episode_0006

Have you ever heard of being in a desperate situation?

That’s probably the perfect description of my current situation.

The menacing blade surrounded by dark magic. The thug ready to charge at me with magic wrapped around his legs…

Right now, my bet with Blanc is keeping me from running away.

“Why are you here? You should be in Marina. Did you escape? From Marina? How?”

“Yuri, calm down. Gather your magic. I’ll explain everything.”

“Yoonsu, do I look calm to you? I distinctly remember catching you and sending you back to Marina, so why are you here in front of me?”

“First, put down that sword. I’ll explain.”

“Do you want to stab me with that sword?”

“You…”

“Oh, come on! Yuri! Listen to me!!! Calm down!!”

“Yoonsu, would you be calm if you were in my shoes? Do you not remember how dangerous Eden is?”

“Yuri, Eden is no more. We destroyed it together. We defeated the boss too.”

“Oh, right. You destroyed Eden and cornered our boss in Marina.”

“Bine, be quiet.”

“Are you here to corrupt Yoonsu like you did with me, to rebuild Eden? Is that why you’re here?”

“I have no intention of doing that for now.”

“Bine.”

“Oh, yes. As the employer says.”

Hmm, it seems like I didn’t say anything to worsen the situation. I just slightly altered the idea that Blanc is still alive, brainwashing her and plotting to destroy magical girls from within.

“Yoonsu, are you really okay?”

“Yes, I’m really fine.”

“Can’t you confirm it yourself? Corrupted magical girls undergo physical changes due to the nature of their magic. You know that best, don’t you?”

“Ah, right. But you. You should be in Marina.”

“No, I’ve served my time and been released with dignity…”

“What? How can a top Eden executive…?”

“It’s all here.”

I showed her the dog tag around my neck and continued the story.

Well, it’s more like Blanc explained the situation rather than me.

She found me, or rather, even before that.

Honestly, I was a little surprised. She knew about my past from so long ago.

After telling her everything about yesterday, our bet and all, Blanc gathered her magic and dispelled the dagger she had summoned.

Looking at the seal for the Giant’s ability, and confirming that even the magic I naturally emitted was absorbed by the necklace, she returned to her lazy self.

“Oh, really… Yoonsu, you’ve done something… unbelievable?”

“But, to think that such a pure child like you would be tainted by the boss of Eden. It’s really pitiful.”

“Please don’t insult my boss. It’s distasteful to hear.”

“So, what was the bet about? Whether you would become a villain again or not?”

“Yeah, right now it seems like you have no intention of committing evil deeds, so I bet on the fact that people can change. Even villains can become good again.”

“Well, I’ll keep an eye on you… there doesn’t seem to be any grudge left from back then…”

“A person with no grudge pointing such a dangerous dagger at a weak civilian.”

“Earlier, you were the one at fault… You should never show it without saying anything. It’s natural to be suspicious…”

“If you were so suspicious, why did you suddenly let go now?”

“Your magic has changed…”

“Because I haven’t been using it much, the released magic has weakened, so you must have seen it wrong. I understand.”

“No, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you. Anyway, I’m fine… I’m just worried about the others…”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to explain everything. What about Hyewon?”

“Hyewon said she’s going to see her sister and will help out for a day before coming back.”

“Alright, then… what about the remaining ones… Arin and Seohyun?”

“They’re finishing school and Arin is coming back from special training at the association. It would be convenient to text them beforehand.”

“Arin, you say? A new magical girl I haven’t heard of before?”

“Yes, she joined a year ago.”

“If it’s been a year, I guess it’s understandable that I wouldn’t know… Well, as long as I have the story, I shouldn’t have to worry about being attacked like this.”

“Hey, Bine… how long are you going to keep calling me that ‘this guy’? I’m a respectable freelancer now…”

“You know the rule. I only refer to magical girls who can match me as ‘this guy’ in my activities. Since I’m in this state, there won’t be any changes in the future.”

“Not ‘this guy’ though…”

With a scary expression turning into a bored and gloomy one, Bine, Plum, said, “Shall we go up… heh…” and went back to my room.

Well, time to clean up again.

I gather all the scattered laundry in the room and move it to the laundry room. I’ll sort it out later.

Even just tidying up a bit makes it so much neater. The house has finally turned from an animal den to a place where people can live.

I thought about getting rid of all the dirty dishes, but…

Well, I can’t reach the sink.

Actually, I can reach it, but it’s uncomfortable.

“Blanc, do you have something like a footstool?”

“Oh, you called me? A footstool? Why. Oh.”

“What. The rest of what I was going to say is something I really need to think about and say.”

“Oh, no! Here! This was used by Arin.”

“Alright, that’s a bit better. Then, get to work.”

I thought there would be a lot of dishes to wash, but thankfully there weren’t many.

“Blanc, do you wash dishes with your bare hands…?”

“I don’t have rubber gloves that fit me, and wearing them makes it difficult to see if I’ve washed properly.”

“Where did you learn to do this kind of housework…?”

“I learned from Ellis in Eden.”

“Ellis? That Ellis? I didn’t know about that before I fell into the gap…?”

“Yes. I lost all my previous memories. I’ve recovered some now, but Ellis really helped me a lot before that.”

“Oh…”

With a serious expression, Blanc sat at the table and watched me work.

For a neglected house like this, it’s common for dirty dishes to pile up, but…

Surely they don’t just eat delivery food, right?

Ugh. I opened the fridge with that thought in mind.

Hmm, it’s completely empty.

All that’s there is drinks, water, alcohol, eggs?

Is this right? It seems a bit serious.

“Blanc, let’s go grocery shopping. Since the place is somewhat cleaned up.”

“Huh? Shouldn’t you start by organizing your things?”

“Aren’t you the one who hired me as a housekeeper? Then, shouldn’t you take care of your meals first? Let’s go.”

“Well, there’s no need to go that far…”

“It’s my job. Oh, do you have any preferences for what to eat?”

“No, not really…?”

“Then I’ll prepare what I want to eat.”

Alright, now when I go out to shop… my scarf…

“Blanc, didn’t you see my scarf?”

“Scarf…? It’s not that cold yet, is it?”

“…I need to cover my face a bit with this.”

Listening to me, Blanc looked flustered and took out a scarf from the box I brought.

The black scarf wraps around my neck again. And it slightly covers my face, hiding me a bit.

Then, I put on the hood and wait for Blanc with the basket in hand.

“Why cover up so much with the hood?”

“I told you. Since you can’t disguise with magic, this is how you have to do it if you want to buy things more comfortably at this neighborhood mart.”

“Sigh, really. Since I’m here, you can take off the hood. And the scarf too…”

“This is absolutely not allowed.”

“Sigh, okay. Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

And so, they entered the mart about a 10-minute walk away and purchased the ingredients for today’s meal.

I’m so happy to have money.

Because of this money… I have to deal with magical girls…

Anyway, I decided on braised ribs for dinner tonight.

I bought a simple 6-serving portion of ribs, vegetables, and seasoning, and also checked out the ingredients for tomorrow morning.

Honestly, there wasn’t a single person causing trouble today.

Just by having Blanc next to me.

Humans are so contradictory.

After returning from shopping, the already darkening sky greeted me.

“I’m back!”

And it wasn’t just the sky that greeted me.

A magical girl with sky-blue hair and another with fiery red hair like the sun were sitting on the sofa, staring at me behind Blanc.

* * *

“Yuri unnie! Did Yoonseul unnie come today?”

The child, whose cheeks were flushed in contrast to her blue hair, asked as soon as training ended.

“Yeah, I brought a guest with me…”

“Oh, the puppy you brought! Has it finally arrived? Where is it?”

“T-the puppy… well, Yoonseul and I did go out together, but…”

“How is it? Is it cute? Do you want to pet it so badly? How small is it? What color is its fur? What breed is it? What’s its name?”

As Arin excitedly talked, Seohyun grabbed her cheeks and calmed her down.

“Arin, calm down. Yuri unnie might not have seen it yet. Let’s wait until she comes back after washing up.”

“Yes! I’m really looking forward to it! It’s been my dream to raise a puppy! I’m always the youngest at home, and my siblings say no, so I wanted a puppy.”

“Alright, let’s go inside, Arin.”

Welcoming the excited Arin after washing off the rigors of training was a girl with deep darkness, maybe even smaller than Arin, with two deep amethyst eyes that shone proudly.