Ch.253IF Side Story: From the Beginning (21)

Alright.

I’m ready.

What I mean by ready is that I’m prepared to challenge Delphinium.

Making the staff wasn’t solely for that purpose. I did make it because I needed to be able to fight as a magical girl.

While that was the main reason, one of the things I “wanted to do once I made it” was somehow bring Delphinium into our group.

There’s no special reason. I just find it uncomfortable.

I did see hope when I brought her cake. But I still haven’t had a proper conversation with Delphinium.

“……”

“……”

For now, I stared intently at Delphinium reading a book in the corner of the lounge.

Lately, Delphinium hasn’t been coming to the lounge much.

It’s probably because the lounge has gotten noisier recently. When we weren’t close, there was no reason to talk in the lounge, but after breaking down walls and starting to connect with each other, we’ve been gathering in the lounge doing various things.

At some point, we started taking turns bringing board games. At first, they were very mainstream games everyone knew, like Jenga, but eventually more core games started appearing. In reality, there aren’t that many “mainstream board games.” After enjoying all the common ones, it makes sense that more unique games would appear.

Rolling dice or drawing cards while chatting loudly, sharing snacks while also chatting loudly.

Naturally, anyone sitting nearby would find it difficult to concentrate on anything.

Delphinium being out here today was somewhat unusual.

“It’s quiet today, isn’t it?”

“……”

Hmm.

No response to my comment.

There’s no special reason why we’re quiet today. Ju-a had shut herself in her room wanting to adjust her staff a bit more, and Yeonwoo was briefly researching magic related to growing plants. Seo-hee was training. Since we already had a match today, she probably wouldn’t be looking for me.

As a result, the only people left in the lounge were me, Hayun, and Delphinium.

Hayun and I didn’t typically engage in chatty conversations. Usually, we were content just sitting in the same place together. Once we started talking, we could converse for a long time, but even when we didn’t, it never felt awkward. That’s how long we’d known each other.

Hmm.

I looked toward Hayun. Hayun looked back at me.

Hayun’s expression seemed a bit complicated. It wasn’t like she was thinking “why bother with her?” but she seemed a little uneasy about me constantly trying to talk to Delphinium.

“I’ve got a staff now, and I can transform. I can use some magic too.”

Though I say magic, it’s not like I can shoot magical bullets, but creating a hammer head is still magic.

“Want to have a match with me?”

Delphinium finally lifted her gaze from the book to look at me.

“……”

Our eyes met for about two seconds.

Delphinium lowered her gaze back to her book.

“No.”

“…Why?”

“Because I have no chance of winning against you.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

“She’s probably not wrong.”

As I was dumbfounded, Hayun spoke to me.

“Senior Chaeyeon’s fighting method involves gathering magic power for a long time and releasing it all at once. Without someone to protect her during that time, it’s meaningless.”

“Ah, I see.”

I nodded.

Like Yeonwoo, there might be ways to split magic or release it with less power. But that would defeat the purpose of Delphinium’s fighting style.

Her method of floating dangerously powerful magical constructs in the air that intimidate onlookers and make them cautious—that was Delphinium’s style.

…And now that I think about it, it seems to perfectly match her personality that dislikes troublesome things.

“Besides, you’ve probably seen videos of us fighting…”

With Hayun’s words, I completely understood.

If I fought Delphinium, I might not be able to summon that level of power. That strength emerged when I fought Hayun. It was possible because I felt hope that I could somehow fight on equal terms with Hayun.

“……”

Well.

Delphinium focused on her book again.

At least she’s not running away from us, which is good?

Maybe bringing her food worked? Though she doesn’t seem to particularly enjoy eating.

I have an intuition that she doesn’t completely hate receiving attention, but all the evidence I have to prove it follows my own feelings.

After being lost in thought for a moment—

“Do you like magic?”

That’s what I asked.

Delphinium lifted her gaze from the book to look at me again.

She still had that look of someone dealing with an annoying person, but at least she showed interest in what I said.

“I feel like you do. The books you read always look really difficult.”

“…This isn’t a book about magic.”

“…Hmm.”

I was momentarily at a loss for words at Delphinium’s response. I couldn’t tell because the cover was in a language that wasn’t English or Chinese characters.

“But you do like it, right?”

Among the magical girls, only two people are purely interested in magic: Delphinium and Ju-a. The rest either have other things they want to do or are satisfied with their position as magical girls. Even Ju-a doesn’t research magic purely because she likes it, but rather to study how to utilize it as a magical girl.

But Delphinium seems a bit different.

In the comic, what Delphinium held were a staff and a book.

Since there couldn’t be any ancient witch group’s forbidden book in this world, that book was literally a precious symbol in Delphinium’s mind.

The magic Delphinium has been researching until now.

“You research it because you like it, and keep engraving it in your mind.”

“…So?”

“Teach me too.”

As I placed my hand on my chest, Delphinium’s eyes blinked once.

“They say you remember things best when you teach others.”

This was actually a method that Jihye and I, or Hayun and I, often used. When studying together, asking each other questions and explaining things gradually leaves impressions in our minds.

Magic probably isn’t much different. There are extremely vague parts, and sometimes knowing less is more effective, so I probably won’t completely master it, but it should still help in battle.

Like making the hammer head bigger… or extending it to make it like a sword… though all these methods seem a bit crude.

Or even just getting advice on how to manage magic power would be beneficial.

“Jieun?”

The one who answered was actually Hayun.

When I turned my head, Hayun was looking at me with a somewhat shocked expression.

“Yes?”

“I could teach you that too.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing Hayun’s words, I pondered a bit.

No, it’s not that I don’t want her to. Rather, it’s good that Hayun offered. It’s good, but—

“Hayun. The difference in our magic power is too great.”

“Ah.”

At my words, Hayun looked stunned.

That’s right.

In terms of magic power, there’s a big difference between Delphinium and me too, but Hayun and I are a separate issue.

Even if you learn sports from someone who’s naturally talented and extremely good at it, if they say “it worked for me,” there’s nothing you can say back.

There’s a reason why the protagonist is the protagonist.

“It would be nice if we could learn together though.”

Right. Anyway, I only become strong when fighting Hayun. If I can analyze that cause a bit more and use some of that power in other fights.

“……”

Delphinium stared at me for a while.

“You.”

And she did answer, but—

“Why do you keep talking to me like that?”

What she said was something I hadn’t expected.

“Huh?”

“…It seems like you’re trying not to leave me alone.”

At Delphinium’s words, I closed my mouth for a moment.

Well, that was the biggest reason.

I thought for a bit. Should I just gloss over it? But being too direct seems like treating someone like a fool.

“Hmm…”

Even as I was pondering, Delphinium kept staring at me. Somehow Hayun was too.

“I just think it would be better if we got to know each other well.”

So, I carefully opened my mouth, trying not to be too direct while being as inoffensive as possible.

“You’ll be covering our backs, right? So I thought it would be good to know how each of us fights, and if we can support each other, how we can do that.”

Delphinium stared at me again.

Her expression was perfectly blank, making it hard to tell what she was thinking.

But still, based on my personal intuition.

It seems like she understands a little.

“…Alright.”

After staring at me intently for a long time, Delphinium spoke.

“What you said seems reasonable.”

At those words, I smiled slightly.

Looks like I’ve got her personality figured out correctly.