Chapter 16 : Occurrence of engagement

Until I got home, it had been a pretty special day.

Amber, who had been suffering from insomnia for a long time, was sleeping soundly, even snoring.

The kids, after hearing the news that Jangmi had become my successor, showed a tidal wave of interest in her.

The other teachers were in a fuss, asking what had happened.

It was that kind of special day.

Of course, it still was, even now that I’m home.

All the noticeable furniture was broken, Jangmi was crying pitifully in her transformed state, and Amber was…

“No, stop being angry and listen. I admit I did something drastic, but I couldn’t rest easy without checking this thoroughly.”

Checking what?

“It’s strange that she can transform but can’t use magic, right? …After checking, it turned out she wasn’t lying, but I wondered if she might reveal a hidden nature in a crisis, so I threw her up in the air and…”

And?

“She learned how to open dimensional gates. What do I do?”

Ah, so Jangmi, struggling to survive somehow, learned how to open dimensional gates and, to lessen the impact, opened them towards the bed and sofa.

I’ve heard that if you get incredibly angry, you become calm. That wasn’t the case for me.

“You crazy bastard!! Are you out of your mind? What did you do to her? You threw her into the sky?”

*

*

*

It was only after Dahye calmed down that I could clean up the house. My ears are still ringing, but well, this is fortunate.

I attached disposal stickers to the broken furniture and put it outside, then cleaned up the remaining debris. There was nothing I could do about the discoloration of the wallpaper.

I don’t have the ability to rewind time or repair things, so I’ll have to buy new ones. In the past, I could have gotten them for free, but ever since that Kim something law was passed, I have to pay.

They even made a public apology for that.

“It’s gotten incredibly spacious.”

“It has. It’s really empty.”

“We could sleep on the floor, right?”

“Uh-huh…”

Dahye and Jangmi were talking in the empty living room. They’d been together this whole time, Dahye trying to soothe the crying child. Now that she had finally stopped wailing, she said it was spacious.

Jangmi was clean without a scratch. It’s strange, isn’t it? When I pressed her with my fingernail before, it made a cut easily.

Dimensional gates don’t have any option to reduce speed. If you fall from about 800m above the surface, a few pieces of furniture won’t cut it.

Magical girl outfits just have magic power covering the body; they don’t have any shock absorption function… Did she learn flight magic too and decelerate?

“Jangmi.”

“…”

“Would you want to talk if you were her?”

“Jangmi, come out for a second. I can see you even if you hide behind Dahye.”

`‘…’`

Well, if I try to talk to her, she gets sulky like this, even though she was fine just a moment ago. Was I a bit harsh?

No, I shouldn’t feel sympathy. It was because of the dimensional gate that the demons could cross over here.

The idea that they approached us to steal the ability to open dimensional gates from me is too far-fetched.

Connecting to another world uses a tremendous amount of magic. Even I can’t open them easily, so how could a demon who learned it overnight do it?

Besides, she grew up here. She’s never been to the demon world. The minimum conditions aren’t even met, so I shouldn’t worry… but I am so worried.

“Jangmi, can we cancel your meeting with Harin today?”

“…No.”

“You were going to meet Harin?”

“Yeah, she said they promised to have a duel. You know, she still can’t control her magic power well. Does she really have to do it?”

“I have to keep promises with my friends.”

Ah, she’ll probably say Dahye taught her that, even without me asking. I wish she knew there are times when it’s okay not to keep them.

Hmm, is that wrong? Is it actually a good thing? I can use this as a legitimate reason for her becoming my successor.

While I was racking my brains alone, Dahye opened the cake box. She had dropped it on the floor, so it was a mess. Crushed cake and cream, strawberries rolling around on the floor. It was truly unsightly.

But it still looked delicious. Was it because of the excessive sugar? Or was it because my nose had been tormented by the cloying smell of grape candy?

“Here.”

On the plate Dahye handed me was a lump of what was once a cake. A cake she didn’t even buy for her own birthday.

“You slept soundly for once. So I bought this to celebrate.”

“…Thanks. It would have looked nice if you hadn’t dropped it on the floor.”

“You mean you don’t want to eat it? Jangmi, let’s eat cake.”

“Wow.”

“That’s not fair!”

The three of us shared it. The cake, eaten on the bare floor instead of a glass table, with spoons instead of forks, was sweet. Sweet enough to make my worries feel foolish.

“Since it’s Saturday tomorrow, let’s go buy a bed, a table, and everything. Let’s buy Jangmi some clothes too. She can’t wear the same clothes every day.”

“…Sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I feel like I caused unnecessary trouble… I’m sorry.”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“Ah, I said I’m sorry.”

As always, we teased and joked around. Jangmi giggled as she watched us.

Maybe there’s no reason to go to the fairy realm anymore? I did have a nightmare, but I slept, didn’t I? I made a promise with the queen, but even Wisp is doing as she pleases.

Around the time I was thinking such thoughts,

Thump—

I felt a pain in my chest. It wasn’t the magic of a magical girl. It was a blueish-green magic, Stylidium.

Yesterday, when I faced her, she was docile. Although after encountering the other forces, she destroyed the association and escaped the press conference. She had definitely softened compared to before.

Why did Stylidium use her magic today?

“Amber!”

“Yeah.”

Leaving Jangmi looking bewildered, I went outside. There was no particular reason. I was more curious about Stylidium’s sudden outburst than I was about taking care of the girl.

As the pain in my chest intensified, the cityscape changed. Buildings collapsed, debris scattered, and smoke billowed.

Finally, I arrived at the place where she stood alone. Not in her normal form, but wearing her armor.

“You finally came! The others were too boring to watch.”

At her feet, magical girls, their transformations undone, were collapsing and coughing up blood.

Crack

“Aaagh!”

A raw scream escaped the lips of the magical girl whose arm was being stepped on. The bone seemed to be broken, the position misaligned.

Even so, I felt this was mild for Stylidium. That was because her outer armor was drenched with the blood that came from crushing the magical girls’ insides.

“Why, why are you suddenly doing this…?”

“Huh? It’s obvious. The negotiations have broken down! Neutrality and peace don’t work with them. What peace and neutrality! What do you think is the reason we invaded this place!”

Somehow, it’s strange. She’s a demon who considers fighting a form of conversation. There’s no reason for her to talk like this.

“Let’s go together.”

A voice that shouldn’t be heard, Jangmi. She had opened a dimensional gate and come here.

“Wh-why did you come he—!”

“It felt familiar… Ah.”

In an instant, she leaped from the floor and approached us, throwing a fist filled with the murderous intent we knew so well. A speed I couldn’t react to, but Dahye took out her staff and blocked it.

Since she hadn’t transformed yet, it was only enough to block one blow. As the following kick flew in, I tried to open a gate to counter, but Stylidium, noticing, shifted her trajectory. The target wasn’t me, or Dahye. It was Jangmi.

“Death to the traitor.”

Crack

“Ugh…”

It was Harin, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, who blocked the blow meant for the defenseless girl. Even though wind swirled around her left arm where the attack landed, blood spurted out.

Harin threw a Light Jab, and Stylidium retracted her leg, landing below.

“Senior? We’re here.”

“Peng, Harin!”

Dahye checked the arm that had blocked the attack, and the wind dispersed. Was it because of that? The arm, which had been pressed with great force, swelled up as if it was about to burst.

“W-why is Unni here?”

“Unni? Jangmi, do you know Stylidium?”

To Dahye’s question, Jangmi answered.

“She was my next-door unni when I was young…”

Ah, so that’s why she ran out… No, there’s no time to think about that.

“Dahye!”

“Yeah, transform.”

At her call, my magic stone glowed resonantly. The connected magic lines flowed through her, transforming her black hair into a transparent state. Dahye, clad in her magical girl outfit, aimed her magic wand at Stylidium.

“Pure white light.”

The powerful light emitted from the tip of the wand struck Stylidium directly. The heat that melted the surroundings rose. But the target walked out of the beam’s periphery unharmed.

The vines extending from her arm wrapped around Dahye’s staff, and as she approached, she said,

“Your power doesn’t work on me.”

That’s why she was our worst enemy.

Dahye’s beam couldn’t penetrate Stylidium’s outer armor, so a physical attack was needed. But Harin, who should have taken on that role, was injured and could only use one arm.