Bitter Espresso and Sealed Secrets
Bitter coffee, gotta get some...
The moment she defeated the kaijin, the world around us—which had felt like total apocalypse—began reverting to its everyday scenery.
My mana hadn't recovered, but the wounds from the fight with the kaijin healed as if time itself was rewinding.
Experiencing it firsthand was a first for me, and it felt pretty surreal.
Before long, everything had returned to normal.
"Are you two both okay!?"
An Association staffer came running toward us.
They must've been watching from outside.
...No way they heard our entire conversation inside, right? If so, that'd be bad news for her privacy.
I was worrying about that when—
Click-clack.
A familiar sound of heels echoed.
Playful yet elegant footsteps, unmistakably hers.
"Branch Manager...! What brings you here...!"
The Nowon Branch manager of the Magical Girl Association.
Han Seokjun.
"Just checking in to see how everyone's doing~"
Lies.
His eyes were clearly fixed on me and English Lavender.
"Ah, yep! I'll get back to work then!"
The staffer seemed to catch on and quickly made themselves scarce.
And standing beside him...
"Do you have to drop hints like that? You could just say it outright."
Joo Jihyun.
One of the top B-rank magical girls who'd retired a decade ago.
It was amusing to see her ribbing the branch manager, but I wasn't about to let my guard down.
Them showing up here meant there was an official reason.
Wouldn't it be better if they just left?
He's more trustworthy than he seems, surprisingly.
She hadn't worked at this branch, but I'd run into her once at another while touring the Association with some other magical girls. She'd popped up out of nowhere asking for autographs.
She ended up getting smacked a few times by her secretary beside her and eventually left, but still.
No true magical girl fan is a bad person.
...I get the sense you know he's just as off-kilter as you.
Way too harsh.
"Haha, first off, thank you both—Lavender and Pronesis—for teaming up to take down that B-rank kaijin."
As he glanced around, his gaze lingered on one spot.
"...?"
Wondering what was up, I followed his eyes and saw...
"Dad..."
The kaijin who'd just been our enemy moments ago.
Plenty of questions still lingered.
What was that thing that burst from his body and got impaled by Lavender's spear? Was the man in front of us really her father? And who was the existence only she knew about?
"Hmm..."
Seokjun observed Lavender's reaction for a moment before speaking.
"For now... with all these eyes around, maybe we should head somewhere quieter to talk?"
"Hold on."
Lavender stopped him.
"What's wrong?"
"What... happens to Dad?"
He pondered her question briefly, then spoke again.
"We'll take him back to the Association for now. He doesn't ping on the detectors right now... but we can't just let a former kaijin walk free."
As his explanation dragged on, Lavender's expression darkened. Noticing that, he tried to reassure her.
"Don't worry too much. If he's not deemed a major threat, we'll arrange for him to stay inside Association premises for a while."
Only then did her face brighten a little.
"Looks like that's settled some of your concerns, so shall we really get going now?"
"This way."
We followed him through some alley and arrived at a small, quiet café.
Serene design, the aroma of fragrant coffee wafting through the air.
If I could, I'd make this my regular spot—but truth be told, this place has no actual staff or customers.
"Welcome. To my secret garden."
If anything, Seokjun—who'd just greeted me—was the closest thing to staff.
"Please, for real..."
His secretary clutched her head like she had a migraine. It was pretty hilarious.
Sharp folks probably already guessed, but this was a secret café run directly by the Association.
One of the spots used for talks too sensitive for HQ or meetings with outsiders.
I'd frequented it myself back when counseling magical girls on their troubles.
As I casually scanned the familiar surroundings, he showed us to seats and had his secretary brew coffee.
"Do either of you have a favorite?"
Hmm.
I was mulling over my order when...
"Espresso for me..."
Lavender had already ordered espresso.
"Espresso for me too, then."
No point dragging it out, so I went with espresso—but I caught some weird looks.
Like, A kid ordering espresso to look cool, huh?
Hmm.
Still, this could be fun in its own way.
While Jihyun prepared the coffee, Seokjun sat and quietly spoke up.
"First, my sincere thanks to you both for taking down that B-rank kaijin."
He bowed his head slightly from his seat to express his gratitude.
"I'm no good at icebreakers, so straight to the point...
He locked eyes with Lavender and continued.
"The kaijin you defeated was a B-rank we'd lost track of ten years ago."
He fiddled with his tablet, pulling up info on the screen.
Doppelganger
Rank: B
...There was a kaijin like this?
I shot him a puzzled look, and he began explaining in detail.
"Its identity would cause mass panic if revealed, so it's one of our top-secret kaijin."
"From what we've gathered, it has two main abilities. First, it manipulates people's minds in specific directions... and second, it takes over the bodies of those who've been mentally weakened."
"Hold on."
Something in his words bugged me, so I cut in.
I got the part about societal chaos—news of a kaijin that could impersonate humans would spark mass paranoia.
But that wasn't the odd part.
"From what I know, its ability is manipulating nearby objects. Kaijin abilities scale with rank: 1 for C and below, 2 for B, 3 for A. Was the rank assessment off?"
Kaijin abilities increase by rank: 1 for ≤C, 2 for B, 3 for A, and so on.
If true, the one we just beat should've been A-rank—but that didn't add up.
Not doubting Lavender's strength.
The gap between C and B is huge; B to A is even bigger.
"Mind if I field this one?"
As I voiced my doubt, Jihyun—who'd brought the coffee—answered instead.
"First off... when it takes over a person's body—ah, here's your espresso. Anyway, it grants the host a new ability."
...That's basically...
"A kaijin...?"
Turning a person into a kaijin?
I'd heard of corrupted magical girls being classified as kaijin.
English Lavender herself had shown pre-corruption symptoms before.
But a regular person becoming one? Never.
I met the branch manager's eyes.
His steady gaze seemed to confirm his secretary's words as truth.
Just so you know, he hasn't felt like a kaijin since emerging from the Shadow World.
Questions piled up.
He was branch manager, so he knew more than me, even stuff I hadn't heard.
But his eyes pierced right through me.
Even if you ask, we won't tell you.
"We called you here because we need some discretion. Lavender's Association, fine—but you're a wild magical girl, so..."
Hah.
What an unreasonable guy.
Stingy with info for me, but demanding my silence.
Sensing my subtle frustration, he asked what I wanted.
"Not expecting you to do it for nothing, of course. We'll grant one request on behalf of the Association."
Hmm.
Honestly, nothing specific came to mind.
Made it awkward.
Chance to squeeze something from the Association, but passing it up felt wasteful.
Ah, how about this?
"Any chance of an English Lavender plushie?"
I already had one from Seoyeon, but backup merch was always good.
"...Pardon?"
He looked flustered and asked again.
"That's really what you want? We could do 1 billion won cash right now..."
Money was tempting but whatever—Sofia could wring that out of magic beasts or kaijin.
"It's fine."
"Hmm... Understood. If you could just sign this contract then."
After signing the contract, he and his secretary prepared to leave the café.
"Looks like you two have plenty to discuss... wouldn't be polite for adults like us to intrude. We'll head out first."
Phew.
Finally, just the two of us to talk.
I turned to English Lavender.
She watched me back with a resolute expression, clearly brimming with things to say.
I took a sip of the coffee on the table—
"...Bitter."
"Pfft."