Chapter 75

It was the end of winter break and the final days of middle school when I came to the new city.

I spread out the apartment floor plan on the coffee table. This would be the place where four of us would live together for the next three years of high school. Though if someone dies in the middle, there might only be three of us, but I’m starting to suspect Laplace’s condition isn’t actually an illness.

“As you can see, there are four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two dressing rooms, one study, one utility room, one storage room, and various other amenities. The narrow balcony is a downside, but given my financial situation, this is the best option.”

Yumina stared blankly at the floor plan, muttering under her breath.

“How big is this place…”

“It’s written right there, isn’t it? The metric system makes it hard to calculate though, right?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

Watching Yumina glance carelessly around the living room felt oddly unpleasant. If Doyugeon or Laplace acted this way, it would make sense, but it’s strange to see Yumina behave this way.

“To be honest, while I admit my family is well-off, you’re a silver spoon too, so this reaction is somewhat annoying.”

Yumina turned around sharply, observed me for a moment, then smiled.

“But our young lady has many deficiencies. You don’t even run a business or anything.”

“According to research, social classes have a fractal structure, so even upper-class individuals can feel relative deprivation and mistakenly consider themselves middle-class…”

Two fingers went into my mouth.

“And I’ve run away from home! Grow up, will you?”

Her eyes were filled with irritation. Fidgeting with my fingers felt strange. Uh…

“Anyway, did you wash your hands?”

Yumina blinked then headed to the kitchen.

“I’ll wash them…”

It feels odd. When I came out after rinsing my mouth, Yumina was rummaging through the refrigerator.

“What are you doing?”

“Picking out a dessert.”

“What dessert?”

Looking over, there really were desserts inside.

“Why are these here?”

“What if the landlord doesn’t know?”

“I was just here to take a look today. There shouldn’t be anything in the fridge, not to mention only desserts. That’s odd.”

Opening the freezer revealed some ice cream too. Ice cream in winter? Though it is ironic to eat something cold inside a warm house during the cold outside, it does feel enjoyable.

“Häagen-Dazs!”

Yumina shoved me aside and pulled out a tub of ice cream. Somehow, I’m being treated worse than the ice cream. Is this what life is?

There’s a reason the fridge is stocked. The downstairs, designated as a study, was also full of food despite no one having bought any intentionally. It seems like the same situation. Honestly, I don’t know who exactly stocked up, but it’s probably some kind of security personnel or something similar.

We were going to discuss the cohabitation rules at a café, but with this setup, there’s no need to go to a café. Capable people truly do everything for you.

“I’ll go for the cheesecake.”

“Cheesecake?”

“Yeah. Cheesecake.”

“Haven’t you checked? There isn’t any.”

Yumina tilted her head, opened the fridge, and looked inside briefly.

“There’s no cheesecake.”

That security person is so incompetent.

Searching through the freezer, I found something edible. Green tea cake should be fine. Next, a beverage. There are drinks in the fridge, but for this situation, cappuccino fits best.

Scanning the kitchen, there seemed to be something like a coffee machine. But it’s not a capsule coffee machine. Judging from its appearance, it seems similar to the coffee machines in cafes or convenience stores.

Though this isn’t the capsule coffee machine I’m used to at home, it’s not too different. Pressing a few buttons revealed the cappuccino option. Wow, do modern coffee machines automatically make cappuccino now? That way, there’s no need to separately brew coffee capsules and foam milk. It’s impressive. People should definitely embrace new technology.

After selecting cappuccino, a message appeared asking to add coffee beans. Coffee beans. Coffee beans. Selecting cappuccino again prompted the same message. What coffee beans?

Oh. This being a coffee machine, it makes sense to use coffee beans. Having only used capsule coffee, I forgot this basic fact. There was a moment of panic, but coffee is made from coffee beans anyway. Searching the nearby drawers and cabinets, I found a bag of coffee beans. Of course they’d be here. It was expected.

Now it’s about putting the coffee beans in the machine. By the side of the front panel, there’s a gap that clearly suggests pulling it out. Core elements in such machines are always designed prominently for user convenience. Coffee beans being critical, the input location would be obvious.

When I pulled, a transparent container popped out. Of course. This is the comprehensive insight that surpasses simple experience. Tearing open the coffee bean bag released a strong aroma. Wow, it smells great. I poured the entire bag in, yet it only filled half the container. This coffee bean container seems large. Are coffee bean products usually sold in small bags?

Anyway, the container reattached smoothly.

Pressing the cappuccino button again brought up the message to add coffee beans. Hmm… Pressing again didn’t make a difference. Uh… Is it broken? Perhaps a connection issue? Applying electronic troubleshooting methods, I tapped the side of the machine with my palm. It didn’t improve much. Expected that.

We’d need the operating manual now. Checking around the coffee machine, but there was no manual found. What kind of idiot introduced modern technology and discarded the manual? Or is it simply not modern technology?

Ugh…

Glancing around the living room, I saw Yumina scooping ice cream with a grin. An orange juice bottle was nearby. Maybe I should just have some drinks instead of coffee. Too much coffee isn’t good for your health anyway. Yes, that’s true. Recently, I’ve been drinking too much coffee. Actually, I always drink too much, so I should drink other things occasionally. Excessive use is never good.

Though coffee improves productivity, it’s a capitalist-influenced beverage that isn’t actually that great. It disrupts circadian rhythms and causes addiction, so how could it be good for health? Many studies suggest consuming one or two cups a day is beneficial, but that’s probably just coffee enthusiasts misusing statistical methods to produce unreliable research results.

Orange juice is a good alternative. Modern individuals generally don’t consume enough fruit, so replenishing through juice is very beneficial. Even though nutritionally fruit and fruit juice differ greatly, that’s not the key issue now.

I grabbed a glass and headed to the living room.

“Where’s the coffee?”

“Sometimes it’s better to skip that harmful beverage.”

Pouring myself a glass of orange juice, I took a sip. The sweetness and subtle sourness were evident. This is the taste of nature. It feels like cleansing an urbanized, weary soul.

“Huh? I was just craving coffee though.”

“Leave the juice alone?”

“The sweetness of the ice cream doesn’t pair well with the juice. I need something bitter. Let me drink yours!”

Yumina handed over her glass and headed to the kitchen. While observing her movements, I took a bite of the green tea cake.

There were some button clicks from the kitchen.

“Huh? No coffee beans?”

“Hmm…”

“But I smell coffee beans?”

Does that mean you have the refined senses of a coffee enthusiast who tours cafes? There were some clinking and rattling sounds.

“Uh…?”

Yumina returned from the kitchen holding the coffee bean container with both hands.

Yumina emphasized the container with a dramatic wave.

“Young lady, this is called a water tank!”

“…”

“Water tank. You can fill it with water.”

“…”

“I know that.”

“Coffee beans, not water. Coffee needs water, doesn’t it?”

“I know that too.”

“Hmm… Really?”

That lecherous gaze…

“Duh.”

I locked gazes.

“But your face is red.”

I averted my eyes slightly.

“The heating might be too strong.”

*

“Are you sure moving your residence to the new city is okay?”

Since the area Yumina handles is part of Seoul, wouldn’t it be inconvenient to move her living location to the new city?

“That? Central headquarters is currently pushing for district consolidation, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Everything’s planned out. Just saying, cohabitation isn’t something decided thoughtlessly.”

Yumina strutted. That was exactly what happened though. You agreed right away when I called. Probably thought it through after the fact.

The central organization Yumina mentioned manages the global network of magical girls. It’s essentially the top of the magical girl cartel. They handle the budget and macro strategies of magical girl groups. According to Yumina, central headquarters has the important task of pacifying Schrödinger and securing budget allocations. In other words, playing with the evil white cat is their job. Poor them.

“District consolidation means combining several responsible districts into one, right? Dividing Seoul into Gangnam and Gangbuk?”

Yumina didn’t answer and instead checked my reaction.

“So it’s not? Then are they thinking of combining Seoul into one district? Central headquarters wouldn’t do that if they had any considerations.”

Combining all the Seoul-based magical girls into one command system. In the current situation where international movement isn’t easy, if they do this, the Seoul region ruler could break away from central command without consequences due to the inability to constrain them within South Korea.

“In reality, Seoul is already practically one district, so this is just formalizing the situation.”

“How can several districts become one…”

Oh, I see. One district probably went berserk and swallowed the others, whether by persuasion or force. Central headquarters failed to stop such overreach and decided it’s better to acknowledge Seoul and tell them to behave. It’s a mess. Well, a global organization running smoothly is unlikely anyway.

Yumina hesitated.

“It couldn’t be helped…”

“Still feels uncomfortable, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

It seems Yumina lost in the hegemonic struggle and had her responsible area moved to around the new city. So moving here doesn’t cause a problem.

“Not really, it’s….”

There’s something off with Yumina’s reaction. Hmm.

“Hold on. Who’s the ruler of Seoul now?”

Yumina chuckled.

Don’t smile.

“It’s just that they once cracked down on drugs and got too stressed… No, they thought cooperation with adjacent districts would be convenient while doing their job. They had a few serious conversations and found dealing with things became incredibly convenient.”

What kind of serious conversation is that?

“So they officially requested serious cooperation from other districts and the collaboration was too good… And somehow, things ended up this way!”

There’s too much meaning and process omitted with that “somehow”. Laplace was only holding the position of responsibility manager, but it seems he was stripped of his actual power.

I knew my friend was competent, but it seems they’re competent in bad ways too.

But, it doesn’t matter much, does it?

I drank some americano. Unfortunately, there was no milk in the fridge.

Ugh… It’s bitter.

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