A Sweet Temptation
Because Victor had been grounded from going out for the first time, he was unable to oversee our training during that period. Thanks to that, we had some unexpected free time. I immediately used that time to run to the internet cafe in the shelter.
"Jeff. I don't find this fun," Shine, who had followed me, kept whining, but that didn't matter to me right now. I immediately opened a browser window and accessed the homepage of the animation studio that produced The Grand Adventure of the Little Witch. I pulled my citizenship card out of my pocket and went to the event page.
Amidst the numerous events being held, I clicked on the banner positioned at the very top. Special effects played as the screen transitioned. The blue background instantly darkened, and bright stars floated up around it. I moved the mouse and clicked on the largest star.
Click—
With a small sound, the majestic figure of Lucy appeared. She was falling downward, her large witch hat pressed firmly onto her head.
"Oh..." I gasped in admiration. It was clearly the studio's flagship work, given how much effort they were putting into promoting it.
"Just wait a bit, it'll be over soon," I said quietly to Shine, who was sitting next to me and tugging on my arm. Hearing my words, she puffed out her cheeks and slumped onto the desk. Her face was full of pouty discontent. I hurriedly tapped away at the keyboard.
After entering my name, address, and citizenship grade, I typed in the serial number written on the back of the card. Then, a small message popped up on the screen.
Please insert your citizenship card into the scanner.
I inserted the citizenship card I was holding in both hands into the small scanner attached to the side of the computer. The higher the citizenship grade, the more benefits there were. The Grade 3 citizenship card I had received this time was no exception. A Grade 3 citizenship card offered a higher winning probability for event entries than standard ones. It also unlocked special prizes usually reserved for Grade 4 and above.
Clutching my pounding chest, I waited for the scan to finish.
Ding-dong!
At that moment, a cheerful chime rang out from the scanner. Along with that pleasant sound, the citizenship card slid back out of the scanner slot.
"Are you done?"
"Yeah, I'm all done."
I scrolled all the way down the page to check the prize details listed at the bottom. I wasn't interested in the first prize, second prize, or even the special prize. What I wanted was the blanket shaped like Lucy's cloak.
"Do you want to do it too, Shine?"
"Me too?"
"Yeah. They say you can get a prize if you apply for this."
I showed Shine the prize list, but she only looked at me with an uninterested gaze.
"You want it, don't you, Jeff?"
"Uh-huh... To be honest, yeah."
"Then let's apply with mine too," Shine said, handing over her own citizenship card.
"Thank you!" I hugged Shine tightly and immediately submitted another entry under her name. One of us was bound to win. With a Grade 3 citizenship, surely we could get at least one blanket, right?
As I was thinking about the citizenship cards, I began to wonder about the home address written on mine and Shine's cards. It was an address in a district I had never seen before in my life. Seeing that the first digit was a 3, it was definitely located in District 3.
If a question arose, it had to be answered. I immediately opened another browser window and entered the address written on the card. When I entered the address, a large map appeared on the screen along with a message.
ACCESS DENIED. A citizenship card of the appropriate grade is required.
Simply entering the address prompted a request for a citizenship card. That meant ordinary people couldn't even look up the address written on our cards. Scratching my cheek, I slid my citizenship card into the scanner.
Ding-dong!
Immediately after the card was scanned, the map changed. The message vanished, and the screen shifted to the address I had entered.
A massive mansion appeared on the screen, surrounded by an endless, sprawling garden. The combined size of the house and garden was so colossal that it rivaled an entire ordinary village. Dazed, I rotated the view on the screen this way and that. I couldn't look inside the house, but I could explore the surrounding area well enough.
The walls isolating the estate from the outside world towered high into the sky. And at what appeared to be the main gate, there was a massive iron gate with someone standing before it as if on guard. The photo of a man in a black suit made it abundantly clear that this was no ordinary home.
"Where is this?" Shine, who had been rubbing her cheek against the desk, leaned in close to me, her interest piqued.
"I think... maybe it's our house?" I muttered, shifting the camera angle around. The roads stretching near the mansion looked excessively wide. A strange sense of incongruity washed over me. As I stared blankly at the road, I realized why. There wasn't a single car parked on the street. That was why the road looked so vast.
After showing the mansion to Shine, I pulled the card out of the scanner and left the PC room.
"Is that really our house?"
"Let's ask Amy."
Shine and I immediately ran to the room where Amy was resting. Having been busy at the end of the year, she had received a long vacation right after the events wrapped up.
"Amy! Amy!"
Shine and I flung the door open and pounced on Amy. Sitting on the bed watching television, she caught Shine and me, only to be knocked backward onto the mattress.
"Did you two have fun?"
"Yes!"
"Yep!"
Rolling around on the soft bed, I pulled the citizenship card out of my pocket. "Amy, is the address written here our house?"
"Ah? That?"
"Yes!"
"Yes, it's yours."
"Yay!" Shine threw her arms in the air and started running around the room at Amy's answer. She seemed incredibly thrilled to have a house.
"Really? But it's so huge!"
"Huge? That place?"
"Huh?"
I stared blankly at Amy's face. Did she really not think that mansion was big? As I blinked in confusion, Amy smiled warmly and stroked my hair.
"To issue a Grade 3 citizenship, you need a house that matches the status. I registered that one temporarily for now, but I'll buy you a better one next time."
Seeing Amy talk about buying a house so casually—as if she were buying snacks from a convenience store—inspired a strange sense of awe in me. I was so shocked that I could only gape like a fish.
"Amy! When can we go to the house?"
"Hmm..." Shine clung to Amy, her eyes sparkling. Now that we had a house, she seemed eager to visit it.
"It's difficult right now. It would be trouble if you went outside."
"Trouble?"
"Yes. There are still bad people out there looking for you."
"That's right. There are bad people," Shine nodded at Amy's words.
I wanted to visit it too, but I didn't feel like taking unnecessary risks just to go there. More than anything, it didn't really feel like that mansion was my home, so it would be more accurate to say I didn't have much of an opinion on it.
Thump, thump, thump!
Suddenly, a knock echoed from beyond the door.
"Amy! Shine! Jeff!"
A familiar voice. It was Rain. I got up from the bed and ran to the door.
"Rain!"
"Ta-da!"
The moment I opened the door, Rain, who had been standing outside, marched into the room, spreading her arms to show off her outfit. A bright yellow chick pajama set. The chick-faced hood on her head bobbed up and down as she flaunted it.
"You finally bought it?"
"How is it? How is it?"
Amy chuckled softly at the sight of Rain. Rain the chick bounced around, pacing near the bed. It did suit her image perfectly. I gave an awkward smile and replied,
"It looks great."
"Right?!"
Having fully shown off her chick pajamas, Rain went over and sat on a chair by the table. Shine, seemingly intrigued by Rain's appearance, slipped out of Amy's embrace and approached her.
Circling the chair Rain was sitting on, Shine reached out, pointed at Rain's rear, and muttered,
"Rain, your tail is short."
"That's why it's cute."
Just as Shine said, the tail on the chick pajamas was much shorter than a dinosaur's tail. A tiny, protruding yellow feather fluttered with Rain's movements.
"Did you come all this way just to show that off?"
"Ah! No. I brought something Jin told me to deliver." Rain shook her head at Amy's question and rummaged through her pajamas. Her bright yellow chick arm slipped deep into her pocket, pulling out a small letter and a square stamp.
"A letter? And from Jin?"
"Yeah. Jin told me to give it to you." Rain stretched out her short arms, offering the letter and the stamp to Amy on the bed.
"Take it!"
Flap, flap—
Rain frantically waved her short hands. Not that it would reach Amy, but Amy didn't seem to have any intention of getting up either. Chuckling at the absurd sight, Amy finally got up and walked over to Rain. Taking the letter, Amy sat down on the chair next to Rain and tore open the envelope.
"This bastard..."
Amy's face crumpled in annoyance as she read the contents of the letter. Rain, seemingly used to this reaction from Amy, hopped down from her chair and headed toward the refrigerator.
"I'll... I'll be back in a bit." Amy set the letter down on the table, grabbed the square stamp, and swept out of the room. It all happened so fast, and Amy's mood was so foul that we couldn't bring ourselves to stop her.
Shine and I stared blankly at each other before picking up the letter left on the table. The contents of the letter were simple.
Going on vacation. Please take care of things, Amy.
— Jin
What on earth was Jin asking Amy to take care of?
"Here!" Just then, the bright yellow chick handed an ice cream bar to me as I held the letter. She must have grabbed it when she went to the fridge earlier. Flinching at the sudden coldness, I muttered blankly,
"Ice cream?"
"You guys are going to eat some too, right?"
"But Amy said we can only have one a day."
I had already eaten my share of ice cream for today. Yet, my fingers twitched. My mouth began to water, and my eyes glued themselves to the ice cream, refusing to look away. Recalling the sweet, cold taste of the ice cream, I shook my head with great effort.
"Amy is going to be late." Rain pressed the ice cream into my hand as if she was entirely used to this situation. Unable to resist, I ended up holding the ice cream. The cold chill seeping through my fingertips made my heart flutter.
"If we eat it secretly, she'll never know," the little chick whispered, offering a highly delicious temptation.
Chomp, slurp—
Right then, Shine, who was sitting next to me, popped the ice cream into her mouth without a single moment of hesitation. The glistening pink ice pop disappeared into Shine's mouth.
"It's delicious. You eat some too, Jeff."
My fingers twitched, but I shook my head and held the ice cream back out to Rain.
"You're not eating?"
"I... I want the grape flavor..." I answered quietly, hanging my head.