72 – Transformation?

Sora mused.

‘What’s up with her?’

Kim Shiyul was strange, yes. In truth, even that felt like an understatement.

A redundant tautology, of sorts.

Kim Shiyul *was* strangeness, incarnate.

But today, Shiyul was…more.

‘Something happen?’

Adorned in her Magical Poncho Raincoat, the hood pulled snugly over her head with meticulous care. And even her Magical Gardening Gloves, on top of it all.

Well, come to think, it wasn’t *entirely* strange.

For the next few days, one *had* to wear a Magical Poncho Raincoat. Coupled with the series of Magical Drainage works scheduled.

So, wearing it, in and of itself, was perfectly normal.

One could even call it thorough preparation.

But.

Even factoring in the Magical Poncho Raincoat necessity, wasn’t burying oneself so deep that *no* face was visible just…a bit off?

‘Now that I think about it, she’s wearing a mask too?’

She wouldn’t remove it, not even for a moment. Not when toiling away on the Magical works, not even indoors.

No, she only wrapped herself up tighter.

As if she wanted to show as little as possible.

‘And why the sudden insistence on eating alone?’

That wasn’t all. She maintained this bizarre getup even when sleeping. And so it continued, for days thereafter.

‘Why?’

Sora wondered.

Just a short while ago, she’d been perfectly normal. Why, all of a sudden, this need to shroud her entire being?

Yet, no one possessed a fitting answer.

“Unni, do you know why Sunbae’s acting like this?”

“Isn’t he preparing to join Magical KKK?”

Ray blurted out a bizarre thing.

“Taishi, what do you think?”

“It feels like he’s preparing for Magical Sokushinbutsu.”

Taishi uttered utter nonsense.

‘To Moo-yong…’

Better not ask. Sora’s judgment was swift.

Even addressing Kim Shi-yul directly wasn’t an easy feat.

Lately, he’d become noticeably busier during Magical work hours, making it hard to catch him, and once those hours were over, Kim Shi-yul would abruptly vanish.

Where he went, she couldn’t for the life of her fathom.

As if his very existence had blinked out.

Then, just before Magical roll call, he’d slip back in and fall asleep, leaving no moment to speak.

And that wasn’t all. On the rare, fortunate occasions when Sora did manage to corner Kim Shi-yul and ask…

“Ah, well… just… there is, something like that…”

All she received were vague replies.

Kim Shi-yul wouldn’t answer, not truly.

‘What could it possibly be?’

She vaguely understood he didn’t want to show his true self, but the reason eluded her completely.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Sora made up her mind.

‘Today, for sure.’

She would find out what was going on.

“I’m going to wash up.”

Just then, Kim Shi-yul left the Magical dorm, saying he was going to shower right after Magical work hours ended.

A moment later, Sora surreptitiously followed behind him.

His words about washing up were no lie; as Sora exited the Magical dorm, she saw the door to the Magical showers close.

Meaning, Kim Shi-yul was inside the showers.

Given the timing, he’d likely be in the changing room.

‘Now’s my chance.’

Sora didn’t hesitate. She flung open the shower door.

Of course, it wasn’t a reckless, unthinking act. Sora had prepared a repertoire of replies, ready for whatever protest Kim Siyul might throw her way.

*Didn’t know anyone was in there,* she’d say.

*Must have missed what you said before,* she’d add.

*I’ll be more careful next time,* maybe.

But.

When the moment came, not a single one of her carefully crafted excuses made it past her lips.

Only.

“Uh…?”

A single, hollow question. That was all.

It wasn’t because Kim Siyul was naked. He’d only just stepped in, still peeling back the hood of that infernal Magical Poncho of his.

Only.

“Senior…?”

There was nothing behind the hood.

That’s right.

Where his head should have been, there was nothing.

Just emptiness.

Honestly, Kim Siyul was so prone to doing things without thinking that Sora had often… no, *frequently*… thought he acted like he didn’t have a head anyway.

But even so, she never expected him to *actually* not have one.

*This can’t be happening…*

Sora was reeling.

She didn’t know what to say. She was so shocked, she couldn’t even manage to breathe, let alone speak.

She couldn’t handle it anymore. The unreality of it all was too much, yet she somehow *had* to accept it as real. It was simply impossible.

“W-What happened….”

*…did you,* Sora mumbled, her voice trailing off as she lost consciousness.

*

“Senior, so it’s not that your head disappeared, but rather that your entire body just turned transparent?”

“Correct.”

I replied, my face betraying my slight exhaustion.

Honestly, I was truly beat.

Body and mind, both.

Barely dragging Sora, unconscious, behind me, and then the others suddenly accosting me with questions, and amidst all that, Sora waking up to demand explanations of her own.

It didn’t take long to smooth things over and explain my state, but the density of the moment made it feel like an eternity.

Still, I’m completely back to normal now.

Or, to be precise, from the moment they started demanding explanations.

“Well, you seem okay now. That’s a relief.”

“Yeah.”

I wondered if this state would continue, but I was truly relieved.

“So, the Lesser Breed thinks that your little episode earlier was caused by the kidnapper’s curse, is that right?”

“Looks that way, circumstantially.”

Until recently, my body had been completely transparent.

I figured it was probably due to the monster’s curse.

A so-called transparency curse.

After all, besides the monster, nothing special had happened to me to cause any variables.

However, Sora and Whitey each wore expressions of disbelief.

“But we definitely finished off the monster back then. Shouldn’t the curse have disappeared completely?”

“Yeah. Sora took care of that Monster Indian back then, so the curse on me was cleared too.”

Sora and Whitey had a point.

In fact, the curses on Whitey and the other magical girls had been lifted after they defeated the monster.

So, the conclusion I reached was this.

“Maybe it’s a curse that activates later.”

Unlike Sora and Whitey, I was fine when the monster cursed me before, so it makes sense that the curse I got back then is activating now.

There are even posthumous curses that trigger when someone dies, aren’t there? Maybe the curse I got is in the same vein.

It’s a little strange that the Magical Capital Hospital didn’t recognize the curse, but it’s not something completely incomprehensible by common sense.

Think of the military. Is the military a group that handles everything normally and all at once?

Absolutely not. It’s a group that digs itself into holes every time and then barely manages to come up with countermeasures. Of course, those countermeasures aren’t perfect either.

Magical girls are the same.

They probably just saw the injury and treated it half-heartedly.

You can’t talk about common sense when they’re just faking things to send people out the door.

“Does a curse like that even exist, is what I wonder?”

“If there are magical girls in this world, with weirdos talking and flying through the sky, why shouldn’t this be possible?”

Honestly, I don’t really know either, so what can I do?

The most plausible explanation is a curse, after all.

“Indeed. There are even inferior lunatics calling themselves heroes, so a curse is quite believable, I say.”

“That’s true. Compared to those who can’t distinguish manga from reality, this is incredibly logical.”

“Thinking about it, this is the most realistic thing you’ve said so far, senior.”

“I am a real hero, you damn b*tches.”

Regardless of my reaction, everyone nodded, accepting it in their own ways.

However, Sora seemed to find something unacceptable, and she suddenly wore a disgruntled expression.

“Still, this time you went too far, senior.”

“What?”

“If something like this happened to your body, couldn’t you have told us? We’re magical cohorts, aren’t we?”

Hearing the disappointment dripping from Sora’s words, I replied, feeling a little deflated.

“I didn’t want you to suspect me of peeking while you guys were showering or changing clothes.”

“Oh…”

Sora trailed off.

I opened my mouth again.

“Honestly, when I said I was cursed to become transparent, you definitely suspected me, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”

When I looked at Whity and Octopus, they both subtly averted their gazes from me.

“I can’t… say that we didn’t, I say.”

“Uh, um… sorry.”

That meant they were acknowledging my statement.

Well, I can’t blame them.

It’s natural to be suspicious.

But, separately from that, my heart felt a little downcast.

“See? Even if I didn’t peek, there’s no way for me to prove it. I really don’t know anything.”

“I’m… I’m sorry, senior.”

Even though she apologized with a regretful tone, I couldn’t shake off the feeling.

“At most, all I know is that Sora has a mole between her thighs.”

“You *did* peek! You crazy senior!!!”

“For being utter trash, they’ve got a damned sharp sense, these she-devils.”

One couldn’t relax one’s guard for a moment.

In that instant, the lesbian, who’d been listless until now, charged, eyes half-crazed.

“Hetero!”

“What’s your deal, again?”

“Show me Sora’s mole between her legs, too!”

Whether Sora’s eyes were rotting in real-time beside her or not, the lesbian clung to me desperately.

“By chance, you don’t have any magical photos taken?”

The lesbian broadcasted the emotion of desperation with her entire being. It seemed that serious.

“Please! Please! I’ll beg you like this!”

But, I didn’t have any photos of Sora.

Only a second-best option.

“Lesbian, I don’t have a photo of Sora’s mole, but I do have a photo of another rather large mole, would you like to see that at least?”

“Oh, really? Show me that, at least!”

Thankfully, the lesbian seemed perfectly content with the fallback.

And so, I hoped.

“Just so you know, you’re the one who asked me to show you.”

“Huh?”

That those words wouldn’t prove to be a lie.