The Runaway Girl (1)
Why! Why do I always end up tangled up with these kinds of kids? I should be meeting good people and getting raised or something, right?
Because I'm the Demon King, maybe? But demons aren't always absolute evil. At least, demons in my era understood honor. And with that honor, no petty acts like dumping their work on others.
"What stupid shit. You crawled in here yourself... Kyuaak!"
"Why are you doing that?"
"It's nothing."
I grab Ren who's spouting nonsense and shove her into the laundry basket with the other laundry.
This is the only chance. Once I find out the true identity of this runaway fam, I'll smash them or kill them.
"Ah, you're here, unnies."
Kim Su-jeong looked up from the laundry and gave each of the girls who came in a cheerful greeting. Even though she was still young, if she had this much ability, she could survive being dumped anywhere in the Demon Realm.
"Is this the kid? She looks like a princess, but she's got no manners. Rich kid who ran away from home? Why did you leave?"
I was standing there casually when some pig-faced girl sneered and poked my head with her finger. Just one more tap and I'd cut off her arm.
"I heard about you."
A man burst in. Young, with dyed blonde hair, and slender.
"Hi? I'm Kim Gwanghun."
He offered me his hand. I slowly shook it.
"I feel... thick malice."
Ren, soaked and dripping water, muttered the obvious with a serious face.
"What did that guy ask you to do?"
"Just delivery."
That night, I had to sleep pressed against Kim Su-jeong in the narrow corner under the sink. Kim Gwanghun had said that as long as I did the job well, he wouldn't ask questions and would provide food and a place to sleep.
"Delivery?"
"Yeah. It's nothing special. We were all like this when we were young."
"...Sure. You're really young."
I laughed at his light answer. What kind of ordinary thing like chicken delivery would he ask for?
This guy didn't even know what he was carrying.
"Then why hesitate! This is another chance to rack up merit points! Don't throw it away!"
[Idiot. After last time, you still do this? This is a chance now.]
"A chance... Yeah, that's right!"
Ren grumbled until she finally got it and smacked her own hand. It was an opportunity she didn't want to give me, but still.
Kim Gwanghun was clearly a villain who magical girls earned merit points for. But from what I saw, he wasn't the real body.
A drug mule hiding behind the runaway fam. There had to be a bigger boss somewhere. Just like last time when I wiped out the international crime organization using the orphanage as a broker, this time I could sneak in and wipe them out too.
"Hey, Su-jeong."
Just as I was about to plan and fall asleep, someone shouted.
"Aaaah! Sorry, unnies!"
Kim Su-jeong, being dragged by the ankle, started hitting like a dog in her sleep. Even half-asleep, she curled up on the floor, apologizing over and over while sobbing.
"Stop it! You didn't do my laundry!"
"I really didn't know! I swear... Aaaah!"
The girl dragging Kim Su-jeong and beating her mercilessly was the same pig-faced one from earlier.
I'd heard the name but forgotten it. Anyway, the strongest one here?
Actually, no one could stop the nighttime brawls. Or maybe they just got used to it.
"Hey, that's enough."
Still, someone stepped up. It was Jeon So-hyun, the one I'd met here for the first time.
"Fuck, you're causing trouble again?"
"You're the one making noise at this hour."
The two girls stared at each other. I watched the real fight with interest, different from the catfights I'd seen with demons. If I had to fight, I hoped So-hyun would win.
"You gonna hit me? Just like before, mess up my face so I can't work?"
"..."
But unfortunately, these two already had history. The pig-faced girl looked stronger than average-built So-hyun.
"And why would I cause trouble? This trash didn't do her job. So, hit me."
"Ugh..."
Every time the pig-faced girl spoke, she kicked Kim Su-jeong on the floor.
Finally, So-hyun bit her lip, turned her back, and grabbed the pig-faced girl's hair, forcing her to stand up.
She raised her fist. If I saw it, it would break something.
"Hey."
At that moment, every eye turned to me. Now that it had come to this, I might as well enjoy it. After all, it wouldn't last long.
"I think I left that laundry behind."
"...What?"
"Su-jeong and I split it, and I think I left some."
I spoke boldly. The pig-faced girl let go of Kim Su-jeong's hair.
"You... Fuck, you're really honest."
The pig-faced girl sneered and approached me. She's really big. The ground shakes with every step.
"Hah."
"Idiot. Do you think this is a school? If you tell the truth, I'll spare you?"
The pig-faced girl twisted my hair. Then she raised her fist.
"I tattoo this on your body so you remember. If you mess up, you'll just get beaten like a dog. Since you were honest, I'll end it here. Your pretty face is going to get ruined."
Her thick sausage-like hand slapped my cheek, twisting my head. At that moment, our eyes met with Kim Su-jeong.
Those eyes... not the first time I'd seen them.
Slap!
With a strong impact, fire exploded from my cheek, or rather, the right side of my face.
Slap!
Blood spurted from my lip. For now, to avoid suspicion, I lowered my durability on purpose. The pain was dulled from long use, so it didn't bother me.
Slap!
Blood now dripped from my nose too. I quietly watched Kim Su-jeong sobbing and closed my eyes. I didn't need to feel sorry.
After all, this pig-faced girl was going to die by my own hands once this job ended.
Slap! Thud!
With the final blow, my body, covered in blood, collapsed to the floor.
*
"Don't touch it. It burns."
"Thank you."
"That bitch is still beating her up right now... Sorry, but you should sleep outside tonight. If that girl wakes up and starts causing trouble again, you'll get beaten too."
Jeon So-hyun, who had applied medicine to my face in front of the villa's alley, sighed and went back inside. It was a mess now, but it would heal quickly.
I stood in the cold night breeze and sighed.
"...I didn't ask for help. So don't say thank you."
"What a good mindset. But if that's the case, stop crying and speak."
"Hic... Uwaaang..."
Kim Su-jeong finally burst into the sobs she had been holding back. I didn't push away the girl clinging to me and sobbing.
I felt dirty. This wasn't the dark, gloomy side I came to Earth to see. It was the distant, ever-burning nightlife and pleasure far away.
"Idiot... Is your body yours! Your body belongs to our company!"
I kicked Ren, who was grumbling, flying her far away. Then I pulled away sobbing Kim Su-jeong.
"Let's go inside."
"...I don't want to."
"Then go home."
"If I go home, Dad will hit me."
"..."
"I've always wished someone would help. But there's no one. Not the police, not even the magical girls. Maybe they think I'm not pitiful."
Once the sorrow broke free, Kim Su-jeong kept spilling details I didn't need to hear, making me feel more burdened. But I had nothing to say to her.
Survival of the fittest. That was the basic rule of the Demon Realm. Even if she was a thirteen-year-old child.
"What happens after the magical girl helps?"
"...Huh?"
"Fundamentally, you need to have your posture in order. But it's fine. From what I see, you already have enough posture."
I sat on the stairs inside the villa with a thud and laughed. Kim Su-jeong sat beside me and buried her head in my lap.
Eventually, we spent the whole night on the stairs, pressed together against the cold wind. More precisely, she warmed herself with my body heat so she wouldn't freeze.
"Good. Today, Jin-ah, take Su-jeong and teach her."
Early the next morning, Kim Gwanghun came looking. He didn't even blink at my ruined face. He had expected it. A piece of trash.
Then he took a tape-wrapped object from his pocket and handed it to Kim Su-jeong. She tucked it into her waist pouch, hiding it under her clothes.
"Go and come back. That's your job."
He smiled smugly and sent us off. That guy would probably just watch the info and then decapitate them.
"Let's go. It's not far."
Kim Su-jeong, who had found her smile again, took my hand and led the way. Her wariness of me had mostly disappeared. If anything, she was getting too close, which was a problem.
"Ah..."
"The Code Red magical girl, Takilas."
While crossing the city, something caught our eyes. It was the image of a magical girl on the billboard news.
A black-haired, black-eyed magical girl who beheaded aberrations in one strike with her shadow blades.
"Amazing."
Kim Su-jeong muttered blankly. She probably didn't know what Code Red meant.
"No, I do. A magical girl who kills people."
"But you think it's amazing? Just from this news, they're screaming that she needs to be arrested. She's a nuisance that disrupts the law."
"But she's killing bad people. I... I think that's better. Rather than releasing the guy who beat and raped his own daughter after just a few days."
"..."
I kept my mouth shut.
After walking, resting, and walking for more than half a day, we arrived at an ordinary-looking commercial building.