Chapter 48

Dusik, Sohee, and Kabe went out for some beef intestines and soju, and now they’re feeling a bit tipsy.

With Dusik on one side and Sohee supporting me on the other, we made it back home. After drinking the cold water Sohee offered, I finally came to my senses.

Hmm.

It’s about time to start planning the second round.

Last time, I went along with Eve’s request and even let them win, but now it’s starting to feel like a burden.

According to Keru, the balance index has dropped to 4%.

If we can’t recover and it drops further, things are going to get messy. So, it’s about time to fight and win, no matter what.

We’ve always been the ones to declare war, starting with sending a formal notice of when, where, and what time we’ll attack. Honestly, it’s up to me, the commander, to decide when and where to strike.

“Who sends the notice?”

“Sometimes I do, sometimes Keru does, but usually it’s me.”

“Why?”

“Well…”

Dusik stared at me and scratched his cheek.

“Keru has cat paws.”

Ah.

Yeah, trying to send a fax with those paws would be a bit of a stretch.

“Hmm.”

I started organizing the troops in my head. Back when the production device was working fine, I should’ve summoned Sohee first. It’s a shame I didn’t produce more minions before summoning her.

It’s still under repair, and who knows how long that’ll take. For now, we have 17 minions left.

If I divide them into four squads, that’s four members per squad, with one squad having five.

That’s way too few.

If I assign one squad to Dusik and another to Sohee…

And if I take one myself, and hold out until Kabe’s gauge fills up, we can handle up to four magical girls.

But if I go down, it’s game over, so realistically, it’s three.

Though Sohee can cover up to two on her own, so four. And if Kabe transforms, the battlefield shifts in our favor.

Huh.

This… might actually be a decent force.

We can cover four to five A and B-rank magical girls, and C-ranks can be handled by the minions alone. Plus, with Kabe, who even made Prilly tremble in fear…

Oh?

“No problem at all.”

And then…

I had a brilliant idea.

“Unnie?”

Wow, this could…

Really rake in some cash.

“Unnie? What are you thinking about?”

Sohee’s face suddenly popped up in front of me, startling me.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment. Let’s set the battle for next Saturday at 7 PM at Pangyo Station. Send the notice tomorrow morning. Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Sohee, you should also learn how to send notices… Wait, before that. Do you even know how to read and write?”

“I do know that much! Unnie, what do you take me for?!”

She got all fired up.

*

The president of the Magical Girl Association is Miracle Princess Eve, also known as the Ice Princess. She’s the first magical girl and an S-rank.

And then there’s Aquamarine, the second S-rank magical girl who appeared after Eve. She’s the vice president of the association.

Aquamarine didn’t like Eve.

She could freely control water-element magic, and all things related to “water” were under her domain. Yet, for some reason, her magic, which also had water attributes, along with ice and light elements, never managed to defeat Eve even once.

But then, a woman called the Mother-Body suddenly appeared.

This woman kicked Eve out of the gallery and took over as the gallery master. Seeing the Aqua faction, which had been brutally crushed by the Eve faction, suffer so miserably, Aquamarine felt a twisted sense of satisfaction, thinking Eve must feel the same way now.

It was Sunday, so not many magical girls were at the association. But Eve was there, sitting in her office, so an impromptu lunch meeting happened.

Eve was heating up a convenience store lunchbox, while Aquamarine had prepared a premium Wagyu beef lunchbox. They sat facing each other in the president’s office, preparing to eat.

“A declaration of war came in. Did you see it?”

“I did.”

The microwave beeped, and Eve took out the lunchbox, frowned, and put it back in, pressing the buttons again.

“Pangyo Station? What are they thinking?”

“Who knows.”

The conversation wasn’t flowing. Aquamarine kept talking, and Eve responded with short answers.

“Hmm.”

I wonder if there’s something that could really get under Eve’s skin.

“Eve.”

“What?”

“About the battle at Pangyo Station.”

“Yeah.”

The microwave beeped again, and Eve finally looked satisfied as she took out the lunchbox.

“Can I take the lead?”

“You?”

Finally, a conversation started. Aquamarine brushed back her wavy, aqua-colored hair and smiled enchantingly.

“Why not? I want to see that ‘God-Slayer’ Prilly mentioned.”

“You’re not planning to time it, are you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Timing the God-Slayer, how cool is that? A noble magical girl riding the legendary wolf that killed a god… Isn’t that awesome?”

‘This damn woman…’

How dare she talk about my daughter.

Well, not my biological daughter.

But still, Eve gritted her teeth internally.

But she had no grounds to stop Aquamarine from taking the lead.

“Fine. But don’t overdo it. You know how dangerous the balance index is right now, right?”

“I know. But honestly, I don’t really care.”

Aquamarine brushed back her hair and smirked. She really didn’t care what happened to the world, smirking like it was all a joke.

Her shimmering aqua hair and faintly glowing blue eyes, even the beauty mark under her eye. Aquamarine, who perfectly balanced cuteness and decadence, smiled at Eve.

“Don’t overdo it, Aquamarine.”

“My, what are you talking about?”

“Act like a magical girl should. Have some awareness of protecting light and justice. How can you, the vice president, go around like this?”

“Honestly, what are you even saying?”

Aquamarine put down her chopsticks and took a sip of water. Even as the cup touched her lips, her gaze remained fixed on Eve.

“Hey, Eve.”

Eve continued eating her lunchbox without looking at her.

“That light and justice you’re talking about… Do you really think there’s any of that left in this world?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Am I wrong? This world is already rotten to the core. If it weren’t for the fact that we, with our power and numbers, became a force to be reckoned with, we’d probably be exploited to death, subjected to all kinds of experiments.”

“Enough.”

“Yeah, just like that Mother-Body you’re so worried about.”

“How do you know about that?!”

“Oh, so I was right. I just guessed.”

Eve stood up abruptly, her chopsticks clattering to the floor. Their gazes met in mid-air, sparking with tension.

Aquamarine’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Eve.

“I know you’re in a tough spot too. That woman’s rampage has really put you in a bind, hasn’t it?”

“An antagonist is an antagonist. Besides, I don’t get involved in politics. No matter how much those fools scheme, what can they do against overwhelming force?”

“Hmm…”

Well, if you say so.

Aquamarine didn’t say anything more, just nodded.

She popped a honey candy into her mouth.

The sweet honey flavor spread through her mouth.

*

“Ugh, this is so sweet.”

“It’s honey water.”

When I woke up in the morning, Dusik and Sohee were standing by my bed. Since Kabe came back and started sleeping with me, Sohee had been sharing a room with Dusik, and they seemed to be getting along fine, which was a relief.

Dusik was holding a hangover drink, and Sohee had a bowl of water.

I recognized the hangover drink, but I wasn’t sure about the bowl of water Sohee was holding. When I took a sip, it was honey water.

“How do you feel?”

“Ugh, it’s so sweet.”

I’m not really a fan of sweet things, but seeing how Sohee went out of her way to make this for me after I drank, I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Thanks.”

“If you’re grateful… then do this…”

Sohee leaned down slightly, tilting her head toward me. Is she…?

I stayed still, and Sohee took my hand and placed it on her head.

“Th-thanks, Sohee.”

As I patted her head, she smiled like a cat, clearly enjoying it.

“Not at all. Please remember that this Sohee will do anything for you, Unnie.”

“You don’t have to go that far…”

“Please remember.”

“Alright…”

Did I have something to do today?

I think I did, but it doesn’t seem that important. Or maybe it is…

“Mom, when are you making tteokbokki?”

Tteokbokki?

Me?

But if I ask when I said that, Kabe will definitely get upset. Just then, my phone buzzed.

– Unnie, yesterday at the beef intestine place… you promised Kabe you’d make tteokbokki.

Did I?

Well, tteokbokki isn’t that hard to make.

“Alright, I’ll make it for lunch today.”

“Yay!”

Come to think of it, I haven’t done any grocery shopping. Hmm, there’s a mart nearby, right? Maybe I’ll go by myself and get some fresh air.

I changed into workout clothes and left Kabe with Dusik and Sohee.

Sohee looked like she wanted to come with me, but I really needed some alone time.

So I told them I’d go alone and took the elevator down. It stopped a few times, and a bunch of minions got on.

“Mother!”

“Relax here.”

“Big sis!”

“Yeah. Where are you all going?”

“Yes!”

Honestly, it’s hard to believe they’re artificial lifeforms.

Their features are just like humans, and aside from turning into black tights during combat, they don’t look like minions at all.

Well, I guess I’m not that different, aside from my eyes.

“Where are you all going in such a big group?”

“We’re going to the PC bang!”

“Oh, a PC bang?”

I used to go to PC bangs a lot back in the day. I was a hardcore gamer with my own reserved seat.

“What games do you play there?”

“These days, we play Galaxy Craft Remastered!”

“Oh?”

They remastered that? I only played the original. Is it fun? I was about to ask when the elevator reached the first floor.

“Alright, have fun. Play nice.”

I took out about 30,000 won from my wallet and handed it to them for snacks. They looked so happy, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

The mart was just a five-minute walk away.

It was one of the big chain stores, and thinking about it, this chain is global. In Korea alone, the sales are through the roof…

It’s definitely huge.

The inside was really spacious. I’m glad I didn’t bring Kabe. I spent a long time picking out the ingredients for tteokbokki—rice cakes, fish cakes, sesame oil, and red pepper paste. There were so many varieties that it took me a while to decide.

“Geez, Kabe must be starving.”

I guess I got carried away with shopping since it’s been a while. But since I was there, I also picked up some stuff for dinner, so it took longer than expected.

“Time to head back…”

It’s pretty heavy. I packed everything into a box and sent Eve a message to come over for dinner if she had time.

Tonight’s dinner is on me.

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