Ch.152152. Meeting

“Is everyone here?”

“Yes.”

Blanc answered as the representative.

Well… if the association president’s office, which usually feels spacious, now feels crowded, then everyone must indeed be here.

Arin is… sitting on the opposite side, preemptively claiming my arm as if to keep Ellie in check.

And Ellie, beside her, is tightly hugging my other arm with no intention of letting go.

It’s uncomfortable, but… compared to the sins I’ve committed, this is ridiculously minor punishment…

“Well then. Let’s discuss what we’ll do from now on. How will we proceed with eliminating the remaining forces? Do we have any new information?”

“…Yes. The information is reliable this time too. However… it feels somewhat different from their previous headquarters.”

“Different how?”

“How should I put it… it feels like it was built for just one person. It seems focused on building power rather than increasing numbers. We analyzed the faint traces of magical energy left during their escape…”

“Well… you can give me those details in writing. Everyone, shall we look at the data?”

With that, the association president brings up a screen.

“Now… this was their first headquarters. We completely cleared it during Ragnarok. And… this is the second headquarters. It feels like they built it after Vine’s defection and developed it to some extent. Still… it’s smaller than the first headquarters, right?”

“…That’s certainly true.”

“You can tell by looking at the underground map. Think of it as having an ant colony-like structure. The longer they stay, the more rooms they add and the wider it becomes.”

“Then… what about the place that was just discovered…?”

“It’s even smaller. Well… there wasn’t much data to analyze. No internal documents either. Plus… Elise’s memories that we used during the Avalon operation are useless here.”

At the association president’s words, Elise trembled and continued.

“That sounds a bit creepy… that statement sounds kind of perverted… casually using someone else’s memories…”

“But we actually did use them that way. Thanks to you, we were able to bring Vine back to us.”

“…It doesn’t feel good, this. I clearly…”

“Yes, yes… Well, what we can estimate about the scale is that there are few people wandering around. There were hardly any to begin with… along with various other circumstances.”

“The boss and the doctor are there?”

“Yes. That’s right… Now… it’s time to think about our strategy. A strategy to completely eliminate Eden.”

“Should the two of us be locked away somewhere like Marina first…?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Well…

I was just saying it casually.

Is this really something to be so flustered about?

“That was… just a joke. I know you wouldn’t do that… but the atmosphere has gotten heavy now. Haha…”

Should a simple joke make things this tense…

“Regarding that… let’s talk about it after we finish eliminating Eden, Vine.”

“…Wasn’t that discussion already over?”

“Hmm… let’s talk about all that later. Let’s discuss such things later.”

“Yes… well. If that’s what Master says.”

I responded to Blanc’s answer, but then—

“…Wait, who are you calling Master?!”

“Why… what, am I wrong?”

Seeing how the room becomes noisy at my single remark…

These kids are really immature, I think…

Why is Arin gripping my arm even tighter now?

“Ahem, hmm… Anyway. We’ll take down the boss and… along with the doctor, eliminate the remaining forces.”

“You’re trying to select who will enter, right?”

“That’s right…”

“First, please keep Arin back. The battlefield is too dangerous.”

“Unnie!”

“Arin.”

“Vine unnie…! I must go. Please include me in this operation, Association President!”

“Association President. Arin absolutely cannot go. Should I refuse to cooperate?”

“Then Arin will…”

“I’m going! I’m telling you I’m going!”

“Arin. Throwing a tantrum won’t change what can’t be changed.”

“You’re the one throwing a tantrum, Vine unnie! Wouldn’t having one more fighter help? You said it’s the boss! Last time…!”

“Arin. This time… it will be different. Please listen to me.”

“Even if I’m weaker than Yunseul unnie, I’ve trained so hard!”

“Arin… so, can you defeat Baek… no, Yuri…? No, can you even defeat Red… Seohyun? At the very least… for this operation, I need to take magical girls at the level I acknowledge.”

I have to cut her off firmly.

This operation is… that dangerous.

Because we don’t know what that doctor might do.

At the very least, Arin cannot go.

Among the people living with us, excluding Arin, the weakest—Seohyun—is the minimum threshold.

Of course… she’ll inevitably be included among the magical girls selected this time.

Originally, I wouldn’t have thought of taking her.

Well…

That was actually Blanc’s opinion, not mine.

“Anyway. Arin cannot go. Absolutely not. If she gets hurt or… heaven forbid… dies.”

“There’s no way I would die there!”

Arin shrieks.

“The operation will be that dangerous. Now… we can’t predict their strength.”

“But, but… it’s always been like that…”

“Arin. This time it’s the boss. Not a mid-boss like me, but the real boss. This time… even Blanc alone might not be enough. They might have created another monster. They might have created countless monsters that easily surpass my expectations. We don’t know how many combat units they’ve made. If the doctor’s technology has advanced further… they’ll be more powerful than the combat units from Marina before, and from the operation to rescue me.”

“I can beat that level…! So, so…!”

“Arin. What’s not possible is not possible.”

“Unnie!”

“At least… at least… if you could become a magical girl worthy of my acknowledgment and nickname, that might be different. But right now, it’s truly impossible…!”

“…If I… get your acknowledgment.”

“Arin. This operation is that dangerous—”

Arin suddenly stood up from beside me.

“…If I become a magical girl acknowledged by you.”

“Arin…?”

“I just need your acknowledgment, right…?”

“At minimum you’d need that, no. Before that, this mission is very dangerous—”

“Fine. When is the operation scheduled, Association President?”

“…For now, we’re looking at two weeks from now…”

“Two weeks. Two weeks… Two weeks. Two weeks. Two weeks. If it’s two weeks. If it’s two weeks. Somehow.”

“Um… Arin?”

“Vine unnie. No, Vine of Eden. I’ll make you acknowledge me within two weeks. No, I definitely will. Let me know when the operation date is set. I’ll have your acknowledgment by the day before, Vine.”

“Arin, what are you—”

“A duel. The day before the operation. Come to Training Ground 1 by then. I’ll definitely, definitely earn your acknowledgment.”

With those words, Arin stormed out of the president’s office.

Everyone in the room could only stare in shock at the door that slammed shut.

“W-what just happened…? S-Seohyun…! Go after her quickly…!”

“Ah, yes…!”

Hyewon was the first to come to her senses and sent Seohyun after Arin.

“What… just happened…?”

“Haa. Arin has quite a temper too, I see.”

“Hey. Is she the only one?”

“But she wants to earn Vine’s acknowledgment in just two weeks.”

“Is that… even possible?”

Hyewon and Blanc look at me.

Even with those eyes looking at me…

“I don’t know.”

“Are you saying it’s not possible?”

“Hyewon… that expression is genuinely one of not knowing.”

“…Eh.”

“Vine, you really have no idea…?”

“If I consider Arin’s growth rate roughly…”

“And she just got a complete boost from what happened, right?”

“That’s why I can’t predict it. If Arin in that state… surpasses your growth rate, Blanc. Comparing with the footage I’ve seen… her rate is close to yours.”

“She’ll surpass it. Definitely.”

“It depends on her growth rate. We don’t know where her limit is.”

“…I hope she doesn’t push herself too hard.”

“I want to run after her right now and stop her. I really don’t want to take Arin to that battlefield…”

“…If you and I work together.”

“Even so… we don’t know what forces we’ll face.”

“Is that boss… really that powerful?”

“By the way… my magical energy recovery has been slowing down again. I’ve been using it somewhat like a battery. But I’m not sure if it will be useful in actual combat.”

“Wait… what do you mean…?”

Blanc was startled when I said that.

“Isn’t it obvious…? My body has been made unable to do evil things. Now my magical energy isn’t recovering anymore. Actually, until a few days ago, the recovery rate was minimal… but it existed. Now it seems it’s not recovering at all.”

“…Why haven’t I heard about this? Didn’t I ask you to inform me about Vine’s physical condition, Elise?”

“W-well…”

Elise, sitting next to me, began trembling like an aspen tree.

I could tell how much anger was in that voice.

Well, if it disrupts the plan… I’d be just as angry.

Especially when you’re in a position where you need to capture the boss.

“Please don’t torment Ellie. For now… I figured it out by intuition. Since there was no need to use magic until now, it was always full… so it would have been difficult to detect with measuring equipment.”

“…Then you should have told me yourself. I came to see you so many times.”

After I defended Elise like that, Blanc’s anger shifted to me.

“That’s… well, isn’t it obvious? You could have easily deduced that…”

“No, I thought that since the boss’s body was destroyed, that suspicious restriction would naturally be lifted…”

“I was forced to do bad things… Haa. Thinking about it now, really. Anyway. They put a device on me to force such things. Naturally… the person who placed it should remove it. Like the doctor.”

“…I’m going to kill that bastard with my own hands. Definitely.”

“Blanc, there are many people here…”

“Arin isn’t here, so what does it matter? Sigh… Fine. Elise. Report measurements every 3 hours. Got it?”

“…That’s troublesome.”

“It’s an order.”

“Ehhh!? Using an order in a place like this…?”

“Yes. This can’t be helped. It’s an order.”

“Yes, Master… Ugh, it’s such a hassle… Vine, do I have to cooperate well?”

“You don’t have to do it at night. Every 3 hours except when you’re sleeping.”

Blanc doesn’t react at all even though Elise clearly called her “Master.”

Then, Elise, who was holding my arm, takes my hand and—

“Ellie…?”

“If you don’t help me… I might die? You know what happens when a monster bound by a contract spell disobeys an order, right?”

“Well, Association President. Is the meeting over? I don’t want to die, so I’m going to do some tests with Vine now? Can we use the facility?”

“Uh, sure…?”

“Blanc, are you coming?”

“…Go ahead first.”

As I was being forcibly dragged away by Elise, the last thing I heard was—

Blanc’s long, deep sigh.

I really didn’t expect the meeting to end in such a ridiculous way.