Ch.194194. Cuteness.

If you look at me and ask like that…

“Of course she’s cute… What about Arin?”

“No, that’s not what I meant… Am I cute, unni?”

“What…? You’re cute…?”

“No, no…! I’m asking if you think I’m cute!”

“Um, well… Arin… Did I do something wrong…?”

“No, unni. I’m asking if you think I’m cute!”

“Yes, you’re cute… You’re adorable. Arin is so cute I could just bite you. You’re much cuter than me… To be honest, I’ve even secretly touched your cheeks while you were sleeping…”

“Hee, heeek?! W-wait a minute… Th-that’s not what I was asking for… Anyway…! What I meant was! I was wondering if other people would find me cute too…!”

So it was a game of figuring out Arin’s true intentions.

“Of course Arin would be irresistible to anyone…”

“No…! What I mean is…! Would I be called cute even by other women… Ugh. Yunseul unni. Am I cute?”

Now she’s changed her target from me to Blanc, asking the question.

“You’re cute. Everyone at the association says you’re cute when they see you. People in the community say you’re cute too, and it’s not just men saying that. You’re plenty appealing to women too. That’s why our Bine fell head over heels for you.”

“Wh-what?! Blanc, that’s not it! That’s not what Arin meant either! Blanc! When you say it like that, it sounds like I love Arin only for her face…!”

“What… Wasn’t that it? Isn’t that why I’m with you too?”

“Of course not! Why would I…”

“Well, to date your archenemy, they either have to be incredibly beautiful or there needs to be some kind of incident, right? For example, capturing a magical girl and modifying her body to your liking, then making her your trophy wife.”

“That’s not possible… Wait, what do you mean by ‘trophy wife’…”

“Hmm? It means a wife you keep as decoration, like a trophy. And since you obtained the trophy yourself, you get a sense of achievement and can do whatever you want with her…”

“What on earth! What strange things have you been watching…! From the very first day of our relationship! I don’t understand why you’re saying such things…!”

“Hmm… Sorry. My desires slipped out a bit.”

“Couldn’t you hide your desires a little… It’s only our first day, the first day.”

“But… Haven’t we known each other too long to hide such things?”

“At least Arin hasn’t spent much time with me. You should be considerate of that.”

“Hmm… I think Arin would be fine with it?”

“No, I am not fine with it…”

After I scolded Blanc like that.

Blanc licked her lips while looking at me.

“Then… it’s okay when Arin isn’t around, right?”

“Th-that’s…”

“I understand… I’ll restrain myself when Arin is present. That’s enough, right?”

“Haah… I feel like the pasta I ate earlier is going to come back up…”

“Yes, yes. It’s okay. So we’ve decided to start the schedule from Monday. You can do whatever you want with the remaining weekend, Bine.”

“…Whatever I want, you say.”

“Well, there’s not much to do anyway. It’s the weekend, so you could go exercise with Seohyun. Or go out somewhere if you want. Or stay home if you prefer.”

“Then shall we go do some villain activities?”

“Really? I’ve been wanting to exercise for a while, so that works out perfectly. It feels like it’s been ages since I fought the real Bine, not the fallen Bine who lost her reason.”

“What do you mean ‘ages’? Didn’t we do it when I last trai— No. When I first trained with Arin, didn’t we do it then?”

“That’s true. But… back then, you didn’t have enough magical power like now. Well, I don’t think you have enough even now. Why don’t you just rest at home instead?”

“If I win the bet quickly, both you and I could be more comfortable.”

“Do you think I’ll just let you win?”

“Who asked you to lose?”

“That’s why I’m saying I won’t lose.”

“Haah. It seems you’re not listening.”

“Yes, yes. I’m listening to everything, so don’t worry.”

Tired of our bickering, Arin finally got angry.

But we didn’t stop.

Yet our affection hadn’t gone anywhere, as Blanc was kneading… squishing my body softly.

“Unni! So, am I cute or not?!”

“Eek?! Y-you startled me… Arin… Yes, I think Arin is cute.”

“Sigh… Then, give me a kiss on the cheek!”

“…A kiss is fine.”

Breaking free from Blanc’s embrace, I planted a kiss on Arin’s forehead—

Everything seemed to be settling down.

With Arin surprised by the sudden forehead attack behind me, the conversation flowed smoothly.

Afterward, regarding the association, they asked me to come in for examinations at least once a week for two weeks. They also asked me to testify about Eden in various ways.

As various conversations went back and forth, the touches on my body gradually increased.

Most of those touches were from Blanc or Arin.

Arin, who had somehow recovered, touched my hand, then fiddled with my arm.

She had fully recovered and couldn’t resist touching me.

Ellis was indifferent, just stroking Yuri’s head.

Showing no particular interest, Yuri fell back asleep after the discussion about my whereabouts ended.

“Ellis. If she’s heavy, you can lay her down and come back.”

“Hmm… It’s fine. She’s not that heavy.”

“Still, there’s a size difference.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. She always falls asleep when I stroke her head.”

I wasn’t the only one curious about what kind of relationship Ellis and Yuri had.

Arin, who was sitting on Blanc’s lap and fiddling with my hand, asked Ellis.

“What kind of relationship do you two have anyway? Ellis, at first you were intimidated by Yuri unni, but now you’re dominating her. What kind of relationship is this…?”

“It’s a long and messy story. And it’s not particularly good for you to hear, Arin. I’d tell an adult, but you’re too young, aren’t you?”

“I’m not young!”

“Being a student is proof that you’re still young. Sigh… When I think about it, the mascots are ridiculous too. Students respond most sensitively to magical power, and initial awakening of magical power occurs well in them, so they’re drawn to students. And then they awaken them as magical girls.”

“I chose the path of a magical girl because I wanted to.”

“Yes, I’m sure you did… ‘You have talent as a magical girl! You’re our hope. Save the people around you with your power!’ With such sweet and dangerous words. Like a rose bush, they got you involved in this dangerous business.”

“It’s dangerous, but it’s also rewarding…”

“Do you know why it’s dangerous? Even someone who looks innocent and cute like me is actually a villain. Do you think I’m a villain for no reason? You underestimate villains too much. There aren’t just villains like Bine in the world.”

“Th-that’s obvious! Where in the world would there be a villain like Bine unni…!”

“Huff… I suppose I’m somewhat close to a typical villain. There’s a reason why magical girls set villains at least one or two levels higher than monsters when comparing them.”

“I already know that…! What does that have to do with anything… If I become a magical girl strong enough to defeat Bine unni…”

“How is that any different from saying you’ll surpass Magical Girl Blanc, Yunseul?”

“…What’s impossible about surpassing her?”

“Well… I haven’t directly seen what Yunseul can do, but at least I know Bine’s efforts. It’s a level that’s impossible without that much effort. No matter how talented you are or how much innate power you have. Come to think of it, these two have both strong innate power and have worked incredibly hard.”

“I can do it too.”

“Sure… Well, I’ll cheer you on. But that’s the pinnacle of magical girls. I wanted to say that for ordinary magical girls, villains are a greater threat than monsters. You could be kidnapped, assassinated. Embarrassing photos of you could be spread publicly. Of course, I can’t tell you about the severity, but still.”

“Wh-what…?”

“Kidnapping, torture, ra— This is a bit difficult to say to you. Anyway. Such violent crimes target magical girls. Think about it. Even without magical power as a reason, beautiful women sometimes come out alone at night. Secretly, stealthily.”

“Th-that wouldn’t…”

“It did happen. The one who carried it out is Bine right there. The one who planned it was me.”

“…Bine unni?”

“It’s a bad memory with Yuri. Don’t worry. There’s no reason for that now.”

“The reason for the kidnapping was… magical girls were too annoying, so after corrupting them, we would use that chain reaction to bring magical girls to our side. If they came to embrace a different justice than what magical girls believe in, they would go through the process of corruption and come to us.”

“…No way.”

“That’s right. After corrupting Yuri, we would have reached out to other magical girls. The reason it was specifically Yuri was, well… perhaps because she was a standard, average magical girl. If we corrupted Yuri, she would use her hands to corrupt her juniors and weaker seniors. Then gather their power to aim for the complete corruption of all magical girls—that was the absurd plan we had.”

“That’s impossible…”

“For that, we needed an experimental magical girl, right? So we captured one and did various experiments.”

I’m not sure if it’s right to tell Arin about the contents of those experiments.

But it’s the first time I’m hearing it from Ellis’s perspective.

Ellis opens her mouth and speaks.

She says I went to her first and used a device called a “bi” that worked like a brainwashing machine, based on human psychological reactions to pain.

Something about affecting the human dopamine center, and so on.

…

Ellis, who starts spilling information even I didn’t know, continues:

“And then, after some time passed. My turn came.”