Even I Don't Know Myself That Well (5)
The noisy sparring hall made it impossible to sleep, and Kim Jihye was left endlessly waiting for the earplugs that Salbyeol was supposed to bring. But thanks to Yun Yuri's unexpected declaration, the delivery of those earplugs had turned into nothing but a bubble. In the end, she'd managed to anger Kim Jihye twice in one day. Salbyeol decided to accept the scolding that would surely come later. Right now, the problem right in front of him was far more important.
"First of all, Lady Yuri asked what kind of place Magica is, right~yoyo?"
"Yeah."
"It's actually a world not all that different from Earth~yoyo. People live there, there's civilization, everything's the same~yoyo."
The very first thought Salbyeol had the moment he arrived on Earth was this: 'I know we've crossed dimensions, but the surroundings are so similar that I keep mistaking it for Magica—there's not a single bit of unfamiliarity.'
"Of course, that's probably not what you were asking about~yoyo. If you think of Magica as almost identical to Earth except for one single difference, you'll be pretty close~yoyo. What do you think that difference is~yoyo?"
Yuri looked flustered by the sudden quiz, but she quickly voiced what she'd been thinking.
"Mascots like you?"
"That's not entirely wrong~yoyo. There are indeed countless other mascots besides me in Magica~yoyo. But that's not the correct answer~yoyo."
"Then what is it?"
"It's simply… that magic is an incredibly natural phenomenon in Magica~yoyo."
Listening to Salbyeol's words, I thought about it. It had been nine years since magic, magical girls, and monsters first appeared. At first, humanity had found it all awkward and couldn't accept it, but now everyone was more familiar with it than anyone else. That was why the question naturally arose: 'Hasn't Earth become familiar enough with magic by now?'
But Salbyeol answered that it wasn't even close to the level Yuri was imagining.
"It's not a matter of mere decades~yoyo. We're talking thousands of years. In Earth's terms, magic was discovered so long ago that you'd have to go all the way back to the B.C. era~yoyo."
"Thousands of years?"
Yuri couldn't hide her astonishment and practically shouted. A world where magic had existed for thousands of years? It was something she'd never even imagined.
"In our world, records say humanity has been using magic since prehistoric times~yoyo."
"It's been that long?"
"Yes. That's why Magica trains magical girls in an extremely systematic and professional way~yoyo. The overall standard is that much higher too~yoyo."
The adaptation period had been completely different from the start. The people of Magica had been handling and studying magic for over a thousand years. The gap was incomparable to what Earth had managed so far. All that accumulated knowledge and experience had allowed magic in Magica to develop and evolve.
"But not everything in the world is good~yoyo. As you already know, Lady Yuri~yoyo."
"So there was a problem after all."
"You don't think gates and monsters only exist on Earth, do you~yoyo?"
"…"
Yuri's face twisted into a deep frown.
"Earth has certainly suffered a lot, but not nearly as much as Magica~yoyo. In Magica, countless nations and kingdoms throughout history have declined, been destroyed, or wiped out because of monsters~yoyo."
On Earth, there had been a few cases of countries falling to monsters, but they were extremely rare and limited to nations with tiny populations that had already been on the brink of collapse due to coups and civil wars. Besides, monsters only appeared every two weeks or so, and there weren't that many of them, so even cities could defend themselves without much damage. That was common knowledge among humanity. The prevailing view on Earth was that they were simply natural disasters that happened a bit more frequently than usual—something that could be overcome.
"It's a little embarrassing, but until just ten years ago, Magica was on the verge of total destruction~yoyo. The entire planet was one step away from being completely overrun by monsters~yoyo. Everyone had begun to despair. Culture, pride, hope—everything was crumbling~yoyo."
Salbyeol continued speaking as he recalled that distant past.
"The one who saved Magica at that time was none other than Lady Cosmo~yoyo. Thanks to Lady Cosmo's intervention, the situation was completely reversed. Humanity gained the chance to fight back against the monsters, and they seized that opportunity successfully~yoyo."
"…So Jihye unnie really did that."
"It's still amazing~yoyo. Whether it's talent or because she came from Earth, a place so different from Magica, Lady Cosmo's magical abilities improved by leaps and bounds~yoyo."
Having finished explaining up to this point, Salbyeol added one more thing. As if what came next was the real main point.
"The fact that Lady Cosmo grew so much means she wasn't exceptional from the very beginning~yoyo. In other words, she reached her current position only after putting in bone-crushing effort more times than one could count~yoyo."
In short—
"If you keep working hard, Lady Yuri, you too will one day become an outstanding magical girl~yoyo. I can promise you that~yoyo. I'll stake my entire career as a mascot who's worked with so many magical girls on it~yoyo."
The feelings he hadn't been able to convey before. Only today could Salbyeol finally put them into words. The encouragement he should have given yesterday. Hearing Salbyeol's support—which was practically a vow—Yuri's face burned hot. She felt embarrassed and ashamed. The childish way she'd acted before came back to her so clearly. The harsh words and attitude she'd shown yesterday still lingered in her mind. She couldn't even respond. She just stood there, face flushed red.
"Lady Yuri. I am your mascot~yoyo. There isn't a single mascot in this world who wishes for their assigned magical girl to be unhappy~yoyo. From now on, and until the day our bond comes to an end, I will support only you, thinking solely of you~yoyo. That's what it means to be a mascot~yoyo."
"Salbyeol…"
"So let's be friends again~yoyo."
Yuri pulled the brightly smiling Salbyeol into her arms.
"Haa… I'm dying."
I was so sleepy I felt like I was going to drop dead. Even when lunchtime came around, Salbyeol still hadn't shown up. Was fetching a single pair of earplugs from the infirmary really that hard? What kind of incredible espionage mission did I assign him that it was taking this long?
In the end, without the earplugs, I couldn't fall into a deep sleep. I did manage to doze off a little, but it wasn't nearly as refreshing as when I'd slept in the classroom. My body desperately wanted to sleep, but my head kept rejecting it. I was going insane.
"Huu…"
"Are you feeling really bad, Jihye?"
"A little… No. A lot."
I couldn't even bring myself to lie.
"In the afternoon, let's tell the teacher and get some re-rest!"
"I think I really should. I'm worried about you, Jihye."
Yeah. Just like Mijeong said, I should go to the infirmary and sleep in the afternoon. It wasn't even a real class. Forcing us to watch the first-years' sparring matches was a bit much. I'd tried to hold out as long as I could, but this was clearly my limit.
"Can't even eat lunch?"
"I want to, but…"
The class president looked at me with a worried tone.
"Miju, she looks really bad, doesn't she?"
"Y-yeah. It looks like resting is more im-important than eating."
The two of them whispered to each other for a moment before one of them suddenly hoisted me onto her back. I was startled by the sudden action, but I didn't even have the energy to complain.
"Jihye. No matter how I look at it, you need to rest first. I'll buy you something from the snack bar later for lunch."
"Ugh… thanks…"
"Let's go to the infirmary. Quickly."
Luckily—or maybe not—the first-year classroom building and the infirmary were quite close. That was why I'd used the sleeping room there so often before.
Creak.
Before long, the familiar sound of the infirmary door opening reached my ears.
"Ah. You kids again?"
"Hehe. Yes. Jihye said she's tired again today."
"…Sigh. There's a bed in the back, so lay her down there."
The school nurse—who might actually be more familiar to me than my own homeroom teacher—casually offered up a bed. The infirmary bed… It was white and fluffy, and it felt wonderful. It smelled like it had been soaked in sunlight. Seeing how satisfied I looked with the bedding, the kids finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then Jihye, if anything happens we'll come get you."
"Get plenty of re-rest!"
With those words, the kids left to eat lunch. I thought I could finally sleep in peace and was about to close my eyes when I realized I wasn't the only person in the infirmary. Someone in the bed right next to mine was rustling around noisily.
I'd been planning to just ignore it and sleep, but the constant noise made me wonder what kind of person it was, so I turned my head to look.
"Oh… it's you."
A face I'd seen somewhere before. A girl with overall sharp features. Thanks to her cat-like, piercing eyes, she gave off an incredibly strong-willed impression. She looked like the type who would never cry no matter what. And yet that same girl had gauze patches all over her body and was sniffling with red, bloodshot eyes, clearly having just finished crying.
"You're crying?"
"…What are you?"
I asked if she was crying, but her reaction was pretty hostile.
"Whether I cry or not, what's it to you?"
"It does matter. It's so loud I can't sleep. Yawn."
"…What did you say? What grade are you in? I've never seen your face before."
The girl growled angrily. I gave her a single reply.
"What does it matter to you? Hnnng. So sleepy… Night night."
"Hey… hey!"
Come to think of it, I think I saw her at the sparring hall earlier. Who was she again?