An Exorcist Magical Girl! – Chapter 145

Author: Dakku-san

“Wait a minute.”

Kim Joo-hye stops me and Seo Jun as we walk out the door.

“Why?”

“They say there’s a briefing about today’s work and you two should come.”

I hesitated, as if she had called us on purpose, and when I turned around, I saw Kim Joo-hye’s face crumpled up as if she was about to crawl into a rat hole.

Behind them, I could see the commander of the magic girls’ side and some of the pro-Heo Kyung-wook teachers from Mukgyeong Girls’ High School talking with serious faces.

The other teachers were either gathering their students or huddled in a corner, assessing the situation. Their glances reflected the frustration and caution of those who had been powerlessly pushed out of important positions.

The meeting between the magical girl and Heo Kyung-wook’s representatives was drawing to a close.

I had a vague idea of what was going on, and it seemed that Seo Jun did as well.

“I understand without listening. I’m busy, so if you let us go, I’ll shut up like the adults want.”

Looking at Kim Joo-hye in front of her, Seo Jun added.

“As long as we don’t tell them that they were ‘ghosts’, right?”

“Yes, yes… Well, I apologize, it was you two who did the hard work…”

“It’s not your place to apologize. Baek Iri, let’s go.”

Seo Jun abruptly ended the conversation and walked past Kim Joo-hye.

“We knew this was coming, so don’t take it too hard.”

I followed Seo Jun out the door and tried to comfort the helpless magic girl.

The powers that be at this school are extremely reluctant to draw attention to the school’s ghost problem. From the moment she realized the true identity of the monster, she had expected things to turn out this way.

The pro-Heo teachers probably suggested that we should just pretend that a real, live monster had appeared, so that the credit for defeating the monster would go to the magical girl, and she wouldn’t have to say no.

If only Seo Jun and I kept our mouths shut, today’s events would be buried. The students don’t know the truth about the monster yet.

And neither Seo Jun nor I would insist on the truth, knowing that it was a losing battle.

There’s no way to prove that it was a ghost, and it’s unheard of for the ghost of a monster to walk the earth. Even if I tried to prove the truth, I couldn’t say anything other than “She saw it with her own eyes”.

Besides, the adults at the school and the magical girl have already made up their minds. It’s not like they’re going to dismiss the claims of two kids as bullshit.

I’m not even angry that they’re trying to cover it up, because that’s the most cowardly thing I can think of. I’m just wondering how ugly it’s going to get when it’s no longer possible to cover it up.

So I don’t feel helpless right now, just moderately intrigued.

The secrets of Mukgyeong Girls’ High School will never be irrelevant to me.

For the first time, I am looking forward to the day when I find out what that school is hiding.

* * *

“Do you want to go straight in or do you want to stop at a grocery store to get something to eat?”

Seo Jun asked when we were almost at the training center.

“Oh, I’m not really… hungry.”

Only then did I realize that it was long past my usual dinner time. At the same time, I felt a surge of hunger that I had forgotten about.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

“Mmm. Seo Jun, aren’t you hungry as well?”

“Yes. I’m already late, so I’ll just be a quarter of an hour away.”

“Well, yeah. We’re not late because we want to be late, but we have to eat.”

We entered a nearby grocery store.

“Oh, right. I thought we were supposed to file a survival report.”

Seo Jun stopped in front of the triangular kimbap stand and fumbled with her phone.

“A survival report?”

“Yes, to Mr. Kang In-joo.”

“Oh.”

I checked my phone as well and saw that the 5-person chat room of Chapter 4 was on fire.

“Oh.”

I started to reply, but I knew it would get through to Mr. Kang anyway.

I was deciding whether to get a sandwich or kimbap when Seo Jun read the reply.

“You should go home and rest. Why are you here?”

“Eh? Who?”

“Mr. Kang In-joo.”

“He told you to rest? Did he?”

As Seo Jun’s suspicion was confirmed, he showed me the screen with the answer.

“Look. He said, “You should take a break.”“

“Oh… I can’t believe it. Mr. Kang is…”

“I know it’s a tough class, but it’s all in common sense. He’s never asked students to do anything unreasonable.”

Well, this is a normal response from a normal teacher.

It doesn’t make sense to tell students who’ve just escaped from a monster to “come to class now that you’re safe and sound!” when they’ve been isolated by a monster in the first place.

“…Then you and I are the ones who don’t have common sense.”

“Right.”

We had voluntarily done something that didn’t make sense.

“Mr. Kang is going to freak out when he hears this.”

“I know.”

Seo Jun silently agrees, then suddenly lets out an “ah”.

“Why?”

“Because it’s already…”

Seo Jun taps her finger on her phone screen.

—Crazy.

—This is coming.

─Ah, please, I wish you two would stay out of the MZ generation.

─You are a disgrace to MZ. Do you understand?

–-MZ is not that sincere.

—MZ is not that passionate!

—Don’t try so hard in life. This is a warning. Please be more like kids these days.

—Don’t make Mr. Hwang Hanju’s eyes water with emotion.

In the five-person chat room of Branch 4 on the screen, Hwang Hanju was already glowing.

“He’s really…, he’s really funny.”

“I think so too.”

Seo Jun replied dryly and turned around to head to the ramen stand. I grabbed a sandwich with a decent amount of vegetables and a can of energy drink and followed Seo Jun.

“You want ramen?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you said you didn’t want noodles for dinner because you had noodles for lunch today?”

“I changed my mind, I’ll have something spicy.”

I put the cup noodles, which were bitter to look at, and the almond VXs, which I didn’t know when I took them off the shelf, on the cash register.

“Dude, I hear this is really hot. Can you get one of those little Almond VXs?”

“I think I can handle it.”

“Are you okay with spicy food? I won’t give you a sandwich if you cry while eating it.”

“Who cares? I won’t eat it.”

“Uh, yeah. You know you’re not supposed to take two bites from a boss, right?”

I chirped excitedly, which only made her dull expression grow colder.

Watching her face sink in real time, I felt my heart sink.

“Okay, I’m sorry…”

The corner of Seo Jun’s mouth turned up at my sarcasm.

“But why aren’t you drinking grapefruit soda? I thought you had a coupon.”

“Dude, do you think I drink that all the time?”

“You drink it all the time.”

“You’re right…”

It wasn’t that I was tired of grapefruit juice.

I chose an energy drink because, given my current state of mind and body, I knew that if I didn’t drink something caffeinated right away, I would never make it home.

“You have to go home now.”

Seo Jun looked at my complexion and poked me in the side.

“It’s okay, it’s not that bad.”

“You’re pretty pale.”

“Drink this, it’ll revive you.”

“It’s not a magic potion…”

“But it’s kind of like that, isn’t it?”

It was evening and there was a nice cool breeze, so we sat down at a table outside the shop.

“No wonder you’re tired. Baek Iri, you’ve been running around a lot today.”

“Yes…”

Normally, a sip of grapefruit soda would have been enough to get my blood pumping, my smile on my face, and my fatigue gone, but today my body was screaming at me that it wasn’t enough.

Not just today, but the last few days have been too much.

It’s not enough that I had an eight-hour evaluation on Saturday, the day after solving the Head Collector case, and then a serial killer shows up on a bus, and then a monster turns into a ghost and goes on a rampage.

Yeah, it’s weird that I’m not physically and mentally exhausted by the thought of it.

Still, there’s a reason I can’t rest today.

“To hunt the ghosts without Seo Jun’s help and all on my own.”

The sooner I learn this, the sooner I can track down the Tinker.

“Ah, right. Come back here.”

“Huh?”

Seo Jun sips her soup without blinking, then suddenly remembers something and puts down her cup and chopsticks.

“I think the first grader wanted to talk to you.”

“A first grader? Who?”

“I don’t know her name, but she had short hair. You know, the one who came to see you about the doll last week.”

“Oh, Hae-yoon?”

“That was when you imitated a raccoon in front of Hanbyul. She tried to time you a few times, but finally she just gave up and left.”

“Oh, you mean… Ha…”

That’s when your reputation as a senior fell to the ground.

“Didn’t she hear from you?”

“No. Speaking of which, I’ll have to contact her.”

Let’s put aside the embarrassment of humiliating myself in front of my junior. I couldn’t even greet her properly, let alone explain about Idamin.

I sent her a long note apologizing for the trouble I’d caused today, explaining that her friend had been possessed by a mysterious ghost, where I’d found her, and that I’d asked her to transfer to a new school when she woke up.

I’d check her answer after class.

“Are you done?”

“Uh, I’m done. Are you?”

“Me too.”

Seo Jun got up from her seat with her unopened almond VX.

“You mean you didn’t even take a sip while you emptied the whole cup of ramen?”

“You weren’t bluffing, were you?”

“Of course not.”

“No, then why did you buy it in the first place?”

“To eat later. If I eat it when I’m really hungry, I’ll be thirsty later.”

“Ha.”

After some small talk, I picked up the trash and got up to leave when Seo Jun suddenly turned serious.