Ch.130130. Happily Ever After… (5)

“Sister…”

“Yes, Arin.”

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Are you talking about the sunset?”

“Yes.”

We silently gazed outside.

And I was the first to speak.

“…When the sun sets, night comes.”

“That’s right…?”

“And then, the time of magical girls and villains begins. Things don’t end just because the sun sets.”

“…Yes.”

“I think twilight isn’t an end, and dawn isn’t necessarily a beginning either.”

“…You mean they’re both endings and beginnings, sister?”

“Yes. That’s how it is. Where one story ends, another begins.”

“Well… I think so too.”

The gondola slowly rises.

And rises slowly again.

Silence falls inside once more.

I just look outside.

I have so many thoughts that I have none at all.

Paradoxically, really.

How I should act after this time.

Just two or three hours remaining.

I’m so sorry to Arin, but.

It’s my fate to return to Eden.

At least I should spend that remaining time entirely for Arin.

Yet I wonder how I should proceed.

What will happen afterward.

The Boss is in Marina, how will we rescue her?

If we just rescue the Boss, everything will fall back into place.

We could realize our ideals again.

Everything back to normal. Yes.

“Sister. You know.”

“…Yes, Arin. Tell me.”

“I like you. You know that?”

“…Yes. I know.”

“…Yes, sister. I like you.”

Somehow awkward.

Words spoken only when we’re alone.

Somehow embarrassed.

Arin saying she likes me.

But I can’t help it.

I have to distance myself from Arin now.

“…Sister.”

“Yes, Arin.”

“…Honestly, I don’t think I can talk properly yet. I still think I’m lacking.”

“…Yes.”

“So, please wait a little.”

“…Pardon?”

“…Next time, I’ll definitely show you I can beat you, Sister Bine. Then I’ll confront you with all my heart.”

“…Arin. You might get hurt.”

“Getting hurt isn’t the issue. It’s my effort. It’s what I want to do.”

…If the day comes when you and I meet again.

We’ll meet as enemies fighting for our lives.

If you interfere with Eden’s path, I’ll have no choice but to stop you with all my might.

But I…

But I…

Don’t want that.

Arin is too weak, and even if ordered, I don’t want to harm her.

But still, Arin…

…Ah.

If I were to corrupt her like Baeksu.

What would I have to do to Arin?

Could I accumulate such karma against Arin?

It would be different from mindlessly fighting magical girls.

Arin…

I didn’t first meet her as a villain.

Just as an ordinary… human being.

To me, she’s not an enemy…

She’s the girl I first met as an ordinary magical girl.

Because I first met her as a magical girl, not an enemy.

…Sigh.

It’s troubling.

“Sister.”

“Yes…?”

The Ferris wheel keeps rising.

“I have something to tell you. Besides saying I like you.”

“…Yes. What is it, Arin?”

“Thank you. Really. You’ve worked so hard.”

“…Pardon?”

As the Ferris wheel reaches the sky.

“Huh…?”

“Hehe…”

She stood up and pressed her lips.

Against my cheek.

Such soft, warm lips.

On my cheek.

“Ah, Arin…?”

“Hehe… Next time it won’t be your cheek?”

“Wha…? Uh…? Arin…?”

“Hehe… I did it.”

What is happening…?

My face is getting hot.

Suddenly… and while I was thinking about Arin, suddenly…

Why…?

This kind of thing…

“I like you, sister. Really.”

“Ah…?”

“Sister, you’re broken.”

She held me in her arms and trapped me so I couldn’t escape.

We stayed like that until the Ferris wheel came down.

* * *

“Um…? Bine?”

“Eh…?”

“Biiine?”

“Yes…?”

Blanc looks at me like I’m a strange person.

I don’t feel that way.

…What I feel now is the sensation from earlier.

My face still turns red whenever I recall it.

My head gets so hot…

Why… why suddenly like this?

Is something wrong with my body? Am I getting sick?

Is my condition bad today for some reason…?

“Helloooo? Bine?”

“Sister. Sister Bine is broken right now.”

“Why…?”

“Hehe…”

Blanc eyes Arin suspiciously as she just laughs without saying anything.

“Don’t tell me…?”

“I didn’t break my promise. The promise!”

“…Alright. I believe our Arin. You won’t betray big sister’s trust, right?”

“Yes! It’s just… something that happened when we were alone? Were you watching what we were doing anyway?”

“Ah… I was just playing with Ellis. Because she was acting up unnecessarily.”

“Hey! That’s not true! You were the one who suddenly to my body—”

“Hehehe… That’s what you get for having such a cute body…”

“You villain! Mmph!!”

“Shh. Quiet. Say things like that and I can’t use you! Should this master punish you?”

“Mmph! Pff… ugh…”

“That’s right, that’s right, you need to behave. Good, good…”

I don’t know what commotion they’re causing. Right now… I can’t hear anything.

…Arin is waving her hand in front of me.

…

So, earlier Arin… to me… ugh…

“Ellis. There… I’ll let you go, so why don’t you take Bine to the bathroom or something? Make her wash her face to come to her senses.”

“Puhaaa…! F-fine… I got it…”

Ellis approaches me and shakes my shoulders vigorously.

“Snap out of it, Bine. What did you do to be like this? Arin might be foxy, but to think she’d break you this badly…”

“Uhhh…”

“This won’t do… Should I really do what Blanc said…”

Ellis dragged me to the nearby bathroom.

And she was about to help me wash my face with water on her hands.

“…No. You don’t have to.”

“You’re not in your right mind right now.”

“No… I need to use the bathroom.”

For some reason, I didn’t want to wash my face.

But I thought it would be good to go to the bathroom to clear my head.

“…Why are you following me in?”

“This.”

…Oh right.

Ah…

Today was that day.

The shock was so great I forgot about it.

“So… what are you going to do?”

“Um… is that the release device?”

“Yes. If you press the button against your neck, the lock will be released.”

“Ah…”

I try to understand with my half-returned consciousness.

…So this will unseal it, right?

“Then… what about your contract magic, Ellis?”

“That… it was written on the note that came with this?”

Ellis hands me a note.

Ah, I received one too, didn’t I…?

“Wait a moment… Ah, here it is.”

The note I received had instructions for use and how to use the additional weapon I received earlier.

As expected, a temporary tail.

It probably won’t have as much output as the one I usually use, but it seems to have enough power for escape.

“Ah… the notes are customized too?”

“Yes. You know the meeting place, right?”

“8:30 PM at the rose fountain?”

“Yes.”

“Since there’s a parade or something at 8 anyway, can’t we just say we’re going to watch it?”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. But Blanc is the biggest problem.”

…Right.

The biggest issue with escaping is Blanc.

If it had been a month instead of a week, maybe.

If we had gone somewhere other than an amusement park, maybe.

If I had come alone with Arin, maybe.

But there’s no point in hypotheticals.

What’s going to happen is going to happen.

I have to do it.

“Isolate the core in hyperspace and use that as a substitute for the core…?”

“That’s the only way to bypass the contract magic. When we get to the base, the doctor will take care of it.”

“…Was it that simple?”

“The doctor must have devised it. That madman has a good head on his shoulders. He must have created this somewhere and brought it.”

“…I see. So. Are you going to do it?”

“…Sigh. I don’t know. We already decided to do it, didn’t we?”

“…Right.”

If we linger here any longer, Blanc or Arin might get suspicious.

We should go out for now.

…I touch my cheek once.

Where her lips brushed earlier.

That, that was…

An accident because the Ferris wheel shook and Arin simply fell…

…As if.

“Bine, are you feeling better?”

“…Blanc.”

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes…”

“That’s good then. Shall we go on something a bit more moderate next…? Or should we sit somewhere for a while?”

“Let’s sit somewhere… How about dinner, will we have it here? At least Arin probably wants to stay until closing time.”

“…Really, is that okay?”

“Of course. This is the day for Arin to do whatever she wants.”

“Hehe… I love you, Sister Bine!”

“What…?!”

“I love you, Sister Bine…!”

“Yes…”

Really… I just calmed down and came out…

Arin links her arm with mine.

I hear a sigh from behind.

…It’s warm.

We rode a few more rides after that.

A ride like rafting down the Amazon River, then a flume slide… Spinning Extreme…

Yeah, those kinds of rides were fine… But Twist or Viking…

The rides that make you dizzy were a bit problematic.

Fortunately, we rode those before dinner.

It became completely dark.

Saying she wanted to enjoy the night view of the amusement park, and since there was a parade, we headed toward the rose fountain under that pretext.

Being nighttime and located in a secluded area, there weren’t many people.

Besides, everyone had gone to watch the parade.

… The time now is 7:55 PM.

We arrived at the rose fountain.

I sit by the fountain and look around for a moment.

I’m getting nervous again.

8:00 PM.

I take pictures with Arin among various flowers.

Naturally, we also took pictures in front of the LOVE sculpture.

8:10 PM.

Ellis starts giving me signals.

Right.

As the parade seems to be ending, people move from the garden toward the rides.

Koreans like to enjoy until the final closing time before leaving.

8:25 PM.

5 minutes before the operation begins.

I distance myself a bit from Blanc and Arin.

The reason was to take pictures with Ellis.

To take a picture at the rose fountain.

Since it’s come to this, I said I wanted to take pictures with her.

And that we’ll sit here, so please take more pictures of Arin.

Blanc, without suspicion, went into the flower garden to take pictures of Arin.

And the moment the clock strikes 8:30.

8:30 PM.

“…”

“Ellis.”

I take out the release device from my pocket and remove the seal from my neck.

The cold wind awkwardly brushes against my neck.