Ch.193193. Cuteness?

“Vine’s ears turned red.”

“…I know.”

“Did you like it that much?”

“…”

“Did you like it? Hmm, Vine? Did you like it? Pfft. Should I do it again?”

“Do you realize that your words are diminishing the value of what just happened?”

“Hmm… I think it’s fine if the value diminishes. That just means I can do it more often for Vine, doesn’t it?”

“W-what do you mean…”

“The value you’re talking about is inversely proportional to quantity, right? If I reduce the value to zero, that’s good for me. It means I’ve done it that much, right?”

“Y-yes…what?”

“Well… it’s not like the real value actually decreases. I think it always has the same value. What do you think, Vine?”

Blanc asks me.

…

Ugh.

Really.

Really, really, really, really…

“…I think it’s the same.”

“Right?”

“…Mmph.”

“That’s right.”

I fell victim to another kiss on the cheek.

This playful kiss, different from before.

It came to me with another feeling.

Truly, there’s no way the value could diminish.

If each time feels different.

“How about it? Do you feel like you’re being purified? Like all those villainous, bad thoughts are disappearing?”

“…Hmph. That’s not the case. The bet isn’t over yet. E-even if you, all of you, become my lovers…”

“Yes, yes. I’ll show you just how good a villain who becomes a magical girl’s lover can be.”

“Ugh.”

Blanc ignores my groan and says,

“Now then… what else is left? Nothing much, right?”

“…What about the Association and such?”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll change things gradually anyway. And if I keep taking you around and exposing you to the outside world, people will see that you’ve completely reformed.”

“…Even if people’s anger is forgotten, don’t you know that forgotten anger can resurface if there’s a catalyst? Especially with Seohyun.”

At my mention of Seohyun.

Is she recalling that day, the day she fell into the lake?

She was looking at me with a slightly resentful face.

And in those eyes, was she replaying the scene of me helplessly sinking into the water?

She looks like she wants to lunge at me even now.

But she doesn’t because Blanc is beside me.

“Hmm…”

“Well. It’s not Seohyun’s fault. It was simply an accident… and it was my fault too.”

“Your fault?”

“Seohyun. It can’t be helped. I was a villain… after all.”

“It’s not your fault… I couldn’t protect…”

“Let’s hear about that later. Didn’t you say the weekend? Then I’ll listen on the weekend. Until then, Seohyun… prepare your excuse. Yes, your excuse. Understand?”

Deliberately, so Seohyun wouldn’t feel burdened.

I spoke in a somewhat authoritative and forceful tone.

As I expected.

Perhaps finding it easier that way, Seohyun’s expression softened a bit.

Then, she tells me she understands.

“Is there anything else?”

“Hmm… nothing in particular now. We’re magical girls, so… we’ll have to go out on missions sometimes. Other than that, it should be peaceful.”

“Magical girls, huh. Come to think of it, I remember there was someone among those magical girls who really, extremely disliked me.”

“…Our territories don’t overlap, so it should be fine.”

“There’s no guarantee we won’t cross paths even once while in this country. Even if that person doesn’t frequent the Association.”

“At least we won’t have reason to go to that area…”

“I’m sure we will. Definitely.”

“We won’t take you with us when we deploy.”

“Originally, whenever I said I didn’t want to go, didn’t I always end up going somehow? It’s always been that way.”

“Really? Let’s try to avoid it as much as possible. If we do meet…”

“…Won’t she want to take me away, saying a good punching bag has arrived? Though she didn’t have a nickname, she’s one of the memorable magical girls.”

“What? She didn’t have a nickname?”

“She was one I was considering giving a nickname to. It’s clear in my memory.”

“So, what were you thinking of calling her? Do you remember?”

“Something like Poison Apple, perhaps? Or maybe Stubborn.”

“Something poison-related, huh.”

“Her hair was purple. And honestly, doesn’t Stubborn suit her perfectly? If Ragnarok hadn’t happened that day, the next time we met, I would have given her a nickname and then knocked her out. After defeating all my monsters, that is.”

“I’m sure you would have.”

“And… honestly, her personality isn’t very pleasant, is it?”

“I… guess?”

“Even recently, I remember seeing articles about her turning monsters into bloody messes and causing a lot of trouble for local residents.”

“That’s fine because the Association handled it… There’s a special cleaning department. Specifically for monsters.”

“…I’m sure there was also a team to repair the buildings I destroyed.”

“That would be the team Hyewon is now in charge of. The team that supports recovery after magical girl activities.”

“…I suddenly feel sorry for Hyewon.”

“Hyewon joining that team is quite recent. Actually, the reason she became team leader is because the team was downsized a bit. There was talk of entrusting it to magical girls.”

“…What?”

“Actually, you were with Ellie for a while recently, right? I think they also felt it a bit. That… damage?”

“What did Ellie do?”

I glare at Ellie.

She looks back at me with an expression that says she did nothing wrong.

Is she really innocent?

Or is she lying to me?

“Hyewon.”

“Yes…?”

“What did Ellie do?”

“Well… just mischievous things. Too many to list. That creepy feeling when documents are shredded right before your eyes.”

“Ellie.”

I call Ellie in a cold voice.

“And… I was also surprised when files suddenly disappeared from the computer. I spent a long time searching for documents that needed to be processed.”

“Ellie?”

Still, Ellie looks at me with eyes that say she did nothing wrong.

“Did it cause problems then?”

“…No.”

“What? I made it more efficient. Cut out all the unnecessary flowery language and inefficient parts. Cleared out the useless stuff.”

“Those were results from meetings that weren’t even finished…”

“Think about it now. Does that make sense? Honestly, writing anything random would be better than that. So I rewrote it for you, right? And I gave advice during every meeting, didn’t I?”

“…The advice was appreciated, but the form of the advice.”

“When you see incompetent people doing things, of course such words come out, right? Seeing their sorry state, I said I’d save these incompetent and miserable people, and I did save them, didn’t I? I built up their performance, right?”

“Performance… that’s true…”

“And I did the work for you, right?”

“…Did you?”

“And I encouraged you too. I did nothing wrong.”

“That was a bit much to call encouragement.”

“Why? I did things that increased work efficiency, didn’t I?”

“Efficiency did increase, it did.”

“Then it’s encouragement. Right, Yuri?”

“T-that… even if you ask me…”

“Yuri. At times like this, you just say ‘yes.'”

“N-no… that’s not it. I saw it…”

“Just say ‘yes.'”

“U-um… yes…”

Doesn’t Ellie know?

No, it wasn’t just Ellie at the Association.

I also saw what she did while I was at the Association with her.

Even if I just found out about the shredded documents now, I saw with my own eyes what she did.

To say she did nothing wrong…

‘Incompetent~ You can’t even do this? I’ll have to do it for you~ Does it make sense that I have to do even this? If this had happened in Eden, you’d have been monster food right away, monster food! Wow… I guess the Association runs fine even like this?’

‘Look, you incompetent fools. This should be like this… at least this part should be removed. Why is this necessary? Trying to skim here? Even our Eden didn’t cheat in the middle. The Association is a complete mess. It’s shameful that our Eden lost to a place like this.’

‘Ah, Citrus. You’re here? You sure leave your seat empty for a long time. Leaving an Association computer with a villain like me. Hehehe. I’ve hacked and extracted all your secrets… Eek. Pfft. Missed me! Try to catch me if you can! I’m a monster, and you’re a magical girl who can’t transform. Incompetent, incompetent~’

I’ve heard and seen things.

“Ellie.”

“Yes?”

“Lying is bad.”

“I’m not lying?”

“Ellie.”

“It’s true! I even wrote Association reports for them…! They were submitted under Hyewon’s name and counted as her performance! I could have submitted them under my own name, you know?”

“U-um…?”

“I’m registered with the Association under the name Kim Suyeon. I’m technically a team member under Hyewon. So even if I encourage with harsh words, it’s not a problem, right? Rather, I’m in a position where I should help?”

To Ellie making such excuses, Hyewon says,

“That’s because you kept coming into our room and the Association director arbitrarily assigned Kim Suyeon researcher to our team… and Ellie doesn’t match Kim Suyeon’s photo… sigh.”

“Well. Anyway, I did nothing wrong.”

“…It’s a bit frustrating, but it’s true that you did nothing wrong, Vine. So don’t scold Ellie unnecessarily. It’s true that having Ellie around was helpful. Our kids didn’t seem to dislike Ellie either, they were just around her like watching a cat. They’re kids who like cute things too. They say they’re fans of Arin.”

…Fans of Arin?

“Y-yes…? S-somehow I thought those ladies were always avoiding me…”

“Well, it’s because of you. Someone who adores… I should say idol? When someone you’ve only seen in videos is right in front of you, it’s that kind of unbearable feeling.”

“…Ugh. I’m not some celebrity. I thought I was a nobody magical girl.”

“There’s no way Arin wouldn’t be famous. At least in our Association.”

“…Even with so many magical girls.”

“Yes. Because you’re cute?”

Hearing that, Arin turns to me.

“…Vine unnie.”

“Yes…?”

“Am I cute?”

Oh.

S-suddenly…?