Chapter 94

“Hey. Stop eating the fish cake.”

I smacked the fish cake Aquamarine was holding, causing it to fall, and then I picked it up myself. I gently washed the fish cake in a cup of water and placed it on Kabe’s plate.

Aquamarine, who had been glaring at me with narrowed eyes, finally relaxed when I moved the fish cake to Kabe’s plate.

“Why are you staring like that? It’s just giving it to the kid, is it that big of a deal?”

At my scolding, Aquamarine shook her head in disbelief. Look at this?

“Fine, fine. When I get married and have kids, I won’t be like you.”

“The one who said she wouldn’t do it is doing it more.”

Of course, I’ve never seen it myself. Eve, who had been peeling a boiled egg with chopsticks and pouring a few spoonfuls of tteokbokki sauce over it, continued talking while mixing the egg and sauce.

“Anyway, it looks like a light attribute.”

“Right. It does look like an angel.”

I was dumbfounded watching Eve and Aquamarine exchange words. No, those things that look like tires with wings are angels?

Usually, when you think of angels, you imagine something like baby angels, not as pretty as Kabe but still cute little ones with wings flying around blowing trumpets, or a beautiful woman with angel wings appearing… Anyway, that kind of image.

But apparently, that’s all an illusion, and real angels look like that. There are so many types that you can’t even tell what’s what.

“But if they look like that, why do people imagine angels as…”

“That’s obvious, unnie.”

Dusik, who had been sharing another tteokbokki container with Sohee, chimed in from the side.

“If angels looked like that, who would worship God? They should either appear prettily or only send down angels that actually look like that. That’s just how it is.”

“That’s a scam.”

“Well, isn’t it image management?”

“Hey. Think about it for a second.”

Suddenly, Eve interrupted, and I had to move aside slightly. Ah, she’s really annoying.

“You, you’re decent-looking now, right? Even if you’re not as good as me, you’re still quite pretty, so people cheer for you and all that. What if you were ugly? What would people call you then?”

“What?”

Eve, who had been talking for a while, suddenly stopped and thought for a moment.

“…Pet?”

What the hell.

“Am I a neighborhood dog?!”

“Anyway, being pretty is everything. Well, there are exceptions, but look, if the Mother-Body appeared leading an angel army, people would immediately start calling her a saint.”

A saint? I was originally a man. Even though I’m a woman now, I was clearly a man before, so calling me a saint is nonsense.

Aside from the saint part, Eve isn’t wrong.

Being pretty is fine. Even if the same crime is committed, there’s a difference in perception when the perpetrator is a beautiful woman versus a man. And the fact that I, the boss of the Mogmog Group, the evil faction opposing the widely known magical girls of justice, can freely roam the streets is also evidence of that.

“Listening to you, it’s not entirely wrong.”

“Right?”

“So, you guys are supposed to fight tomorrow, but what are you doing here at the association hall?”

The day Core Light declared is tomorrow. And the magical girls designated as opponents, the association president Eve and vice president Aquamarine, are sitting here eating tteokbokki.

Is this really going to work?

“Ehehe.”

I’m the one worried here, but Eve, who should be worried, is instead waving her hand with a fork in her mouth, saying it’s fine, it’s fine.

“The experience of battle is different, you know. They’ve been through all kinds of battles fighting you guys, so losing to rookies? That doesn’t make sense. Just play around and let them go. You know what I mean?”

Is she really okay? From my perspective, there are already three flags planted in that statement. The magical girls are good at fighting, but if they lose, it’s a big deal.

*

“Cold, wear this.”

“Mom, I don’t like this.”

“Why?”

“It makes me look like a chick.”

They say watching fights and fires is the most fun. So, I was planning to go to Myeongdong, but dressing Kabe was already a challenge.

Kabe is a minion, so she’s always wearing her default outfit, which is a gothic lolita dress. If I took her to Myeongdong like that, she’d definitely be a spectacle.

For that reason, and because it’s cold, I put her in a thick down jacket. But it’s yellow, so she doesn’t like it.

“But it’s warm, right?”

“It’s yellow, so it’s kinda ugly. Kabe is all grown up now, so I want to wear something else.”

Pfft. I almost laughed at her saying she’s all grown up but managed to hold it in.

“Okay, so what do you want to wear?”

“Joggers.”

Kabe pointed to a brown cardigan and jacket set, but that’s for spring… it’s thin.

“Kabe, it’s cold now, so you’ll catch a cold. Listen to mom and wear something warm so you don’t get sick. If you get sick and give me your cold, what will happen?”

“What will happen?”

I crouched down to meet Kabe’s eye level, looking into her red eyes and seeing my reflection in them.

“If Kabe gets sick, I’ll catch your cold and go ‘Achoo, I’m sick~’ and won’t be able to get out of bed. Is that okay?”

“Ah, then no! I understand, I’ll wear this.”

Kabe quickly grabbed the jacket as if she’d already caught a cold, and I held back a laugh as I helped her put it on and zipped it up.

“Ready? Let’s go.”

“Yeah, I’m ready. Kabe, let’s go.”

“Dad~!”

We decided to take Eve’s car to Myeongdong. The roads will probably be congested, so we left early. I hope we’re not late.

Come to think of it, they didn’t say what time it starts. But since there’s no contact yet, it must be before it starts.

“Who’s the captain today?”

I asked Eve while we were in the car. Who’s the one fighting today, like asking who the starting pitcher is in a baseball game.

“Prilly.”

Ah, today’s pitcher is Prilly. They say her condition is good… Eve answered casually as if it were a baseball game.

“She’s often the captain.”

She was the captain in our first fight too, I think.

“She’s good at wide-area mental control and fits the role of a commander. She’s often the captain.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Mental control and all that didn’t work on me. Now that I think about it, it’s obvious. How could an A-class magical girl cast mental control on a goddess? It wouldn’t work anyway. It didn’t work in reality either.

While we were talking, we arrived near Myeongdong, and Kabe and I got out first in a deserted back alley. There’s no good in being seen by others.

After getting out, we loitered near a convenience store, and a familiar girl approached me.

“Long time no see, Mo… no, Yoon-Woo.”

“Baekhwa, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is Eve coming?”

“Yes.”

Why not just call? Why bother sending someone? She really doesn’t know how to use her subordinates. Really.

Following Baekhwa, we arrived at a place with a mysterious carpet laid out. Eve was already sitting on it, sipping coffee.

“Want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

“Kabe, here.”

“Strawberry!”

I frowned at the sight.

“Hey, are you giving a kid a strawberry smoothie in this cold? Are you out of your mind? Think about it!”

“Ah, you’re right. Sorry.”

Ugh. Fine. Fine, fine. Eve being thoughtless isn’t new…

“Get on here.”

“What is this, a magic carpet?”

“How did you know?”

I thought she was joking, but seeing Eve’s wide eyes, it must be real. A magic carpet? Isn’t that something from fairy tales? Well, magical girls are also from fairy tales, so a magic carpet being real isn’t that surprising.

“What does it do?”

I took off my shoes and placed them on the carpet, and Kabe also took off her sneakers and sat on the carpet. Her hand holding the smoothie was red from the cold. Seeing this makes me angry… no, let’s hold it in.

“It can fly, block wind, turn invisible, and stuff like that. Baekhwa, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Baekhwa, who had been standing behind the carpet, twisted her fingers strangely, and the carpet began to float.

“Wow, mom, we’re flying!”

Wolves can’t fly. Flying in the sky must be amazing. Actually, I’m a bit amazed too. A carpet flying in the sky is kind of amazing.

Still, it didn’t seem to fly very high. Maybe about 10 meters, twice the height of an overpass. But it’s high enough to see far.

“What time is it?”

“We didn’t set a specific time. So our guys have been out since morning, waiting. How rude.”

Looking for manners in a fight is a bit odd, isn’t it? Since the rules have been like that, they probably thought it was natural, but that’s our rule, and Core Light might not follow it…

Wait a minute. Then there’s no guarantee they’ll maintain the Reverse Barrier…?

“Ah, they’re putting up the Reverse Barrier.”

“Only now? Why not put it up early in the morning?”

“It doesn’t last that long. There’s also a limit to how many times you can use it in a day. They were probably preparing to put it up as soon as they arrived… I guess they’ll just leave it up now.”

Someone who looked like Prilly was walking out in the distance. Shouting something, she raised her arm to the sky, and a bright light descended like a meteor, embedding itself in the ground.

The missile-like object began to emit an enormous amount of magical power as soon as it hit the ground, and the magical power surged like a fountain, spreading a barrier around it.

“Wow, is that the Reverse… huh?”

At that moment, an immense amount of magical power was felt. It was similar to the magical power concentration before the explosion the night Kabe arrived.

“Wait, that… that?!”

With Eve’s panicked voice, a white flash flew from the opposite side of Prilly. The flash hit the missile deploying the Reverse Barrier, and the missile exploded with a loud noise.

Silence fell around. The magical girls who had come to fight, the people gathered to watch, the magical girls controlling the crowd, and us floating in the air.

Everyone was speechless, just staring at the scene.

“What… what is this?”

“Mother-Body, it’s an anomaly. Take Kabe and retreat. Baekhwa, escort Mother-Body and Kabe to retreat.”

“What about you?!”

“I’ll be fine. I need to see the situation.”

I quickly put on my sneakers, holding Kabe, and pressed my earring.

“Baekhwa, take care of Kabe.”

“Leave it to me.”

Kabe looked at me for a moment. Her red eyes were filled with concern for me.

“…Mom, it’s okay. Listen to unnie and go home quickly. I’ll be back soon.”

“Kabe can fight too.”

“Listen to mom. Be a good girl.”

Kabe can fight, but timing and place matter. Destroying the Reverse Barrier like that is a clear declaration of hostility. If things go wrong, I might have to run too, so it’s better to evacuate Kabe now before anything happens.

“Mom will be back soon, so listen to unnie. Okay?”

“…Okay.”

“Then, take care.”

Baekhwa, holding Kabe, disappeared. Only then did I look back and see Eve already running far ahead. She’s only fast at times like this.

And then, I noticed my shadow was unusually long. Light was coming from behind… but the surroundings were too bright.

“Vesprede. My bride. You came to watch my battle in person, thank you.”

“Yeah. I came to see you get beaten up.”

Just by the voice, I knew who it was.

“…Esmushigi.”

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