Laying the Bait

I'd stopped operating as Hemoregia for a few days because I wanted Radiant White to get some proper rest.

Magical girl or not, she'd been searching for so long it was starting to worry me.

...Honestly, I hadn't expected Radiant White to be this obsessed with her older sister. Which meant I had a few things of my own to adjust.

In a way, taking a break was for my sake too.

Still, every time I saw that comet tearing noisily across the night sky, it was clear she intended to keep roaming until she found what she was looking for.

"Doesn't she ever get tired?"

I muttered it out of genuine curiosity, and Na-rae—already changed into her pajamas—yawned and answered like I was an idiot for not knowing, even as a former magical girl.

"As long as they don't get knocked out cold in one hit, those girls can keep going forever if their willpower holds out."

"I wasn't asking you."

"I know. I just felt like answering. Yaaawn. I'm actually going to bed now, so don't go outside and cause trouble."

I stared at her, dumbfounded, as she lectured me like some guardian or mother before heading off to sleep. Na-rae just walked into the bedroom with the brazen air of someone who didn't care what I thought about it.

"Still, flying around cutting her sleep short like that can't be good for her body."

I only ever wanted my little sister not to have to suffer like that.

Both I and the Shining White inside me found the current Radiant White worrying.

It felt like she would keep charging around looking for her sister without a second thought until willpower alone couldn't carry her anymore—until she collapsed from sheer exhaustion and fell out of the sky.

It was a little presumptuous, considering I was the one toying with her, but Radiant White needed to start moving with at least a shred of a plan.

I wasn't exactly the type to map everything out in meticulous detail myself, but even I didn't thrash around that recklessly.

...Sure, things sometimes went sideways and I ended up charging in headfirst anyway, but at least I thought things through up to that point. That put me ahead of Radiant White.

And more than anything, I didn't blindly throw myself at opponents I couldn't beat or goals I couldn't reach.

Anyway, she clearly wasn't going to rein herself in on her own, which meant someone from the outside would have to tell her to rest.

There was no one around her who would say it, so it looked like that someone would have to be me.

I racked my brain for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a moment over how to go about it, then remembered she had left me a phone number.

Right—back then, she'd given it to me and asked me to contact her right away if I ever had a tip related to Hemoregia.

I was about to step out somewhere nearby to make the call when Na-rae's words from a moment ago came back to me. Don't go outside and cause trouble, she'd said.

Come to think of it, though—even if this place got exposed to Radiant White, it wouldn't exactly be a catastrophe, would it?

And if you asked why I was suddenly cooking up something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so underhanded, the answer was Na-rae.

Yeah. This was all that woman's fault. Who told her to shoot her mouth off so rudely in front of her exalted master?

It was about time I reminded her who was in charge around here, and she'd given me the perfect excuse herself.

I decided to summon Radiant White here. Ah—not all the way into this room, of course. Just to the lodging where we were staying.

That alone should be more than enough to shrink Na-rae's pea-sized guts down to nothing.

Grinning, I dialed the number White had given me.

Before a single ring could even sound, the call connected, and Radiant White's rather desperate voice came through, calling me Benefactor.

Hmm. Good. So she was still in contact with Su-hyeok.

...Yeah, that was a relief. It meant things were progressing the way they had in the original.

"Ah, sorry. I don't know who this Benefactor of yours is, but I'm not that person."

Radiant White froze for a moment, then desperately begged me to please pretend I hadn't heard a word of what she'd just said.

"Hm? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

I played dumb with complete shamelessness, and the gratitude radiating through the phone was so thick I could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feel it from here.

"Hm? Ah, no, not that. But I do have something that should help you right away. If you're not too busy, I'd like you to come to where I am…"

"Sure, the location is… wait, what?"

What did she just say? Found me? Did she use Sky from all the way up there?

No way. Even so, that comet was far enough away that it was just a distant glitter.

Don't tell me she used Pegasus again to pin down my location?

I didn't even have time to figure out how she'd done it. The comet streaked straight toward me and stopped dead right in front of my nose.

"With light, like a hero! Radiant White has arrived to illuminate the darkness!"

"Piercing the vast sky… ughhh… Sky, reporting in…"

She'd managed the entrance line, but she looked more worn out than usual. Sky, trailing in behind her, looked like an absolute wreck for a magical girl.

Still, at least she'd stopped toting the girl around like a shopping bag. That was something, I supposed.

"…I never told you where I was calling from."

I pointed it out lightly, and Radiant White averted her eyes, launching into something about how following proper procedure might make her late to enacting justice.

"Are magical girls just allowed to break the law whenever they feel like it?"

Pressed that hard, even a shameless Radiant White looked a little guilty. She papered it over with a halfhearted ahaha.

"S-so! What information did you want to give me?"

"Ugh, fine. If you were going to listen when someone told you, you'd have fixed that habit a long time ago."

Someday she's going to get burned badly for that. Thinking that to myself, I asked if she wanted to know how to summon Hemoregia.

"…You're going to tell me?"

"Not for your sake. For mine. It's already hard enough sleeping with how bright it is during the day—add your light on top of that and I can't get a wink of rest."

Saying I was doing it for her might have sounded strange, so I made sure to frame it clearly and leave no room for misunderstanding.

"S-so you're telling me either way, right?"

"Yeah. I'll cut to the conclusion. Finding Mother is going to be impossible for you. Summoning her, though—that you can do."

"That means…"

"You remember the things Mother did to draw you out, right? And if I'm not mistaken, she probably taunted you mid-fight too. Even speaking as her child… our mother doesn't exactly have a great personality."

I remembered all of it, of course, but I phrased it like a child piecing together her mother's behavior. Radiant White's expression darkened a little, and she agreed without hesitation.

"It did seem that way."

...Looks like that whole "that outfit doesn't suit you" dig left a pretty deep mark. Or if not a wound, at least something she'd filed away.

"So for someone with that kind of personality, she's not exactly the forgiving type, you know? Which means—what if you tried taunting Mother this time?"

"…Me? That monster?"

"Yeah. Say, for example, you bring up the things Mother said to you and needle her a little… she'll react immediately. She hates that kind of thing."

I was just dressing up the kinds of things that would irritate me in a way that sounded plausible.

To White, though, it apparently came across as completely serious advice.

She gripped her magic wand tightly, face grave, as if carefully weighing my suggestion.

"So I should draw her out from my side…"

"Something like that, roughly. Ideally on your home ground, or somewhere you've already set the stage. After all, this place is Mother's territory, isn't it?"

I had no intention of staying stuck in Incheon forever, so I was also planting a nice, convenient reason for her to leave the city.

"…A lure, then."

Given Radiant White's personality, she would normally balk at something like that—call it cowardly, unworthy of a hero. But could her hero worship really outweigh how badly she wanted to see her sister?

I didn't think so. She'd take the bait for sure.

"You want to find her with your own hands, I can tell… but sometimes things just don't go the way you want."

I offered a bit of advice of my own, tending to her mental state, and Radiant White answered in a voice that sounded thoroughly reluctant.

"I… suppose so. I'm not my sister, after all… I can't win every fight, or handle every moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠perfectly."

"You really look up to this sister of yours, huh?"

"Of course. My sister is… my eternal hero!"

"Is searching for our mother connected to your sister, too?"

Radiant White started to answer, then cut herself off awkwardly, as if deciding she couldn't say more to me.

Well, I hadn't expected anything.

"I don't know the details, but I'll be praying things work out for you. And give your friend a break. She looks like a total mess."

I singled out Sky, who'd been doing nothing but gasping for breath without a single word the whole time, said I'd call again if anything came up, and left.

That should be enough. She'd handle the rest on her own from here.