!”

She immediately picked up the light pink strawberry stick, seemingly not needing to think hard about the question.

Strawberry flavor—I liked it a lot when I was a child too.

There’s no special reason for a favorite flavor.

“Then, I’ll make sure to buy more strawberry flavor when I come tomorrow…”

I placed the remaining sticks, except for the strawberry flavor that Shiyeon liked, back into the torn paper carton.

There were kids who said it tasted good when eaten straight from the packet, but I didn’t get it.

If you eat it that way, isn’t it just fragrant sugar?

Once I felt that the housework was somewhat finished, Shiyeon, who had been looking at the computer, spoke to me while I lounged on the lower bunk bed.

“But, but! Yesul says she prefers Shar over Mary!”

‘That conversation isn’t over yet?’

The conversation that seemed to stall due to limited vocabulary was now resumed.

On listening closely, it turned out there had been a slight argument with a girl named Yesul over who they liked better from the animation.

Mary and Shar… oh, are they the green-haired and blue-haired ones from the magical girl anime?

Thinking about it, the magical girls in anime do tend to flock together in a group.

They probably aren’t just a couple.

Still, they are all on the same side, right?

They must be fighting together, energizing one another, so what’s the point in arguing over who’s better?

‘Kids and their thoughts…’

I wouldn’t understand their story given how my sensitivity has faded.

Isn’t it always the case that they have a bit of a skirmish, face a crisis, and overcome it with the power of love, leading to a predictable victory?

As I am now, I’m just a doll nodding along and saying, “I see.”

While I was adequately responding to Shiyeon at her eye level…

“Do you like Mary or Shar better?!”

“…Huh?”

A sudden question flew at me.

If I had to say, I dislike both.

Wait, don’t I feel more of a connection to the monsters instead?

A giant spaceship with advanced technology instantly moving to Earth from its orbit.

Aren’t they the wealthy ones who have colonies here and there in the universe, as long as it’s not a magical girl setting on Earth?

Yet, they relentlessly gaze at just this one planet and attempt an invasion, never giving up, making them quite remarkable self-made beings.

From an adult’s perspective, aren’t they impressive?

Still, I shouldn’t say that.

Even though I’ve never seen Yesul’s face, it would be wise to side with the person in front of me.

“Mary is nice, right?”

“Right?! Mary is the best!”

I thought that would be the end of this discussion.

However… the tenacity of children is quite remarkable.

Being in the early years of elementary school, they can focus their consciousness entirely on whatever they’re fixated on.

What I thought was over kept lingering in their minds and followed them all the way to school.

“Mary said she likes Mary!”

“What’s that! Shar is prettier!”

During recess, I was dragged out to the hallway by Shiyeon from another class.

Next to her was a girl named Yesul, presumably the target of their previous argument.

I couldn’t be sure, but listening to their conversation made it clear.

‘So, why am I…’

“Mary doesn’t catch monsters well!”

“No, she helps a lot!”

The passion of children to become this enraged over a single character.

They even dragged me out into the open to talk among themselves.

I was so worn out by it that I gazed at the safety bar installed horizontally on the school window.

“Hhh…”

A long sigh.

Taking three steps forward, I laid my arms on the bar and looked up at the blue sky.

Whether they know it or not, the clouds floated like a vast ocean in the sky.

Children fight over trivial reasons that make no sense.

There’s nothing more exhausting and draining than being forced to intervene in that.

It feels like watching my cousins fight during the holidays.

Do the elementary school teachers always suffer in these situations?

I fully opened the stiff window in the hallway, finally voicing my frustration in a solitary musing.

“Damn, this sucks…”

If only a monster would appear at times like this.

Even after sacrificing the entire recess, the conclusion remained unclear.

The bell indicating the boring class I would usually dread rang, and at this moment, it couldn’t have been more welcoming.

After school, instead of joining in another fruitless conversation about magical girls, I chose to head home a step ahead.

Taking the narrow path leading to the apartment away from the main road, Gomtaengi asked in a low voice.

“Do you have no friends, Mary?”

An abrupt and rude question.

In that moment, both my steps and my thoughts came to a halt.

What? So suddenly? Is he picking a fight?

My feet came to a sudden stop.

Sensing the awkwardness, he hurriedly thought of an excuse.

“Ah, no. I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Are you longing for pain due to a lack of stimulation in your boring life?”

The back case of a smartphone.

Tearing off the thing that was just stuck there like an ordinary ornament, I held it firmly in my grasp.