An Exorcist Magical Girl!

As I watched from my classroom window, I saw several of the students in the school screaming,

“It’s the hallway bulletin board!”

and running away.

 

After confirming that the spirit had vanished, my classmates slowly began to approach me.

 “Holy shit. You’re an exorcist.” “You take requests?” “You mean you get rid of ghosts like you just did?” 

I seized the opportunity and pulled my business card out of my arm and handed it out.

 

It was a hastily made business card, cut into eighths.

 “Here, here. Take my business card. Would you like one too?” 

I handed one to the puzzled-looking gym teacher then Narea, who was standing guard over the monster corpse, came over and held out her hand.

 “Me too.”

Narea said.

 “Huh?”

, while looking at her hand.

 “Me too.”

She repeated.

 

What are you supposed to do with it?

 

I didn’t understand, but it was the first time I’d been asked by a customer since the beginning of my business.

 

Eventually, I gave her one.

 

The exorcisms had to be performed on a commissioned basis, Afterall.

 

Only by fulfilling these conditions will I be able to make progress on my defense against talent removal.

 

***

 

So that’s what I’ve been planning: a school-wide exorcism business.

 

This morning, I posted a notice on the hallway bulletin boards about the school exorcism program.

 

I had to wait for someone to see the sign and contact me, and I never thought I’d have this opportunity.

 

In front of the whole school, to show off my power over evil spirits and announce that I’m taking requests for exorcisms.

 

I can’t think of a better way to open my business.

 

It wasn’t a perfect exorcism, but it was enough to make a strong impression on the average student.

 “The price for the request is a glass of grapefruit? Brand doesn’t matter?” “What, you’re just going to slam it down as a snack?” 

3 to 4 thousand won for a cheap coffee brand.

 

How about that? Never had such a cheap price before, right?

 

A glass of grapefruit that’s a price for a single request!

 

It’s unimaginable in the professional world. Even if I got paid to play with my cousin’s brother for a day, I’d get paid more than that.

 

But money is not my goal.

 

I need to get more work, faster, and if I charge too much, I’m going to turn people away.

 

But if I don’t get anything, it’s not a request, so I set the price at a reasonable level.

 

And if the price is cheap, more people will try it out just out of curiosity.

 

It’s a win-win for me in many ways.

 

A smile automatically formed on my face.

 

Afterwards, the magical girl beta team scrambled to collect the monster’s carcasses and the school went back to normal.

 

Some of the students who hadn’t been able to measure their long jump due to the monster outbreak were told to gather back at the gym after lunch.

 

Of course, I was at the end of the attendance list, so of course I was in there.

 “What’s for dinner today?” “I don’t remember, so I’m guessing it’s something boring?” 

The chatter around me made me wonder about the lunch menu.

 “Seo Jun. Do you know what’s for lunch today?” “Mackerel with stewed lotus root and eggplant.” “Ugh. Let’s go to the canteen.”

I led Seo Jun to the cafeteria.

 

***

 

Two weeks after I transferred to the school, Seo Jun and I went in and out of the cafeteria.

 

Most of the time, we’d stop by at dismissal time before school to buy dinner, but sometimes, like today, we’d stop by for lunch when the cafeteria menu was miserable.

 

As I stamped my attendance every day, I naturally became friendly with the canteen manager.

 

However, when we arrived at the canteen, we saw that it was closed. 

 

The canteen manager had left for a while to go to the convenience store.

 “What business does the canteen manager have to do to go to a convenience store?”

I asked.

 

We were puzzled, but we couldn’t help but turn to the cafeteria.

 

We didn’t know when the canteen manager would be back, and I had to get back to the clock.

 

In the deserted hallway leading from the canteen to the lunchroom Seo Jun saw that there were few people around and immediately whispered.

 “Baek Iri, you’re not done with the exorcism.” “How do you know that?” “Because I’ve been paying attention.” 

Seo Jun nodded and spoke up.

 “I didn’t see any nukes. I thought it might be a cover-up like last time.” “You do? It’s actually kind of weird because I did hit it. But it didn’t hurt, it didn’t unwind, it just disappeared like a puff of smoke.” 

I honestly hope it was just a puff of smoke, but if not…

 “I suppose it could reappear at any time.”

Seo Jun muttered.

 

I turned to her and asked a question.

 “That’s right, Seo Jun. How did you know right away what kind of demon it was? You said it was a life-or-death kind of thing.” “Well, the circumstances were just right. I read about it in theory.” 

As soon as I got to the academy, I was busy preparing for the mission, so I mostly learned and trained on things that I could use in the real world.

 

As a result, I didn’t have a good foundation in the theoretical part.

 

I could ask a Senior Shin to recommend a book but Seo Jun suggested something similar first.

 “I think “Curious about Ghosts” was in our schools library. Baek Iri, do you have a student ID?” “No, I haven’t gotten it yet.” 

My homeroom teacher said I would get one after the midterms. He said it takes time to issue student IDs.

 “Well, you need a student ID to borrow a book. Do you want me to borrow it for you?” “Oh? Oh! That would be great!”

I said, seizing the opportunity.

 “Okay, I’ll finish eating and get the book.” “Thank you, and I will return it on time.” 

She folded her waist into a ninety-degree angle.

 “Did you know how long you can borrow a book?”

Seo Jun asked.

 “No. I don’t know.” 

When I answered that I didn’t know, Seo Jun swallowed her bewilderment and explained.

 “Normal students have two weeks, but I’m in the library club, so I can borrow for up to three weeks. I’ll be in trouble if I get caught lending it to another student, so I’ll have to return it myself. Just make sure you bring it back within three weeks.” “Okay. You’re… I assume you haven’t picked a club yet.”

Seo Jun added

 “Yeah. But I didn’t know you were in the library club.” “Uh-huh. I’ll probably figure that out this week, Longbottom said we have a club meeting this Friday.” 

Field talents like Exorcist and Magical girl are outside of the normal admissions process, and many people choose to work instead of go to college.

 

So it doesn’t really matter what your grades are in school or what you do in your free time.

 

Rather, it’s the assessments taken by the association that’s important.

 

This means that one can join any club one wants to get a spot in.

 

Probably knowing this, Seo Jun didn’t bother to ask me which club I wanted to join.

 

I didn’t ask her why she joined the library club either. I didn’t think there was much point in choosing a club.

 “Come to think of it, you’ve never even been in the library at this school.”

Seo Jun pointed out.

 “Of course not. I never had a reason to go.”

I replied, matter of fact.

 “Well, I’ll show you around sometime. We have a pretty good library.”  “Really?” “Yep. It’s clean, well-stocked, has a separate area for studying, and it smells nice.” 

I could hear the affection in Seo Jun’s voice. I thought she was just a ghost maniac, but I guess she didn’t just walk into a place without a life.

 

I feel bad for her.

 “What does the library club do?”

I decided to ask out of politeness.

 “We organize books, organize and promote events, and stuff like that.”

she explained.

 “Oh, but isn’t doing duties in the library like having a job? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go to work in the library!” “I’m on the morning shift, so I come in early to open the doors and clean.” “You’ve been working hard behind the scenes, haven’t you? I see…” 

Damn. I feel like I’m in a cheap mood.

 

But luckily, it was just my mood, and the conversation went smoothly.

 “So, do you have any clubs in mind?”

Seo Jun asked.

 “Well, not really.” “What did you do at your old school?” “Art club.” “I thought you didn’t even like art.” “Well, I joined because they had openings, but I did my best. Do you want to see what I drew in art club?” “Sure.” 

I flipped through my phone’s gallery and found a bunch of photos from the art department at Shenlin Girls’ High School.

 

Seo Jun stared at the pictures I showed her and said,

“You know what? You’re good at drawing talismans.” “How can this be a talisman? it’s obviously a chick, a chick!”

I yelled with wide-eyed shock.

 “What’s this red line?”

she pointed at the picture.

 “That’s obviously a flower, isn’t it? It’s a chick playing in a field of flowers.” “It’s a good thing there are no spots left in the art department at my school.”

Seo Jun laughed.

 

I agreed, so I didn’t argue back.

 

We talked about other stuff and ate our lunch.

 

***

 

I headed to the playground, and Seo Jun headed to the library.

 

Hanbyul Cha was the first one out on the playground. 

 

The others arrived one after another.

 

The last to arrive was the gym teacher.

 “Guys, drink your juice.” 

There was a reason he was late.

 

He had bought enough juice for all of us at the cafeteria.

 “Wow, thank you, Teacher!” “Don’t tell the other kids, but I know you had a hard time getting back out of there.”

the gym teacher said.

 “Okay!” 

I gratefully accepted the juice and waited my turn.

 

By the way, the canteen was now open.

 

The canteen manager said he was going to the convenience store, so he must be back.

 

There were only four of us, so the long jump timing was quick.

 

Two of them went to the restroom, and I walk back to the classroom with Hanbyul Cha.

 “Hey, are you working on this business on your own?”

Hanbyul Cha asked.

 “Uh-huh.” “Oh, no.”

she let out a sigh.

“I was expecting something from the teachers, but I guess not.” 

Why the sigh?

 

But before I could ask her what was wrong, Hanbyul Cha explained.

 “No, the school doesn’t care that there’s a ghost in the school, and the kids are jumping out of the palm trees and going crazy. They don’t care. The teachers just say it’s not happening.” 

‘Oh, so the school didn’t respond as she thought?’

 “That’s why I thought the school had finally come to its senses when you mentioned the exorcism business. I thought they had specially brought you here. Please transfer to our school, exorcist, or something.” 

I scratched my head.

“Ahaha, I see, I had that misunderstanding.” “Yeah, but then I thought about it, this school has been like this for a year, and it’s not like they’re going to do something about it all of a sudden. If they’re going to do something, they should have done it sooner, right? And then when I saw that you are getting paid in grapefruit juice, I was like, “Oh, this girl can’t do this alone.” I thought, “Oh, she’s doing this on her own, and if the school asked her to do it, they’d pay her separately.”” 

Cha voices out her frustrations on the school. She was as energetic and talkative as she looked.

 

By the time we got to the classroom, I had even learned that she preferred peach iced tea to grapefruit.

 “Hey, if business doesn’t go well, I’ll bring you tons of customers. Ah, I should say clients, not customers, right? But I don’t think that’s necessary, there’ll be about three thousand people in line, right?” “Thank you and I really hope so.” “Well, here you go, you can have three thousand won worth of grapefruit Kool-Aid!” “Oh, wow, that’s so nice.” 

It was really nice to see her trying to cheer me up.

 

***

 

I was ready to call the Hyanbul Cha a total douchebag, but I was relieved to see such an enthusiastic response.

 

My ears hurt a bit though, but whatever.

 

So we arrived at the classroom and—

 “Aaaaahhhhh!!!” 

We were greeted by ear drum assaulting screams.

 

‘What the hell is going on?’

 

But before I could properly assess the situation in the classroom, I was grabbed by both shoulders by a blonde, wavy-haired girl.

 “Come here! I thought you were getting a commission!” “Yu-Yuri?” 

It was none other than Kwon Yuri who grabbed me and shook me firmly.

 

Yuri blurted out words in a rush.

 “I’m so sorry, but do you sometimes accept requests for extermination?!” 

What?!