NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13 – The Runaway Girl (1)
Why! Why do I keep getting involved with these types of people? Surely, I could meet good ones and be nurtured or something!
Is it because I’m the Demon King? But not all demon kind are inherently evil. At least the demon folk under my rule should know honor. And that honor doesn’t include doing petty things like passing your own work onto someone else.
“What a dumb thing to say. You crawled in here on your own… Guh-ack!”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing!”
I caught the nonsense-talking Ren and shoved them into the tub, scrubbing them with the washboard along with the laundry.
Just this once! Once I find out the true identity of the runaway gang, I planned to smash or kill them all!
“Oh, hey there, sisters.”
Kim Soo-jung interrupted her laundry to greet the women rushing in, folding each one in greeting. Even though she was still young, with skills like these, she could probably survive anywhere in the Demon Realm.
“Is this the girl? Looks like a princess, but has a real attitude, huh? Is she from a rich family? Why did she run away?”
I was just standing there when some pig girl started poking and tapping my head. Just one more hit, and I’d have snapped her arm off right then.
“I’ve heard stories.”
A young man barged in. He had dyed golden hair and a slender build.
“Hello! I’m Kim Kwang-hoon.”
He extended his hand toward me. I slowly took it.
“I feel… a heavy sense of malice.”
Ren, drenched and dripping water all over, muttered with a solemn face about a realization I shared.
“What’s he making you do?”
“Just a delivery.”
That night, I had to squeeze into a cramped corner beneath the sink next to Kim Soo-jung. Kim Kwang-hoon promised food and a place to sleep without questioning if I did my job right.
“Delivery?”
“Yeah. It’s really nothing much. We’re just young.”
“…Right. You really are young.”
I chuckled at the light response. As if they’d send me on a plain ol’ chicken delivery.
This kid didn’t even know what they were transporting.
“So what are you waiting for! Here’s another opportunity to claim your successes! Don’t let it pass by!”
[You idiot. After the last incident, you’re gonna do this again? This is your chance!]
“Opportunity… y-yeah!”
Ren, who’d been grumbling, suddenly realized and slapped their hand. Although for me, it was just another unwelcome chance to work again.
Kim Kwang-hoon was definitely a villain who targeted magical girls. But from what I could see, he wasn’t the main player.
A drug smuggler hidden behind the runaway gang. There must be someone else pulling the strings. Just like the last time when I wiped out that international crime syndicate using an orphanage as a broker, this was another chance to sneak in and sweep them out.
“Hey, Kim Soo-jung.”
But just as I was about to set the plan and drift off to sleep, someone raised their voice.
“AAAH! I’m sorry, sisters!”
Kim Soo-jung was being dragged away by her ankle, and started barking like a dog as she got beaten in her sleep. Half-asleep, she curled up on the floor, crying and begging.
“Quit your whining! You didn’t even finish my laundry!”
“I really didn’t know! I swear… AAH!”
The one mercilessly beating Kim Soo-jung was that pig girl from earlier.
I heard the name but forgot it. Anyway, they were supposed to be the strongest here, right?
In fact, no one seemed inclined to intervene during this nighttime chaos. Or maybe it was just an everyday occurrence.
“Hey, that’s enough?”
Nope. Someone did step in. Jeon So-hyun, the first person I met here.
“Ugh, not you again.”
“You’re the only one acting crazy at this late hour.”
The two girls’ eyes locked, glaring at each other in the air. I watched with interest as they fought, ready to cheer for Jeon So-hyun to win, since if they were going to fight, I wanted her to take it.
“Are you going to be a pain again? Want me to scar your face like last time so you can’t work?”
“…”
But regrettably, it seemed they had some history. The pig girl looked more muscular than the average Jeon So-hyun when she raised her fist.
“And did I start this shit? That loser can’t even do their job. So yeah, they deserve a beatdown.”
“Ugh…”
Every word from the pig girl was punctuated by a kick aimed at Kim Soo-jung, who lay on the ground.
In the end, Jeon So-hyun, biting her lip, turned her back. Did she think she had the upper hand? The pig girl roughly grabbed Kim Soo-jung’s hair and yanked her up.
She lifted her fist. From the looks of it, if she connected, something would definitely break.
“Um…”
Suddenly, the attention of everyone, including the pig girl, was on me. At this point, I figured I might as well enjoy it. After all, it wouldn’t last long anyway.
“I think I missed that laundry.”
“..What?”
“I divided it up with Soo-jung, but it seems I left some behind.”
I bravely opened my mouth, and the pig girl let go of Kim Soo-jung’s hair.
“You… fuck, you’re surprisingly honest.”
The pig girl smirked as she approached me. For real, she was huge. The ground shook with every step.
“Oof.”
“Stupid girl. Do you think being honest will save you here? Just saying that, and you think I’ll go easy on you?”
The pig girl twisted my hair. Then she raised her fist.
“Remember this on your body. If you mess up again, you’ll get beaten hard. But since you were honest, I’ll let it end here. Just a little damage to that pretty face of yours.”
Her hands, thick like sausages, slapped my cheek repeatedly. At that moment, I locked eyes with Kim Soo-jung.
Those eyes weren’t unfamiliar.
Wham!—
A sharp pain seared through my cheek, no, my entire right side of the face ignited.
Wham!—
Blood splattered from my lips. I was intentionally lowering my endurance to avoid suspicion. The pain had long dulled, so I didn’t really care about it.
Wham!—
Now blood was dripping from my nose. Silently, I watched Kim Soo-jung tear up, closing my eyes. Not that I needed to feel sorry.
Anyway, I had just decided to personally gut that pig girl once this was all over.
Wham!— Bang!
With the final hit, my bloodied body crumpled to the floor.
*
“Don’t touch it. It’ll get infected.”
“Thanks.”
“That crazy girl is sleeping now, but… sorry, you’ll have to sleep outside tonight. If you wake her up, you’ll just end up getting hurt too.”
Jeon So-hyun, who had applied medicine to my face in the alley by the villa, sighed and went back inside. I knew it was a mess now, but it could be healed quickly.
I took a deep breath in the cold night wind.
“I didn’t ask for help. So I’m not saying thank you.”
“An admirable mindset. But if you’re going to be like that, at least stop crying while you talk.”
“Wah… uuuuh…”
Kim Soo-jung ultimately burst into tears, unable to hold it in. I didn’t push her away as she clung to me and sobbed.
I felt gross. This wasn’t the dark and gloomy side of Earth I wanted to see. It was the distant and vibrant city of pleasure and indulgence, still visible in the distance.
“Stupid… is your body even yours? Your body belongs to our agency!”
I kicked Ren, who was huffing, far away. Then I pulled Kim Soo-jung away from me.
“Let’s go inside.”
“…I don’t want to now.”
“Then go home.”
“If I go back, my dad will hit me.”
“…”
“I always wished someone would help me. But there’s no one. Not even the police or magical girls. To those people, I guess I’m not pitiful enough.”
Once the floodgates opened, Kim Soo-jung spilled details that didn’t really need sharing. But I had nothing to say to her.
Survival of the fittest. It’s the basis of the Demon Realm. Even if it was a thirteen-year-old kid.
“If a magical girl helps, what will you do then?”
“…Huh?”
“You should at least have your posture down. But it’s alright. From what I see, you’ve got enough posture.”
Sitting down on the villa’s inner stairs, I chuckled. Kim Soo-jung sat next to me, burying her head in my arms.
In the end, we had no choice but to cuddle up and sleep tightly against each other all night long in the chilly wind. Well, more like she used my body heat to keep from freezing.
“Alright. Today, Soo-jung, you take Jin-ah along and teach her.”
The next morning, Kim Kwang-hoon arrived and didn’t even blink at my battered face. I expected nothing less. A bug-like bastard.
He then handed over a wrapped object taped up tightly to Kim Soo-jung. She put it into her belly band and covered it with her clothes.
“Go and come back. That’s your job now.”
He smiled smugly as he sent us off. He looked like he’d just need to dissect some information before he executed us.
“Let’s go. It’s not far.”
Seemingly in better spirits, Kim Soo-jung took my hand and led the way. Her wariness toward me had greatly faded. In fact, it was becoming a problem how friendly she was getting.
“Ah…”
“Magical Girl of Code Red, Takilas.”
We spotted the image of a magical girl flashing across a news screen as we crossed the city.
The black-haired, red-eyed magical girl beheading monsters with the blade of shadows.
“Cool.”
Kim Soo-jung mumbled dreamily. She didn’t seem to grasp what Code Red meant at all.
“No, she knows. She’s the magical girl who kills people.”
“But isn’t that cool? They’re saying on the news that she needs to be arrested. A real nuisance disrupting the law.”
“But she’s killing bad people. I… I think it’s better that way. I mean, letting someone who would assault and rape their own daughter back into the world just a few days later wouldn’t be right.”
“…”
I shut my mouth.
After wandering around for half a day, walking and resting before finally arriving at an unremarkable shopping building.