Chapter 34: We ended up looking alike (3)

The questions I thought had subsided or were somewhat resolved amplified.

Before organizing my thoughts, I bit my lip lightly.

It was an impulsive act because I wanted to feel pain, but unfortunately, no blood flowed.

“Hick.”

As I got up, Joy’s trembling intensified.

As if she had never been slapped before, no.

Maybe it was because she had never been hit so hard that her skin tore.

Whatever it was.

She was once again filled with the fear of being abused and looked at me with eyes begging for mercy.

I couldn’t find the unique resilience of a magical girl in her hunched shoulders and tightly closed eyes.

So, or despite that.

I wasn’t sure which expression was correct.

Maybe it was because I hadn’t cut my palm with a blade that I saw the me who feared Happy in her actions.

Or maybe it was simply because I had a personality that enjoyed sadism?

Because I was the Queen of the evil organization Darkmoon?

“Stop.”

I didn’t want to waste time on unnecessary worries.

I distanced myself from Joy, cutting out the sadism that was rising in my heart.

“Hoo.”

…But this isn’t right.

Joy, who cautiously opened her eyes and confirmed that I had moved away, let out a sigh of relief.

I was displeased with the attitude of a magical girl daring to feel relieved in front of the Queen of the evil organization Darkmoon.

At the same time, although I didn’t really remember if it was true, I felt embarrassed because I thought I might have acted like that in front of Happy.

So I decided to steal her peace.

“I’m sorry for sighing…!”

The method was simple.

I wandered around the chair and occasionally glared at Joy.

I even showed a vicious smile to the magical girl who was tensing up again with just that.

‘You have to be.

You have to be dominated by me.’

Only then did I focus on the questions that filled my head.

“It’s strange.”

No matter how much I thought about it, there were too many parts that didn’t make sense.

First of all, I couldn’t understand Happy’s feelings for me.

Why would a magical girl love the Queen of the evil organization Darkmoon?

Corruption? Stockholm syndrome? An unavoidable destiny?

The words I came up with were all unrealistic.

Then that meant what she said when we were in the bathtub together was true…

“It’s too strange.”

“I’m sorry…!”

“I’m not talking to you.”

I felt like the first button was buttoned wrong, so I couldn’t believe the next one either.

How did Happy find me?

Could she have implanted a tracking magic in one of the magic-filled jewels?

I knew it was a ridiculous idea, but I couldn’t think of any other way.

Then what about after I sold all the jewels to the pawn shop?

Was it because she overcame her sadness and awakened that she could easily find me then?

What was the reason she was sad?

Because she couldn’t see me anymore if I disappeared?

Why?

What was the reason she liked me in the first place?

What was it?

“Ha.”

I really didn’t know.

I was fed up with the worries that not only led to more worries but also returned to the starting point.

I shook my head wildly from side to side, shaking off the thoughts that were piled up haphazardly in my head.

Then I decided to think simply.

Happy, who has awakened, is omnipotent.

Even if she suffers from schizophrenia, she’s easy enough for me to beat.

“Wait a minute.”

What if.

What if Happy wasn’t omnipotent from the beginning?

So, if her personality grew each time she went through an awakening divided into several stages?

“…That makes sense.”

It shouldn’t end with a plausible story.

To find out the definite answer, I tapped Joy’s shoulder.

“Hick…!”

“Don’t be surprised. Explain in more detail.”

“W… What?”

“The story you just told me.”

“That’s…”

Unlike her frightened expression, Joy didn’t answer right away.

She kept opening and closing her mouth with a hesitant attitude, repeatedly looking at me.

Just as I was about to get annoyed at the wasted time, she finally opened her mouth.

“Um…”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you if you promise to spare me.”

“…What did you say?”

With just one word, she displayed the talent of evolving annoyance into anger.

How dare she, a being worse than a bug, try to make a deal with me.

I put strength into my hand, intending to slap her cheek.

However, I couldn’t ignore the embarrassment I felt at the same time.

I had done that to Happy too.

I lived with the sentence ‘Let’s make a deal’ on my lips, which Happy hated.

Could Happy have felt this way too?

Was she angry from the beginning but somehow managed to hold it in?

Then should I do that too?

Why should I?

I don’t love Joy?

…
…

No.

I didn’t think it was bad to imitate Happy.

If I found out why she was acting like this, I might be able to use it usefully in the next life.

In the first place, the feeling of loving Happy was also an artificially created emotion.

I might be able to love even if I don’t love.

I resolved to give it a try.

“Hey.”

“I’m sorry!”

Her crumpled pride had only straightened out a little, but the effects of the abuse hadn’t worn off.

When I opened my mouth, Joy jumped up from the chair, knelt on the floor, grabbed my leg, and started apologizing.

Her figure of saying things she couldn’t handle and bowing her head was just like Joy, who was full of pretense in her actions and speech despite her lack of skill.

I gently lifted my foot, pushed her away, squatted down, and matched the height of our gazes.

“Call me Unnie.”

“….Unnie…?”

“Yes. Yeres Unnie. Say it.”

“Ye… Yeres? W… Wa-wa-wa-wa-wait a minute.”

Joy’s complexion turned pale as she finally realized who I was.

She lost strength in her legs and collapsed on the spot at the fact that she had faced the ultimate nemesis of magical girls.

Although the evil organization Darkmoon was destroyed by Happy, Joy, who had been unconscious all along, didn’t know that fact, so the threat was possible.

“Hurry.”

“…!”

Judging by the way she was looking around anxiously instead of answering, it seemed she wanted to run away.

I didn’t get angry because I was like that at first too.

The same was true for her action of losing strength in her legs and crawling away from me with both arms.

Back then, my legs were broken, so that was why.

What was funny was the stupidity of Joy, who didn’t cast magic even when such a situation came.

The water I gathered just in case was useless this time too.

I got up from my seat, approached her, and grabbed her by the collar so she couldn’t move any further.

“Ugh…!”

“Aren’t you going to do it?”

Now, what kind of resistance will she show?

I wish she would crawl around more like a bug.

“Yeres… Unnie!”

Joy, who was about to slap her cheek, gave up.

I was disappointed, but I stopped there.

“Good job.”

As I stroked her head with the purpose of praising her, a shallow groan erupted from her mouth.

It was a scream that she wanted to shout loudly but had degenerated because she thought she would be abused if she did.

That figure was quite fun.

Or it was at a level that could be said to be lovely.

So I spread my arms to the left and right.

“Come here.”

“…!”

This time too, Joy didn’t open her mouth to answer.

Instead, she answered with the action of slowly coming into my arms.

“Closer.”

“Please spare me…!”

“I’ll spare you, so hurry.”

I hugged Joy, who came into my arms right before our skin touched, tightly.

Just like when I hugged Happy, I wrapped my arms around her waist and placed her on my lap.

She’s also short like Happy, so I have to do this to get the right eye level.

“It’s cool.”

“Thank… Thank you.”

But the feeling was different from when I hugged Happy.

Rather than warm, it was a cool sensation, probably because she used wind magic.

“Now, you hug me too.”

“….Okay.”

“I said call me Unnie, right?”

“Okay, Yeres… Unnie.”

I didn’t know that the feeling of being forced to love me without loving me would be so stimulating.

The trembling breath I could hear in my ear also seemed like it would be addictive.

If I hadn’t received any orders from the ‘Quest Jewel,’ I would have wanted to keep doing this.

It was a moment when I understood Happy’s feelings a little.

“Happy changed two days ago?”

“That’s… There were signs that it would happen someday, but it was just barely visible.”

Maybe it’s because she’s nestled in my arms and her face can’t be seen.

Or maybe it’s because the warmth I feel melted her frozen heart.

The trembling disappeared from Joy’s voice as she answered the question.

Instead, I was bothered by the subtle tremors felt in the hand wrapped around my waist.

“Signs?”

“Yes. She sometimes resisted. It was very timid, but… W-w-w-wait a minute, Yeres… Unnie!”

She interrupted the conversation, wriggling her body as I tickled her neck for no reason.

The heated breath, with her body temperature rising, echoed unfiltered in my ear.

I felt like my body was heating up too.

“But?”

“When I asked her to take care of some villains two days ago, she came to me and got really angry.”

“To what extent?”

“To the point where I thought she was a different person…?”

“From the evening?”

“Yes. It was from the evening.”

I imagined what happened on the evening of two days ago.

Happy grew up and awakened, and at the same time, she was growing as person and showed Joy and me a different figure from before.

A plausible story was gradually turning into conviction.

Now all that’s left is.

How did she find me and

Why does she love me.

“And how did she get the resident registration card… huh?”

“Resident registration card?”

Just in case, I showed Joy the resident registration card.

“Unnie… You were Korean…”

“Never mind it.”

I didn’t know.

Then that means there’s no more information I can get from you.

With that, the feeling of loving Joy disappeared.

She was a stupid magical girl who couldn’t even be a substitute for Happy.

So for the last time.

Because there was more madness than love I had stuffed in so far.

I loved Joy.

“Joy.”

“…Yes, Yeres Unnie.”

“Kiss me.”

“Yes?”

“If you want to live, you have to do it.”

Joy didn’t do anything, wearing a flustered expression.

Then, as she realized how weak her power was and what kind of existence I was, she slowly moved her body.

The trembling and whimpering were noisy.

I strongly grabbed her shoulder with the purpose of stopping her from disliking it and giving her a reason to kiss her as she reluctantly approached.

Then I threw her body into the sewer.

“Aah!”

Thud

Joy, who even screamed at the unexpected situation, had exhausted the oxygen in her lungs.

Barely a minute had passed, but the expression of being desperate to breathe was unsightly.

In front of her, whose struggles were weakening with her breath gradually being cut off, I deliberately let out a single breath of air.

At first, she didn’t understand what it meant, but she realized what she had to do to survive.

Joy rushed to me and kissed me.

It was a time for me to feel the sweetness of artificially created love.

It was a time for her to feel the sweetness of oxygen, which she usually didn’t taste at all.