I Became a Magical Girl In a Harem Manga

Chapter 46 - Cohabitation

In the morning, I woke up early. If I overslept like I do at home, I knew that the chief of the Crime Division who came into our office in the morning would say, 'Hye-Rim, I told you to keep an eye on Yoo Seo-Eun, but did you sit down to sleep with her?'

I couldn't sleep peacefully.

Yoo Seo-Eun and I woke up and headed straight to the Awakened Association's office. The president had already come to work.

"...Will he leave me alone?"

Yoo Seo-Eun's expression was naturally not very bright, as her fate depended on the president's judgment.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine."

I reassured her and went inside the Association president's office.

Everything was going to be fine anyway.

"Oh, you came?"

The president of the Awakeners Association, who was waiting for us, came out and greeted Yoo Seo-Eun with a smile.

A middle-aged man dressed neatly in a suit. As I thought, 'He sure looks like a typical middle-aged man', the president of the Association pointed to a chair in front of him and said,"There's no point in standing and talking, so sit down, both of you. I've already made coffee in case you two come."

He set the cup with the drip coffee on the table. I sat down at the head of the table and sipped my coffee, and Yoo Seo-Eun sat down next to me, looking at me awkwardly.

"I heard all about it. About how you picked up a monster."

"What do you mean 'picked up.' I didn't bring in an abandoned puppy."

"Okay, then let's say you found a missing person."

When I told him that I wanted him to see Yoo Seo-Eun as a person, not a monster, he immediately agreed with me.

Looking back at me, and the Association president, Yoo Seo-Eun whispered to me.

"...Isn't the President of the Association a very high person? Is it okay to treat him so casually?"

"It doesn't matter because we know each other well."

In fact, I'm more comfortable with the president of the Association than with my immediate boss, the chief. I had known the head of the Association since before I joined the department.

When Yoo Seo-Eun was looking at me curiously, the President of the Association spoke to her.

"You're Ms. Yoo Seo-Eun, right? I understand your special circumstances. I think it's a shame that you were suddenly sucked into the world of monsters and turned into one."

"Uh... Yes. Thank you for understanding."

"I don't know if you know this, but there are more civilians than you think who end up beyond the gate. I suppose you could say that's what happened to Ms. Yoo Seo-Eun. It's just a common occurrence."

“However”, he interjected.

"The difference is that she returned as a monster, not a human."

"Ugh...!"

"No matter what, we can't just let someone like you roam free with peace of mind. You understand that, don't you?"

"Yes, sir."

Yoo Seo-Eun nodded immediately, as she had already prepared herself for this to come up.

The president of the Association sighed, looking a little troubled.

"I don't know if this has ever happened before, but this is the first time, and I don't know how to deal with it."

"Mr. President. I really don't think I'm going to get into any trouble. I really just want to live a normal life like everyone else!"

"You mean the monster's power won't be directed at humans?"

"Yes."

"Even though that power has already injured one academy student?"

"That... I have no excuse."

Yoo Seo-Eun shook her head at the president's words. No matter what, she couldn't make what she'd already done go away.

"Of course, it was only a minor injury, and from the reports I've received, I can understand to a certain extent, as it was a time of crisis for you as well. You do realize that making atonement is part of being human, right?"

"...Yes, I do."

"That's why I decided to end this matter like this."

This is where Yoo Seo-Eun's treatment is decided. Yoo Seo-Eun's eyes narrowed, and her fists clenched tightly.

I just relaxed and continued to drink my coffee.

"Even though you currently possess the power of a monster, you were a human in the past, and you still have human consciousness. Therefore, I have decided to treat you as a human, not a monster, and more specifically as an Awakened."

"You're going to treat me as an Awakened?"

"Yes."

The President of the Association smiled slightly and nodded.

"I honestly think so. Awakened is the name given to humans who have come to possess unknown powers, so isn't Yoo Seo-Eun a kind of Awakened?"

In short, gaining the power of a monster could be considered an awakening.

"Yoo Seo-Eun did injure a student at the Academy, but it was a minor injury, and she's an Awakened. Awakened people are ordered to do community service if they injure an Awakened, so that's what she'll have to do, but it'll be more intense than normal community service."

"That's fine. I'll take it honestly."

"Good, then you and Hye-Rim should go catch the criminals."

"......What?"

Yoo Seo-Eun opened her mouth in surprise at that.

"You want me to catch criminals with Hye-Rim?"

"Anyway, since you're in a special position, you need to be under constant surveillance. The only way to solve surveillance and community service at once is for you to work under the supervision of Team 5 and Shin Hye-Rim."

The president looked back at me and asked.

"Do you think you can do a good job, Hye-Rim?"

"Of course, just leave it to me."

I opened my mouth.

"Surveillance is my specialty, so you can rest assured."

"Okay, I'll trust you."

He looked at me with trust in his eyes and smiled.

It was supposed to be like this. Yoo Seo-Eun would work for me for free and serve society by catching criminals.

"Well, that concludes the treatment of Ms. Yoo Seo-Eun, you can go now."

"Uh... a-are you serious? Is this the end?"

"Are you unhappy? If you want a harsher punishment, I can give it to you."

"Oh, no, that's not it, I'm just... I'm so happy, it's unreal."

Still looking in disbelief, I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Then let's get to work to make it real. You're going to be working for me for a while. You'll have to follow me to work here tomorrow, too, got it?"

"Tomorrow, too?"

"Yes."

The corners of Yoo Seo-Eun's mouth turned up slightly at those words.

What I meant was that you're safe now, and you can live your life the way you want to.

As if she realized that my words were meant to comfort her, she looked at me and shed a tear.

"Thank you so much...... I'll try really hard to live my life from now on. I'll be able to go back to my old life, like a normal human being."

Little by little, her shoulders shook with sobs. I stroked her back without saying a word, and the president of the Association looked at us wordlessly.

After Yoo Seo-Eun stopped crying, just as I was about to take the relieved Yoo Seo-Eun out of the Association president's office, the president called out to me.

"Hye-Rim, wait, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I realized that the president wanted to talk to me alone. I asked him with my eyes, ‘I can't leave Yoo Seo-Eun alone; what should I do?’

He said the same thing with his eyes.

'It doesn't matter, she looks fine, let's ask her to wait outside for a while.'

I asked Yoo Seo-Eun to wait outside the president's office for a while.

It was just me and the president in the room. I sat back down in my chair, and the president sat down across from me and smiled bitterly.

"I've seen some strange things in my life. When Hye-Rim told me about Yoo Seo-Eun, I honestly didn't believe you."

"Still, thank you for thinking well of her."

I had already contacted the president of the Association. I told him that I'd be bringing the monster with me later and asked if he could treat her like a normal human being.

"Thanks to you, Yoo Seo-Eun will be able to live like a normal human being now, and I'm also grateful that you asked me to take care of her."

"You're the one in charge, Hye-Rim, not anyone else. I can trust you. Besides, when I saw her, I couldn't think this was unrelated."

"Is that because of Hee-Jin?"

"Yes. My daughter also fell through the gate once before, and if Hye-Rim hadn't saved her back then...... my daughter could have become a monster like Yoo Seo-Eun."

When I was a high school student, I accidentally witnessed a girl who had fallen into the demon world and immediately ran into the gate to save her. She turned out to be the daughter of the president of the Awakened Association.

From then on, I was able to maintain a close relationship with her.

"Anyway, I'll leave Yoo Seo-Eun's affairs to you, and I won't bother you anymore. It's good to know that I can trust Hye-Rim to take care of not just a monster, but even ten leaders of villainous organizations.

"I'm proud to have the trust of the president of the Association. I'll go now; Seo-Eun will be waiting for me."

"Okay...... Oh, by the way, Hye-Rim, there's something else I want to tell you before you go."

"What?"

I started to stand up, but then sat back down.

"It's completely unrelated to what we're talking about, but your commendation ceremony is in two weeks."

"What do you mean, my commendation ceremony?"

"We were supposed to give you a commendation for catching all the Monster Association the other day, thanks to you. Didn't the chief tell you?"

"Oh, right."

I'd forgotten about it because it wasn't on my radar.

"I'll be presenting you with the award then, so I'll see you then."

"Okay, I will be seeing you in two weeks."

I thanked the president and left the president's office. When I opened the door, Yoo Seo-Eun, who was waiting for me, immediately came up to me.

"What were you talking about?"

"Just about living in this world."

"...Huh? What do you mean?"

In Yoo Seo-Eun's situation, she probably thought I was talking about her, but it wasn't really like that, so I had nothing to say.

More than that, there was something else I had to say to her right now.

"By the way, Seo-Eun, I told you that from now on you have to be under my supervision."

"Yes, you did, didn't you?"

"That's true even after you leave this Association. Like last night, even when you sleep, you have to be in my line of sight."

"...Huh? That means..."

"That's right."

Where should Yoo Seo-Eun live? There was only one answer.

"You'll be staying at my house for a while; just know that."