Was it because of that?
Until parting ways with Taehyun in the elevator, I didn’t say anything aside from “hello.”
It was the type where the person who spoke was overly concerned.
Meanwhile, the people involved didn’t seem to care much at all.
After returning home, I started my usual chores like laundry and cleaning.
The sound of the vacuum sucking in air echoed from the living room, sweeping through the entire house.
After a while, once I’d thoroughly done that and switched off the vacuum with my thumb—
“Maria…”
“Whoa! Why, why?”
My body jolted at Siyeon’s voice coming from behind me.
I guess I couldn’t even hear her footsteps over the noisy vacuum.
Siyeon appeared uneasy, fidgeting.
She seemed like she had something to say but was hesitating, so I waited patiently.
Standing there with the vacuum as if to say I was ready to give her as much time as she needed, she finally spoke up.
“Can I go to an academy?”
“…Huh?”
Caught off guard by the familiar dialogue, I fell silent for a moment, tilting my head slightly and glancing up at the ceiling.
This conversation seemed strangely familiar.
Narrowing my eyes slightly, I wondered, could it be someone else bothering her again? I looked directly at Siyeon’s face and asked straightforwardly.
“Is someone bothering you again?”
“No, this time it’s really not!”
Siyeon shook her head frantically in response to my blunt question, as if it had struck her hard.
That makes sense, given that during half of the commute to school we were practically glued together; if someone could manage to bother her then, that would be really impressive.
If she wanted to go to the academy herself, she had to have genuinely decided on it.
Academy, huh.
‘Hmm….’
A long sigh of contemplation escaped me.
It’s obvious, but there isn’t just one type of academy.
There are places that teach various subjects, not much different from schools, as well as places focused on subjects like Korean, English, and Math.
The problem is that I don’t know of a good academy in terms of academics.
Well, I guess the neighborhood aunties with kids would know which academy to send their children to since they hear about it from others.
But at my age, it’s a bit awkward to mix in with the neighborhood aunties’ communication…
I crossed my arms, tapping my foot as I continued my internal debate.
Maybe Siyeon had secretly decided on an academy in her heart, so I casually asked her.
“Do you have a specific academy in mind?”
“Yeah…”
She entered her room, then came out holding something.
She presented me with a crumpled-up flyer.
I couldn’t tell where she had gotten it from; its condition was crumbled.
It had phrases like #DigitalDrawing #Animation #ArtClasses for Elementary and Middle School, along with a big, bold illustration in the style of Japanese animation.
And there it was — the four characters that read “Art Academy.”
“An art academy?”
My eyes widened at the unexpected content of the flyer.
Startled by my surprised tone, Siyeon nodded silently.
Of course, at her age, no one would want to willingly attend a study academy when it’s playtime.
That said, to suddenly want to go to an art academy…
I wondered if she had some kind of goal, so I decided to ask her the reason now that the topic was up.
“Why an art academy?”
“…Just?”
There was no particular reason, just “because.”
It was a bit of a deflating answer after asking for a reason…
But that’s how hobbies are, right?
It’s normal not to have a specific reason.
If you want to do it, that’s reason enough.
“Just sign up and go, why ask for permission?”
“That’s because of the monster subjugation thing…”
“Oh right, that!”
Siyeon mumbled, avoiding my gaze.
I had almost forgotten about the odd/even day rule.
If she started attending an academy, she would obviously go after school.
Unlike how she could make excuses to escape school by sneaking into the bathroom, an academy would be something she was directly paying for, and it would be a time she wouldn’t want disrupted by a monster.
In other words, she was asking me to handle the monster subjugation.
The dilemma didn’t take long to resolve.
After putting the vacuum away, I folded the laundry piece by piece as I spoke.
“Well, okay… just do what you want.”
“…Okay!”
Siyeon responded enthusiastically to my indifferent nod.
Back in the early elementary school days, she mostly tagged along on outings, and I handled most of the subjugation by myself anyway.
Now, the idea of her going out alone to subjugate a monster wouldn’t be anything.
In fact, fighting monsters was less troublesome than the hassle of sorting and cleaning the laundry.
Especially separating plastic waste from regular waste.
Changes in the rules happen so frequently these days.
By the way, Siyeon wanting to go to an art academy… I never thought she’d develop an interest in drawing.
In all this time, I hadn’t seen her once show that side.
Realizing today for the first time that she had secretly nurtured such a hobby made me feel a bit disappointed.
But with a big sigh, I felt a sense of relief seeing Siyeon’s bright disposition as she seemed to be growing in the right direction.
‘Still, having something you want to do is what’s important.’
What’s your dream? What do you hope to do in the future?
Those are questions that come up often by the time you hit high school.
But from elementary school, it’s all about school, academy, school, academy.
Kids who get caught in that endless loop end up just doing what they are told, forgetting what they wanted to assert or pursue.
Like jellyfish floating on the waves of the world.
They just go with the flow, being carried along and drifting lazily.
They eventually forget how to swim against the current like fish.
Rather than having their own opinions or pursuing what they want, they just live doing what they are told.
When they grow up, as long as they earn a decent living, that’s good enough.
The result? They say they want to be office workers without knowing which office.
…That’s how students like that come to be.
It’s bitter, but that seems to be the reality of it.
“Phew…”
After folding the last of the laundry, I let out a sigh mixed with relief and bitterness.
In such a difficult and bitter world, she found something she wanted to do.
As her guardian… though the age might not permit me to claim that title, I couldn’t help but support her decision.
Although the art academy would have tools, starting from tablets to various supplies, we didn’t have that environment at home.
If we don’t have it, we can just get it.
As soon as I finished my chores, I immediately began searching the internet, looking for reviews of decent tablets.
‘There are ones for around 100,000 won… Why is this one 1,300,000 won?’
From simple drawing tablets to tablet PCs that could run various apps and games, the price range spanned from affordable 100,000 won to over a million won for the fancier stuff.
I didn’t know much about the world of drawing since I hadn’t experienced it.
But if she could learn the basics at the academy, I figured she could draw at home as a hobby later.
Even if Siyeon eventually got tired of drawing and gave it up, it could serve as a big-screen gaming device instead.
With such light-hearted thoughts, I promptly ordered the rather expensive tablet PC.
I didn’t hesitate even for a moment, and after placing the order, I lay on my bed, letting one thought occupy my mind.
‘Something I want to do…’
Something I want to do.
I might have mumbled internally like a know-it-all elder, but whether in my previous life or now, I hadn’t found what I wanted to do either.
As a Magical Girl subjugating monsters, my income was decent, and the welfare had definitely improved lately.
But am I really doing what I wanted? If someone asked me that, the answer would be a firm no.
That said, do I have anything else I particularly want to do? No, that wouldn’t be accurate either.
Although I’m living my second life in a female body, nothing else has changed.
“Maria?”
“Huh?”
The voice of Gomteng pulled me back from my deep thoughts.
He looked at me, as if displeased with something, crossing his pudgy arms and continued speaking.
“Called you several times, weren’t you listening?”
“I was just thinking for a moment, why?”
I wanted to twist that mocking little mouth of his, but since it was my fault for not hearing him call, I subtly turned my head while lying on the bed and asked.
“They said there’s a meetup in two weeks on Saturday, is that okay for you?”
‘Oh, it’s already that time for the meetup.’
As time flows rapidly, the frequency of the Magical Girl meetups seems to shorten as the time goes.
Though we meet at similar intervals, it’s strange how it feels like they come around faster the more time passes.
Anyway, the key aspect of these meetups is the location.
“Where will it be held? Is it somewhere far like Busan?”
As I firmed up my resolve to not go if it’s in a distant area, I casually asked.
“Well, um…”
Gomteng seemed to recall something he had forgotten, uncrossed his arms, and moved both his arms to his head beside his ears.
From the dragged-out ending of his sentence, a location name emerged.
“They said Cheorwon.”
That place, familiar to any man.
That’s the absolute front line.
Isn’t it more likely they’re soldiers instead of Magical Girls?
‘It’s awkward to say no…’
In elementary school, I went to the meetups easily since I was just a guest.
Having gathered quite a bit of time as a Magical Girl, it seemed it was about time to treat them instead.
Though I had promised not to pee when heading in that direction.
‘Ugh, it was better when it was in Daejeon or Incheon…’
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