You Called Her Unnie?

After we sat down at the café, I finally heard the whole story from Emily, from start to finish.

If I had to guess, it was a trail only White Ghost could have followed. She knew the Silent Killing Method even better than I did.

That one was on me.

Even in the game, White Ghost was the sort whose information never really leaked. I never thought she would go this far.

"It really was a disaster, you know."

"Emily, that wasn't a natural disaster. That was a man-made one."

"Well, she came because she wanted to see you, little lady, so I suppose you could call it a disaster of your own making."

She wasn't wrong. This whole mess had started because White Ghost had gotten hung up on me.

And that was not a good thing.

I'd claimed to be White Ghost's daughter because I figured it would work in my favor. I never imagined she would start actively tailing me like this.

Too much love and too much attention could become a hindrance all on their own.

"Tiss looking exactly like her, and now M-Mom's obsessed... hmmmmm."

Shan wore a serious expression for the first time in a long while.

Did she know something about White Ghost?

Shan, did you find out something new?

"Huh...? No, I just... doesn't it make your heart race? Like it's some kind of taboo?"

Haaa.

Shan, you... never mind. At least one of us should be happy.

"Huh...?"

There was no need for all three of us to get a headache over this.

"For now, let's just say we've been granted a reprieve."

Emily said that as she tapped away at the tablet she'd brought, drafting a report for her superiors.

"This is turning into a real headache."

"Is the work getting complicated?"

"Complicated, and there's a lot of it. I've still got my homeroom duties at the Academy, I have to cover for Katie, and now White Ghost is tangled up in all of it on top of that."

I hadn't meant for any of this, but watching Emily buckle under that crushing workload still pricked at my conscience.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Don't worry about it, little lady. I'll handle this somehow. You just focus on your own work. If things really go south, I can always drop your mom's name. She wouldn't kill her daughter's friend, would she?"

"White Ghost takes the weight of her name seriously. I wouldn't recommend that."

"Ahaha. Nothing's ever easy, is it?"

Unlike White Ghost, who wouldn't care so long as it didn't involve me, the moment a Hero candidate who'd drawn the Holy Sword started asking why Emily had been there and what that massacre was about, things would get as messy as she'd said.

All I could do was hope Emily handled it well.

From the unplanned job of protecting Katie to White Ghost's death threats, I owed Emily in more ways than one.

"If you need my help, just say the word."

"If I had my way, I'd dump this report on you first... I'll tell you later."

Emily cracked that joke, then took a sip of tea and caught her breath.

"Shouldn't you be focusing on tomorrow's duel instead of worrying about me, little lady?"

"I already put out the immediate fire. I've got enough room to hear you out."

"Hmm... no. We've both got things that need handling right in front of us, so shouldn't we take care of those first~? You've got your subspace duel, I've got this report. Right?"

"You always put things off like that, Emily. Is it because you don't trust me enough to tell me?"

"No, no. Of course not. Don't tell me you're actually worried about me? What a sweet thing to say."

She said that, then scooted her hips a little closer to mine.

"Aigoo, you're just too cute. If you really want to help, there is one way."

"What is it?"

"Mind if I pet you a little, little lady?"

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. I think it'd pick me right up."

She'd feel better from just that?

Well, if that was all it took.

"Fine... I'll allow the head, at least."

"Thanks~ Excuse me for a moment, then."

Stroke, stroke.

Emily really did look happy. The mask-like stiffness melted off her face as she smiled, softly petting my hair.

"Haa, this feels pretty nice. So this is what Lady White Ghost was feeling?"

"Eeeh?"

Shan stared at me with startled eyes.

"T-Tiss. You hate being petted. Didn't you say last time it made ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you feel like you were being treated like a toy?"

That's right. I don't mind doing it, but I'm not a fan of receiving it.

"Huh? You still hate it, so why'd you let Emily?"

Because she's been putting up with a lot thanks to us. If this is enough to cheer her up, that's a net gain.

"Tiss, you're sneakily shrewd."

Call it being smart.

Honestly, I didn't enjoy being petted at random by other people. But I'd been leaning on Emily a lot lately. If this was enough to lift her mood, I could allow that much.

"Then why'd you let White Ghost?"

White Ghost just went ahead and did it on her own.

And unlike Emily, whom I'd given permission only after steeling myself, White Ghost looked so identical to me that I didn't feel much of anything about it.

"Your hair's really so full, little lady. Like a sheep. Hair good enough to make into an artifact really is different from the ground up, huh? And it smells nice, like freshly baked bread. Whoever it ends up being, they're going to have a great time brushing it later."

Twitch, twitch.

Every time Emily's hand passed over my ears, they flicked on their own.

"Haa, I'm finally calming down. All thanks to you, little lady."

"You're joking."

"Come on, I'm not. My condition really did come back."

Emily returned, quite literally, to her usual slit-eyed poker face, the one that radiated mastermind energy from every pore.

My hair didn't have some kind of sedative effect. How had she recovered?

"To answer your earlier question—why wouldn't I trust the next-generation Hero who even beat Cheon Geomhwa? I trust you."

"Then why?"

"There's a natural order to things, you know? You get what I mean."

"Emily, there's no such thing as a friendship where one person only gives and the other only takes."

I said the words I'd been holding in my heart for a while, as Emily winked and tried to gloss over it again.

"I didn't know you had such a cute side, little lady."

"Emily, I'm being serious."

"I know, I know. Then how about a promise? Once tomorrow's duel is over, I'll tell you what I was going to ask."

"Mm... alright."

She'd even made a promise. I couldn't keep pushing after that.

If I compared Emily's words to a game, it was like needing to clear a side quest before tackling the main scenario.

After saying goodbye to Emily, I returned to the dorm, where Sia and Dorothy came out to greet me.

"Angel-nim, you're back?"

"Tiss Unnie, I'm asking again just in case, but you really don't need our help?"

"I'm fine. This kind of thing only means something if I do it on my own. Trust me."

"Of course I trust you, Tiss Unnie."

"I believe you'll win too, Angel-nim."

"Thanks, both of you."

This wasn't about whether I was confident. This duel was something I could handle alone.

If I couldn't even solve a problem at the level of Academy freshmen from the prologue, how was I supposed to get through everything that came after?

I could do this. I had to.

"Then I'll turn in early tonight to rest up for tomorrow's duel."

"Yeah, get some good rest. See you tomorrow, Unnie."

"I'll be cheering for you, Angel-nim!"

I went into my room, locked the door just in case, and pulled out ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ichor to seal it shut.

Hooo.

"It's been a while since I did this."

It was something I always used to do, but this was the first time since coming to Area 3.

I lay down on the bed, got comfortable, and started reviewing and organizing the Essences I'd absorbed.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

When I opened my eyes, the morning sun was already coming up.

"Finally. It's done."

Using the newly acquired Hoyeonjigi as a foundation, I'd organized and systematized the functions I needed, then stored the rest as an energy reserve. The whole process had taken a full day.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Tiss Unnie, you up? It's about time to get ready."

"I'm up. Just a second."

"Ah, take your time coming out. Dorothy's washing up, and I was just about to start on breakfast."

I lightly stretched out a body that had gone stiff overnight, ate the breakfast Sia had prepared, and headed to the Academy with Siu, who'd been waiting for us.

The classroom door rattled open.

When we stepped inside, quite a few students were already there, unlike yesterday.

I checked the clock, wondering if we were late, but it wasn't much different from yesterday. The kids had just shown up early.

"She's here."

"And so the protagonist makes her entrance."

I wondered who they meant for a second, then understood immediately when I saw everyone looking at me.

Yi Rumi couldn't hold back her curiosity and came bursting over.

"You're Tiss, right? With all that insane stuff yesterday, we never even got to say a proper hello."

"It's fine."

"But hey. Were you serious about what you said yesterday? You're really planning to fight who-knows-how-many of those guys by yourself and win? Without Siu and Sia?"

"That's the plan."

Wheeeew—

Yi Rumi whistled and gave me a thumbs-up.

"Whoa, as expected of a Hero. Your ambitions are on another level. So from day two of school, you're gonna smash every punk you don't like and lock down the top-dog seat for the whole year?"

I hadn't provoked them for a reason that childish.

"O-oh, you weren't?"

That kind of thing just follows naturally. You don't have to worry about it.

Led by Yi Rumi, students started crowding around me one or two at a time, firing off questions.

"Ugh... t-too many people, and they're too close."

Shan was getting uncomfortable, so I was about to tell them to back off when—

"Alright, alright, that's ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough."

The sharp-eyed Sia and Siu stepped in as self-appointed bodyguards, inserting themselves between me and the cluster of students.

"Guys, Tiss Unnie has a match in a bit, so give her some space. Ask your questions after."

"...Huh?"

"Tiss... Unnie?"

At that one word from Sia, every gaze that had been piled on me swung over to her.