Squier’s rented low-cost apartment was still a ways from Blue Court Metro Station.
But before heading home, she had to take care of her hunger first. She hadn’t eaten anything all afternoon, and after the intense exertion from beating up that gorilla, she was now so hungry her stomach felt glued to her back.
Both her body and her spirit needed the reward of food.
The area near the metro station was still fairly lively, but after walking a bit, the decline and desolation on both sides of the road became obvious. Even the bulbs in the streetlights flickered, and there weren’t any automated maintenance drones coming by to fix them.
“Boss, one large bowl of char siu ramen! No salt, no broth!”
She sat down at her usual spot in front of the ramen stall, reciting her signature order as if it were some kind of secret code, only to catch the surprised look in the ramen stall owner’s eyes.
“Hey, little lady, your taste is a lot like one of my regulars…”
Squier tugged at the corner of her mouth. How could she not be like herself?
The middle-aged ramen stall owner grabbed a handful of noodles and dropped them into the pot.
Facing a loli customer late at night, his temples streaked with white and his skin dark and leathery, he forced what he thought was a friendly smile. In reality, the sagging skin on his face formed several layers of wrinkles that looked anything but kind. The scar on his face would make anyone who didn’t know him want to call the police.
This ramen stall owner looked just like a former mob boss who’d switched careers. If he put on a suit, he’d have an even stronger air of menace—which was perfectly in line with Blue Court’s reputation for public safety.
“Oh, I’m that regular’s little sister. I’m staying at his place for a while. I was hungry and asked him where to get a late-night snack, so he sent me over here.”
Squier thought about it and decided not to reveal her identity.
It was easier to pose as the little sister. If she couldn’t undo her transformation any time soon, she wouldn’t have to explain herself when she came to eat again.
“Oh, so that kid was pretty handsome before his modifications.”
The ramen stall owner stroked his stubble, then asked, “Want me to pack some up for him too?”
“No need, I’ll just eat here.”
“Alright.”
She sat on the cold metal bench—once a bit cramped, but now just the right size, though sitting too long always left her backside sore. The smell of broth mixed with the tang of rust, and Squier absentmindedly picked at the fake wood-grain stickers peeling up from the corners of the table, pushed up by so-called ferric oxide.
Though the place was a bit rundown, as if the ramen cart had been cobbled together from junkyard scraps, Squier really liked the atmosphere here.
Before long, the ramen stall owner fished out springy alkaline noodles from the big pot, poured them into a bowl filled with plain water, and laid several slices of pork char siu on top… There was more meat than usual.
Squier raised an eyebrow. Did turning into a little girl come with this kind of perk?
As he handed over the bowl, the ramen stall owner continued, “Little lady, I’ve heard a bit about you from him, but I remember… aren’t you in university?”
As a regular at the ramen stall, Squier liked to chat with the ramen stall owner while eating.
People always need social interaction—even a thirty-five-year-old “empty-nest youth” was no exception. The ramen stall owner was bored manning the stall anyway. The two men, more than twenty years apart in age, had become “soulmates” who’d never even asked each other’s names, sometimes even sharing a few drinks.
It wasn’t much of a secret that Squier worked at Nytmare Corporation. The ramen stall owner even knew he sent money home every month for his family and his university student little sister.
“I am a university student, I just look a bit young.”
Squier came up with a flimsy excuse, unable to convince the ramen stall owner.
“A bit young? But little lady… you look only twelve or thirteen. Did you skip grades? Or did you get some kind of special modification?”
“…Modification? Well, something like that.”
Because of a faulty Nyx Drive, he’d gone from a thirty-five-year-old man to a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl on the outside. That was definitely a kind of modification.
A big bowl of ramen in plain water.
Anyone else would think it looked so bland they’d lose their appetite, but this was exactly what Squier needed. As a Squid Monster, she couldn’t handle salty foods, but sweet char siu was fine. She picked up the noodles and wolfed them down.
Of course, not eating salt didn’t mean she liked bland food. After all, she wasn’t born a Squid Monster. Before her modification surgery, she’d eaten normal food too. Food without salt was definitely hard to stomach. Eating was just a way to fill her belly…
But after only half a bowl, she was already full.
This girl’s body really didn’t have much of an appetite.
“Boss, ramen!”
A sharp female shout rang out. A petite girl in a red dress pushed aside the stall’s curtain and stumbled inside, swaying as she sat down next to Squier…
“Oh crap, Shen—”
Squier hurriedly shut her mouth.
The one stumbling in for ramen was Magic Girl Shenwei.
What a pain! Why was she here? Was she following me?
No, from the looks of it, she’d been drinking, threw up, then got hungry and came for noodles.
She tilted her head, eyes fixed on the menu behind the ramen stall owner for a long time before she finally howled:
“Pork bone ramen! Extra pork bone!”
“…Miss, there’s no actual pork bone in pork bone ramen.”
“Huh? You look down on me? I can pay, you know!”
What an unreasonable personality. Was this girl really a Hero?
Or maybe all Heroes were this spoiled in private?
Her good impression of Heroes was completely ruined. No wonder Squier’s manga never got approved—it had to be Heroes like this who were to blame…
“…Even if you pay, there’s no pork bone. All our broth is made from concentrated soup base.”
The ramen stall owner accidentally let slip his high-tech shortcuts.
The smell of alcohol was heavy on Shenwei, who was still clutching a big bottle of liquor. She slumped on the table, burping and drooling, bubbles popping above her head.
Her mind was clearly foggy, which was probably why she hadn’t recognized Squier.
Aside from her dress turning black and gray, Squier and Magic Girl Shenwei looked almost exactly alike, though their demeanors were completely different. At first glance, no one would think they were the same person.
But what if Shenwei sobered up after eating some ramen?
Squier was ready to make her escape…
But then the ramen stall owner said:
“Now that I look at you two, you really do look alike. Are you twins?”
Boss! Why do you have to be so nosy?!
A cold sweat broke out on Squier’s back.
Reminded by the ramen stall owner, Shenwei squinted her blurry eyes and stared at Squier.
“No, we don’t know each other!”
Denying it, Squier threw down her half-eaten noodles and got up to leave the ramen stall. But Magic Girl Shenwei seemed to recognize her and actually stumbled after her.
“Stop…you…ugh…”
But she was so unsteady, and after taking another swig to fight her nausea, she collapsed to the ground after only a few steps, wriggled a couple times, and didn’t get up…
Then, just like that, she fell asleep.
“How much did that girl drink?!”
In Blue Court, if you passed out drunk on the street, you’d wake up the next day to find not only your belongings gone, but maybe even some of your internal organs.
And with the weather turning cold lately, nighttime temperatures were close to zero. Even a Magic Girl could catch a cold sleeping out here all night…
But Squier couldn’t be bothered with her. What did it matter to her what happened to a Hero?
Besides, the way she ended up like this—Magic Girl Shenwei had at least some responsibility.
Thinking that, Squier walked home without looking back.
[Negative emotional fluctuation detected: guilt, remorse.]
The voice of the Nyx Drive sounded in her head at the worst possible moment.
Squier immediately frowned.
This device seemed to react to her emotions?
The Staff of Ink Dye’s flying broom mode had also upgraded because she wanted to save Fran…
“Yes, I do feel a bit bad. So what? Do you want me to go back and help her? I need to look out for myself! That girl’s a Hero—if she wakes up, she’ll definitely beat me up, then hand me over to World Tree Technologies to score points. I still want to live, you know!”
Besides, she was a Magic Girl, after all. It’s not like some street thugs could do anything to her, right?
Seeing that Squier truly had no intention of turning back, Nyx Drive whispered again in her mind.
[If you keep going like this, you’ll regret it.]
“Just pretend you didn’t see anything. I’m a monster, even off the clock I’m not going to save a Hero. It’s not like she’s in any urgent danger anyway.”
[Magic Girl Shenwei is off duty too. Right now, she’s not a Hero, just a drunk.]
“Fine, so why should I save some random drunk?”
[Analysis: her drinking may have something to do with you.]
Squier guessed that it was probably because she’d failed her mission and gotten punished by the Magic Girl Society, which put her in a bad mood and drove her to drink…
Come to think of it, was this girl even old enough to drink?
“You want me to take responsibility for that?”
[A Hero would never ignore someone in trouble, Clara.]
“Don’t call me that… I’m not some Hero.”
[In this situation, what would Clara do?]
Squier was getting irritated by Nyx Drive’s nagging, but there was no way to shut her up. The voice was right in her mind, after all—covering her ears wouldn’t help.
“So annoying! Then at least change my appearance first!”
[Received. Compiling data set… Squid Monster Squier… complete.]
[Generating Operation Body… Squid Monster Squier… complete.]
Wait a second, Squier froze.
“You had my data all along?!”
Using her data to generate an Operation Body…
Did this mean her transformation could be undone?!