Strange Visitor
——Splash!
"Ugh, it's freaking cold!!"
I was in the guild's on-duty shower room, cooling my head under the icy water. The weather had already turned pretty chilly, so why the sudden cold shower? Simple reason.
'Missin Si-hyun so bad.'
'Thx for comin evry day.'
'Love ya lots.'
"Leah left those notes this morning, and now my heart's all aflutter. Needed to cool off my head a bit."
A straightforward, pure love confession right from the morning. Normally, I'd have peppered her cheeks with kisses the second I heard it... but damn that glass wall keeping me from doing just that.
"Man, this is tough all around..."
Today marked the eighth day of isolation. Six days until the guild's promised end date. For regular folks, that might fly by, but for Leah, six days felt eternal. Yesterday, I'd managed to soothe her pretty well, and she seemed a bit better...
Leah's a kid with super expressive emotions. If she mostly felt the good ones, great—but stuck in isolation, she'll plunge right back into the negative ones.
So, my job from here on out was straightforward: no slacking till the very end. Visit her every single day and take good care of her!
"Leah should wake up around lunchtime... still got some time."
I was roughly drying my hair with a towel, covering just the essentials below.
Clack-clack!
Then, click-clack. Someone entering the changing room.
Maybe the guy on duty yesterday coming for a shower?——I didn't think much of it.
But hold up. Click... clack...? That sounded like women's heels no matter how I sliced it? And this was the men's changing room?? Plus, I'm just in a towel down south???
The moment that hit me, I whipped around and yelled toward the entrance.
"H-Hey, wait! This is the men's cha——"
"Si-hyunny!"
Unfortunately, the intruder's steps beat my shout.
"Ah."
Okay, fine... showing off a guy's upper body? No biggie.
"Knew you'd be here—I——Huh...?"
But when it's a girl who looks kinda young? That's a whole different story!!
The intruder barging into the men's changing room first thing in the morning was none other than Eden's master, Victoria.
Blinding golden twintails like sunshine, blue eyes flickering like flames. She froze solid at the sight of me half-naked.
"Wh-Wha...!???"
No, but seriously—why the hell is she here? My brain circuits were grinding in the sheer absurdity when Victoria's face turned beet red on her own and she plopped down right there.
Complete with a piercing scream, of course.
"Kyaaaaah!! P-Pervert!!"
Hey, I'm the one who should be screaming. This is ridiculous.
First things first—gotta shut Victoria up. If word got out that the UK master wandered into the men's changing room, it'd be a headache on all fronts.
——Grab!
I clamped a hand over her shrieking mouth and gestured for quiet.
"Shh shh! Victoria, pipe down."
"M-Mmph! Hnngh...!!"
"Jeez, stay still! Quit squirming and calm down!"
As I gently lifted the seated Victoria to soothe her——
"S-Sis! Th-This is the men's changing room, you can't just——"
"Ah."
"Si-Si-hyun...?"
My eyes locked dead-on with Elissa's, who'd followed behind.
"Hnnngh...! Mmmph...!!"
A half-naked guy forcibly covering a girl's mouth. Ehehe, we're screwed?
Well, since it's ruined anyway... time for a fitting line and a heroic last stand.
"Elissa, wanna make it a threesome?"
"Si-Si-hyun... Wh-What do you...?"
"Sister rice bowl. Honestly, always wanted to try it."
* * *
Dawn's Light: Staff Cafeteria
"Okay, sis~ Repeat after me. 'Sorry for barging in.'"
"Ughhh... S-Sorry for barging in, s-sorrrryyy..."
"Good. And Si-hyun~ you too. 'I won't spout weird lines recklessly~.'"
"I won't spout weird lines recklessly."
"Sigh... what am I even doing with two full-grown adults..."
After barely sorting the changing room fiasco, I'd dragged Victoria and Elissa to the cafe and snagged a table.
"Haha, at least the misunderstanding's cleared up, right?"
"I-I was so shocked thinking you really wanted to do that... th-three... thing with me and sis...!"
If I said I was half-serious, I'd get slapped for real this time? But denying it outright would hurt their pride, so a little teasing to wrap it up.
"Sorry, sorry. But saying I had zero interest in doing that with cuties like you two Victorias and Elissa? That'd be a lie, wouldn't it?"
"Y-Yeah... Wh-Whaaat?!?!?"
"Hahaha! Why so surprised? Anyway, Victoria, why'd you barge into the changing room?"
I turned to Victoria, leaving Elissa's flushed face alone.
"Oh, this! Came to pass it on!"
Thud— She pulled a few report sheets from her bosom and set them on the table. The title read:
Mengmang-grade Ghost Story Suspect: Leah Interim Isolation Report
With the isolation halfway done, the interim report must've come in.
"Leah's report, huh?"
"Yeah. Finished last night, report came in at dawn."
"Figured Si-hyunny, as Leah's guardian, would wanna know ASAP. So I dropped by to see your face too... didn't realize it was the changing room, though..."
"Haha, it's fine. You missed the sign up top, right? Happens."
——Flip flip.
I smirked and skimmed the summary and conclusion sections they'd handed over. The charts and mid-data were too jargon-heavy for me anyway.
Long story short, the interim results weren't bad.
"Ghost story energy's still detectable, but it's down slightly. At this rate, release in seven days should be feasible."
"Music to my ears."
Leah was backed into a corner physically and mentally. Early release was wishful thinking, but hitting the original schedule? Solid good news.
"Phew, what a relief."
I let out a sigh of relief and thanked Victoria and Elissa for hauling the docs over bright and early.
"Thanks for bringing it. Gotta head to Leah now, so I'll bounce."
"Hehe, entrusting Leah's guardianship to you was definitely the right call."
"Huh, outta nowhere?"
"Every time you think of Leah, these warm feelings bubble up. Makes even me feel at ease."
Elissa, with her emotion-reading, passed on one more heads-up.
"Si-hyun, the report shows Leah's emotional state isn't great. But she's way more stable with you, so take good care of her these last six days, okay?"
"Haha, didn't expect Eden to worry about Leah like this."
"We found her first in the UK, after all. Feels like our responsibility... something like that."
Elissa lightly took Victoria's hand in her lap and waved goodbye with a smile.
"Kinda bummed we only talked shop after so long. Next time, coffee with all three of us, Si-hyun."
"Ughh~ Elissa, I can say bye myself!"
"Hehe, but this way's cuter~"
"Haha, I'll head out first~ Let's grab a meal sometime."
"Sure! Bye, Si-hyunny!"
I said goodbye to the pair and headed for A-7 Special Isolation Room, where Leah was.
After Si-hyun left.
"Sigh, Elissa. You sure it's okay not telling Si-hyunny about this?"
Victoria sighed deeply, her voice laced with worry.
"No major incidents, and Leah's isolation ends smoothly. No need to plant needless anxiety in Si-hyun's heart, right?"
"True, but... feels like I'm lying to him on purpose, and it bugs me..."
Victoria owed Si-hyun big time. Without him in the Krappim ghost story, she might've died. So she wanted to spill the full report contents.
But.
"Sis, this was sent only to the master anyway. No obligation to tell Si-hyun, so don't feel too bad."
"Ung... Fine."
Elissa talked her out of it—picking at scabs would just make it worse—so Victoria had omitted the report's final section when briefing Si-hyun.
——Flip.
The report they hadn't shown Si-hyun was penned by a male researcher at Chris's request not long ago.
Mengmang-grade Ghost Story Suspect: Leah Euthanasia Experiment Protocol
This outlined responses if data showed meaningful changes during isolation or if most guild staff deemed Leah a danger. As the title Euthanasia implied, it brimmed with ways to dispose of her.
"I don't wanna hide stuff from Si-hyun either. But sometimes, a white lie's necessary."
"Yeah. Still, that bastard Chris... why write crap like this?"
"He said 'just in case'..."
"Hmph, 'just in case' my ass! That snake's definitely up to something shady again."
Chris had shown weirdly intense interest in mengmang-grades since the Phantom reports—borderline obsession. To him, powerless Leah was prime prey.
Try any funny business, and I'll pin you right there.
Victoria handed the report to Elissa and muttered low.
"Elissa, keep tabs on Chris's movements. Report anything off immediately."
"Got it, sis. Leave it to me."
A-7 Special Isolation Room
Right at lunchtime, when the researchers had cleared out.
"Mm...?"
Leah rubbed her sleepy eyes awake.
"Yaaawn~~ This body slept in for once."
Felt like ages since a solid snooze. The girl tidied the blanket on the floor while reminiscing yesterday.
——
"I'll stay by your side till you fall asleep—and till you wake up."
——"Family does that, right? Can't sleep comfy at home while you're suffering!"
"Even with the glass wall... yesterday wasn't lonely... hehe."
These past few days had been hell. She hadn't even craved her beloved pudding—appetite gone.
But Si-hyun seemed to know her heart, sticking by her side through the worst.
"Heh... So glad this body has Si-hyun."
Leah was dying to hear Si-hyun's reaction to her morning note. Childish scrawl packed with true feelings.
'Missin Si-hyun so bad.'
'Thx for comin evry day.'
'Love ya lots.'
She wanted to etch his face—the first time hearing her say she loved him—into her heart.
"Huuu~~ Si-hyun, come quick! This body misses you so muuuch~"
As Leah called his name, wishing he'd hurry——
——Clank.
A man's silhouette entered through the isolation room door, catching her eye.
"Ah! Si-hyun~~ Come heeere~!"
Assuming it was him, she scampered to the glass wall.
But.
"Mm...? Not Si-hyun...?"
Contrary to her hopes, the visitor wasn't Si-hyun.
Bow.
A man with a serpentine, chilling smirk lightly bowed to Leah.
"Pleased to meet you. Noblesse... or should I say, Leah?"
"Mm! This body is Leah! But... who might you be?"
"I'm——"
The stranger placed a hand softly on the glass, gazing down at her.
"Chris Evans."