I Became a Demon Queen

I Became a Notable Magical Girl (1)

“Just walking is so nice. This murky fine dust, the honking noise, even the irritatingly large crowds!”
“…You’re a strange one.”
Just walking down the crowded streets under the clear sky felt good. This scenery that I couldn’t see in the demon realm, or even if I went to the human realm.
Now that I’ve actually returned, I couldn’t easily decide what to do, but for now just walking around the streets like this was nice.
“Don’t you go to school? Surely in this country called South Korea, compulsory education…”
“What school when I’m not even registered as a citizen? Come to think of it, this is a problem in itself.”
I stopped briefly at Ren’s words, who seemed to know about everything. Though I got a human body and came to Earth, my current situation was problematic.
The body of a teenage girl who looks like an elementary or middle school student at best. With this body and no legal guardian, there’s almost nothing I can do in this country.
Even the office workers passing by were glancing at me, alone in the city center in broad daylight on a weekday.
“Plus you don’t even have money?”
And there was another problem. The most important thing for living in modern Earth.
Money – I didn’t have a single penny of it.
“Hey, isn’t there some way? A way to make money?”
“Guhek.. what are you saying?”
I grabbed Ren’s collar and shook him. Since others couldn’t see Ren, I must look crazy.
“At least forge me some ID. So I can at least do part-time work! Or isn’t there some activity support money?!”
“W-why would a magical girl need such… gyaak!”
“Such a useless thing. Well, you’re the ones who exploit even desperate emotions.”
After throwing Ren aside, I started thinking more seriously. I had been so stupid.
I was so focused just on getting a body and returning to Earth that I didn’t think about what would come after. Unlike other magical girls who are ordinary citizens before transforming, I’m a complete outsider.
“Ah geez, this is getting annoying?”
I roughly scratched my head. Even if I somehow manage to get money, with this status I can’t even rent a place and will have to keep being homeless.
“But how are you planning to get money?”
“Can’t I just shake down villains? That’s not what’s important right now. I need a foundation first.”
“Sha… what?”
After thinking briefly, I started walking again. Though enjoying myself is fine, unless this is just a day trip, I needed a foundation first.
“What kind of person… what are you trying to do?”
“I’m an orphan with nowhere to go, maybe they’ll do something for me?”
Where my steps stopped was a nearby police station. Isn’t this where they handle such matters?
“What’s with that girl? Did she run away from home?”
“Lower your voice! It seems like… she was abandoned by her parents.”
Unknown lady officer, sorry but I can hear everything. Of course, I had no intention of correcting their misunderstanding.
“Really?”
“She says she came to Seoul with just her mother, who said she’d be right back and disappeared. That was two days ago.”
“Haah….”
The female officer embellished and spread the story I had subtly planted. Not a bad story.
Don’t know mother’s name, no contact information, don’t go to school, etc. I even lied about not remembering my name, which seemed hopeless.
“What should we do?”
“What else? Follow the manual. Though it’s sad that she’s even having memory issues from the shock, if it was intentional abandonment, it’s beyond what we can search for right now.”
The middle-aged police officer who seemed to be the superior handled things coolly. Exactly as I wanted. Though it was a bit boring, I waited inside the station until that evening.
Sometimes police officers would look at me with sympathetic eyes, take care of me, bring snacks which I readily ate. Though it was annoying having to act gloomy and depressed, it was comfortable.
If I had been a sturdy adult male instead of a delicate girl, I wouldn’t have received such kindness. Of course, if I were male, I wouldn’t have come to the police station in the first place.
“Looks like you’ll have to sleep here tonight. But do you really not remember your name?”
“…No.”
When night fell, an officer brought me a blanket to cover myself.
“Tomorrow, people who will help you are coming. If you listen well to what they say… you might be able to find your mom.”
“…”
I just nodded silently without speaking. As if they could find her. My mother must be living well somewhere other than this world.
Even if she lives in this parallel world, she wouldn’t be ‘my’ mother.
“What a carefree gi… squeek!”
I lay down on the sofa while pressing down on Ren, who was grumbling and invisible to the police officers, with my head.
I didn’t need anything grand. My goal was just to get an identity and enjoy myself moderately.

“Is this the child?”
“Yes.”
Early next morning. While I was comfortably eating cup noodles, someone came looking for me. It was someone from the welfare facility that the police said they contacted.
In appearance, an ordinary-looking plump middle-aged woman.
“Why that look? Isn’t she someone who’s going to help you?”
“Probably. But from my experience over the years, people who dress up unnecessarily flashily are usually empty cans.”
“What’s a kid who’s barely lived a dozen years saying…”
Though Ren reacted like he couldn’t understand, I was serious. The haphazardly worn jewelry, luxury goods, etc. on the woman’s body as she talked with the police…
The saying about empty wagons making the most noise applied in the demon realm too.
“Oh my, why would someone do this to such a pretty child…”
“Um… Director. Given that she seems to have memory problems from severe mental shock, about the measures for that…”
“Of course. We’ll take appropriate measures.”
She came over to pat my head and smiled reassuringly at the police. Though I already had a hunch, I decided not to worry about it.
I obediently took her hand and got into the van she had brought.
“Hmm, could this be.”
As soon as we got in the car, Ren started showing reactions. I could see his drooping ears twitching.
“Though faint, evil energy is permeating this car. Can you feel it? Magical girls can train their sense to detect evil.”
The result wasn’t much different from my expectations. I smirked and just let myself be taken away.
Appropriate psychiatric treatment? It didn’t seem like they had any such intention. The car left the city center and headed to a building like a training center in a secluded location.
Even the fence with barbed wire reached toward the sky imposingly high.
“Get out.”
“…”
Her tone of speech had also become coercive. Plus there was Ren’s reaction that the evil energy had gotten stronger.
“Ms. Park! Come here!”
“Yes, Director!”
“Clean this child up and take her inside.”
“So this is the new one you mentioned.”
The woman called Ms. Park approached. What this woman did was immediately grab my chin and look me over here and there.
“Oh…”
“The face is quite something, isn’t it?”
“More than that, her eyes are lively. Hey, you were abandoned by your mother, right?”
This woman called Ms. Park smirked and casually spoke words meant to hurt. Though I roughly knew these were that kind of people…
“Follow me. It’s better to listen well. You don’t want to get hurt and punished, right?”
One thing I was curious about was what exactly they were doing this for. Child abuse is one of the common issues, but this isn’t the Earth I knew to begin with.
Is there a reason they’re running such a facility while taking on the risks?
“The evil energy has gotten stronger. Though not explosive energy, it’s that much more sticky and heavy. It’s old energy.”
Moreover, Ren had been spouting nonsense since the moment we entered the building after crossing the playground.
“See? They’re all your friends.”
“…Friends?”
“Kids with nowhere to go, abandoned by their mothers and fathers.”
The inside of the building was like a training center or military barracks as it looked from outside. One peculiar point was that there were facilities reminiscent of a prison, like iron bars and locked bar doors at intervals.
There were children around my current age there.
“You’re, this way.”
But where I was headed wasn’t beside those children. The facility’s basement. There were rooms here too. The facilities here weren’t different from above ground. Just that security facilities like bars and locks were more stringent.
These definitely weren’t things used to control immature kids. There, after taking a photo showing my face, I was semi-forcefully put into an empty room.
The door was locked from outside.
“…Looks like we got mixed up in something bad.”
“How stupid. Didn’t I tell you I could sense evil energy!”
I smiled bitterly at Ren’s words. I didn’t expect to be sent to these kinds of bastards from the start.
“Shouldn’t you escape? If you stay locked up here, you won’t be able to live the life you want.”
“If I listen to you, there’s definitely something here, so why don’t you achievement-blinded folks clean this place up?”
“Th-that’s…”
“You ignore it because it’s not a big enough case?”
Ren avoided my eyes. Seems I was right. Well of course, these guys aren’t a charitable organization to begin with. They’re people who only care about their own interests. Here my contrarian nature kicked in.
“I should watch a bit and find out what kind of bastards they are.”
“You…”
Smirking, I flopped down on the creaky bed. Why would they gather kids like me here separately? Kids with no connections, and even unclear identities.
It was obvious their purpose was serious crime like human trafficking.
Looking at how Ren considered it insignificant, they were likely a broker organization that sells children like me to other places.