Ch.114114. Two Villains in Black and White (4)

“…Are you transforming right now?”

“It’s cosplay, cosplay.”

A flowing dress.

Overflowing magical power.

Slightly glowing silver hair.

Blanc had transformed just to take a photo.

“Hmm… Then I should undo my disguise too! Let’s undo Vine’s too!”

“Elli, what…?”

In an instant, Elli’s hair turns white.

Her eyes turn red again.

She probably removed the black coloring I had over my eyes too…?

“Wait, Blanc… is this really okay?”

“What’s the problem? This is a private room. No one will know unless they force their way in.”

“It’s just a curtain, not a real room…”

With just a curtain between us and the outside.

There were quite a lot of people out there.

And here inside, two villains with collars are taking photos with a magical girl—and not just any magical girl, but one wearing her actual magical girl outfit.

…This is weird.

“No way. Are we like caught fish… being shown off like prize catches…?”

“Come on. That’s all in the past. Let’s just take the photo.”

“Blanc, should I bring a real leash? Want to take a picture with you holding the leash? I’m fine with it since I am your slave after all. Oh! Our Vine really is a caught fish!”

“Hey. I never thought of it that way.”

“Then are we trophies…?”

“That’s not it either. I just thought… when else would we get to take photos like this?”

“…In court?”

“In the Association’s underground prison?”

Seems like Elli and I are thinking along the same lines.

“How would you take photos like this there…”

“We’re trophies, aren’t we…?”

“Isn’t that what these photos are for? To show off?”

“No…”

“If not, why did you transform and make us undo our disguises…?”

…

Unable to counter my logic, she forcibly pulled both of us into her arms and activated the camera.

“Ah, Blanc…! You didn’t even give us time to prepare…!”

“Hehe… Come on, look at the camera!”

The first photo captured both of us tightly embraced in Blanc’s arms.

…

Like trophies, she said.

Click!

Click!

The photos were printed out.

Each of the four shots showing our confusion, embarrassment, forced smiles, and discomfort.

Those expressions somehow made everything feel more natural.

“…Pfft.”

“What do you think, Vine? Glad we took them?”

“…You really did make us your trophies. A villain in each hand.”

“Come on. You’re not villains anymore.”

“Then why are you wearing your magical girl outfit?”

“Well… I thought we might not get another chance to take photos like this.”

“…Fine. Let’s take more with different poses. Get rid of the transformation quickly. We’ll keep our disguises off.”

“…Oh. Did you dislike my transformed appearance that much?”

“Would you have taken photos with me if I had shown up in my uniform…?”

“Hmm… That would be nice too. Should we try that sometime? This is the first time we’ve taken photos together.”

“…Sigh. Your thinking is definitely strange. Who would want to take photos in the outfit they fought their enemies in…”

“Hmm… I would. It’s all memories, you know. I can’t fight forever.”

…Well, when she puts it that way, I guess she has a point.

Even Citrus, who’s retired now.

Though she retired due to an unfortunate accident, she still cherishes her time as a magical girl while tormenting me…

For them, being a magical girl will eventually become just a memory of a certain period in their lives.

No matter how much they break, shatter.

Get hurt, and despair.

They retire, and new magical girls take their place.

Blanc can’t be a magical girl forever either.

So, I can understand why she wants to keep photos like these.

Well… she really did want to show off the villains she caught.

“Alright, alright. I get it. Just undo the transformation.”

A flash of light envelops Blanc again, and her dress returns to normal clothes.

“…Fine. What’s with the magical girl outfit anyway. Really showing off your trophies.”

“Sorry, sorry… Come on, let’s take more photos?”

This time, just as housemates living together.

Even without her holding us tightly in her arms, we stuck close to Blanc’s sides to fit in the frame.

“Phew, ready to take it? Get closer, closer. Oh right, pose!”

“Huh, wha?!”

Click!

Click!

Click!

Click!

Well.

I guess taking photos isn’t so bad.

Not with Magical Girl Blanc, but…

…

With ‘Yunseul’ who lives in that house—that’s not so bad.

* * *

“There’s a karaoke place? Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“How is there a karaoke place in a huge shopping mall like this…”

“I’m telling you there is. It’s a coin karaoke.”

A coin karaoke in this massive shopping mall.

I’m not even sure if that makes sense.

Wouldn’t they use that space for another store instead…?

“That’s right. And there’s an arcade upstairs too. Should we check it out later?”

“Huh…?”

What… there’s even an arcade…?

What kind of shopping mall is this…? Isn’t it more like an entire shopping town?

“There’s even a hotel above, so you can actually eat, sleep, dress… do everything here. If there’s ever a zombie outbreak or something, we should come here. Right, Vine?”

Blanc is talking nonsense again.

“What zombies? There’s no way zombies would appear in this world.”

“Why not? There are monsters that smell just as bad. And zombies are fantasy too, right? In my childhood memories, magical girls were just fantasy too.”

“Ah. Well… but isn’t it strange? Moving corpses. How could those lumps of organic matter move around without souls?”

“Well… it’s fantasy, so that’s just how it is… Come to think of it, villains who deliberately use corpses to spread disease would play a similar role, wouldn’t they?”

“…Ugh. Why would anyone do such a thing? Evil acts without purpose or reason.”

“…Well. There are many people who do incomprehensible things. Ah, here it is.”

Just as Blanc said, there really was a karaoke place.

“…Will this be okay? I’m not good at singing…”

“What are you talking about? I know you’re just being shy. I secretly recorded several songs you s—?!”

“Elli! What did you just say…? What did you record…?”

“Nothing, phew.”

Of course, I have tried singing a few songs out of curiosity since my voice range became higher with this body.

But she recorded that…?

“…You’re going to be in trouble when we get back.”

“Absolutely not! I’ll never delete them, even if I die!”

“Yes. I’m going to find and delete all of them.”

“Blanc!! Please back up my data, my data…!”

Elli is spouting nonsense.

I really hope Blanc doesn’t follow her example.

“Well… send those files to my email later. I’ll put them in the Association’s highest priority database folder. Now both of you sit down. I’ll go buy some water.”

“I want Pocari! Pocari Sweat!”

“Got it. Vine, do you want something other than water?”

“Water is sufficient. Oh, and please ignore any commotion for a moment.”

“Go easy on her. Today is Elli’s day to play with you.”

“Yes. But this is a slightly different matter.”

The door closed.

And when Blanc came back a little later, what she saw was…

Elli with her disguise undone again, drooling, and the tips of my hair tinged slightly purple.

My shirt slightly raised, and rough breathing.

Next to me, comfortably selecting songs, was a very…

Yes, an unsightly scene.

That was the image of Elli being punished that Blanc walked in on.

Of course, Blanc didn’t say anything when she came in and just… quietly opened the drink lid and handed it to Elli’s mouth.

And Elli took it with trembling hands.

Hmph.

“Could you give me some water too? It’s a bit hot in here.”

“I told you to go easy…”

“She’s not broken, so I was gentle. Now, please select a song first. I’ll sing second.”

Hearing my words, Blanc seemed to accept it and sat down next to me to select a song.

Well…

Monsters are sturdy, so they won’t die from a little tickling.

I’ve never seen a monster die from panting too hard.

Well. She’ll probably be up by the time Blanc finishes one song.

So, I checked what song she selected.

-68381

“…Do you like Japanese songs?”

“Well. I sing more mainstream stuff when I’m with my friends. I’m singing this because I’m with you two. Do you know this one?”

“…It’s a song I know. I didn’t expect you to have this taste.”

“…I liked magical girls even before becoming one.”

“…So a budding fan achieved her dream job?”

“Well… rather than that, this was just my true nature all along.”

“…I see.”

“Want to sing along?”

“…Yes.”

Well.

It was a song I liked.

A fitting song for us, isn’t it?

A song about the night.

The night when we are active.

* * *

After the song ended.

“Phew… that was tiring. It’s been a while since I sang, so I’m out of breath. Ah, Elli’s awake. Vine, how do you know Elise so well…?”

“She’s a monster, isn’t she? But how did you know she regained consciousness? Her eyes are still closed.”

“Well… things related to life force come through even if the connection is closed. Maybe it’s because of our soul contract.”

Ah.

That contract magic again.

I can’t let this disrupt my plans.

“…I see. Why did you close the connection?”

“…Do I really need to read Elli’s thoughts? Well… hmm. Never mind. Let’s just say it wasn’t necessary. Besides, we made a separate promise.”

“I see…”

If Elli is awake, I should wake her up.

This bad girl.

How dare this voyeuristic pervert save someone else’s embarrassing moments.

“Elli. Wake up. Blanc said you’re awake. If you don’t get up now, I’ll tickle you twice as much as before.”

At that, not wanting more tickling, she suddenly bolted upright.

“I’m up! I’m alive! No, no more tickling!”

“Good. Elli, you know what you did wrong, right?”

“…Uuu. I protest against this oppression!!”

“Elli. Secret recording is a crime.”

“Audio recording is okay, isn’t it…?”

“Not for me. Delete everything when we get home.”

“Okay…”

Seeing Elli looking dejected made me feel a little bad.

“Instead, I’ll sing for you here.”

I decided to sing a song for Elli.

“…Where did I put my phone…?”

“Blanc, I’ll go berserk if you record this.”

“…Sorry.”

But recording is not allowed.

Please just watch with your eyes.