Thank You, Venus

In a situation that lined up perfectly with the news of her retirement, the person stuck right at her side was a middle-school girl who looked like everything around her was completely foreign.

"And the one next to you is…?"

I was already almost certain, but I still tossed out the short question because I wanted to hear it from her own mouth.

Venus gave a little shrug of her shoulders and laid it out cleanly, as if she no longer held even a scrap of attachment to the name Magical Girl.

"She's the one who's going to sit in the new Venus seat for me from now on."

"Ah—hello!"

When Venus's hand landed on the stiff-shouldered student's back, the girl dipped her upper body in a polite bow like a fresh private who'd just transferred in, and offered her greeting to both me and Siyeon.

At that awkward, green look of hers, the original Venus chuckled under her breath and formally introduced the Magical Girl who would soon claim the name Venus for herself.

"Family name Kim, given name Minji. If you think about it she's your junior, so take good care of her, okay?"

"Um… please take care of me."

Then a brief stretch of silence.

Awkward quiet.

While the rest of us were still fumbling for something to say, the student named Minji kept talking.

"But… are you two always transformed like that…?"

"Hm? Ah~"

Venus tilted her head, then let out a little sound of understanding once she realized just how used to it she had become.

Me and Siyeon, looking far too young for anyone to ever believe those were our original faces.

To the thoroughly mistaken student named Minji, Venus explained it with perfect calm.

"That? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That's not a transformation."

"What?! Really?"

"Yeah… the fact that I've gotten this used to it is actually a little scary…."

Minji jumped in shock while Venus reacted with a self-deprecating little laugh.

Back at the meetup everyone had already gotten used to it, so we never noticed—but that was the normal reaction.

When Magical Girls who were far too accustomed to child exploitation gathered together, a gap in common sense opened up between them and ordinary people just like this.

"Alright, up we go."

All of a sudden Venus scooped both me and Siyeon up, one in each arm, and lifted us to chest height.

She patted our bottoms the way you would with babies and smiled down at us with pure kindness.

"You two had a rough two weeks because of us. Good work, my little ones."

Anyway—why had Venus come all the way out here today?

The exact hours she had spent handing every last detail of the Magical Girl known as Venus over to the student named Minji.

During that time we had been covering the monster hunts in Sokcho in her place, and she had come simply to offer her thanks, even if only in words.

Once my feet were back on the ground I curled my thumb and index finger into a neat little circle and answered with a proud look on my face.

"We made sure to take our proper cut, so it's fine."

"Thorough! I love it!"

A round of formal thanks and "no problem" replies went by, and the conversation kept flowing in a mood not much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠different from the meetup.

"Summer break's ending soon, right? How are you getting back?"

"The civil-servant uncles said they'd give us a ride, but…"

"Is that so? Those guys are busy people, though. They might not be able to pick you up after all, so just keep that in mind for now."

Before long the talk had drifted all the way to transportation out of Sokcho.

Even I could tell it was hard to insert myself into the conversation between Magical Girls.

Meanwhile the student named Minji was fully occupied playing with Siyeon.

The way she hoisted Siyeon high and flew her around like an airplane looked exactly like an older sister with a huge age gap doting on her little sister.

"Got it. But… about the memories…"

"Ah, that…."

The moment I brought up the topic we hadn't been able to touch at the meetup, her expression darkened a little.

She had already told Minji everything there was to know about being a Magical Girl, so according to her own words the time to replace her memories was drawing near.

"I said it all bold and confident back then… but the truth is, I'm still thinking it over."

"Why?"

From the way she had acted at the meetup, it had looked like she was ready to wipe her memories and walk out of the café that very day.

That wistful smile hadn't seemed faked, and the way she talked about having people she cared about now had sounded completely real.

Not that I was a lie detector or anything—I couldn't know for sure—but that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was at least how it had looked to me.

After chewing on her words for a while, Venus finally spilled her real feelings, maybe figuring it was fine since I was just a kid.

"I keep wondering whether the memories from when I was a Magical Girl are what made me into who I am now."

"Who you are now?"

"Yeah… how do I even explain this?"

She let out a thoughtful little hum and a long breath, then continued as if a good way of putting it had just come to her.

"If every memory from when I was a Magical Girl gets swapped out… from that point on, could I even still call that person me? The me sitting right here talking to you would basically stop existing."

"……."

Faced with that serious worry, I couldn't give her any clear answer.

It was a question only the person living it could answer; someone who wasn't her had no right to speak carelessly about it.

She must have noticed the conversation drifting darker, because she cut herself off and tried hard to steer things back toward brighter territory.

"What am I even saying to a kid? Sun, it's fine—just forget everything I just said."

"Hold on a second."

It might not have been a perfect answer to her question, but it was something I still wanted the current Magical Girl Venus to see.

I pulled out my phone, opened a website, and headed into a gallery that might have felt a little unfamiliar to a woman—then found the post.

I tapped the post and held out the phone—not with some clean, perfect answer to her dilemma, but with a wall of thousands of words of pure gratitude.

"Here."

"What is this?"

"Just look at it first."

Still tilting her head, Venus took the phone.

Every single monster she had ever defeated, from her very first mission all the way to the day she announced her retirement.

Not one piece of news left out—her entire record of achievements written down.

Her finger moved without stopping, slow and careful, as if she were trying to drink in every last black letter on the screen.

At some point that finger came to a complete stop.

She leaned forward on the sofa, and around the time a soft, choked sound started to slip out…

I had no choice but to quietly take the other two and leave the room.

What a Magical Girl who had already grown into a full adult needed most was, surprisingly, neither money right this second nor even the people she held dear…

Just a few sincere words of thanks from a crowd of complete strangers.

"Khngh… a kid making a full-grown adult cry…."

Before long Venus came looking for us on her own in the spot we had retreated to.

Her eyes were red and her makeup had run a little—she must have cried quite a bit.

On the screen of the phone she handed back, faint damp spots still lingered where she had hurriedly wiped it clean.

The parts she hadn't quite finished drying caught the light and shimmered with rainbow colors.

"Thank you. Thanks to that, my mind feels a lot clearer."

Traces of tears still clung to her voice, but she was smiling brightly.

Venus, looking as if every last worry about her memories had simply flown away.

While she was seriously thanking us, Siyeon and the student named Minji had already gotten much closer.

"So Unnie, you're staying here?"

"Yeah. Where does Siyeon live?"

"I came from reeeally far away!"

Siyeon answered with complete confidence even though her answer was vague, so we filled in the actual region we had come from. One former Magical Girl's dilemma was resolved, and that was how the day ended.

After that, once we had enjoyed just about everything Sokcho had to offer…

We started preparing to head home, spent our last comfortable night at the villa we were already beginning to miss, and—just as planned—called the civil-servant uncles on our final night in Sokcho.

Rrring… rrring…

The long, drawn-out ringing showed no sign of ever stopping.

Why isn't he picking up? Is he busy?

"Hmm."

I sprawled out on a sofa that wouldn't even exist once we left, soaking up the last of that soft cushion, and let out a puzzled little hum.

Figuring he would see the missed call and call back later, I stretched out fully.

Just as expected, not long after I gave up on the call, a familiar number filled the screen with an incoming ring.

A hurried voice, then the call cut off with a sharp click.

No need to try understanding the complicated circumstances of adults.

We could just grab whatever leftover bus was still available at the terminal.

But there were two things I had completely overlooked.

First: midsummer Sokcho was famous as a vacation spot.

Second: this was the season when even soldiers came home on leave, so leftover seats were almost impossible to find.

"There aren't any tickets left…."

Damn it.

Even the fifty-percent children's discount on the express bus had become completely useless.

I was sitting in the terminal in a daze when my phone chimed with a text message.

Wondering what it was, I turned the screen on and found this waiting for me:

A message that practically made my eyes light up, like he had sent it just in case.

I immediately picked the very first taxi lined up in front of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠terminal, climbed into the back seat with Siyeon, and shut the door.

The driver's relaxed, gentle greeting drifted back to us.

"Welcome. Where to?"

"Incheon, for now."

"Excuse me?"

The taxi driver's flustered voice rang out the second I casually dropped that destination.

That day, we experienced the previously unheard-of figure of 450,000 won in taxi fare alone.

Taxes melting away like butter.