Ch.5353. Why Do You Talk Like That?

“Vine, Vine? Vineee~”

“Uh, mmm… mnyaaa…”

“Vineee? Wake uuup~”

“Elliii… There’s no meeting todaaay… The boss will understand…”

“Vineee? Wake uuup! What boss are you talking about?!”

“Mmm… The boss said we can sleep in when there’s no meeting… I want to sleep mooore…”

“What are you talking about? Vine! Wake up!”

“Uh, uhhh… yeah… huh?”

“Seriously… Boss? What? What era are you talking about?”

“I don’t remember you ever sleeping in this late, sis… You always used to wake up before me and be in the kitchen…”

“Even in Eden, you rarely slept in this late. Well, I have seen you sleep covered in soot without washing after a big fight with Blanc… but it’s the first time you haven’t woken up past noon.”

“Really? Hmm… Sis? Are you fully awake now?”

“…Arin…?”

“Yes. Your precious sister Arin. Do you know where you are?”

“Yes… at the Association… in a room. Blanc made it for me.”

“You’ve come to your senses. It’s currently… 1:47. You were sleeping really deeply today. You must have been very tired.”

“I slept that long…? Really?”

“Yes. You slept for a good 12 hours. I was so worried because you didn’t move at all… I was terrified you might not regain consciousness.”

“Ah… I don’t usually talk in my sleep like that…”

“But, I’ve been wondering since yesterday, why does Vine speak casually to Elise but formally to me? You could call me ‘Arin~’ and speak casually too.”

Ah, ah…?

Wait, I didn’t expect Arin to suddenly bring this up…?

“Pardon…?”

“You speak casually to Elise but formally to me… it makes me feel like you don’t care about me as much.”

“That’s… I, um…”

“So, couldn’t you speak casually to me too?”

“Ah, um… that’s, well, ah. I speak formally because I respect you, Arin. As a magical girl, and as my precious sister.”

“But I’d prefer if you spoke to me casually…”

Ugh…

Honestly, I hadn’t thought about this.

No, well, what…

To be honest, suddenly being asked to speak casually…

Why did I use formal speech in the first place?

Ah. That’s right.

To be honest, besides Elli, the people I speak casually to…

They’re all either in Marina or missing now.

The executives of Eden, I mean.

Why did I speak casually to them?

Ah, that’s right.

Before I regained my memories, they were really kind people.

No, before I regained my memories, my personality was…

A bit strange, I think.

Kind of like, what was it, a “Mesugaki” I saw long ago.

That’s the kind of person I was.

After regaining my memories, the executives complained that I changed how I treated people, that I really changed, and I “re-educated” them kindly that I hadn’t.

“Ugh… Arin, do you really want me to speak casually to you…?”

“Yes! When you keep using formal speech with me, it sounds… too stiff… a little…”

To suddenly speak casually to Arin…

Well, habits are…

Ugh… I can’t change the habit right away.

I’ll have to change it slowly later.

But for a reason to do so…

Ugh…

Arin…

Ah.

Arin needs to train.

She’s probably reluctant to spar with me after our last match.

Then, as a reward for winning against me in a spar…

I could offer to speak casually to her.

“And, besides speaking casually. Why do you call the other sisters by nicknames? I asked Elise, but she said she didn’t know either. Is there a reason you give nicknames? Like Crybaby or Sloth…”

“Ah, I can answer that now. I call them nicknames because I don’t like calling them by their magical girl code names. Ridiculous reason, right?”

“Then, why do you call Yunseul sister ‘Blanc’? Oh, and I know you call Hyein sister ‘Citrus’ too. What’s the reason for that?”

Excited, Arin moved closer to me as she asked.

Her face is too close…

Elise, for some reason, isn’t stopping Arin from approaching me like this.

Rather, since Arin started asking questions, she’s sneaked away and is sitting next to that redhead, just fiddling with her smartphone.

Suddenly…?

Since yesterday, whenever Arin showed any sign of getting close to me, she would immediately come over claiming I was hers.

She would come closer than anyone else and stick to my side…

But now, she’s just glancing over occasionally, not showing any signs of intervention, anger, or sulking.

“Ah, Arin…? Aren’t you a bit too close…? Could you move back a little…”

“Ah! Anyway, yes? You call Yunseul and Hyein by their code names, and others by nicknames. Only I didn’t know while everyone else did! When I asked the other sisters, they just laughed it off. I’m curious too!”

“Haha… well… let’s talk with a bit more distance. It’s, um, too overwhelming.”

“Ugh… you want me to move back even more? Fine…”

With those words, Arin moved her face away from in front of me, and to the seat beside me.

She rested her head on my shoulder, ready to listen to my story.

“Haah… well, yes. This is fine. Now then… The reason I use nicknames is partly because I’m used to it, but it’s a bit different.”

“I give nicknames to people I acknowledge as magical girls. Well, I don’t acknowledge them as my enemies, but still. Magical girls who are at a level where I can call them ‘magical girls’ when talking about them. As for magical girls without nicknames, well, I call them magical girls out of courtesy… but why would I call a combat unit anything other than a combat unit? That’s the feeling.”

So, whenever a new magical girl was brought before me, they always knew my name, but I had no interest in them.

Who would care about a combat unit that isn’t even strong?

“Well, when those magical girls I had no interest in grow and fight somewhat like proper magical girls, then I ask for their names. And I give them nicknames on the spot. If they’ve caught my eye to that extent, it means I’ve accumulated enough data on them. I have some of their characteristics in my head.”

As I said this, I looked at Arin.

“I usually base the nicknames on their combat characteristics. Ah, in Sloth’s case, she was really slow in her movements, so I initially wanted to call her Sluggard, but Sloth was easier to say, so I call her that.”

On Arin’s face, I couldn’t tell if she was thinking about something or just concentrating on my words.

“When those weak magical girls I call by nicknames become strong enough to match me—at least strong enough to defeat me in one-on-one combat—I acknowledge them as my enemies and call them by their code names.”

“Citrus. Hyein was originally nicknamed Crybaby. Well, she was always quick to cry whenever she saw me, saying I was pitiful or whatever. Crying when hit by my attacks, saying it hurt. Really fitting the image of a crybaby, right? So I called her Crybaby.”

“One day, we ended up in one-on-one combat. It was at a very common park in the neighborhood. At such a place.”

“Well, I came with Blanc that time too, but she appeared alone in front of me. Since she was a weaker magical girl than Blanc, I thought it would be simple for me to handle her.”

“But, to my surprise, I ended up losing. Really shamefully too—a magical girl I had dismissed grew stronger, came back, and defeated me.”

“I was really arrogant back then, but I didn’t realize it. After that, how many times did I lose to her in our continued battles?”

“Sometimes she became truly equal to me. Isn’t that amazing? A magical girl who used to just get beaten by me actually grew stronger.”

“That day, I acknowledged her as my enemy and started calling her by her code name.”

As I finished the story, I tried to look at Arin, but truly,

I couldn’t read Arin’s expression.

Is she recalling what I called her?

Or is she thinking about something in this common story?

As I was looking at her like that,

Arin spoke first.

“Sister, then… to you, I’m a magical girl who’s worse than a combat unit…?”

“In terms of combat ability, yes. Don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility for training you.”

“You only call me ‘magical girl’…”

“Hey… Arin. Why are you like this?”

I hugged and comforted Arin before she could start crying.

“Arin, you’re still young, aren’t you? You don’t have much experience. You haven’t been a magical girl for very long.”

“But, still…”

“I said I’ll take responsibility for training you, didn’t I? So, you’ll have to work hard enough to be acknowledged by Eden’s Vine, right?”

“Ugh… how…”

“Let’s try hard. I’ll help you. What can’t be done when your sister, Vine—not Eden’s Vine—helps you? Come on, cheer up. If you keep sulking like this, I’ll have to put away the collection of embarrassing stories about the redhead that I was going to share with you.”

“…Collection of embarrassing stories?”

“I have various things. All the things the redhead intentionally tries to hide, I can tell you everything.”

“I’m not upset at all! I wasn’t sad either, and I’ll really work hard to follow you, sister!”

Ah, she cheered up.

Success.