Chapter 72: I Get That a Lot

...Phew. I've got it more or less sorted out. Shall we go?

After forcibly using mind control, I checked my appearance again with my cell phone camera.

I still looked the same: my original appearance, but with longer hair and a more feminine air.

To put it more simply, I looked enough like what I might have looked like if I'd been born a woman.

And biologically speaking, that was only natural. That was the relationship we had.

"The voice should be fine like this, right? I lowered it a little compared to Alice's."

[Someone with a really sharp eye might recognize me... but I don't think ordinary people will.]

"That should do. It's not as though I can change it completely."

I could, if I really set my mind to making myself look like another person, but then there'd be no point in going to the police station in this form.

I was supposed to claim there that I was Han Serin, so what would be the point of going in a completely different appearance? I was even taking the ID with me.

"...All right. Let's go. We'll use being busy as an excuse and ask them to get it over with quickly. Hide yourself, just in case."

[Is there even a chance that police officer is a magical girl?]

"It's not zero. In this day and age, any young, pretty woman has at least a chance of being a magical girl."

I didn't know what criteria the mascots used for their contracts, but most magical girls were beautiful. There were differences even among them, but I'd never seen a magical girl who had ever been told she was lacking in the looks department.

I had no idea how creatures that looked like dolls rather than humans could distinguish pretty faces, though.

It wasn't exactly pleasant, but in that respect, my current appearance was more than sufficient for a magical girl.

"And even if she isn't a magical girl, magical girls normally live mixed in with society. You never know when or where one might pop out."

Saying that, I emerged from the sparsely populated area and stepped onto a street where people were passing by, doing my best to act like an ordinary member of society.

It was fortunate I'd brought that person's ID with me, just in case. Otherwise, I would've had to go all the way home and back.

'I need to hurry as much as possible... I might run into someone I know.'

"Thank you, citizen. I've transferred the payment to your account."

"Oh, my... You look like a magical girl, so you can just take it."

"That's all right. Aia isn't poor enough to skimp on something as delicious as these bungeoppang."

...I heard a familiar voice behind me, but deliberately didn't turn around.

I merely quickened my pace and hurried toward the police station. It would be a problem if I drew attention to myself for no reason and got caught by that woman's senses.

-Jingle

"Hello. I'm here to see Officer Baek Soeun."

"Yes! I'm Baek Soeun... Are you Ms. Han Serin?"

"Oh my, you recognized me right away."

"Oh, your brother came by this morning. But... you two really do look alike, don't you? I could believe you were the same person."

"Ahaha, I get that a lot. We're twins."

"Oh, now that I think about it, your dates of birth were the same. I didn't think much of it... but then, of course you're twins. Silly me."

Since we looked so much alike, even the police officer recognized me easily.

It probably also helped that both of us had rather conspicuous looks, making us easy to remember.

"I had to make time in a hurry to come here. If there's something I need to do, I should finish it quickly and get going. Would that be all right?"

"Oh, yes! Just a moment! I'll get everything ready for you!"

The officer's fascination with my appearance lasted only a moment before she hurriedly rummaged through the papers and began preparing the documents.

'...Something about her seems familiar. Is she really a magical girl?'

"Aaaah... Where did it go...? I organized it over here a little while ago..."

Watching her fumble around while preparing the documents gave me a strangely familiar feeling.

Since I had almost no social life in the real world, if someone looked familiar to me, there was a high chance I knew her as a magical girl.

I wasn't about to strain my brain trying to dredge up the memory, though...

-Squish

"Ah. Found it."

As my eyes unconsciously fell on the mound of flesh sitting on the desk while she searched for the documents, I suddenly thought of one magical girl.

[Berta? Why has this girl made her three sizes public? She must be awfully confident in her figure.]

...Ah.

That's her.

'...I think I recognized her in a rather less-than-pleasant way.'

It was a somewhat embarrassing method, but it accounted for a surprisingly large proportion of the reasons magical girls got recognized.

You could write off similar faces or a similar general air as coincidence, but similar figures too? Huh? Could it be...?

Ordinary, common figures were one thing, but magical girls tended to be outstanding in that department too, since they were so good-looking...

'...It seems like it really is her.'

Alice had it easy in that respect.

Since she had a slender build, there was less risk of her being recognized compared to magical girls like that.

If even I, who could barely remember people's names, had recognized her this way, then anyone who knew both a magical girl's appearance and this one could easily react with, 'Oh, that's...'

"Here you go! You just need to sign these! Oh, and please show me your ID!"

"Yes, here."

"Hmm. It's definitely you. By the way, this is really fascinating. I have twins in my circle too, but even though they're the same sex, there's a bit of a difference between them. But even though you two are different sexes, you look exactly alike..."

"Right? We think it's fascinating too."

Twins aren't all alike. And even among identical twins, it was only natural for the degree to which they resembled each other to vary from family to family...

"Honestly, I'd believe it even if Mr. Sejin showed up wearing a wig and a skirt, you know? Oh, I'm sorry. That might have been rude to the person involved."

"It's all right."

...She was perceptive. She even correctly guessed that it was rude.

I'd wondered why a magical girl would work as a police officer, but I supposed this was why. She had better instincts than her appearance suggested.

"Here. Please check it."

"Yes... Everything looks fine. As I told Mr. Han Sejin, I recommend discussing the detailed handling of the inheritance with a tax accountant or a lawyer."

"Thank you for the advice. Then I'll be going."

"Have a safe trip home~!"

Worried that if I stayed too long she might recognize me as well, I finished everything quickly and went outside.

Whether as Han Sejin or as Alice.

'It's over now, so I need to get somewhere with no people and change back quickly...'

"Yop. Here you are."

"..."

"You there, citizen with the long black hair and skirt. Yes, I'm talking to you."

"I'm... busy with something. Since I don't know you, I think you've mistaken me for someone else. Try looking for someone else. Well, then..."

"Would you like some bungeoppang? I put them in Aia's Magical-Thermos to keep them from getting cold. They'll be warm and delicious."

"...Haa. Are they red bean or custard?"

"Cream cheese."

"They have all sorts of things these days..."

I obediently bit into the bungeoppang Aia handed me. Given this woman's personality, doing something like this meant she was already certain.

If I avoided her by making pointless excuses, all I'd accomplish would be wearing out my mouth and having to spew out increasingly more troublesome excuses. Nothing wasted time and energy more than trying to make someone accept a different answer when they were already certain of the right one in their head.

And considering this woman's personality, it was better to play along here and finish it. She was the sort of woman who would follow me all the way home if I refused.

-Nom

"...This is chocolate."

"Ah. I meant to give you fresh cream, but I made a mistake."

"That isn't cream cheese either..."

"It is wrong to divide the world's bungeoppang into only red bean and custard. Fish deserve the right to enjoy chocolate, fresh cream, and cream cheese too."

"You make it sound as though there's an actual fish inside bungeoppang."

"Did you not know? They say the first bungeoppang was made by mixing fish meat into the batter."

"I'm not an idiot."

-Nom

-Crunch

...There are even chocolate chips in it. She really goes all out.

"Boo-hoo. The fish are pitiful."

"For someone who says that, you're carrying ten bungeoppang."

"Pitiful is pitiful, and delicious is delicious."

"Even so, you've properly blocked out the surrounding sounds and gazes. If you want to talk with Alice in the future, put up a screen like this. Alice is a woman with many secrets, after all."

No matter how certain Aia was, I knew how much attention we would attract if we sat there eating bungeoppang together, just the two of us, with her conspicuous appearance.

The reason she could talk while eating so casually despite that was because she knew about the barrier this woman had set up around us.

'How is this science?'

She used a concept along the lines of, "Highly advanced science is indistinguishable from magic," but what she actually used was magic wearing science's mask.

"By the way, Alice is almost no different before and after transforming."

"Alice is already perfect. Why would she need to touch anything up?"

"Hmm. That strong self-esteem is very Alice."

"...So. Did you just say hello because you were happy to see me? If that's all, Alice will be going now. I really am busy."

I really was busy. I had to go to the company to pick up a suit, and from tomorrow I'd have to stay there for two whole days without being able to leave.

Naturally, I couldn't say that out loud.

"Did you receive Aia's letter properly? I was disappointed when I didn't get a reply—I was waiting for one."

"You mean that letter teasing Alice? You stuffed it full of strange tricks, but in the end it was just an ordinary letter."

"It contains Aia's feelings for Alice."

"I'll assume Aia's feelings for Alice lost their way and ended up trapped in a maze on the way here."

"Hmph. Aia is sulking. I'm leaving now."

-Hop

Saying that, Aia jumped down about five steps at once.

"Oh. I heard you're going on a date with your cute junior on Christmas. Could Aia join you?"

"Would you please stop making an absurd request in such a casual tone, as if you were merely suggesting we go to a café together?"

"Uuugh. Aia was a teacher who participated in class too."

"It was exactly once."

"Since ancient times, they say once a teacher, forever a teacher. If your junior is going on a date with Alice, her teacher, I think she should go on a date with me, Aia, too."

"Yes. Please send that exact thought to the company. Alice will refuse."

"Tch."

This time, she must really have been sulking, because she disappeared in an instant. I couldn't tell whether she'd teleported, simply moved quickly, or even had the ability to turn invisible.

"Don't pretend to disappear in stealth mode and hurry along. And don't even think about stalking me."

"Tch."

Leaving the voice coming from somewhere unseen behind me, I used Stellar Shift at the maximum range I could currently manage to leave the area.

Of all times, I had to run into someone I knew in this form. It really was the worst day.