It's Only Right to Be Punished for Dereliction of Duty (1)

Screeeee—!

Agh, it's blinding! My ears!

Was it like this every time I came back from the Phase World? A whine sharp enough to drill through my eardrums rang in my skull, and a glare that felt as if it were setting my retinas alight twisted my face before I could stop it.

I lifted a hand to rub my eyes, and a person's shadow crashed down over me. I flinched and nearly swatted it aside on reflex—then recognized who it was, and opened my arms instead.

Whump!

"Gack!"

Something on the order of a hundred and ten pounds hit me. I yelped, and the shadow and I went tumbling together across the soft bed.

Thank God I'd entered from on top of a bed. Bare ground, and the back of my skull would have split open.

A dull ache in my chest mingled with the shadow's pleasant scent and the softness of expensive cloth, and a sigh slipped out of me. The ringing that had been scraping at my ears faded, and sniffling rose to fill the quiet.

Spatial Perception confirmed what I'd expected. The one clinging to me was Sis. Behind her, Hwayeon wore a look of relief.

I'd come back to the very bed of Hwayeon's where I'd fallen asleep.

Oh, hell. I looked like a disaster. The sweat I'd poured out, and something of a far less innocent nature, had fouled Hwayeon's white sheets.

The pure white dress of the sister wrapped around me was, of course, blotched with dust and sweat. I was filthy anyway. I lifted a hand and patted her back, gentle.

"Sis."

"Hiiing... you idiot! Why did you go into the Phase World!"

Tears spilling drop by drop, she hugged me tight enough that it felt like she was wringing my neck. I patted her a little harder.

Neck—my neck! I can't breathe! Air!

"Khek. I—I don't know either. I woke up and I was in the Phase World. You have no idea how absurd it was. Cough."

Hacking, I rubbed at eyes gone stiff from the blinding flash, and Hwayeon came over to my side.

She was in an ordinary black dress shirt and black cotton trousers, a white necktie and a white belt, and her long hair, tied in a ponytail, swayed in soft waves. Sexy, innocent, and cool all lived in the same face, and the effect was unfair.

Brows so pretty you couldn't have drawn them that well by hand drew together, and she sank into thought. Only for a moment.

"So it really wasn't intentional. Don't think too deeply about the Phase World."

"Why?"

"What is that?! That's insanely dangerous!"

You could enter just by thinking about it?! I shot the question back in shock, and Hwayeon's brows drew even tighter.

"Did your handler not tell you?"

"I never heard that."

"..."

In an instant her face crumpled like a vengeful ghost's. A chill slid down my spine at the sight of it.

Hwayeon could make a face like... like that. Even Spatial Perception seemed to be deliberating whether it ought to sound the alarm.

She let out a small, long breath, rubbed her face until the expression smoothed, and spoke.

"Once you've entered, you can't re-enter for five days, so you don't need to worry about going in back to back. More importantly... other people aren't as dangerous as you."

Relieved to hear I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be safe for at least five days, I asked.

"What do you mean, it's not dangerous for other people?"

"An ordinary... ability user needs a long stretch of mental concentration to enter. You have to focus steadily for five minutes, and even someone used to it has to gather their mind for two before entry is possible. Aside from the first forced summons, there has not been a single unintended entry in all of history since Phase Power first appeared."

"Uh, so that means..."

Hwayeon nodded, heavy.

"There's a strong chance you entered instantly either because of your ability to control Phase Power, Seoha, or because you were influenced by the power you awakened."

"..."

I had a hunch, so I kept my mouth shut, and Sis spoke in a stuffed, nasal voice.

"It's probably because of that Mana Sieve of yours, Seoha... Coming back from the Phase World, of course, but... sniff. To enter, you're supposed to concentrate and pay TP..."

"I don't even need to concentrate. My Phase Power moves the instant I think of it, so..."

Hwayeon nodded with a clouded face, as if my guess were right. Franc looked troubled too, as if she hadn't seen that coming either.

"If I'd caught on sooner... I should have warned you... sniff. I'm sorry. It's my fault... hngh."

The mood darkened around Sis's sobbing, and Hwayeon patted my shoulder briskly, as if to haul the air back up.

"Anyway, I believed that if it was you, you'd come back safe. It must have been hard, going in with no preparation at all."

"It wasn't hard. I got stronger in the meantime."

"...Y-you did?"

I answered with a crooked grin, and Hwayeon's expression turned subtly complicated. He got stronger in just two days? was written all over her face.

"Ahem. Good that you've gotten stronger. But... you know, don't you? A minor entering the Phase World is a crime. And entering from anywhere other than a designated site is an even greater one."

"...Huh?"

Entering from anywhere but a designated site was a crime too?! That was the first I was hearing of it!

"I'm sorry to spoil the mood when you're pleased about getting stronger, but this incident... is going to get complicated. For you it was an accident you never intended, but to a third party it's a clear violation of the law."

"..."

"As a rule, the Ability User Association's Special Operations Division stands by at any unauthorized, unreported entry site. In your case, though, extenuating circumstances were granted, and your entry was recorded clearly on CCTV, so..."

Hwayeon was saying something, but my head was swimming and the words weren't quite landing.

Sis noticed. She stroked my hair and said,

"I know very well that you're innocent. I'll use every card I have so you don't come to harm over this, but there may still be some damage. Keep that in mind."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Don't. You're... no different from a little brother to me, too. Don't say thank you."

She'd changed what she was saying halfway through, hadn't she? I tilted my head, and Hwayeon waved her hands in a fluster and rushed on.

"S-so, ever since the day before yesterday, when you entered, it hasn't just been Siha—Time River's legal team has been running itself ragged! Until now they couldn't be certain, so they couldn't move aggressively, but you're legally a minor, and we've confirmed this wasn't something you intended. That changes things. So... we'll have to seize that person first and investigate."

That person would be Choi Soohan. Hwayeon's pitch-black eyes glinted with killing intent, and a desolate chill seeped from Sis as well. I ought to offer a prayer for Choi Soohan's repose.

"Come on. I washed your underwear and your school uniform, so clean up and go home. Your mother is worried sick."

"Ah, geez. I should call Mom."

I tried to push Sis off now that the crying had stopped, and she fussed and hauled my neck in even tighter.

Sighing on the inside, I patted my sniffling sister's back and worked the Certifier until it came on. The words on the display changed, and then it connected to the community.

The clock at the top of the screen read nine in the evening, and beside it sat an envelope icon with the number 23. I opened the list. Every message was from the Association, from Hwayeon, or from my family, and among them...

"There's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a message from the Association."

"Don't open it. If they call, ignore it, and don't reply to any message until I tell you to."

"Uh, okay."

I did as Hwayeon said and called Mom.

One hand calmly smoothing Sis's long hair and her back, I placed the call, and she picked up the instant it rang.

"Mom, it's me—"

The instant the line connected, a wail like a scream tore out of the hologram window, loud enough to make Sis flinch.

"Yeah, Mom. It's me. I just got back."

Agh. From beyond the screen came the sound of Mom sobbing her heart out. Dad must have been beside her; I could hear him soothing her. And somehow, on a display that said nothing but No Signal, I could see the two of them with perfect clarity anyway.

He must have taken the phone from her. Dad's voice came through.

"Yeah. I got even stronger! Not a scratch on me, didn't even lose weight—I'm perfectly fine!"

I answered loud so Mom would hear, and her crying only got worse.

"I'll wash up and head straight back with Sis!"

Dad really was calm. When I grew up, would I be able to become a grave, steady adult like him...? I couldn't even picture it.

I hung up, patting Sis's back, and said,

"Sis. Hey, Sis. You heard that, right? Mom's bawling up a storm. Let me go so I can wash up."

"...You awful boy. You're not even worried about me?"

Her voice had dropped a full octave. One step from a sulk. Danger! I'd even patted her back—why?!

"As if. If I weren't worried, I wouldn't have patted your back. More to the point, I'm one breath from choking to death. You planning to keep the naked choke on?"

"Pfft. ...What are you even saying! You idiot!"

Thwap.

The dumb joke seemed to land. She loosened her arms and, feigning anger, flicked my forehead in a way that didn't hurt.

Holding back a laugh on a face streaked with tears, and still that pretty—an absolute scam. When I cried, I looked like the biggest loser alive.

Seriously unfair. The genes had gone all-in on her.

Freed from the chokehold, I climbed off the bed, and noticed Hwayeon watching me with eyes full of curiosity.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...I was curious about you getting stronger."

Only asking now. I'd been waiting for that question.

I grinned, smugness packed into every word.

"I can use all three types at once now. Spatial Perception, Physical Reinforcement, and Elemental. So there."

"What?!"

"What?!"

Before the two of them, eyes round as saucers, could grab me, I darted into the shower.

Let them choke on it. Hehehe.

I finished washing and came out with a bath towel around my waist, and Sis was waiting in front of the shower room, the skin under her eyes gone red, my underwear and uniform in her hands.

"Here. Underwear and uniform."

"Thanks."

I took them and saw she'd put a jet-black wool cardigan over the dress and was ready to leave.

Hwayeon was going out too. She stood beside Sis in the same black suit as before, a gray cashmere half-coat thrown over it.

"You're heading out too, Hwayeon?"

"I'm going with you."

Why? I wanted to ask, but Sis's eyes were so hot they looked ready to burn. Whatever I'd said before stepping into the shower had flipped her switch.

"Uh... okay."

I changed into the clothes in the dressing room, came out, and the pressure only got worse on the ride home in Sis's van.

Because inside the car, Hwayeon was studying me with a gaze like a needle.

Maybe I shouldn't have teased her...

Aside from that, I felt pretty good. I'd gained a new power, Hwayeon and Sis had said they'd handle the crime problem I'd been worrying over, and Franc was right beside me, hugging my arm.

Even so, I wished she'd stop staring a hole through me from the opposite seat. A gaze that hot was a burden for a timid person like me.

"It's embarrassing when someone as pretty as you looks at me with eyes that hot, Hwayeon."

"Cough!"

"...Good grief."

I played shy, and Sis at the wheel glared at me through the rearview mirror as if I were hopeless. Hwayeon turned her face away and coughed, over and over, as if something had gone down the wrong pipe.

Yeah. That was a normal person's reaction. Franc, who smiled and liked whatever I did, wasn't abnormal... she was special. Yeah.

Hwayeon steadied her breath quickly, dabbed the sweat at her brow with a handkerchief, and then, as if she couldn't hold it any longer, threw a question at me with eyes gone bright and sharp.

"You said you gained Physical Reinforcement and an Elemental ability on top of Spatial Perception. Can you tell me what level the Physical Reinforcement is at?"

Siha seemed curious about that too, sneaking glances this way through the mirror. Didn't she know you were supposed to focus on driving when you drove?

"About double."

"Measured by the standard Physical Reinforcement assessment, I assume. Hmm. Not high, but not low either. At that level, fighting alone while firing elemental rounds should be suffici—"

"If I burn a lot of TP, I can push it to ten times for a moment. My thinking accelerates too."

"Guhk?! Cough! Hack—hack!"

I kept explaining, leaving Hwayeon choking mid-sentence.

"But if I do that, it doesn't last, so I've got it fixed at about four times physical ability and twenty percent thought acceleration."

"Cough, ahem. Hoo. Four times, and thought speed up by twenty percent, you say...? And Spatial Perception on top of that..."

I confirmed it, and heat ran through Hwayeon's eyes.

"The increase in thought speed is more impressive than the enhancement figures... Then the Elemental ability? How is that?"

"If I spend about five TP and fire an elemental round, the blast is about five meters across."

The explosion effect... should I mention it? Hmm. I didn't really understand it myself, so I let it go.

"The power seems to be about thirty times a mid-to-low elemental aberrant. Point-one TP hit about as hard as a ten-TP wind bullet from a wind raccoon, but when I pushed the cost up to ten, it didn't get a hundred times stronger—it topped out around thirty, and that was it. So I cut it back to about five TP, and the power multiplier dropped to around sixty times—"

"What?!!"

"You scared me! Why are you so shocked? Anyway, I'm using it with the multiplier dialed down, and if I dump about a hundred TP in one shot, a laser fires like a beam gun. Keep the TP flowing and it turns into an actual laser."

Hwayeon seemed to have gone past shock and fallen into chaos.

"That's impossible..."

"What is?"

"An aberrant's... power surpasses an ability user of the same rank by anywhere from half again to several times over. The higher the rank, the wider the gap. And yet you're saying you're stronger than an aberrant... You're not... the kind of child who would lie like that..."

Her voice shrank the further she went, until she was mumbling to herself. Then, as if she'd understood on her own, she nodded with a face that held a faint jealousy.

"Well... your ability was an absurd sort to begin with, so perhaps it's only natural. Enough that that mother would set her sights on you..."

After that Hwayeon sank into her own thoughts and only muttered now and then, while Sis drove with a face I couldn't read.

And so, without much more talk, we reached home. The moment we stepped inside, Mom came running in tears and crashed into my chest.

No wonder she was Sis's mother. The behavior was identical.

I held her and patted her back the way I had Sis's, and she wept in floods while checking me over for injuries.

"My soooon... Mom, Mom was... hngh."

"Mom, look at me, okay? Just look at me for a second~!"

At this rate she wasn't going to let go, just like Sis, so I eased her back a little and showed her how I looked.

"How do I look?"

"...Haven't you gotten a little thin?"

I'd lost about a kilo, sure, but it didn't even show, and she'd caught it. Mom's instincts were sharp.

"Not at all? If anything, I grilled meat and ate well the whole time. Anyway, how about it? See anywhere I'm hurt?"

At that she ran her hands over me with shining eyes, searching for a wound. Seeing I looked fine on the outside, she finally pulled me in tight and let out a sigh of relief.

"Sniff. Seems you're not hurt anywhere."

"Right? And this time I came back in two days, so there wasn't much getting hurt or being in danger!"

"If there wasn't much, that means there was some, doesn't it?!"

Ah. That was the part she was hung up on.

The worry wouldn't stop. She kept stroking my cheeks and my face with a fretful look. Skinship steeped in Mom's love was nice, but Sis and Hwayeon were standing in the entryway behind me. Did they not even register?

"Let's go in and talk first. You two, don't just stand there. Come in."

Caught by Mom's hand and led into the living room, I found Dad standing with his arms crossed. He saw me, nodded, and sat on the sofa.

Mom sat, and the two of them took the seats to either side of her, and Mom hurried me with a look: out with it. Under the hot gazes of Dad, Mom, Sis, and Hwayeon, I cleared my throat. Ahem.

"The day before yesterday, falling asleep, I must have thought hard about the Phase World without realizing it. When I opened my eyes, I was lying in the same place I'd returned from on the fifteenth day of my first entry."

I was explaining slowly when Siha raised her right hand. I looked at her. She glanced once at Hwayeon beside her, then asked me,

"Um, Seoha? Hwayeon's family now too, isn't she? How about telling her about the spirit lady you happened to meet on your first entry and ended up traveling with? She's precious to you, so if Hwayeon knows, it'll help with keeping her hidden."

"A spirit?"

Hmm... we were all in the same boat anyway...

Siha caught my unspoken permission with a look, turned to the puzzled Hwayeon, and explained.

"The last secret Seoha didn't tell at the salon was about the spirit lady. He said he got a lot of help from her in the Phase World."

Even so, she didn't mention the Soul Stone. She must have remembered what I'd asked and left it out on purpose.

"Really...?"

"Yeah. Really. Dad and Mom and I all saw her."

I glanced at Franc, kneeling neatly beside the low table, and she smiled softly and nodded. Hwayeon, meanwhile, was staring at wherever my eyes had gone.

"Like Sis said, that last secret from the salon is her. I was going to tell you later, but Sis went and said it on her own."

I shot Sis a glare. She smiled brightly, as if nothing were wrong. We'd see if she could still smile like that in tickle hell later.

"...There's a spirit here?"

"Yeah. She's right next to me, but only I can see her."

For some reason Hwayeon looked a little worn, then narrowed her eyes and swept the room. At that, the Phase Power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inside her began to move in earnest.

Was she using an ability? The swirling Phase Power accelerated hard and drew a figure-eight that was extremely, extremely clumsy. What was that supposed to mean?

...Hmm. A common technique? If the reason common techniques were weak was that they forcibly twisted your own Phase Power type like that, the pieces fit.

That was when I remembered the ghost-detection technique, the one supposedly made by an ability user who'd once been a Catholic priest.

"Hwayeon, are you using the ghost-detection technique right now?"

"Ah?! H-how did you know?"

"I can just see the Phase Power moving inside your body?"

A lot of TP was vanishing. One thousand eight hundred and forty-five a second—nearly half my own level of TP, gone every second. Terrifying.

"You can see that too... More to the point, is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she really beside you now? I don't feel anything."

"Of course you don't. I told you Franc's a spirit."

I packed Hwayeon's a dummy~ into the words, and her expression soured.

Anyway, this was an unexpected result. If she used it that confidently, the ghost-detection technique had to be well honed—and even with that skill, she couldn't find Franc.

"Franc. I think Hwayeon doesn't believe in you. How about showing her some proof?"

Franc took in my mischievous face, gave a wry smile, and looked at the curious Hwayeon.

"Wouldn't a light current do it?"

At the word electricity, Mom and Sis, who'd been right up against Hwayeon, beat a hasty retreat to Dad's side. Hwayeon looked at them with a slightly tense face.

And yet she still wasn't bracing. I couldn't tell whether she didn't believe the story, or whether it was confidence in her own ability showing through.

"Rather than moderate... Hwayeon's B-Class, so a little stronger should be fine, right?"

"That's a Low-Rank Variant. Hwayeon's Phase Power is over eleven million."

"W-wait. Seoha? How do you know my Phase Power figure that precisely?"

I ignored the question and kept going.

"Too weak and there's no point, so about ten times a stun gun should be fine, right?"

Hwayeon's expression was turning into an uneasy one. And my family watched her, riveted.

"A hundred?! Isn't that dangerous?"

Well, that was... true? Still, just in case, I ought to warn her.

"There you go. You mentally prepared?"

"Hmm. I don't know how things came to this, but... I'll prepare as well."

Hwayeon's perfectly wrought body flexed once, and a watery Phase Power began to sheathe her skin. I blinked at the sight, then remembered something and spread Spatial Perception—sure enough, Phase Power was covering her body. She was spending TP as well.

That was the same thing she'd shown me when we reunited after so long.

"Hoo. I'm ready."

I stood beside Hwayeon, who gave a small nod, and sent a signal to Franc—beaming—with a wicked grin of my own.

Crackle—!!

In that instant, a discharge burst forth.

Electricity like white lightning shrunk small lanced up in streaks from Franc's hand, resting on Hwayeon's shoulder!

For a moment fear dropped through me. What if she was badly hurt? The current was far stronger than I'd expected.

But contrary to that worry, the white electricity rode the watery light sheathing Hwayeon's skin and vanished as if evaporating, and she was perfectly fine—not a single scorch on her clothes.

She'd only clenched a fist for an instant when it burst. Her expression unchanged, she touched the shoulder the current had passed through, then faintly knit her brow.

"You okay?"

"It stings a little."

A little?! Uh. B-Class ability users were something else...

Franc's pride seemed a little bruised. I was watching her, rarely, press her lips thin, when Hwayeon asked, suspicious.

"Seoha. That wasn't you using the electricity, was it?"

...So that was how she was going to play it!

I wondered what kind of image I had in her head. To actually suspect I was the one who'd fired it. Franc, who'd done the firing, looked dumbfounded, shook her head, and flew over to me.

Tell me about it.

"Yeah. Then as far as she's concerned, let's say Franc doesn't exist."

At that conclusion Hwayeon looked briefly flustered, then hurriedly opened her mouth.

"Ah, no! It isn't that I don't believe you—there has never been a single account of a being called a spirit appearing! That's why it's hard to believe! And your ability is extraordinary, Seoha. I only wondered if the electricity might have been something you used, being that sort of person..."

Hmm. She thought far too highly of me. I might get a little smug.

"I'm glad you think I'm that amazing, but the elemental rounds I learned are non-elemental. I just clump TP together and fire it."

At non-elemental, Hwayeon's brow twitched, and at the mention of firing TP she closed her mouth. Then, in a tired voice, she spoke weakly.

"There, you see... I have never even heard a rumor of a non-elemental elemental round, or of clumping TP and firing it."

"Same here."

When Sis backed me up, Hwayeon sent her a grateful look, then turned back to me.

"When I'm with you, it feels as if all the knowledge I've learned and mastered until now is being denied. So I can't help doubting like this..."

"I-is that so? I feel kind of bad."

"...Tell me about that spirit in detail next time."

"Okay."

The mood was half given-up. Anyway, I decided to ask about the technique she'd just used.

"You wrapped Phase Power over your skin just now. What was that?"

"You saw that too? Come to think of it, you read my Phase Power figure as well..."

...Her expression was heavy, as if I'd asked something I shouldn't have.

"It's a common technique. One that sheathes the skin in Phase Power to raise resistance against attacks tied to Phase Power."

Similar to when I'd run Phase Power over my skin while eating lightning from an imugi?

"What was the base ability of the one who made it?"

"Well, he's already dead, so I don't know for certain, but he was a Physical Reinforcement user forever pulling eccentric stunts. Then he happened to learn how to make Phase Power flow over the skin, and once he realized that doing so raised his resistance to Phase-Power-related attacks to some degree, he turned it into a technique and registered it at the technique shop."

I asked how much it raised resistance, and she explained the effects in detail. From what I heard, I didn't think I needed to take any particular interest in common techniques.

Physical-enhancement techniques were garbage next to Mana Mode, elemental attack techniques were garbage next to Mana Bullets, and detection techniques were nothing but garbage next to Spatial Perception...

Wait. Am I the strongest?

I decided to save the self-congratulation for when I was alone, and opened my mouth to my family, who were quietly waiting to hear the rest.