A small gathering in the amicable Cheorwon with few people.
Perhaps because there were fewer people, it felt smoother than any previous meetup.
After all, with just over ten people, it seemed appropriate to gather somewhere for a meal before parting ways instead of just talking at a café.
No matter how remote it was in Gangwon Province, there had to be a restaurant that could fit around ten people.
“Okay, don’t forget to grab your mascots, everyone! To the restaurant…”
At the suggestion of the senior magical girl older sister, just as everyone was about to transform back and gather their mascots…
“Uh-oh.”
“Eh.”
From each of their mascots came different sounds of surprise.
The only reason these guys would all emit such startled sounds at the same time was one thing.
It was a premonition of a monster appearing.
Why is a monster appearing at this hour?
‘Isn’t it still far from 6 PM?’
Even looking at my smartphone, there was no way it could be 6 PM yet.
Just when I thought the monsters had gone crazy…
‘Oh right.’
Naturally, the thought that came to mind right after was the regional difference.
‘Right, this isn’t Incheon, is it?’
I almost misunderstood.
Anyway, with the sudden appearance of monsters, the atmosphere turned tense.
The older sister, who had been leading us to the restaurant, quickly turned around and tried to lighten the mood.
“I was going to say that! But let’s split up and meet where the monster appears!”
We exited the café, mixed in with people evacuating, and dispersed efficiently, moving with one to three people together.
Though the alarm sounded faintly from a distance, it was still audible.
That meant the monster wasn’t too far away, and people were quickening their pace to escape in the opposite direction of the warning.
Though it looked like we were walking leisurely, from the citizens’ perspective, they were evacuating quite well.
At least they weren’t loitering around taking photos, which was a relief.
New Jupiter, so…
By chance, we found ourselves with the youngest magical girl in an alley with no people.
In the secluded alley, confirming that there were no prying eyes in the vicinity, we began to chant our transformation spells.
“Sun.”
“Moon Power, Transform!”
“Jupiter, Transform!”
‘Her transformation spell is a bit short.’
Just before we soared into the sky, I glanced at the transformation spell, which was appropriately short, so I wouldn’t feel embarrassed.
Perhaps because she wasn’t in elementary school but around middle school age, did she know shame?
With curiosity about whether it was a spell that could be shouted out comfortably as an adult, I subtly asked while flying.
“Your spell is short, huh?”
With one year’s difference, a Confucian respect was automatically instilled.
Upon hearing the question, New Jupiter pouted cutely, puffing her cheeks like a blowfish, and said, “Oh… that’s because I wanted it to be a bit longer, but Jupiter older sister insisted that I absolutely shouldn’t…”
After hearing the story, it seemed New Jupiter intended to add something like a classic anime line such as ‘I won’t forgive you!’ to her spell.
There was good advice from the adult.
This transformation spell, like always, isn’t something you say while directly transforming in front of a monster.
If I had added some dramatic lines, I would have ended up yelling those lines into the void years later.
How embarrassing it would be to shout those lines into the void even as an adult…
Old Jupiter understood that.
“You know you have to take down monsters alone, right?”
“Yes! Please watch me closely!”
Just as it happened a few years ago in Incheon, during the meetup, when a monster appeared it was for the reason of ‘Let’s see the youngest’s skills’ resulting in her having to take it down alone.
Mentioning that made New Jupiter enthusiastic, wanting to impress everyone with her monster slaying skills.
So, for the first time today, I got to see another magical girl fight right in front of me.
At 1:07 PM, the monster that appeared in Cheorwon was a room-sized monster resembling a turtle with a tough shell.
Even if New Jupiter were to lose, about ten magical girls with their arms crossed were waiting in the back.
For the monster, the motivation to fight was dropping below zero.
What could she do, she had to fight if told to fight.
As someone who somewhat understands the monster’s internal situation, it only felt unfortunate.
Click, click, I heard the sound of a lighter lighting up beside me for some reason.
“A few years ago, Sun and Moon did that, time flies.”
It turned out that Saturn was crossing her arms, holding a cigarette, and covering the end with her palm while lighting it.
She also had a decade-long experience as a magical girl.
Perhaps feeling nostalgic while looking around, she murmured while looking at us.
Moreover, I wondered when she had brought her cigarettes, as she had been taking a break smoking beside us.
“It’s a bit off to smoke with that appearance.”
“It’s actually better to smoke like this; my body before transformation is fine on health checks! I still consider it when drinking alone at home.”
With a touch of pride, Saturn was spilling her tips.
We’re still middle school students, you know?
“Wow, that was really valuable information…”
I responded to Saturn, who proudly listed her tips as if reading from a textbook, while continuing to watch the battle.
“Let go!”
“Ugh!”
The battle seemed to continue for about another eight minutes.
After the fight ended, I checked the time, and it was just after 1:15 PM, nearing 1:16 PM.
Personally, I found the monster’s tenacity to grip tight once bitten prominent in this battle.
It was a fight using regular cane beams or simple punches.
In many ways, magical girls seem to be somewhat indifferent to pain, as they don’t appear to express much suffering from scratches and bites.
Running over here in a state of disarray was New Jupiter, brightly smiling.
“How did I do?!”
“You did great! Now let’s disperse and regroup in front of the café!”
Though the question was directed at me, Saturn answered on her own, wrapping up the situation.
With brief and concise praise, we swiftly disbanded.
After transforming back in a remote alley, we regrouped in front of the café.
Due to the sudden appearance of the monster breaking the flow, we decided to decide on the type of restaurant this time.
The oldest magical girl sister gathered everyone’s opinions.
I wondered how there could be a restaurant among seemingly nothing but a military grave, but surprisingly three options were presented.
“We’ll decide by majority vote! Korean food, Chinese food, Western food, what does everyone prefer? Raise your hand for Korean!”
Only one hand went up for Korean food, and it was mine.
What? We came all this way, and we could eat that anywhere?
No, wait, thinking about it, could we actually have Korean food anywhere?
The chance of Korean food being selected is zero percent, then.
With the nodding sign for everyone to put their hands down, the next option was presented.
“Next, how about Chinese food?”
This time, a couple of hands went up.
Among middle school students, Shiyeon and New Jupiter were the ones raising their hands.
Well, at this age, I love jjajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork.
Still, it seemed the high schoolers or adults had already made their opinions known.
“Next, hands up for Western food?”
At the mention of Western food, seven or eight hands went up in quick succession.
Today’s lunch would likely be pizza and pasta.
Well, it is the kind of food optimized for uploading to Insta.
Having no choice but to surrender to the cold democracy of majority rule, I followed behind like an elementary school student trailing the teacher during a picnic.
[Umtri Math Academy]
“Huh?”
The destination was suddenly on the first floor of a math academy building.
I wondered why there would be a Western restaurant in such a location.
[Beautiful House Pizza & Pasta]
Putting aside the location, as expected, the restaurant that first came to mind for Western food was a pizza and pasta place.
The interior was designed in white and light blue.
It was remarkably a kid-friendly restaurant, complete with a pink children’s playroom.
It’s not easy to find places with playrooms these days.
Shiyeon was looking intently into the playroom.
I jabbed her in the side with my elbow in the playroom, which was about the size suitable for kindergarteners, and said, “…we’re middle schoolers now, right?”
“Oh, I know! I just looked at it…”
Perhaps she wasn’t completely void of thoughts; Shiyeon blushed and puffed her cheeks.
When thinking of a rustic place in Gangwon Province, images of dog meat shops or sundae soup or spicy beef soup immediately come to mind, but it seems that when searched, there are indeed such places.
“All right, everyone order whatever you want—”
From basic pasta menu items like seafood tomato pasta and carbonara to somewhat unfamiliar pane cream pasta and chicken arrabbiata pasta.
There were even separate kids’ menu items like cutlet and snow cheese cutlet.
And pizzas of numerous varieties that I could hardly list were also available.
Not to mention various coffees, sodas, and even alcohol were all here.
Since we had come this far, I decided to order more new items rather than the familiar ones without hesitation.
“For me… pane cream pasta.”
Pane cream pasta.
I had only seen it in videos before, knowing that it was a type of spaghetti served in a hollowed-out loaf of bread.
Honestly, I was a bit curious as to why people eat it that way…
“For me, I’ll have the tomato seafood pasta.”
“Should we order a large variety of pizzas?”
With one pasta per person and not even ordering much pizza, the total order exceeded 200,000 won.
For the part-timers taking the orders, it must have felt like a hellish experience, but the owner, who seemed to indicate his pleasure, had a smile from ear to ear.
He was so happy, in fact, that he brought a bottle of cider to each table even before we ordered it.
Rather than serving in order, the food came out almost all at once.
Without hesitation, I twisted the noodles of the pane cream pasta offered to me and was about to bring it to my mouth.
“Wait! Let’s take a picture!”
“…”
At the moment the word ‘wait’ came out, the noodle chunk had already entered my mouth.
Time seemed to freeze as I held the fork in my mouth, and a photo was taken.
The table adorned with one pane cream pasta, half empty from being scooped out, became the sacrificial offering for likes on Insta.
