An Exorcist Magical Girl! Chapter 164

The “small things” that the ghost failed to steal.

 

As soon as I heard those words, the first thing that came to my mind was.

 

 “A foot…”

 

The ghost who had thrown the foot part of a plastic human muscle model onto the table in the study hall hadn’t gotten anything that day after all.

 

 — “Yes, we ran away immediately, so there was no harvest that day. Attempted theft? Is that a word? Anyway, it’s about the size of a human foot, … Ah, wait a minute.”

 

 Yuri, who had replied in a high-pitched voice that this was the correct answer, soon realized that she had said something quite frightening and began to tremble.

 

 — “Ah, no, Gee, I’m not talking about using a real human foot as bait… if you know what I mean! I meant using mannequin feet or doll feet or something, don’t get me wrong…”

 

 She desperately defends herself, saying she didn’t mean to be cruel.

 

 “Wow, Yuri, I didn’t know you were so scary. Wow… I’ll think about it.”

 

 — “Hmmm, you know it’s not real, right?”

 

 I wanted to tease her more, but she looked like she was going to cry, so I stopped.

 

 “Anyway, thanks Yuri, I’ll get you something from the canteen tomorrow.”

 

 — “Eh, what’s that? I and all the students who used the study hall back then should be the one to thank you. Even though it happened long before you transferred to this school, I’m really grateful that you took the initiative to solve it.”

 

 Kya, I can’t believe such a nice person exists, how can a pretty girl be so nice…!

 

 Although the main goal of the school’s exorcism business is to increase the progress of my defense work, it’s not the numbers that really drive me, nor the grapefruitade I get in return, but rather a heartfelt thank you or two.

 

 I sank to the floor, feeling my heart warm.

 

‘She’s not really debuting.’

 

By the way, there’s a rumor in the TV business that if a ghost appears during a shoot, it’s a big hit.

 

If Yuri is going to make her debut as an actress in the future, she should bring a ghost to the set.

 

 As I thought about it, I slowly fell asleep.

 

I picked up my shivering body and put it in the bathroom.

 

 

***

 

 

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that my hair was really frizzy.

 

 I thought to myself, “No way, one day without treatment can make my hair this frizzy.”

 

 I didn’t want to deal with it, so I just shampooed and rinsed it out.

 

But I soon realized that the real problem wasn’t whether or not I had used the treatment.

 

 “Why does my body smell like shampoo?”

 

 *sniff*

 

On the contrary, my hair smelled like body wash.

 

 ‘I’m crazy.’

 

 I had washed my hair with body wash and my body with shampoo.

 

When I realized the truth, I was more concerned about the faint smell of herbal medicine on my skin than my broomstick hair.

 

I thought to myself, “I wonder if I’ll ever buy a real herbal shampoo again.”

 

I bought it because I was curious to see if it really smelled like herbal medicine, but when I applied it to my body, it felt like I had just stepped out of a hot pot of medicinal ingredients.

 

Ah, the boiling feeling wasn’t because of my mood.

 

I took a fever reducer pill yesterday, but sleeping with my hair unblow-dried must have taken its toll. I’m 100% sure it’s a cold, all the way up to my neck.

 

 Even dogs don’t get summer colds. Are humans worse than dogs after all?

 

 I lamented to myself and sent a text to my homeroom teacher.

 

 ─Hello, Teacher. This is Baek Iri. I have a cold, and I think I need to go to the hospital to get some medicine.

 

 It was a tardy notice.

 

I was about to write, “I’m really sick today,” but then I realized that I’d used a similar excuse to skip school on Monday and Tuesday of this week, so I stopped myself.

 

I realized that if I wrote that, I would be admitting that I was cheating by missing two days of school. Well, I’m pretty sure he already knew that anyway.

 

 After sending the text, I leaned back in my chair stiffly.

 

I have to wait until 9:00 when the doctor’s office opens anyway.

 

 In middle school, I thought it was a waste of time to go to the doctor when I wasn’t really sick. I thought I was “working hard” by saving those 20 minutes to go to the doctor, get checked out, and get a prescription. Foolishly.

 

 I don’t do that stupid thing anymore. I’ve realized that it’s much better to quickly tap into the power of modern medicine before I start blowing my nose and coughing like a blue whale.

 

 “Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm!”

 

 Luckily, my coughing isn’t uncontrollable yet, and my nose isn’t stuffy.

 

Still, I can’t be bothered to go to the doctor, so I’ll stop by today and ask him to prescribe me a five-day supply so I don’t have to go again.

 

 I set my alarm for 8:50 and decided to catch up on some sleep. I didn’t think I could actually fall asleep because of the uncomfortable position I was sitting in, but…,

 

 Beep, beep, beep, beep!

 

 Before I knew it, my cell phone alarm was ringing loudly.

 

As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep as if I had fainted.

 

 “Ah. My shoulder is stiff…”

 

 I rubbed my shoulder, which was stiff from the bent head, and got ready to leave.

 

I checked my phone and saw a few new messages. One was a text reply from my homeroom teacher, and the others were from Seo Jun and Yuri.

 

 ─Punishment has begun. It’s going to take all day, so come and watch.

 

 The last one was from Seo Jun. Judging by the time of the text, she’d started the exorcism as soon as she finished her morning shift at the library.

 

 ‘It’ll take all day…?’

 

 I put the question to the back of my mind and read Yuri’s message.

 

 ─Iri-ya, don’t tell me you’re going to be late because you’re bringing back a real human foot…? You know you’ll be in trouble if you do!

 

‘What kind of girl did she think I was?’

 

My heart almost broke for a moment.

 

 After texting back that it couldn’t be true, I set off for the hospital.

 

Luckily, they said it wasn’t the flu, just a common cold.

 

Even though I went early, there were still a few patients waiting in front of me, so after a stop at the pharmacy, it was already 10:30 when I finally arrived at school. The whole school was quiet, probably because they were in the middle of third period.

 

 ‘Yay, a nice day.’

 

 I thought to myself as I walked through the school gates, mindlessly checking the weather,

 

 “…What the hell was that?”

 

 The sight that flashed before my eyes left me speechless.

 

Puddle ducks!

 

 Dozens, if not hundreds, of yellow feathers flew in unison across the parking lot.

 

 The gust of wind they created whipped my hair into a flurry.

 

 And from the direction of the feathers, I heard an unearthly scream that I can’t quite put my finger on, something like, “Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I’m not sure what it was…, and it was a fairly frivolous cry.

 

The incoherent scream was chased away in real time by the feathers.

 

 ‘Oh I’m so embarrassed. It’s Seo Jun, isn’t it?’

 

 I was really, really, really embarrassed, and what I’d meant to keep to myself came out of my mouth as a muttered question. “What did I just see?”

 

 I still don’t know anything for sure, but I’m pretty sure it was Seo Jun.

 

The color of the flocked feathers was the same shade of yellow as the paper used to make the amulet.

 

So the screamer running away from the flock of yellow feathers was the ghost from yesterday.

 

 

***

 

 

The scream had long since disappeared into the back of the gym, so rather than follow it, I opted to get an explanation from the perpetrator of this absurdity.

 

 “Hi…”

 

After stopping by the school office to drop off a doctor’s prescription, I quietly walked into the classroom where the class was in session, drawing the attention of a few wide-awake eyes.

 

Among them was Seo Jun.

 

Seo Jun looked very proud for some reason.

 

It was as if she was secretly hoping that I would shower her with admiration or praise.

 

 ‘What? I don’t think this is Seo Jun.’

 

 Seo Jun didn’t take her eyes off me until I put my bag on the seat and sat down, so I had to abandon my plan to tell the real story during the break.

 

— ?????

 

 Instead of asking, “Who are you?” I just drew a series of question marks in the corners of my textbook, and Seo Jun whispered, “Did you see it?” 

 

It was a small voice, but it didn’t hide her amusement. It must have been what she was working all day yesterday.

 

— What did you do?

 

I didn’t mean to, but when I wrote the question down, it sounded more like, “You! What have you done to my colleague?! I’m actually asking the enemy how he’s doing.”

 

Maybe it’s because the frivolous screams of the feathered ghost keep ringing in my ears, but I can’t help but feel a little sorry for it…

 

 Seo Jun, still looking quite pleased with herself, scribbled a reply beneath my message.

 

 ─Tickle burn.

 

‘What?’

 

 As I stared at her with narrowed eyes, Seo Jun pulled a familiar-sized piece of paper out of her bag.

 

It was an amulet, with only a hint of yellow around the edges and the center bleached white.

 

A quick glance inside the bag revealed that it was filled with similar charms. Apparently, one feather was made for each amulet. I don’t know how it works.

 

 ─I have more in the box that I haven’t used yet. I stayed up until dawn drawing them when I got home.

 

 Oh, my God. I didn’t notice it because she was so happy, but now I realize that her dark circles are darker than usual.

 

So I asked her how many pieces she’d made in total, and she gave me this amazing answer: “She lost count after 150.”

 

 “Wow… You’re so diligent…”

 

 Seo Jun, who took the comment as a compliment, raised her eyebrows. It was more of an exclamation than a compliment, but hear what you will.

 

 “Oh, and the one in the locker is for the afternoon. I’ve found that it has a shorter lifespan than I thought, so I’m guessing it’ll last up to four hours once activated.”

 

 This was the retaliation Seo Jun had been grinding her teeth for.

 

She would make hundreds of them, then chase and tickle the ghost nonstop.

 

 I guess she intended to repay mischief with mischief. Whether I’d call it moderate, well, I’m not sure.

 

It’s hilarious, but I feel a little guilty laughing at it, and while I’d rather not get followed around like a spoon killer and beat it up, I’d rather be beaten than tickled to death.

 

 After a moment’s deliberation, I decided to let go of my unorganized feelings. It was Seo Jun’s job to deal with it in the first place, and I shouldn’t have bothered.

 

 Nameless ghost, there is a painful price to pay for messing with an exorcist. Take care.

 

 “Gaaahhhhhhhhhhh!”

 

 Seo Jun lowered her eyes and shook her head, the fluttering of feathers and screams from somewhere on the playground in the distance sounding like sweet music.

 

 Well, she seemed to be having fun.

 

 I muttered a short condolence to the ghost and let the ritual fall back on my own closing eyelids.