episode_0062

“Hello, Ms. Spica. It’s been a while.”

“Yes. It’s been a while, Tae-ssi.”

Today, Spica was in the waiting room, standing by for her turn.

Magic Girl Tae, also waiting, entered the room.

Magic Girl Tae is a rather rare male-born magic girl.

Tae’s lover, Ms. Annari, was a virtual streamer named Hwangbaekhap (Yellow Lily). She was one of the three first-generation official virtual streamers of the Magic Girl Support Association, along with Sihyeon.

Because of that connection, Tae sometimes came to visit Sihyeon.

After having talked together a few times while waiting, the two of them had become much closer than before.

They were even close enough to share secret stories between magic girls that they couldn’t tell their lovers.

Spica greeted Tae, who had arrived with a bit of time to spare before their wait time.

Spica had already taken a seat and was leisurely reading a book.

“Ms. Spica, you’ve been coming in early to wait these days, haven’t you?”

“Oh. Did I get caught?”

“I come pretty diligently myself, so I noticed. Didn’t you used to come right on the dot?”

“Well~ I used to come in super early back in the day, too.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

Unlike Spica, who had been a magic girl since childhood, Tae hadn’t become a magic girl until recently.

So, she didn’t know much about Spica before she met Sihyeon, except for what she saw on TV.

“Of course~ I used to be a very exemplary magic girl.”

“I think I heard that. That you were respected by the other magic girls.”

“Really? How nice~”

“It was just what I saw on TV before I became a magic girl, though.”

In the old days, Spica often came out early to greet the other magic girls when waiting.

Diligent and earnest, Spica took waiting seriously.

Being naturally diligent, she didn’t mind leaving home early.

“Ms. Spica. But why do I only remember seeing you arrive just before being late?”

“That’s because you came into the waiting room just before I was late.”

“……”

“Ah, ah. Don’t look at me like that. There’s a reason, you know.”

“And what is this important and significant reason?”

“Because I didn’t want to be away from Sihyeon-ssi at home, so I was dilly-dallying.”

“Hmm…. I don’t agree with it, but I understand the reason.”

“Right? I believed you would understand, Tae-ssi!”

Sihyeon, a homebody, had become a homebody since becoming the lover of a magic girl.

Sihyeon, who didn’t go to school and had no reason to go out, was likely to stay at home unless something special happened.

With a studio for virtual streaming even set up at home, no one could stop Sihyeon.

“I know… I’ve tried to make an effort too.”

“To not be late?”

“Yes. I made a lot of effort to not be late and to increase my time with Sihyeon-ssi even a little bit.”

“Specifically?”

At Tae’s question, Spica nodded and counted on her fingers.

“First, I minimized the waiting rotation that I had been holding onto because there wasn’t anything else to do.”

“I think I heard that the other magic girls were worried because you had too many.”

There was a time like that.

It was before she met Sihyeon.

“And I drastically reduced travel time.”

“So, you were flying around?”

“Yes! It was revolutionary, wasn’t it?”

“It was banned.”

“Yes… I got scolded.”

It took exactly one week for Sihyeon to receive a call from an employee of the Magic Girl Support Association and scold Spica.

Inevitably, Spica had to shorten travel time by methods other than flying.

“Finally, I increased the time I spent with Sihyeon-ssi even by a little, through precise calculations down to the second.”

“So that’s why you always came in by the skin of your teeth!”

“Yes. That’s right. It was a perfect calculation.”

“But you were late, weren’t you?”

“Yes… I got scolded.”

On the day she was 5 minutes late, Spica was kicked out of the house by Sihyeon, who had been waiting in the doorway for 5 seconds, as soon as she returned home.

She begged hard and was able to come back in just before going to sleep.

“But how have you been coming in early these days?”

“Sihyeon-ssi came up with a special measure.”

“A special measure?”

“Yes. They made a huge decision.”

Despite being scolded, Spica continued to leave the house at the last minute.

After that, she wasn’t late, but Sihyeon couldn’t help but worry.

“Sihyeon-ssi decided to come out to see me off.”

“Sihyeon-ssi?”

“Because they said the reason I want to stay home is because they’re there, so they just shouldn’t be home. They started taking walks to this neighborhood every day, leaving at a time that allowed for leeway. So I follow along.”

“Ah.”

Tae, who understood everything, nodded in agreement.

“These days, I think they’ve come to enjoy walking itself! It’s good for their health and it’s a good thing!”

“I see.”

“Since Sihyeon-ssi has been doing that for me every day, I’ve gotten back into the routine. Now, even if Sihyeon-ssi doesn’t come out, I’ve started coming out earlier and earlier.”

Looking at Spica smiling awkwardly, Magic Girl Tae also smiled.

“Spica-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“Be good to Sihyeon-ssi. Seriously.”

“Yes! I’ll never let them go!”

“No, I mean treat them well.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Spica said energetically.

Tae, who was about to say one more word, decided to trust Spica and stopped.

——————————————————————————————————————————————-

“Hello!”

“Hi, Luna.”

Today, Spica was in the waiting room, standing by for her turn.

The one who came in to wait with her was a junior magic girl.

“Sunbae! You’ve been coming early these days, haven’t you?”

“Geez, Luna. Anyone listening would think I’m always late.”

“You were always late for a while. It was really bad right before your lover got angry.”

“Ugh… That was the first time I saw them get so angry.”

“You deserved it.”

“Yeah. I deserved it. Even though I knew I shouldn’t do that, it just turned out that way.”

Even though quite some time had passed since then, Spica shuddered as she recalled that time.

“You used to be a symbol of diligence, so how did that happen?”

“Sihyeon-ssi wasn’t at home back then.”

“Sigh… To think that sunbae, who I respected, would turn out like this… It’s really scary.”

“You’ll understand when you get a lover.”

“Even if I do, I don’t think I’ll be as bad as sunbae.”

There are quite a few magic girls whose personalities completely change when they get a lover, but it is very rare for a magic girl to be as bad as Spica.

Spica was a top-tier magic girl, even from an objective point of view.

This is not about ability.

“More than that, sunbae. Would you like to go to a nail art shop?”

“Nail art?”

“Yes! I won a coupon in an event I entered a while ago!”

“Congratulations!”

“Look. It’s quite an expensive coupon.”

“Wow. It really is?”

“Right, right? It’s been a long time since sunbae and I went to a nail shop. Why don’t we go together for the first time in a while?”

“Ah….”

“Huh?”

The junior felt the difference in tension between herself, who was excited, and Spica, who was calm.

The excited junior then realized that Spica was somehow making a slightly uncomfortable expression.

“Sunbae? You don’t seem to like it very much.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve done nail art.”

“What? Sunbae, you used to go to nail shops with me often. You also went with other people. And you went alone a few times too.”

Spica had several hobbies, one of which was doing nail art.

Even if she decorated her fingernails elaborately, they often flew off whenever there was a battle with a demon, but each time, she drew, decorated, or put on new things with a fresh feeling.

“Ahahaha. That’s right. I did.”

“Ah. Sunbae’s nails….”

“Yeah. All I do is trim them.”

The junior looked at Spica’s fingernails.

The short-cut fingernails were neatly and prettily trimmed, but that was all.

The junior asked, knowing she would be rejected.

“Do you want to get them done?”

“No. I have to keep them short because of Sihyeon-ssi.”

“What?! Sunbae, is it because of your lover?”

The junior was suddenly embarrassed.

To stop a woman from wanting to be pretty!

I thought they were a nice and good person, but how could they do this!

“Is your lover not allowing you to do it, sunbae?”

“No. I need to cut my nails short to avoid injuring Sihyeon when I caress them.”

That’s more like it. You confused me for nothing.

The junior’s respect gauge for Spica, which was already at the bottom, accumulated another minus point.

“Anyway, you’re not going, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll go unless something special happens.”

“It’s too expensive to use alone. I’ll have to call someone else.”

The junior decided to give up on the hopeless sunbae.

Instead, she had to find someone to go with.

“Can’t you go twice?”

“The expiration date is not far off.”

“What about Sihyeon-ssi instead?”

“Sunbae’s lover? Hmm… I think it’s a good idea.”

“Really?”

Spica smiled brightly and sent a message to Sihyeon.

How cute would it be if Sihyeon’s nails were decorated beautifully!

The reply came quickly.

“Ah. A message came back.”

“Are they going?”

“No. They said they don’t like it because nail art interferes with gaming.”

“Then what about basic care? It doesn’t seem like it would interfere that much.”

“I’ll ask.”

“Yes.”

Not long after, a reply came from Sihyeon.

They seemed to be free now.

“Ah, a reply came. They said that’s okay. They said it sounds fun?”

“Really? Then shall we go tomorrow right away? I don’t think I’ll have time except for tomorrow.”

Spica asked Sihyeon again to set a specific time.

Spica felt happy at the thought of going out with Sihyeon after a long time.

“To think that they would come along even though they’re not very interested. Sihyeon-ssi is indeed a goddess!”

“I know. I can’t believe I doubted such a kind person even for a moment. I must have been out of my mind.”

“Ahaha. Right? Sihyeon-ssi is a really good person, you know?”

The junior magic girl nodded and said.

It was an affirmation filled with a deep understanding from one who knows most of what has happened so far.

“Sunbae.”

“Why?”

“Be good to your lover.”

It was a heavy word of external conscience from Magic Girl Spica.