The Art of Infiltration
"Popo."
"Yeah?"
"I need to change my approach."
Even after yesterday's failure, I had a couple more opportunities, but the results were uniformly disastrous.
Once, I even bought tanghulu—which kids are supposedly crazy about—to try and win a magical girl over. But the moment I got close, she slapped my hand away and glared at me with pure hostility.
It was bizarre. Even if I had left a microscopic trace of magic power on me, was it really enough to make them hate me that much?
In any case, all my attempts ended up being completely useless. I tried several other things after that, but none yielded any real results.
"..."
Unless I ran into another magical girl who was completely drained of strength like Snow had been, dealing with ones who were still perfectly fine after slaying a monster was a lost cause.
How on earth was my very first day, when I just watched Snow from a distance, the best opportunity I'd ever get?
I suppose it made sense. It had been quite a while since monsters and magical girls first started appearing. Over that time, the magical girls must have grown and become stronger.
As for the monsters... well, they were probably always the same. They didn't seem intelligent enough to actually grow or evolve.
"At this rate, I'm never going to make any progress."
"It's okay, Mir! We have plenty of time, so let's take it slow," Popo chirped.
"I can't afford to take it slow." I picked up my phone, checked the calendar, and added in a dying voice, "Once this weekend is over, my annual leave is going to be deleted day by day."
Ugh. My future looked pitch black. I needed to hurry up, steal the magical girls' power, break this wretched curse, and get back to my original body. Wasn't there any good way?
Bzzzz.
Just then, a short vibration came from the phone I had tossed onto the table.
"Ugh." A brief groan escaped my lips as I checked the screen. The sender was Harang.
An ominous notification invading my peaceful yet depressing weekend. I stared blankly at the message, debating how to respond.
Should I go, or should I not? Even as I hesitated, the phone vibrated relentlessly. The endless stream of speech bubbles popping up in the status bar made my head spin.
Knowing that the longer I stayed silent, the more intense the barrage of questions would become, I hurriedly tapped on the keyboard.
I had sent it after some careful deliberation. It should be fine, right?
The reply flew back almost the exact millisecond I hit send.
"...Like her dad?"
The cowlick reflected in the screen twitched, perfectly mirroring my mood.
Thirty minutes. That meant I had to leave right now.
"Popo. I'm going out to look for a way."
"Huh? What do you mean all of a sudden?"
I pushed myself up from the sofa and grabbed my jacket. "That magical girl I met yesterday. I'm going to see her."
At my words, Popo's eyes went wide as they bounced off the sofa. "Oh my gosh! What's this, Mir? You finally made a friend?! I'm so moved!"
"It's not like that," I said, waving a hand dismissively as I slipped on my shoes.
I didn't know exactly what kind of magical girl Harang was, but she was a magical girl nonetheless. Rather than waiting around on the streets hoping to run into one by luck, sticking close to her and looking for an opening would yield a much higher success rate.
If I got lucky, I might even be able to siphon a bit of her energy when she let her guard down. You could call it a sort of undercover investigation.
"Hehe, 'not like that' my foot!" Popo wagged its tail excitedly and leaped onto my shoulder. "I'm coming too! I can't miss the chance to watch Mir go on a date with a magical girl!"
"...Don't come."
"Why not?!"
I stopped in my tracks and stared flatly at Popo. The creature didn't even flinch, instead sparkling its eyes and wagging its tail.
However, it couldn't hide the smirk leaking from the corners of its mouth. Popo had been wearing that sly grin for a while now; it was glaringly obvious the mascot just wanted to watch me squirm.
"...I think you know exactly why," I pointed out dryly.
Popo stiffened for a moment at my blunt remark, then burst into giggles, unable to hold it in any longer. "Hehe, you caught me!"
"Don't laugh. That's the condition for you coming along."
If it mocked me again, I was going to throw it out the window for real this time. Despite my chilling warning, Popo mimed zipping its lips while desperately holding back its laughter.
"Alright, alright~! I won't laugh, I swear. I am Lord Popo, after all—I keep my promises! Come on, let's go!"
It was a highly untrustworthy response, but I didn't have time to bicker here. I adjusted my clothes and completely erased my magic power.
When I arrived in front of the cafe from yesterday, I spotted Harang standing out from a distance. She looked completely different from yesterday, wearing a bright, pastel-toned dress. Even to someone as clueless as me, it was obvious she had put a lot of effort into dressing up.
"Ah, Mir! You're early!"
The moment Harang spotted me, she ran over like an excited puppy and bent down to meet my eye level. She then scanned my outfit and beamed. "Oh my gosh, Mir, you're wearing the exact same clothes as yesterday! That is so cute!"
"...Ah."
I couldn't tell if that was a compliment or a subtle dig. Since she was smiling, I figured it was a compliment. I gave a vague nod.
For a homebody like me, a single outfit was more than enough for the "going out" category. Besides, it wasn't like I had other clothes to change into anyway.
"It's just comfortable."
"Mhm, mhm! Totally normal for your age! Come on, let's go."
Before I could even finish speaking, Harang grabbed my hand and led the way. However, the direction was strange. Instead of heading into the cafe where I had returned her wallet yesterday, she was walking toward the bustling main street.
"Um, I thought we were going to the cafe..."
"Oh, that place is nice too, but Unni told you in the chat, didn't she? Today, we're going to a very special cafe with 'lots of Mirs'!"
"...A cafe with lots of me?"
"Yep!"
What on earth was she talking about?
"What does that mean..."
"Hehe, that's not important right now, Mir!"
Whether she noticed my bewilderment or not, Harang began unleashing another barrage of questions, radiating her signature high energy. "What did you do after getting home yesterday?
Since it was the weekend, you must have eaten something delicious, right? Oh, and what other clothes do you have at home? Do you have teddy bear pajamas?"
"Uh..."
My mind went blank. I had thought about this yesterday too, but where on earth did this magical girl get her endless supply of stamina?
Far from siphoning her magic power, I felt my own life force being drained in real-time as I was dragged along toward Harang's mysterious destination.
"Ah!"
In the middle of our walk, Harang suddenly stopped. Her eyes lit up as she began waving her hand frantically at someone in the distance.
"Red Sunbae!"
At her shout, a red-haired woman walking down from a nearby building turned...
Wait. Hold on. That's her.
The red-haired magical girl I saw in the park yesterday.
"Hey, I told you not to call me that in public."
"Ah, right! Hehe, force of habit."
Ignoring Red's scolding, Harang grabbed my shoulders and pushed me forward. "Sunbae, look at this! Isn't she super cute?"
"...Don't introduce a person like they're an object."
Red muttered, staring down at me. I stared back up at her, my neck growing stiff from how far up I had to look.
Was she always this tall...?
When we faced off in the park yesterday, I was sure the height difference hadn't felt this overwhelming. Now, I had to tilt my chin all the way back just to meet her eyes.
While I didn't feel the terrifying, murderous intent she had directed at me yesterday... instead, an incredibly intense, burdensome gaze swept over every inch of my face, as if she had found an amusing new toy.
This was strange. Was she suspicious of me? I had completely sealed my magic power, so there shouldn't be anything off-putting about me. Harang certainly hadn't noticed anything.
"She is pretty cute. Your younger sister?"
"Something like that!" Harang chirped.
What did she mean, 'something like that'? We were complete strangers.
"Just a stranger," I corrected.
"What?! Mir! A stranger? Unni is so hurt!"
Regardless of Harang making a fuss beside me, I kept my eyes on Red.
Uh-oh. Our eyes just met. Why was she staring at me so intensely? Did I have something on my face?
"Anyway, Re... um, Sunbae. Where are you coming from?"
Red scratched the back of her head lazily and pointed toward the downtown area behind her. "Just on my way back from training at the Magical Girl Association. I'm pretty sure I told you yesterday."
"Ah! Then this is perfect. We were actually on our way to a cat cafe! Do you want to come with us, Sunbae?"
A cat cafe?
Ah. Only then did I realize what Harang had meant earlier. So in Harang's eyes, I looked like a cat.
Hmm...
A cat and me. Me and a cat. No matter how much I thought about it, we didn't look alike at all.