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I seem to like a relaxed atmosphere.

Perhaps it’s because this is the first time I’ve experienced such an ambiance since coming to this world, which made me enjoy it a little more.

I’ve lived somewhat intensely in my own way.

“Hey, seniors.”

As I approached while saying that, Seo-hee, Dalia, and Delphinium looked at me simultaneously.

It seemed they were in the middle of a discussion, but I interrupted it.

“I just dropped by.”

I thought about striking up a conversation instead of letting the broken dialogue hang, but I hesitated. After all, I was the one who had broken the flow, and bringing up a topic I wasn’t invested in wouldn’t feel too good.

“Senior… I guess you’re still treating me like a senior?”

Dalia said this incredulously, but there wasn’t any real hostility in her voice.

Dalia had dark brown hair and an impression that seemed a bit lively.

Her personality matched that impression. She frequently fought with Jua, primarily over position issues.

On the other hand, Delphinium’s style of fighting was completely different from Jua’s one-point-attack method, so they rarely overlapped, yet Dalia, with a firepower position somewhere in between them, often found herself caught in the crossfire of both.

And because of that, she could jump in and play both of their roles, making her somewhat essential in a certain sense.

“Well, I definitely am a senior, so should I keep calling you that?”

At my question, Dalia made a face that said she wasn’t too pleased about it.

“I don’t like being called that. It doesn’t mean it’s sincere or anything. It’s not like I have respect for you—”

However, Dalia cut off her words midway.

With a gloomy expression, she said, “No, that’s not it. My respect for you must have plummeted long ago. It was likely hard for me to even consider you a senior in the first place.”

“…What? Why did the topic suddenly shift to that?”

“Just saying it how it is.”

Dalia sighed deeply, then gulped down her cola as if it were liquor.

“When you were a combatant, we didn’t even know how old the person in that suit was… If you were getting hit by my wand here and there, there wouldn’t have been any moments for respect or anything else.”

“Oh.”

I paused for a moment.

That… was true. Who would actually enjoy getting hit like that? I mean, sure, there must be some people out there with various preferences, but at least not me. The other combatants felt the same way.

In reality, it had been that very thing that pushed me to dive right in. I wanted to win the fights. I just wanted to land a hit—

Ultimately, could it be said that that’s how it turned out? Though there wasn’t a joyful feeling that came from it.

“It was that kind of place where I was. And I chose it.”

“….”

The seniors fell silent.

They already knew that all the money I earned went to the orphanage. Thus, it made sense that they might feel a little guilty about it.

I wasn’t particularly doing it for charity, either.

Thinking back, there were indeed many things I did wrong. Regardless of how things had played out before, all the magical girls had come to save me.

Yet, in that situation, I had hurled a lot of unpleasant words at these kids. I might have been weighed down by exhaustion, but reflecting on it, those weren’t words I should have said to kids who came to help me.

If I had thought more carefully back then, I might have had an opportunity to escape that situation a little earlier.

I pondered for a moment before cautiously speaking up.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

Dalia blinked in surprise at my words.

Then she waved her hands frantically.

“Hey, what are you saying? Sorry?”

“The reality is I made you all feel uncomfortable.”

“Wait a moment.”

Dalia said while holding out her hand.

“……”

But then she halted, unable to think of what to say next.

That’s right. Right now, we knew almost nothing about each other. Not just Dalia, but even Seo-hee and Delphinium beside her.

Delphinium was looking at me with a bit of curiosity. She usually had a quiet personality and often just read a book at home. After all, she was the type of character you’d find in webtoons.

“Pfft.”

And then Rose, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Haha… Hahaha!”

Rose laughed heartily, clutching her stomach.

It wasn’t a laugh full of disdain. It was genuinely a sound that emanated from glee, not a trace of mockery.

“…Why?”

Dalia, looking at Rose with a blank stare, asked.

“Just watching you two talk like that was kinda funny.”

Rose said this and then extended her soda can toward me.

She probably didn’t mean for me to drink it as it was what she’d been drinking.

…

Well, I know. It’s a toast, right? Even though we’re not drinking.

While I chuckled and clinked my ion drink can with hers, Dalia and Delphinium exchanged glances and then extended their cans toward me.

Ping.

It was quite an awkward toast. It had been ages since I last drank alcohol, and obviously, the three people next to me had never even tasted a drop.

But doing this somehow felt like something heavy was lifted.

I had often thought of the magical girls and placed them far away from me.

Entities so different from me. Beings so distant, like stars in the sky.

The reason I felt inferior was ultimately because I admired those magical girls.

I turned my head slightly and glanced at Ha-yoon.

Ha-yoon smiled at me slightly.

Yeah. I especially felt a great deal of inferiority toward Ha-yoon.

After a brief moment of contemplation, I stood up from my seat and said, “Let’s go over there. There are things we all need to share.”

Right. Wouldn’t this be the opportunity?

If not in a setting like this, when would I be able to air everything out?

I sat between Ha-yoon and Ji-hye and just borrowed a little courage.

If I had a bit of a buzz—

No, it might actually be better that way. Talking these things out while tipsy would likely make it seem less genuine.

“Huh? Is it a second round?”

Pang-pang suddenly exclaimed while raising her café drink can. She surely didn’t even know what a second round meant.

Well, it’s nice to have a mood maker around.

“……”

Jua looked a tad tense. Did she feel something from my face?

…

I thought I didn’t have friends.

Seeing everyone gathered here, there seem to be quite a lot.

I felt a strangely uplifting feeling in my heart.

I wasn’t drunk, but it seemed I could get a little tipsy from the atmosphere.

*

That night, we shared many stories.

I talked about the inferiority I felt as well.

The one who looked the most shocked was Ha-yoon. She couldn’t comprehend that I held any inferiority towards her at all.

Listening to Ha-yoon’s story, it turned out she felt comforted by me in return.

That without me, there was no one in her life she could treat as normal.

… Thinking back, it’s not that hard of a conclusion. I realized that on my own.

It wasn’t just my story that came out.

After I finished, Jua also brought up a story that was quite similar to what I had shared.

The subject was me, of course.

Initially, it was a bit shocking, but eventually, I found it calm and reasonable. Oh, I see; I guess that could be the case. The atmosphere didn’t become too heated, nor did it feel too dull. It was in that comfortable mood that the conversation could flow longer.

I listened to Seo-hee’s story. In fact, when she mentioned possibly staying for another year, she said she was a bit scared herself. Because if it really came to that, she’d get scolded by her parents.

Dalia, of course, mentioned she got scolded by her parents as well. She was the one who cried the most while listening to my story.

She had been the one who charged in so energetically during battles, it was scary, but now looking back, she was just someone full of emotions.

When talking about the times she had broken her arms and legs during a fight—

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”

That was the first moment the atmosphere nearly became a bit heated.

Feeling as if someone else was more tipsy than I was, I decided to let it slide.

Delphinium was the one listening calmly. But it wasn’t because she was ignoring us or didn’t want to talk, she was genuinely listening to my story, which felt quite interesting.

Should I say it was a bit different from Ha-yoon? After all, I wasn’t that close to Delphinium yet.

“……”

And today.

I realized that transitioning into sleep is almost indistinguishable from being drunk.

It was nearly time for check-out, yet I was the only one awake among us.

I was about to call out their names when suddenly a thought crossed my mind.

… I don’t think I know Dalia’s and Delphinium’s names.

 

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