NOVEL NEXT Episode 21 – Public Enemy (2)
“Look over there. They say Takilas appeared again last night.”
“…Yeah.”
“But what’s an illegal entertainment establishment exactly?”
The next morning, while having breakfast and watching TV, Kim Soo-jung’s eyes sparkled. The TV was currently broadcasting interviews with the survivors of my attack from the previous night.
The prostitutes I let live because they didn’t meet the standards. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Jeon So-hyun was not among them. Still, it was a bit ridiculous. They were calling themselves the only survivors. There were quite a few people who survived after seeing me.
“Takilas is trying to stand above the law now. Is that strange?”
“Magical girls are all about private retribution in the first place.”
The news anchor proclaimed, with an excited voice, that I was a demon disrupting social order. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurd framing.
Where are the magical girls operating with permission?
“Still, it’s cool…”
“Stop watching and get up. You’ll be late.”
With a click of my tongue, I pulled Kim Soo-jung’s arm. From today onwards, a leisurely life would be tough. We had to go to school now.
Today was the first day of our transfer.
“Take these. Keep them safe!”
In front of us, dressed in our school uniforms and holding bags, Lee Sun-young handed us something. It was a cellphone.
“Make sure to answer if I contact you. It has a safety app installed, so you won’t be able to access any weird sites anyway, but it shouldn’t be inconvenient to use.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks!”
Kim Soo-jung gladly accepted it. I took it for now, but this was definitely going to be a headache.
A safety app? It sounds nice, but given the controlling and censoring nature of the country, the built-in location tracking and data collection features were very intrusive for someone like me, who was not exactly a good kid.
“Think of a way.”
“What do you mean?”
“This cellphone, we have to carry it around, so we can’t transform.”
I whispered to Ren while we traveled by car. Ren sighed in disbelief.
“What? Can’t do it? Such incompetence…”
“No, maybe there’s a way. We’ll talk later, just get in the car.”
Ren pointed to the van. After me, the van filled with students headed towards the school.
“Aren’t you anxious?”
“Not really.”
During the short time on the road, Kim Soo-jung, sitting beside me with a stiff expression, started the conversation first.
Of course, starting a new semester with new friends and new teachers was a time that would have made my heart race and feel nervous. At least 110-115 years ago. So now, I felt nothing at all. The thought of having to spend half a day in such a childish environment was more irritating.
“But what if you can’t adapt…”
“Then just do it.”
I understood to a degree why Kim Soo-jung was worried, being the adult that I was, so I responded normally.
“Hmph. It’ll be hard to adapt.”
But then, the ones who love to stir the pot started appearing one by one.
I clicked my tongue and turned my head to the male student sitting in the back seat.
“Does it seem like a joke? Is it real…”
“Who are you?”
“What?”
The guy stuttered in confusion when I shot him a cold glare. It was clear he was a student from the same school. He seemed to be in a phase of growth but still looked a bit too young.
“My, my name is Kang Jin-soo.”
“Are you a senior? Your name tag is different from ours.”
“Se-senior? Uh… you guys are first years. I’m in second year.”
The guy nodded as he briefly glanced down at his name tag.
Having completely pulled the situation to my side, I comfortably moved on to my next question.
“What do you mean by it’ll be hard to adapt?”
“Well…”
When he was the one who started the conversation, he was bold, but now that I was directly looking at him, he stammered, avoiding my gaze.
“Because of where we come from.”
And it was not Kang Jin-soo who answered my question, but a female student seated alone across the aisle.
“Just coming from the facility makes us the subject of others’ scrutiny. And if that facility is filled with discarded experiment subjects, treated infected individuals, and hybrids of monsters, what do you think will happen?”
“Hey, Hong Soo-young!”
“Did I say something wrong?”
Suddenly, a spat broke out among them. I calmed the confused Kim Soo-jung and observed this interesting scene.
“What’s going on back there?”
“…It’s nothing.”
The supervising teacher, sensing the chaos, was met with a vague response, and the second-year girl who was called Hong Soo-young raised her hand to show us.
That was when I realized she was wearing gloves.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, newbies. Attending school with a monster like me will have you facing all sorts of judgment.”
Her hand was adorned with dark, bluish scales. The shape of her hand was slightly different from that of a human.
I sensed the magical power lurking in that hand.
“Thanks for the advice.”
“What…?”
“But at least you won’t face judgment from the front.”
Anyone who dares to look down on and insult the King of the Demon Realm will surely face severe consequences. I can assure you that I wouldn’t let it slide if such a thing were to happen.
Despite being young, perhaps she sensed the sincerity in my eyes.
Hong Soo-young unconsciously closed her mouth and swallowed hard.
“Guys, we’ve arrived.”
Just then, the van came to a stop on the side road next to the school.
*
“Let’s go to the teacher’s office.”
“Huh? Uh… okay…”
As students began to arrive for school, we, who had arrived a bit early, crossed the school grounds.
“So, where’s the teacher’s office, senior?”
“Why do I have to be the one…?”
I chuckled and urged Hong Soo-young, as I had received a request to ask the homeroom teacher to guide us, given that we were new students.
“Here it is. Go in.”
“Won’t you come in with us?”
“…I told you earlier. Not everyone hates monsters.”
She led us to the entrance of the teacher’s office before trudging off.
For some reason, that small shoulder seemed quite heavy when I looked closely.
“What now…?”
“What do you mean? Let’s just go in.”
I took Kim Soo-jung, who was still looking regretful, inside the teacher’s office. Perhaps because it was still early in the morning, it was rather empty.
“You guys…”
“We just transferred today.”
The first person to appear before us was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a bulging belly.
As soon as he saw us, all attention turned toward us.
“Ah! They’re from the Management Bureau facility!”
Then this crazy guy spoke in a loud, unfiltered voice.
I instinctively gauged his malice.
This teacher was like a certain someone I used to know who enjoyed underage prostitution without a hint of guilt.
In other words, it meant I could cut his throat right then and there if I wanted to.
“Hey, Yoon-sensei!”
While I was contemplating whether to kill this guy or not, he called out to another teacher in a loud voice.
“Yes, homeroom teacher.”
“I think these kids are going to your class.”
“Oh, these kids?”
“Since they’re from the facility, take good care of them, ha ha ha!”
The summoned Yoon-sensei was a young male teacher. He sipped his coffee before shuffling off quickly.
Of course, it didn’t matter. I had already memorized his face.
“Hello? I’m Yoon Sun-ho. Your names are… Kim Soo-jung and Lee Jin-ah.”
“Hello.”
I greeted him softly while also measuring his inner self. I nodded slightly. Yes, how could the world only be filled with fools and wicked people?
Sometimes there needed to be good, clean people like Oh Yoon-seo from the Management Bureau.
This Yoon Sun-ho, who would be our homeroom teacher, was also a kind-hearted person with almost no malice.
“Uh, would you like to sit for a moment? Later, let’s go to the class together. I’ll help introduce you to the other students.”
He offered us drinks and made room for us.
Kim Soo-jung gave me a knowing glance. This perceptive girl seemed to have realized that Yoon Sun-ho was a good person, making her a bit more comfortable.
He seemed busy, moving around even after seating us.
“Um, can I ask one favor? At school, just…”
[Out of the blue?]
At that moment, Ren suddenly climbed onto the table in front of me, looking up at me and sighing.
‘You absolutely cannot say anything, but you need to convince this guy.’
Ren, the veteran mascot of Rana Land.
Traditionally, the mascot’s duty was to guide and manage magical girls, but the rookie magical girl Takilas he was assigned to was different.
She was the embodiment of overwhelming violence and arrogance. There was no hesitation in her actions, and she also displayed a murderously bloody demeanor.
Humans were analyzing that her mental state might be unstable. Psychopath and so forth.
But Ren knew the truth. Magical Girl Takilas was neither insane nor evil.
“The reason is simple. It’s the root of your true self. It’s safer to endure a little.”
[What does Takilas killing someone have to do with a first-year female student, Lee Jin-ah?]
“Uh, does it not disturb the study atmosphere?”
‘What the hell. What am I even saying right now.’
Ren barely suppressed the impulse to smack his own mouth.
But it was clear why he was saying something so nonsensical. He couldn’t say the real reason.
‘I want you to grow up normally and happily, until you reach adulthood. Beyond that…’
This was the earnest hope of Ren, who recalled the trauma from the recent past.
And the basic condition to achieve that was a joyful and ordinary school life. He knew how important this was in human social life.