Magical Hunter Girl Decorates the Dungeon! Episode 016
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“Kang Junseo. Did you… just see that?”
“I didn’t see it, but I did hear someone—not you—shout ‘It’s a human!’ and then go quiet.”
“…….”
He heard all the important parts.
Junseo lowered his voice and started a game of twenty questions, though it wasn’t quite twenty questions.
“Shin Iji. Are you really ‘that’? You know, the kind that carries a stick with a jewel on it, is invincible while spinning around, wears frilly clothes—”
“I can probably say ‘that’ word now.”
“……Really?”
Junseo carefully spoke the word.
“Magical, girl.”
The word that had been blocked by Iji’s skill.
Junseo’s eyes went wide.
“It really works? It didn’t before!”
“It’s because there’s magic cast to protect my identity. It’s fine when there’s no one around to eavesdrop.”
“Whoa, holy cow, seriously… No! I didn’t come here to talk about that.”
Iji tensed up.
‘He really did follow me on purpose!’
She felt like she was at a turning point in her magical girl life.
In cartoons, people who noticed a magical girl’s secret usually fell into one of three categories.
One, someone who would become an ally.
Two, a villain who would blackmail her over the secret.
Three, an extra who would spread the secret.
‘Junseo isn’t a villain, but…’
He didn’t seem like the type to be a magical girl’s ally, either.
Even with a secret-keeping skill, it seemed best to be as careful as possible.
‘No matter what he asks, I won’t tell him anything else!’
Iji puffed out her chest and asked. She was determined not to look like a pushover.
“Kang Junseo. Why did you follow me?”
The answer she got back was completely unexpected.
“You earlier. I thought you were going to get your money extorted by someone.”
“Huh? Why on earth?”
“Apparently, the fifth graders have been calling over quiet kids and shaking them down for money. You were looking around and heading to a quiet spot, so I thought you were one of them.”
“…….”
“If not, then never mind.”
Junseo turned on his heel and walked away. Iji hurriedly asked.
“Kang Junseo. Did you really come just because of that?”
“Yeah.”
“Really? You didn’t come to ask me something?”
“Ask what?”
“……About magic.”
“I’m not a girl, so I can’t use it. So what’s the point of asking?”
While Iji was left speechless, Junseo headed back toward the hallway with a heavy tread.
Soon, Grimoire whispered from behind her shoulder.
[That’s the fellow who fell into the dungeon with you before, isn’t it?]
“‘Fellow’ is a mean word.”
[Better than ‘fertilizer.’ Regardless, it’s suspicious that he followed you when he had nothing to ask.]
“……He said he came to help me.”
[Were you two close to begin with?]
“No.”
[Then he simply made up an excuse. Don’t trust your classmates too much.]
Junseo hadn’t even said much before leaving, yet Grimoire was rambling on twice as much.
‘Why is he so prickly?’
Even if Jin Si-heon’s first meeting with Grimoire wasn’t exactly peaceful…
Isn’t it strange to be this hostile toward an elementary schooler he’s never even spoken to?
Iji thought for a moment and asked.
“Grimoire, do you happen to dislike Junseo?”
In cartoons, magical friends would instinctively be wary of dangerous beings.
*Beware of that one, he’s trouble,* and so on.
She asked because she thought she might get an answer like that—
[What? W-why would I have any reason to dislike a brat like that?]
“…….”
[Don’t think such useless thoughts! I don’t dislike him; I don’t even care about him!]
‘You seem to care quite a lot.’
She felt that asking any further would only raise his voice decibels.
Iji changed the subject.
“I’m going back to the classroom.”
Grimoire didn’t even answer and retreated back into the ‘Math Exercises’ textbook.
Iji walked along, clutching the textbook.
But at the end of the hallway, in front of a pile of chairs, she saw an unexpected figure.
“Why are you here?”
Junseo pointed at the pile of chairs with his chin. Iji realized.
“Ah, so you couldn’t get through.”
“You’re the one who can’t get through, Iji.”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Both of them had question marks floating over their heads, and Junseo jumped to a conclusion first.
“My ankle is all better. My muscles were just shocked, so a day of rest did the trick.”
“That’s a relief… but how did you get in here earlier?”
A big kid like Junseo shouldn’t have been able to crawl under the chairs.
Just then, Junseo grabbed the window frame—
And using it to support his weight, he easily vaulted over the pile of chairs.
“Like this.”
“…….”
‘So if your legs are long, you don’t have to crawl on the floor.’
She gained a sad realization.
From the other side of the chairs, Junseo said something that was true but annoying.
“I don’t think you could jump over this….”
“…….”
“If you need to, I, uh, can help you.”
‘Is he making fun of me for being short?’
Her temper flared.
“I don’t need your help.”
After a sharp reply, Iji crawled under the chairs.
*Pop.* Like a mouse emerging from its hole, she looked up to see Junseo looking bewildered.
“You actually did it?”
“What is that supposed to mean? How did you think I got in?”
“Obviously the stable, no, the garlic, the—this isn’t what I meant to say!”
As they got closer to the classroom, it seemed the secret-keeping skill was gagging him.
Junseo, his face turning red at the mention of ‘mamma,’ hurriedly changed the subject.
“You go into the classroom first. It’ll look weird if we go in together.”
“Huh? Weird?”
“……Then I’m going first. Follow me if you want to go in together.”
Junseo turned away.
Well, if Junseo didn’t want to, there was no need to force it.
While Iji waited, clutching her textbook, Junseo turned the corner of the hallway and disappeared with a slower-than-usual gait.
— — —
* * *
During every break, Iji read the guide on how to sell Magic Stones.
True to Jin Si-heon’s writing style, it was cold from the very first line.
Since you have no Hunter license and no guild, you will never be able to sell Magic Stones at their true value. Stories about doing good deeds and making a fortune only happen in fairy tales.
‘……I know that!’
Though, it was true that she had hoped for a little more.
The method I’ve explained below is the safest one I know.
I’ve done my best to write it simply.
If you can’t understand it, then give up.
‘Just adding “-danda” at the end doesn’t make you sound kind!’
Honestly, there were many words in his explanation she didn’t know, but Iji gritted her teeth and wrestled with a dictionary until she understood everything.
It was doable.
There was just a lot to do.
Later, Grimoire clicked his tongue.
[So, you have to sell them to a junk shop with the excuse that ‘these are Magic Stones from disposing of expensive electronics at home,’ but if you go yourself, you might be suspected of being a reckless child who’s tearing her family apart, so you have to go through an electronics recycler, and to avoid being backtracked by the client, you have to find someone to deliver the goods, and then find someone else to hire them….]
“It’s long.”
[By the time you finish all this, won’t you be old enough to get a Hunter license?]
“Really? Will it take that long?”
[I was joking. Don’t be alarmed.]
Even after saying that, Grimoire added.
[It… could be a joke, right?]
“…….”
She postponed the next dungeon exploration until after she sold the Magic Stones.
There was too much to prepare.
Installing several applications, sneaking the goods to the drop-off point while her sister was on her three-shift rotation, all without her sister or the neighborhood grandmothers knowing….
The following week.
After school, Iji carefully opened the cash envelope she had received at the drop-off point.
In front of Iji, who had never held more than two ten-thousand-won bills in her entire life.
She saw a literal wad of cash.
‘Ha… I’m rich!’
She felt like she might faint.
[How much did you earn?]
“Don’t be surprised. One, two…. Eleven bills!”
Grimoire seemed surprised.
In a different way than she expected.
[The estimated sale price for the first batch was much higher, wasn’t it? The commission fees must be enormous since it passes through so many hands.]
“I still have more Magic Stones left.”
Jin Si-heon had emphasized several times that she should sell them in small batches so she wouldn’t be tracked.
“I have more payments! coming in tomorrow, too.”
[That’s good. Will you get more than today?]
“The next payment! is a whopping seventeen bills!”
Through this transaction, she also learned that adults call the price of goods ‘payment.’
It was nice to earn money, but she felt more grown-up, which made her feel even better.
Grimoire didn’t seem to notice what Iji was emphasizing, though.
[You said you’d buy Hunter equipment once you saved up money, right?]
Usually, Hunter equipment is traded on Hunter-exclusive applications.
Naturally, that was a pie in the sky for Iji….
But there were always exceptions.
Cheap Hunter equipment would occasionally pop up on the local second-hand trading app.
Hunter’s Club!! My son finally came to his senses and wants to study, so I’m selling this cheap before he changes his mind.
This guy claims it’s a mace, but it’s a club no matter how you look at it.
Hunter buff accessory set. Received as collateral for a debt, but it looks cheap… It has a certificate, but it’s old. Take it if you don’t mind.
[There are quite a few listings even now. Have you decided what to buy?]
“Yes. I already picked them out and messaged the sellers!”
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