Chapter 86

Erica, who had not yet grown enough to interfere with this world, managed to persuade Kana and achieved the feat of returning alone to her accommodation.

During this time, from the rooftop of the tallest building near the accommodation, a Busan Girl observed their entire process of returning.

There was a minor incident where a girl with a changed physique looked up toward where the Busan Girl was stationed, but aside from that, nothing particularly unusual happened.

“Uh, is it about time we came out now?”

“Sure thing. Sure thing~. We should continue to keep an eye on things, but there’s no need to hide anymore~.”

As the Busan Girl finished speaking, agents concealed within the ship each revealed themselves.

They could have continued monitoring and guarding from within the ship as before, but there was one reason they had come out.

“So, what do we do now, Leader?”

“Oh dear, even after telling you not to call me Leader… But we do need to draw a conclusion.”

The girl, who had been awkwardly using a local dialect, delivered her final statement with seriousness. They had to make a decision regarding Kana, who was suspected of being connected to the Doll Maker.

A girl who might be innocent but could also be connected to the Doll Maker. Actually, those in Busan had no reason to apprehend a Doll Maker who operated in a completely different region.

The Association was undoubtedly supposed to capture criminals, and the Doll Maker was a criminal. Just moments ago, they had nearly committed a crime here by using dolls.

However, excluding the Busan natives like the Busan Girl, most members of the Busan Association were either sidelined due to losing power struggles or deemed useless and reassigned.

They weren’t all thinking about overthrowing the country, but they disliked the Association headquarters enough to consider overlooking a criminal who had never harmed their local region but instead targeted others.

Especially since the Doll Maker’s target wasn’t something like Busan’s cultural festival or killing people, but rather a solitary girl who shone even in a world swallowed by darkness.

Also, from the somewhat passive battle of the dolls just moments ago, it was evident that the girl wouldn’t d*e even without protection from them.

In short, what they were deliberating wasn’t just about the handling of Kana, suspected of being the Doll Maker, but also whether they should continue to protect Erica, their assigned protegee.

“I will—.”

Even if the concept of Busan dialect had been erased, and even the vocabulary was erased, the fact that such a dialect existed couldn’t be deleted. The girl presumed that if she kept unconsciously using the dialect, eventually her natural Busan dialect would naturally resurface, and she announced the decision she had reached after much deliberation.

“Then let’s proceed. The person responsible here is the Leader, not some guy back at the Association office.”

Those on the rooftop accepted the Busan Girl’s decision with satisfaction. Leadership: the ability to make people follow, regardless of one’s powers. That was something the Busan Girl possessed.

*

“You! Why are you so late?” “We tried to bring the prettiest girl but couldn’t because you weren’t there!”

“You were naughty! Answer properly. Where did you run off to?” “You’ll get punished if you lie!”

Erica was greeted upon her return by twins with red and blue hair, reminiscent of the Korean Taeguk symbol.

While it seemed like the twins were merely satisfying their curiosity about where Erica went, given their responsibilities, their questioning carried a deeper meaning. It was a pursuit of information, masked as casual chiding, aimed at discovering where Erica had been during the event at the auditorium.

“Here and there. No particular destination?”

Even though Erica had been in this world for several weeks, she still hadn’t forgotten about the CCTV inside her own home.

They claimed it was installed out of worry for another s*icide attempt, but the fact that it was placed in the hallway rather than the room itself was suspicious.

And these twins, as secret agents of the Association, could possibly be connected to the sister who owned this body.

The words coming out of Erica’s mouth were not lies, but rather vague responses lacking detailed explanations.

‘You should know why they’re acting like this. Why are they doing this?’

At the same time, in her mind, Erica questioned the intent of the sister who she believed sent these twins.

“I don’t know them, and there’s no way I could.”

Though Erica’s inquiry failed due to her misunderstanding of the intent behind the twins’ questions, there was no need to rush her answer. She had already given a sufficient response. There was ample time to wait for the twins to say something next.

‘These girls are secret agents of the Association. They were likely sent by your sister. So, why are they keeping tabs on you, and what about the CCTV incident?’

“Huh! Skipping the school schedule and just wandering around is rebellious!” “Rebellious is not the right word! Delinquent! Delinquent!”

While the twins teased Erica for leaving the school schedule without reason, Erica used the time to explain their identities to ‘herself.’

“Did you only just realize I’m a delinquent?”

“Whaaat?!”

The twins’ provocation, expecting Erica to divulge unnecessary information, backfired. Given the fact that the original Erica was not particularly short-tempered, such provocations wouldn’t have worked on her either.

Erica heard a strange sound during this exchange. It seemed like a whistling noise mixed with trembling, a peculiar sound. When Erica turned her head toward it, she only saw a plain wall.

It could have been a ghost, but Erica had another plausible explanation in mind. The sound was far more convincing as a use of supernatural abilities rather than an actual ghost.

‘Is this because she fell for that sort of provocation?’

“…She didn’t fall for it. I’m just upset that they’re treating me the same way those bullies used to torment me.”

That sounded about right. Erica wanted to challenge the girl’s ignorance and comment further but, disliking the idea of standing in the entrance for too long, she gently pushed the twins aside and entered.

The twins, who could have easily withstood Erica’s weak push as secret agents, willingly let her pass.

The only bathroom in the dormitory was already in use, as evidenced by the sound of water and some humming. The bedroom with the bed was dark, indicating someone was already sleeping.

“Where will you sleep?” “By the way, the bed has been assigned to the kendo club president! You’ll have to compete for what’s left.”

“I wasn’t aiming for the bed anyway. Where will you two sleep?”

“Oh, the living room!” “The Student Council President is sleeping in the living room, and the rest in the bedroom. What about you?”

The room referred to as the “living room” by the twins was much larger than a typical home’s living room. It included a TV, and space enough to comfortably accommodate four people sleeping there. The bedroom, which included a bed, was similarly spacious.

Thinking momentarily, Erica focused less on which place was more comfortable and more on who she didn’t want to be around.

“The bigger room. Not on the bed but on the floor, carefully.”

Thinking that no one would step on her if she stayed near the bed, Erica decided not to dwell on it and grabbed the doorknob to enter the main bedroom rather than the living room.

“Good night then~.” “See you tomorrow~.”

“Alright.”

Although Erica needed to attend to personal hygiene before sleeping, she accepted the twins’ farewells without reply, feeling somewhat tired from the after-effects of using her supernatural abilities, and it felt like closing her eyes would immediately send her to sleep.

“See you tomorrow, if there is one.”

Receiving greetings not just from the twins but even from ‘Erica,’ the girl chose to drift off into sleep, concluding the first night of the school trip, amidst uncertainty of whether or not a terrorist organization would commit an act of terror on the second day.