Ch.219219. Don’t Be Such a Bother

“Ugh.”

“Even if it’s annoying, you need to do the examination properly. Ellie, come over here and take a look too?”

“Yeah. I should check too. Yuri, keep an eye on Bine.”

“Hehe… so squishyyy…”

“If you touch him and mess up the test results, I’ll really get angry, so go ahead and try if you dare.”

“Eeeek?!”

Yuri, who was about to touch my cheek while I lay covered in monitoring devices, jumped back in terror.

Like an explorer facing a deadly trap that would kill them if they touched the treasure incorrectly.

She’s sitting there with such a funny expression.

She probably thought this was her chance since I can’t move with all these devices attached, the perfect opportunity to squish my cheeks all she wants.

When she gave in to that desire and approached to touch me, Ellie caught her in the act.

How annoying.

Come to think of it, it’s even more annoying.

“I knew you would do that, Yuri.”

“B-but… Bine, you tempted me first!”

“Technically, I didn’t tempt you. You simply gave in to your desires.”

“Gave in to my desires…”

“That’s right.”

“Urgh.”

“You’ll really get scolded, so why don’t you stop?”

Yuri sat next to me with genuinely disappointed eyes.

Even after being scolded, she has no intention of moving away from me.

“Whyyy. It’s fine to just sit next to you, isn’t it? As long as I don’t touch you, right?”

“That’s true, but what if something like your heart rate gets recorded abnormally?”

“Huh? Heart rate… wait, could it be…?”

“It’s not whatever strange thing you’re thinking. At least, not that kind of thought.”

“What kind of thought?”

“…Pardon?”

I didn’t expect her to question me back…

“Don’t tell me, Bine. Are you having those thoughts, all those kinds of thoughts? After doing those things at night for a while… Bine, you’ve become so perverted.”

“What are you saying! That’s not, no, sigh…”

“Pfft… even when you’re angry, you’re so cute…”

“No, sigh… aren’t you my lover too? So naturally… when you’re close, my heart beats faster and I get that feeling… it can’t be helped, right?”

“Hmm… so when I’m next to you, all those things fill your mind…”

“Yuri!”

When I glared at her with a genuinely annoyed expression, Yuri finally lowered her tail.

She really looked like a dejected puppy with her drooping expression.

“Well… you don’t need to look so down about it… Just think about it simply. When your lover is next to you like this, first of all, we haven’t been dating long so it’s embarrassing, and then if you come close and start touching me… doesn’t it make your heart race too much?”

“Race…?”

“O-of course it does… A-anyway, that’s what I mean…”

After saying that, I couldn’t bear to look at Yuri anymore, so I turned away, but she came around to where I was facing.

“Hmm… then I should keep looking at you, right? Don’t avoid my eyes. I think your eyes are pretty, so I want to keep looking at them.”

“…Ugh.”

Her gaze was so intense that I shut my eyes tight.

Now she moved closer to my ear, carefully.

“Look at me… Bine? Bine~”

“Eek, seriously…! Stop it!”

I finally shouted loudly.

Ellie, detecting the commotion, looked over.

“Yuri! What are you doing over there!”

“Hehe. It’s not my fault Bine is so cute. Right? Ellie, want to come play with Bine too?”

“What are you talking about? Stop disturbing the examination and sit quietly over there.”

Ellie pointed to the sofa across from the bed with her clipboard.

Hyewon was sitting there with an indifferent expression, just looking at her phone.

Wait a minute.

“Hyewon…?”

“Yeah, Bine. Do you need something?”

“Why is your lens pointing this way?”

“Huh…? I’m just looking at my phone?”

“…Then why is the lens. Ah, it’s following me…?”

“…That was a mistake.”

“Are you saying you’re recording a video while looking at your phone…?”

“Umm… no…?”

“Where, where! I want to see too! Hyewon!”

Yuri, who was next to me, suddenly ran over to Hyewon’s side.

“Oh! You really are recording! Zoom in, zoom in!”

“Unnie… it was supposed to be a secret.”

“Huh? But you weren’t being very subtle about it… I already noticed.”

“Um… unnie…?”

“Yes, Hyewon?”

“Aren’t you a bit too excited…? This isn’t your usual energy level.”

“It’s because Bine is here. And he’s cute, isn’t he? So fun to tease.”

“I’ll admit he’s fun to tease, but for you to be like this in the morning…”

“Huh? What’s wrong with me?”

“Change is good. Positive changes are good… so, move a little to the side so I can record more.”

“Okay! I want to see the recording too.”

Good grief.

The fact that they’re recording me hasn’t changed.

Feeling embarrassed about being recorded, I pulled the blanket all the way up.

“Oh.”

Now there’s even a clicking shutter sound from the side.

“Why… why are you taking pictures of this… sigh.”

I finally gave up.

Of course, I also got scolded by Ellie for covering myself with the blanket and interfering with the measurements.

It was a bit difficult being stared at with curious eyes like a panda in a zoo even though I was just lying still…

Ellie, who had put down her clipboard, approached with a tablet alongside Blanc and plopped down next to me.

“Phew. It’s done. Those two caused some abnormal spikes in the test results, so it was hard to correct for that… I’ll properly scold Yuri later. What do you want to hear first?”

“…Is there bad news?”

“Well, for starters.”

She browsed through the tablet.

“If you don’t have a preference, I’ll start with the good news.”

“Well…”

“First, the test results are normal. You don’t need to do these tests anymore. That collar has more functions than I thought? We can just work with the information it provides. Congratulations.”

“Is that something to congratulate me for…?”

It doesn’t seem right to say that to someone who’s cheerfully congratulating me.

I’m not sure if it’s really something to be congratulated for.

The Association will probably keep coming anyway.

And if I want to get my tail back, things will get annoying.

Though it’s necessary… I do have things I need to do at the Association by myself.

It was good that I got the Association President’s phone number when I left his office.

“Well, good test results are always worth celebrating. Being healthy is a blessing. Even for a monster.”

“What about the brainwashing and magic sealing?”

“For starters, yes. The part that required you to do evil deeds to charge your magic has been completely lost. But it’s been in your body for so long, you know. During the removal process, it changed in a strange way…”

“That sounds like bad news…”

“I’m telling you now because it’s good news. Or is it bad news… If you do something you consider evil or wrongdoing, your magic will recover faster and strengthen your magic core a bit… Think of it like a buff… But since you’re not going to do bad things anyway, just know that something like that exists.”

I think I understand what she’s saying.

Because the flow of magic became accustomed to that pattern, my body adapted to it.

Well, I suppose that’s not necessarily bad.

“Then what’s the bad news?”

“There are two bad things.”

“What…?”

“Are the memories of your previous body still faint?”

“Yes…? They are.”

“The part responsible for that is perfectly normal, so it seems to be a side effect of the dimensional rift. Your body naturally removed the remnants of what Baal and the doctor tainted you with, but if it’s still faint…”

“…Well, that’s fine. My current connections are precious too. Those past connections… I just feel regret.”

“Well, there’s one more thing…”

“Is it worse than hearing I can’t recover my memories?”

“Just listen… No, maybe it’s better not to tell you. Yunseul… what should I do?”

Ellie asks Yunseul, who’s looking at me.

“Just tell him.”

“Here?”

“What does it matter?”

“…This doesn’t seem like something to dismiss so easily.”

“I’m saying to tell him now because these people can handle it.”

I was wondering why they were acting like this, as if they were about to share some secret.

“That collar… you know?”

“Yeah.”

“…It keeps records.”

“What…?”

“That… no, those things…”

“…Don’t tell me.”

“It even recorded… the audio.”

“Delete it, right now.”

“The thing is…”

When Ellie kept avoiding giving an answer, Blanc spoke up.

“It’s difficult to delete because it’s been saved as an official Association record. We’ve restricted access to just us for now, but…”

“Then who’s above you?”

“Magical girls report directly to the Association President.”

“…So I need to go beat up the Association President first?”

“No, no, no, no, no! That’s not it. We’ll talk to them about it. The Association President thinks highly of you, so they’ll probably let it slide.”

“Ugh. What kind of… This collar is really…”

“For now, to block that function, I need some of my magic.”

Blanc handed me a gemstone.

“…Pink?”

“I grabbed it in a hurry, so it doesn’t have all my color. I quickly stole it from Yuri’s room.”

“W-wait, what?”

“It’s for Bine, so it’s fine, right?”

“…That’s, that’s different!”

“Well. I took it. What are you going to do about it?”

“Urgh… Ellie…”

“What’s yours is mine anyway.”

“W-well… I don’t really mind…”

The gems that magical girls occasionally create.

They’re full of magic power, so when raiding the Association… no.

That’s not it.

Anyway, they’re useful but rare resources, and these gems aren’t usually very noticeable.

“The chaos in the other world is ending anyway. It’s fine to use this much.”

“…The color is a bit bright.”

“That’s because my magic is mixed in.”

“…I suppose when our side made these crystals, they were dull and dark.”

“Ah… you did that too?”

“It wasn’t me but the gems Ellie brought. Ellie should know well…”

When I looked toward Ellie, I heard Yuri whining.

“It hurts to extract them… They need to be made slowly, but Ellie just, Ellie just…”

“…Yes, well. That’s Ellie’s fault.”

“Well… this is my… Never mind. I’ll be right back.”

Blanc took the gem and left.

She returned instantly with an accessory that had a different colored gem attached.

Like a pendant that could be attached to the collar…

“This should work.”

“…Blue?”

“This one was also stolen from a unnie’s room. It belonged to a retired unnie, so it should be fine, right?”

“Um, Blanc?”

“Yes?”

“Is this really okay…?”

“Well, what could be more important than this?”

This side of Blanc is really…

Hmm…

In some ways, she seems more villainous than me.

Villain, do you want to take my place…?