Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: When Whales Fight, the Shrimp's Shell Cracks 2
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Cha Ye-rin staggered with dizziness and flopped down onto the sofa.
"Haaah..."
Cha Ye-rin let out a long sigh, like someone who had given up on everything.
"Kang Ihyeon."
"Yes!"
When Cha Ye-rin called my name, I snapped to attention like a raw recruit.
"Now that you know my flaw, you'll have to become my Care Supporter."
"...Yes?"
Her bombshell statement left not only me, but even Se-ah Sister kneeling beside me, stunned.
"W-Wait! Hold on! Ihyeon is my Care Suppooorter..."
Sister started protesting frantically, but when she met Cha Ye-rin's icy glare—like she could kill someone—she trailed off and clamped her mouth shut.
"Assigning a novice Care Supporter like you to handle four Magical Girls is unusual, but think of it as a penalty."
I knew exactly what this penalty was for without her saying it, so I couldn't utter a word.
"Four?! Four of them?! Ihyeon, what the hell?!"
"Ughhh, S-Sis, p-put me down and let's ta... Gack! Kek!"
Sister grabbed my collar and shook me like a wife who'd caught her husband cheating, tears welling up in her eyes.
Cha Ye-rin sighed deeply, checked her disheveled clothes, and stood up from the sofa.
"Yoon Se-ah. Since you're already here, let's talk alone for a bit."
Sister, who had been shaking me like she was trying to rattle my soul loose, had no choice but to sniffle and stand at Cha Ye-rin's invitation.
As I started to stand with Sister, Cha Ye-rin gave me a look like where do you think you're going? and assigned me a task.
"You clean up this mess. If even a single drop is left, I'll really kill you."
"A single drop?"
Not understanding, I asked again, and her cold gaze flicked between my lower body and the sofa.
Only then did I realize what she meant by "a single drop."
The love juices, semen, sweat, and other fluids still staining the sofa.
She meant for me to quickly clean up these shameful remnants that no subordinate could ever see.
I nodded vigorously without a word, as if my neck might snap.
Cha Ye-rin and Yoon Se-ah left the representative's office and slowly walked down the empty hallway.
Cha Ye-rin told her waiting secretary at the end of the hall to clear out the entire floor, and the people who had rushed in to handle the incident ebbed away like the tide.
"This way."
She led Yoon Se-ah into a meeting room prepared just in case and sat across from her.
Yoon Se-ah, sitting opposite, looked like she'd rushed over in rumpled workout clothes with messy hair, making me worry if she'd even showered.
Her hollow eyes and dark circles suggested she'd pulled an all-nighter, and her subdued demeanor subtly revealed how much she'd suffered from her flaw all this time.
"Hoo..."
Cha Ye-rin slumped in her chair, sighing from the storm of events.
Ah, I want to go home. I want to quit this job. I want to sink into a hot bath and zone out for an hour.
Watching the fidgety Magical Girl across from her—who hadn't done anything wrong but couldn't sit still—stirred a fierce urge to throw it all away.
Somehow, she'd ended up envied by many, running a company for retired Magical Girls before she knew it.
The government had suggested creating a front company to manage retired Magical Girls anxious about their futures after retirement, and she'd bitten. Now here she was.
Was it because she hadn't lived for herself in her teens and twenties?
An unimaginable flaw had emerged.
I knew a flaw would appear, but mental regression?
When it first manifested, she couldn't believe it and sobbed uncontrollably.
Seeing the video of herself throwing a tantrum for Mommy was such a shock she didn't leave her bed for days.
So she understood Yoon Se-ah's feelings all too well.
She has to cling to another man...
What a reckless woman.
Pondering what to do with this innocent woman who'd unwittingly revealed her flaw, Cha Ye-rin felt a strange disconnect from her request.
"Yoon Se-ah."
"Y-Yes..."
It was hard to believe such a timid, downcast person had requested this info, but it wasn't something to hide, so she began explaining.
"You requested info on the Monster that killed your Care Supporter—Kang Ihyeon's father, right?"
Confirming just in case, Yoon Se-ah's atmosphere grew deadly serious.
Her restless violet eyes turned cold as they locked onto Cha Ye-rin's.
"Yes. Have you found out anything?"
The clumsy, flustered woman from moments ago vanished entirely, replaced by a retired Magical Girl who'd survived countless battlefields.
The jarring shift unnerved even Cha Ye-rin, but Magical Girls were all "a bit crazy," so it wasn't incomprehensible.
"The whereabouts of the small Monster that killed Kang Ihyeon's father are still unknown. All we've learned is that it's highly intelligent and an unusual specimen unlike any before."
Kang Ihyeon's father, Yoon Se-ah's Care Supporter, hadn't died swept up in a Monster disaster.
He was murdered by an unidentified small Monster.
Yoon Se-ah had requested info to avenge her benefactor who'd cared for her devotedly, but it still felt like chasing fog.
"Then why are you telling me this now?"
Her question was valid.
Cha Ye-rin, fed up with mounting problems, pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit it.
Inhaling the harsh smoke deeply and exhaling, her strained expression eased slightly.
"That unusual specimen—we've given it the code name 'Hunter.' Care Supporters killed by the Hunter are increasing, so we're about to make it public. I'm telling you early."
"It even has a code name?"
"Yes. We don't know its goal in targeting Care Supporters, but if the damage keeps growing, it could disrupt care for all retired Magical Girls."
Care Supporters were already scarce, and this small Monster called Hunter was making it worse.
Even her long-time Care Supporter had been urgently dispatched elsewhere due to the severe shortages.
"Active Magical Girls alone can't cover it, and there's no guarantee it won't target retirees, so soon all Magical Girls will know. I'm telling you ahead of time."
"High chance it'll come after us."
"To Monsters, retired Magical Girls are weakened but nutritious, delicious prey."
Cha Ye-rin rudely pointed at Yoon Se-ah across from her with the lit cigarette like a finger.
Delicious prey.
Just as Magical Girls were Monsters' natural predators, the mana-packed Magical Girls were like tonics to Monsters.
"We're speculating it's targeting them to go after the retired Magical Girls they care for."
Cha Ye-rin gave a weary smile and stubbed out her cigarette on the table.
Yet neither woman minded the rude act.
"Yoon Se-ah. I'm sharing this because it'll be public soon. Remember, it's just a warning to detect danger early and protect yourselves."
"..."
Cha Ye-rin's meaning was clear.
Don't go off on personal vendettas or revenge.
As Yoon Se-ah clamped her mouth shut in silence, Cha Ye-rin clicked her tongue and leaned back.
Magical Girls were all strong-willed with firm egos.
Those without the resolve to stand firm died to Monsters before adulthood, so reaching retirement was tough.
Seeing her warning fall on deaf ears, Cha Ye-rin decided to redirect Yoon Se-ah's energy.
"Yoon Se-ah. You like that guy, right? That's why you hid the truth about his father's death and fed him a lie about a Monster disaster."
To prevent her from rampaging and worsening things, she stayed put and reminded her what was truly precious and irreplaceable.
"Eek...!"
At Cha Ye-rin's words, Yoon Se-ah's Magical Girl facade melted, revealing a woman's vulnerable face.
Seeing that fresh, innocent expression, Cha Ye-rin smiled pleasantly.
Though pushed into this position, she kept at it, even spitting blood, for moments like this.
"He's a horny monkey of a man, but he hasn't sinned enough to be torn apart by Monsters. Guard him well."
Cha Ye-rin's cold warning filled Yoon Se-ah with terror, like all blood draining from her body.
Her flaw had become unbearable, so she'd pounced on him, chaining him as her Care Supporter to keep him by her side.
She'd exposed her weaknesses to make him her Care Supporter, ensuring he couldn't leave.
But now, her choice might cost her the young brother figure who'd cared for her—the man she loved.
The fear was maddening.
"I'll keep that in mind."
The heavy vow slipped from Yoon Se-ah's lips.
Cha Ye-rin stood, satisfied, and left the meeting room.
But Yoon Se-ah remained rooted there, staring blankly into space without even blinking.
The eerie sight of the gloomy woman sent chills down the spine.