Chapter 69: This Won't Do

'...So, how's the relationship going right now?'

The moment I heard the question, my mind stopped.

...First, I should have sorted out whether Mia and I were actually dating. When had we ever decided to start going out?

But thinking about it, we were fake-dating. A long... time ago, after Aia's attack, we'd agreed to pretend we were dating to prepare for the future.

Unlike me, Mia strictly separated her true self from her magical-girl self and didn't hide either one, so Sapphire knew that either 'Mia' or 'Shina' was dating a man named 'Sejin.'

On top of that, Mia had discovered that 'Alice' and 'Han Sejin' were the same person, which had complicated things a little...

'...Should we say we've broken up?'

Honestly, that would cause the least trouble. If I said things were going well for no reason, things could become even more complicated.

How far had we gone? Were we going to keep dating? Did we plan to get married? Since it looked like a real relationship to other people, questions like those were bound to come up eventually, even if it was fake.

So saying we'd broken up would be better in that regard, but...

'But we've already been hanging around each other quite a lot...'

Even if we set Alice aside for the moment, as Han Sejin I'd also been spending quite a lot of time with Shina.

Unless we said something like, 'We've decided to stay friends,' people couldn't help but become suspicious.

'...What should I really do?'

Either way, I was trapped.

If I said we'd broken up, we were getting along far too well for a former couple. But if I said things were going well, we weren't actually dating, yet we were drawing far too much attention from the people around us.

In the end, I had to give an ambiguous answer, but even controlling it to just the right degree wasn't easy...

"...Just dodge the question and don't answer."

"Would that be okay?"

"My brain isn't working very well right now, either. If it seems like she's going to bring that up, change the subject. Or I can keep bringing up other topics so she won't get the chance to mention it."

"Hmm... If it's Sister Sapphire, I don't think she'd bring up something that personal with Senior Alice right beside her."

Just as our discussion was coming to an end, Sapphire returned.

-Slide

"I was going to get a chocolate cake, but unfortunately, they said they were sold out. Would a fresh-cream cake be all right?"

"It would be a mistake to think Alice is a picky eater."

"That's a relief. It isn't chocolate, but I've heard their craftsmanship is excellent, so please enjoy it."

The cake Sapphire brought was, just as she'd said, a rather high-quality fresh-cream cake.

"It may be a farewell... but we still have the shoot with Miss Black Rose, and I have Miss Mia's contact information, too. So I suppose this isn't a complete goodbye."

"You may contact me privately even after filming ends. Miss Alice is a person of that much value, after all."

"Oh my. Even if you flatter Alice that much, all you'll get out of it is the price of this cake."

"That's good enough for me."

After that, we simply chatted about what had happened during filming, what we'd enjoyed, and things like that...

"But, Senior, what's that? It looks incredibly fancy."

"It's wine Miss Emerald gave me. Alice doesn't know much about wine, either, so I don't know the name... Miss Sapphire, can you read it?"

"It's Dom Pérignon Rosé. It isn't part of the chairwoman's prized collection or anything, but it's a wine she often gives as a gift. It's easy for beginners to enjoy, too. Of course, it's not exactly priced for ordinary people to drink casually."

"Sister Sapphire, do you know a lot about wine?"

"I wouldn't say I enjoy it tremendously, but I know enough. Someone close to me likes it."

"Ooh..."

Mia's eyes sparkled as she looked at Sapphire.

"I've always wanted to try some expensive wine, too..."

"Now, Miss Sapphire. It's getting rather late, so let's talk about Alice's gifts. The deadline should have passed by now, but how many have ultimately come in?"

"Understood. As you requested, we closed submissions for both physical letters and online posts when filming for the final episode ended... Seventy letters and gifts came in today. In the final tally, 110 fans sent gifts or letters, and there were around 500 posts."

"...I see. Can I take them with me today? I need to receive the love the fans sent Alice as soon as possible."

"We've prepared them in advance. We've made arrangements so you can take them right away if you wish... but considering the amount, they don't look easy to move. Like yesterday, I think we'll need to make two trips by car. Would that be all right?"

"There's no reason it wouldn't be. Alice is always ready. If Miss Sapphire is all right with it, we can leave immediately."

"I-I have another part-time job... I'll be going! The cake was delicious! See you next time!"

As she had last time, Mia left ahead of us so she could help move the luggage. Repeating the trip twice would be a little tiring, but... it couldn't be helped.

'...Should I give her some pocket money when we're done?'

At my age, making a girl seven years younger than me run errands somehow didn't sit right with me.

It wasn't right to exploit her for free labor just because she was a fan who said she'd help with anything. You had to treat people properly if you wanted to keep them from harboring ulterior motives.

How should I toss her a carrot...

<Can I touch your legs?!>

<Can I lift your skirt?!>

<What kind of underwear are you wearing?!>

'...Cancel that.'

If I threw out the wrong carrot, she might bite my hand, too.

I should just toss her a few bills. That ought to be enough.

Everything in this world ultimately comes down to money. Even if you're a woman who doesn't lack money right now, you should know to earn it while you can. And if you don't know, someone ought to teach you.

"Then... I'll ask the other staff members to load the gifts into the car. Miss Alice..."

"Alice will go, too. They're Alice's gifts, after all."

"Understood. Let's go."

The smuggling... no, the gift-delivery operation that followed took quite a while, but we completed it safely.

"...Phew. That's everything."

"Ugh... I'm never accepting gifts from fans again. My arms hurt..."

"Come to think of it, Miss Mia, do you have something like a fan club? You seem like the type who'd be fairly popular, too."

We barely managed to move all the luggage into my house before collapsing where we stood.

A magical girl's physical abilities were enough to fight Abyss Ones that could throw buildings, so we shouldn't have been this physically exhausted. But there was no avoiding the mental fatigue.

Carefully searching for places where no one was passing by and moving the luggage was harder than simply fighting an Abyss One.

That didn't mean we wanted an Abyss One to attack us. Even an E-rank Abyss One could hurt people if things went wrong.

And we magical girls were the ones who had to go deal with it.

"My fan club? Rather than a fan club... I suppose there might be one website where people who know me have gathered."

"Don't you want to become famous, Miss Mia?"

"In the past, I tried not to become famous by stepping forward and blindly following Senior... but now I think becoming famous would just be troublesome. I'm grateful that people love and support me, but... thinking that people would recognize me wherever I went and laugh or cry over every little thing I said or did would be a little... uncomfortable."

"So the time came when you realized that, too..."

"Still, please keep working, Senior. Release another album. You sing so well, so why don't you?"

"Why did we suddenly end up talking about that?!"

I gave her an appropriately vague reply and took a quick look around the house.

Fortunately, I had been able to finish repairing the house with the money I'd earned while participating in this program. It was incredibly reassuring to have sturdy walls and wallpaper surrounding the house instead of hastily propped-up boards.

"...Singing is difficult. Even if I look young, my vocal cords aren't exactly the same as they were ten years ago."

"Then go to karaoke with me and sing comfortably. It doesn't have to be an Alice song."

"...Still no."

"Hmph. I even helped you move the luggage. My arms hurt because I'm not that strong, either."

Mia rubbed her arms with a pout.

'...Not that strong?'

Even without physical enhancement, she had the physique that had once threatened Alice. What was with that act of modesty...?

"...If we have another fake date sometime later, I'll go with you then. But I'll sing only one song. I hate singing."

"Oh, you hated it? You were really good. You even released an album."

"Back then, it was basically expected for a successful magical girl to put out at least one. People around me kept persuading me, too. More than half the reason I was embarrassed was that album."

That guy himself had probably enjoyed it. He was the type who couldn't resist something like that.

But that was about as good an excuse as fit my personality.

"...Let's eat. It's already dinnertime. I'll pay today, too. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

"I got hungry after using all that strength... I want to eat as much as I want..."

"Shall we go to a buffet? If we look around nearby, we should find a few."

"...Is that okay? Se... Mr. Sejin, you don't eat very much."

"I tend to value buffets less for the quantity than for the fact that you can eat as many different foods as you want together, even though you normally couldn't have them all at one place. It's rare, but when I crave that, I go. These days, buffets even let people come in alone."

"Somehow... that's unexpected, but also very Sejin-like...? What an answer."

"Sorting through the luggage will take a long time no matter when we start, so let's eat first. I'll buy you pretty much anything even if it isn't a buffet, so take your pick. Go home, undo your transformation, get ready, and meet me afterward."

I had noticed that Mia's gaze had been fixed on the wine I'd brought, but there was nothing I could do about it.

What kind of thing was it for two grown adults, a man and a woman, to drink alone together? Especially expensive liquor like that.

I might have given it to her to try drinking alone, but there was no way we were going to drink it together.