The Dignity of a Magical Girl
It seemed that magical girls threatening to force trains to depart immediately wasn’t all that uncommon. Otherwise there was no way a train originally scheduled to leave in three days could be fully prepped and ready in a single hour.
Pania and I sat side by side on a bench on the platform. In front of us, workers scrambled like madmen, hauling coal and cargo onto the steam locomotive. A steam engine in this day and age? Simple. The world had reached a point where dreaming of diesel locomotives or electric railways was pure fantasy. Large-scale oil refineries no longer existed, and substations and power grids were laughably inadequate. Those things were nothing more than relics of the pre-demon-invasion era.
The same logic applied to manpower. Using heavy machinery to load cargo would have been faster, but when you weighed the resources required for maintenance against the cost of human labor, this primitive method was apparently the most efficient.
“Hurry it up, you bastards! Lazy thieving scum! You dare make a magical girl wait?”
The old station manager screamed as he darted about. It was hard to reconcile this version of him with the timid man who had been cowering in front of us earlier. Then again, it made sense. Serafina had a habit of punching holes through one or two workers with her killing beams whenever a train ran late. Miraculously, the work speed always improved after that. It wasn’t so much abuse of power as it was desperate flailing to keep their own heads attached.
The sky had already deepened into a dark blue. The platform glowed with warm orange lighting. Whenever a magical girl was among the passengers, they always turned the lights on. Lights that normally stayed dark no matter what.
“I’m hungry… got anything to eat?”
Pania rubbed her stomach while watching the frantic workers.
“That’s your own damn fault.”
“How is it my fault? You’re the one who picked a fight, isn’t that right? Unbelievable.”
She still didn’t realize her own mistake. I wanted to snap at her, but pointing it out to someone incapable of reflection would only spark round two, so I kept my mouth shut. And she had the nerve to say she was hungry? She’d scarfed down several boiled eggs. I’d only managed a single rice cake from the tteokbokki.
I pouted and looked up at the clock hanging on the platform. About twenty minutes had passed since the old man’s bold claim that he only needed one hour. Even while berating the workers, he kept glancing nervously in our direction. When he noticed us looking at the clock, he practically jumped out of his skin.
“Aigo, we’ll hurry as fast as we can!”
I had no intention of hurting him without reason, so there was no need for him to be that terrified. Still, the way he was shaking suggested he hadn’t been in the central square when I executed Jem. Then again, abandoning a station when important guests might arrive at any moment was probably beyond a station manager’s authority.
“Is there a dining car or something inside the train?”
The manager’s face brightened at Pania’s question, as if relieved he could finally give a positive answer.
“Yes, of course! We have the finest chefs on standby! We’ll station attendants near you, Lady Magical Girls! Just call for them and they’ll bring whatever dishes you desire immediately!”
So there wasn’t an actual restaurant, but they did have cooking facilities and chefs reserved for VIPs. At that moment, a crude burst of steam and a loud horn cut our conversation short. Less than thirty minutes had passed since the manager’s promise.
“All preparations complete!”
“They say it’s ready. I’ll escort you to your private car myself.”
Leaning on his cane and staggering, the manager led us into the train. Pania and I followed.
. . .
The golden land of El Dorado that conquerors had desperately sought was right here. The interior of the train was nothing short of paradise. Pleasant air carrying a faint citrus scent, deep red carpet underfoot, chandeliers that looked as if they were showering the space with golden dust. All of it blended together into a breathtaking spectacle.
I felt strangely intimidated. It was just an outdated steam locomotive—why the hell was it decorated so luxuriously? If there was one flaw, it was the rattling corridor that completely clashed with the atmosphere. No matter how opulently they decorated the inside, that part was apparently unavoidable.
“This way, please. I’ll take you to the special suite.”
Pania wasn’t really listening to the manager. She gaped around with her mouth open, completely mesmerized. It looked like she might start drooling any second. I elbowed her.
“Ah, yes! Let’s go. Of course.”
Only then did she snap out of it. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, hunched her shoulders, and followed the manager. Her reaction was even worse than mine.
The manager kept stealing glances at us as he walked. This was probably his first time seeing magical girls who acted so unsophisticated, so it must have been fascinating. And it seemed the other passengers felt the same.
Countless eyes from the seats on both sides locked onto us. I flashed a sweet smile at one of them—a man wearing an expensive coat. He flinched violently and quickly looked down.
“That your type?”
“Does it look like it? Just watch where you’re walking.”
In truth, Pania was right. Not in the sense of romantic attraction to that kind of man, but in a different way entirely. A sticky, insidious sense of superiority slowly crept up from the depths of my chest. If I kept receiving looks like these, I wasn’t sure what I might end up doing.
“We’ve arrived. You may rest in this special suite. If you need anything, please ask the attendant over there. I wish you a pleasant journey.”
Fortunately we reached the suite before any incident occurred. The manager bowed deeply and quietly backed away. Behind him, a single attendant stood at perfect attention.
“Shall we head in?”
I drew back the thick violet curtain and stepped into the suite. The first thing that caught my eye was the glossy wooden table. In front of and behind it were two seats that doubled as beds. Pania and I sat across from each other.
“Look at this! It’s so soft! Sit down, quick! Hurry!”
Pania bounced on the seat, repeatedly lifting and dropping her butt. The cushion made a rhythmic poof poof sound that echoed through the car. For a moment my face twisted into a frown. Possessed by a damn evil spirit and still acting exactly like the original Pania. I let out a quiet internal sigh and clapped my hands twice.
“Yes! How may I assist you?”
The attendant who responded drew the curtain aside and poked his head in.
“Bring me the finest course meal. And a cup of black tea. No cheap ingredients. What do you want?”
“Um… cider?”
“Right. And a glass of cider as well.”
Cider. At Pania’s words I unconsciously swallowed. My eyelids trembled slightly. I loved cola. Should I order some? But cola was hardly a dignified drink to request openly. Especially not in front of Pania. I couldn’t possibly ask for something like that in front of her. I couldn’t let a girl like her look down on me.
“Ahem, ahem!”
I cleared my throat quietly and beckoned the attendant closer. As if he understood my intention, he silently brought his ear to my lips. So this was why everyone preferred experienced staff.
“Cherry cola and potato chips. I’ll be outside, so bring them directly to me. Do not enter the suite under any circumstances. Remember that. I really will kill you.”
The attendant gave a small, silent nod.
“What was that? What did you just say? Tell me too.”
“You don’t need to know. Just eat when the food comes out.”
I stood up casually after speaking and left the suite, ignoring Pania’s persistent questions.
Why wasn’t he coming? It wasn’t like he had to cook anything. All he had to do was bring it. I paced in front of the door, biting my nails. The longer I waited, the more anxious I became. I peeked through a gap in the curtain. Pania was still bouncing on the cushion, thoroughly enjoying its texture. That girl really knew how to single-handedly destroy a magical girl’s dignity.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here are the items you requested.”
A low whisper came from behind me. I snatched the cola can and potato chips from the attendant’s hands and hurried down the corridor. After passing several cars, I found a suitable spot. There was a small gap in the corner where the wall met the suite. Perfect. Right here.
It was undignified behavior, but if no one saw it, what did it matter? Dignity was something that neither rose nor fell if there was no one around to judge it. I squeezed my body into the gap, squatted down, tore open the chip bag, and popped the cola can.
Psst. Ting.
The sounds wrapped around my ears like a caress. This was it. I immediately grabbed a handful of chips, stuffed them into my mouth, and washed them down with cola.
Back when I was Porim I never touched this kind of stuff, but ever since becoming Xena I couldn’t stop craving it.
“Hngh… haa… hah…”
Just then, obscene sounds drifted from the neighboring car. Because I was tucked into the corner gap, they sounded even louder. Damn animals in heat! Do that crap at home! I crunched the potato chips noisily to drown out the moans.
“Ah, there you are. Xena sis… that course meal or whatever was fucking disgusting…”
Around the time I’d eaten half the chips, a voice I absolutely should not have heard reached me. Feeling cold sweat run down my spine, I slowly lifted my head. Pania was looking down at me, blinking.
Me squatting with a handful of potato chips. Pania staring down at that sight. No words passed between us. The silence was filled by the sound of flesh slapping and moans coming from the next car.
After a moment, Pania let out a small snort of laughter and squatted down in front of me.
“They had potato chips? I want some too.”
“……”
My face burned. It felt like the sounds from the next car had gotten even louder. Whether she knew how I felt or not, Pania kept talking casually.
“Who needs a fancy course meal and black tea? This is way better than pretending to be all refined, right? Neither of us has that high-class palate anyway.”
“Shut up…”
I tried to protest, but I couldn’t hide my flushed face. That arrogant bitch, acting all smug just because she caught one weakness…!
Pania giggled and grabbed a handful of chips, shoving them into her mouth. My appetite had already vanished. Embarrassed, I turned to look out the window. Wasteland, wasteland, and more wasteland. That damn wasteland. I’d seen it a thousand times, yet now it suddenly irritated me.
Vrrrrroooom—
Just then, a crude engine roar cut through the barren landscape. A group of shoddily built motorcycles was chasing after the train. Soon the sound of attendants running through the corridor echoed, and the cars grew noisy.
“It’s a bandit gang!!”
Clang! Clang!
Amid the chaos that swallowed the corridor, the sound of hooks catching onto the train’s exterior rang out. Looking out the window, I saw the motorcycles pulling steel wires connected to the train, steadily drawing closer.
“Uh… they say it’s bandits?”
“It has nothing to do with us, so just let them do their thing.”
I answered calmly while sipping my cola. Bandits were just obstacles that got in the way. I was starting to wonder why they hadn’t shown up sooner.