Chapter 36
"Se-jin. I'm heading to work, so get some rest. You know that if you're out exterminating Nightmares, the day is automatically treated as paid leave, right?"
"Yeah... Have a good day... Wait a second."
After returning at dawn from exterminating Nightmares and falling asleep, I found that it had somehow become morning, and my sister had already finished getting ready for work.
Normally, I would have exchanged a few appropriate greetings and gone back to sleep... but there was something I had decided to ask her once she woke up, so I forced away my drowsiness and roused myself.
"Sis... Have you ever seen Miss Alice get tired?"
"Huh? She got tired?"
"Judging by the circumstances... it seems the Nightmare Queen triggered her trauma, and she fought the Nightmare Knight that appeared as her opponent. She must have been exhausted, because she was unconscious until we went looking for her."
"So you got to see Alice sleeping demurely? You lucky bitch. What an enviable woman."
"...So, what's the answer?"
"If you're asking whether she ever gets tired, then yes, of course she does. She's human, isn't she? But that's unusual. She actually let you see her collapsed like that?"
-Flop
My sister sat down in the empty spot beside the bed, and I naturally shifted toward her.
-Rustle, rustle
"To be precise, she had already collapsed when we got there. She was unconscious until we woke her up."
"You saw a truly rare sight. She doesn't willingly show weakness to other people. You can tell from the persona she usually presents, but she seems to have a perfectionist streak, so even when she rests, she seems to wait until the mission is over and she's returned before taking a break. I've also seen her deliberately avoid showing a disheveled side of herself in front of others."
"...Ah, so that's why she ran away."
At first, I thought she had only used it to avoid the Queen's attack, but perhaps she had moved far away after being hit by the Queen so that she wouldn't have to show us what had happened.
Apparently, the machine Miss Aia had given her was destroyed immediately after she moved. Perhaps Miss Alice had deliberately broken it.
...Do you know why she would do that?"
"How would I know? It's not as though she's the only magical girl who operates under some strange persona. I just figure she's that serious about maintaining it. And she really does have the ability to uphold it, so there's nothing wrong with that."
"I see...?"
Neither my sister nor I could say that our real personalities and the public personalities we showed as magical girls were one hundred percent identical, so it wasn't as though I could call her strange.
"If you want to get close to her, it's best not to bring up anything that breaks character. I sometimes mention when I've spoken to her out of character, but then she either brushes it off or says nothing. Just pretend you don't know."
"...Ah, right. Miss Aia was there too. If you were lucky, couldn't you have hugged Miss Alice with one arm and Miss Aia with the other?"
"You tried?!"
"No, I wasn't interested."
"You had the opportunity of a lifetime... Aaaagh! I should have gone instead!"
Her reaction was exactly what I had expected, which made it entertaining.
And although I didn't say it then...
'...Those must have been tear tracks.'
When I first found Miss Alice collapsed, I had felt moisture around her eyes.
I had quickly wiped it away with a handkerchief in case she felt embarrassed when she woke up, but what could have happened to make Miss Alice cry even while unconscious? That Miss Alice, who always showed everyone nothing but a bright smile.
'...Everyone has their own circumstances.'
It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious, but Miss Alice clearly wouldn't want me to pry, so I decided to bury it in my heart.
Unless Miss Alice asked for help first, that was. Given her personality, she would obviously refuse if I approached her before that.
* * *
...This is driving me crazy."
I had no idea what on earth I had done to that Queen, but her lingering effects still remained.
It wasn't particularly unusual for wounds left by an Abyss One to have aftereffects. No matter how formidable a magical girl's healing ability was, this was still a life-or-death battle; a serious injury wouldn't simply heal after one night's sleep.
And in this case... I suppose I was just particularly unlucky.
Mental attacks were difficult to recover from even with a magical girl's powerful healing ability, and Alice herself was especially vulnerable to them, so it seemed the trauma had taken root deeply from the beginning.
As a result, I couldn't sleep properly. I even ran games while looking utterly hollow-eyed, trying to occupy my mind with something else, but that didn't help much either.
Should I go to a magical-girl hospital?"
There was, in fact, a hospital specializing in magical girls that treated Nightmares as well as physical injuries. It was quite a large facility, too.
S-rank No. 2 Kariel. Since it was run by a magical girl regarded as having reached the pinnacle of support-type magic, there was no reason to doubt its skill.
It wasn't staffed only by Kariel, either. Many support-type magical girls she had trained were affiliated with it, and because they had enough manpower, they helped not only magical girls but also ordinary civilians injured by Abyss Ones. It was hardly surprising that Kariel had earned recognition for that influence and become number two.
If I wanted to meet Kariel, it probably wouldn't be difficult to do so.
Even if Alice's rank itself was lower, if Alice said she wanted to see Kariel because she was injured, Kariel would probably come running even if she were fast asleep.
...The problem was that Alice's circumstances made that impossible.
[Hmm... In the end, don't I need a 'Mental Cure'?]
That's true. But all the support-type magical girls are affiliated with Kariel... Huh."
[She's right next to you.]
...That was true.
She was right next to me. That support-type magical girl.
Mental Cure itself wasn't a difficult spell, so there was a high chance that anyone around B-rank or higher had already mastered it.
...But I don't have an excuse. What am I supposed to say? That a Nightmare sucked my energy out while I was sleeping? That would be way too suspicious."
[Can't you just ask her to cast it on Alice? That would also match the alibi Miss Sapphire knows. If you say you want to meet briefly because there's something you need to discuss, the Mia I know would come running immediately. And if you say that you've been left with aftereffects after fighting a Nightmare and ask her to use Mental Cure just once, it shouldn't be that difficult.]
..."
I briefly estimated the chances of success in my head and concluded that they were actually quite high.
We were filming together, so I had her number. If I asked to meet her as Alice rather than Han Se-jin, there was a good chance she would rush over in an instant, even if she had other plans.
Then I could contact her right away from Alice's phone...
-Ding-dong
Mr. Se-jin!! Are you there?"
-Startled!
Ah, I haven't even called her yet?"
[...The timing is incredible. The problem is that I can't meet her in this condition.]
...I do look pretty awful."
I won't bother describing what a man looks like after suffering through nightmares, failing to sleep, and forcing himself to play games all night. I'll leave that to your imagination.
Uh... Ms. Shin-a...? What brings you here...?"
I found a movie I want to see! Would you like to go watch it with me?"
...Today...?"
Yes! Around eight tonight! Are you free?"
'...I can't.'
Even if I went, it would only be possible after receiving Mental Cure.
In my current condition, simply going outside was impossible.
Honestly, it wouldn't have been strange if I collapsed while walking. And even if I somehow made it to the theater, I wouldn't be able to pay attention to the movie, so going out with her in this state would actually be rude.
Uh... I'm not feeling well today. I'm sorry, but could we go another time...?"
You're not feeling well?! Open the door! I'll heal you right away! It's more reliable than going to a hospital..."
Ah, no... I'll get better if I rest by myself. This happens pretty often... I'm fine."
Of all the excuses I could have chosen unconsciously, I had picked my physical condition. I really had chosen the wrong person to use it on.
I could already picture her opening the door and coming inside, so I hurriedly stopped her.
I-is that so? Then... yes... I suppose it can't be helped... Let's go together another time..."
...Yes."
I couldn't see her expression through the door, but I could feel it from her voice.
How could someone be so honest with her emotions? I could hear how dejected she looked just from her voice, and it made me feel guilty for no reason.
...Though I wasn't sure whether I needed to feel guilty for turning down her invitation to see a movie just because I wasn't feeling well.
Then... get plenty of rest... If you're having too much trouble, please tell me... I could heal you... and if you don't trust that, I can go to the hospital with you, too."
...I'll let you know if I need anything."
Ah, I'm really fine! Dragging someone who's sick outside would be worse! Get plenty of rest! I don't have any other plans today, so I'll be home all day. If you need help, you have to tell me, okay!"
...The presence outside the door disappeared.
Speak of the devil. I had almost let things get complicated.
'...Let's contact her right away.'
[It's quite an experience to turn someone down just now, then contact her in another form to ask her to meet you.]
'Shut up.'
Ignoring Tokkaengi, I first brought out the Alice inside me and sent Mia a text from Alice's phone.
[Hello, Miss Mia. How have you been? Alice is doing well, too. The thing is, I have something I'd like to discuss with you in person today. If you're free, would you like to have a meal together? (ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ)]
'Is this okay? I can't even tell whether I wrote it properly in my current state.'
[It looks fine. If it's Miss Mia, she'll probably come running the instant she receives it...]
-Ding!
[Oh, she replied.]
Fortunately, her reply came quickly.
It was probably an acceptance, so all I had to do was decide where we would meet.
Since I found other people's gazes uncomfortable, I should look for a restaurant with a private room that only two people could enter...
[I'm sorry! I have things to do today, so I don't think I can make time! If it's something you can't talk about over text, I'll make time another day!]
Huh."
[Huh.]
An entirely unexpected situation had occurred.
I hadn't even considered, not for one percent, the possibility that someone who was usually frantic to have a meal, a cup of coffee, or a walk with me would reject a meal proposed by Alice herself.
[...Could this be because of you?]
'What are you talking about?'
[No, you just said you'd be home all day. You... I mean, didn't she reject Alice's request because she's worried about Han Se-jin?]
............Could that be it?
Whether that was true or not, every possible reason led to the same troublesome speculation.