Chapter 5

The sound of footsteps echoed through the building. A girl in a pink frilly dress, standing as if frozen, walked toward us with her chest puffed out.

Does puffing out your chest make you look like that…?

I tried puffing out my chest too. Hmm, it’s just a difference in base size, huh?

The girl’s brow furrowed slightly. She must have noticed my gaze shifting to her chest and then me puffing out my own.

“Hey, Keru.”

“Uh, uh…”

Keru, who had been hiding behind me, flew forward timidly, visibly deflated. Why is she so down? Now that I think about it, this girl looks familiar. Where have I seen her before?

“Aren’t you going to introduce me? I heard you got a new captain. Who is it? This one?”

The girl’s gaze turned to me. Her eyes seemed to look down on me, which felt pretty bad. Her eyes scanned my chest, and she clicked her tongue softly.

“Is this your transformed form?”

“Y-yeah. Say hello, this is the magical girl Priqu…”

Ah, so her name is Priqu, not Priquear.

“Hey, Keru. You’re not just dark in color, but your brain’s pitch black too, huh?”

The girl smacked Keru’s head. A sharp *thwack* echoed, and Keru, who had been floating in the air, wobbled and nearly fell.

What’s with this girl? Is she crazy? What’s she doing in someone else’s turf?

I was really annoyed. Ignoring my glare, the girl kept pointing at Keru.

“Since when does the superior greet first? You should make your captain greet me first.”

“Ah, no, but. She’s our Mogmog Group’s boss…”

“Oh, so you’ve got some life in you now, huh? Got something to rely on, huh?”

“No, no, it’s not like that. Sorry. This is our Mogmog Group’s new boss, Mother-Body.”

“What? Mother-Body?”

As soon as she heard my title, the girl’s cheeks puffed up, and she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. What’s so funny about the name Mother-Body? Even so, laughing like this in front of someone…

“I’m Mother-Body. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m… as I said earlier, the magical girl Priqu… from the Magical Girl Association’s Gwangmyeong branch. I’m part of Strike Team 2…”

“But seriously, is this for real?”

Another *thwack* sounded as Priqu smacked Keru’s head again. This time, Keru actually fell to the ground. With a *thud*, Keru groaned and weakly floated back up.

“Hey, I’ve been the leader of Strike Team 2 for a while now. Didn’t you know that?”

“Sorry, sorry!”

Watching this, I felt my blood boiling. Even if I don’t know much, it’s not right to hit someone else’s mascot like that in front of their boss. It’s really upsetting.

“Uh, Miss Priqu?”

“What?”

“Even so, she’s my mascot. It’s not polite to hit her like that in front of me.”

“What? Polite?”

Priqu kicked my shin. A metallic *clang* sounded, but I felt nothing. Priqu’s face turned bright red, and her lips trembled.

“Hey, what are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

It didn’t. Really, it didn’t. There was just a faint sensation, but no pain at all, even though her boot had hit my shin.

“Hey, I’m the leader of Strike Team 2. I just kicked you, and it doesn’t hurt?”

“If it doesn’t hurt, then it doesn’t hurt.”

“Huh, what kind of nonsense is this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Hey, Keru. What’s with this girl?”

Priqu’s hand moved toward Keru’s head again. I could see it clearly, as if in slow motion.

“Stop hitting her.”

Since it was so obvious, it wasn’t hard to grab her hand.

“Huh, look at this. You caught it? So you’re the new captain, huh? I came to check out the new boss, and you’re pretty bold, huh?”

Priqu’s face turned red, clearly showing her anger. You think you’re the only one mad? I’m mad too.

“Anyway, Keru is my mascot. I don’t even hit her, so why do you keep hitting her?”

Priqu let out a hollow laugh and stepped closer to me. Her pink eyes stared straight up at me.

Even as a girl, I’m pretty tall. I’m at least half a head taller than most girls, probably around 170cm. So, looking down slightly, Priqu must be pretty short, right?

Unfortunately for her, Priqu couldn’t get any closer to intimidate me. She was blocked by my chest.

“Hey.”

“It’s not ‘hey.’ I have a name. Mother-Body.”

“You’re really pushing it.”

Priqu’s face was completely scrunched up. Her finger pressed against my forehead, trying to push me back, but honestly, there’s a limit to how much I can take.

“Hey.”

“Hey? Who do you think you’re talking to like that?”

“You started it.”

It’s a situation where I can’t help but get angry. Honestly, right? She barges in, breaks the door, hits my mascot twice, and now she’s outright provoking me, even though I’m the leader of the organization.

“It’s our first meeting, so I was trying to be patient, but I can’t take it anymore. Hey, is this how a magical girl should act?”

“Hey, does the Mogmog Group deserve any respect?”

“Then, do you?”

“Huh.”

I’m the one who wants to laugh. She starts a fight, and now what? Is this a joke?

“Hey, Mother-Body or whatever. I was trying to keep it civil since it’s our first meeting, but you’re impossible.”

A *ding* sound effect. I don’t know where it’s coming from. Is it automatic? BGM? Anyway, with that magical girl-like sound, her magic wand appeared.

But the wand is kinda long.

As Priqu drew her weapon, Dusik and the others around me also drew their weapons, surrounding me.

“Everyone, step back.”

“Mother-Body, it’s dangerous. Priqu is famous for her high physical attack power in Strike Team.”

“Step back, Dusik. I’m your boss.”

I don’t know how to do anything yet. But I can’t just keep being protected by my subordinates. Still, I have some confidence. After all, I didn’t feel a thing when she kicked me earlier.

“You think you can handle this just because I went easy on you earlier? Let’s see if you can handle this! Magical Strength!”

The magic wand glowed with a pink aura. Do I have any weapons? No, I didn’t have anything from the start when I transformed. Is this glove on my left hand a weapon? I’m right-handed…

“Distracted, huh? Magical Smashing!”

The wand came flying at me. As expected of a physical-type magical girl. The attack was fast enough to create a whooshing sound, but unfortunately, I could see it clearly.

I sidestepped slightly to dodge. If the glove is my weapon, then it must be for close combat! I closed in, clenched my left fist, and…

“Magical Reverse Smashing!”

What a cheesy name. I clenched my left fist and focused my strength. My coat fluttered, revealing my left hand.

A dark energy swirled chaotically around it.

“What the heck is this?!”

The bizarre sight of dark energy rising like a heat haze from my hand left me torn between staring at it and dodging attacks.

I could see Keru shouting something beside me, but I couldn’t hear a word. Trying to do three things at once was too much for my multitasking skills. Ugh!

“Are you just going to keep dodging?!”

The wand extended and retracted, relentlessly trying to hit me as I dodged. Just dodging won’t get me anywhere. Whatever, I don’t care.

If her weapon is a wand, maybe if I get close, I’ll get a chance to hit her? So I tried to close in.

“You thought you’d get a chance to hit me if you got close, huh?!”

How did she know?!

The wand shortened to a baton length and charged at me as I lowered my stance. Whatever, I’ll just take the hit! I swung my left fist.

*Crack!*

I felt something break as my fist connected. My fist kept moving forward. My gaze stayed on Priqu. My fist twisted slightly, and I felt something soft and slightly resistant.

Priqu folded nearly 180 degrees in half. Then, she flew backward, crashing through the door and landing outside in a cloud of dust.

*Clang!*

The broken magic wand fell to the ground and rolled.

In contrast, I had only taken one big step forward and thrown one punch. And even that was just a rough swing, since I’ve never hit anyone in my life.

In the face of such an unexpected outcome, everyone, including me, Keru, Dusik, and the others, stood frozen, staring at the rising dust.

“Mo, Mother-Body. What did you do?”

Keru was the first to move. I was still standing there dumbly, staring at where Priqu had crashed.

“No, no… I just threw one punch…”

I raised my left hand and looked at it again. The dark energy was slowly fading. It continued to dissipate until, at some point, it was sucked back into the rivet on the back of my glove.

“Mother-Body.”

“Yeah.”

“When fighting magical girls, try not to use your left hand. If you kill them, it’ll be a headache.”

“Oh, okay…”