Chapter 125

“The name of the new transfer student is Shiyeon. This is Shiyeon, and due to personal circumstances, she has come to transfer, so everyone should get along well.”

“Okay—”

The students’ response to the teacher’s introduction of the new transfer student was lukewarm and sluggish.

It wasn’t like a Japanese anime, and no one was making a fuss over just one transfer student.

For Shiyeon, everything was an unfamiliar environment.

Without a word during the homeroom teacher’s introduction, she bowed her head toward the class.

“Now, you can sit in that empty seat over there.”

Following the teacher’s guidance, Shiyeon walked across the space between the desks.

There was only one empty desk in the class.

With only one choice, she was assigned to the back row, close to the back door of the classroom.

That spot seemed like it would be nice when going out for lunch.

After the morning assembly ended, there was a slight gap until the first class began.

As usual, the boys started playing among themselves, and the ones gathering around Shiyeon were the female students interested in the transfer student.

Pretending to be interested while actually loitering nearby, they eavesdropped on the conversation.

“Did you say your name is Shiyeon? Which school did you come from?”

“Do you watch any cartoons or anime?”

“Uh, that is….”

Suddenly, there was an unnecessary amount of attention focused on one person.

As she looked quietly from a distance and made eye contact, she glanced back and forth between the surroundings and me, as if asking for help.

What can I do? I am the elder here…

Oh right, we’re the same age.

While squeezing through the group of students clustered at the back of the classroom.

I gestured for Shiyeon to get up and then sat down in that spot, placing her on my lap.

It was just a simple act of sitting down, but it created a feeling that they already knew each other despite anyone looking at them.

“Mary? What are you doing?”

“Shiyeon is my little sister; if you have questions, just ask me.”

“Really?”

In response to the question about which school she came from, Shiyeon modestly mentioned that she had just returned after living abroad.

Regarding cartoons or anime, she talked about the kinds of animations filled with guys.

As for how she ended up transferring, she simply said she came to a nearby school due to family.

Everything else except for the part about cartoons or anime was a lie.

You might wonder if it was necessary to go this far, but the kids are surprisingly sensitive to various news.

With the advancement of smartphones, they pick up news from yesterday, which becomes a topic of conversation.

It wouldn’t matter much to me, but mentioning that I transferred from another school due to bullying would only hurt us both.

Whether it’s black or white, sometimes lies are necessary.

Anyway, since I exist in the same class, and there are friends who share various hobbies, Shiyeon’s expression brightened noticeably.

Before long, during recess, friends who had become closer began their own conversations.

“How does it feel to have a younger sister?”

“Don’t you have a younger brother? It should be similar; don’t you feel like you have to take care of them?”

“What should I take care of? I really don’t want to deal with that.”

“I guess not, huh?”

Returning the question about having a younger brother to Dongha’s question made him grimace as if he was looking at an enemy instead of taking care of one.

The relationship between Shiyeon and me seemed to appear stronger than most siblings.

After finishing her chat with her male friends, Shiyeon walked over to our group.

“What were you talking about?”

“The kids think we look really close.”

“Really? Isn’t that normal?”

When I told her the previous conversation in an indifferent manner, Shiyeon tilted her head, questioning if that was normal.

The fact that her question sounded so absurd was enough for a female student sitting nearby to turn around and refute it.

“Hey, it’s definitely not like that… I have an older brother who’s two years older, and he’s really annoying.”

“I also really dislike my younger brother; if I don’t play with him, he cries… but if I do, he gets on my nerves.”

As soon as the conversation shifted to their own siblings, it seemed like they had a lot to say, and the topic filled the recess with stories of fighting with their siblings.

After spending two recesses talking about their sibling fights.

During the third class’s break, Dongha initiated a new conversation topic, this time about magical girls.

“Did you see that article this morning? There was a video of magical girls fighting in our area.”

“Eh?”

Speaking of our area means Incheon, and regarding Incheon’s magical girls, it could only be me or Shiyeon.

The only monster that had recently appeared was the one from yesterday while eating tteokbokki, so it had to be the footage from that time.

Hearing that it had been recorded and appeared on the news made me immediately think of being more careful next time.

I can’t fight while checking if there’s anyone around with a phone; it’s quite troublesome.

“Oh, really? How was it recorded?”

“They say someone who couldn’t evacuate filmed it from inside a building. Just wait, I’ll show you after school.”

Since our smartphones were taken during school hours, I had no way to check the content until just before leaving.

Should I submit an empty phone like some delinquent kids do?

Regardless, once the class that felt like an eternity was over, I began watching the magical girl battle footage on Dongha’s smartphone screen, as we had agreed.

At that moment, as students began leaving the classroom one by one, we crowded together to watch my performance.

It was a bit embarrassing to be observed by three boys, but…

What does it matter? They wouldn’t know it was me anyway.

Reviewing the footage, it seemed to have captured me from a small window on a building about three stories high.

The camera shook as it filmed, and the red beam of light shot diagonally into the sky while the monster turned to ashes.

So this is how it feels to see it from a third-person perspective.

…Even viewing it myself feels chilling.

“Wow, that’s insane. This is practically a bioweapon!”

“Really, the footage even has a monster-hunting mad movie.”

Seonhyuk exclaimed in amazement while Dongha seemed satisfied with the surrounding reactions and shared the video link with laughter.

The issue arose when I received my smartphone and returned home.

[Animal protection group protests in front of Incheon City Hall, “Stop the massacre… killing must stop”]

‘…What is this?’

Particularly, as the protest was happening in our area, I wondered what was going on and clicked on it to see a banner.

It prominently featured a record from a few years back about the cat monster extermination and a werewolf extermination record.

So… they were protesting against monster killings.

Have these people taken some medication as a group?

They should be thanking and bowing down instead of this.

Stop the massacre?

Animal organizations that only love dogs and cats are still stuck in their habits.

“Seriously….”

Furthermore, since it was indicated that another protest was scheduled, I checked what date it would be.

Coincidentally, it was set for today from 5 PM for two hours; I hoped a monster would appear at the protest.

That way, they wouldn’t have to talk about massacres and killings.

“Shiyeon! I think a monster is coming out soon!”

“Today… the 27th! Is it my turn?”

Before the monster alert sounded, it seemed like the sea serpent mascot’s monster detection sensor had picked up something, making Shiyeon and me hurry.

With a good timing monster appearing, I sneaked a word to the busy-looking Shiyeon as I stood up.

“Ah, Shiyeon, wait a moment…”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go together today.”

So, it had been a while since we flew together in the skies of Incheon.

Maybe because the cold was fading and spring was almost here, the breeze felt a bit warm against my skin.

Entering the neighborhood where the alarm sounds continued, we finally spotted the shape of a monster.

It was a large dog the size of a car, but it had six legs…

Much more monster-like than the large cat from a few years back, it felt like a giant dog monster.

I didn’t know if it was a magical girl or what, but it looked like it was just enjoying running around in the park.

“Wow, this is perfect….”

“Since it’s a park, can’t we just hit it with a big chunk of ice?”

“No, no, leave it to me… I just thought of a good idea.”

Checking the numbers on my smartphone in the sky, it was 5:48 PM.

It was a very appropriate time since the animal protection group was protesting.

Just like a bird of prey snatching its prey from the sky, I lifted the giant dog monster that was destroying the trees and structures in the park as if cradling it.

“Yip, yip….”

It was trying to bark and resist when close to the ground, but in the sky where it couldn’t see a place to land, it let out a faint whine like a scared puppy.

As Shiyeon looked at me while I was moving rather than immediately exterminating it, she tilted her head.

“Why that dog? Are you going to keep it?”

“No, no, I felt there was a need to awaken their dull sense of caution.”

“Awareness…?”

The place Shiyeon and I landed was, of course, the protest site of the city hall animal welfare group.

Naturally, the setting was in chaos as the large dog monster crashed into the animal protection group’s protest.

Of course, we had only approached close to the ground for safety and were embracing the large dog monster tightly, but…

“Yaaahhh—!!”

“It’s a, a monster!!”

The chaos of the protest site, where I was hidden behind the fur of the monster, was truly a pandemonium.

As the large dog monster barked loudly when approaching the ground, everyone was busy fleeing, discarding banners and everything they had.

“It’s a monster! It’s just a dog that the animal protection people love… that’s a bit much to say.”

“Wha, wait… Sun? Is this really okay?”