An Exorcist Magical Girl!

When I got home, I thought I would sleep in, but when I got out of the shower, it was time to go to school.

 

So I slept at school.

 

With Seo Jun, instead of saying good morning I said goodnight.

 “ —I’m sleepy.” “Me too.”

Seo Jun agreed.

 “Good night.” “You too.” 

I fell asleep as soon as I got to school and didn’t wake up until lunchtime.

 

It was a good thing I didn’t have a traveling class in the morning.

 

In fact, I almost didn’t wake up for lunch, but the classmate in front of me was kind enough to wake me and Seo Jun up.

 

If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have eaten and slept until the wee hours.

 

Today was even the day that rosé pasta and garlic baguettes were served for lunch.

 

If I missed it, I would have regretted it.

 

Her name was Kwon Yuri, and she was a pretty girl with light blonde, ponytailed hair.

 

I’m not complimenting her for waking me up so I never missed a meal.

 

Anyway,

“Lunch was delicious…” “Yeah.”

Seo Jun agreed.

 “Mmm, good night again.”

I said, slamming my head to my desk.

 “You too.”

Seo Jun didn’t forget to reply.

 

I slept through lunch and afternoon classes.

 

The magic of making 7th period go by like a second!

 

***

 

Now that the mission is over, I thought I’d start doing some

“schoolwork”

, but my stamina is terrible, so I had no choice today.

 

I had lunch as soon as I got to school, and then went to the training center right after lunch.

 

When I arrived at the training center, half asleep again, the director greeted me with a standing ovation.

 “Hey, good job, kids! You did a great job on that difficult assignment! You did a great job! Your portfolio is going to look great! Hahahaha!” 

Oh, when you complete missions, they all become portfolios.

 

Everything. The portfolio is what one uses to get a job later.

 “Ahaha, thank you.” 

I glanced over at Seo Jun, and, well, she was still expressionless.

 

It did feel good to hear the compliment.

 

Compliments don’t seem to make Seo Jun dance.

 

Well, it’s hard to imagine Seo Jun laughing and talking in such a friendly atmosphere.

 “So, Director, what are we doing today?”

I asked the question I’d been wondering all the way to the training center.

 

The others were still in the midst of preparing for their missions, but our mission ended a week early, so we had a lot of time on our hands.

 “I was going to mention it anyway. First of all, tomorrow we’ll be busy writing mission reports, and after that, I think we’ll focus on personal training. What do you think?” “Sounds good.” “Yeah, me too.” “Okay. Well, then, remind me to get Maylee to organize her report.” “Yes.” 

We were assigned to a small lecture hall some distance from the training room, and hours of boring report writing ensued.

 “Oh, you know what?”

Seo Jun blurted out during one of our breaks from the grind.

 “What?” “When we were escaping from the ghost’s stomach.” 

A life-and-death struggle with a ghost suddenly seems so trivial.

 “There was a monster outbreak in the middle of the city.” “What, really?” “Look. There’s an article here.”

Seo Jun handed me her cell phone.

 

I took it, skimmed the article, and gasped.

 “Wow, it’s even near my old school?” “Yeah. So, they’re keeping an eye on it for a while. A First Department magical girl said she’s on patrol or something.” “Why didn’t the school say anything?!” “Maybe they said something, but we didn’t hear it because we were asleep.” “Ah…” 

I had a good night’s sleep until I had to slap myself in the back to wake up.

 “According to the article, it wasn’t that dangerous. Weak guy.”

I read the other articles on Seo Jun’s phone and told her.

 

It was a weak monster, so they were able to deal with it quickly and without much fuss or damage.

 

Why is the first division magical girl on call this time? Because the monster they captured this morning was a Fetter, a species that travels in packs.

 

That meant that sooner or later, there would be more of them.

 

Of course, this doesn’t mean that they’re going to get a miracle of skipping school or work.

 

It’s not like they can predict their exact timing, and they’re not monsters that attack anyone who stands still, and they’re not particularly dangerous.

 

Well, I’m an exorcist now, so it has nothing to do with me.

 

The magical girls can take care of themselves.

 

Or so I thought.

 

***

  

The next morning, at the intersection in front of the school.

 “Hi, it’s been a while. I didn’t know you went to an all-girls school.” 

It was Narea.

 

I should have kept in mind that it could have been Narea when I heard she was from the first division.

 

Now I’m so flustered I’m speechless.

 “Why are you here?”

I’m embarrassed, what the hell am I saying?

 “Yeah, I had a support request early this morning. It’s good to see you like this. I was wondering how you were doing.” 

I speak like shit, but she understands. I thank her tearfully.

 “Uh, yeah, I’m good.” “You’re going to school, right? Let’s go together. I was just heading over to your school.” “Huh? Uh…”

I said anxiously.

  ‘

No! We’re not that close.’

 

This is the kind of relationship where you don’t know if you should say hello to someone on the street, and then you walk right past them, and then you’re glad you didn’t!

 

‘Ack! this is so awkward.’

 

The last time I saw her was at the Academy, and why does she keep acting like we’ve known each other for years?

 “Are you ever going to come back?” 

She’s asking me if I’ve accumulated some kind of inner intimacy or something.

 “No.” “I see…”

Narea said, sighing disappointedly.

 

Why does she look so sad?

 “So, what are you doing these days?”

She asked again.

 “I’m exorcizing.”

I answered.

 

Narea’s eyes widened,

“Exorcism?!” “Yeah.” 

Her jaw dropped in shock.

 

Is it really that surprising?

 

It’s even more awkward because I’m speechless. Jeez.

 

Luckily, it was only a few hundred meters from the intersection to the school, and we were in front of the school in no time.

 “I’m going in.” 

Narea waved goodbye,

“Yeah, bye.”  “You too, bye.” “Yeah! See you later!”

Narea shouted happily.

 “Uh, well. Okay.” *** 

When I walked into the classroom, looking like a sun-dried fish, Seo Jun, who was the first to arrive, sat down and gave me a puzzled look.

 “What’s wrong with you?” “Something happened…” “Really?” 

Dude, I never thought she could sound so uninterested.

 “Oh, right. Seo Jun. I have something I need to do at this school. Do you want to hear it?” “What is it? Tell me.” 

“It’s—”

 Bam! 

My words were interrupted by our homeroom teacher entering the classroom.

 

This prompted me to take notes.

 

I scribbled my plan in the corner of a textbook I pulled out of a drawer and showed it to Seo Jun.

 

She read it quietly and wrote

“Why?”

underneath it.

 

I couldn’t say,

“To fill up my progress on the talent removal defense.”

so I just wrote,

“It’s good to get some hands-on experience.”

.

 

“You’re not trying to be some kind of hero, are you?”

I got this back.

 

It was a valid concern.

 

“No, I don’t. If I wanted to be a hero, I wouldn’t do this. This is a business.”

I write it down, and she nods.

 

“I see. Good luck.”

Seo Jun wrote it down, made a mouth, and said,

“Good luck”

.

 

***

 

The plan was already in motion. I snuck the poster to the hallway bulletin board on my way up to class earlier.

 

Now I just have to wait for word to spread.

 

Exorcists have a code of honor, so Seo Jun was sure to pass the word along.

 

But the time for this grand plan to go viral came sooner than expected.

 

Fourth period was gym class.

 

The PE teacher announced that the class would be outdoors for the rest of the day and that the next class would be in the classroom.

 

The students were upset because the midterms were a week away.

 

The kids were clamoring for another day of tutorials, but today was the day of the in-place long jump timing, so they had no choice but to go out on the field.

 “Hey, you guys are good students. You’ll sleep through detention!” 

The gym teacher stood in front of me with a stinging fact.

 

It was an unusually hot day for the end of spring.

 

The students huddled under the shade of a tree, chatting and waiting for their names to be called.

 

I was last in line because I was a transfer student.

 “Baek Iri, the ground is sandy, so you can’t lie down.” 

By the way, the benches at Mukgyeong Girls’ High School, like all school playground benches, were infested with bugs and cobwebs.

 

Who are these benches for, really.

 

I thought briefly about squatting down and squeezing in between the kids playing airball. Just a thought.

 

I quickly gave up, seeing that the airball was turning into a war.

 

I looked around. Seo Jun had just been called out to take measurements, and I was bored.

 

The kids who were supposed to be studying were poring over their textbooks to pass the time, and except for a few, everyone else was either idle or chatting and playing.

 

I took this opportunity to talk to Kwon Yuri, who had woken me up for lunch yesterday, but she was busy playing with her friends.

 

Her blonde hair gleaming in the sunlight, I was distracted for a moment.

 “Next, Cha Hanbyul!” 

Ms. Cha had already been called. My turn was coming soon. I stretched out my arms and turned on the stretchers.

 “Hanbyul Cha, where are you?” “Yes, I’m coming!” “Hurry up—”

The gym teacher’s voice, urging Cha, was cut short.

 “Kkkrreeee!” 

The monster’s cries echoed.

 

***

 

Everyone seemed a little frightened, but not seriously, knowing that this monster, Fetter, wasn’t particularly dangerous, and that the magical girls were nearby and on standby at all times.

 

Some of them even looked like they were watching an action movie.

 

Just then, the monster raced down the road, jumped over the school gate, and entered the playground.

 

It was a moment when I wondered if the movie genre was about to change from action to thriller.

 

But faster than the students could scream, the monsters were hit by a blue beam that sent them sprawling.

 

It was followed by a magical girl, her pink bobbed hair whipping around, landing gracefully on the playground.

 

The sandy dust seemed to glisten with a golden glitter effect.

 “Whoa! That’s awesome!” “Holy shit! What was that?” 

Exclamations were everywhere.

 

All the students in the school had their windows open and were watching the sports field.

 

I whispered the pink-haired magical girl’s name.

“…Narea.”