Today, We Were Heroes
I'd already taken care of two of Bind's branch offices.
My original goal had only been to lighten Siyun and Carmen's burden a little, so there was no real need to do anything more.
If I had to name something… maybe quietly watching over them from behind and cheering them on with everything I had? Just like I was doing now!
Before I knew it, the days had flown by, and it was a bright weekend afternoon. At that very moment, I was tailing Yi Siyun and Carmen through an amusement park.
Of course I was—today was the day Bind and Yi Siyun were supposed to clash!
…Probably! I wasn't completely sure!
I'd come prepared to jump in at a moment's notice, but…
"My eyes are so happy right now!"
I never would have noticed it from the manga alone, but the real Yi Siyun was clearly conscious of Carmen!
There was no other explanation for how adorable she looked every time she teased her!
How did that much cuteness pour out of every single gesture? Those were the kinds of moves only I should have been able to pull off.
"Hm? Happy about what?"
Tania popped up beside me as we walked and asked.
The black cat ears on the headband perched atop her head suited her ridiculously well.
I want to raise her…
When I gave her head a few gentle pats, she closed her eyes and accepted it quietly, as if she'd already gotten used to my touch.
That only made her look even more like a cat… which made me want to raise her even more. Except our house was kind of small…
Had Tania been a cat in a past life? There was no other way she could be this cute.
Pretty, adorable, fun to tease, and loaded with money—a cat like that…
Lining it all up like that, I realized Tania was the ultimate friend.
"Mm. It's nothing. I just feel good seeing so many people around."
I hadn't told her we were tailing Yi Siyun and Carmen, so I brushed it off with a vague excuse.
Tania tilted her head, unconvinced.
"Really…? I think there are almost too many people. It's a little uncomfortable…"
For someone saying that, she was clearly enjoying the place just fine.
Between the cat-ear headband and the rainbow of cotton candies clutched in both hands, the evidence was overwhelming.
She was diligently tearing into cotton candy while pouting and claiming she was uncomfortable.
But she was cute, so it was fine!
Adele popped up from the other side.
"That's unexpected. I didn't think Elysia would like a place like this."
She was wearing a headband too—two little baby pandas lying flat on top of her head—and every time I looked at them, my heart ached.
Why are my girls this cute…?
I stretched out both hands and lightly took theirs, and as if they'd been waiting for it, both of them laced their fingers through mine.
Ah… I hadn't meant to go as far as interlocking fingers.
Adele's cool temperature and Tania's warm one came through crystal clear.
This had to be paradise. Anywhere Tania and Adele were together would be heaven.
With two people as pretty as angels right here, there was no way this place could be anything else.
It was a shame Luna and Rina weren't with us. I'd invited them, but…
"Really? I want to go too!"
"Thank you, but Ellie unnie… the organization's been so busy lately that I don't think we can spare the time."
"Huh? Rina…? But I want to g—"
"Next time, we'll definitely go together! Ellie unnie!"
"I want to g—"
"Have fun!"
And just like that, I'd been turned down. Well, Luna and Rina were especially busy people, so I had to understand. I'd gotten a promise that we'd definitely hang out next time, so it was fine.
We'd just have even more fun next time!
Anyway—where had Yi Siyun and Carmen gone? I still needed to watch more of their date!
There was no way I was going to miss a chance to see scenes from the manga play out in real life.
Granted, they seemed a little closer than they had in the manga—but that was only a good thing.
I dragged Tania and Adele toward the last place I'd spotted the two of them and said,
"Let's ride that one next!"
"…You want to ride the carousel?"
"Yep!"
"…Alright."
We rode it. Thanks to the pass, we didn't have to wait… but unfortunately, Yi Siyun and Carmen weren't over there.
"N-next, that one!"
They weren't there either, of course.
"After that, let's ride that!"
"Doesn't that one look fun?!"
"I've wanted to ride that forever!"
We played happily all day long. Tania and Adele seemed satisfied too—smiles lingered at the corners of their mouths.
I was so glad I'd trained under Cecilia-sensei… Without the training she'd put me through, I would have collapsed from exhaustion ages ago and never gotten to play…
Thank you…! Cecilia-sensei…!
And so we played until the amusement park was nearly closing, then headed outside.
"Ah! That's right!"
"Hm? Did you forget something?"
"No…"
I'd completely forgotten about finding Yi Siyun and Carmen and had way too much fun with Tania and Adele!
"Whoops!"
"……?"
Tania tilted her head as if to ask what was wrong, while Adele tapped away at her phone like she was already used to me acting like this.
"Haa…"
The disappointing part was that I hadn't gotten to watch Yi Siyun and Carmen's date. The fortunate part was that nothing had happened today.
So it wasn't today…?
As far as I remembered, today was supposed to be the day the protagonists fought Bind at the amusement park…
Of course, the fight at the park hadn't been aimed at Yi Siyun and Carmen specifically—they'd just happened to run into Bind members who'd come to terrorize the place. But after that incident, the real fighting had begun in earnest.
Even if I hadn't gotten to see it, I was glad their date had probably ended happily… but why hadn't the terrorist attack happened?
Obviously… it was because I, Elysia, had been at the amusement park!
Maybe the terrorists had been about to strike, taken one look at my face, and changed their minds.
I… had saved people. I really was a magical girl!
A woman who saved the world with nothing but her looks. That was me—Elysia.
When I looked back and forth between Tania and Adele, both of them tilted their heads.
Their looks had probably played a huge role too.
If so much as a tiny scratch appeared on faces like ours, it would be a national loss—so of course they'd stopped the attack, right?
That's right… Today, we were heroes.
"Hah… hah… Why is that sunbae even here…"
Hidden behind a pillar, Carmen yanked the thrashing Yi Siyun into a tight hug.
She'd come out in high spirits at Siyun's suggestion to visit the amusement park, only to spot Elysia-sunbae—and after that, she hadn't been able to relax and enjoy herself at all.
And then…
"Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!"
Oblivious to how Carmen was burning up inside, Siyun flushed bright red all the way to her face and struggled to wriggle free of her arms.
But… Carmen had no idea.
Siyun wasn't thrashing because she wanted to go say hello to Elysia. Ever since she'd become conscious of Carmen, this kind of physical contact had become far too much stimulation for her.
From Carmen's perspective, they'd grown up together since they were little—naked baths, casual hugs, all of it completely normal—so she hadn't thought twice about it.
But for Siyun, who had only recently started being aware of her, having her face buried in Carmen's chest was more than enough to blank out her entire mind.
"Mmph…! Mmmph! Mmph!"
"Hold still!"
"Mmph… mmmph……"
Carmen didn't even notice that Siyun's breathing was growing rougher by the second.
"Damn it…! Why the hell did the Witch have to show up here today of all days?"
Jang Seonghun, one of Bind's executives, let out a low groan.
Originally, a grand terrorist attack was supposed to go down at this amusement park today.
But Seonghun had heard the rumors too—that in the past week alone, two entire branch offices had been wiped out because of that one Witch.
So he'd ordered the subordinates he'd stationed on standby to stand down, and had been hiding inside the park ever since, waiting for a chance to slip out unnoticed.
Just as he reached into his coat for the radio to give the order to withdraw—
"Ah, found him. Is this the last one?"
"Mm. Once we take care of this ajusshi, we can rest for today."
"Who—?!"
Fwaaak!
Seonghun spun toward the voices in alarm—and in that same instant, a massive gray hand snatched his body clean off the ground.
"Guhk!"
The brutal impact forced a mouthful of dark, clotted blood from his lips.
But the woman before him had no intention of letting go.
Krrrk-krrrk-krrrk.
The gray hand clenched tighter and tighter around Seonghun's body.
"Ah—ah—ugh—aaagh—"
He never even managed a proper scream. Every bone in his body shattered to pieces, and he died.
Without ever knowing who the woman in front of him was.
Retracting her bloodstained gray arm, Luna spun around toward Rina behind her.
"So we can go home and rest now, right?"
"Hmm~ We finished pretty fast. Want to do just one more?"
"Whaaat?"
Luna's shoulders slumped in open disappointment.
"We have to get ahead of things and free up time so we can hang out with Elysia unnie next time."
"Mmm… You're coming too, right, Rina?"
"Of course."
Still grumbling, Luna stretched her arms out toward Rina in a clear demand to be carried.
Rina snorted a quiet laugh, hoisted her sister onto her back, and started walking.
"Elysia looked like she was having fun today…"
"Yeah. So let's make sure we can definitely go play with her next time."
"Yeah……"
"Then first—want to finish everything for tomorrow tonight too?"
"Th-that's a little…"