Ch.185185. What a Complete Mess

“…What is this mess now?”

“Where should I start cleaning…?”

“It’s still pretty tidy, isn’t it?”

“Yeaaah… this is actually pretty clean, right…?”

The magical girls are talking nonsense.

Arin can’t even speak.

Blanc noticed the situation on her own and is already thinking about cleaning up, so she’s exempt from scolding.

Arin is a child, so I’ll let her rest.

“Ellie.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Why didn’t you clean up?”

“Ah, well… that’s… Wait! I’ve only been at the Association too…! I came out the same day as you…!”

“Really?”

“Y-yeaaah! I’m seeing this mess for the first time too, okay…? And going outside the Association was prohibited… At most, all I could do was go to Hyewon’s team and cause some trouble… No, not trouble… I mean, I couldn’t do anything except help Hyewon with her work…! Even when I tried to go out, they wouldn’t let me!”

“Hmmmm…”

I look at Ellie with suspicious eyes.

“I-it’s truuue…”

“Ellie’s telling the truth. She was alone in that huge Association building.”

“Hyewon. Are you in any position to defend Ellie…?”

“B-but…! You’re partly responsible for this situation too, aren’t you?”

“…Sigh. That’s why I was about to scold you all but changed my mind.”

“Right? Riiiight…?”

“Still, this is outrageous, isn’t it? Hyewon, you stay. The rest of you, go prepare to clean your rooms.”

The magical girls who had been watching nervously quickly returned to their rooms.

“Hyewon?”

“Uh, yeah…? C-can I go clean up too…?”

“You’re going to clean this disaster of a kitchen and living room with me. Help Ellie.”

“W-waaait…? When will we ever finish cleaning all this…?”

“See? It’s so bad you’re asking when we’ll finish, yet you’re blaming me?”

“T-that’s…!”

“Nothing to say, right? Follow me.”

Why is the house such a mess when I come back after so long?

I clean up, they mess it up.

I clean up, they mess it up.

It’s not even difficult to keep things organized.

Just put things back where they belong after using them.

What’s so hard about that? Why make such a mess?

Look.

That’s Yuri’s pajamas.

She probably took a quick shower, changed clothes, threw them on the sofa instead of putting them in the laundry basket, and just left them there.

Look at how she carelessly tossed her underwear too.

Along with the towel, just casually…

“Has Yuri ever sat on the sofa without drying herself properly?”

“…I don’t think so?”

“You need to be honest with me.”

“…She probably has.”

“Sigh… I fixed that habit before. Is she doing it again?”

“Again…”

“Haah… I’ll clean that up later. Why hasn’t anyone cleared the table after eating?”

“I did clean it…”

“The bread crumbs. Don’t you step on them when you walk around? Weren’t you bothered by all this dust settling everywhere? You should at least cough when dust gets in your nose. Even someone as insensitive as you should… No. Do you really think this is an appropriate living environment for a child?”

“Okay, okaaay… W-what should I do first…!”

“Garbage bags.”

“Fine! I just need to bring them, right…!”

Phew.

Well then…

Let me tackle this chaotic mess first.

Good thing I left the Association early.

If I had eaten lunch before coming, I would have had to clean all day long.

* * *

“What are you doing?”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I wouldn’t be if you weren’t in the way, Blanc.”

“In the way? Was I that bad?”

“Yes. That bad. Would you please move aside?”

“You’re almost done, aren’t you?”

“I need you to get off the sofa so I can wipe it down. And after cleaning, we’ll be completely finished. Oh, how about you go throw out the trash with Hyewon?”

Why is Blanc observing me from the sofa like this?

I’m just finishing up after cleaning all the individual rooms.

Bringing Arin and Yuri to watch me like this.

I’m not a monkey in a zoo.

“Hmm… sounds like a hassle.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, alright… Hyewon!”

Blanc finally listens and prepares to go out with Hyewon.

Really…

Why does she act like this? I don’t know.

“Arin? Don’t you have anything to do?”

“I do have something to do…? Watching Bine unnie with the others?”

“…I meant something other than that. Something actually important. Like homework from school. Don’t you have anything like that?”

“Hmm… nope. Watching Bine unnie is more important than all that stuff!”

“I’m not an animal in a zoo…”

“But you might run away again, so this is surveillance, surveillance. And… it’s been so long since I’ve seen you like this. I want to take in as much as I can.”

“Sigh… you’ll be seeing me every day from now on anyway.”

“Still, you know how it is, right? When you love someone, you never get tired of seeing them every day, and you want to eternally capture their every moment in your eyes.”

“…Isn’t cleaning boring? Why don’t you play games with your other friends instead?”

“Games are even more boring. People who play games do it because they enjoy it, right? I prefer watching you over playing games. Because I might lose you at any moment.”

“…Lose me, huh. I’m not running away anymore… Eden is gone now. Well, my heart has changed in many ways.”

“Is that so? That’s even better then. I’ll just keep watching my precious Bine unnie.”

Really.

Children’s stubbornness is so hard to break.

Ellie is there beside her too.

Hmm, Ellie has already become an attachment doll.

“Yuri, would you please let go of my helper now?”

“So waaarm… I get sleepy when I hug her… hehe…”

“Sar… I mean, Ghosts are naturally warm. We have a slightly higher body temperature than humans.”

“Really? Is that true?”

“Yes, Arin. We are warmer creatures than you humans. We’re different in many ways.”

“I know dogs and cats are like that too, but I didn’t know ghosts were the same…!”

“Well, I’m not a pet like a dog or cat.”

“Still, I like you all the same, so it’s okay.”

“…That’s burdensome. And Yuri, please let go of Ellie.”

“Hiiing… I don’t wanna… Ellie smells different from Blanc, and it’s nice in its own way… It’s like, it gives me a bit of PTSD but also makes me feel comfortable… Maybe it’s because I recognize that I can handle Ellie however I want…? Anyway… hugging Ellie… really makes me feel at ease…?”

“You really… Do you still have remnants of corruption in you… Even though your body has transformed twice, I suppose some of it could remain. I just didn’t expect it to manifest like this.”

“Remnants of corruption…? There’s nothing left physically, only mentally… It actually works like immunity, and as long as I don’t go berserk occasionally… that form doesn’t appear. It actually makes me stronger, so it’s fine!”

“Ugh…”

Yuri squeezes Ellie even tighter, making Ellie groan.

“Still, would you please let go of Ellie? I just need to finish up here.”

“Since you only need to finish up there… can’t I keep Ellie with me?”

“…Sigh.”

“W-wait! Bine, are you giving up…?”

“I can’t win against Yuri’s stubbornness. And isn’t it about time to give up?”

“Give up what…? My freedom…? My human rights…?”

“Look, you’re complaining while still letting her hug you. You’ve already given up deep down.”

“…She’ll let me go soon, right?”

Ellie looks at Yuri, expressing her hope.

Of course, that hope was instantly shattered.

“Hmm… I’ll let you go at mealtime?”

“W-wait…? It’s not that long until lunch…?”

“That’s right… Normally at this time, unnie would be sleeping, right? Let’s sleep together like old times!”

“W-wait… old times…”

“But I’ll be gentler than Ellie was, okay?”

“H-hiiik…”

Hmm…

“Arin, you shouldn’t be learning from that. Yes… it’s better if you keep watching me instead.”

“Yes. That’s what I was planning to do anyway, unnie.”

“You’re a good child, Arin.”

“Thank you. Hehe…”

Blanc and Hyewon return from taking out the trash, having fallen asleep on the sofa behind Yuri.

They seem to have brought Seohyun with them too, who enters breathing heavily.

“Was it that heavy?”

“No, it wasn’t that heavy…?”

“Then why are you breathing like that?”

“When I say it wasn’t that heavy, I mean it wasn’t extremely heavy, but I can’t say it wasn’t heavy at all, you know?”

“What does that… If you’re tired, go to your room and rest.”

“Nooo… I need some water…”

“You can get that yourself.”

She’s trying to make me do it even though she’s closer to the kitchen.

Well…

I put down the mop I was using, take three cups from the cupboard.

Then I fill them halfway with ice and water from the purifier, one for each of them.

I put them on a tray and bring them over.

They’re already sitting on the sofa anyway.

I’ll just place it on the table in front of them.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks…”

“Couldn’t you have gotten it yourself since you were closer?”

I complained a bit.

And Blanc responds:

“Water brought by Bine tastes cooler somehow.”

“What? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Why were you so tired downstairs… We had a bit of a chase, the three of us.”

“For what reason…?”

“Well… a competition of sorts.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Something happened. We just ran a few laps, but then someone accidentally flew off. We ended up going all the way to the riverside park.”

“…The scale of magical girl fights is truly impressive.”

“I thought we’d land at the lake park, but Seohyun ran all the way to the river, so it’s her fault.”

“That’s because Hyewon unnie and Yunseul unnie kept chasing me…!”

“If you had just let us catch you, Hyewon and I wouldn’t have killed you, at least.”

“I don’t want any pain…”

“When did we ever hit you?”

“B-but when I told the truth…”

“Should I have a little chat with unnie?”

Hyewon is pressuring Seohyun.

Well, the cleaning is done.

Maybe I should sit down now.

But there’s no place to sit.

Blanc, why are you looking at me like that?

I don’t want to sit there…?