Chapter 36 : Supernatural Ability Countermeasures Headquarters

We decided to have serious talks tomorrow at the Supernatural Ability Countermeasures Team’s office and took Team Leader Oh Sanghyuk’s car to Sejong City, where the office is located.

For dinner, Team Leader Oh Sanghyuk initially suggested going to a restaurant, but we declined.

We decided to just have dinner at a beef bone soup restaurant near the office.

‘Kuuah… it’s delicious…’

The soup I was eating after a long time warmed my heart, that had lived abroad for a long period.

I thought I didn’t mind not eating Korean food while living in Japan for two years. But that was a misconception. The satisfaction rising from the depths of my soul was different.

Slurp

“…Eunbit unnie seems to eat very well, like a Korean person.”

“Is that so? Dorim, can you bring some more radish kimchi?”

“Pfft! Kuk kuk kuk kuk cough! Cough!”

Oh Sanghyuk chuckled hearing my words and choked, which Kang Dorim looked at disapprovingly.

As it was late past dinnertime, we were the only customers inside, so the grandmother at the beef bone soup restaurant glanced at us and smiled.

“Ahem! Khup! That could be… The customer wants more, so you should bring it!”

While Dorim dragged her ash-gray hair and nonchalantly brought the kimchi bowl, Sanghyuk whispered to me, grinning so widely his gums showed.

“It’s a funny scene because there aren’t many people in our country who can order her around like this… kukuku…”

“It seems the magical girl of [Cyberbrain] has a big standing in Korea.”

“Haah, even if it looks like she has a big standing, she’s always looking for chances to poke at things here and there. Until recently, there was an uproar saying Dorim should be confined to a deserted island without radio waves.”

Sanghyuk’s expression turned bitter as he scraped the beef bone soup broth.

The sound of the spoon scraping the plate seemed to represent his frustrated feelings.

“Even though Dorim never did anything bad since before she bloomed, people with many things to be guilty about thought this was their chance and made a fuss putting on a show.”

“…”

“Are you talking about that again, mister? It’s really tiresome! They say when you get old, you keep repeating what you’ve said.”

Clank

Dorim said as she put the bowl filled with radish kimchi on the table.

“Those guys don’t have the ability to confine me, and they know they’ll all die if they touch me, so they can’t do anything anyway. Just eat, mister.”

“You try getting old! You’ll keep saying things you’ve said before because there’s no one to listen, trying to scrape off the dirt in your heart!”

“More importantly, where is Eunbit unnie going to sleep? Did you book a hotel? Should I charge it on mister’s card?”

Dorim took out a card from her chest and waved it, and Sanghyuk was startled as soon as he heard that, taking out his wallet.

“Why do you have my card?!”

Wink

Dorim imitated a fatal pose and winked at Sanghyuk.

Because a skinny middle school girl with fluffy long hair did it, it looked more like cute antics than seduction.

“Why are you like this between us, mister? Let’s not act like amateurs.”

“What kind of relationship do we have?! We’re just an uncle and a kid living next door!”

“I guess you two live in the same apartment?”

Dorim nodded casually, and Sanghyuk looked at her as if dumbfounded and silently wiggled his hand urging her to give the card back.

“Eunbit unnie, just talk casually to me!”

I guess she’s calling me ‘Eunbit’ because Shirogane Hikari means silver light.

“Should I?”

“You were speaking casually earlier, why so formal all of a sudden… Unnie came from Japan but speaks Korean so well.”

“…I guess you studied Korean hard over there and came?”

Sanghyuk, who was drinking water after finishing a bowl of beef bone soup, looked at me with subtle expectation, and seeing that, Dorim blurted out.

“Does someone eating beef bone soup for the first time put radish kimchi juice in it too?”

“Oh, so you liked Korean food.”

“That could be, liking the food, learning the language, Eunbit unnie is gradually getting to know Korea.”

“Wow, Dorim is saying nice things.”

“From now on, listening to Korean music, and watching movies, wouldn’t that be good?”

“Right, I also gave Korean movie tickets for the theater near our office. Miss Eunbit, would you like to watch it alone when you have time?”

“Eunbit unnie, want to come to my house and play games? There’s this game that’s super famous abroad, it’s really amazing! They say the Korean server will open soon, too. Let’s play together on the foreign server!”

The two, who had been bickering until now, seemed to be subtly implementing the ‘Welcome to Korea’ operation with tiki-taka.

Why are they calling me Eunbit so familiarly?

‘But it doesn’t seem bad.’

My appearance was difficult to specify as being from any particular country in the first place. If I could get a temporary identity to carry around in Korea with the cooperation of these two, it might be convenient to approach the prickly [Sea].

“So unnie, where are you going to sleep?”

“If you haven’t made a reservation, I can book a hotel for you.”

“Do you have a room like a lounge or night duty room used in the office?”

“Ah, given the nature of our office, we have an abundance of night-duty rooms. But will that be okay?”

“I just want to be quietly with you all.”

“Then I’ll empty one where other employees can’t enter. Use it comfortably.”

Swish

Sanghyuk said as he snatched the card Dorim was holding.

Dorim struggled to take the card back, but Sanghyuk successfully managed to put the card in his wallet.

“Shit!”

“It’s my card; why do you keep taking it?”

I’ve felt this from earlier, but Dorim didn’t give the impression that her physical specs had increased despite blooming as a magical girl.

Is it because I’ve only seen strong ones like Ichika or Hana?

Swish

“Eek?! What are you doing, unnie?!”

‘I can really lift her lightly.’

Click click click click

“Hahaha, you two look so close! Miss Eunbit! It would look better if you lift her higher!”

“Like this?”

“Ah, why are you taking pictures of this! Delete them!”

Crack

Ash-gray lasers came out of Dorim’s hands and hit Sanghyuk’s phone, causing the photos to start being deleted.

Sanghyuk seemed to have known this would happen, as he didn’t panic and just got up to go pay the bill.

[Some argue that the reduced crime rate due to magical girls and democratic procedures should be viewed separately…]

[…closely watching the Supernatural Ability Countermeasures Team moving like an extralegal investigative agency.]

The news channel the beef bone soup restaurant grandmother had on was talking about various stances on magical girls and the barely maintained balance in Korea.

[Exploitation targeting supernatural ability users similar to Japan’s supernatural ability weaponization plan is occurring in various places abroad…]

[…In Europe, the existence of criminal groups composed only of supernatural ability users is being mentioned.]

[On the other hand, the government has stated it will respect the freedom of Korean magical girls and that they, too, as citizens…]

‘I haven’t heard news like this in Japan’

It seems news from abroad reminiscent of Fujimoto’s affairs was also cut.

Korea can speak relatively loudly about this issue, so they’re proudly announcing it. There was information I had missed like this because I couldn’t watch the internet due to reception fees or time issues.

“Eunbit unnie.”

“What?”

“Are we really okay?”

“…”

I didn’t understand the intention in Dorim’s question, but at the same time, I understood what she meant.

“We’ll be fine.”

“I see.”

Neither of us seemed to understand exactly what the other meant, but we both seemed to understand what we meant by our answers.

* * *

The Supernatural Ability Countermeasures Team’s office was in a moderately repaired building that had been used as a government residence for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Sanghyuk opened a night duty room in a corner of an annex with a structure difficult for general employees to access.

“All the bedding is inside, and you can use the bathroom comfortably.”

“Don’t you two need to go home?”

“What’s the point when there’s no one there anyway.”

“Actually, we’ve both been staying at the office and night duty rooms more often than home these days.”

Both of them seemed to be people with complicated circumstances.

“We’ll be sleeping in the main building, so contact us if anything happens.”

“Don’t you two need to watch me? What if I slip away quietly?”

I suddenly felt mischievous and said with a slight smile.

Sanghyuk and Dorim looked at each other and shrugged.

“If the magical girl of [Beginning] runs away, what can we do?”

“We’d just be in trouble overnight.”

“Okay. I was just joking, so don’t worry about it.”

“Then sleep well, Eunbit unnie!”

“How about we have breakfast together at the bakery in front at 8 tomorrow?”

“Yes, see you tomorrow.”

The two of them kept chattering as they left the annex.

When their voices could no longer be heard, I lay down flat in the quiet night duty room and closed my eyes.

‘Should I go to the Garden?’

At this time, it seemed no one would be awake, and I didn’t feel like sightseeing while wearing an illusion veil, so I gave up.

I had secretly watched the council for a month, but Sumire was leading well on her own.

[…In Europe, the existence of criminal groups composed only of supernatural ability users is being mentioned.]

The content of the news I heard earlier at the beef bone soup restaurant.

No matter how you look at it, that must be the plunderer magical girls composed only of 2-stars that the protagonist encountered in Russia on the way to [Death]’s domain to meet a dead person in the original work.

‘Those guys were also pulled by the gravity of fate and bloomed early in the end’

Most magical girls are concentrated in Japan, and the rest are evenly distributed in Korea, China, and Russia, but hundreds of magical girls also exist in Europe and Central Asia.

‘The few magical girls there are treated almost like saints in their respective countries from the moment they know how to use their power.’

The real villain magical girl group [Scavenger] that advances while swallowing most of those hundreds of stars.

Their viciousness was at the level of having completed blooming just from the notoriety that was heard.

Magical girls with unknown origins who chase after fighting itself were depicted as threatening even in lands overflowing with demons.

[Revenge], [Sword], [Bombing]

Anxiety rose as I heard news of those guys I couldn’t pay attention to because their areas of activity were so different.

‘Ugh, this damn anxiety again.’

Feeling like the worry disease that Ichika often pointed out was coming up, I covered myself with a blanket and tried to sleep.