"Aaah—!? Why'd you hit me! Seriously!"

Grumbling and rubbing her head, Sua took it upon herself to enter my address into a delivery app on her phone and order food.

"I'm getting salmon sushi~ Want some, mister?"

"No thanks. I've had dinner."

My eyes narrowed of their own accord. Annoying...

Still, ill-mannered as she was, she must have had some reason for showing up so suddenly. I decided to give her something to drink and try talking to her.

"Water, milk, or green tea?"

"Hot tea, please."

After answering, Sua stole a glance at Yohan's back as he prepared the tea.

'Hmm~ So he does get me something after all.'

He might hit her, but he held back. She'd noticed it last time, too: he seemed indifferent, yet he still looked after her.

Of course, that didn't mean Sua underestimated him. Everyone had buttons that made them angry when pressed, but from what she'd seen, Yohan had a freak-out button. A danger button? As long as she avoided that one, she could poke and tease him, and—perhaps it was simply his nature—he mostly let it slide. At least she could feel that he paid attention to her instead of ignoring her.

Then the green tea was ready.

"Here. Hot tea. So why did you come?"

I brought over the dining table and set the warm tea down as I spoke.

"If you came because you're bored, there's nothing fun to do here. Eat your sushi when it arrives, then go home."

"You're letting me eat it here?"

"You've already ordered it, so I don't have much choice. If you take it all the way home, it won't taste as good, and you'll be hungry."

"... I didn't come because I was bored."

Sua sat on the edge of the bed in silence for a moment, her legs stretched out as she tapped her feet against the floor, before speaking.

"Mister, would you tutor me?"

"... What?"

Private tutoring. There was nothing particularly strange about the words themselves. But they were unexpected, and had nothing to do with me. I was a former university student, after all, and tutoring was something university students could do... Naturally, though, the story changed when you added "philosophy major."

Being addressed respectfully as a teacher by people older than you, and being served fruit—that kind of tutoring gig was for the science and engineering crowd. Not that I was saying it was easy work. They probably got plenty of complaints from parents. Anyway.

The untouchables of the humanities. If a philosophy major got uppity enough to offer tutoring, what they'd receive wasn't money, but ridicule and the fury of parents trying to protect their children.

'Booo... If you have any conscience, get lost!'

'Get away from my child right now—!? You monster!'

... Well, still. Sua probably hadn't brought this up because she wanted ordinary tutoring to improve her grades. Judging by everything she'd said so far, she didn't seem like the type to care much about grades in the first place.

"Explain."

"Hmm~ Well, could I hire you as a magic tutor and bodyguard?"

As expected, this wasn't about schoolwork. Magic tutoring, though... It was an out-of-the-blue suggestion, but she'd seen all those zombies at the campground turn to dust when the magic beam hit them. It made sense for her to be interested. I would be, too.

But I had no reason to teach her, and no intention of being her bodyguard.

"Then no. For a bodyguard, go consult a licensed professional agency."

I came first. Saving other people's lives while dealing with the uncanny was one thing. But if things went wrong, if something unexpected happened, I didn't want to risk my life protecting someone else's.

Sua was just as quick to add something as I had been to refuse.

"No! I just called it a bodyguard! You wouldn't actually be guarding me... Right! I'll follow you around on my own, so think of me as an assistant and teach me magic while we're at it. You're basically half unemployed whenever you don't have a job coming in anyway. So I'll hire you for about a week. How's that?"

Half unemployed... That was true... Anyway, after listening to the torrent of words pouring out of Sua, I asked about something that bothered me a little.

"It doesn't really matter, but why a week specifically?"

Sua lowered her gaze slightly and spoke cautiously.

"... Actually, I think I'm going to be invited to a dinner gathering sometime within the week."

To sum up her story, it went something like this. A corporate chairman called Chairman Kim regularly invited her father to suspicious dinner gatherings he hosted at set intervals. Her father turned down every invitation. Now, apparently, Chairman Kim was trying to invite Sua instead of her father, Namgung Su. Even if she refused, he intended to force the issue.

After hearing her out, I thought for a moment. You could call it an overreaction on Sua's part, but...

"Hmm..."

From what I'd heard so far, something felt off to me, too.

It might just be an ordinary dinner gathering, but still. A corporate chairman was going out of his way to bring people together and host it. It probably wasn't just a casual meal. It would be a place to build connections, or where money might change hands in various ways.

... If Sua were an adult, that would be one thing. But dragging someone's high-school-aged child into a dinner gathering because the parent had refused was suspicious. I could sense some purpose behind it, some unpleasant intent.

And naturally, that intent wasn't going to be:

'Ugh! I've prepared such delicious food! How could he turn down my dinner invitation... What a shame! I'll have to feed his daughter something delicious instead!'

'... Is he planning to hold a drug party, force drugs on her, and get something to blackmail her with?'

This wasn't some trashy soap opera. I laughed inwardly at my own absurdly clichéd, flimsy speculation. Thinking a common-sense response would be best for now, I spoke to Sua. Her parents... She'd said she didn't have a mother.

"Have you told your father this is happening?"

At the word "father," Sua's brow furrowed slightly.

"What's this? A lecture?"

"No. I'm trying to understand the situation."

"..."

Her brow relaxed, and she murmured quietly.

"... I did tell him."

In Sua's mind, she saw Namgung Su speaking calmly and quietly without even looking at her, as though telling her not to bother him.

"He said he'd assign me more bodyguards if I was worried."

"That's not bad."

Chairman Kim hadn't directly threatened her, so that was the best he could do for now. Since he hadn't ignored her request, he apparently wasn't completely indifferent to his daughter. Well, judging by Sua's expression... she hadn't gotten the words or reaction she'd wanted from her dad. But that wasn't my business.

"If you've got bodyguards, you don't really need to hire me, do you? If you're anxious, you'd be better off going to Sister Ellie than me."

That nun was kind, and strong in the physical sense, too.

"I don't want to trouble Ellie with something like this."

"... That's admirable. But it's fine to trouble me?"

Sua tilted her head and smiled triumphantly.

"With you? It's a little late to worry about that~"

I looked at Sua sitting brazenly on someone else's bed in her short dress, swinging her legs.

"..."

... True. If she'd cared, she wouldn't have shown up unannounced and occupied my bed. But she'd rung the bell and only come in after I opened the door. If she'd barged in without ringing, I could have simply tossed her out.

Anyway, Sua continued.

"The bodyguard thing was just something I threw in. I thought I'd take this opportunity to learn magic from you. I'll be your super-cute assistant, so teach me magic! Please?"

My eyes narrowed.

"... That's a brave statement. I like your positive attitude."

"It's not a positive attitude, it's a fact~ I'm fucking adorable~"

DING-DONG.

Just then, the bell rang, and Sua checked her phone.

"Oh! The sushi's here."

I didn't want Sua going out and giving the neighbors some strange impression, so I went to fetch the sushi left outside the door myself.

"Eat this and go home for today."

I unwrapped it and set it on the dining table.

"I can't say I'll do something I can't do. I'm not going to be your bodyguard, so forget the hiring fee."

Inside was a row of salmon sushi and two pieces of egg sushi.

"Let's call your work as my assistant payment for the magic lessons."

Making her work and taking her money too seemed a bit much. I had to wait two weeks for the Hand of Glory to cure in salt and pepper anyway. With nothing to do right now, I could spend a week or so with her.

"But magic isn't as convenient a power as you think."

And I didn't expect Sua to stick around for long. She was interested now, but once she started learning, she'd lose interest and leave on her own.

"Hmm~ All right."

Sua nodded and handed me the two pieces of egg sushi.

"Here, these are yours. You had dinner without me, but..."

Then she grinned triumphantly.

"I even made sure to get you some. See the difference in our character?"

I stared at her.

'... Is she actually a crazy bitch?'

Well, there was no need to react to every joke. I'd already eaten, but I could manage two pieces. There was no reason to refuse when she was offering.

"Sure. Thanks for the food."

The egg sushi was fluffy, sweet, and delicious.

"..."

Sua quietly watched Yohan as she ate her sushi.

Her interest in magic was one reason she'd specifically come to see him, but... She recalled his voice ringing through the auditorium, and the sight of him wiping out the zombies at the campground. It was because she felt that, for this next week, the safest place was beside Yohan.

There was something dangerous? Special about him, similar to Chairman Kim, yet different. If Chairman Kim was a hyena, Yohan was somehow an elephant. Once you were riding on an elephant's back, a hyena wasn't scary, was it?

'All right~ Let's go~!'

'Pawoooooo~!'

And... Sua grew irritated for no particular reason and silently glared at Yohan. ... She'd also wanted to see him a little, rather than just talk to him on the phone.