The Mother Awakens
Becoming the Mother hadn't changed who I was at all.
Becoming a woman hadn't changed who I was either.
My body had simply changed, but I was still me. And even as a woman, I had no intention of dating or anything like that.
Even as a woman and the Mother of Mogumogu, and even if I had to head to the Mogumogu base, there were still various procedures left.
Procedures like canceling the lease on the apartment I was living in or resigning from the company, but for some reason, people's eyes still saw me as male.
"It's because of magic. If I became a woman, there'd be an immediate scandal in the human society, wouldn't there? For now, I've cast a spell to make me look male. Normally, a mascot like me would—"
"But I can't use magic," Keru said to me.
Ah, Keru had said that was the name of the black cat mascot. Keru was now going to be my mascot, and I was the Mother, but I was still the evil magical girl who continues the legacy, the leader of the evil magical girls who continue the Mogumogu lineage, he had said.
Somehow, the part about continuing the legacy didn't sit well with me, but Keru didn't explain it in detail. Just, like, picking someone like me to take on the Mother role, I suppose.
"I originally didn't have enough magic power to use magic. As you can see, my body is this size. If I have to use magic, I have to borrow my master's magic power... Normally that wouldn't work, but since your magic power is way beyond imagination, it was possible. I used a bit of my magic power, is there anything strange?"
"No, nothing. My body feels incredibly light and, above all, refreshing."
"Really, I don't know how such a magic power is possible. If I had been a woman from the start, I might have become a magical girl already. If I had become a magical girl, it would have been a real disaster for the Mogumogu organization."
******
About a month had passed since I became a woman. In that time, I had sorted out the necessary procedures, which included registering a new identity.
It seemed like there would be some complicated procedures, but when I went to the place Keru was taking me, it proceeded smoothly as if he had known in advance.
After sorting out the necessary things including those procedures, Keru and I headed to the Mogumogu base.
"Here?"
"Yeah."
It was just a building. A five-story building on the outskirts of Seoul. And Mogumogu went to the underground floor, not the ground floor.
"The original base was in the heart of Seoul, that is, precisely in Gangnam..."
continued Keru's explanation.
"Because it got destroyed by the magical girls, and while repairing it, I couldn't afford the maintenance costs and rent. With the current funds, this is the limit."
Strange, realistic. Or rather, originally, they said magical girls don't pay rent while living in Tower Palace. The balance doesn't match.
"Is Mogumogu really the evil force?"
"Yeah. After all, we did cause destruction, right? You almost died, remember."
Well, that's true, but it feels like good and evil have been swapped somehow.
Well, it doesn't matter. Following Keru's guidance, the underground floor we descended to had many rooms. The sound of machines running could be heard from various places, and above all, several figures in black tights—"something"—kept glancing at Keru and me.
They looked human, but somehow they didn't seem human. Like, that feeling of "the culprit" from that famous detective manga...?
I decided to call them "criminals" for my convenience. After all, they were already that way. Several of those criminals were busily repairing machines or whispering and talking among themselves.
Keru flew ahead of me, calling out to someone. But how could that cat fly so well without wings? Amazing.
"Doosik."
Upon Keru's call, a fairly large-built man quickly ran over from across the machines. His surname was probably Kwak. It seemed like a name that fit.
Doosik quickly ran over and bowed deeply in front of Keru and me. A man who was taller than me and looked twice as wide on the side bowed so deeply, which made me feel quite burdened.
"Keru-nim, you have arrived."
"Yeah. Here, introduce yourself. This is the new Mother."
At Keru's words, Doosik's face lit up noticeably.
"Ah, finally the Mother has come! Then, what should I call you?"
"Ah, you knew that... Hey, what name do you want to use?"
"My name? My name is Junwoo..."
"No, no no, not the real name. The boss of the Mogumogu organization, Junwoo! That doesn't look good, idiot. It's the alias, the alias."
"I haven't decided on that yet?"
I had never heard of such a thing to begin with.
"If it's an alias, is it like those things magical girls shout when they appear? It would be good to decide on something cool for this."
"Once decided, can't it be changed?"
It should be changeable if I made a mistake. Keru tilted his head at my question and answered.
"It can be changed, but the impact of the first alias I made probably won't be as much, right? Since the alias has been changed in front of the public, from now on call me by this! That doesn't look good."
That was a persuasive argument in its own way. Once decided and announced, changing it again would take time and have less impact.
I should have told them sooner. It would have been better if I had thought about it in advance. I frowned and fell into thought.
"Precure..."
After pondering for a long time, my answer was cut off before I could finish. Too much.
"No way."
"But this is the root of the magical girl...?"
"Copyright issue. That one costs a lot in royalties too. No way. Absolutely no."
Wait, why is there a sense of lawfulness here? Are you guys really villains? I've never seen villains care about copyright.
"Then, Blaze..."
"Too common."
"Then, Dark..."
"Ah, that novel was fun. It was serialized. I wonder if the author will come back."
"Lyrical..."
Keru started glaring at me with narrowing eyes. I was wrong not to give him time to think of an alias, right? Huh?
"Can't. That's the really expensive one. More expensive than Precure, I tell you."
"It's being serialized on a semen extraction site, that one. I've been paying for it bit by bit."
"Angel..."
"Our evil organization."
Even after going through all the magical girl names that come to mind, all I got was "can't". Eventually, I got annoyed too.
"I don't know! They all say no."
"Then decide later. Anyway, this is Kwak Doosik. For now, she's your subordinate. Even though she looks like this, she's smart."
It wasn't Doosik.
"Mother, Kwak Doosik. Nice to meet you."
Seeing her extend her hand as if to shake, I also reached out and shook her hand. While shaking, Doosik's face was a bit red.
Did she blush because she shook a woman's hand? She has a surprisingly innocent side. It was interesting, so I wanted to hold her hand longer, but Doosik let go first. Too bad.
With me in the middle, Keru and Doosik continued their conversation. No matter what they said, since I couldn't understand, it was frustrating.
"Anyway, she's an exceptionally strong magical girl. Don't get cocky, let's try producing one as a test. Is the equipment all ready?"
"Yes, Keru-nim. We've checked everything, and as long as the magic power injection is done properly, production is no problem."
"Then, Mother, come this way."
"Yeah."
Finally, my turn.
I followed Keru into one of the many rooms.
Keru, who had flown into the room first, turned on the lights, revealing the room. Inside, hoses were scattered everywhere, there was one glass tube shaped like something a person could enter, and on the opposite side, several test-tube-like things connected to hoses.
And several criminals were busily doing something in the room.
"There are people here. Why aren't you turning on the lights in the room?"
"They have night vision."
Then, no comment.
"Let’s try lightly. After all, I’ve never seen anything succeed from the start. Mother, go stand over there."
There was a glass tube like a tube in the place Keru pointed.
"That’s the mold, right? You can stand in there. You might feel a bit weird, but since it’s extracting magic power, don’t worry."
"Uh, okay."
As I followed the instructions and stood in the glass tube, I saw Doosik pulling a lever. The lid of the glass tube closed, and pink smoke began filling the tube.
"Hnght…?!"
A tingling sensation shot up from my lower abdomen. Soon it spread throughout my body, and somehow a hot heat began spreading inside my chest.
"W-what is this magic power?!"
Keru’s voice sounded panicked, but I had no time to care. The tingling sensation spreading throughout my body made my mind strangely twist.
"Huuuung—"
A strange moaning sound flowed out from my mouth.