Ch.2121. So, Please Hold Me. Sister.

# Watching Arin’s Battle Through a Broadcast

In my eyes, Arin was weak.

Had I encountered her on the battlefield, I would have likely dismissed her as insignificant and not even bothered paying attention to her.

That’s how weak Arin was.

Still, I suppose she was decent enough for a first-year magical girl.

It’s difficult to focus solely on one magical girl these days, given the current environment.

Even so, if that’s how she fights against mindless monsters that only know destruction by instinct, she would clearly struggle against villains with intelligence.

I’d heard she trained hard, but just watching the broadcast, I could see countless deficiencies.

Look there, she’s pouring in ranged attacks without even considering preparation time…

Yes, and that’s how openings for counterattacks are created.

This won’t do.

“Red hair. Are you actually training Arin properly? I question whether she’s receiving adequate training at all.”

“Yes, I’m following the association’s training manual, and preparing her to pass the rank-based exams.”

Is that even a reasonable statement?

Even in ordinary society, identifying individual abilities and leveraging strengths is considered important. In a magical girl society where each individual has distinct characteristics and personalities, they’re using standardized education?

“Is that actually effective? Shouldn’t you be establishing individualized training courses?”

“You’re right. There are training schedules based on individual abilities. But those are for magical girls who already have some basic skills. Arin is still practicing the fundamentals.”

“Hmm, so she hasn’t had any practice fighting against human opponents?”

“No. For now, she’s training in actual combat to get familiar with her abilities.”

“I see many problems from my perspective.”

“If you criticize her like you used to do with me, Arin will end up crying.”

“Yes, I imagine so. I could probably lecture for at least three hours just about her issues and areas for improvement.”

“Yeah, she’d definitely cry. Just tell me roughly. I help with Arin’s training too, so I’ll soften it when I relay the information.”

“Don’t you need to focus more on your own exam?”

“Ah, right. Still, I don’t want our Arin to get hurt.”

“Sigh, what we’re watching now is close-quarters combat, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“First, I want to point out her movement patterns. The standard approach is to target weaknesses from blind spots, but right now, perhaps due to excitement, she’s just charging in recklessly.”

“You’re right. What else?”

“Her defensive movements are too exaggerated. She’s using excessive defensive spells and making overly large evasive maneuvers for attacks she could easily withstand with simpler defenses and dodges. This ultimately leads to stamina issues. Magical energy problems too, of course.”

“Hmm, we’ve taught Arin to avoid getting injured at all costs.”

“On the contrary, it’s more dangerous if she becomes so exhausted that she can’t cast even a simple defensive spell.”

“Hmm, and?”

“I see unnecessary movements in each of her attacks. She’s swinging wildly even when there’s no need for such large motions. With weapons like that scythe, such habits expose weaknesses.”

“I see. Then, if you were facing Arin, how would you attack?”

“I’d let her swing her scythe at me, then strike at her vital points when she couldn’t move due to the recoil of her attack. There are many methods.”

“True, you always found openings to attack. Sigh, you were such an annoying opponent.”

“Indeed. You were a very straightforward enemy. Extremely easy to deal with.”

“Haha… Was I really?”

“Well, I’m not good at lying.”

With that, the redhead stopped talking and returned to focusing on her own problem.

I went back to watching the broadcast.

I wonder how much progress had been made with the monster while we were talking.

Arin was almost cornering the monster by herself.

If you watched the broadcast carefully, you could see the crybaby watching over Arin.

It seems she’s being trained rather harshly too.

Even when Arin was in dangerous situations, the crybaby just watched without offering help.

Well, every magical girl has her own educational philosophy. That much is fine.

After some time passed…

Finally, Arin thrust her scythe into the monster’s heart.

As the monster collapsed and disappeared, the crybaby approached Arin.

Arin watched the crybaby with a confident expression, as if to say “that was nothing.”

Well, as long as she didn’t get hurt, that’s what matters.

I wonder if I could participate in her training.

I want to help Arin.

* * *

“Haa, haa… I did well, right? Sister Hyewon?”

With a satisfied face, Arin approached Hyewon, dragging her tired body.

“How was I? I think I really did well today.”

“Yes, you did great. You defeated it all by yourself.”

“I boasted to Sister Bine before I left. I didn’t make any mistakes, right?”

Arin recalled the conversation she had with Bine before going out to hunt the monster.

To reassure Bine, who was watching her with worried eyes.

To tell Bine, who still saw her as a baby, that she was a proper magical girl now.

“Arin, are you really going to be alright? If it gets difficult, you can leave it to the crybaby behind you. Just come back without getting hurt.”

“Come on, Sister Bine. I’m a proper magical girl too. I can catch a monster like that in no time!”

To Arin, Bine wasn’t just a housekeeper but already like her seniors, an older sister—already a family member.

At first, she had treated her awkwardly.

In a businesslike manner.

Considering how Seohyun, Yuri, and Hyewon had reacted, she could have been hostile toward Bine, so why did she come to trust her like this?

Because her food was delicious? That reason alone wouldn’t be enough to make Arin trust Bine, as Arin wasn’t a simple child.

Arin was more discerning than anyone when it came to dealing with people.

She was already old enough to distinguish the artificial kindness of adults from the association.

Perhaps because she was a child, she could filter out that pretense more purely.

So when she felt that Bine’s kindness and consideration came from genuine sincerity, Arin was already drawn to her.

That’s why Arin began to learn more about her.

From her senior magical girl colleagues.

And she also looked up videos containing the past.

The initial information Arin had about Bine was just that she was a high-ranking official of Eden, a criminal organization—a secret society that had disappeared long ago.

She, who didn’t even know what kind of organization Eden was, put in this much effort just to learn about Bine as a person.

She even delved into it more diligently than her school studies.

Indeed, reaching the truth about Bine was easy.

Because she was a famous villain, there was an abundance of information on the internet.

The current Bine was completely different from the Bine she could find in that sea of data.

‘Sister Bine, you’ve really changed a lot…’

That image resembled the “magical girl who realized justice, left the evil organization, and became an ally” from the magical girl animations she had seen while working as a magical girl.

Perhaps she was drawn to her because she liked that image.

Perhaps she liked the kindness shown by someone who had once been the embodiment of evil.

That’s how Bine became someone precious to Arin.

“Don’t worry and trust me, Sister!”

With such a confident face, she couldn’t show an ugly performance.

So she fought harder.

Faster, stronger.

More perfectly than any battle she had fought before.

As perfectly as she could call her best.

“Sister, haa… haa… let’s go back now…”

“Arin, should I carry you? You look very tired.”

“No, I’m fine… Just… support me a little…”

With those final words, Arin collapsed from exhaustion and returned in Hyewon’s arms.

She had fallen asleep, perhaps from fatigue.

Nestling into Hyewon’s embrace like a baby squirrel.

* * *

Arin has returned.

She must have pushed beyond her capacity, as she was sleeping soundly in the crybaby’s arms.

I tried to take Arin from the crybaby to lay her in bed, but was rejected because it would be “unsafe.”

Come on, even though my body is in this state, I’m still strong…

Following the crybaby, who insisted on putting Arin to bed herself, I entered Arin’s room to check on her condition.

It seemed she was suffering from fatigue due to magical energy depletion, so I was about to go downstairs to make a simple fatigue-recovery tea.

But Arin grabbed my arm and pulled me onto her bed.

“Sister Bine… don’t go, stay with me… please?”

“Arin, I have tea leaves that are good for magical energy recovery. I’ll prepare a cup with honey and bring it right back.”

“I think having Sister Bine by my side will help me recover better than any tea.”

“Sigh, Arin.”

“Sister, please let me be a little spoiled. Okay?”

“…”

And so, she made me lie down on her bed.

Then Arin whispered to me.

“Sister, I was curious about you, so I looked you up.”

“About when you were in the organization called Eden.”

“Do you know how different you were back then compared to now?”

“The current you is such a… really good person, but the Bine of Eden that I learned about, well…”

“I like this version of you. Really.”

“My mom told me that people always make mistakes.”

“She said that someone who truly repents for their mistakes and finds themselves again is a really good person.”

“You’re a really good person, Sister. Hehe…”

Sister is truly a warm person.