A day at an ordinary elementary school lasts until around the 4th or 5th period.
Currently, I can still drag this body out of the prison called school around lunchtime, but in 3rd grade, on the boundary of the lower grades, I will become a sad being who can only escape the school around 2 PM.
Once I reach middle school, it’s life during the 7th period.
For high school students, in addition to the 7th period, there’s the forced 8th and 9th periods—autonomous night study.
“Haah.”
“Why?”
As I let out a deep sigh about a future that hasn’t even come yet, Siyeon, walking beside me, tilts her head and asks.
Siyeon, who still sees everything in the world as fun.
How could she possibly understand my worries about how to deal with the monstrous creatures that pop up while investing more than half of my day at school?
In the end, I could only shake my head and say it was nothing.
“Nothing.”
Right when my mood sank to the bottom.
“Yesul is coming over to play at my house tomorrow!”
Siyeon, who hadn’t even been asked about her plans for tomorrow, shares this with me.
I’ve recently heard that girl’s name.
She was the one who was casually chatting about magical girls a while ago.
‘How long has it been since we fought until she’s coming over to play?’
“Aren’t you two on bad terms?”
As I innocently asked my question, Siyeon replied…
“The teacher helped us make up! Both Meriri and Sharl are amazing magical girls!”
“Oh, really.”
I answered hopelessly as I looked at Siyeon, who said they had already reconciled.
I couldn’t tell if she was happy about the reconciliation or if she was just glad that her favorite characters were praised.
In any case, that lost 10-minute break from that day became even more meaningless.
If a few words from the teacher were enough to make up, they should have just let us fight in front of the staff room earlier.
“Let’s drop by the mart on the way.”
I brushed off the past and walked as I suggested we stop by the mart.
There’s a small neighborhood mart on the way back from school.
Since there isn’t even a neighborhood mart near the apartments, I must remember to buy what I want on the way back from school.
… unless I want to pay double at a convenience store and spend extra.
“Mart? Sure!”
At the mention of going to the mart, Siyeon replied happily.
I understand why that sunny positivity is coming out.
“Only two packs of snacks.”
“Okay….”
As I firmly limited the number of snacks, Siyeon’s expression noticeably drooped.
Other than lunch at school, we always eat delivery food.
Even so, replacing a meal with snacks during a growth period seems a bit wrong.
Because for Koreans, it’s all about the rice.
When we arrived at the mart, I decided to let Siyeon roam freely first.
“Choose what you want, and wait at the checkout.”
“Okay!”
As soon as I finished speaking, Siyeon dashed toward the snack corner in short strides.
It’s a point of interest to see what giant snack she will bring back.
Last time I limited the quantity, she came back with corn snacks almost the size of her body!
‘Was this where the coffee mix was…?’
The shopping basket in the mart needed both hands to carry it.
I finally found what I was looking for after passing by herbal teas, hot cocoa, and coffee mixes.
Today’s treat was the cookie and choco-flavored sticks that I had just dumped in class.
I grabbed one pack of each and stacked them in the corner of the basket, placing three packs in total.
Two packs of strawberry flavor that Siyeon likes, and one pack each of chocolate and banana flavor.
Seven packs of twenty sticks.
Just this much is quite a burden for a child to carry alone.
Thinking this is for sharing with the little ones in class makes my stomach ache a bit…
But if I can shut those rude mouths with a few powdered sticks to mix with milk, I’d consider it a bargain.
“37,000 won. Do you have a points card?”
“I don’t.”
With a firm response, the snacks and juice pack were placed in a black plastic bag as I completed the payment.
I bought an extra bag for Siyeon to carry the snacks while trying to fit the rest of the items into my own bag.
Items that didn’t fit were stuffed into the remaining bag and cradled in my arms.
Since the quantity was quite a lot, it was heavy, but if I carried it with one hand, it would drag on the floor, so it was unavoidable.
Of course, at some point, I started carrying the bag with one hand regardless of whether it would tear on the ground or not.
Hauling things home from the mart was a struggle; we returned to the apartment.
Out of my pocket crawled Gomteng, and Siyeon’s mascot peeked out from her bag.
Normally, Gomteng should be lying right on the cushion, but he wouldn’t leave my side and hovered around the entrance.
Watching him, the frustration bubbled up to my throat.
“Stop acting like a puppy wanting to poop; if you’ve got something to say, just say it, dude.”
It ultimately led to me spilling some harsh words.
The one who had been fidgeting nearby extended both hands toward me.
“Uh… can I use Mari’s smartphone for a moment?”
Seeing how hard he was trying just to ask for a smartphone, it was a mix of pity, so I took my phone out of my pocket and tossed it to him.
“Here you go.”
As the phone parted from my hand and traced an arc, he successfully caught it with his soft body.
“Just don’t go overboard with the gallery.”
Casually adding a few words, I headed to my bed.
From Gomteng, there came a voice of joy, like a child who received a toy.
“Woo-hoo!”
‘The unique flavor of the gallery certainly exists.’
Thinking that while not paying attention to what he was doing, I pulled out family notices and checked what’s newsworthy at this late hour.
Information about the upcoming field trip.
Other than that, there were just ordinary notices about the green mother’s association sent to parents and precautions around the school.
[Greetings! As the spring chill passes away, the warm sun shines down on the land, the season of heat is approaching. The birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and this is an excellent environment for students to learn and engage in activities. We ask for the active cooperation of parents so that in this beautiful season, students can enjoy time in nature with their friends.]
‘Field trip….’
Mixed in with all sorts of polite phrases, it seemed that half of the family notice regarding the field trip was superfluous.
The words were shiny, but isn’t it just a picnic?
After the useless explanations, a paper listed the schedule and items to prepare.
‘If they write this long, there might be people who wouldn’t understand.’
I recalled an instance not long ago in the community where a parent understood lunch as jjamppong instead of lunch.
No longer in the position to present something to someone, I was now in the position to read.
At the age of a first grader in elementary school, I had to carefully read family notices…
What a pathetic state for a magical girl.
But since no one else will do it if I don’t, I have no choice.
‘I need to buy wet wipes and a lunch box.’
Checking the items that weren’t at home, I was about to ask for my phone back when…
“Siyeon! Mari!”
Siyeon’s mascot filled the apartment room with an urgent voice.
From the second-floor bed, I poked my head out and replied in a deadpan voice.
“Why, is a monster out?”
“Yes! It’s really close by!”
“Ugh, damn.”
Grumbling at the answer that it’s nearby, I made a face.
Magical girls cannot transform in their own houses to keep their locations secret.
This is one of the few rules in this ridiculous world.
In other words, I need to go far from the apartment, then transform, and return.
I got off the bed and took a small mask from the closet, stuffing it into my pocket.
I kicked the cushion where Gomteng was still mindlessly fiddling with the phone.
Why isn’t he saying anything?
“Hey, stop messing around with the phone. Why aren’t you talking?”
He finally looked up and stared at me.
“Huh? Uh… has the monster appeared?”
“This guy is unbelievable.”
The response was so ridiculous that a curse slipped out reflexively.
Seriously, what the hell is this guy’s usefulness if he can’t even play the minimal role of a monster radar?
I snatched the phone he was fiddling with and stuffed it into my pocket. For now, I prepared to go out with Siyeon to transform.
“Ah…!”
“Let’s just go and talk after you come back.”
At the moment when he was panicking as I seized his phone, he made a sound close to a groan of surprise.
Picking him up by his head, I put on my sneakers and left the entrance.
Leaving the apartment complex, I transformed with Siyeon in an unused public restroom in the park, far from home.
“Sun.”
“Moon power, transform!”
This mysterious feeling of flying back home from a park far away from home.
Grabbing Gomteng’s face with all five fingers in a scolding manner, I firmly stated three words.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes, yes… it’s southeast.”
Following Gomteng’s flustered voice as he indicated the direction, we flew through the clouds.
In just a few minutes, we returned near the apartment, hovering over the road.
Unlike last time, I successfully slowed down and even had the leisure to look down at the road where the monster was appearing from high up in the sky.
“That, that’s it.”
‘Huh?’
Looking at Gomteng’s pointed finger and the familiar head, I grimaced.
“It’s a squid!”
“It’s a squid!”
Siyeon exclaimed with wide eyes, brightening up in recognition of what it was.
She must be happy to see something she knows.
Still, it’s not every day a second one of the same monster visits our area.
This day could deserve a memorial.
“That, that guy… isn’t he the one who came last time?”
“Right.”
Nodding to Gomteng’s words, I looked down at it.
Now that I think about it, the way to stab its nerves was to kill it as quickly and painlessly as possible, right?
It really doesn’t suit me.
“…I killed it too easily, didn’t I?”
I struck the heart decoration of my staff, which started heating up, and spoke to Gomteng.
“It was quite a humane death for Sun.”
He nodded in agreement with that statement.
Yeah. It really wasn’t like me.
With a slap, I struck my palm on the heart decoration of the staff, feeling a short burst of heat.
At that moment, I vowed not to let it die easily this time.
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