episode_0274

***

“This is cheaper, right?”

After putting the potatoes into the cart, Seong-ah asked In-ho, who was slowly moving forward.

“Huh?”

“Potatoes. This one is 30 won cheaper.”

“But, the number of bundles is different.”

Kang In-ho pointed to the price tag, and Kim Seong-ah looked at the price tags of the two products.

“That’s 6 in a pack, and this is 4.”

To Kim Seong-ah, who had not yet realized the difference, Kang In-ho explained it like an academy instructor explaining a wrong question.

“The price difference is not that big, so it is better to buy as little as possible.”

“Why?”

“You can’t just eat potatoes all week.”

He thought of the ingredients that had been left rotting in the refrigerator.

“Ah….”

Did I come to a belated realization, or am I just responding appropriately? Seongah Kim let out a single exclamation.

“First of all, let’s eat curry today. Do you like curry?”

“I don’t hate it.”

“Hmm… the reaction is so lukewarm. So what is your favorite food?”

“…I can’t think of anything in particular.”

“Ugh, then let’s eat curry.”

Kang In-ho shrugged his shoulders as he put carrots into the cart.

Kang In-ho skillfully walked around the supermarket. The time spent on shopping was not that long, as I moved efficiently by just putting in the necessary ingredients and moving around without having to stay in the section for too long.

Kim Seong-ah, who had been following him and just staring at his back, turned her gaze to the freezer.

“Ice cream?”

He came next to her, saw what was caught at the end of her gaze, and spoke.

Without asking her, he opened the freezer door and grabbed two melon-flavored ice creams.

“Hmm… I bought all the curry ingredients, rice, light bulbs, batteries, rolling pins…”

I checked when he made it and looked at the small piece of paper to see if he had missed anything.

After finishing checking the list, he moved the cart to the checkout.

The supermarket cashier skillfully scanned the barcode.

“Total, 70,920 won.”

It came out a bit. Seeing the amount displayed on the screen, Seongah Kim thought.

“…….”

Kang In-ho looked blankly at Kim Seong-ah.

Kim Seong-ah, who did not understand the meaning of that gaze, tilted her head.

After a moment of silence, Kang In-ho was the first to speak.

“I have no money.”

When he asked why she didn’t know something that was obvious, Kim Seong-ah opened her mouth slightly and made a blank expression.

Card… did you bring it? She searched her pockets.

“Ah, Mr….”

Handing the card to the cashier, Kim Seong-ah glared at Kang In-ho.

Kang In-ho whistled and quietly avoided her gaze.

***

On the way back home. Kang In-ho and Kim Seong-ah were trudging down the street, each holding a melon-flavored ice cream in their hands.

Kang In-ho’s free hand was holding a heavy plastic bag. It was a plastic bag containing items worth 70,920 won.

Although she paid the money.

“Does this seem familiar?”

She looked up at him, who had already eaten half of the ice cream.

“What?”

He licked the melting surface with his lips and answered with slurred pronunciation.

“No, well… I think I’m used to buying things. I think I have some know-how.”

“I’ve been sleeping alone for a long time.”

After I got a job, I moved out of the house and lived alone. He reminisced for a moment.

“It means that before he became the Four Heavenly Kings, he was a human.”

“Let’s say so.”

“Are you going to be so uncooperative?”

“If you ask me, what are those scales again?”

“How restrictive is that magic? It’s not like candy you can take out and eat when you want?”

Seongah Kim snorted.

“But why suddenly the Four Heavenly Kings?”

The man put the remaining ice cream into his mouth.

“He said he had no memories of when he was the Four Heavenly Kings… I thought maybe he had been purified somehow by my magic…”

“I can’t say anything about that. When I came to my senses, I was in a park, and some strange cosplay molester was poking my butt with a stick.”

“Something is true, but everything is wrong.”

Kim Seong-ah ended the conversation by putting ice cream in her mouth.

So the two men and women walked along the road for a while.

Kang In-ho, who was unfamiliar with the road, appeared to be following her, half a step behind her.

“How long have you lived alone?”

It was Kang In-ho who broke the new silence.

“5 years.”

“Are there any other relatives?”

“I have an aunt, but she doesn’t come often. Because you live far away.”

I see Kang In-ho looked at the sky helplessly.

“But why is that?”

“Even though I live alone, I don’t feel like I’m making a living worse.”

Kim Seong-ah sighed at the fact that was suddenly thrown out.

“Of course. I need to learn something, but it’s not working out well. It’s not something they teach at school… Plus, I’m busy with magical girl work.”

“So you go to school in the morning and become a magical girl at night?”

Do the kids only come in at night? Kang In-ho asked.

“It would be convenient if it was decided exactly like that. These guys… they don’t care about day or night. Sometimes I have to run out of class while I’m at it.”

At his innocent question, Kim Seong-ah laughed as if air was leaking from a balloon.

“If they attack you at any time, in normal times…”

He was about to ask me how I live my daily life.

Before he could finish speaking, rashes began to appear on Ososo’s skin.

“Look at this.”

As if she was bored, the magical girl looked up at the sky.

It was still too early for the sun to set, but the sky became dark.

Seongah Kim grabbed the wooden stick of the ice cream and pulled it out. She put the whole ice cream in her mouth and swallowed it.

“Look at that.”

Kim Seong-ah looked at the countless black things densely blocking the sun and said as if she was sick of it.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night?”

***

People on the streets began to react to the sudden change.

Some people tried to share this scene on social media with their cell phones, while others with good sense began to run away to what they thought was a safe place.

Among those people, Kim Seong-ah stretched her arms and legs.

“We need to evacuate people.”

Kang In-ho said, his face hardening.

“No, I don’t have time for that.”

Seongah Kim took a deep breath and stretched out her hand.

On a street covered with sidewalk blocks, a cane stuck out.

“Let me transform here?”

“No problem. Because I’ll forget everything anyway.”

Kim Seong-ah gave an ambiguous answer and grabbed the center of the cane.

A blue, mysterious light began to shine on her body.

“Brilliant, sacred star power.”

Her clothes begin to glow and transform.

“I, as a legitimate contractor of the star, wish to use its power.”

Comfortable training clothes change into the fluffy clothes decorated with stars that you see in the park at night.

“The light of dreams and hopes that will annihilate evil will shine here.”

The hair tied back is loosened and tied into two braids.

A star decoration is attached to the head.

“Magical girl of the stars. Lyrical Star. Appears!”

In the place where Kim Seong-ah disappeared, a magical girl appeared, twirling her wand and looking at the sky.

The dark clouds in the sky increased. In fact, it wasn’t a dark cloud.

Kang In-ho squinted his eyes and looked at the sky. It was a flock of bats.

Thousands of human-sized bats were falling from the sky.

People who were taking pictures of the sky with their cell phones also started screaming and running away.

“They look like bastards, but the numbers are very different.”

Kang In-ho muttered worriedly.

As if responding to his words, the magical girl increased her power.

“Sagittarius.”

After reciting the spell, she stepped hard on the ground with her right foot.

With a thud, a huge constellation began to be carved into the ground.

Brightly shining dots are embroidered on the streets, and blue lines connect dots.

“Target confirmation.”

The lyrical star took his foot back slightly.

Then he raised his staff diagonally.

“Charge horsepower.”

Light began to gather at the tip of the wand, and the constellations carved on the ground began to glow in the same color.

Kang In-ho felt as if the ground was pulsating.

“Disable horsepower control.”

The wand begins to shake. It was a shape that barely managed to block a huge force.

“Safety device released.”

The lyrical star did not lose his cool even though his cane was being shaken mercilessly.

“Continuous firing between adjustments.”

“Ascella.”

“The sharp light of Chiron, annihilate the enemy.”

“It’s magic so you can’t avoid it!!!!”

With her cry, a bundle of light shot into the sky.

***

On the way back, Kim Seong-ah was completely exhausted.

In conclusion, we succeeded in blocking the enemy’s offensive.

Although the exterior wall of the building was damaged in the process, there were no major accidents or casualties.

Kim Seong-ah thought that was enough.

“Amazing.”

When I heard a compliment from someone who had been my enemy for a while, I felt strange, but I didn’t dare express it out loud.

“But is it okay? Everyone saw it. Magical girl activities… shouldn’t it be done secretly?”

“Don’t worry. Because tomorrow I will forget everything.”

“I said that before. What does that mean?”

“The power of the star erases all memories and records of magical girls or evil forces.”

“But the damage remains.”

“It roughly fits into reality. Well, something like a gas pipe burst…”

“Because it’s magic, you can’t tackle it.”

Kim Seong-ah laughed at his ridiculous words.

“I kept it today too.”

Seongah Kim muttered as she watched the setting sun. The orange sunset was brightening the sky.

“It must be difficult.”

Kang In-ho said while looking at Kim Seong-ah.

“It’s okay because I’m used to it. They also have restrictions on coming over here. Judging by the number of attacks today… there will be no attacks until at least the day after tomorrow.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Yes?”

Kim Seong-ah tilted her head at his words.

“That’s not it.”

Kang In-ho, who was about to say something, closed his mouth. It was because my thoughts changed.

He and she walked and walked and arrived home.

“I need to put it in the refrigerator quickly.”

Kang In-ho said as he entered the house. The milk in the plastic bag had become lukewarm.

“You are organizing it. I need to wash up…”

Kim Seong-ah, who was taking off her shoes at the entrance, closed her mouth.

A shoe she had never seen before caught her eye.

“…What is this?”

Before I could finish asking, someone walked from the kitchen.

“Seong-ya.”

“Huh? Aunt?!”

Kim Seong-ah froze on the spot at the sudden appearance of a relative, and Kang In-ho, who followed her, followed her.

A woman who appeared to be in her late 30s looked at In-ho and Seong-ah alternately.

“Well… who is the person behind that?”

She asked her niece for an explanation, and in response to the sudden question, Kim Seong-ah rolled her eyes back and forth and spoke gibberish.

“Ah, well… who is this guy… Well, I know him, so it’s not like I’ve known him for a long time… I recently found out…”

At the moment when the aunt’s eyes narrowed at her nephew’s behavior, which clearly showed that ‘I was embarrassed’, Kang In-ho, who was behind her, came to the front of Kim Seong-ah and said.

“This is Seong-ah’s tutor.”

Kim Seong-ah gaped at the shamelessness of confidently spitting out nonsense. Fortunately, he hid behind Inho’s back and his face was not visible to his aunt.

“A tutor?”

Kim Seong-ah’s aunt crossed her arms and looked him up and down.

“Yes.”

Kang In-ho nodded his head loudly.

“But… does the tutor do the grocery shopping together?”

Her fingers went to the plastic bag he was holding.

In response to her request for an explanation, Kang In-ho took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“It’s MZ-style tutoring these days.”

He heard the sound of Kim Seong-ah hitting his forehead with her palm, and Kang In-ho thought to himself.

‘Hey, explained it well. ‘It’s me too.’