An Exorcist Magical Girl! – Chapter 146

Author: Dakku-san

What if Baek Iri’s transfer to Mukgyeong Girls’ High School was really related to the space?

What if the things Baek Iri did when she came to Mukgyeong Girls’ High School were things she “had to do” because she was connected to the space?

It was a question that started from a very small spark.

She wondered how deeply her friend was connected to the space.

It was not an unholy doubt, for Seo Jun’s trust would not be shaken in the face of any question marks.

The three syllables, the six phonemes, the long and short strokes that made up each of the consonants and vowels that made up the name Baek Iri. Even if all of its components had been touched by the hand of the afterlife, Seo Jun was confident that she would not be foolishly disappointed.

She knew only too well that the “soul” of the name consisted entirely of his inhaling, exhaling, holding, and gasping.

The roots of confidence were surprisingly simple.

Seo Jun doesn’t know anything about the life of the girl with the jet-black hair and the fuzzy cat face, except that she doesn’t exactly fit the description and she can only assume that she has lost something. What she lost, and if so, when and where, what she threw away and what she keeps and what she breathes. Seo Jun doesn’t even know how she stopped being a magical girl, although she is sure that she did.

That her essence was at a point diametrically opposed to space.

She was sure of that.

So if Baek Iri’s transfer to an unaffiliated girls’ high school really is connected to the other world, Seo Jun has nothing to do but feel sorry for himself.

It means that the clues she was looking for were right in front of her, but she couldn’t see them.

“I suppose that… is an excuse.”

Seo Jun thought. ‘What did I do after I realized the existence of the mysterious barrier surrounding Mukgyeong High School?’

Yes, she admits, at first she thought it was similar to the other world she was chasing. She saw an overlap between herself and Chun Chan-young in the ghosts who couldn’t leave the school that day.

But that was it. Mukgyeong Girls’ High School and space were so different.

So Seo Jun concluded that she had mistaken the unpleasant feeling for an out-of-body experience.

Maybe she was jumping to conclusions.

Looking back didn’t change anything.

* * *

“Do I need to know the secret of Mukgyeong Girls’ High School?”

Seo Jun’s eyes asked and I wanted to avoid them.

“Forget everything else, just answer me this. Was I… stupidly looking elsewhere and not realizing that this was my job?”

I forced my mouth to open.

“Not stupid.”

“Not stupid?”

“I didn’t know either until I met you.”

I had only known for two days that the person who gave me the exorcist talent and sent me to Mukgyeong Girls’ High School was the owner of the room.

“So you’re saying that Mukgyeong Girls’ High School is somehow connected to the room?”

“Yes.”

“Huh, how the hell is it connected? The door to Mukgyeong Girls’ High School has never been opened.”

Seo Jun was silently angry that she didn’t see any twisted marks or carvings. She even forgot to blink.

“Did I miss something?”

“No way, Seo Jun.”

I cut her off just as she was about to send her mind into a real-time freefall.

“You don’t have to look for meaning in these things. There must be something else.”

“…Yes, of course. Of course.”

Fortunately, Seo Jun quickly regained her usual calm. Still, the urge to regret the time that had passed was still there, so I added a word.

“We can make up for it. There are two of us now, you and me. It’s kind of funny to call it makeup, but whatever.”

“Two people… I see.”

Seo Jun nodded slowly, and then walked ahead.

* * *

The good thing about being late is that the class ends quickly.

By the end of the class, I felt like I was actually getting some energy back.

“Dude, you look like you’re on the verge of death.”

I laughed at the sight of Yeo Seon-yeo half melted on her desk and shook my fist helplessly.

“You two, do you have any idea how much we were rolling before you came?”

“Yes, Mam. If you rolled, it’s none of my business.”

“Oh, Baek Iri, you’re so condescending, I’m speechless… Ouch…”

“Mam, you talk well.”

“Hey, hey, hey, come back, you crazy…! Hey, Seo Jun, hit her, just one…”

At her request, Seo Jun started to verbally beat me up.

“You’re not eating energy drinks anymore. It’s like you’re just getting more stamina to make fun of me.”

“Dude, I was already upset about the bad sandwich!”

“You’re being punished, Baek Iri. I punished you for eating ramen and complaining that you wouldn’t give me spicy food.”

That hurt.

Seo Jun looks back at Yeo Seon-yeo with eyes that say, “Is that enough?”

Seon-yeo sobs and claps her hands.

“You two should have a nice dinner.”

“Hey, where are you going? To see him?”

Seon-yeo’s voice comes alive.

“Oh no!”

“Wow, look at your excitement.”

I push my way through the cursing and approach Mr. Kang In-joo who is organizing the attendance book.

“You should settle the fight among yourselves.”

“Ah, Mr. Kang, ah, that’s not right…”

In the distance, the teacher laughed, “Bwahahaha!”

‘Are you having fun? As long as you’re having fun…’

“Mr. Kang, I wanted to ask you something.”

When I told him that I wanted to learn how to find or summon ghosts using only my abilities, without the use of amulets, his eyes lit up.

“Students who want to learn more are always welcome. Stay after class tomorrow-“

“Oh, not today, why not today?”

“What’s the rush to learn?”

“Well, there are circumstances… Please, sir.”

The piercing gaze seems to pierce my face.

“…Yes, wait a little.” Mr. Kang replied.

“Yes, thank you!”

When I returned to my seat with a cheerful expression on my face, the other kids were gone and Seo Jun was the only one left.

“Oh yeah. I’m sorry. I should have asked you to leave first.”

“No, never mind. I’ll take care of it.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine.”

Oh, and by the way, I still haven’t told Seo Jun the story about the “Tinker”, the ghost in the science lab that pretends to be a frog, and the temple on the roof.

It’s time for Seo Jun to stop being a spectator and start actively digging into the secrets of Mukgyeong Girls’ High School.

I sat down with Seo Jun and told her everything I had seen and heard at the school.

“The rooftop? Heo Kyung-wook?”

“Yes. I’ll probably check it out next Monday.”

“So that’s why you’re asking me how to get out of my body?”

“That’s right. Oh, I can do a little bit, look at this.”

Seo Jun let out a small gasp as I showed her a part of my soul coming out of my arm.

“I knew you’d learn fast.”

“Yes, but I can only go so far.”

“Then I’ll have to go to the roof by myself.”

“No, wait a minute. You should take me with you!”

“Okay, you still have a week to work, so do your best.”

She believed that I would be able to master the out-of-body experience by Monday, when Heo Kyung-wook would go up to the roof again. Not that I wasn’t confident.

“But, hey, what if I can’t do it even then?”

“What about that?”

“Seo Jun, I was wondering if you could help me.”

“What?”

“I have this arm, so grab it and pull it out of my body.”

“Your soul?”

“Yes.”

“What? That’s a soul. You want me to pull it out like this?”

“Oh, it’s not that different.”

“It’s completely different.”

We argued for a while and I won.

“But at least try to get all the souls out of yourself. Okay?”

“Oh, sure. I’m just saying, just in case it doesn’t work, I’d like some help.”

“You sound so patronizing and annoying.”

“Ugh, yeah, I’ll try not to use that tone in the future.”

“Heh…”

Seo Jun turns her head away as if she’s exhausted.

“Suck it up.”

“No.”

Just as another stupid argument was about to start, Mr. Kang called out to me.

“Okay, let’s start the makeup class.”

“Yes!”

“Seo Jun isn’t going, right?”

“She’s going to watch.”

“Watch?”

His brow furrowed for a moment and I stiffened.

“Don’t be mad.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Well, show me your abilities first. You know, the new clairvoyance you’ve learned?”

“Yes!”

❰Skill: ‘Light that can only be seen by closing your eyes’ has been activated❱

A black aura spreads out from my fingertips, floating in the air like dust.

“I can open 90% of the skill now.”

“Hmm.”

The teacher narrowed his eyes and carefully examined my black aura.

“Didn’t we talk about how summoning a ghost is the exorcist possessing the ghost, and locating the ghost is the exorcist pretending to be possessed by the ghost?”

“Yes.”

“Do you also remember what process I said was common to both methods?”

“To find out what the ghost wants?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Throwing out a lure that the ghost would respond to.

That was the first step.

“The reason it’s useful to have an amulet is that you can pretend to have what the ghost wants. Without an amulet, you have to actually prepare the bait.”

That’s what the Tinker wants…

I didn’t think of anything right away.

As if to say that I could think about it later, the teacher asked the next question.

“Do you know another reason why amulets are useful?”

“What? Phew, it’s portable…?”

“Seo Jun, tell her.”

Seo Jun, who had been watching with a set jaw, answered quietly.

“It’s easy to make a ghost recognize the presence of a decoy, even if it’s just an illusion.”

“I see, you’re right. Come on, do you understand what Seo Jun just said?”

The teacher turned his attention back to me.

“Yes, I think I do.”

“You can have the best bait in the world, but it won’t do you any good if your target can’t see it. Whether it’s by sight, smell, or sound, the target has to be aware of its presence in some way.”

“The amulet will do the work for you, spreading the aura of the lure in all directions, but if you don’t have an amulet, you’ll have to do it yourself.”

The amulet makes the fake lure look real and disperses the fake energy to reach the spirit.

I realized how easy Seo Jun had made such a complicated amulet look.

I’ll have to be modest in the future.

“It’s not easy, so we usually burn incense or shake bells, but of course that’s a universal lure that works on any ghost, so if we want to target a specific one, we have to use another method.”

That was the theory, followed by the practice.

Since they weren’t going to be shaking bells and burning incense at school, they learned how to prepare a lure that only the Tinker would respond to, and how to spread its aura so the Tinker could detect it.

“You learn quickly.”

“Thank you.”

After the special class, I looked at my watch and it was already midnight.

“You’d better sneak in before the last train leaves.”

“Thanks for staying up so late!”

“You worked hard.”

Somehow, Seo Jun ended up acting as an assistant teacher from 11:00.

As expected, Seo Jun wasn’t very good at teaching anyone… but she seemed to enjoy it, so I kept quiet.

“So you’re going to find out if it’s glue or something tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I can put it off any longer.”

I gathered my things and started to leave the room.

“Ah, Seo Jun.”