Chapter 18 : From Angel to Reaper

The clerk was a girl around 20 years old.

On her chest was a name tag that read “Choi Yena.”

She had cat-like eyes, but her overall impression was gentle.

So this is what Reaper Morse feels like when she’s not transformed.

“How did you know where I was…?”

“I told you. I can find you no matter where you are.”

Choi Yena glanced around.

I was the only customer.

From a part-timer’s perspective, it might be nice to have no work, but right now that worked against her.

No one else would be coming for a while.

“You can sense magic even when I’m not transformed… I thought that was just bluffing.”

“Because the magical gem is embedded in my body.”

A magical gem is a vessel that stores magical power.

Transforming is the act of activating that power.

The magic currently leaking out is faint, but if you know the original sensation, it’s not impossible to detect.

“I didn’t think you’d dye your hair pink. Do you like Scarlet that much?”

On the surface, I’m known as 5.5th-generation Scarlet Lily, and it’s been said I’m such a fan I’m mimicking the 1st-gen Scarlet.

It’s ridiculous to be my own fan—I’m not even a narcissist.

It’s absurd, but I’ve come too far to clear up the misunderstanding.

So I just went with it.

“When does your shift end?”

“It’ll take a while. Why?”

“Just trying to build a little rapport.”

“You? With me?”

Choi Yena frowned.

“I’ll wait, so at least give me your number.”

“What if I say no?”

“It’s not a request.”

Maybe she realized her position, because she reluctantly agreed.

“Give me your phone.”

She let out a resigned sigh.

When I handed over my smartphone, she entered her contact info and hit the call button.

A buzzing sound came from near the counter.

“I’ll call you when I’m off.”

Now that a missed call log was left, she had effectively given me her number too.

She should’ve just done that from the start.

Yucia and Gil Ha-eun are pretty busy.

On the other hand, I’m… not just relatively, but almost always free.

This case might be related to the escape from the demon realm, so I couldn’t just dump it on my juniors.

I decided to take the initiative and lessen their burden.

“Can’t believe you brought me to your house.”

I met Choi Yena in a residential neighborhood.

She was tired after work and brought me to her place.

“You said you could find me wherever I am, anyway.”

“My tracking isn’t that precise—I didn’t know your address. Even finding the convenience store was tough.”

…But you still figured it out, so it’s basically the same thing.

I consoled myself with that.

“You said you wanted to build rapport, but how exactly?”

“I just wanted to know what kind of person you are.”

I didn’t have a specific plan in mind.

I just wanted to understand her better, since the 4th generation seemed like prime candidates for being part of the shadowy conspiracy.

“You’re talking like I’m a kid.”

Well, you are younger than me… but I couldn’t say that.

Choi Yena didn’t seem particularly offended.

She probably saw it as part of the magical girl culture where everyone calls each other informally.

“We’re different in age, and we hardly have anything in common. Not much to talk about, really. I don’t even get why you’re doing this.”

She grumbled like a rebellious teen.

“I heard a lot of 4th gens operate independently—are you maybe a loner?”

“I’m not!”

She jumped and strongly denied it.

“I thought maybe that was what led you to almost fall into darkness.”

“I’ve always been the type to keep a small circle of close friends…!”

Choi Yena pouted.

So she is a loner.

“It’d be nice if people in the same generation were friendly. Didn’t you connect with anyone?”

How did she end up isolated?

It’s not like she’s bad at talking or socially awkward.

Her personality might be a little sharp, but still.

“I wasn’t like this from the start. Over time, people just found their places.”

“You mean you found your place as a loner?”

“I said no!”

“Tell me about your Angelic Luna days.”

Before she became Reaper Morse.

I got curious about what she was like as an angel, not a reaper.

“There’s not much to tell. When we were rookies, we stuck together. But as we gained experience, people formed their own teams with those they clicked with. I ended up kind of floating.”

“Why?”

“Because I was weak.”

I tilted my head.

“Didn’t look like it—you were flying around and everything.”

“That’s all I could do. It didn’t help much in monster battles.”

I disagreed with that, but didn’t say anything.

“So the 4th gen is all about merit, huh.”

Hearing how a proud magical girl came to be made me feel kind of bad.

This is something Armo should’ve stepped in to help with.

Back in my day, there were only three of us, including me.

We got along well, but we also had to rely on each other.

Of course I was close with Stella and Spica.

But starting with the 3rd generation, the number of contractors exploded.

If you didn’t make a conscious effort to connect, it was easy to end up isolated.

“I talked a bit with Reaper Morse, and she didn’t seem like a bad person.”

That evening, I met with Yucia and Gil Ha-eun at a café.

“Only people with the right qualities can become magical girls. She probably isn’t rotten at her core.”

When I talked about visiting Choi Yena—Reaper Morse’s house—Gil Ha-eun said it like she expected that.

“Weren’t you the one most suspicious of her?”

I still vividly remember her threatening with pliers.

“That’s because I knew the 2nd Armo was the real problem. She was completely irresponsible.”

“We were lucky, but the 4th generation probably had it much harder.”

Yucia nodded in agreement with Gil Ha-eun.

“Did both the 3rd and 4th generations contract with the 2nd Armo? Was there a difference?”

“That’s the thing…”

After learning that the first Armo had been murdered, the second Armo took a completely different approach.

Neglect.

If you don’t meddle, you won’t provoke trouble.

Under that simple idea, they made contracts with new magical girls and seemed to leave them entirely alone.

“I had an almost purely business relationship with the second Armo. They never intervened, even when trouble arose, just left us to figure things out ourselves.”

Gil Ha-eun frowned.

“Weren’t you dissatisfied?”

“Of course I was! But what could we do? We chose to become magical girls ourselves. If I had known what they were like, I might not have signed that contract.”

Once the contract is made, the mascot holds the power, and the magical girl becomes the subordinate.

It’s not absolute, but it’s hard to resist that dynamic, especially for naive teenage girls.

“When we successfully debuted, the second Armo got even more arrogant. By the fourth generation, they had practically abandoned their duties. They even pushed the training of the newbies onto us, their seniors.”

Hiding in a safe place, watching from the sidelines.

That seemed to be their goal, but life isn’t that simple.

If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.

“If you just look at the results, one of the fourth generation held a grudge, and after that… I think you know the rest.”

Even though they took the opposite stance from the first Armo, they ended up murdered just the same.

There was a hint of poetic justice in Yucia’s words.

“Punishment, that’s what it is. We’re out here risking our lives, and they just sit back, doing nothing.”

It was easy to see how things might have played out.

Generations may change, but a mascot is still a mascot.

“Are you saying you don’t see Reaper Morse as entirely bad?”

“Hmm… it’s complicated.”

“Really?”

I thought the mascot was the real villain here.

“I don’t really know much about them. Reaper Morse, or rather Angelic Luna, hardly ever goes out, so I never had a chance to meet them.”

Gil Ha-eun scratched her head with a sheepish laugh.

Elite, my foot.

This introvert of a girl…

Choi Yena abandoned the name Angelic Luna because she wanted a fresh start.

Being a magical girl wasn’t as glamorous as it seemed from afar.

Behind the bright smiles lay hidden darkness and struggles unknown to ordinary people.

The mascots were trash, and the duties were heavy.

She had become disillusioned by the gap between her ideals and reality.

Her missions became less frequent, and she drifted away from her comrades.

Her life had become too tangled to untangle.

There was no choice but to start over.

“Tch, can’t believe I even lost to Scarlet Lily.”

On her monitor was a site ranking the popularity of magical girls.

Scarlet Lily, despite being a fresh debut, had already climbed to the middle ranks.

Her flashy debut and unique streaming style quickly made her a rising star.

Meanwhile, Angelic Luna’s name was only visible if you scrolled all the way down.

Near the very bottom.

“Damn it…”

Not every magical girl is an idol.

Even if they have fans, that doesn’t necessarily pay the bills.

You have to fend for yourself.

Streaming can help, but it’s a privilege for a select few.

Choi Yena was scraping by with a convenience store part-time job.

“Should I head out?”

On days like this, getting some fresh air was the best remedy.

“Brr… it’s cold.”

Transformed into Reaper Morse, Choi Yena drifted through the night sky.

Even though winter had ended, the air was still cold.

She looked for a rooftop with some wind cover and eventually landed on a suitable building.

The night view was beautiful.

Seeing this view from a height only a magical girl could reach was one of the few perks of her powers.

Whenever she needed to clear her mind, Choi Yena would take to the skies.

“Scarlet Lily… she wasn’t a bad kid.”

She muttered to herself, swinging her legs back and forth.

Though she lacked respect for her seniors, her heart seemed pure.

It had been a long time since someone approached her first.

Even if dropping by her convenience store without notice was a bit rude.

“Jumping to conclusions is a dangerous game.”

It’s easy to look down on someone if you’re stronger.

That had been her misconception about Scarlet Lily.

After talking with her, Choi Yena’s perspective had changed.

Though it stung her pride to be worried about by someone younger, the attention wasn’t entirely unwelcome.

Bzzzz.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

A DM had arrived on her SNS account.

“A gate is scheduled to open tomorrow. Exact time will be provided later. This time, we expect you to attend the feast.”