Becoming the Magical Girl's Guardian
The guardianship process for Yeorum was finally complete.
I had expected there would be all sorts of mandatory training, but the requirements for guardianship were far more relaxed than those for adoption. On top of that, the circumstances were so unique—a young police officer who had once been an orphan now wanting to raise a child who had lost her parents to a monster attack—that the higher-ups fast-tracked the entire thing.
From their perspective, it must have looked admirable. A rookie cop who had only just started doing his part in the world volunteering to raise a girl who shared an almost identical tragic background. Since he was a police officer, his background check was already clear, and they could be confident he wouldn’t do anything inappropriate. That was why I was approved so quickly.
“Who… who are you, Mister…?”
Yeorum stared at me with eyes full of wariness.
I lowered myself into a crouch so I could meet her gaze at eye level. That round, chubby-cheeked face, the small stature, and those adorable eyes. She felt different from the Seo Yeorum I remembered, yet I was certain it was her.
“…Mister is the police officer who saved you, Yeorum.”
“It’s not our Yeorum…”
Yeorum’s head dropped, and she suddenly began to sob. The phrase “our Yeorum” must have been what her parents used to call her. I had known that intellectually, but when it actually happened, I panicked and reached out to her.
-Whoosh!
She flinched away from my hand and bolted into the far corner of the temporary shelter building. The gesture radiated a fierce determination never to accept me as her guardian. All I could do was stare at her helplessly, my mind racing for some way to approach her. The center director, who had been gently watching over us, offered a helpful suggestion.
“Why don’t you start by getting to know her until she’s ready to open her heart?”
“I’m not sure how to do that.”
“Hmm… I see. In that case, instead of taking her home right away, how about visiting the center regularly to spend time and play with her?”
“Would that really be all right?”
“Of course.”
Grateful for her consideration, I decided that for today we would simply get used to seeing each other’s faces.
“Yeorum… um, see you tomorrow.”
Having never been good with words, that was all I could manage. Yeorum simply stared at me in silence. I couldn’t read the look in her eyes, so I could only hope she would be a little less afraid of me. There wasn’t much else I could do anyway.
After that day, I went to the temporary shelter every single day to try to grow closer to Yeorum. Even so, the things I could actually do were extremely limited. I would bring snacks, sit beside her while she read books, or help her organize her textbooks so she could return to school. Even during that simple task, Yeorum would cry quietly, missing her parents.
It was a pain I could never have understood while simply controlling Seo Yeorum from outside the game. I was certain of one thing: I could never replace her parents. I could never take away that grief.
But there was still something I could do.
Stopping her from ever becoming a magical girl. Driving away that damned mascot, Hamzzi, even if I had to beat the creature senseless. Keeping her far away from those brutal, terrifying battles.
That much, I could do.
As I renewed my resolve and looked at her, Yeorum—for the first time in a long while—actually looked back at me. She had been working on her school homework, and instead of the usual sorrowful expression, her face was now scrunched up in deep concentration.
“Um… Mister….”
“Y-yeah? Me?”
“Yes… you said to call you Mister….”
In my previous life I had been twenty-two, and now I was twenty. I wasn’t exactly at an age where “Mister” felt appropriate, and my appearance certainly didn’t scream “old man,” but to a ten-year-old child, I suppose I was. Besides, I had introduced myself that way.
It stung a little, but I pushed the feeling aside, smiled, and answered her.
“That’s right, Yeorum.”
“This problem… do you know how to do it…?”
The question she showed me was a simple geometry problem asking for the area of a shape. I confidently walked her through the solution.
“Sure~ Mister will teach you.”
Since it was the first time Yeorum had asked me for anything, I poured my heart into explaining it. She was a bright child; she quickly grasped the steps I showed her. When she solved the problem on her own, I clapped and praised her warmly.
“Well done, Yeorum! You’re incredibly smart. Are you a genius?”
The moment she heard my praise, Yeorum’s face crumpled again.
“Hic… huhk… uuu… waaaaaaaah…”
I had praised her—why was she crying? Had I said the wrong thing? I pulled the sobbing girl into my arms and gently patted her back, trying to soothe her.
“Waaaaaaaah… huuuuuh…”
“I’m sorry, Yeorum. I won’t praise you anymore. Mister is sorry.”
“Waaaaaaaaaah… Mommy… Daddy…”
I held her tight as she wailed for her parents, patting her back again and again and again.
The next day, Yeorum asked me something that caught me completely off guard.
“Mister… are you… my daddy now…?”
Daddy. Was that the right word? No, calling me that wouldn’t be right.
“Mister is… just your ordinary guardian.”
“Gwar…dian…?”
“Well… it means the person who will feed you, raise you, and give you a place to sleep until you grow up safely.”
I kept the explanation simple, knowing a more complicated one would only confuse her. Even so, she didn’t seem to fully understand.
“Why…?”
“Hm? Why what?”
“Why are you… raising me…?”
Why indeed.
Should I tell her, “Because I’m trying to stop you from becoming a magical girl”? No, that would only confuse her more. After all, there was only ever one magical girl per generation, and even the government or the police’s Special Phenomenon Response Team had no idea such a being existed.
So I gave her the only answer I could.
“Because Mister wants you to be happy, Yeorum.”
“Me…?”
“Yes. You.”
Yeorum still looked like she didn’t quite understand. But one thing was clear: she had opened her heart to me, even if only a little. That small change was already a huge difference compared to before.
After that, I continued visiting the temporary shelter every day to see her.
“Mister… can I… live at your house now…?”
This time, Yeorum brought it up first.
“You can come whenever you want. If you like it better here at the center, you can stay. Though… it would be hard to keep living in the house you used to share with your parents.”
The truth was, she couldn’t stay at the shelter forever. If she remained here too long, I would lose my guardianship rights and she would be sent to an orphanage. The game never described it in detail, but it was clear that Yeorum had not lived a happy life in the orphanage. From my perspective—someone who genuinely wanted her happiness—sending her there wasn’t ideal. Moreover, once she became an adult and left the orphanage, I would have no way to keep track of her, and I wouldn’t be able to stop that damned Hamzzi mascot from approaching her.
Even so, I had told the small lie because I didn’t want her to feel burdened. Had all my efforts until now been in vain?
“I… I want to live at your house now, Mister.”
“Really…?”
“Yes…”
Yeorum gave a small, slow nod. Overjoyed, I pulled the little girl into a tight hug.
“Thank you so much, Yeorum…!”
“M-Mister… I… I can’t breathe…”
-Pat, pat, pat.
Yeorum tapped my back, complaining that she couldn’t breathe. Realizing what I was doing, I quickly let go and looked at her. She blinked up at me, then bowed her head politely.
“Thank you, Mister…”
“For what?”
“You saved me…”
“Ah… yes, I did.”
“And… you decided to raise me…”
“That’s right…”
“So… thank you… Mister…”
Yeorum bowed deeply in a manner far too mature for her age. Having lost her parents, she no longer behaved like a child at all, and the sight of it broke my heart even more.
I knew I could never truly be her parent. I could never replace her mother and father. But at the very least, I could make sure her future was as happy as possible.
That was the only goal I had after falling into this world. It was the sole meaning of my new life.