At the end of a simple straight corridor, in a round space resembling an ant’s chamber, the monsters were encountered.
The creatures, far from living up to their name as intruders, let out a terrible scream, akin to their last breath, at the unexpected arrival of an uninvited guest in the bluish room.
“Aaaah! Haaaak!”
The sharp sound of scraping metal against ice filled the room noisily.
The monsters, alongside their ear-piercing screams, were frantically scratching the walls with their nails, struggling desperately to increase the distance between themselves and me by even a millimeter.
The room, illuminated by the pale light of ice, had no openings other than where we had entered.
Standing firmly behind me, the only exit and pathway were blocked.
Well, why on earth was the room designed like this…?
It’s likely they never expected a Magical Girl to come in here.
This is what you might call a natural disaster.
‘I guess you could say it’s like building a nuclear bunker only to have an earthquake hit.’
Meanwhile, the monsters continued to scrape the walls, even as I considered suitable metaphors.
I thought I had stopped torturing monsters years ago, yet first impressions and preconceived notions are hard to shake.
So, what did I do?
Nothing. I just left them be.
Even if they scratched for a hundred days, it’d take them a long time to dig through even a few meters of ice.
Even in their panic, they’d likely notice something was off within ten minutes.
As expected, shortly after…
Exhausted from their frantic screaming and scratching, the monsters now exchanged uneasy glances.
With my arms crossed, I watched them calmly and then spoke to ease the tension.
“Now that you’ve finally noticed me, what are you doing here?”
In the Arctic, a place frequented only by wildlife photographers and devoid of both Magical Girls and people, I asked about their purpose in such a remote land.
Was it fear of me or the absurdity of the situation that made them answer?
“To prepare a base for the future…”
“Hey, hey, we shouldn’t be saying that…”
“Oh well, it doesn’t matter anyway. If Magical Girls are already here, it won’t be long before we’re all exposed.”
“Just go ahead and fight them…”
Without hesitation or reluctance, all but one monster answered.
Preparing a base for the future… It’s like setting up sandbags on a mountain pass and establishing a fort.
Anyway, I decided internally to send them back to their spaceship decently.
It’d be pointless to torture them and make them prisoners— it would only lower my reputation within their spaceship.
If there were ever to be problems in the future, I would rather not have such conflicts.
Exhaling a short breath, I asked the trio who had gathered closely.
“So, you’ve got other bases besides this one, right?”
“Yes… uh, how many are there?”
Without even thinking twice, they started discussing among themselves, like they were just casual friends.
Their loyalty seemed too high, like they would answer ten questions for every one I asked.
“Isn’t there five more?”
“No, four, I think. The first group we sent, well, the ice cap broke off, they drifted and starved to death.”
“Oh right, that’s why we dug a hole far from the sea.”
The discussions flowed naturally without my intervention.
The ice cap breaking, drifting, starving to death… it seems the monsters have their own sorrowful tales.
The monster who had asked earlier about the number of Arctic bases now tilted their head slightly, fidgeting with the holes in their body, and asked me.
“Do you want us to tell you the locations of the other bases?”
“Sure, that would be helpful.”
This monster was willing to give away not just the locations but also vital information.
Seeing no reason to decline, I nodded. However, another monster hesitated and tried to stop them.
“Hey hey…”
“Think it through…”
Instead of listening, the monster turned around completely and convinced their colleague, starting an elaborate explanation.
“It’s not like other Magical Girls will find out about us. As soon as we’re discovered by this person, our other locations are already a matter of time.”
“Oh… really?”
Sneaking glances in my direction, the colleague reluctantly agreed.
What time constraint are they referring to? Mascot detection has its limits.
Do they think I’m some omnipotent MacGyver-like monster-slaying machine?
While I pondered this internally without saying it out loud, I listened quietly.
“Assuming we get wiped out one by one here at set intervals by a Magical Girl, and we retreat back to our spaceship, wouldn’t they send us back to these places?”
“Uh…yeah?”
The monster who started the questioning guessed what the higher-ups would instruct.
His colleague found this instruction perplexing.
Noticing the hesitance, the first monster slammed something on their abdomen with a loud thud.
To compare it with humans, it was like placing a hand on the forehead in disbelief.
“Yeah? It’s a 100% certainty… Would we abandon the front yard if just one cannon gets destroyed?”
“No…”
“Yes! But if, say, half a dozen canons explode due to a random nuclear bomb, wouldn’t we then retreat or withdraw?”
“Ah!”
Then they explained the current situation as if it were from a real-time strategy game.
Though the terminology was suddenly thrown in, the explanation was clear enough. However, I was more bewildered by the monster’s understanding of the concept.
What are these creatures? Why are they so well-versed in local strategies?
Wait, does that metaphor mean I’m the nuclear bomb?
“Don’t you get it, you idiot! Do you actually want to keep shoveling ice mindlessly?”
“No way…”
“Then what?”
“Uh… So, the other bases are located…”
Completely convinced by their peer, the monster, with a detailed map of the Arctic spread out, began to explain the locations clearly.
Impressed by this change in attitude, the persuasive monster even smacked their body parts together with a thud and proudly proclaimed,
“Exactly! Yes, you dumb kid!”
Thus, through such detailed guidance, the monsters revealed their locations.
The creatures’ return to their spaceship was accomplished in the blink of an eye.
I heard that the Arctic-deployed monsters didn’t have teleportation devices.
After inquiring about any items from the bases that could serve as proof of raiding a monster base, the only result was,
“This? I think losing this wouldn’t cause any major trouble.”
“Uhhn~”
I received the tools they used to excavate the ice from them.
I could immediately tell these were tools created for monsters because the handles were clearly not designed for humans, with holes to insert something, and no wooden parts.
They considered tools to accommodate various species?
In any case, under the transparent testimony of the monsters, I eradicated, without a single lie, all Arctic bases.
Carrying an armful of identical such equipment as a symbol of the raids, I returned to the icebreaker’s deck a little late.
The monster patrol was normally done by staying near until just before the five-hour mark, and then promptly returning.
The late return of a human who usually finished checks mechanically seemed almost unbelievable.
“I’ve destroyed all 4 Arctic monster bases.”
Even carrying tools that clearly weren’t human-made and proclaiming the eradication of all the Arctic monsters…
This completely overturned the 2-week schedule of the icebreaker, which had anticipated only daily ice viewing.
After five-hour flights every day that left them exhausted to the point they rushed to their rooms without time to talk, the foreign magical girls all had five hours of free time.
“Sun, thank you very much!”
“Hey, unbelievable~”
Starting with Tiara’s quite fluent Korean, even Magical Girls from other countries with whom I had only passing acquaintance gave their thanks awkwardly.
… I didn’t know, but it seems Tiara ranks first among Magical Girls in the United States.
Was that why she was responsible for a major city?
Anyway, now that the large icebreaker’s facilities were freely accessible to Magical Girls without any burden or fatigue…
… they forgot about their previous exhausting days, took photos at various facilities, and regained their vitality.
After enjoying the lavish ship facilities, as the night progressed towards midnight…
[Did you have a good dinner?]
I didn’t forget to send a message to Shiyeon.
I assumed she would be lying in bed at this hour.
Sure enough, as expected, the number on my device disappeared immediately.
[Preparing to eat curry]
A quick reply came, informing me Shiyeon was preparing to eat now.
At midnight? What’s she eating at this hour?
My fingers hurriedly typed.
[You haven’t eaten yet?]
[It’s only 8 here.]
Realizing it’s dinner time in Korea now…
Looking at the clock that read 12, I was momentarily confused, then quickly remembered the basic fact.
‘Ah, time difference.’
