Ch.149149. Can We Talk for a Moment?

“No, I mean…”

“It’s not ‘I mean,’ is it? Bineeee… I didn’t think you were like thiiis… You’re scarier than I thought, aren’t youuu?”

“No… what do you mean by calling me unemployed…”

“Tsk, is this really the time to address me like that? Pretending not to know how angry we are?”

Unemployed… or rather, Yuri is putting intense pressure on me in the strangest way.

“That… title isn’t what you think…”

“Don’t try to escape with such excuses. Yuri unnie is right. When you’ve done something wrong to us… how can you call us by such nicknames?”

“Um… cry-ba…”

“This isn’t the time for such titles, is it?”

“B-but…”

“Tsk.”

“…Yes, I understand, Hyewon. Is that better now…”

“Now you’re finally showing some remorse… Yes, that’s better. So, Bineeee… isn’t it time you explained what you did to our Arin?”

“Th-that’s…”

“Taking Arin’s first time… Don’t tell me it was like something from an erotic doujinshi…?”

“No, it’s not like that…! Arin…!”

“Unnie… are you… denying our precious memory…?”

Arin is about to shed tears again, whimpering at me.

“N-no…! Arin, that’s not it… Please stop your unnies… I might really get exterminated at this rate…! Look at my miserable state…!”

“Unnie…”

“Arin…! Please save me…! I’ll really die at this rate…!”

Arin, who was crying above me, finally seemed to recognize my desperate pleading.

“Unnie… but, that was my first kiss… lips I hadn’t allowed anyone except my parents and family…”

“Wait… Arin? What…?”

Arin’s statement…

It seemed more shocking than expected, as all the magical girls present, and even Ellie, were staring at Arin with frozen expressions.

“On the Ferris wheel… I really, really gathered my courage to give you my lips… How could you forget that…? Hue, hueeeng…”

As Arin was about to cry again… I was too flustered.

“N-no! I-I remember! W-we were watching the sunset…! D-didn’t we watch it together…?!”

“Hic… so you didn’t forget…? Sniff…”

“H-how could I forget…! I was just so surprised then, receiving something like that, thinking that someone like me, bad and strange, shouldn’t be receiving such things, that Arin shouldn’t be doing such things with someone strange like me…!”

“U-unnie, you’re not a strange person!”

“B-but, at that time, I was planning to return to Eden, thinking only about the mission…”

“What…?”

“B-but… because Arin did something like that, my mind became complicated and all those thoughts flew away, wondering why Arin suddenly, why Arin, Arin, ugh…”

“Unnie…”

After I blurted out a bit about what happened with Arin.

“Arin, did you forget the promise you made with your unnies…?”

Yuri… Hyewon, and Seohyun.

Even Blanc and Ellie were looking at Arin with disapproving eyes.

“Hey, Seon Arin. Don’t we have a promise?”

“Ellie has no right to say that! You ran away with Bine unnie!”

“Arin… shall we have a serious talk with your unnies? A kiss? Surely it’s not what your unnies are thinking, right?”

“Whaat…?”

Arin seemed flustered by her unnies’ reactions, blushing.

But she’s still an innocent child…

“…It was just a kiss on the cheek. Of course… it was too much for me to treat as ‘just’ anything, and I even considered canceling the mission because of that one action…”

“Bine…? Wait, waaait…! That’s also something this unnie can’t let slide…?”

“I’m saying it wasn’t the kind of kiss you’re thinking of… Shouldn’t we calm Arin down first…? For now, at least…”

“Yes… well, but… Arin, let’s have a serious talk with your unnies later, okaaay?”

“…Yes.”

“Alright… can I rest now? It’s getting late…”

“What are you saying? Sigh…”

Seohyun, as if something wasn’t over yet.

“For now… yes, can you answer truthfully to everything I ask?”

“Well… there’s really nothing left now… Actually, you can throw me in Marina if you want. I’m just uncomfortable because personal questions or grudges haven’t been settled yet… but thinking about it, the karma I carry… is much, much more than I thought…”

“Sorry, but I can’t let you off that easily. Didn’t Yunseul unnie tell you?”

“You know she did. That we magical girls will be monitoring you closely.”

“…But my bet wasn’t over yet, was it? You agreed to grant me one wish.”

“That’s right. It’s not over yet. It was just a deviation… yes, a bit major, but still just a deviation. There’s no reason to grant it yet.”

“…Then, not as a wish, but as a personal request. Will you listen?”

“Well… I was already planning to take you there later. If I hadn’t even thought about it, I wouldn’t have brought Ellie to the new base that day. Right?”

“…Ellie is already under contract with you. So… you trust her, don’t you? Compared to that, I’m just… a traitor, well… that level, right? A lowly villain. That’s what I am.”

“Hm? I don’t particularly think that way… Anyway… rest for now. Going home… will be a bit later, since Ellie and I are staying at the association these days.”

“Now you’ll be tied to a bed, unable to do anything… Well, I understand. I did the same to Baeks… no, Yuri.”

“There’s no need for that… Oh, we did restrain her, but that was for the brainwashing.”

“…Is the association joking? You’re going to let a villain roam around without restraint…?”

“Well, Ellie was… also walking around like that?”

“As I said earlier, Ellie is… under your contract. A dog on a leash… isn’t dangerous. A loose attack dog… even if its teeth are pulled out, there’s a risk it might scratch, so it’s better to keep it away. Or put it in a cage.”

In response to my words, she casually puts a necklace around my neck.

“Here, wear this. And… this is your phone. You left it behind, right?”

She gives me a smartphone and hangs an association access badge around my neck.

“If anyone tries to insult or bully you with that, contact me. Even if they’re association staff, I can’t forgive people who say such things. I’ll make sure they’re disciplined, even if it means sending them to a branch in another remote area or to a monitoring outpost.”

“You… there’s no need for that. I’m just a villain. Even if they do such things, they’re employees of this association. Comparing them to a dangerous villain like me doesn’t make sense in terms of cost-benefit…”

“No. Just bullying civilians on their own is enough for internal discipline. Especially if they treat a collaborator we need to work with that way…”

“…I never said I would collaborate.”

“Collaborate, won’t you? Won’t you come find us?”

“Well, that’s not it, but…”

“So, that’s it. Yes. Anything else to say?”

“…No.”

“Good… let’s finish up and go back. No matter how good the facilities at the association are, home is much better. Right?”

“…Go back, you say.”

“Why?”

“…It’s nothing. I just thought… it’s not a word that suits me.”

Of course, if I were still the person who knew nothing…

Since my place to return to was Eden, it would be hard to say it didn’t suit me.

But now…

Can I really call such a place somewhere to return to?

And… can I really call that dormitory where the magical girls are my place to return to?

The place I would return to would be…

Yes, that mountain with the dimensional rift.

Deep in the wilderness.

Or… the shanty house where I was temporarily staying, where water leaked when it rained and wind seeped through.

Yes… such places would be where I return to.

“Well… you’d better put aside any strange thoughts. You know the damage from this incident is significant, right? It’s all your debt? To repay that… how long will you have to work under us… it’s dizzying just to think about it. Right?”

“…What?”

“For now, let’s leave it at that. Rest for now. Arin, get off Bine, and you’ve just been in another dimension, so you must be very tired.”

“Yeeees…”

“Ellie and Yuri unnie will stay with you, so tell them if there’s anything uncomfortable. Shall we go?”

“…”

With that, Blanc leaves the room, leaving the two of us behind.

I just fiddle with the smartphone left in my hand.

Come to think of it…

Blanc bought this for me.

…That’s why I left it behind.

Because Blanc bought it, it shouldn’t be tracked.

There shouldn’t be a connection that could be traced.

But now that connection is back in my hand.

The association access badge is the same.

This badge containing a photo that looks like—and is—a mugshot.

Blanc.

Again, Blanc.

…This worthless.

Lost and without support.

A villain who has lost everything, whose justifications have been trampled.

Now, unable to even use the excuse of “for the people-“

This villain who has to bear their own sins…

Why.

“Sigh… really, if that is your punishment.”

“Bine…? Is something wrong…?”

“No… just talking to myself.”

“I see… rest for now. Should I ask the association president to bring some porridge?”

“The association president… is the highest person here, how can you use them like that.”

“Oh come on… they bring everything I ask for! I even got chicken once.”

“Ellie, that’s not polite.”

“Why? If they’re keeping me locked up here, they should at least give me something in return, right?”

“Ellie.”

“Sigh… wait. I’ll try to make good use of the association president.”

“Ellie. Stop it.”

“Whyyy? Should unnie bring it insteaad? Is there something you want to eaat? Hehehe… despite appearances, I’m a VVIP on delivery apps! The level where all the delivery restaurants around here know my nickname because of how much I order!”

“…Yuri.”

“Yes, Bine!”

“How did you…? I definitely didn’t see deliveries coming at night?”

“That’s because that’s becau—?!”

“I told you not to eat such things…! I cooked food and put it all in the freezer or refrigerator, didn’t I…!”

“Ehehe…”

Really… this person is hopeless…

I was having heavy thoughts, but her ridiculous answer instantly blew them away.

Sigh…

Really.