Above Your Head

Chapter 5: A Rather Undesired Meeting. Continuation. (2)

Supreme Magic Tower, Protection Barrier Class.

Magician Girl, Kang Bo-ram 

"..."

Please don't do this.

"...?"

I sighed and stood there speechless as she looked with me with her round eyes.

Ahh, damn it. What's wrong with all the titles these days? This isn't even a joke. A magician girl? Do you want to get hit?

"Phew, so what do you want me to do? My father will be at home anyway, so you can go and see him."

"Oh, no. I'm not ready yet."

What preparation does she need? It was absurd, but I asked because I was not sensitive enough to understand the feelings of a high school girl.

"What do you want then?"

"Uh, I'm sorry, but could you give me your number? I'll call you later."

"Well, it doesn't matter. Give me your mobile phone."

"Here."

I took her mobile phone. Its size fitted right in my palm, and it had a cute design, reminding me of a pink rabbit. It was something that suited her really well, but there was something else that caught my eye.

"Huh? What's that?"

Her wrist had a strange thing wrapped around it as she held out her mobile phone. What should I call that? A steel wristband? A wristlet? Anyway, the silver metal that covered the back of her hand all the way up to her elbow was by no means an ornament a high school girl should be wearing. When I took a clearer look, it was the same for her left arm as well as her right one.

Erm… how should I call it—

Right. It was 'Equipped'. A jewel the size of an eyeball and emitting a pink light was lodged in the back of her hand. Thinking about it, I didn't know why I hadn't been able to see it until now.

"Yes? Wh-what do you mean?"

"It's not a what. I'm talking about that weird design. Where did you buy it?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Is it a weird design if the wristwatch looks like a rabbit?"

"...Uh. Ah, yeah. Haha. It's a design I have never seen before."

It was a close one. I activated my superhuman senses and ignored the suspicious looks thrown at me.

Pant pant pant. That, that was dangerous.

It was that moment where I exercised my lightning-like wit to the maximum. I realized that the wristband she was wearing couldn't be seen by normal people. It seemed like she used some means to break away from the perception of ordinary people.

'But why can I still see it?'

I had that thought for a moment but just let it slide. Well, it seemed like I also had somewhat of an annoying ability. Thinking about it, being able to see titles was technically considered an observation ability.

"Give me a call when you're free on a weekend. I'll let you know if it's fine, depending on the situation."

I saved my number on the cute looking mobile phone and returned it.

"Ah, thank you."

"No, I didn't do much so there's no need to thank me."

"No, it seems that there are many like me. It must be annoying for you, so thank you."

I let out a small sigh inwardly at the sight of her bowing. She was a polite girl and it didn't seem like she was being pretentious at all. It meant that she was a good girl. To put it simply, she must be a good girl. But I didn't really want to get involved regardless of if she was a good person or not.

"Then I'll take my leave. You guys can continue talking."

"Uh, wait. Dae-ha?"

"You should treat me to something later, you bastard. You got blinded by a girl and sold your friend?"

I snorted and turned around to get out of the arcade. Well, honestly, I wasn't that upset or anything but I didn't want to be with a magician girl. I should just go home quickly. Go home and spend some free time watching TV.

However.

"Ah! So there you are."

That was a huge mistake.

"..."

A sudden silence. Though it was a refreshing voice that could clear my mind, I subconsciously frowned at it.

"Wow, look at her."

"A beauty…"

"Is she a celebrity?"

I felt the urge to just run away from the chatter of the people. No, it wasn't just an impulse, but really trying to run away. However, she approached me before I could do that.

Her blue hair stretched all the way down to her waist as if it were made from seawater. It should weigh a lot if her hair was that long, but it didn't seem to affect her at all. Rather, there was a shine or gloss when she moved. And the way she approached me was so charming that it could make any man's heart in the world flutter but—

"Is a ghost haunting me today?"

I just wanted to cry.

*

I recalled the first time I saw her.

"I'm very sorry to ask you this during our first meeting…"

She asked softly, "Are you an Earthling?"

"…What?"

That was my first meeting with her.

Yes. That was our first meeting. She, who asked such a bewildering question at our first meeting that made me think it was a prank, looked at me like a tourist who had just discovered a rare creature. I would have thought she was hitting on me if I had been a normal person... but that was a huge burden as I could see her title.

No, you are telling me she's an extraterrestrial being?

It wasn't something that I could have imagined at all. No, not even someone who normally imagined about extraterrestrial beings would have thought they would meet one in this way. I was walking on the streets when she appeared suddenly to ask me if I was an Earthling. It wasn't even a joke so what kind of situation was this?

"I'm sorry. I'm quite the tactful person, but I can't grasp this situation. Are you an Earthling too? Or is that impossible?"

Thinking about it now, I think I handled it quite well. Despite the embarrassment, I showed an extremely normal reaction, just like a person who had misunderstood her as trying to hit on them. But even so, I feel suspicious as to why such a beauty like her was approaching me...

Yes, I played the 'Normal Reaction' act perfectly. But regardless of that.

"Are you sick?"

I almost nodded at her question. Frankly speaking, I wanted to say "Yes. My head hurts so much it feels like it's splitting just by having you standing beside me, so can you please go somewhere else?" but I just barely held myself back.

"...No, not really."

"But why have you been frowning for a while?"

"That's because you are saying strange things."

"Hm, so you really are an Earthling?"

"What are you saying? Are you not a human?"

I was surprised at my blunt response.

Ohh, Dae-ha. You should be an actor when you grow up. Your usual poker face was quite good but you still act really well, huh?

She still smiled brightly despite that.

"Would you like me to show you some evidence?"

"Hey. Do all extraterrestrial beings usually approach someone at will and show them proof that they're extraterrestrial beings?"

Even though I was just walking, I could feel the gazes of the people from everywhere, but I tried to ignore them. I wanted to return home quickly.

"So, are you really a normal Earthling?"

"Yes, I really am a normal Earthling. We all are normal Earthlings. I will take my leave if you keep spouting nonsense."

I left her alone and got away from that place.

Ahh, how troublesome. Why is she so interested in me?

Seeing how she asked me if I was an Earthling and still stuck with me even though I kept denying, perhaps she had felt I was different from the others.

'Are all extraterrestrial beings able to see this title thing?'

No, that couldn't be. I could control my title freely and my current title was Fly Hunter. The title was so trivial; there was no way my abilities would increase with that and it wasn't a title that would make one think I wasn't human. Moreover, it would also be strange for them to be able to see the titles just because they are extraterrestrial beings.

Kiiiiiing---

Just when I was feeling relieved for having passed the day safely after getting about a 100 meters away from the girl whom I still have no clue who she was, I heard a strange sound from the sky.

How should I describe this sound? Yes, it was similar to the sound made by a jet or aircraft when they take-off. The echo was quite loud, but somehow no one around looked up.

'A sound that ordinary people can't hear.'

Then the answer was obvious. I could pretend not to have heard it. But after a while, I had no choice but to stop walking.

Woooong— 

It was a huge silver sphere about 2.5 meters in diameter. The unidentified object made of silver metal floated in front of me and scattered mysterious light. What really drove me crazy was that people around me were just passing by as though they couldn't see the absurd object that appeared.

'They can't see this either?'

If that was the case, I would just walk away as though I couldn't see it but the problem was that this weird object was in front of me. I would crash into it if I kept walking.

"So you really can see it."

Before I knew it, I heard a shrill voice next to me.

Damn it, I should have kept walking, even if I may crash into it. 

But it was too late to regret it now that the beautiful girl had walked next to me and was just smiling brightly.

"My introductions have been late. I am Celestia. You can call me Cel."

"Cel, huh? Have you reached your ultimate form? What about your combat power?"

"Excuse me?"

"...It's nothing. Just a poor joke. I'm Dae-ha. Kwan Dae-ha."

It was a kind of a declaration of defeat. I was sure she would never get away from me if I didn't face her properly. It would be troublesome if she followed me to school or my house. I didn't know which side of me had piqued so much of her interest that her eyes were sparkling.

"Hehe, you finally gave up. Would you like to go somewhere where we can talk in private?"

"...All right."

Is there a coffee shop that's as empty as possible? I thought as I looked around, but I would only have an answer if I had been to somewhere like that before. However, there were surprisingly many places like that if you looked around.

"May I take your order?"

"A lemonade please."

Well, I would have known if I'd been to such places before. Moreover, it was just a drink, why were they priced so expensively? To be honest, I wanted to go to a place like Lotteria rather than a cafe, but I couldn't help it because our conversation isn't suited for a crowded location.

"A café mocha."

"A lemonade and a café mocha. Understood."

I looked at Celestia in amazement as she ordered skillfully.

"Have you gone to many of such places before?"

"No. I've never been to a cafe before."

"Really? You looked accustomed to it."

"I just ordered the recommended menu item written in the guide, but I don't know what's going to come out."

Guide? Recommended menu?

Those were words I couldn't understand, but I didn't even want to ask her about it so I just let it go.

After a moment of waiting, our lemonade and a cup of coffee that was covered in cream was ready. The coffee gave off a faint chocolate scent.

"Mm. This is pretty good. Where I lived…"

"So what is your purpose for coming to Earth?" I cut her off lightly.

I didn't want to know much about the world in which she lives. It was because I felt that the more I knew, the more dangerous it would be.

"Wow, I can't believe you just went straight to the point."

She was looking at me as if I had no manners, but she was smiling as she spoke.

"There's no particular purpose. I'm just here to play."

"You came to play?"

"Yes. I came here because I received an Earth 34 tour package from Attraction. I wanted to enjoy some peace since I'm here, you know? But then I saw you when I got here, and I was so happy to have met a traveller like me on this trip, but you just played dumb."

"..."