Catherine Lee
Catherine Lee
A girl born as the protagonist of the world, blessed with a golden destiny. Before she knew it, she had become an adult—and, naturally, a legend of the city.
But the girl, Catherine, still couldn't tell the past from the present.
Only her body had grown.
They called her an idol of the mercenary world.
Letting out a scoff at the absurdity, Catherine lifted her head and gazed up at the sky.
Thick with clouds, the low sky of Neon City—gloomy beyond compare—loomed overhead just as it always did.
When she was young, she used to think the city would be different from the outside.
But the city was exactly the same as the outside world. The clouds hid the stars from view.
No, actually, now that she thought about it, maybe the stars were more visible outside the city.
At the garbage landfill, for a few days each year, there were moments when the moon, the stars, and countless satellites would sparkle.
The clouds, blocked by the shielding barrier, would swirl in place forever unless the city's ventilation system worked properly.
Considering such things, there were even aspects where the outside was better.
...What exactly was so great about the city? Catherine still didn't know.
Recalling the girl in her memories who had yearned for the city, Catherine stared blankly at the sky.
"...Sigh."
A light sigh escaped Catherine's lips.
Maybe it was because she'd seen an object she used to play with as a child. Today of all days, memories of the past welled up vividly.
It was just after that when the rooftop door opened.
Side EP. Catherine Lee
Huh?
"Where's Catherine?"
It's about dinner time. Where'd she disappear to?
Of course, normally I'd have wolfed down the meal Eve prepared with a hearty 'I shall gratefully partake!', but honestly, how can a person live on nothing but gourmet cuisine every single day?
Sometimes you just crave the city's cheap and stimulating instant food.
So, wanting to decide on the menu, I looked for Catherine and asked Eve about her whereabouts.
Eve, my ever-reliable Doraemon who always gave me the right answer, responded to my question with a demure posture.
"The current location of the human 'Catherine' is 'Golden Smile Condominium' 'Rooftop'."
"...Ah."
Hmm.
The rooftop was supposed to be off-limits. This building would be no exception. Actually, considering Neon City's high suicide rate, that made sense.
But then I recalled the Chairman's authority—having purchased this entire building—and soon nodded.
So going up was fine, then.
I thought about just sending a message to call Catherine down, but curiosity about the rooftop got the better of me, and I decided to go up and find the golden girl in person.
The other housemates would be back soon enough. Going now seemed better than searching later.
I grabbed the mask I'd hung on the wall and put it over my mouth.
Eve's transparent pupils stared at me.
What, wanted to come along? But Eve's answer wasn't that.
"The current temperature in the 'North Houston' area is lower than the previous year."
Guess it's because it's autumn. The weather had turned a bit chilly, it seemed.
Having retrieved my coat from the styler, Eve bowed her head gently and said to me,
"Maintaining body temperature is recommended."
It was Eve, who followed me everywhere, every day. I asked her, curiosity lacing my voice.
"You're not coming with?"
At my question, Eve stared at me intently once more. Once upon a time, that gaze might have made me feel incredibly self-conscious.
But who was I? A man living with a whopping seven women.
I'd long since gone past the point where Eve's stare could pressure me.
.......
Actually, maybe not quite yet. I subtly averted my gaze from her and waited for Eve's answer.
After a moment, Eve spoke to me.
"I also wish to do so, but for now, going alone as 'Si-un' will yield a more efficient result."
We're just going to see one person. I don't know what kind of efficient result she was looking for.
"If you say so."
Anyway, Eve's word was probably right.
I accepted the coat Eve handed me, draped it over my shoulders, and headed for the front door.
If only my physical traits didn't include that 'slow recovery,' I'd have gotten temperature-regulating cyberware installed. A real shame.
"I'll be back in a bit."
"Confirmed."
I gave Eve a short wave goodbye, opened the front door, and passed through the hallway.
Even though this entire floor had become 'one house,' the hallway's exterior hadn't changed much.
I stepped into the elevator.
Now that I looked, in the old days a red X-shaped hologram would have appeared over the button leading to the rooftop, but now there wasn't a trace of it.
After a brief moment of appreciation, I pressed the rooftop button.
The elevator rose, defying gravity with a subtle vibration.
I stared at the numbers displayed above the elevator door, leaned my back against the wall, and waited until we reached the rooftop.
- Dding-dong.
What, we've already arrived─.
"Huh?"
Outside the open elevator doors, a masked weirdo in a white lab coat looked at me and tilted their head.
I stared at the mask—its eyes, nose, and mouth were absent—and asked.
"......Dr. Terra-nim?"
The person I'd spoken with about Maya last time: a chief researcher from Monolith.
"What brings you here, Doctor?"
"Hahaha, if I don't assist the Chairman-nim, who will?"
Wouldn't the chief secretary do that? I thought to myself as I watched Dr. Terra.
The elevator had only stopped for a moment, but Dr. Terra's chatty nature was already on full display.
"And there's also Maya-ssi's case, and for now, I manage the Chairman-nim's 'prosthetic body' after all."
Now that they mentioned it, I had heard that a prosthetic body management facility had been built on another floor of the building.
I nodded and agreed with Dr. Terra's words. That made sense.
"Also, I'm busy supervising the construction of the wine bar, spa, and cinema facilities—busy, busy."
"...Wait a minute."
Supervising what construction?
"Ah, now that I think about it, there might have been an order to minimize construction noise and ensure the 'special management target' doesn't notice...."
Dr. Terra raised a finger gallantly over their metal mask.
"Keep it a secret from the Chairman-nim that I told you~. Seems they're planning it as a surprise gift. Hahaha...."
"......."
"Oh dear, well, I'm busy too. I thought it was the downward direction, but it was the opposite."
Did they say that on purpose? Or was it a genuine slip-up?
Dr. Terra pressed the elevator's close button for me, steering things at their own pace.
While I stood there bewildered, unable to say anything, Dr. Terra waved a hand at me from beyond the elevator doors.
"Let's go get coffee sometime~."
The doors closed and Dr. Terra's figure vanished.
Be that as it may, I was starting to wonder what the Chairman was planning to do with this building.
There hadn't been any inter-floor noise at all. I even wondered if that was physically possible.
"......."
Hmm.
I decided to ignore it for now. It's not like they're plotting anything bad, so I'll just pretend I don't know.
I slowly stepped out of the elevator that had arrived at the rooftop. At the same time, a violent gust blew in from outside and pulled the hood off my head.
It was my first time on this building's rooftop, too. The filter color of my smart mask turned red. I felt the severity of the fine dust with my entire body.
And in the center of that rooftop, the Catherine I'd been looking for was crouching down, staring up at the sky.
Catherine, whose senses were sharper than most, would surely have known I'd come up in the elevator. But she didn't turn her gaze this way; she was solely looking at the sky.
I quietly approached and stood beside her, looking up at the sky just like Catherine.
"What do you see?"
"...Just looking."
The sky was dark and thick with clouds. The light of holographic billboards outshone the moonlight—a landscape just like usual.
I noticed Catherine's condition. It seemed that talking about the past earlier had put her in a sentimental mood—what you could call 'golden girl mode.'
...Well, it was understandable.
The density of the few years we'd experienced recently was different from the years experienced as a child.
Childhood memories could become dreams or motivations that shape a lifetime; conversely, it was common for memories to take root as trauma.
I couldn't exactly take a full-grown golden girl to a cyberpunk child counseling center. We could go to a regular mental counseling center, but considering how our socialization scores would plummet, that wasn't a great choice either.
In the end, resolving that worry was—for now—my role as her childhood friend.
I crouched down beside Catherine. The creak of my leg joints reminded me of my garbage-tier physical traits all over again. I'd definitely had implant surgery on my joints, but I didn't know why they were still in this state.
A short silence followed.
What was Catherine thinking as she stared at the cloud-filled sky? I didn't know.
I couldn't know unless I was a psychic. Even being an outstanding mage didn't make me omnipotent.
Was she longing for the past, or reflecting on a missed mistake?
At times like this, usually, just staying by her side would be enough.
But I had heard the story of the past too, and was feeling a little sentimental.
"Should I buy you some Pit Mac Burger?"
"......Do you want to die?"
It didn't sound like a joke. I wish she'd go a little easy on the threats.
I felt the frozen atmosphere thaw just a bit. Not missing the chance, I spoke to Catherine, a hint of laughter in my voice.
"Wait about 3 minutes..., no, 1 minute."
"Why?"
Not telling. I gathered mana inwardly and thought.
Beside Catherine, I simply gazed at the sky.
Like that time in the past when I'd burst light at that vagrant: if I gathered mana without thinking about the danger, it wouldn't even take a minute.
But now that I'd learned a bit about magic, I couldn't pull that kind of stunt anymore.
I gathered mana with safety in mind as best I could. I'll confess it now, but if I'd made a mistake the first time I used magic, the sewers might have been blown away.
...I really need to take that one to the grave. I thought briefly.
Soon, a minute had passed.
"Watch closely."
"...What is it."
Without answering, I extended my index finger and pointed at the sky.
Catherine, being a muggle, probably wouldn't feel it. But in this moment, the mana I'd compressed entered between the clouds.
The compressed mana moved according to my image. A small shockwave, a small amount of wind, and an intensely strong light. A massive 'hole' was punched through the sky.
Through the gray clouds, a dark blue galaxy elegantly emerged.
"......Whoa."
At that magical sight, Catherine stared blankly up at the sky.
...The cops aren't gonna show up, right? I, who had cast the magic, was inwardly worrying about that.
I admired Catherine's face as she looked up at the sky with a wondrous expression. The image of the golden girl I'd seen as a child flickered across her features.
Because of the raging gusts, the hole punched in the sky soon disappeared.
"Show me stuff like this more often."
"Ahem, the great Mage-nim grants your request, so I shall."
"......."
Fortunately, the dark expression that had settled on Catherine's face didn't return.
And until Eve came up to the rooftop to find us, we stayed like that, looking at each other.
* * *
"...What did you say?"
"I said, be my daily manager or something."
A class change from mage to manager, huh. I listened to Andrea's request and thought.