Ch.202IF Side Story: Somehow, Everyone Seems to Like Me (3)

I seem to like relaxed atmospheres.

Perhaps it’s because this is the first time I’ve experienced such an atmosphere since coming to this world, which might be why I like it even more.

I’ve lived quite an intense life in my own way.

“Hey there, seniors.”

As I approached them saying that, Seo-hee, Happy Dalia, and Happy Delphinium all looked at me simultaneously.

It seemed like they were in the middle of a conversation that got interrupted because of me.

“I just thought I’d come by.”

I wanted to start a conversation to replace the one I’d interrupted, but it felt a bit awkward. I had already broken their flow, and bringing up a topic I wasn’t particularly interested in wouldn’t make anyone feel good.

“Senior… I see you’re still treating me like a senior?”

Dalia said with an incredulous tone. Still, there wasn’t any particular hostility in her voice.

Dalia has dark brown hair and gives off a somewhat energetic impression.

Her personality was actually like that too. She used to fight with Ju-a frequently. Mainly over positioning issues.

Delphinium fought in a completely different way from Ju-a’s single-point four-form attack, so they didn’t overlap much. But Dalia, whose firepower was somewhere between Ju-a and Delphinium, had position overlaps with both of them.

And because of that, she could step in here and there to fulfill both of their roles, which in some sense made her absolutely necessary.

“Well, I am your senior. Should I keep calling you that?”

At my question, Dalia made a slightly displeased expression.

“I don’t like being called that. I don’t mean it sincerely. My respect for you—”

However, Dalia cut herself off mid-sentence.

With a darkened expression, she said:

“No, that’s not right. My respect for you probably disappeared long ago. My feelings were probably hurt to the point where it became difficult to even consider you a senior.”

“…What? Why is the conversation suddenly going in that direction?”

“Just saying how it is.”

Dalia let out a deep sigh, then gulped down her cola as if it were alcohol.

“When you were a Combatant, we didn’t know how old the person inside that suit was… After getting hit all over by my staff, you probably lost any respect or whatever for us.”

“Ah.”

I paused for a moment.

That was… true. Who in the world would enjoy getting beaten up like that? Well, of course, there are all kinds of preferences out there, so such people might exist, but I’m certainly not one of them. Neither were the other Combatants.

In fact, that’s why I struggled so desperately. I wanted to win fights. I wanted to land at least one hit—

In the end, could I say I achieved that? Though it didn’t bring me any joy.

“That’s the kind of place I was in. It was also my choice.”

“…”

The seniors fell silent.

They already knew that all the money I earned went to the orphanage. So they might have felt even more guilty.

But I wasn’t working for the sake of doing good deeds.

Thinking about it calmly, I’ve done a lot of wrong things too. Regardless of the circumstances, weren’t all these Magical Girls the ones who came to save me?

Yet in that abandoned house, I said so many harsh things to them. Even though I was worn out with fatigue, looking back, those weren’t things I should have said to people who came to help me.

If I had thought more clearly then, I might have had a chance to escape that situation earlier.

After being lost in thought for a moment, I carefully spoke up.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

Dalia blinked at my words.

Then she hurriedly waved both hands.

“Hey, what are you saying? Sorry for what?”

“It’s a fact that I behaved in ways that made you feel bad.”

“No, wait.”

Dalia said with her hand extended.

“…”

But soon she froze, unable to think of what to say.

That’s right. We barely know anything about each other right now. Not just Dalia, but also Seo-hee and Delphinium sitting on either side of her.

Delphinium was looking at me with somewhat interested eyes. She was originally quiet by nature, and even at home, she often just read books. She was “that kind of character” in the webtoon too.

“Pfft.”

And Rose, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Haha… hahaha!”

Rose held her stomach and laughed heartily.

It wasn’t an unpleasant laugh at all. A laugh that came from pure amusement, without a trace of mockery.

“…Why?”

Dalia, who had been blankly staring at the laughing Rose, asked.

“Just watching you two talk like that is a bit funny.”

Rose said that and then held out the can of cider in her hand toward me.

Since it was what she had been drinking, she probably wasn’t offering it for me to drink.

…

Well, I know what she means. She wants to make a toast. Even though we’re not drinking alcohol.

As I smiled slightly and clinked my ion drink can against hers, Dalia and Delphinium looked at each other and then extended their cans toward me.

Clink.

It wasn’t a very skillful toast. It had been a very long time since I’d had alcohol, and the three people beside me had obviously never had a drop of alcohol in their lives.

But doing that somehow felt like it melted away some of the tension.

There was a time when I thought of Magical Girls as far removed from my existence.

Beings so different from me. Beings as distant as stars in the sky.

The reason I felt inferior was because, in the end, I admired those Magical Girls.

I turned my head slightly to look at Hayun.

Hayun gave me a small smile.

Yes. I felt particularly inferior to Hayun.

After thinking for a moment, I stood up and said:

“Let’s go over there. I have something to talk about with everyone.”

Yes. This is an opportunity.

If not in a place like this, when would I be able to resolve all these lingering feelings?

I’ll sit between Hayun and Jihye and borrow a little courage.

If I were a bit tipsy—

No, maybe it’s better this way. If I were to have this conversation while drunk, it would obviously seem less sincere.

“Huh? Are we moving to a second round?”

Pang Pang finally raised her caffeinated drink can and shouted. She clearly didn’t know what a “second round” meant.

Well, it’s good to have someone setting the mood.

“…”

Ju-a had a slightly tense expression. Did she sense something from my face?

…

I thought I didn’t have friends.

But looking at everyone gathered here, I really have so many.

I felt a strange sense of excitement.

I wasn’t drunk on alcohol, but I felt like I could get a little drunk on the atmosphere.

*

And so, last night, we shared many different stories.

I talked about how I had felt inferior.

The person who was most shocked was Hayun. She couldn’t properly understand the very concept that I had felt inferior to her.

Listening to Hayun’s story, I learned that, conversely, she had felt comfortable around me.

She said that without me, there would be no one in her life she could treat normally.

…Thinking about it, it’s not such a difficult conclusion to reach. I nodded to myself in understanding.

I wasn’t the only one who shared stories.

After my story ended, Ju-a also brought up a story very similar to mine.

The subject was me.

At first, I was a bit surprised, but as I listened, I eventually became calm. I see, that makes sense. The atmosphere didn’t get too heated, nor did it become too depressing. Because of that comfortable atmosphere, the conversation could continue longer.

I heard Seo-hee’s story. She said she was actually a bit scared when she mentioned staying for another year. If she really did that, her parents would scold her.

Dalia said she was definitely scolded by her parents. She was also the one who teared up the most while listening to my story.

She used to charge in so energetically during fights that it was scary, but looking at her again, she was just a person with rich emotions.

When I mentioned breaking my arms and legs during a fight—

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”

That was the first time the atmosphere almost got too heated during our conversation.

With the feeling that someone was even more drunk on the atmosphere than I was, I decided to just move on.

Delphinium was more of a listener. But she wasn’t ignoring or reluctant to speak; she was genuinely listening to my story, which gave me a somewhat strange feeling.

It’s a bit different from Hayun, I suppose. Well, I wasn’t that close with Delphinium yet.

“…”

And today.

I realized that being drunk on sleep is almost no different from being drunk on alcohol.

Even though checkout time was almost up, I was the only one awake among us.

As I was about to call out their names, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

…I don’t think I know Dalia and Delphinium’s real names.