Only Money
Capitalism.
Even in the world of magical girls, there are no exceptions.
Ordinary citizens you've never met feel so flimsy they might as well be NPCs — and yet the wallets of the magical girls who take center stage are carefully, meticulously tended to.
Burning with a sense of justice and passion, an elementary schooler might throw their body into the fray without a second thought…
But once you're middle school or high school age, reality comes striding right up into your face.
What lets you forget, even for a moment, that anxious future of exams and job hunting…
Money. Money.
Only money.
"Ahaha! Well, you're not wrong."
The owner of Star Cafe, who had been listening quietly, laughed heartily from behind the counter.
Before long, the honey bread I'd just ordered arrived in a dish, along with a cup of hot chocolate. Fresh off the griddle, warm steam rose in lazy curls — it looked delicious.
"Sun, Moon, you two still not getting coffee?"
That was the conversation topic among girls living under these harsh conditions. The kind of question that amounted to asking elementary schoolers whether they'd ever tried the stuff.
I could drink it if I wanted, but…
Considering the caffeine, it wasn't something you should be gulping like soda at this age. Building up a caffeine tolerance this early was something I'd rather pass on.
Hearing the question, Siyeon bluntly spat out her thoughts in the most one-dimensional way possible.
"I hate it! It's bitter!"
In this place, only Siyeon would give an answer that pure and simple, perfectly matching her appearance. Since the question had included me as well, I put my honest thoughts into words.
"If I build up a caffeine tolerance this early, I don't think I'd survive later on."
"Ah, yeah, there's that… Wait, how do you know that so well?"
"Ahaha."
I brushed off the minor jab with a dry laugh. I took a big mouthful of the sweet hot chocolate, then the honey bread that would blanket whatever moisture remained with extreme sweetness. I tore off a piece with my fork and brought it straight to my mouth.
That artificial yet intense sweetness filled my mouth with pure happiness.
"Ugh…"
A short moan came from beside me, along with cutlery that affectionately missed the bread. Since Siyeon was still clumsy with a fork and knife, I tore off another piece and set it on her plate.
Like a baby receiving food, she popped the piece into her mouth and immediately followed it with a sip of hot chocolate.
"She's acting just like Sun unnie."
The others watched the scene with warm, fond expressions. I was only helping a little with her clumsiness, yet they made such a huge fuss. At this age, even the smallest, most trivial kindness somehow got you sky-high marks.
Looks like I won't get away with just freeloading snacks.
I let out a short breath through my nose instead of a sigh. The conversation went around once more before Orion muttered something.
"Come to think of it, I heard monster appearance rates have been low lately where Sun and Moon are?"
The flow of conversation suddenly bent and pointed straight at us. Monster appearance rates. For anyone involved in this line of work, that was a topic you could hardly ignore. The other magical girls seemed interested as well; their gazes gathered our way as they spoke.
"Ah, right! I wanted to ask about that!"
"If an alert goes off during a test, you're totally screwed."
"And the ones that go off at night…"
"Mine went off right when I had an interview. It was the worst…"
This was the one area where magical girls of any age could relate. If they could reduce the monsters that appeared at night even a little more — if they could face just a bit less interference in their daily lives — that desire made them bloodthirsty for any method that lowered appearance frequency.
Chronic sleep deprivation was a given. They lived under constant tension, never knowing when an alert might sound. So of course they were curious about the secret behind a place where, at most, two monsters showed up a day.
Looking at Moon — that is, Siyeon — wasn't going to produce a concrete answer. Their gazes turned to me, who spoke more fluently than my age suggested.
"Well, it's nothing special, really."
"What is it, what is it?"
"So, in your areas, monsters you've seen before show up again sometimes, right?"
"Uh… usually, yeah?"
Usually, yes. Stella's casual answer itself pointed straight at the cause. The reappearance rate of monsters that had shown up once. In this half-baked worldview, monsters don't die.
They just go pyororong, turn into magic powder, and head back somewhere. With kid-friendly production that never spills red blood, they never reach complete death.
Whether you struggle through an even fight and barely defeat them, or instantly kill them with some "mysterious pink beam" from your staff, it only stimulates the monsters' competitive spirit.
If they're defeated after an even fight, they think, Oh, this one's doable. If they die instantly, they think, What the hell happened? — and since there was no pain, they just come charging again.
The key is that if you thoroughly deliver pain, terror, and helplessness, they don't even think of coming back.
The seniors' gazes, desperate to hear the secret technique, were piercing. You don't have to glare at me like that. I'll tell you soon enough.
"In our neighborhood, that doesn't happen. The coming-back thing."
"Huh?! Really!? How?!"
"Well…"
Just as I was about to put the monster countermeasures into words—
"Ack!"
A piercing beeeeeep filled the café with an unpleasant ringing. At the sudden roar, short screams rose and people covered their ears; the owner quickly shut off the alert. How long had it been since the alerts stopped going off at the apartment, and now I had to hear this unpleasant sound again.
Like a reveille trumpet blaring by broadcast error in the middle of the day. It was like having a bucket of cold water dumped over my head — my mood instantly soured. The others seemed much the same, letting out deep sighs as they gathered their things.
"Ugh… Still, we've gotta go, right? Undo the transformations."
"Yeah, see you at the appearance point… Transformation release!"
They undid the transformations they'd put on for atmosphere and, in an instant, left the café for the street. Like seasoned veterans, their pretense of evacuating was all too skilled. We followed them, blending into the crowd with quick steps, then moved into a deserted alley between buildings.
People fled in panic from the monster. No one had the leisure to look into the dead-end alleys between buildings. From the alley came transformation chants, and adult, leisurely smiles reached us.
"Shall we see what our little ones can do? You go first."
"Moon Power—! Transform!"
"Sun."
Siyeon and I soared into the sky. Crystal — the magical girl who had told us to go first — flew up later to join us, so I asked why she hadn't left first.
"Why did you tell us to go first?"
"Ah, well…"
Scratching her cheek, she shyly and with difficulty put the reason into words.
"It's super embarrassing to shout that in your mid-twenties…"
"Ah."
"Why! It's cool! Magical Crystal Power—! That thing!"
"Kuuugh…!"
Siyeon helpfully dragged out the line Crystal had tried to hide. Crystal clutched the chest area that had shrunk with her transformation in pure anguish. Was this what they called an innocent knife-stab?
"I made my transformation line after seeing that!"
"R-right… Thanks."
She said thanks for the purity, but her expression looked like she might cough blood. Siyeon was diligently pouring salt into the wound she'd just stabbed. The mental damage must have been considerable. Her blanket tonight probably wouldn't survive.
Anyway — Crystal, who had been so skilled at pretending to evacuate. Since we followed her and transformed first, we arrived first at the monster appearance point.
"Kwahaha! Everyone's running away scared — are the magical girls not here yet?!"
Where have I heard that voice?
The familiar monster voice reached us the moment we arrived. The thought of what was that didn't last long before my eyes saw the truth first.
Well, well.
I was wondering who it was — it was the bipedal wolf land-beast from that recent samseon-jjajang assortment we'd run into. One by one, the other magical girls gathered.
"Aww, fifth place."
Somehow it had become a ranking competition, and some were annoyed about it. Perhaps because nearly ten magical girls had gathered on him alone, the wolf grew even more arrogant and howled louder.
"Haha! So you can't do it alone and came in a pack!"
"Sun, Moon, mind if we watch you take down the monster?"
Of course, the magical girls themselves weren't particularly interested. They'd only sortied because a monster appeared, after all. Everyone here knew this wasn't some big shot that needed all of them to pile on.
"Sure."
"Yes! We'll do our best!"
"Hehe, let's see what our youngest ones can do."
I approached the wolf monster, who was still on a high, scratching the back of his head. Since he wasn't wearing a mask, his long orange hair swayed against his shoulders.
"That's far enough!"
"Bring it on, brats! Kwahaha!"
His memory was bad too — even looking at Siyeon, he couldn't even remember who I was standing next to her. While he was in full combat stance, high on excitement, I scratched the back of my head and muttered so he could hear.
"Haa… You really, truly have the worst damn luck. Seriously."
I packed that mutter with genuine pity. How the hell, for your second raid location, did you pick the exact place where magical girls hold their meetups?
"…?! That voice…"
Hearing the voice again, his eyes went wide and he pointed this way with a nail extending from his cocky index finger. That trembling nail was evidence enough of how terrified he was without needing to say it.
"Oh, big sis is here. Did you wait long?"
"Why are you here…! I was sure this place…!"
"Haa, how did things end up like this."
Even so, the admirable mutt had tried to keep his promise. But it was a shame things turned out this way.
"You've only got your shitty luck to blame. What else can you do…"
Treating my magic staff like a switch, I tapped it against my palm as I advanced on him step by step. With each step closer, his pathetic backward retreat became more noticeable.
In honor of that admirable effort to avoid our area for his raid, today I'd finish him in an instant.