“Graaaargh-!”
In just three short years, we’ve grown accustomed to violence.
Not long after starting as magical girls, Siyeon used to detest such means.
Perhaps it was because she had seen us beating up Gomteng so many times that her aversion diminished when we were roasting the wolf monster instead.
Every now and then, when I asked her to shoot some magic to help, it seemed she hadn’t used her magic in a while, so it was uncontrollable and the ice burst out, covering the monster’s body.
Of course, each time we melted it back down, we made sure it got a taste of the fiery hell again.
Watching Siyeon intently stare at the alligator’s snout being grilled, I felt a mix of pride and doubt—was this really right?
After the process of skinning it alive and burning its flesh, the alligator monster finally turned to dust and scattered.
Looking at the spot where the monster had disappeared, Siyeon gazed with a somewhat apologetic and pitying expression and asked,
“Do we really have to go this far?”
“Yes, this is how we ensure that the bad monsters won’t even think about harassing people again.”
I supposed it made sense to feel sympathy, but ultimately, a monster is a monster.
Just like how monsters pop up unannounced during holidays or class time without considering people’s circumstances, we also don’t need to consider theirs.
In that regard, the octopus monster, which had attempted negotiation, was quite clever.
To be blunt, if my response had been similar to that of other magical girls, would that octopus monster still have come looking for me?
The answer is NO.
“I see…”
“Exactly.”
I nodded at Siyeon, who was somewhat accepting of the situation, and resolved to teach her step-by-step the cleansing methods that would ease our future lives as magical girls.
Still, it boiled down to a simple option: to act for the maximum number of maximum pain.
Only after the appearance of the alligator monster completely vanished did we soar into the sky and release our transformations in a secluded alley.
“It’s getting late, so let’s hurry back.”
“Okay!”
We had taken longer than intended to deal with the monster while teaching Siyeon various things.
The media would certainly cause a commotion over these few minutes, but the real problem lay elsewhere.
“Ugh, it’s chaos.”
[‘I thought it would be safe…’ the monster alert went off suddenly]
[The monster appeared with the festive season, is the promise a lie?]
[‘I knew it’, a monster that broke the peace appeared.]
It had only been a few dozen minutes since the monster alert rang.
The internet was in a frenzy over the shattered peace promise with the monster.
The alerts from the safe zones, ringing from the very first day of our leisurely holiday, were sufficient to provoke public anxiety and provide the media with aggressive headlines.
However, unaffected by these facts, we were heading up to Seoul in a car.
After all, we had handled the monster well, so shouldn’t we be enjoying the holiday?
While fiddling with my smartphone and scrolling through articles based on ridiculous fantasies concocted by reporters, Ji-eun, who was driving, casually tossed a question my way while navigating a curve.
“Did the monster say anything to you?”
I paused to think about the conversation I had with the monster.
It was mostly just about it being cowardly and a few bold statements at first.
After that, all I heard were screams etched with pain and despair, begging for mercy.
Nothing particularly stood out, so I replied to her question nonchalantly without a care.
“Well, I only heard it begging for its life.”
“Thinking about how Mari usually treats the mascot, that’s a bit frightening…”
Ji-eun suddenly mentioned my behavior toward the mascot, perhaps picturing the monster hunting process in her mind, and expressed her fear.
But how was that related to defeating a monster…?
Or was it not?
Maybe there was some connection after all.
Just as I was diving into those thoughts, I unbuckled my seatbelt as we neared our destination and reached a simple conclusion.
“Maybe it was just one of those that defied orders?”
“Is that so…? I don’t know; if that’s how Mari felt, then it must be true.”
With Ji-eun’s lukewarm impressions lingering, the car’s engine stopped, and there we were—Siyeon and I got out of the car as if nothing had happened.
The powerful scent of oil tickled my nose as we approached the building.
“Well, I’ll come pick you up when the event is over.”
Confirming that we had completely exited, Ji-eun turned the car back on.
Considering that the wedding was two months away and it was the time to make a good impression on the in-laws.
Without saying any unnecessary words, I simply waved my hand alongside Siyeon, wishing her a safe journey as we sent her off.
“Take care!”
“I’ll see you the day after tomorrow!”
Watching Ji-eun’s hand waving from inside the car, we slowly headed into the restaurant after stepping into the parking lot.
As expected, the intense smell of oil hit me the moment I opened the door.
Holding the door for the following Siyeon, we entered together and bowed in greeting to the senior magical girls who had arrived earlier.
“Hey, have you ever fried pancakes in your life?”
The people already seated, whose food smells were relatively faint, snapped back at me.
While looking for a nearby seat where I could rest, I naturally moved closer to the kitchen, where the aunts who had once been novices just a couple of years back were now seasoned cooks in charge of the kitchen.
There’s a saying about frogs and tadpoles not remembering their past, and that’s precisely the situation now.
Thinking back to the Chuseok holiday two and a half years ago made my mouth water, but in an effort not to stir any conflict during the holiday with needless words, I held my tongue.
“Well, you didn’t cook either.”
Despite those efforts turning useless, I heard snickering from the distant dining area.
The uncle who had been chastising me for never frying pancakes suddenly flared up at the snarky comment, yelling at a senior sitting nearby who was absorbed in her phone.
“Huh?! When did I! I’ve done better than these kids!”
“But you were smacked by Minister until your back was sore.”
“Grr…”
The uncle couldn’t make any rebuttal to that fact-based comment.
Everyone should have seen that satisfying back-slap from two and a half years ago.
Anyway, since the uncle couldn’t properly retort, some others began questioning him as if it were to verify the truth of the situation.
“Did that really happen?”
“Shut up, you! Just fry the pancakes!”
Ultimately, the uncle was left speechless when the unfounded lie was exposed, and he resorted to shouting to crush the surrounding rumors.
Observing that, I found myself chuckling with the seniors and older sisters not too far away.
At this moment, they honestly resembled family members gathered for the holidays.
Making small jokes, laughing while preparing the food.
Such was the peaceful holiday day.
Unlike when the Minister was controlling things, these uncles and we shared meals in one location.
Every holiday, the kitchen was the Minister’s domain.
However, noticing the absence of that figure, one magical girl sister among the gathering of uncles asked,
“Where’s the Minister?”
“This time, he rushed to Incheon because a monster suddenly appeared.”
‘So that’s why….’
I thought it strange too, yet I didn’t feel the need to pry further.
Realizing the reason from one uncle’s reply, I felt that even if it seemed like he was slacking off, he was genuinely working hard and popped another piece of galbijjim into my mouth.
“Incheon…? Oh, isn’t Siyeon from that area?”
“Yeah!”
The question was directed toward Siyeon and me as we were busy chewing.
Siyeon’s mouth was smeared with the galbijjim seasoning.
“…It’s everywhere; yes, that’s correct.”
I quickly grabbed a few sheets from the napkin roll before awkwardly responding to the question while trying to wipe Siyeon’s face.
“Mmmph.”
Even while letting out a strange mumble, Siyeon didn’t dodge my helping hand.
I crumpled the brown-stained napkin and quietly placed it beside the large bowl.
“What happened?”
“Even if you ask what happened… it just suddenly appeared.”
“Oh… that makes sense; you wouldn’t know the reason.”
In the interrupted conversation, we resumed our meal.
I think the overall cooking skills of the uncles improve each year.
This galbijjim is already so much better than last year’s.
“…”
“…”
Only the sound of spoons clinking against bowls continued in the silence of our gathering.
Truly, us magical girls only gather like this once in a while.
Surprisingly, when we find ourselves together during the holidays, there’s not much to talk about.
“My daughter is becoming a middle schooler this time, and she simply won’t listen.”
“Ah, at that age, it’s all the same. My son is like that too; just because it’s a daughter doesn’t mean she’ll behave otherwise.”
The seemingly familiar uncles had a livelier chat among themselves, so we were free to talk.
It’s not easy to observe the holiday feast, so with the empty bowl in hand, I headed straight to the tray piled with food.
As expected, the most popular holiday dish is galbijjim.
Scooping out a portion of white rice into one corner of the large bowl, I added around four pieces of galbijjim and filled a ladle with sauce, gently pouring it over the rice.
‘This is the right way.’
Filling up the remaining space with colorful fancy skewers and edible fish pancakes.
The moment I returned to my seat, some jumped up and headed toward the tray again.
Shuffling, I mixed the galbijjim sauce with the white rice, scooping it up with my spoon.
One bite of pancake, one bite of well-mixed white rice, and one bite of galbijjim.
That way, I emptied my second bowl hastily.
Only then did I sigh in satisfaction, feeling the end of my meal.
‘That was good…’
I rubbed my belly to indicate my fullness.
Somehow, I felt a bit rounder than usual.
‘…Did I put on a bit of weight?’
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