Chapter 10

“Eeeeeek!”

“Sorry, I said I’m sorry!”

Keru screamed and ran around, dodging the Mother-Body who was charging at her like she was about to tear her skin off.

Keru was genuinely clueless. Who would have thought the corporate card would be frozen? Since Keru isn’t human and doesn’t even look human, she never had a reason to use the card, so she had no idea it had been deactivated.

The usually calm, rational, and charismatic Mother-Body, with her piercing gaze that seemed to look down on everyone, had turned red-faced—whether from alcohol or anger, no one knew—and looked like she was about to burst into tears the moment she returned to the base. She charged at Keru like she was going to rip her fur out.

“I really, really didn’t know!”

“You, because of youuuuuuu!!!”

The Mother-Body’s wailing echoed through the base. “Do you know how embarrassed I was?! In front of my subordinates, the card got frozen, and they were all staring at me! Do you know how humiliating that was?!” Her screams seemed endless.

“Um, if someone like you does that in the middle of the night, of course, someone’s going to report it.”

“I’m sorry. I drank too much…”

“Let’s leave it at that. If we get another report, we’ll have to issue a fine, so be careful.”

“Yes, yes… I’m sorry…”

After repeatedly apologizing, promising never to drink and make noise like that again, the police finally left.

“Today was really…”

Dusik, in his transformed form, silently waved his hand, and the minions scattered back to their respective rooms.

As the Mother-Body trudged over to the chair by the table in the hall and sat down, Dusik, who had undone his transformation, handed her a glass of water.

“Here, drink this, unnie.”

“Thanks.”

The Mother-Body sighed deeply, drank the water, and handed the empty cup back to Dusik, who placed it by the water dispenser and sat down in the chair across from her.

“Unnie, honestly, neither Keru nor I knew. We never had a reason to use the card. Keru isn’t in human form, and I’m too young in my untransformed state. Even after transforming, my age doesn’t change, so we really didn’t know. I’m sorry, unnie.”

“Ahem, Mother-Body. I’m sorry too. I really didn’t know.”

If they said they didn’t know, there wasn’t much else to say. The Mother-Body knew they weren’t trying to tease or torment her.

“But it was embarrassing. So embarrassing. It was incredibly humiliating.”

The Mother-Body covered her face with her hands, looking like she was about to cry, and kept rocking back and forth.

“Hey, Keru.”

“Yeah?”

“Mother-Body seems to have had too much to drink.”

“Seems like it.”

“Can I sleep next to her tonight?”

“If you undo your transformation, it’s fine.”

“Got it.”

—

*Groan.*

When I opened my eyes, it was already morning. What happened yesterday? I didn’t drink enough to black out, but after the police left, my memory is a bit fuzzy.

“Mother-Body unnie, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. Dusik, did you sleep well too… huh…?”

What happened yesterday? I need to remember quickly. After the police left, what did I do? Why is Dusik lying next to me? When did I change into pajamas, and why are they pink negligee?

I need to remember quickly.

“You crazy jerk, she’s a minor!!!!”

I chased after Keru like I was going to kill her.

“I didn’t do anything, I swearrrrrr!”

Keru ran for her life on all fours.

“You changed her into my pajamas, and you call that doing nothing, you beast!!!!”

—

“Here, the reading room is on the second floor. Dusik, you know that, right?”

“Yes… I’m sorry.”

“I told you there wouldn’t be any noise, so I let you stay, but if you keep this up…”

“No… I’m sorry…”

“You seem to have a girlfriend here, so it’s a bit awkward for me to keep bringing this up. But if this happens again, I won’t stay quiet.”

Girlfriend?

Who?

Me?

The woman, who seemed to be the building owner, scolded Dusik, who kept bowing his head, and then glanced at me.

If she’s the building owner, she’s got some nerve. She’s way too blunt. But I can’t really say anything. My years of social experience tell me to just keep my mouth shut and let Dusik handle it.

The building owner clicked her tongue and left, and Dusik trudged over to the chair by the table in the hall and sat down. I filled a cup with water from the dispenser and handed it to him.

“Dusik, drink this.”

“Thank you, Mother-Body.”

Dusik sighed deeply, drank the water, and placed the cup back by the dispenser. He looked at me and sighed again.

“Mother-Body.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s make a lot of money and build our own headquarters… or buy a building…”

“Yeah, I really want to do that too. Anyway, Keru, what do we need to do today?”

“The tax consultant and legal advisor are coming this afternoon. Meet them, introduce yourself as the new boss. We need to follow legal procedures to operate in this society, so they’ll handle that for us.”

What kind of evil organization does all this? If we’re following the law this closely, when are we ever going to conquer the world?

“Mother-Body, think about it. Can you conquer the world in a day or two?”

“Of course not.”

“We need money to operate, and to use that money smoothly, we have to follow the rules humans have set until we’re strong enough.”

“Alright, alright.”

I waved my hand dismissively. All this talk about balancing good and evil, but it seems like she’s throwing that balance out the window. Balance, my foot.

As I pouted, Dusik, who had just taken a call somewhere, handed me the phone.

“Unnie, take this call.”

“Who is it? No one should be calling me.”

“It’s Prilly. The magical girl Prilly.”

“Prilly? Oh, the head of the Gwangmyeong branch of the Magical Girl Association? Why is she calling?”

“She says you had a dinner appointment?”

“Oh, right. That’s true.”

One of the socialite’s bad checks—”Let’s have dinner sometime”—seemed to have been cashed this time.

“I’ve switched the call. This is Mother-Body.”

“Mother-Body, hello, this is Prilly. Park Seona. Do you remember me?”

“We just met the other day.”

A laugh came through the phone.

“Ah, right. I’ve been thinking about you so much, it felt like a long time ago.”

“Uh, really? Thank you.”

Ugh, what’s with this sudden creepiness? But I can’t let it show. I forced a laugh.

“I mentioned setting up a dinner meeting before.”

“Yes, I remember that.”

“Would tomorrow evening work for you?”

“Tomorrow?”

I glanced at Keru. Keru thought for a moment and shook her head.

“Tomorrow’s fine.”

“Do you have any food you dislike?”

“Not really, but I like meat.”

“Same here! Meat is great. So tasty.”

From the other end of the phone, I thought I heard something like, “Why do you eat meat like a barbarian, you crazy woman…” but maybe it was just my imagination.

“Then, I’ll send a car for you tomorrow at 7 PM. You can ride that. It’s a place with a dress code, so it’d be best if you come in your transformed form.”

“Dress code?”

What kind of meat place has a dress code…?

“Okay, got it. I’ll do that.”

“Great, see you tomorrow!”

“Okay, take care.”

There’s a saying about striking while the iron is hot, but this feels like pulling it out way too soon. The boss of an evil organization and a high-ranking member of the Magical Girl Association sitting down to eat together? That doesn’t sound like a good look.

But the fact that she wants me to come in my transformed form makes me think there’s something else going on.

“Unnie, should I come with you?”

“Stay put. You couldn’t even handle Prabel.”

“Hmph.”

I patted Dusik’s head. He’s kind of cute.

“I’m just worried about you, unnie!”

Then he suddenly lunged at me, rubbing his face against my chest.

“Ugh, stop being so gross. Get off me.”

“Eeeeeh.”

Dusik clung to me, refusing to let go. I tried to push him away, but in the end, I lost and had to sit in the chair with him dangling off me.

—

“How is this even possible?”

Keru and I were staring at the gauge, which had already surpassed its limit and couldn’t display any more numbers.

This is a magic power gauge. You place your hand on it, and it measures your magic power. The maximum is 30,000L.

But even this device couldn’t fully measure my magic power.

“This is weird.”

Keru circled around me. Even if she says that, I don’t know anything either. I thought magic power had nothing to do with me. I’ve lived over 20 years thinking that.

But that’s not the only strange thing.

I don’t have a unique spell.

When a magical girl awakens, she’s given a unique weapon and a unique spell.

A unique weapon is something like Priqu’s magic wand or Prabel’s wand, and I have one too. A white glove with rivets on my left hand.

But a unique spell is the magic given to a magical girl. At first, it’s one spell, but as you master it, it evolves into skills… that kind of thing.

I don’t have that.

Meaning, I can’t use any magic.

“So, you’re optimized for being the Mother-Body…”

“Keru, drop dead.”

“Okay.”

Honestly, not having a unique spell—meaning I can’t use magic—but having a ridiculously powerful unique weapon and an enormous amount of magic power makes me think, as much as I hate to admit it, that Keru might not be entirely wrong about me being optimized for the Mother-Body role.