Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Meeting Place
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Kedi had vanished.
"...Miss Solar, I believe this is our first proper introduction."
I slowly walked over to where Ji-yeon and Ji-hoon were, speaking to Solar.
"I'm Clok, the Time Monster who values the precious time of you magical girls. I'm sorry I couldn't greet you properly yesterday."
"O- Oh, no, Mr. Clok..."
Ji-yeon had nearly called me 'bro' out of habit but quickly corrected herself.
It didn't really matter to me, but her instinctive consideration was truly admirable.
However...
"...Oh dear, your arm's broken."
The emotion I should be feeling right now wasn't admiration—it was guilt.
I'd thought stopping time right after assessing the situation would keep everyone safe, but things had turned out like this.
'Note to self: I'm a time-stop monster, not a time-reversal one.'
Of course, Ji-yeon would recover soon enough since she was a monster herself, but the fact remained that this had happened while I was briefly away.
It was undeniably my mistake.
"I'm sorry. I should have been more careful."
"No, it's fine... You can't spend all your time with us."
"But..."
"Really, it's okay. Ji-hoon doesn't have a scratch on him, so I'm actually relieved."
"...I promise. This won't happen again. I swear it on my time."
The greatest vow a time-stop monster could make.
I meant it sincerely.
'Though according to Kedi, nothing like this will happen in the future anyway...'
But what if?
I wanted to chat more with Solar, but with Ji-yeon injured, we had to head back.
"Miss Solar, I'm truly sorry, but I need to go now since my comrade is hurt."
"What? Hey, wait a sec!"
"Is there something you wanted to say?"
In response to my question, Solar raised her staff and shouted.
"What do you think you're doing, trying to leave so casually? I'm a magical girl! Sure, I'm a rookie compared to Comet, but I won't just let the monster in front of me go!"
"Is that so?"
I seized the flow of time until it reached right in front of Solar's nose, then released it.
"Kyaa?!"
Solar jolted back in surprise.
I spat out curtly toward her.
"So, what can you do about it?"
"...What?"
"All you can do is wide-area attacks, right?"
"!!"
"You were about to use your finisher on Miss Kedi earlier, too. Even with that building full of people behind her."
"Th-that was—"
"Of course, I understand. You just became a magical girl yesterday, and an out-of-spec monster appeared before you. But a magical girl shouldn't focus solely on the enemy right in front of her."
"...You're right."
"And the one who blocked your finisher? That was me. In other words, I can neutralize something like your finisher with ease."
"!!"
Solar's eyes widened as realization dawned.
Her reaction was pretty cute.
"Get stronger and come back. Right now, you can't even compete with me. Honestly, you'd lose in seconds to my comrades back there."
"You...!"
"Whoa, whoa, then I'll be off. I hope you take something from this."
I seized the flow of time again and headed up first to check on the house.
I needed to hide Ji-yeon and Ji-hoon somewhere.
"Shit."
Unfortunately, not only was my place wrecked, but the apartments above and below were smashed too.
No way I could hide them here.
Guess I'd leave the two at the old hideout until I could secure a new place, and hustle to sort out housing in the meantime.
"...They're gone."
Clok and the two monsters had all disappeared.
All that was left was Solar, alone.
"Shit..."
Too much had happened in such a short time.
She'd despaired once at the Breeding Monster's unreasonable power, then despaired again at the sudden appearance of the crow monster.
'There sure are a lot of monsters.'
Clok. The one who popped up out of nowhere was a monster too.
The mood had felt light because of him alone, but unlike Kedi—or whatever her name was—whose attacks were visible, Clok's weren't even perceptible.
'Comet... You've been fighting guys like this all alone?'
Lost in the despair of what she'd just experienced, Solar pondered how grueling Comet's battles must have been.
She'd only seen five monsters so far, and already she'd encountered beasts like these.
"...Amazing."
Comet was incredible for protecting Korea single-handedly against monsters like this.
Something Solar, with her hot temper and foul mouth, could never pull off.
As Solar lost herself in thought, something blue came flying rapidly from the distance.
"...Comet?"
"Solaaaaa!"
It was Magical Comet.
She landed swiftly in front of Solar and hugged her tight.
"Are you okay? Sorry I'm late! A monster showed up way out in the boonies..."
"...I'm fine. You've been handling monsters solo forever, right? I can manage this much."
"I'm really sorry..."
Comet looked at her with genuine remorse.
Solar couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the sight.
'You've been through way worse yourself, so why's she apologizing to me?'
Comet seemed truly sorry, as if it were her own fault.
Solar placed a hand on Comet's shoulder.
"Hey, Comet."
"Yeah...?"
"You got time on your hands?"
"Huh?"
"You got time?"
"Oh... Yeah. My routine's just staying vigilant for monsters, so no real schedule!"
"Then hang out with me."
"What?!"
Comet jumped in shock, eyes wide.
Solar smirked and continued.
"I was gonna bond with my mascot anyway since I just became a magical girl yesterday. Now that we've met like this, join us."
"B-but hanging out with me wouldn't be that fun...?"
"So what? You're the great hero protecting our country."
"...You sure it's okay?"
"Yeah. You live in Seoul too, right?"
"Y-yeah."
"Cool... Ah, shit, transforming makes my phone vanish? Anyway, see that apartment? Meet out front?"
"Sure!"
"Oh, my number is..."
Solar and Comet made sudden plans, then flew off in different directions to release their transformations.
Once transformed back, a red puppy appeared beside Hwa-yeon.
"Hey, Solia. I'm hanging out with Comet, so heads up."
[You... You know I don't get along with Comet's mascot, right meow?]
"Yeah?"
Solia shifted to her human form and continued.
"Yeah. Comet's great—no one could hate her, honestly... But that mascot, Aste? No way. She's a total psycho."
"That bad?"
"Yeah! She's obsessed with self-sacrifice! Sure, she says cats have nine lives, but each one's still precious, right?"
"Well... Yeah."
"But she volunteered as mascot when she hasn't even fully grown yet, claiming her nine lives make it fine?"
"Hmm..."
Solia ranted on, clearly with a lot pent up.
Snapping out of it, she hurriedly led Hwa-yeon to her place.
"Alright, let's head up. Please don't tell me that monster trashed our apartment..."
Guided by Solia, she took the elevator up.
-Floor 15.
"Please, please, please... Oh! It's intact— Wait?! The neighbor's...!"
Her own place was fine, but the one next door was blown open. Solia gasped in shock.
She anxiously scanned the collapsed neighbor's unit.
"Is Si-woo okay...? He better have been out...!"
Solia pulled out her phone from her pocket and called someone.
Hwa-yeon stared in surprise and asked.
"You have a phone too?!"
"They hook us up with money and ID in your world—what's the big deal? Come on... Come on... Ah! He picked up! Si-woo! You okay?! Oh, you were out? Phew... Thank goodness..."
Hwa-yeon watched in fascination as Solia chatted with a guy.
A mascot on the phone with a man? Who'd have thought.
The call dragged on far longer than expected—nearly 30 minutes.
-♪~
"Oh, looks like she's here."
An unknown number called.
Hwa-yeon snatched it up, and sure enough, it was her.
-S-Sola...?
"Yeah, it's me. You here? That was quick."
-My place isn't far...
"Got it, coming down. Oh, does your mascot turn into a human girl too?"
-Yeah. Standing with Aste. She's tall with dark blue hair—easy to spot.
"Roger. On my way."
Hwa-yeon hung up and moved.
She beckoned Solia, who hurriedly ended her call.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry, gotta go now. Guest's here. Oh, glad you're safe too. Bye?"
-Click.
The two boarded the arriving elevator. Hwa-yeon grinned at Solia.
"Wow, our mascot's got hearts in her eyes, huh?"
"...H-hey! No, I don't!"
"Dog barking nonsense? Then why'd you hog the phone for 30 minutes?"
"...Just a close dongsaeng. Kinda hot."
"Pfft, bullshit."
Bickering playfully, Hwa-yeon and Solia headed to Comet. Soon, they spotted her—not in magical girl form—along with her mascot.
"...That's her?"
"Yep. That damn cat bitch."
A pure-looking woman with light sky-blue bobbed hair, and beside her, a tall woman with dark blue long hair wearing a haughty expression.
Their stunning looks drew plenty of stares.
"...Comet—shit, no. People are coming back out. What do I call her?"
"Hold on. I'll signal the cat bitch."
Leaving Hwa-yeon pondering, Solia glared at the dark-blue-haired woman.
The woman immediately turned to Solia.
She whispered to the light sky-blue-haired woman beside her, who beamed and waved at Hwa-yeon.
"Over here!"
"...Damn, she's adorable."
"Agreed."
Hwa-yeon and Solia hurried over, finally bringing the magical girls and mascots together.
"Sol—uh, hmm... What's your name?"
"Hwa-yeon. Yoo Hwa-yeon."
"I'm Kim A-ri! Call me A-ri!"
"Got it, A-ri. You're even prettier out of transformation."
"You too, unnie!"
A-ri and Hwa-yeon chatted warmly.
Meanwhile...
"...Hey."
"What."
"Just so you know, I'm here for my magical girl. I have zero interest in bonding with you."
"Who said I wanna bond with you?"
"Ha! Bullshit."
"High opinion of yourself."
"...This cat bitch."
"Such a filthy mouth."
The mascots' conversation was anything but friendly.
Noticing as they talked, A-ri and Hwa-yeon rushed to intervene.
"Okay, okay, let's head to the house first! Our Sol—"
"Sori."
"Right! Sori's place has tons of fun stuff!"
"Yay! Sounds great, Hwa-yeon unnie!"
"... ."
Dragging the unenthused mascots, the two magical girls boarded the elevator.
As the four got off, the elevator descended again.
Aste frowned at the wrecked neighbor's place and asked Solia.
"You let the neighbor's collapse as a mascot? Not the magical girl's fault, so it's on you."
"What? You little...!"
The mascots clashed again instantly.
As A-ri and Hwa-yeon pulled them apart, the elevator returned.
-Floor 15.
In the chaotic tangle of four women, the doors opened to reveal...
"Huh? Si-woo?!"
"Huh? Si-woo-ssi?"
A blond man—Han Si-woo.
Solia and Aste called out in surprise.
"Hah?"
"Huh?"
Their gazes clashed in midair.