Ch.157157. Unintended

When Arin pleaded with a tearful face, I reluctantly agreed to call her “Arin-ie.”

Then she came running to me, saying she was happy.

But who jumps on someone lying down and asks for a hug…

With a slight impact, Arin and I ended up lying on the same bed to discuss our future plans.

The other magical girls were looking at us with somewhat disapproving expressions.

Well, it’s not like I asked Arin to come over.

What could I do if Arin came to me on her own?

So there’s no reason for the magical girls to look at me that way, as if I’m monopolizing Arin.

“…Are you going to stay like that?”

“Huh? This is…”

“Unni. Don’t move. Your wounds might get worse. I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely cannot allow that!”

“Um… Arin, this is just a small cut…”

“Anyway, no! What’s not allowed is not allowed, Unni! I’ll stay by your side and watch over you, so don’t move and rest!”

“…Blanc, could you help me a little.”

“Sure. Arin? How about getting down now?”

“…What? No…”

“You’re making Bine uncomfortable.”

“Oh, U-Unni… were you uncomfortable…?”

Arin looks at me with sad eyes as she asks.

Ah, that expression is really hard to resist.

Especially in a situation like this.

Especially when I still have so many guilty feelings toward Arin.

“Ugh… I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable… if only you weren’t hugging me so tightly…”

Then, Arin’s voice brightened up again.

“Did you hear that! Unni, so I can stay like this?”

“Well… it might be a bit much for the entire day, but I don’t need to tell you to get down right now…”

I was about to say something to restrain her a bit.

But Blanc looks down at me with cold eyes.

“Bine, you asked for help.”

“…I only asked for a little help.”

“Ha.”

She opens her eyes as if dumbfounded.

I can’t help it…

Right now, Arin has the upper hand over me.

“Um… anyway, let’s put aside the minor details. What are you planning to do…?”

“We’ll have to take Arin with us. That’s what we promised. You did, Bine.”

“…Yes.”

“So… tomorrow it is. What about your magical power?”

“You saw it earlier.”

Ellie responds curtly to Blanc.

Blanc seems used to Ellie’s attitude and just brushes it off.

Really, how did they end up like this?

When did they become so close?

“Right… Well, considering how much power was consumed, I won’t send you into intense combat. Ellie, what are you planning to do?”

“If I’m not by Bine’s side, who will be? Of course I need to stick right next to Bine.”

“Bine will be by my side.”

“Huh? Then don’t I need to follow along too? We’re going to meet that boss again, right?”

“True…?”

“Then of course I need to be there too.”

Ellie speaks as if it’s obvious.

Right. Ellie probably has a lot to say to the boss…

She’s actually known him longer than I have.

So… how much must she have to say to him.

And I have something to ask too.

From that dimensional rift.

Why he saved me.

I need to ask that.

And.

What his true purpose is.

Whether what Blanc told me is a lie or not.

Sincerely, sincerely.

I want to ask if that was really his intention.

If that’s the truth.

…

Then the karma I’ve built up with my own hands.

All of it, all of it…

Would mean I stained my hands with so much blood because of my own delusions.

“Bine, why that expression? Are you in pain?”

“Ah, no. Let’s continue…”

“Right. And Yuri unni, Hyewon, and Seohyun… focus on protecting Arin while clearing out the remaining forces inside. We could tell from Marina and Avalon. They might come back even stronger. We need to move with that in mind.”

“U-Unni…? C-Can I go with Bine unni too…!”

“No, it’s too dangerous. I’ll allow you to follow us, but I can’t let you join our team. I’m sorry, but I won’t change my mind on this.”

“B-But… having even a little more strength…”

“That’s why I want you to help us from behind, Arin. If we’re focused on combat and get attacked from behind, that’s dangerous. Everyone could be at risk, okay?”

“B-But…”

“Take on the cleanup with Seohyun unni, Hyewon unni, and Yuri unni. When you think you’ve finished, you can come help us. Right?”

“Yes…”

I can see Arin looking dejected, having thought she would face the boss with me.

Well… she worked hard for two weeks to come along…

It must be disappointing to hear she can only follow us but nothing beyond that.

And… she earned this right even through combat with me. She must feel like that right is being denied right in front of her.

But I don’t want Arin to come any further either.

Beyond that… it’s truly dangerous.

“Arin. Listen carefully. Seohyun, Hyewon, and Yuri aren’t coming either. Only… myself, Ellie, and Blanc are going there. So… I hope you understand that you’re not the only one being left behind.”

“…Yes. If you put it that way, Unni…”

“I… really don’t want to see Arin get hurt. Especially since the boss… we don’t know what cruel things he might do. Remember what happened at Marina? Back then, I… was trying to use you. I was using you, Arin, waiting for Blanc’s forces to be depleted. So…”

“Yes, well… you mean he’ll target me to drain a lot of your power…?”

“…”

Thankfully, Arin understood that.

“It’s not much of a compensation, but… I could grant you one wish…”

So, as an alternative, I was going to grant her a wish, but.

“Unni.”

“Yes…?”

“That wish.”

“Yes, I thought granting you one wish would be…”

“Do you remember when you said you’d grant a wish before?”

“Yes…?”

“You promised to grant a wish while staying with us for a month, right?”

“T-That… I don’t remember making any wish…”

“But, Unni. What did you do?”

“I, I…”

“You just ran away. Right?”

“Y-Yes…?”

“And that was on the day you were supposed to be with me.”

“Ah… W-Well, this time I’ll really grant your wish…”

“Unni. If I wished to marry you… would you grant it?”

“…What?”

“See? You wouldn’t. So I don’t want strange things like wish tokens. Unni… you abandoned us, didn’t you?”

“…Ah.”

“So… um, instead of a wish you set, I’ll make my own demand that day. No, I’ll claim it, like today.”

“Arin…?”

“Yunseul unni… so what’s next? This time… I’ll do as you say. I’ll clean up the remaining forces, right?”

“Right…?”

“After we clean them up… can I come help? Of course, I’ll ask the other unnis before leaving.”

“Yes, if you get permission from the others…”

“Understood.”

Arin’s words pierce my heart painfully.

After that, Arin only listened to what was necessary for the operation and didn’t ask any more questions.

Whether she had nothing else she wanted to know, she just stayed close to my side.

Ellie seemed uncomfortable, glaring at Arin.

“Hmph.”

“Bleh-“

“…What? Wait, Arin? What are you doing? Are you picking a fight with me?”

“Hehe… Bine unni! Protect me!”

“Hey! How can you use Bine as a shield!”

“Kyaah! Unni! The violent yeti is trying to bully me!”

“What?! Y-What?! Yeti? You’ve never even seen a yeti!”

“Nyah! They’re in games, you know?”

“How can you compare game yetis to real ones! Hey! Hey!!”

Well.

The meeting seems to be over anyway.

This kind of atmosphere is nice too.

It feels like kids of this age playing together, which is nice.

By the way, Arin used me as a shield to block all of Ellie’s attacks.

As for me, well…

Ellie’s attacks don’t hurt anyway, so I just took them.

Though it was a bit annoying.

* * *

Morning came.

Yesterday, Arin really drained my energy.

She stayed by my side all day, claiming it was combat aftereffects.

I didn’t think she’d literally stay the entire day.

The association president came up and asked if we needed to bring a king-size bed to the association, that’s how much she clung to me.

Not to be outdone, Ellie also climbed onto the same bed.

Then, wondering if monopolizing the infirmary was inconsiderate, I asked about it.

They suggested going to my room instead.

“My room…?”

“Why not? The association president gave you a spacious room too. It can accommodate at least seven people.”

“That’s not the issue…”

“Huh? Anyway, Arin seems like… she’s going to spend the day here. Even if we tell her to go back, she probably won’t. I’ll go get our things.”

“What…? So we can sleep in the same bed?”

“My bed isn’t that big…”

“The three of you can easily sleep together. We just need to bring in some folding beds. Or you can lay out blankets and sleep on them.”

“The floor might not be clean enough for sleeping on blankets…”

“That’s why folding beds would work. Ah, a sofa is enough for me.”

“Blanc… at least you should sleep comfortably. You have such an important day ahead tomorrow.”

“Any reasonably comfortable bed is fine.”

“But…”

Then, Hyewon said.

“I have a good one in my room, for when I work overnight. Should I bring it?”

“Oh… then I’ll bring blankets from my room.”

“Why go through all this trouble…”

“Because it’s fun!”

“What do you think, Yuri unni?”

“Meee…? I’m… fine with it! I’ll take the sofa!”

And that’s how we ended up spending the night together in one room.

…It felt like we were at a retreat.