3 – 2. Meeting a strange man -1

When I looked around, it was already evening. The dusk had long faded completely, and the moon was fully exposed.

Noah, who had sloppily bandaged her hand, yawned widely.

It had been a tiring day.

He should have been home by now. He had initially gone out to do flyer distribution part-time, and the incident had happened while on his way back home.

Who could have known that a monster would spring out from there?

Noah picked up a pinwheel with her left hand, the one that hadn’t been bandaged. It was from the monster she had fought just a while ago.

Its power had diminished, and it had become so small.

“Absorb.”

With Noah’s word, the pinwheel shattered into particles of light.

Magic energy transfers up her arm. It wasn’t a great amount of magic energy, but if she accumulated over time, it would someday become a big mountain.

As the saying goes, little strokes fell great oaks.

Thinking about this brought about a wave of bitterness.

‘But why is my money still little?’

Noah stared intensely at the several banknotes she pulled out from hert pocket.

It was too little.

If it were pocket money from her parents, she would have been grateful…

“Eh, let’s not think about it.”

After a moment of silence, Noah shook her head, got up from her place. The slim figure of the girl slightly staggered.

At least today’s earnings were decent. She had gained magic and also ran a high paying part-time job after a long time.

Above all, didn’t he save people and increase her reputation?

With this, being recruited into a hero corporation wasn’t

just a dream story.

“Kyukyu! It’s indeed Noah-nim. I was moved.”

A cry of ‘kyukyu’ rang out as a sparrow flew up to him.

What was unique was the ‘kyukyu’ cry and the ability to use human language.

It was the mascot that magic girls usually possessed.

Noah, a magic girl, also had one.Noah snapped it on T.

“Where have you been and just came now?”

“Mueu…! Mascots are originally minions in battle!”

“If you can’t talk.”

Noah tapped the Sparrow’s forehead with her finger.

Then, the Sparrow started to cry.

“Mueu-! That’s too much! How can you hit such a cute Sparrow!?”

“Because it’s cheeky.”

“Can this be…? Weren’t humans fascinated by cute things!? So that’s why I transformed into this appearance…”

“Hey, Mueu.”

“Mueu?”

“Spare yourself because you’re cute.”

“Mueoooooooo!”

The Sparrow, who had climbed over Noah’s white head, shivered like a soft rice cake.

Noah chuckles at that.

He was so scared just from a playful joke.

Anyway, he was training the little one for fighting. Because it’s cute, he’s keeping it as a pet for now.

… There isn’t much food.

“Phew… let’s go home. Get into my pocket. Be careful not to get caught when outside.”

“Yes! Miss Noah!”

Mueu quickly hid in Noah’s pocket.

Seeing this, Noah moved her feet.

Let’s go home quickly and eat, and then rest.

That’s what the determined Noah had thought, but her steps were slow.

‘Ah, it hurts. Why is that brat flapping around.’

It was injuries from the battle with the pinwheel monster. A number of places had been hurt, but the worst ones were her right hand and ankle.

The skin of her right hand was severely torn, and her ankle was slightly swollen.

It was not impossible to walk, but she couldn’t walk quickly.

Noah didn’t like the current situation. She had no choice but.

Usually, he walked swiftly ignoring the surroundings. You guys do your job, I don’t care, I’ll go my way.

He thought so.

It was a helpless situation. Especially in the densely populated streets at night.

‘Uh…nice smell…’

There were too many things in the streets to lure a girl.

‘Chicken… Deep’When was the last time I ate…?’

The last chicken I ate was mass-produced frozen chicken served at school. But I hardly get to eat it now as it’s spring break.

Chicken.

Dropped in a daze by the savory smell of frying oil, Noah shook her head.

Going home would mean meals at a cheaper price.

‘As it is, it’s quite expensive already.’

The price exceeding 20,000 Won for one chicken.

No matter how crazy inflation is these days, that’s a bit harsh.

“Fry… frying birds…! Squawk…! How cruel…!”

“Why? You want me to fry you too?”

“Squawk…!!”

“It’s just a joke.”

Noah chuckled and carried on.

However, this wasn’t the end of the crisis.

“Are you okay, Noah? You don’t look well…”

“This is why…! This is why I usually don’t walk this way!”

After her declaration, the temptations piled on.

The smell of frying something. The gestures of the old man on the street selling Takoyaki. The bakery laying out delectable fresh breads.

She was somewhat envious when she saw a girl of her age eating something, perhaps hotpot.

What could it be that she enjoys eating so much? Is it tasty?

However.

‘Why eat hotpot? With that money, you can buy a cup ramen and have a decent meal.’

The price was the problem.

She reluctantly unfolded the cash she had in her pocket. Her income was decent, but it was tough money, too difficult to spend recklessly.

Including the cost of rent, electricity, water, and communication fees. And the one thing for which she should spend the most money remained.

These were luxuries too large for a girl living alone without help from her parents.

‘Pfft, I’m going home to eat something delicious.’

Noah battled the temptations and carried on. Her ankle was hurting. Considering the cost of the medicine she would need if it worsens, she couldn’t spare any time to be distracted by such things.

She beat the temptations.

How long had she walked?

“…Ah.”

Noah made a sound for the first time. It was the sound of her dropping weakly to the floor.

Noah’s purple eyes were directed at a shop. It was a restaurant.The restaurant, with a large sign that spelled out ‘Korean Beef Village’, was enclosed with huge glass panels near the entrance; the interior structure and those dining inside were plainly visible to onlookers.

‘…What the heck, what are you doing, Noa.’

Neither a pitiful beggar nor anything else, what the hell are you doing here.

Move, move.

Swiftly leave the place. You should go home. What are you doing here, embarrassing yourself? Everyone is staring.

“Miss Noa, are you okay?”

“…”

“Miss Noa?”

However, Noa made no move, her gaze solely fixed inside the restaurant.

And at the end of her line of sight wasn’t the flamboyant interior, nor the reddening meat being grilled.

It was a family together.

A father with glasses was wearing a thin smile.

A mother briefly worried as she checked the price tag but then smiled.

And, a daughter enjoying her meal without any worry, together with her parents.

Although she wasn’t extremely envious of the scene-

‘…I wish.’

No, she was envious.

Acutely envious.

At the same time, she wanted it. People inherently yearn for things they cannot possess.

In that case, what I wish for at this moment is…

The bills clutched in her hand crumpled.

“…Tch.”

“Miss Noa…”

“I’m going to enjoy my extravagance too, Kkukku.”

“Kkuk?”

“Let’s go to a convenience store!”

“Kkuk!!”

To shake off her gloomy mood, Noa headed towards the convenience store. This was also a fairly big extravagance for her.

It had been a long time since she had planned to receive a new stimulation after eating just rice and soy sauce for a while.

The convenience store which she made it to by changing her steps.

Noa swung open the door and stepped inside.

“…Hello.”

“Welcome-“

“…?”

“…”

She encountered one familiar-looking man.

Black hair and glasses. His height seemed reasonably tall as he largely obstructed the cigarette display behind him.

Moderately handsome, but probably not easy to live off his looks alone.

‘Ah.’

Her memory clicked into place.

Wasn’t he the weird guy she had met when dealing with a pinwheel monster?

Despite it being the first time they had metThe peculiarly familiar tone stood out in my memory.

From noble mtl dot com

‘He said he’s going to work.’

He must be working here.

That was all the impression there was. Just, the person I hired is safely carrying on with his everyday life. The end of it.

That man didn’t know I was Iris, so for now, we’re just employer and customer.

There really shouldn’t have been anything more than that.

However.

“Why? Is there something on my face?”

“Ah, no, it’s not. Welcome, customer.”

Just a small warning because the man kept staring.

The man who kept staring, despite the warning.

‘Is it because of this?’

With that, Noah held up his right hand.

“Are you staring because of the bandages?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I just-“

“Ha. I just dressed it up because it’s cool. Don’t unnecessarily meddle.”

“…”

“Why? Do you feel sorry for me?”

“… I apologize.”

At the man bowing his head, Noah deliberately ‘humphed!’.

There wouldn’t be any reason for the guy to take undue interest anymore.

“Giggling…”

From within his pocket, Kyu Kyu let out an ominous laugh and whispered very softly.

“hehehe… Look at that man’s gaze, Noah.”

“Why?”

“He must be charmed by Noah’s beauty… Is this what they call a green light…!”

“Kyu Kyu, should I fry you?”

“Giggling…”

I should probably cut down on watching YouTube.

He just learns bizarre things when he watches YouTube.

With that thought, Noah headed towards the cup noodle shelf.

Her mouth was already watering.

Chicken soup cup noodles.

The salty, savory soup and thin, chewy noodles.

Not only that, it is one of the few cheap cup noodles.

In a world where crazily priced goods costing over 3000 won for one cup of noodle are released, isn’t it a reliable supporter for the wallets of commoners?

Noah also liked chicken soup very much.

The taste was good, and it was cheap.

That might be why Noah thought so.

“… Eh?”

“Why are you making that face, Noah?”

“The chicken soup… It’s become a thousand won…?”

The blow received for a cup of ramen.The provocation news was just unimaginable.

“… Shouldn’t we be fighting with demons, but rather infiltrating into corporations…?”

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like