Chapter 23
[Will you remember? It's Mia. Before we parted last time, we promised we'd call each other by name if we met again.]
'I can remember that much!'
That's precisely the problem—I remember.
I'd already known from seeing her twice that she was quite fond of Alice, but I never expected her to follow me this far.
No, to begin with, this isn't even somewhere you can follow someone just because you want to.
Considering she'd still been active during the Leviathan incident, she had a fairly long career despite her appearance, so she didn't fit the program's purpose of teaching "novice magical girls" at all. How did she even get here...
"Oh, so you two know each other? Then I can skip the introductions. Actually, we were going to ask another support-type magical girl at the company to help out, but... she happened to be busy with something else, and Miss Mia sent us fourteen pages' worth of A4 paper explaining why she needed to participate in this program. As a B-rank support-type magical girl, she'd be a huge help to the actual filming, and she was so eager that, as the producer, I had no reason to turn her down."
"I-I see! I didn't expect to see you here, Miss Mia!"
"I've worked so hard to get into this! I even tracked down a personal-statement writing class, despite having no connections to one, and when I asked my parents how to write a personal statement, they misunderstood and thought, 'Our couch potato finally wants to get a job?' I really..."
"Y-you worked hard. To think you'd love Alice so passionately... Alice will work hard to repay that love!"
The reason I kept pausing between phrases was that I was so horrified that even staying in character couldn't completely hide it.
I hadn't exactly never seen enthusiastic fans of Alice before, but this was the first time someone had approached me so passionately as a magical girl.
Plus all the unnecessary TMI.
"You two know each other?"
"Yes, she's a junior of mine whom I'm grateful to. She's helped Alice several times."
"Helped you? Not at all! I'm the one who's indebted to you!"
At times like this, I really hated Alice's persona.
My true feelings were, 'We know each other, but we aren't close, and she's clinging to me so much that it's uncomfortable, so please get her away from me.' But Alice couldn't say anything like that.
If only I had one or two people I could speak frankly with, it would be less stressful. But whether as Alice or as Han Sejin, I had no one around me I could confide in.
If there was anyone, it was Bunny, but Bunny was in the same situation as me, so there was nothing I could confide in her about.
I wished Sapphire would notice how I felt and politely move this magical girl somewhere else, but...
"I see. My apologies. I'm Sapphire, the manager in charge of Miss Alice during this shoot. I understand that you know each other, but I'd appreciate it if you could refrain from jumping in. There is expensive equipment all around us."
"O-Okay..."
...Still, it wasn't a perfect score, but she'd at least earned about 70 points.
"The students have already gathered and are filming a scene where they introduce themselves to one another. Another producer is in charge over there, but... Miss Alice, please wait in front of that door and enter when we give you the signal. As I mentioned, we're planning to focus on icebreakers on the first day, and we have a game prepared. Would you like to hear about it?"
"Sure, let's hear it."
"If you look over there, you'll see a box with a hole in the top. There are dozens of slips of paper inside, each with a game title written on it. Wouldn't it be fun to draw one and play it? Of course, if you have another good idea, Miss Alice, we can go with that instead..."
"It wouldn't be polite to disregard an idea the production staff worked hard to come up with! I'll go along with it!"
"Yes, then please carry that. Miss Mia and Miss Sapphire can come in with you from the beginning, or you can call them in during filming. They're only assistants, after all. If you don't really need them, you could also have the camera all to yourself, Miss Alice..."
"Miss Mia, are you all right with cameras?"
"Y-Yes, huh? Ah, yes! Of course! I've done a lot of filming while helping my parents, so I'm used to cameras!"
'Was she an actress?'
She'd been spewing unnecessary TMI since earlier.
At this rate, she'd be liable to give out her home address and door-lock password.
"And Miss Sapphire..."
"I'll do as Miss Alice says. I'm not used to it, but it's not uncomfortable, either."
"Good. Let's all go in together."
"I'll carry the box."
"Thank you, Miss Sapphire."
"Th-Then I will, too!"
"It's all right. I'm called an assistant, but I'm Miss Alice's manager. It's only right that I do it. Miss Mia, you can help in the areas you're good at instead of with this sort of thing."
"Oh, okay!"
...Ah, she's noisy.
This really wasn't something I was suited for.
I didn't want to fill the frame alone, so I brought them all in to spread out the attention, but what was the point if it only grated on my nerves?
'One month... exactly eight filming sessions... Seven more after today, so just endure that much longer...'
Then I'd have less to worry about when it came to living expenses for a while.
Then I could cover my living expenses by only taking care of the occasional small commercials that came in, without appearing on a huge program like this.
And if I went back to living quietly, as I'd done until now, I'd be pushed aside and forgotten by other magical girls again...
'Let's keep it moderate. Moderate.'
If I got blinded by ratings incentives and made this program a huge hit, I'd be in trouble later.
Moderate. Just enough to cover my living expenses.
Let's do a proper job, no more and no less than what I was paid for.
"Hmm... They're about to finish up over there, too. Miss Alice, and you two, please get ready."
"Alice is ready anytime~"
"No problem."
"Phew... Phew... I've only ever done still photos, so this is my first time on video..."
"Please enter in about two minutes. I'll give you the signal."
"Phew..."
...For someone who said she was used to it, Mia showed nothing of the sort.
But if I brought her in with us like this and she froze up, it would interfere with the shoot, so as bothersome as it was, I needed to help her relax.
"Miss Mia. Are you nervous?"
"N-n-n-no? I'm n-not at all! I'm u-used to cameras! I-it's just that there is a bit of a difference between putting on an outfit and taking a few pictures and appearing on a TV program, but still! I-I-I'm okay! I can do this!"
"Don't worry. Even if you can't do it, Alice won't throw you out, Miss Mia. And Alice doesn't think you won't be able to. Someone who bravely fought an A-rank Abyssal wouldn't freeze up just because of a camera, would she?"
"O-Of course! Compared to an Abyssal, a camera is..."
It wasn't something I should say, given that I actively avoided that very camera using even my unique magic, but I'd "allowed" this filming, so I couldn't avoid it either.
I was being paid to work in front of cameras in the first place; if I didn't allow it, that would be fraud.
"Even if you don't believe in yourself, Alice believes in you, Miss Mia. If you really lack confidence in yourself, believe in Alice, who believes in you. Alice will be cheering you on, Miss Mia."
"S-Senior believes in me?"
"You don't believe me? Alice has always loved and supported her juniors."
"Senior... loves me... supports me..."
-Mumble mumble
Hmm. She'd entered the familiar state of hearing only whatever she wanted to hear, no matter what was said.
At times like this, correcting her misunderstanding would only make my mouth hurt for nothing.
Well, if she wanted to believe that, let her.
Alice was a star in the sky anyway, so no matter how she looked at her, she could never pluck her from it.
"Now, you can do it, right, Miss Mia?"
"Yes! For the senior who believes in me...! Even if I have to stake my life...!"
"Don't stake your life."
"Oh, okay!"
Magical girls shouldn't casually say they're willing to risk their lives.
"Please enter in ten seconds. Ten, nine..."
"Miss Alice."
"Yes, let's go in, Miss Sapphire. I'm sorry for unintentionally leaving you out."
"It's all right."
"All right, come on in!"
-Wham!
"Hello, everyone~ I'm the magical girl who'll be joining you, Alic..."
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Senior!!!!!!! I love you!!!!!!!!"
"You're so pretty!!!"
"You're so cute!!!!!"
"Please wink just once!!!"
Hmm. What a mess.
"Everyo..."
"Miss Sapphire, Alice will handle this."
"I'm sorry."
"Wawawawa..."
Well, I'd expected this.
Unlike the general public, among magical girls Alice had strangely high name recognition and was very popular. Maybe it was because they worked in the same industry.
On top of that, today's rookie magical girls were at an age where it wouldn't be strange if they'd watched Alice's exploits on TV long ago, or perhaps even been rescued by Alice herself, so it wasn't strange that they harbored an idealized image of Alice.
-Wink
"Now, everyone. I'm grateful that you love Alice, but we can't have a class like this, so let's be quiet for a moment."
I did give them a wink.
As I did so, I raised my hand and crossed my thumb and middle finger...
-Snap!
-Fwoom!
As a wave of magical power spread out from the point where I snapped my fingers, the mouths of the magical girls, who had been chattering like teenagers, fell silent.
-Silence
"It's nice to meet you, everyone~ I'm the magical girl who'll be teaching you for the time being. My name is Alice. When you call Alice, please call me Teacher Alice with love, okay?"
Once the atmosphere grew quiet, I actually felt better, so I could deliver this line cheerfully.
-Flash!
"T-Teacher Alice! Me!"
"Yes, the red-haired one."
"W-Would you be willing to give a prize to the student who attends class really well?! Like a meal voucher with Teacher Alice! A walking pass! A deployment pass!"
Ugh, seriously, why did everyone love Alice so much?
I really couldn't understand why other people loved Alice this much when I hated her.
"Hmm... That's a good idea. Alice is busy, so it might be difficult to find the time... but I suppose I could give one person—the student who followed the lessons best—a walking pass with Alice."
"...!! Thank you!!"
"Yes, does anyone else have a question?"
-Flash!
There was one person who raised her hand faster than anyone else.
...Right beside me.
"...Miss Mia?"
"Could I change my status to that of a student, too?!"
"You're already here."
"Yes..."
...Magical girls were such easy yet difficult creatures to handle.