“…Wow.”

The dazzling lights flickered, dizzying my eyes.

A scene unfolded before me, making me realize again that this world was made of magic and supernatural powers.

“What are you looking at so amazed? As if you’ve never been to a place like this before.”

Without even thinking of answering Amelia’s words, I blankly stared at the scenery of the place we had entered.

“Arte?”

Strange objects float in the air as if ignoring the laws of physics.

Colorful accessories emitting colors that seemed to be not of this world.

It would be fine to call it a truly magical space.

“These things are…”

“They’re made with the abilities of superhumans. Haven’t you seen them before?”

“Abilities?”

A scene you would only see in movies or animations.

Even when I looked to see if there was any mechanical device, there was no such feeling at all.

“Yeah. They’re made by superhumans who retired from the front lines.”

“…Superhumans.”

“What, you sound like you didn’t know. Only superhumans can use mana, so it’s obvious.”

There was nothing wrong with what Amelia said.

Only superhumans can make things like this.

Even knowing that fact, I couldn’t believe it.

“…”

Maybe I didn’t want to believe it.

…Yes, there can’t only be superhumans who just fight.

There must be superhumans who make things like this too.

Killing and fighting.

Not everyone partook in it.

“I’m just amazed.”

The reason I had turned a blind eye to that fact was simple.

Just that one trivial reason.

Just the thought that there might be superhumans who live ordinary lives made this world seem more real.

So I turned a blind eye.

But recently, it has become difficult to ignore these trivial things.

Is it because the Author disappeared and I started to feel warmth from Siwoo?

Is this world really a puppet show?

Could it be that it’s actually just another world?

I started to think that way.

“…Well, fine. It seems like it’s your first time coming to a place like this. That’s even better. You’ll be really amazed. You can look forward to it.”

I don’t know why Amelia is so confident. It’s not like she made it herself.

If I were the me from the entrance ceremony, I would have snorted and brushed it off.

Even Amelia’s behavior seemed normal for someone her age, and it felt strange.

As if she really seemed like an ordinary student.

Like a real person, not a puppet.

“What are you two doing there?! Come quickly!”

“Ah. We’ll be right there!… Let’s go, Arte.”

“Alright.”

I don’t know.

I tried to cut off my thoughts in my head, not wanting to think about it as always, but it didn’t work well.

Dorothy’s expression and gestures urged us.

Amelia’s behavior of checking occasionally if I’m following as she walks.

Clearly, nothing has changed. Dorothy hasn’t changed, and Amelia is the same as always.

So the reason I have different feelings when I see them must be because I have changed.

“What were you talking about?”

“Nothing much. She says it’s her first time coming to a place like this, so she’s amazed.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. It’s my first time coming to a place like this.”

In novels, superhumans always fight.

They stand against society, monsters, and sometimes each other.

So, I might have vaguely thought there were no superhumans other than heroes and villains.

Superhumans who always fight, like puppets in a play.

And the superhumans I’ve actually seen have always been like that.

Fighting villains, fighting heroes, fighting monsters.

A story of this world that I had never seen before I fell into this world.

That’s why. Because I’ve seen such things.

I couldn’t erase the thought that this world seemed even more like a created world.

“But it doesn’t seem bad. It’s pretty.”

“That’s a relief.”

“…Yes.”

But if I see a scene like this.

If I see that superhumans aren’t just people who hurt others.

Can I still think of this world as just a well-constructed world?

I looked at the scene in front of me once again.

A scene that shows magical beauty, still very different from the world I originally lived in.

People were happily laughing and chatting about things they had never seen before.

***

“What are you doing there?”

“Hmm, well, that’s…”

“You should give that thing soon. It’ll be midnight in a bit… Don’t tell me you plan to give it to her at home?”

“No, I should give it to her here.”

Siwoo fiddled with the bracelet in his hand at Dorothy’s words.

‘Yeah, I should give it to her soon.’

He knew he should give it to her, but…

“It’s hard to find the right timing because Arte looks so happy.”

“…Ah. That’s true. I didn’t expect her to be that excited.”

If he had known she would be this happy, maybe he should have taken her out to play earlier.

Dorothy’s face was full of smiles as she muttered like that.

Following her gaze, he saw Amelia and Arte doing something.

Arte’s expressions… The same smiling face as always.

She walks around with an unnatural smile.

A forced smile.

The unpleasant feeling of smiling even though she was not happy made her seem suspicious.

Arte, who was playing with Amelia, was also smiling as usual.

But if there was a difference from before, could it be that her expression seemed to have a little bit of sincerity?

‘Is she gradually starting to accept people other than me?’

It made him feel good to see Arte growing a little bit.

“But it’s strange. Doesn’t everyone come to a place like this at least once?”

“…Who knows? She must have circumstances we don’t know about.”

“Is that so?”

Another thing Siwoo realized while living with Arte,

She lacks common sense.

To a really strange degree.

She was good at cooking, laundry, cleaning, and there wasn’t much she couldn’t do.

But he could tell that Arte lacked common sense whenever she watched the news.

Whenever she heard content about social issues, he felt that Arte didn’t understand it.

Last time, he asked Arte for her opinion on the news’s content, thinking she might understand it.

What she thought about that.

At that time, she just smiled and said she wasn’t interested in such things, so she didn’t know.

…Even though it was about a former villain who turned over a new leaf and turned himself in.

Even though he was a really famous person that Arachne would know about.

Whenever we go out somewhere, her gaze wanders here and there, looking amazed at various products.

Even though she’s good at cooking, she sometimes presents a dish he’s never seen before and she gets flustered when he says it’s his first time eating it.

On the contrary, sometimes, when he cooks, she looks at it in wonder, saying it’s a dish she’s never seen before.

It felt like looking at a tourist who went on an overseas trip.

Someone who knows nothing about the culture here.

“…Are you going?”

“Yeah. I have to go.”

“Good luck… You know you shouldn’t ask her to marry you, right?”

“What are you…”

“Hehe. I’m just kidding.”

If the situation is really not much different from what I felt.

If Arte came from a place far enough to feel uncomfortable here.

Then it would be nothing but unsettling.

No family, no friends, no acquaintances.

What would it feel like to live in a place where you can’t even reminisce about memories?

It’s hard for him to imagine.

For Siwoo, who has friends, family, and people he could turn to…

“…Arte must be lonely.”

Stealing his clothes.

He didn’t mind that.

Because he had also done something bad.

Because he had done something he couldn’t tell Arte.

…Actually, quite a lot.

“She must have done it because she was lonely.”

How lonely would it be to live in a world where you can’t see anyone as people and can only open up to a single person?

Siwoo couldn’t even guess.

Wouldn’t she be so unimaginably lonely?

“Hey, Arte.”

“…Yes? Uh, weren’t you with Dorothy? Where’s Dorothy…?”

“…”

Did she realize what he was trying to do when he spoke to her?

Amelia left the spot, looking at Arte’s reaction.

She’s really quick-witted.

Worthy of a woman who prides herself on being the fastest in the world.

“…Um, well.”

To be honest, he knew this looked like a confession.

If it weren’t for the two people who came with them, it may have well passed as a date.

…He couldn’t say he didn’t have such ulterior motives.

He didn’t know when, but Arte kept worrying him.

I didn’t want her to get hurt.

I didn’t want her to do anything dangerous.

I didn’t want her to go down the wrong path.

Since when? Why did it turn out like this?

The first impression must have been a hostile existence, let alone a bad one.

He remembered the days when he cried at night because he was scared of the extremely suspicious Arte.

‘If I told the past me he would be sleeping in the same room as her, he would have told me to stop talking nonsense.’

Falling for such a nasty person. It was clear that he would yell to stop talking crazy.

Imagining that, he unconsciously let out a laugh.

That doesn’t matter now.

He decided to fill her mind with happiness to overwrite whatever her past held.

So this is a confession, but it’s not a confession.

How many times had he resolved to help Arte in his heart?

Now, it was time to put it into words.

“I have something to say.”