Brightness
There was so much I could have said about Baek Eun-hwa.
If she hadn't been an A-Class hero—if she'd been a relatively lower rank, if she hadn't been so wildly famous, if she hadn't been constantly appearing in commercials and TV programs—and if she'd been the only hero I was assigned to, I would have seriously nagged her every single day. But I was responsible for three of them.
Even though the Special Agent position had made my hours considerably more flexible and my workload lighter, I still couldn't afford to pour all my focus into her. I still had to keep helping Batori and Saran, and there were still days I had to show up at the Association office. No matter that becoming a Special Agent had started because of Baek Eun-hwa, I couldn't treat her as truly special above the others. Neglecting the people I was currently assigned to would have been even more unthinkable.
So I went about my usual schedule, hoping she would gradually improve from the things I had already said to her.
"Saran, I'll be in your care today."
"Mm."
A week had slipped by, and it was Saran's regular counseling day. She had pulled up in front of my studio apartment in her impressive personal car, and I offered her a light greeting.
Today was different from usual. We were going somewhere Saran actually wanted to go. Until now, I had always been the one to suggest some nearby café or restaurant, and we would spend our time there. But today, we were heading to a place Saran had thought about, decided on, and wanted to visit even just a little.
"Hehe."
"Why are you laughing?"
"I was just wondering where you're taking me today."
A smile started coming naturally. I still hadn't heard exactly where we were going, which only made me more excited. She usually only ever went as far as the convenience store. I was genuinely curious where she would want to go this time, and what kind of place she would want to spend time in. It was something she was doing because I'd asked her to, so it might not have been a hundred percent voluntary...
"Saran, where are we going?"
"Just somewhere on the outskirts of the city. You'll know when we get there."
"Ah..."
So just a little outside the city, then. I almost never had a reason to leave D City. Work kept me here, and the heroes I was assigned to all operated inside the city anyway. Whenever I met them, it was always within city limits. I had never gone out to see some place beyond the city the way I was with Saran now.
Just look at Batori, for instance. Most of our meetings were at cafés near the Association, restaurants, or the Association itself. Meeting somewhere farther away would have been the strange part. But in this case, going somewhere distant was the method for solving Saran's problem.
We drove along in Saran's car. D City was ringed by mountains, and the farther we traveled from its heart, the more the urban scenery fell away. High-rises dwindled; trees and wild greenery took their place. It felt less like heading out to the countryside and more like simply traveling toward nature itself, which only made me think even more about what kind of place Saran had chosen.
"Saran, where are we going?"
"We'll be there soon. Just wait."
"Uh... okay..."
Saran had flipped her social-skills switch off again, so I couldn't get an answer. All I could do was wait until we arrived. After another ten minutes or so of driving, we pulled up at...
"A cave?"
"Yeah."
It was somewhere I never would have expected. A cave. Or maybe a cave café? Or a cave theme park? I was pretty surprised we had ended up somewhere this unique, but Saran had spent a whole week thinking about this. She had come here because she actually wanted to. It wasn't weird so much as distinctive. People were walking in smiling and walking out smiling, so there was no reason to think poorly of the place.
"This is such a fascinating place. I'd never even heard there was something like this outside the city."
"I looked it up."
"When you suddenly said we were going outside the city, I was so curious. I never imagined you'd bring me somewhere this unique. Is it some kind of theme park?"
"Something like that."
"Ah, I see."
It seemed similar to the wine cave we had visited last time. Though that had felt more like a tunnel than a cave. This place had a much more natural feel. From the entrance onward, the surroundings had a thoroughly nature-friendly atmosphere, and even though it was summer, it was a bit cooler here than in the city.
"Let's go inside."
After we had taken a slow look around the entrance and the surroundings, Saran led me in.
Saran quietly watched Charlotte, who was staring around with her mouth hanging open in a slightly foolish expression.
It was not that she was staring a hole through her. It was not that she was looking at her with some unusual, special emotion. It was not that she was looking at her for some reason she could never explain to anyone else.
Absolutely not.
The only reason Saran was looking at the platinum-blonde girl assigned to her was curiosity.
"Saran, how did you even find a place like this? I've lived in D City for quite a while, and I had no idea there was somewhere this nice."
"I just found it on the internet."
It had not even been difficult. Just a few search terms. Things like date spot recommendations, places for two people, summer getaways. She had searched those roughly, and this was the place that had appealed to her relatively more than the others. Of course, the searching itself had been something Charlotte wanted her to do, but Saran had not put much thought into the place they had come to today.
"Hehe, is that so? They do say the internet is an ocean of information. It makes it easy to find nice places like this."
"Mm."
"I've actually been curious about your tastes, spending so much time with you... Do you like quiet places like this?"
"I don't dislike it."
That was right. She didn't dislike it. A small theme park and café themed around a cave that was not noisy, was relatively quiet, and at the same time was not hot—relatively cool. That was all it was, and Saran did not attach any particular meaning to it.
But unlike her, Charlotte walking beside her had been smiling continuously for a while now.
Saran felt that curiosity stir again at the sight of her counselor. She could not understand how someone could treat her this well. She could not understand why someone would offer such a bright smile over something that was, at most, another person's business. Even though she was a hero, even though she did not consider herself a bad person, understanding her counselor was not easy. Perhaps that was because Saran had been living an unusual life for over five years.
"Wow... there are amethysts inside the cave like this. Isn't that amazing?"
"...Yeah."
"They decorated the inside of the amethyst cave like this and even added more things to see... I think it's really nice. It has a completely different feel from the wine cave we went to last time, doesn't it?"
"It does."
"And it's been so hot out, so being this cool is even better. Oh, you usually like dressing warmly—how's summer for you?"
"My body temperature changes easily. It's a bit hard for me, personally."
"Oh... that makes sense. If it's too cool, you'd get cold, and if there's no air conditioning at all... then it'd just be too hot?"
"Yeah."
The girl who responded so sincerely to every short word Saran said did not come across as fake or performative to anyone watching. Saran thought those reactions came out because she genuinely felt that way. Which only made it harder to understand.
"Wow..."
It was just a cave. Just a slightly chilly, gloomy place. What was so good about it?
Saran, who had spent years alone, passing all her time except work inside a dark house, could not understand her brightness. Sure, there were a few unusual things, starting with the amethysts. But it was still just a cave that should not have warranted a reaction that good.
How could she be like that?
And so her gaze kept being drawn there. That was how Saran explained the reason for her own behavior. The truth was, even she could not precisely explain why her eyes kept going there. She just did.
"Saran, shall I take a picture of you?"
"Do whatever you want."
"Hehe."
When they had first met, it had just been through an introduction from an old acquaintance who now worked as the Team Leader at the Association's Welfare Bureau. She had only left an impression of being unusual. But as the days passed, that impression had become curiosity for Saran. Wonder. Her thoughts kept multiplying, until now, whenever she was with her counselor, her mind was entirely focused on her.
Even the smallest actions—things that could be dismissed as nothing special—kept making her think more and more, kept making her try to understand. Someone who sparkled, unlike herself—dull, gloomy, as dark as the cave they were walking through now.
"Saran?"
"...Ah. Yeah."
"What's wrong? Are you cold? Is it too chilly?"
"No. I just... it's pretty."
"Ahh... the cave is really pretty, isn't it? At first I just thought of it as a cool place, but starting with the amethysts, isn't it just gorgeous?"
"...Yeah."
Every time Saran answered without realizing it, her thoughts piled up so much that even simple replies came out a little off-kilter. That was probably why.
Probably.