An Exorcist Magical Girl!

I knew I wouldn’t find it.

 

“First of all, it’s not in the latest lost and found book.”

 

During lunch, Yang Ji-won, who was helping to check the lost and found, said that the light blue blanket had never been reported lost.

 

“At least not in this year’s book. It’s not in that box, is it?”

 

A quick search of the lost and found didn’t turn up even a scrap of fabric, let alone a blanket.

 

“Uh, no, it’s not there.” “If it’s not there, it’s not there.” “Oh, you don’t keep a separate box for old lost and found?” “No. It’s all in this box.”

 

There was no light blue blanket with my friends’ doodles around the edges.

 

Yeah, now that I think about it, it shouldn’t have been there.

 

Doryung’s school uniform confirmed that she was a student at Mukgyeong Girls’ High School, but no one knows when she attended that school, when she died, or where she lost her blanket. 

 

If she had been dead for so many years, it didn’t make sense that her belongings would still be there.

 

If Doryung could remember her name or even what year she entered the school, I could ask some of my classmates.

 

“Do you think I could see the old lost and found list? Even from last year or the year before. Or even older.”

 

Yang Ji-won gave me a puzzled look.

 

“I’m sure they have last year’s list… What are you doing looking at last year’s lost and found book…?”

 

It’s a fair question. I wasn’t at that school last year.

 

“Seo Jun lost it, not me, haha!” “Oh, yeah? Just wait. I’ll bring it to you right away.” 

Yang Ji-won muttered,

“Huh? But Seo Jun wasn’t even in this school last year…?”

and dutifully searched through the bookshelves.

 

Behind us, the other student council members debated whether or not to throw away the purple note.

 “Oh, let’s just throw it away. It’s almost noon, and if she doesn’t come back, she probably won’t come back later anyway.” “Yeah, well, if she was going to come, she’d come right after the show. Honestly, don’t you think it’s kind of lame to let this go on like this?” “I know. I can’t wait to get rid of it.” “But you never know…” “Yeah. Let’s not make a big deal out of it and just leave it alone for the rest of the day.” “Well, we still have to check the lost and found.” “By the way, seniors, you didn’t happen to put any names on the notebooks? I thought it would be faster if we just handed them out to the class.” “Names? There’s nothing on the outside cover, for starters.” “What about the inside cover?” “Oh, I didn’t check the inside. Honestly, I’m a little afraid to open it because I think it’s haunted…” “Screw you.” “Well, maybe you should check it out.” “Sorry. Actually, I’m freaked out too. What if it’s a cursed notebook, eek!” “Okay, who’s brave enough to open the notebook? Let’s just be quiet and wait for the owner to come back.” “What if the owner is afraid of me and won’t come because she doesn’t know me?” “Oh, that’s possible.”

 

After listening to the conversation, I turned to Seo Jun and asked her a question.

 

“Hey, Seo Jun. What if there’s a real curse in that note…” “Yeah?” “If you and I fought this curse, who do you think would win?” “What?”

 

It was clear that Seo Jun was imagining me as a kindergartener asking,

“Who would win if a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Allosaurus Rex fought?”

 

“No, I mean, who do you think would win?” “Why do you want to know that all of a sudden?” “I really don’t want to answer that. Do you think this note is really cursed? I can feel the slightest hint of ghostly energy, but I’m not sure what it is.” “I can feel something as well, but it’s very faint. Even if it were truly cursed, you’d win.” “Okay.” 

With that assurance, I sneaked over to my student council friends.

 

“Hey, can I take a look?”

I asked, wondering who the owner of the damn note was.

 

“Uh, yeah.” “Are you sure it’s okay?” “Dude, she’s an exorcist.” “Oh yeah, she is, right?”

 

Handed a purple spring notebook by the student council, I didn’t hesitate to open the cover.

 

Fortunately, there were no curses, but when I saw the name on the inside, I almost fainted in disbelief.

 

The three letters of the name

“Kang Yoon-ju”

were written on the page right after the cover.

 

It was Kang Yoon-ju’s notebook.

 

Kang Yoon-ju, who left a curse on Mukgyeong Girls’ High School.

 

***

 

She was a member of the drama club’s art team in her freshman year before transferring to another school.

 

The owner of the notebook was Kang Yoon-ju, the crazy freshman who dared to step out of line and try to create an alter ego in this school.

 

Oh no, so that faint aura I felt in the notebook was…?

 

I quickly flipped through the pages of the notebook and stopped at one point.

 

The large O and X on both pages caught my eye.

 

These are alter egos!

 

This was the notebook that Kang Yoon-ju used to practice Bunshin Saba (Necromancy). 

 

The faint aura surrounding the notebook was not a ghostly curse, but a trace of necromancy.

 

Anyway, Kang Yoon-ju threw the notebook away and transferred to another school.

 

She was the same crazy girl who left the doll she used to write in her sleep in her drama club luggage.

 

When I told them who the notebook’s owner was, my friends in the student council went crazy.

 

“Oh, Kang Yoon-ju, that crazy kid!” “Wow, what a big mess she left behind.”

 

If this is the kind of reaction we get just by saying three letters of her name… Yoonju, you were really famous for your negative connotations.

 

“Thank you, Baek Iri, I can let go now!” “Let’s tear it up and flush it down the toilet.” “If it were up to me, I’d send it to Yoon-ju by courier.”

 

My friends in the student council tore up the notes on the spot.

 

Seo Jun and I reminded them that it’s okay to vent, but in the end they should burn it to get rid of it.

 “Uh, guys, listen up for a second. I have a question.”

 

I asked, grabbing my fellow student council members who looked like they were about to run away in excitement.

 “Do you know who did Bunshin Saba with Kang Yoon-ju?”

 

The last time I asked my friends in the club, the only answer was Kang Yoon-ju.

 

I thought that maybe the members of the student council would know something different.

 

But unfortunately, I got the same answer from them.

 

“Together? You mean there’s another crazy kid like Kang Yoon-ju?” “No, it was just her. I saw her being dragged out of her classroom that day, I’m sure of it.” “It still makes my blood boil when I think about her being called to the office afterwards and yelling at me about why I only punished her.”

 

So you’re saying you were just hanging out by yourself, drawing O’s and X’s and singing?

 

Or maybe…

 

“Seo Jun, can spirits do necromancy themselves? I mean, can they summon other spirits with necromancy?” “That would be impossible.”

 

I wondered if she was performing Bunshin Saba with a ghost, but apparently not.

 

She must have played alone.

 

Just as I’m clucking my tongue at Kang Yoon-ju’s antics, Yang Ji-won returns with last year’s lost and found list.

 “Oh, thank you!”

 

I scanned the list carefully, but once again there was no blanket on it.

 “Can’t find anything?” “Yes…” “I guess it wasn’t reported lost last year.” “Sorry to put you through all this trouble.” “No, it’s my job.”

 

Seo Jun hands back the list of lost items and apologizes, but Ji-won waves her off.

 

“But what did you lose? I’ll let you know when the lost property comes in.” “It’s a light blue blanket…I lost it a while ago, so I don’t think I’ll ever find it, but thanks.”

 

I guess I had hoped it would be here, but it was still disappointing to realize that it wasn’t.

 

Seo Jun looked uncharacteristically grim.

 

Now she could only hope that Doryung had completely forgotten about her.

 

If any of the classmates she’d been in contact with knew the whereabouts of the blanket, she’d be lucky, or she’d have to find another way to vent.

 

“Seo Jun, if…”

 

If there’s no other way to free her.

 

The words never made it out of my mouth, but Seo Jun knew what I was about to ask.

 

“If there’s no other way, I’ll tell you myself, because that’s what friends do.” 

Her voice was determined, unwavering.

 

 

***

 

 

During the 6th and 7th hour clubs, the art team members voted on the poster designs they had prepared.

 

The entire club voted, not just the art team, and the design by Hana, the art team leader, received the most votes.

 

Oh, and this was the first time we held a regular Friday afternoon club activity in the new club room.

 

It was definitely cramped for all the club members to gather, but thanks to the ghosts we had removed earlier, we were able to have a pleasant time without any danger or disturbance.

 

Some people were satisfied with this, but the team leaders and club leaders were still determined to get the audiovisual room back one day.

 

The training center was still closed, but I decided to have dinner with Seo Jun as usual.

 

Today the drama club finished first, so I went to the library to wait.

 

My Friday ended uneventfully.

 

But the end of the day is different for everyone.

 

There were a few people whose days were a little longer than mine, namely my friends who had to stay at school until the wee hours of the morning because they had signed up for night study.

 

The study hall, which was shared by first and second graders, had been closed since the ghost scare during the second semester midterms last year.

 

The room had been closed for about a month after being renovated and reopened to students over the summer break, with the old desks replaced and new lighting installed to create a more conducive atmosphere for studying.

 

Everyone was sad that they couldn’t use the facilities they had spent so much money on, but what can you do when the school refuses to exorcize the ghosts?

 

Since then, the first and second graders have been studying at night in an empty classroom used for curriculum.

 

The chairs and desks are at different heights, the door squeaks when you open it, and you can’t leave your luggage because it’s not a private study room.

 

These inconveniences often caused complaints among the current freshmen, but the current sophomores quietly accepted the reality.

 

For the sophomores who experienced the study hall ghost scare last year, a

“ghost-free classroom”

is the best thing they could have hoped for.

 

They were satisfied that the classroom currently used as the study hall was not haunted.

 

They were like.

 “Hey, didn’t we come to this classroom to avoid the haunted study hall…?” “Yeah.” “Then why the heck are we here?”

 

Apparently, their Friday was going to be a blood curtain.