In the end, the magical girls sacrificed to the empty talk returned to their original duties.
Along with that, the corresponding policy.
Unrequested, they supported the magical girls, causing the unnecessary investment of manpower for citizen control.
Not only the citizens but even the police present at the scene got infected…
This was a ridiculous policy that absolutely should not have been made during the pandemic, cementing its infamy in the international community.
“Wow, the national prestige is melting away.”
In contrast to the melting national prestige, the world began to freeze to the point that a ‘huh’ could produce a white breath while walking.
With December arriving, Siyeon and I needed thicker clothes.
I took out some crumpled cash from my wallet, heading to the market.
What was in my small handbag was more than 100,000 won in cash alone.
The typical scene of tax evasion, a market focused on cash transactions.
Anyway, trying on clothes before buying them is the best.
Especially since the selection for kids’ clothes is quite limited, I had to buy clothes that would last until next year.
In a deep alley of the market, there was a small clothing store run by an elderly lady with a hunched back.
The grandmother seemed uninterested in whether a customer had come or not, her gaze fixated on the bulging back of an old TV screen.
“Pick as you please.”
“Okay!”
As Siyeon confidently answered and darted around the adult clothes, her feet naturally led her inside.
Among the clothes haphazardly hanging, she skillfully picked out the kids’ clothes.
She mainly chose bright-colored clothes with patterns that weren’t too big or small.
In terms of practicality and laundry, dark colors would be more convenient, but…
“Marie! I want this!”
“Alright, hold it well.”
Seeing Siyeon immediately bring over a light pink outfit made me forget that thought.
After all, Siyeon and I were still about the same size.
As long as they were bright-colored clothes that we could wear until next year without distinguishing between hers and mine, I gathered short-sleeved, long-sleeved, thin, and thick items and placed them next to the grandmother.
When Siyeon chose the clothes she wanted, I held up the clothes we had put beside the grandmother and visually checked if they fit Siyeon or me.
Then the grandmother, with her wrinkled eyes blinking, stared at me blankly before speaking.
“Smart kid, aren’t you?”
Choosing clothes for an elementary school student to last a year.
Showing an overly mature side as an older sister.
Anyway, her relaxed attitude—it was also why I gradually became a regular at this market clothing store.
Then, seeing the clothes stacked neatly beside her…
“Just give me 50,000 won, 50,000.”
The grandmother of the clothing store spoke simply and clearly, without asking or questioning.
Even though these were children’s clothes, the quantity looked to be worth at least 80,000.
Whether she was just letting it go at that price or if it was affordable enough to leave her with a profit, I wasn’t clear.
As I handed over the money, the grandmother pulled out a paper bag that had been piled up in a corner.
She threw the clothes—without any price tags—into a paper bag that looked like it came from a department store.
Where on earth did she get those paper bags?
It didn’t seem likely that she bought them separately.
With that moderate question in mind, right after leaving the clothing store, I widened my eyes at the market scenery, trying to catch a bit of the approaching Christmas atmosphere in December.
Even if there weren’t any monster-related events, just dealing with piled-up laundry and cleaning kept me busy.
Because of that, I had become dull to various celebrations, and only now, seeing the market atmosphere, did I realize it was Christmas.
It wasn’t the time to be delighted that mask usage would decrease as winter vacation approached.
I tightened the handle of the rope-like paper bag on my shoulder and subtly asked Siyeon.
A subtle question to protect the innocence.
“Siyeon, what do you want to ask Santa for Christmas?”
“It’s a secret!”
“Oh no.”
I had hoped she would tell me what kind of Christmas gift she wanted.
With her response consisting of just two short words, a great dilemma emerged.
I couldn’t tell a first grader, “Santa doesn’t exist,” in this awkward position.
While putting away our seasonal clothes in the drawer at home, I fell into deep contemplation on how to get her to mention her wished gift.
Damn it, what could it be?
Thinking from the perspective of the misled, I remembered how I would straightforwardly mention what I wanted.
Even recalling childhood memories didn’t yield any helpful insights.
Who would have thought that the honesty of childhood would come back to haunt?
“Huh….”
“Why are you doing that?”
As I sighed heavily on the second floor, the bear cub, who had already settled in bed, crawled up to my face and asked.
Somehow, this little guy had crawled up from its designated cushion spot to my bed where I slept.
With no one else to share my concerns with, I let out a brief thought to this little guy in exasperation.
Listening to my serious worries, the bear cub tilted its head as it said its first words.
“What is Santa?”
“Oh, starting there…”
The mascot, a former monster, clearly lacked the knowledge of Earth’s common sense that I assumed it would know.
Rather than tales of origin or history, I explained roughly that Santa is an old man in red with a bushy white beard, who rides a flying red-nosed reindeer, delivering presents to children worldwide on December 25.
Of course, I subtly indicated to the bear cub that it was a fictitious entity.
“So, does that mean we should secretly give gifts to Siyeon…?”
The little guy quickly picked up on the intention behind my quiet voice and lowered its tone accordingly.
I nodded to the bear cub’s question about the process needing to be kept secret from Siyeon.
Understanding the concept of Santa and the essence of childhood, the bear cub unexpectedly joined the ranks of those pondering with me, lying on the bed in a similar pose as I did, resting its chin on its hands, sighing deeply.
“Hmmm…”
“Maybe it’s best to gift something she would genuinely like…”
Mumbling more thoughts and depressing sighs without reaching any conclusion…
“Shh… Wait a moment.”
The bear cub urged me to be quiet, tightening its expression further.
It seemed to be on the cusp of inspiration, yet still unmoving in position, furrowing its brow.
How great could that idea possibly be?
With that mindset of low expectations, I just lay in bed, waiting for the laundry to finish while letting my thoughts roam.
“Marie, Marie.”
Finally, the bear cub seemed to come to the end of its mediocre thought process, pressing down on my temple with its soft paws, ready to say something.
“What?”
“Please give me your smartphone, I’ve thought of a brilliant idea.”
Its actions seemed like those of a scheming person flicking its fingers.
And then it suddenly asked for my smartphone.
Entering with a fundamental distrust, I decided to first ask what exactly that “brilliant idea” was in a low voice.
“Just tell me what it is.”
“Why… didn’t you two both download a chat app?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Then you can create a fake account under the name Santa and subtly ask her things?”
“Oh, that’s interesting.”
A method that matches Siyeon’s recent experience with the chat app.
A one-on-one conversation coming from Santa Claus.
If innocence and childhood spirit are still alive, it’s a method that could easily work.
Of course, logically, it made no sense.
I’ve heard somewhere that for Santa to deliver presents to all the children in the world in a day, he’d have to fly 26,000 kilometers per second or something.
With that much movement, there is no time to be casually chatting.
Even while telling it was a good idea, reasonable suspicions kept creeping into my mind.
“Does Santa even chat in Korean?”
“Eh, who cares about that?”
“That’s true.”
The bear cub brushed away my reasonable doubts with the situation.
Well, since the moment I began to question this, it was doomed to fail from the start.
Seeing a family putting toys into a Santa sock by my bedside, it would be better to gradually realize through reasonable suspicion, rather than having the fantasy broken right away.
Following the bear cub’s suggestion, I quickly created a fake account on the chat app, capturing a suitable image of Santa Claus from the internet to set as a profile picture.
No matter how much I thought, this didn’t feel right, but I also set the nickname as “Santa Grandpa.”
What kind of grandfather would name himself with “grandfather” in his nickname…
Even this awkwardness was still a part of the realm of innocence.
What should I say as the first message?
How should I say it, so it conveys a warmth akin to that of a plump Santa Claus, effectively deceiving her?
I quietly erased the words “Hello,” thinking that stiff greeting didn’t fit Santa at all! I negated myself.
Thus began the cycle of writing and erasing until I finally penned down my first sentence.
[Siyeon, it’s Santa Claus.]
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