Ch.195195. A Strange Relationship

“…There’s no way Sister Bine would do that.”

“It’s natural to find it hard to accept that someone you’ve decided to love has done something bad. But you already knew that would happen, didn’t you?”

I can’t look Arin in the eyes.

“…Sister.”

“Ugh… yes.”

“Everything I said is true, isn’t it?”

“…Yes, it is.”

“Did you apologize to Sister Yuri?”

“…I did.”

That night.

The things I did while drunk.

That night under the moon… because I agreed to be punished.

“I said I would give her happiness.”

“You did?”

“…Yes.”

“Then that’s enough, Sister. That resolves it. If the person involved says they’ll handle it themselves, what more can I say?”

“…You can say whatever you want…”

“Well. That’s up to me, isn’t it?”

“…Arin.”

“More than that, I’m curious about what happened next. What did you do with Sister Yuri afterward?”

“Well… the corrupted magical girl Plum with white hair. I wasn’t the one who managed her.”

“I did.”

Ellie said while stroking Yuri, who was lying with her head on Ellie’s lap.

“It’s not my first time taking care of someone who’s completely fallen apart. If Bine raised her with love, I… let’s say I tamed her, alternating between carrot and stick.”

“Tamed…?”

“Someone who betrays once can do it twice or three times. So I completely trained her, and through daily punishment and reward… It’s similar to training an animal. But since I lack strength… hmm, I just used a slightly ‘different’ method.”

“What do you mean…?”

“That’s something you’re too young to hear, Arin. Of course, I don’t plan to do such things again. If Yuri became addicted and ended up… slightly unhinged like now, Bine would be sad.”

“What exactly did you do to Sister Yuri?”

“I just used one of the methods to make her obedient. It’s a bit… how should I put it? Let’s say it’s not suitable for minors. There’s no need to make things worse by specifying whether it was cruel or explicit. Just… you saw earlier, right? How obedient Yuri was to me. Think of it as maintenance to keep her in that state.”

“…Haa.”

“So… well, every day in my room. Only when Bine wasn’t around, of course. Each room in Eden is well soundproofed. I kept her in my room under my management. She did have her own room, but that was only used during the day… Ah, I used her room when I needed to let her recover or when giving her rewards. I created an association in her mind that entering that room was a reward, to make her feel comfortable.”

I was about to stop her since Arin didn’t seem to want to hear any more.

At that moment, Yuri, who had been lying on Ellie’s lap, woke up.

And then, tightly.

She turned her body and embraced Ellie in her arms.

Then she whispered something.

As soon as Ellie heard those words, her cheeks turned red.

“W-what is this?! J-just because I went easy on you, you’re climbing all over me…!”

“Hehe. But I meant what I said earlier.”

“Meant it or not… sheesh… I was having a serious conversation with Arin and Bine…!”

“Well… would you call it Ellie addiction? Though Bine addiction is much worse…”

“S-s-shut up…!”

“I don’t want to shut up.”

“A-are you defying me…? I didn’t raise you to be like that…?”

“Well… it’s okay to be like this now, isn’t it?”

“…You little…”

“Eek!”

Yuri pretends to tremble, showing her hands shaking.

“Hey. Stop fake trembling. You got a cramp last time doing that.”

“…When was that?”

“When you got scared for no reason and trembled.”

“It wasn’t for no reason… th-that…”

“Sigh… really. My memory is better than yours, so I’m right.”

“Mmm… b-but I was really scared…”

“What are you saying… Well, the fear might have been real. But the reason for that fear.”

“…Ugh.”

“Don’t pretend to be in pain from the memories. That’s fake. I can see right through you.”

“…Tch.”

“I know your reactions better than anyone else. I’ve analyzed you at least as thoroughly as Bine analyzed Blanc, so don’t even think about lying… No, haven’t I always told you? If you get caught lying.”

“…D-do you have to say that here…?”

“No, well… I never told you to say it. Do you want to?”

“N-no…!”

“Seeing you like this makes me want to make you say it.”

“H-hieek…”

“Want to say it out loud?”

“N-no… I-I don’t want to…”

Yuri shakes her head.

“What if it’s an ‘order’?”

“H-hieek…”

“Well… not yet. Don’t worry.”

“You shouldn’t say things like that… tsk…”

“Did you just ‘tsk’ me?”

“K-khuuuum…”

Well…

It would be a lie to say I hadn’t seen this side of her before.

Magical Girl Plum was unusually submissive to Ellie.

Even after her corruption ended, she always acted that way around Ellie.

The way she followed her around was almost like a puppy.

Hmm…

Should I call her a puppy?

Or a loyal dog?

She was suspiciously fearful of Ellie’s words.

Hmm…

“Really… Ellie. Is that all?”

“Well… there’s more to say, but that’s not something to discuss here… Yuri will tell you. On her own.”

“W-what…?”

“Tell her.”

“N-no… t-to say such things with my own mouth…”

“Well… call me if it’s too difficult. Anyway, if you want to be lovers, it’s better not to have such secrets. Don’t you think?”

“T-that’s true, but…”

“At least to your lover… especially with content like that, shouldn’t you be clear about it?”

“…I guess. Bine, even with a body like this… ugh. I’ll tell you about this later…”

I can’t even begin to guess what she’s trying to say.

“…I’ll look forward to it, Yuri.”

“Yes. Phew… I need to organize my thoughts.”

Then she flipped over and lay down.

“Ssss… Puhwek?!”

She got hit by Ellie.

I’m not sure if it’s okay to hit someone’s back that hard…

Judging by how the strap area of that tank top is turning red,

She definitely got hit hard.

Even as a magical girl, it’s swelling up red.

“Are you really crazy?! What are you doing?! Can’t you lie properly?! Really! What did you just do?!”

“Needing my Ellie nutrients…”

“W-what?!”

“I-I’m… not as much as Bine, but… as a woman who’s two-timing… I’m a weak magical girl who will die if I don’t get nutrients from both of you at the same time…”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

“Don’t worry… hehehe. I’ll do it to Bine too…”

“Y-you…! How can you say such things so casually in front of your lover… No, that’s not the important part. No, it is important, but…!”

“It’s okay, right? Then again…”

Yuri buries her head against Ellie again.

Even though Ellie’s hand is turning Yuri’s back the same color as her hair.

This time, as if she’s prepared for it.

“Hey, hey! HEY!!! Stop it! Hey! Hey!”

“Hehe… Ah, ack…! It hurts! It hurts!”

“Hey! Get off! I said get off!”

“Hehe…”

The relationship between these two is just bewildering.

It’s clear who has the upper hand in the relationship, but it’s not clear who has control.

And these two.

One is my lover, and the other is going to be.

I’m reminded again that my relationships are far from normal.

The sound I heard earlier.

“Even if you’re a bad master, I really, really love you, Master.”

What’s with that?

Who’s calling who “Master”?

Really…

She’s not a dog.

How much time has passed like this?

Yuri ended up falling asleep face down.

And Ellie, who had been hitting her, eventually gave up and started stroking the back she had just hit.

As for me… well.

I decided to ignore the kids’ antics and get some work done.

Honestly, there’s still a lot I haven’t touched.

Plus, I insisted on preparing dinner myself.

How long can we keep eating delivery food?

So, what’s for dinner tonight?

The first dinner I’ve made since coming to this house.

I found ingredients for braised short ribs.

I don’t know how long the meat has been frozen…

At least it hasn’t been more than a month.

I thought we should use it up quickly.

Hmm…

“Shall we go out?”

“Are you all ready?”

“I am, but…”

“Don’t worry. Arin and I will go with you.”

“If it’s just around here… I guess it’s fine.”

We decided to go outside after a long time.

There were too many spoiled vegetables left while the house was empty.

I mean, how do these people cook, or do they even cook at all?

Well… I guess people don’t cook much if there’s no one to cook for them.

We came out because we needed to do some simple grocery shopping.

Blanc said that my deviation…

Yes, the actions they call “deviation” haven’t been made public yet, so it’s fine.

She said she’s been posting photos of me that she took at home on social media.

She also posted photos of me when I was sick to avoid suspicion about my lack of outside activities.

I asked if Blanc came up with all this herself, but she said the Association suggested it would be good to do so.

She even posted my photos on the Association’s official Instagram.

Of course, while not everyone hates me, it can’t be said that everyone likes me either.

She said it was to announce that the Association is keeping me under observation.

What kind of things to say about a villain from the Association.

Well…

The photos she uploaded were…

Only scenes of me losing in fights with Blanc.

They probably thought I was a punching bag.

I guess those are the kind of photos that would be okay for the Association to post of me.

“Look at this. What do you think?”

What Blanc picked up was.

“Cucumber…? Are you putting cucumber in the braised short ribs?”

“No, for another purpose.”

“What…?”

“No, I’m just kidding. What do we need to buy?”

“Potatoes, carrots, green onions, garlic… ginger. We can use the sauces and such that are already there. Oh. Sesame oil. And drinks for everyone.”

“Okay… Then we don’t need cucumbers. What a shame.”

“Do you like cucumbers, Blanc?”

“Hmm? Well… I do eat them.”

“If you want them, buy them. I’ll make something for you.”

“No, no. I was just asking.”

Blanc laughs behind me.

Cucumber…?

Does she like cucumber kimchi?

Should I make that for her?