Ch.4040. Who Do You Think You’re Messing With…

In the conference room within the teacher’s office, which the teacher had arranged for us, I was with Ellis.

After closing the door, leaving just the three of us inside, I explained to the teacher that association matters were confidential and couldn’t be helped. Then I set up triple magical barriers—a soundproof wall and magical barriers to prevent anyone from leaving.

This is necessary to save Vine.

Ellis was the first to speak.

“Um, I-I’m sorry! Please just spare my life!”

She pleaded desperately before us, looking extremely tense.

Meanwhile, her eyes kept darting around, suggesting she was trying to figure out a way to escape.

As expected of someone who was said to be one of Eden’s masterminds.

It must not have been easy to live an ordinary life at a moderately quiet school with decently high grades.

With that brain of hers, she’s tormented us more than once…

“Suyeon, no, Ellis. Why do you think we came looking for you?”

“Y-you’re here to arrest me… right? Am I going to be put in Marina’s capsule and never be released?”

“Hmm, if that’s what you want, we could arrange that.”

“N-no! Please, s-spare me! I’ll really do nothing and live quietly like a mouse! I won’t show my face again! So please…”

“If you accept our proposal, I’ll let you continue the life you want. Even with your current identity… Kim Suyeon, was it?”

“What…? A proposal…?”

“Why, don’t you like that?”

“N-no! I’ll do it! J-just tell me what it is!”

“Right? We’re not threatening you, are we?”

“No! J-just tell me what it is…”

“Well, it’s nothing. Hmm, but it’s impressive how you’ve been hiding your magical power and enjoying a comfortable school life here.”

“Th-that’s…”

“While not even knowing how your comrade Vine is living.”

“V-Vine? If it’s Vine, isn’t she in Marina…?”

“You don’t know anything about what’s happening, do you?”

“W-well… I’m a student preparing for exams, so I haven’t been checking the internet… and back then I was too busy running away…”

“Ha, to think one of Eden’s masterminds is just being a student in a place like this.”

“Th-that’s… there are circumstances…”

“Well, as I said earlier, if you want, I’ll let you continue this life. Though some measures and surveillance will be necessary.”

“Y-yes! Just tell me what to do!”

“It’s nothing special. You just need to follow us. We’ll explain everything when we get there.”

Hearing this, Ellis looked at us with suspicious eyes.

At times like this, using Seohyun is the right choice.

Well, I trust our Seohyun.

“Hey, who do you think you are, looking at us like that?”

Ah, Seohyun?

“If you think the decision-making power has shifted to you, wake up.”

Seohyun…?

“Your only choices now are to be dragged straight to Marina from here, or to come with us to the association with dignity, holding our hands. Got it?”

“Seohyun!”

“Unnie, she’s a villain. And a clever one at that. If you treat her too gently, she’ll find a way to slip away. We have no choice right now.”

“No, Seohyun… even so.”

“Haah, I’m just as desperate right now. Without that child, really… Haah. Unnie. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, but doing it like that…”

“Didn’t you do something similar?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Anyway. How should we take her with us?”

“First, we need to take her to the association. But before that, we need to put on the sealing device.”

“Did you bring it?”

“Yes, just in case, I threatened the association president and brought it.”

While we were talking, Ellis, who had been eavesdropping, spoke up.

“S-sealing device… Could it be… th-that heavy, thick… m-metal thing…?”

Seeing this, Seohyun, whether wanting to tease her or vent her frustration:

“Yes, it was so heavy I had to bring it in a bag. It’s the same one you wore before. It would be noticeable if we went outside this room, right?”

“N-no! P-please… n-not here…”

“Hmm, if you want to be dragged away, I’ll put this on you, but if you listen well, I might use something a bit different.”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I-I’ll listen well! Please!”

“How can I trust you?”

“Ugh… H-how can I earn your trust…”

“How would I know? You need to figure that out yourself.”

“Th-then… this isn’t good… this really isn’t good…”

“What is it?”

After saying this, Ellis removed the jeweled necklace she was wearing and placed her hands on her chest.

Then, emitting light from her chest, she pulled out some kind of pink jewel.

“Here, this is my magical core. I can’t give it to you… but if you cast a contract spell on it…”

“Contract spell?”

“Huh? Oh, you don’t know… We monsters can completely restrict our actions by placing contracts on this. Any creature with a magical core. We also tame beasts by interfering with this, and sometimes insert cores with pre-established contracts during the monsterization process.”

“What does that mean…?”

“We also offered these cores to our boss and participated in his grand plan. After the permanent extinction of his consciousness, this contract was broken. I really liked that excessive love that came through this contract…”

Ellis, who was reminiscing about her former boss, noticed me staring at her and changed the subject.

“Ah, so… do you not know how to use contract magic…?”

“How would we know about contract magic?”

At that moment, Seohyun suggested a possibility.

“Unnie, wouldn’t it be similar to making a contract with our mascot? Hmm, should I contact them?”

“Hmm, I’ll contact them. Really, saying they’d finish and come back before Vine arrives…”

So, focusing on the flow of magic, I search for a string connected to another dimension.

That string is always connected to the mascot.

It’s the line that allows magical girls to handle magic.

And so, I contacted our mascot, whom we hadn’t heard from in a while.

Hmm, they said they wouldn’t be reachable, but this is working just fine.

“Jibreel, it’s been a while?”

“Ah, Blanc! You called suddenly? What’s going on? It must be urgent?”

“Yes, I was wondering if there’s a contract magic that can be cast on a monster’s magical core.”

“What? Who told you about that?”

“The person herself. So can you tell me what kind of magic it is?”

“The person herself? I need more details.”

“Sure. You know her, right? Eden’s Ellis. I got this information from her. So how does it work? You seem to know it well.”

“You heard it from Ellis… Could it be?!”

“It’s not what you’re thinking. I need to make a contract with her.”

“Huh? How…? If you do that, the monster…”

“The monster?”

“From the power of life and death, the master gets all authority…”

“Huh? What does that mean…?”

“That’s what happens when a contract is directly made with a monster’s magical core.”

“But why didn’t she tell me about this?”

“Maybe she thought she’d be in danger if she revealed it. But how did you find Ellis?”

“I have my ways. Hmm… so that’s what it was…”

The information Jibreel gave me about the magic was this:

A monster’s contract is similar to but different from a magical girl’s contract.

The amount and strength of magic power is weighed, and the contract is established only if the master’s magic power is higher.

If not, the contract fails and the caster suffers the consequences instead.

Since it’s a type of magic used by demons from the other world, it consists of such meticulous contracts.

From what I remember, Seohyun would have less magic power than Ellis.

Well, at least I know how to use it now.

“So, Jibreel. When are you coming back?”

“I was planning to return within this week. Well, even the one concern I had has disappeared.”

“Huh? What were you concerned about?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll come back as soon as possible, so Blanc, keep protecting everyone, okay?”

“Well, I trust you.”

And with that, the connection was cut.

Meanwhile, Seohyun and Ellis were making a contract…

Huh?

“Wait! Seohyun!”

“Hm? What?”

“Hold on. Why are you making a contract with Ellis?”

“W-well… I thought this would be faster…?”

“Seohyun wouldn’t know contract magic. So the magic being cast right now is by you, isn’t it?”

“Even if I cast it, it’s a contract directed at my magical core… so I’m the one being controlled…?”

Ah, really. This cunning little…

* * *

Right. How did we evacuate the combat units back then?

Did we disguise them as amusement park visitors?

It was difficult to find clothes for each combat unit.

Ah, no, that’s not it.

We raided the staff room at the amusement park and used those uniforms for disguise.

Then we got them out through the forest and barely escaped through an open warp portal.

Instead, it was hard to lure Blanc.

Somehow she tracked my magic power, and while I was guiding the combat units to retreat,

She followed me there, nearly causing the combat units to be annihilated.

Looking back, there were many things I could have improved back then.

No matter how hard Eli tried, she couldn’t solve certain issues and just got frustrated.

Taking out that frustration by fighting Blanc emotionally.

When emotions get involved in battle, judgment naturally deteriorates.

And poor judgment leads to inefficient combat.

That inefficiency eventually brought about a clear disadvantage.

After the intense battle, I was the one who fell.

Yes, I usually fell.

I liked fighting in that vast darkness, that open sky.

Not just because it was advantageous for me, but because the cool breeze and moderate heat

Made the battle more exciting, I think.

Thinking about it this way, I guess I was quite the battle maniac too.

Even though I followed the boss’s orders,

It seems I actually enjoyed fighting like that.