Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duties

12 – Interlude – A Conversation Between Two Girls (2)

Jin So-ah’s mind abruptly froze.

“Huh…?”

It was an incomprehensible thing to say.

Marriage, of all things.

What on earth was she talking about?

“Mar… riage…?”

“Yes.”

Lee Seo-bin, in fact, etched the two characters for marriage even more clearly into Jin So-ah’s hazy consciousness.

Could this just be a dream?

A pitiful, yet conveniently tailored dream, born from her own longing for marriage?

Lost in suspicion, Jin So-ah slapped her own cheek.

“Ouch.”

With a fist.

A tingling shock surges across my cheek.

Which means, this isn’t a dream, it’s reality.

In a reality that feels anything but, Lee Seobin’s worried, sharp words come flying.

“Hey, Soah! Why are you suddenly doing that!”

Jin Soah moved her lips, a blank look on her face.

“I wondered if I was dreaming or not.”

“Who punches themselves in the face to check, you dolt! You could’ve just pinched your arm!”

“I suppose…”

Jin Soah nods in agreement, but her face remains half-dazed.

She just couldn’t quite believe it.

Marriage.

And with someone she met for the first time today.

Jin Soah, forcing her creaky thoughts to churn, shoots Lee Seobin a questioning look.

What on earth are you thinking?

Lee Seobin, understanding Jin Soah’s question, slightly lifts the corner of her lips and slowly begins to speak.

“Listen. Objectively, his conditions are really good.”

Age 33.

A 14-year difference between him and Jin Soah.

“They say you don’t even need to check compatibility with a 14-year age gap.”

“…Isn’t that for a 4-year difference?”

“The 1 in front is just decoration. Like a silent letter in English.”

“Is that…so?”

His appearance is very youthful, belying his age.

Even without any grooming, his looks are decent.

“Well, if I had to nitpick, his eyes are a little strange, I guess. Just looking at his eyes, it’s like he’s lived a whole lifetime.”

“It definitely felt like that.”

“Personally, I thought he had a more jaded look than even you, Soah.”

“What’s wrong with my eyes…”

Not even distant relatives, he has no family at all.

Just Kim Siyul, all alone.

“Well, no need to worry about in-laws. Don’t even need a formal meeting of the families. Honestly, I’m a little jealous of that.”

“Is that really so important?”

“Ah, right. You wouldn’t know.”

“Seriously, are you trying to poke at my sore spots?”

And that wasn’t all. He treated Jin Soa like anyone else.

Didn’t cower, even argued back fiercely.

A sight that would horrify anyone. Because there’s no one in Korea who doesn’t know Jin Soa.

“To not even be fazed in Soa’s presence. Where else would you find a man like that? There are tons of guys who can’t even string a sentence together in front of a magical girl.”

“Isn’t he just, like, severely broken in the head?”

“…Can’t exactly deny that, I guess.”

There were other good points, too.

As long as he can eat it, he doesn’t care about favored foods, doesn’t favor expensive hobbies, and doesn’t have a single friend, let alone a woman he knows.

‘And it’s not like he’s uninterested in marriage or children.’

Besides, Kim Siyul said he doesn’t care about age or physique at all. As for preferred personality, as long as they don’t stab him in the back, it’s enough.

Assuming the other person is a magical girl.

“So he doesn’t care at all if the magical girl has a nasty personality, whether her figure is awful, or how old she is.”

“Is that all there is to it? Isn’t there something more?”

“Well…”

Lee Seobin trailed off.

Of course, there was more.

But it wasn’t something to tell Jin Soa.

After all, how could she possibly tell her that he gets aroused by looking at women’s slippers?

The thought suddenly struck her, and Lee Seobin muttered in a wretched voice without even realizing it.

“No, but why slippers of all things…”

“Seobin-ah, what’s wrong all of a sudden? Is something the matter?”

“Ah, no… just ignore me, please.”

Lee Seobin, uncharacteristically flustered, stammered for a moment.

Then, she met Jin Soa’s eyes.

“Anyway, isn’t this much good enough?”

“Hmm…”

Jin Soa hesitated for a moment.

A bit younger than herself.

An appearance that, if not quite as youthful as her own, still looked young.

An orphan with no family to worry about.

A personality that didn’t give a fig about the other’s social standing.

And.

A s*xual preference that wouldn’t discriminate on age or figure, so long as the target was a magical girl who wasn’t too eccentric.

“Huh…?”

For Jin Soa, this was someone with good conditions.

No, scratch that.

Extremely good.

In fact, essentially the only person.

Because they were a being who managed to pass unscathed through the three sieves that Jin Soa possessed: figure, age, and status.

“Really…?”

The moment Jin Soa quietly muttered with a half-believing face, Lee Seo-bin narrowed her eyes and whispered subtly.

“What do you think?”

“W-w-wait a moment!”

Jin Soa waved her arms about, thoroughly flustered.

Lee Seo-bin pressed in a little more persistently.

Like a cunning serpent tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit.

“Perfect, isn’t it? As a marriage partner.”

“Well… it’s not that it’s bad…”

Before Jin Soa could succumb to the sweet poison of the viper, she half-spasmed and pointed out a bitter reality.

More accurately, one problem that hadn’t yet been resolved.

“If, if we did that, wouldn’t he just go around sowing his wild oats with all the other magical girls, no holds barred?”

A preference that wouldn’t discriminate on age or figure among magical girls was a very fortuitous thing for Jin Soa.

However, she wouldn’t be the only target, surely.

Naturally, he’d be even more randy towards other magical girls than he was now; there was no way he wouldn’t be interested.

It meant the problem mentioned because of Kim Si-yul was only going to worsen.

Which meant.

“It’s guaranteed an accident will happen, then.”

The magical girl void, born from Kim Si-yul’s lust, was inevitable. Only a matter of time.

“Ah, that?”

“Yeah. So I’m a little worried.”

“You don’t need to be.”

Lee Seo-bin’s words were closer to conjecture, but Jin So-ah could feel the certainty within them.

She couldn’t understand it, not at all.

“No, why?”

“You were so out of it, you didn’t see the lie detector results at the end, did you?”

“Ah… sorry.”

“It’s okay. No one else was paying attention either.”

Well, it was serious enough to excuse it, she added, before continuing.

“Everything he said up to the middle was true, though.”

“But?”

Jin So-ah voiced her question.

Lee Seo-bin gave a slight smile.

“It was all lies, the part about wanting to bang all the magical girls at the end.”

In fact, according to the lie detector, Kim Si-yul’s extreme statements were all false.

In simple terms, all bluster.

“Really?”

“Yeah, so he won’t be starting any fires with the other magical girls in the unit.”

Lee Seo-bin spoke to Jin So-ah, while simultaneously reflecting on the situation moments before.

Honestly, even thinking about it again, it was a strange result.

The other world was true.

Being aroused by magical girls was true.

Even his aberrant desires were true.

Everything that *should* have been a lie, was the truth.

“Well, that other world thing, and… the rest being true is still weird, but anyway.”

Yet.

In truth, the words Kim Shi-yul rattled off at the end were all falsehoods. Statements that, to anyone observing, would have seemed closest to the truth.

To do untoward things to magical girls? False.

That being around magical girls was pleasant? False.

And.

That he had nothing to lose was also false.

The first two could be seen as lies simply because, contrary to appearances, he harbored no great interest in magical girls, but that even the last statement came up false…

Kim Shi-yul was a 33-year-old, jobless, high school graduate with no experience, after all.

‘So, there *is* something he has.’

Which meant, there was something he stood to lose.

Not a certainty, but in these cases, what one typically lost was something material. Most representative of which was, of course, property.

Still, how much would it have to be for such a result to appear?

A paltry sum or two wouldn’t cut it.

It would have to be overwhelmingly vast to even register in the results.

For instance.

‘That he’s the major shareholder of Top□ and No□pia, or something.’

Even as Lee Seo-bin thought so, she immediately shook her head, vehemently denying the notion.

Impossible.

There was no way.

It couldn’t be.

Even buying a single share of Top□ and No□pia’s stock was burdensome. So much so that Lee Seo-bin, a three-star magical girl, felt a significant strain.

And yet.

How could a commoner, and a high school graduate, 33-year-old jobless, mere aspiring writer at that, by what means could he possibly hold shares in Top□ and No□pia?

Impossible. Absolutely.

‘Well, that’s not what’s important.’

In any case, Kim Shi-yul did indeed possess something.

She didn’t know exactly what, but quite a great deal of something.

That was the conclusion Lee Seo-bin drew.

Of course, that didn’t mean Lee Seo-bin intended to tell Jin So-ah all of this verbatim.

There was no need to tell her, and it wasn’t particularly important anyway.

Even if she truly possessed nothing, frankly, there wouldn’t be much of a problem anyway.

‘It’s not like our So-ah lacks the ability to support a man, after all.’

Regardless.

Lee Seo-bin brushed away all lingering thoughts and smiled gently at Jin So-ah.

“So, don’t worry too much, So-ah.”

“…That’s a relief.”

Jin So-ah let out a sigh of ease.

With a smiling crinkle around her eyes, Lee Seo-bin subtly slid a piece of paper toward the relieved woman.

The consent form to make Kim Si-yul a Magical Girl.

“Anyway, this much is enough, right, So-ah?”

It was time to drive the wedge in, little by little.

“Then, just sign here at the end.”

Only Jin So-ah’s signature remained.

With that alone, Kim Si-yul would be assigned to Jin So-ah’s unit as a Magical Girl. Just as Lee Seo-bin intended.

However, there was a slight unease that gnawed at Lee Seo-bin.

‘The fact that it’s all a lie bothers me a bit.’

The pretense of wanting to play with Magical Girls and the claim of wanting to be around Magical Girls were both fabricated.

In other words, he would neither get along well with Magical Girls, nor desire their company.

This was a double-edged sword.

It lessened the chance of trouble within the unit, but it also meant he had no interest in Magical Girls, regardless of his personal preferences.

Naturally, that included Jin So-ah, a Magical Girl herself.

‘So, I’ll have to help them along.’

She didn’t intend to simply stand by and watch.

Lee Seo-bin was determined to assist as much as possible.

If necessary, she was long prepared to abuse her authority without hesitation.

‘It’s about time So-ah found some happiness, after all.’

She no longer wanted Jin So-ah to suffer.

‘From the beginning, it’s not like our So-ah has a bad personality, or that she’s someone who would be lacking anywhere.’

In a way, she also had faith in Jin So-ah.

“…Uu, but…”

But in truth, Jin So-ah continued to waver.

All her concerns should have been resolved ages ago.

Lee Seo-bin feigned scolding.

“Think carefully, you dolt. This is your last chance. The way I see it, if you let him go now, it’s truly over for good.”

It couldn’t be helped. If she didn’t push like this, Jin So-ah would never make a decision.

She’d likely offer some vague compromise again.

“Th-then, wouldn’t it be better to process a waiver, and then meet naturally outside later─”

See? Just as she feared.

Lee Seo-bin cut Jin So-ah off immediately.

“Aish, you hopeless thing. Letting someone like that go? Everyone will go mad and swarm him.”

“Th-then what am I supposed to do…!”

Jin So-ah wrung her hands, on the verge of tears.

Honestly, at this point, even Lee Seo-bin was beyond exasperated and genuinely felt sorry for her.

She could slay monsters with effortless ease, yet she struggled this much with something that hadn’t even begun regarding romance.

The unfortunate truth that Jin So-ah had no romantic experience at the age of forty-seven was proving to be a much larger obstacle than Lee Seo-bin had anticipated.

Lee Seo-bin offered a wry smile and spoke.

“You need to keep him as close as possible when you have the opportunity, so you don’t lose him. Then you can have the natural meeting you so desperately want.”

“But… what if it doesn’t go well…?”

Did she really have to explain even this? Lee Seo-bin brushed it off with a sigh.

What was the point of having friends?

Ultimately, shouldn’t she help in times like these?

“When that happens, just close your eyes and make it a fait accompli, like I did, you fool. That’s easy, isn’t it?”

“W-well, yes, but…”

Jin So-ah still couldn’t make up her mind.

From the outside, she looked like a child who was unsure which decision to make, wavering back and forth.

Even though she was forty-seven years old in reality.

Anyway.

In the end, Lee Seo-bin steeled her resolve.

“Do you want to live like this, growing old and dying alone?

If she gives up even now, marriage will become an impossible dream for Jin So-ah, never to be considered again.

Lee Seo-bin couldn’t abide it. Not in the slightest.

“Are you just going to live alone in an empty house, then die a lonely death that no one even notices?”

Words too callous for a friend, barbs that the usual Lee Seo-bin would never direct at Jin So-ah.

Lee Seo-bin bit down lightly on her lip.

Each syllable felt like it was carving a deep wound into Jin So-ah.

“N-no! I don’t want to! I don’t…”

Indeed, Jin So-ah’s eyes were already brimming with tears.

She felt awful. Utterly awful.

Maybe their relationship would be irrevocably damaged.

It already felt like something was creaking, faltering.

But.

Jin So-ah, her hero, the benefactor who saved her life.

The true magical girl, as far as Lee Seo-bin was concerned.

If Jin So-ah could only achieve her dreams, Lee Seo-bin had long resolved to spew words even harsher than these.

“You need to be married before you’re at least fifty!”

Let her resent her.

She didn’t care if she was hated.

“You only have three years left, you know!”

Playing the villain was familiar.

“You should wear a wedding dress before you wear a burial shroud!”

Before Lee Seo-bin’s words had even fully faded, Jin So-ah froze, body locking up. Like a corpse standing upright, breathless.

But.

Jin So-ah’s eyes remained vibrantly alive.

A resolute will breathed life into those barren, orange-tinted pupils, making them shine.

More intensely than ever before.

As dazzling as the sun in the sky.

Yes. Those were the eyes of the magical girl Lee Seo-bin knew.

‘Good.’

Lee Seo-bin swallowed a sigh of relief, offering Jin So-ah a faint smile.

“So-ah, you’ve made your decision, haven’t you?”

Jinsa was silent.

Instead, she answered with action.

By completing the final signature on the consent form.

The moment Jinsa laid down her pen, Lee Seobin offered a smile tinged with apology.

“So-ah, it might seem odd for me to say this, since I’m the one who sent you to your unit, but… brace yourself. It could be tough. No, it *will* be tough.”

Jinsa nodded mutely.

Of course, Jinsa knew.

Nothing was fully resolved yet.

Still a mess of uncertainties.

Because of Kim Siyul, a man who couldn’t even use magic, big and small problems were bound to arise. Unexpected accidents could very well happen because of him.

Her experience thus far might not be enough to cope. She could be racking her brain over things she’d never faced before.

Truly, an unknown chaos.

She couldn’t dare predict even an inch ahead.

But, Jinsa no longer cared.

“Still, do well, So-ah.”

“Okay!”

After all, nothing was more important than her own wedding.