Chapter 37

A chilling sensation creeping up the backs of two civil servants, and a resigned thought as they arrived at a vacation home in Sokcho.

Not even a bunk bed, just a spacious villa with two floors.

Of course, there was an air conditioner, and a refrigerator that looked at least three times the height of a human.

A fluffy long sofa that was incomparable in size to the TV at home, with a monitor even larger.

A second-floor balcony that looked like it could fit six of the home’s balconies combined.

A pristine interior without a speck of dust, complete with a view of the sea.

“Kyah-!”

Shiyeon was dashing around the villa in short strides, unable to contain her excitement upon learning that this place would be their residence for the next two weeks.

‘She still needs to do her homework, though.’

As I pondered Shiyeon’s excitement in a realistic light, a civil servant uncle handed me a business card.

The card had the name of the Department of National Safety and the uncle’s name on it, along with his neat personal phone number.

I never expected to receive a business card with this body.

“If you need anything, call this number. We’ll help you while we stay in Sokcho as well.”

“Yes, thank you. Take care.”

“Alright.”

The two civil servants closed the villa door and left.

“Wow…”

After they left, I looked out at the vast scenery of the villa, purely amazed.

While Shiyeon was in the bathroom, I asked the uncle who had remained in the car, and he mentioned that high-ranking officials sometimes use this place for vacations.

To prove that his words were not a lie, the level of amenities made it clear that it could be used like a home.

How many air conditioners were installed in this villa?

One on the first floor ceiling, the second one by the TV, and the third one in the kitchen.

Then there were four or five more on the second floor.

Just calculating the cost of the air conditioners invested here would likely exceed the value of all the furniture in our home.

Perhaps because the sense of people other than us had disappeared, the mascots slowly began to show themselves.

“Wow, this place is nice.”

“Yeah.”

I briefly expressed my approval of the absurdly nice living environment over the past two weeks.

I thought I would only see houses with two floors in Japanese cartoons.

Even though I’m not yet past the double digits in age, it feels like a long time to live and see.

A sofa big enough for two of me to lie down comfortably.

I lay sideways on it, finding a decent position.

“But why haven’t you guys said a word?”

I suddenly recalled the mascots’ silence in the car.

Even though there were others around, it was obvious that we were magical girls given the situation.

That means it’s also true that they knew there would be mascots, so it felt odd that they hadn’t said anything, causing me to ask.

I naturally expected a reply saying they didn’t know.

But the unexpected response coming from Gomtaengi’s mouth was:

“Adults feel a bit awkward talking about stuff. It’s a hassle to react to everything…”

“Crazy.”

So it was simply that they didn’t want to.

Crazy.

As I lay back on the sofa for a while, Shiyeon approached, having finished exploring the villa, and asked.

“Mary, when are we going to the beach?”

“Um…”

I hesitated for a moment, trailing off.

I had almost forgotten as I was sinking into the plush sofa, feeling sleepy.

It had only taken about three hours to drive here.

After investing a full three hours in traffic, it was now late afternoon.

If we head to the beach now, it would soon get cold.

Getting sick would be the worst after coming here to have fun.

“Not today.”

“Why?! I wanna go to the beach! I’m going!”

Shiyeon was unusually persistent.

She was probably so excited to be far from home.

How could I make excuses to postpone until tomorrow…?

As I briefly thought, essential items for the beach suddenly came to mind.

‘Ah.’

“We don’t have swimsuits or a tube, so let’s go to the mart today.”

I realized we didn’t have even the essentials before heading to the beach.

“Ah!”

Only then did Shiyeon’s eyes widen in understanding.

After preparing to leave, I immediately changed our destination to the mart.

I opened the map app to get to know the local area.

Although we needed to use public transport, it was hundreds of times better than being in a situation without a mart.

In a truly rural area, finding a big mart would be as rare as finding a needle in a haystack.

No matter what, it would be embarrassing to ask such scruffy civil servants to buy swimsuits for a first-grade girl, so I decided to go buy them myself.

If I were to ask, I could easily imagine the suspicious looks from the employees as they watched the unkempt civil servants.

Fortunately, I wasn’t that audacious boy—or rather… girl.

I was a good child who did what I had to do by myself.

On the first floor of the large mart, I hopped into a taxi.

As expected for a scorching summer, large whale-shaped tubes and symbols of the sea were abundantly decorated in the mart.

I decided to look at the tubes later and focused on finding clothes first.

“Swimsuit, please!”

“Welcome!”

Shiyeon, filled with excitement, dashed to the section of swimsuits and immediately asked for some.

The lady seemed delighted by the little guests and stood up from her seat while adding short remarks.

Though the lady appeared to find the kids adorable, her awkwardness at the absence of their parents was evident as she looked around.

Naturally, there were no individuals that resembled parents, so she quickly glanced at us and asked.

“Where are your mom and dad?”

“Um…”

At that moment, I was searching for a suitable excuse.

“We came on our own!”

‘Oh.’

Shiyeon’s bold answer caused the lady’s expression to stiffen.

I probably should have told her to be quiet.

The lady’s ensuing questions took a slightly different direction.

Though they stemmed from kindness and goodwill, they also posed painful questions that could touch on a child’s feelings.

“Do you know your parents’ contact numbers?”

“Um, well…”

Shiyeon was flustered.

To break through this uncertain situation, I had to claim the first number that came to my mind was my dad’s.

The business card I had in my pocket.

“I know my dad’s phone number.”

“Go ahead and tell me.”

“010…”

As soon as I recited the number, the lady left her seat to make a call to the civil servant uncle.

After a few rings, the call connected.

As the lady walked away, I could hear her voice.

“Hello, is this the father of the children? Why are you sending two kids to buy clothes?”

Although I couldn’t hear clearly, there was a muffled voice of a man on the other end.

“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’?! The two kids are here to buy swimsuits, and you’re just having fun eating raw fish in Sokcho?!”

Suddenly, the civil servant uncle, who didn’t even know that his two elementary school daughters had come to the mart, was now a very irresponsible father who was busy having raw fish.

‘Uh, sorry about this.’

I hadn’t wanted to bother him, but look at how this turned out.

Maybe about 20 minutes passed?

Oblivious to what was happening, the civil servant uncle showed up at the mart, flustered and unable to understand why he was there, facing a furious lady with her arms crossed.

Only after the situation was somewhat resolved could I talk to the uncle.

“What’s this sudden storm?”

“…I’m sorry.”

I let Shiyeon pick out a swimsuit she liked, which made her look so innocent.

With the expressions of the men who had been dragged into shopping, I sat down on a chair by the checkout.

“Mary! How about this one?!”

“Pretty.”

“What about this one?”

“That one’s pretty too.”

Shiyeon eagerly pushed a swimsuit from each side under my nose, acting as if they belonged to her.

Like a parrot that had memorized ‘pretty’, I had become a parrot that said pretty things.

A solid blue swimsuit, a swimsuit with a raccoon character on a light pink background.

As a practical person, I thought that for a first grader who would grow so fast, it would be best to get something cheap since she would likely outgrow it before a year passed.

The pattern of the clothes didn’t matter much to me…

“What about this one?”

…I thought, but that one seemed wrong too.

Among the swimsuits Shiyeon had hanging, she pulled one out.

“That one doesn’t seem right.”

It was a dark purple swimsuit with a combination of blue and light pink flowers.

Seeing a swimsuit that had the color palette of clothes a country grandma would wear while farming, I shook my head.

That one just wouldn’t do.

Where on earth could there be a demand for such a swimsuit?

Leaving behind vague questions, we each picked a swimsuit and proceeded to the checkout for the tubes.

Two tiny swimsuits for seven-man won, and four tubes costing four-man won each.

The emptiness of spending 110,000 won on the sea, where we wouldn’t play much in two weeks.

‘With this money, I could buy three sets of summer clothes that would last a year…’

As my sense of living became more akin to that of a housewife, I packed the summer supplies and headed outside the mart.

The uncle had hurried over and taken a taxi instead of the government vehicle.

As I approached the first taxi in line in front of the mart, an unpleasant siren blared.

Given how quiet it had been lately, it was surprising to hear the alarm ringing before the day was even over.

Thinking about it, the local monster emergence rate was significantly different from our area.

“Ugh, damn…”

“Oh dear, we have to go right away.”

To have to get to work right after finishing shopping felt frustrating.

The uncle who seemed to understand this burden let out a sigh of sympathy.

It felt like being told to go back to work after sitting and playing a computer game on the weekend.

I handed the items I held in both hands to the uncle.

“Uncle, could you please take Shiyeon and the bags back to the villa?”

“Huh? Aren’t you coming with us?”

“I have my reasons. I’ll handle it alone for now. Thank you!”

After finishing that notification, I ran to find a place without people.

It was unfortunate that it was near the mart, and people only pretended to flee casually.

After all, the appearance of the monster was quite far from the mart.

The citizens who only seemed to think it was a civil defense alarm slowly exited the mart, meaning they only sought shade from the sun.

‘Someone’s going to be seriously hurt.’

This country indeed feels the need to interpret fire alarms going off in the middle of school as a malfunction.

Someday, something big may happen.