Reveal Your Identity!
Is this really happening?
Thankfully, my sister came back soon after saying she was just stepping out to talk to someone, and she mediated the fight. But I never imagined they'd clash like this over something as simple as me calling him "mister."
Come to think of it, though—he was the first one I called "mister" because of his age, but it was sis who mocked him for it, right? And that's what sparked the fight. So, it's not my fault, is it?
"What on earth were you two fighting about?"
At my sister's sigh-laced question, the pair exchanged a glance before pointedly looking away. It seemed like they couldn't even stand talking to each other anymore.
"Haa... When are you two going to grow up? Fighting like that in front of a kid—does that make any sense?"
"Sorry."
She was properly laying into them. Of course, even if they hurled insults at each other, it wouldn't really affect me. I'd never seen them brawl with rude language up close, but stuff like that was a dime a dozen in online communities.
Still, there was this oppressive vibe, like the air itself was weighing down on me while they fought. And obviously, I couldn't just sit there on the sofa between them forever, so I slipped away and huddled in a corner somewhere. I'd heard that jumping in to mediate between fighters was about the dumbest thing you could do, so I stayed out of it. Besides, with this kid-sized body, trying to break it up would've just gotten me pummeled to death.
"Seol-i, can you tell me what happened?"
Uh-oh. Of course, I'd watched the whole thing from start to finish, so explaining wasn't impossible. But what if I said the fight started over something as petty as calling each other "mister" and "missus"? And from the perspective of someone who'd witnessed it all? As weird as it sounds for a kid to say that out loud...?
Sure enough, the two who were getting scolded were shooting me these desperate, pleading looks not to spill it. Naturally, with eyes like that...
Words might not cut it, so I typed out my prepared explanation on the cell phone I'd just gotten.
That should do it. My sister stared in disbelief as the TTS read it out in my stead.
"Y-You're... actually using the phone I gave you pretty well...?"
Of course. Back in the day, I pretty much lived on my phone, so how could I not know my way around one? Anyway, after hearing the explanation, she turned that incredulous gaze on the two of them.
What happened next... it's hard to describe, but let's just say the gates of hell pretty much opened up.
After a while, once she'd judged they'd been scolded enough, my sister let out a sigh and turned to me.
Huh? I don't think I did anything wrong, but... am I in trouble too? Just in case, I looked up at her with a guarded expression.
"Wh... why are you looking at me like I'm scary...?"
I shook my head vigorously. It wasn't fear, exactly. Just caution.
"I just have something I want to ask."
"...?"
Something to ask?
"By any chance... when you slipped out of the police station yesterday for a bit, where did you go?"
Uh. That's top secret. If word got out that I'd given someone a recovery potion, who knows what would happen. From my perspective, it was a good deed, but I never imagined that girl—his daughter—wouldn't fully recover even after drinking it.
I shook my head.
"Okay... I won't pry into that."
Wait, so you're not scolding me? Why is sis suddenly setting such a heavy mood? She obviously wouldn't do anything to me, but after seeing her strong side yesterday, and now this intense atmosphere... I couldn't help feeling intimidated.
"No, wait... I shouldn't ask like this right now."
With that, she dispersed the heavy vibe. The suffocating air around her lifted back to normal. No way... she was actually intimidating me on purpose? What the heck was that about?
As I gazed up at her curiously, she scratched her head like she was pondering, then asked cautiously,
"By any chance... could I ask where you were living before?"
"Mount...tain..."
I couldn't say I'd been suddenly transported to a mountain hideout a year ago. That might lead to questions about my old self. We'd already bathed together—if she found out I used to be a guy, I'd be done for. Forget everything else; my head would roll right there! Head! Roll!
"Mountain... and before that?"
"I've... always... lived in the mountains..."
Would she buy that? My sister pondered my words with a troubled look. The fact that she was even thinking it over meant something was off. Was she onto my original identity? I started freaking out for no reason. Nah, no way.
"Seol-i, can I ask just one last thing?"
Should I answer? What was she planning to ask? I just wanted to keep going like before, blissfully ignorant, enjoying my daily life without complications.
But that wasn't possible. To her, I was just a lost little girl who needed to be returned to her real family—whatever that was. She'd said she'd raise me, but only if there were no relatives. If parents turned up, handing me over would be the right thing.
Still, I didn't want to go back to living alone like before...
"Why is she so scared...?"
I blinked and looked up at her voice.
"What I want to ask isn't anything else... You used mana at dinner yesterday, right?"
Ah, she saw after all. I'd shown it off proudly, like behold, but since she just looked surprised and never mentioned it, I'd thought maybe she hadn't noticed.
Guess not. Staring up at her blankly, she asked awkwardly,
"By any chance... can you tell me who you are?"
"..."
Ah, it's over. I sighed inwardly. No choice now—I had to sell my usefulness. I steeled myself.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I stuttered a lot, but she heard me out to the end. I explained that the reason I could use mana was because I was a witch.
"A witch...?"
Witch—what a name straight out of fantasy. Sure, there were people called witches in the past, but with things like witch hunts, the connotation was never good. The term itself arose in a negative context, so it felt strange for a child to call herself one.
Of course it would. But the moment she proved it by casting magic, my mind completely changed.
She demonstrated all sorts of natural phenomena—fire, lightning, ice—and even created a cup and water with magic. Then she made ice shards float in the air, dropped them into the cup, spilled the whole thing on the floor... and lifted the cup, ice, and even the spilled water back up, restoring everything perfectly. It was downright chilling.
It was like she was saying magic could do anything. On top of that, she remotely operated the computer with magic from afar, cleaned the grimy outside windows of the building, and returned every object they'd thrown at each other during their fight to its original spot. One of those was tissue paper—I wondered how she'd handle it—but it spun in the air, dried spotless, and settled back neatly.
She even fashioned a straw right out of the coffee she was drinking and showed it off proudly. She was pulling out all these random tricks to flaunt her specialties; I nearly burst out laughing without realizing.
"S-Sorry... for... tricking you..."
I hadn't really been tricked, but the kid was apologizing to me sincerely. Kid? Could I even call her that? She might be older than me, for all I knew. How could a child this young wield such impossible magic?
I'm not one to binge fantasy novels, anime, or movies, but the world had already become fantasy. There were even "returners"—people presumed to have gone to another world and come back. And the monsters appearing worldwide were all otherworldly beasts.
In other words, this kid—no, this witch—was probably...
"N-No, it's fine... really."
From another world. But that didn't matter. She'd been so confident showing off her tricks just moments ago, yet now that I'd seen it all and hadn't reacted, she shrank back and apologized for the "deception." Where was the harm in that?
Besides, if this witch really made that recovery potion, it wasn't harmful—it was incredible.
"It's really okay."
"R-Really...?"
"Yeah, really!"
There was just one harmful thing. This witch, who might even be older than me, was just too damn cute. My heart ached.