Chapter 25

Putting aside the burning discomfort, the weekend has arrived.

A peaceful weekend morning without a single monster alarm ringing.

In that golden hour, what I was holding on to was…

“Uphuhk!”

Gomtaengi water torture.

No, it’s cleaning.

“Stay still, you little brat.”

I grabbed the flailing arms and body of the Gomtaengi searching for an escape from the water and moved it back to the center of the basin.

I scrubbed it with soapy water, washing away the grime, and it took me a good few minutes to refill it with clean water to make more soapy water.

After taking the water-dripping stuffed bear out of the basin, I carelessly poured the soapy water down the drain using the opposite hand.

Finally, bringing my nose close, I took a sniff.

As a result, I was able to successfully cover the concentrated garbage smell deeply embedded in the cotton with the scent of fabric softener and soapy water.

“Cough, ew…”

“Okay, pass.”

“Uuugh…”

Holding just the bear’s body like a wrung-out rag, I gripped it tightly in my hands, and a sound slipped out that was a mix of suffering and nausea.

The fragrant liquid dripping from its mouth displayed the stuffed bear’s belly, filled with soapy water and fabric softener.

I clipped the still dripping bear onto the laundry clip above the bathroom and rolled my pant legs back to their original state.

“Can I use the bathroom now?”

The moment I stepped out of the bathroom, Shiyeon paused the video and asked.

“Uh-huh.”

I answered and casually took off my bathroom slippers before heading out, already preparing to go to the mart.

Thinking about the picnic day, it’s better to finish preparations as soon as possible.

The lunchbox should arrive today or tomorrow, and I need to think about how to pack everything in advance…

‘Elementary school parents have a hard time, huh.’

Seeing myself act like Shiyeon’s parents, I had the realization that there are countless little things to worry about for a parent…

I slipped my sneakers on, making sure they fit snugly.

Just in case Shiyeon might look for me while I was out, I made sure to shout from beyond the bathroom door.

“I’m heading to the mart!”

“Uh-huh!”

The enthusiastic voice came through the half-closed door as I confirmed that Shiyeon heard me. I stepped outside without any burden.

‘The ingredients for fried rice…’

After arriving at the mart, I checked the ingredients.

For fried rice, I needed eggs, canned ham, and some flakes to sprinkle over the rice.

A carton of ten eggs, one can of ham, and a pack of four flakes.

Also, one instant rice pack that can be microwaved; after all, the amount increases when you fry it all together.

‘For side dishes, sausage and quail egg jelly….’

Even though it’s a lunchbox, it’s for a first-year elementary school girl’s stomach.

It doesn’t require too much prep.

I anticipated making several trips, but one was enough.

A pack of two 120g sausages, and there are many ready-made quail egg jellies available too.

A pack of cherry tomatoes, and just two bunches of Shine Muscat will suffice.

In total, the price was just about 20,000 won.

Since I would have plenty left after packing the lunchbox, breakfast would likely be instant rice scrambled with eggs and side dishes of sausage and quail egg jelly for a while.

Right after completing the payment and coming out of the mart.

‘Something feels lacking…’

Carrying a bag with a barely manageable weight, I felt a strange emptiness and headed back home.

Did I forget something?

With a clunk, I entered the hallway to find Shiyeon’s shoes missing.

Normally, I would hear the sound of an anime playing from inside the room.

But now, it was only a silent stillness.

“Maryyyyy!”

“What? Speak.”

“What if you leave me behind!? A monster appears and Shiyeon started alone!”

Only then did I realize the true source of my emptiness. I dashed into the bathroom, separated the stuffed bear from the clothespin, and held it.

The dampness of the bear still lingered, wetting my hands.

I carelessly tossed the bag into the living room, exasperated as I confronted the Gomtaengi.

“What were you doing, letting that happen, you jerk!”

“I could handle it just fine in that state!”

Stuttering in surprise at the reasonable logic for a stuffed bear, it suddenly started whining, mixing annoyance, hassles, and worries in its complaint.

“Good grief… Where is it? Speak quickly.”

“In the direction of the subway station. There are still monster reactions.”

I quickly dashed down the stairs, searching for a place that was both close yet sparsely populated.

After all, the reason a magical girl transforms and sets out from outside her home is to avoid pinpointing her residence.

Since I’ve transformed and flown here multiple times from various places recently, it should be fine to transform and fly from this apartment this time.

“Sun.”

With a short and concise transformation incantation, I jumped with enough power that the soil in the back garden of the apartment sank down.

The monster alarm that was barely heard from the mart grew louder the closer I got to the subway station, scratching at my ears and indicating that the monster was near.

As the people evacuated, the loud alarm quieted down to some extent while I approached the battle scene and asked it.

“How many minutes has it been since it appeared? Monster.”

“About… 13 minutes have passed.”

Thirteen minutes.

It was already time for victory or defeat to be decided.

In a world where even elementary school students can defeat monsters as magical girls.

This means that the magical girls are overwhelmingly stronger than most monsters; the scales of battle were already tipped far in one direction.

Yet the monster reactions still remained, which was obvious.

“It’s still alive, isn’t it?”

“Probably. Not every elementary school student is as cruel as Sun…”

“What did you say?”

Feeling offended at the blatant insult, I glared at it.

“Well… not exactly mature.”

It quickly covered its previous statement with a plausible explanation, showing impressive quick thinking.

Cruelty and maturity. Aren’t they somewhat the same?

Though I felt a little annoyed, it wasn’t entirely inaccurate, so I just furrowed my brows in contemplation.

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed senseless.

As expected, the situation had already finished.

The sight of a medium-sized beast resembling a chicken, completely frozen in place.

Still, I thought it handled itself well considering it went solo, so I deliberately landed to make sure Shiyeon could hear and approached with audible footsteps from a distance.

Even though I approached quite closely, Shiyeon, gripping her cane tightly with both hands, only showed her back.

“Mun.”

“?!”

As I placed my hand on her shoulder and called out to her, she startled and turned around.

Her breathing was heavy, as if she had exerted herself, and her shoulders were heaving.

She looked frightened, her wide eyes appearing smaller than usual.

Though Shiyeon was certainly trying her best, I realized again that this was not something for her age.

Surrounding Shiyeon, the road was frozen in a large fan shape.

The huge chicken monster seemed to have roared and was now petrified in place.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Even though I was completely victorious in this situation, I enveloped the trembling Shiyeon in my arms from the front and patted her back.

Seeing the tears forming at her eye level, I smiled slightly and wiped away the tears with my fingers and rubbed them on my own clothes.

Though she was a magical girl, Shiyeon’s heart was still too tender.

That’s why I didn’t want to leave her alone.

“Whew, was it really that scary?”

Standing at a similar height, it was awkward to say I embraced her, but nonetheless, Shiyeon only nodded quietly in my embrace.

After wiping away the remaining tears, I told her to sit at a nearby bus stop and not to look this way.

“You really have it easy. You should be thankful it wasn’t me.”

“……”

The monster was completely frozen, unable to hear or speak anything.

I approached it, mumbling meaningless words, and gently tapped its shoulder with the cane.

Could it still not manage the frozen human technique?

Ideally, I wanted to make its punishment a roast chicken to make Shiyeon cry.

After all, taking this long would be a nuisance for the evacuated people, so I decided to deal with it quickly.

Compared to the usual average time of five minutes, I’d been way too late.

“Ugh, you jerk!”

Gathering my strength in both arms, I plunged downward like a leap, and the chicken monster shattered and flew apart as ice shards.

The flesh of the chicken monster visible through the broken fragments didn’t seem much different from that of a muscular native chicken.

Can monsters also be fried and eaten?

This awfully uncomfortable holiday began with Shiyeon’s tears.

Despite loving her magical girl anime so much, she turned it off and headed for her bed.

“…sigh.”

Seeing this, I scratched my head and fell into a heavy mood; I couldn’t help but utter a few words.

I hadn’t intended to disturb even her mascot.

“Hey, Gomtaengi.”

First, I called out urgently to the Gomtaengi, who floated towards me, gliding through the air.

“Yes?”

Immediately, I pointed towards the bed while leaning against the wall to prevent Shiyeon from hearing.

“Go tell Shiyeon that monster removal is inherently tough, and it’s bound to be scary… whatever, just tell her I’m the weird one.”

“Ah, okay. I will.”

The Gomtaengi floated off towards the bed.

It would probably happily jabber on about me with its oblivious tongue.

Watching Shiyeon sniffle on the bed, I could see the mascot appearing to fumble without hands or feet.

“Huh….”

As soon as I saw that, a long sigh escaped from my lips.

If I thought about it, I was the root cause of having sent Shiyeon to fight the monster before I returned.

“Hey, sea snake.”

Spitting out a word I had kept in my heart, I stared straight at it.

Shiyeon’s mascot looked back at me with a slightly fearful glance.

“Se-sea snake…?”

“Why don’t you come out to the rooftop with me?”

It would clearly be unusual for such a creature to be soaring in the sky, so while I said that, I fully grabbed its neck and took it outside.

The creature struggled like a plastic toy as I headed towards the rooftop.

After opening the non-closed rooftop door, I stepped out. Leaning against the rooftop railing, I released it before my eyes.

Scratching my head and showing my frustration through actions, I asked.

“Why did you go out alone? Let’s ask that.”

“The m-monster appeared? Sun was not home…”

That was a view that could only come from a mascot’s perspective.

A monster appeared.

So the magical girl had to fight.

“What did you think would happen, taking her out alone? Are you crazy?”

“Well, still! Mun also has similar magical powers as you! She can fight the monster!”

“Hey.”

I grabbed the little thing’s neck that was flitting around in front of me and lowered it to the ground.

In an instant, what was just a flowerbed was pushed down, and its eyes grew smaller.

With a no-nonsense expression, I questioned.

“Are you scared right now?”

“……”

The gaze darting around showed a bit of that fear.

However, looking at the usual behavior of mascots suggests their mental age is not that high.

These creatures, expected to understand children’s concerns, were indeed like this.

“Shiyeon also knows that the monster intends to harm her.”

I needed to definitively express this due to recent events.

Continuing as if my astonishment level was peaking.

“You, being neither a monster nor something caught in my hands, are shivering in fear while thinking that Shiyeon could properly fight against the monster alone?”

“Th-thats true, but Sun…”

“Not me.”

I interrupted the sea snake’s counterpoint, poking the indentation in its chest with my left index finger.

While transferring that index finger to its long body, I continued speaking.

“What you need to look out for is Shiyeon.”