Early the next morning, while the entire resort was still peacefully asleep,
Clara, now awake, had already started thinking.
Could it be that she actually had strong maternal instincts?
Held tightly in Sista’s arms, Clara couldn’t help but wonder about this. It was one thing for Lucia to joke and call her “Mom,” but why did even a one-year-old artificial human treat her as “Mom”?
Come to think of it, did artificial humans even have a concept of “mother”?
“Hey, Sista, time to get up?”
Maybe after hearing “Mom” so many times, Clara had started to lose herself in the role and found herself wanting to take care of Sista. Her attitude toward her had changed, at least becoming a lot gentler.
Sista, rubbing her eyes, stared blankly at Clara as if she’d forgotten why she was sleeping here. After her brain rebooted for a few seconds, she hugged Clara again and tried to doze off.
“Hey! No more sleeping!”
Then, Sista was yanked out of bed by a tentacle.
“Remember, you need to go back to the Azure Cavalier’s room before filming starts. Did you forget?”
“I know…”
“Well, hurry up and get out of bed!”
Under Clara’s urging, Sista finally got up—though unwillingly. With a flash of white light, she summoned her exoskeleton armor onto the balcony, activated Shufang Damo’s gadget to blur her appearance, and flew from one balcony to another…
“My head hurts. So many problems to deal with this week.”
【Looks to me like you’re actually enjoying it, Mama Clara.】
What kind of nickname is that?!
“Come to think of it, my own problem hasn’t been solved yet…”
た
The very first warm-up activity of the day was for the four members of the Sigma series to prepare breakfast for her. Never mind what kind of food these four artificial humans might whip up—just the requirement to remove her gas mask in front of the Azure Cavalier was already a pressing issue. Even if she didn’t get found out on the spot, he was bound to notice something odd during the replay.
【You don’t have to take the whole mask off.】
“Then how do I eat?”
【Nyx means you just need to expose your mouth to eat.】
A gas mask that only exposes the lower half of the face—that’s basically a pair of goggles, isn’t it?
Besides, she’d already exposed the upper half of her face before when wearing a half-mask gas mask; this time, if she exposed the lower half, with a little AI synthesis, her true face could be pieced together.
Half-concealing, half-revealing—there was no real point to it. A full disguise was the only way.
“Nyx, can’t you just change my appearance when I’m a Magical Girl?”
【Kamui’s data is the source of your power as a Magical Girl. As long as you transform, you can’t avoid drawing on her power—your appearance will always be influenced by her. No matter how you change it, her shadow will always be there.】
She’d heard all this before, but Clara wasn’t ready to give up.
She continued, “Then there’s only one way left.”
【Hm?】
“I’m not going to be a ‘Magical Girl’ anymore! Nyx!”
【Giving up being a hero?】
“No, I just won’t transform. Just put me in the Magical Girl outfit, that’s all.”
In other words, she’d participate in the activities as her current self. If she needed to use the Magical Girl’s power, she’d just put the gas mask on. After all, once she wore the mask and switched modes, no one would notice the difference.
…
【That would solve your immediate predicament, but it comes with consequences.】
Nyx offered her a sincere warning.
【If you choose this path, then from now on, every time you act as Magical Girl Clara, you must wear the gas mask.】
In other words, she’d be giving up the face she had when fused with Kamui.
For Clara, that wasn’t much of a loss—she’d never dared to show that face in public, which was why she’d worn the gas mask from the start.
She might not have been popular, but Kamui was a distinctive, lone-wolf close-combat Magical Girl, a label that was instantly recognizable. If she were ever found out, it would be a huge problem.
“No problem! It’s not like I could ever show my face anyway!”
【In that case, you won’t just be playing Magical Girl Clara, you’ll have to play the role of a Magical Girl in general. Remember, in this state you can’t use magic.】
It sounded like she was just tying herself up in knots, but it was still better than blowing her cover.
Just then, the doorbell to the guest room rang, and Nyx dressed Clara in her Magical Girl outfit—a black dress, complete with the iconic gas mask.
“I’m coming!”
Clara went downstairs to open the door.
As soon as she opened it, a “Dragonfly” drone flew in and began circling her, while the person who’d come to greet her was Shufang Damo—though today, she was in her role as the joint event host.
“Miss Damo?”
“Oh my! Clara-chan is already up? Looks like our plan to livestream you waking up has gone down the drain!”
Because the camera was on, Shufang Damo spoke in her fully professional, businesslike tone.
“Has the livestream already started?” Clara asked.
Knowing who-knows-how-many people were watching her through the camera made Clara feel a little awkward.
“That’s right~ The training camp livestream has already started! Clara, do you have anything you’d like to say to your fans? You can also check out the live chat here!”
Shufang Damo handed her a tablet.
But all Clara could see were the rapid-fire barrage comments flashing by too quickly to read. She managed a quick scan and caught glimpses like: 【Clara-chan is so cute, hiss~ hiss~】, 【I want Clara’s little tentacles to whip me!】, 【Pure Clara is actually collaborating with those smelly guys! The Hero Company must be forcing her!】, 【Smelly guys? How dare you insult my brother!】—comments that were intense enough to turn into outright flame wars.
She had no idea where her own fans had come from, but clearly, they didn’t get along well with the Sigma Heroes’ fans…
Still, the stream was way livelier than she’d expected. Just how many people had nothing better to do than camp in a stream early in the morning just to watch someone wake up?
Even so, Clara put on a cutesy voice and waved to the camera.
“Thank you to all the fans who came to watch our collaboration livestream! Good morning, everyone! From today, I, Magical Girl Clara, will be teaming up with the big brothers of the Sigma series!”
【Just a reminder, for everyone already in the stream, that was a totally pointless line…】
“For the next week, I’ll be their temporary little sister! It may not be for long, but Clara hopes to get closer to the brothers~”
【If you say things like that, their fans will curse you out of jealousy.】
“So, Miss Damo, what’s our first activity today?”
Even though she already knew, Shufang Damo played along and picked up the topic.
“Clara-chan, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?”
“Mm, Clara just woke up~”
“Then I’ve got good news! You’re about to have four breakfasts!”
“Wow! But there’s no way I can eat that much~”
Clara was without a doubt a skilled performer.
Wearing her gas mask and speaking in a cute voice, once she got into this mode, she’d completely abandon her shame and become “Magical Girl Clara” through and through.
Of course, she’d pay for it later with self-loathing and doubt.
“Tasting those breakfasts is your first activity today, and all of them were handmade by your four big brothers. Aren’t you curious to see what kind of delicious food they’ve prepared?”
Heh. Let’s hope it’s actually edible.
“Wow! Clara is really looking forward to it!”
Even though she had zero expectations inside, she still rubbed her hands together and bounced in front of the camera, saying words she didn’t mean at all.
This was exactly the kind of survival skill every adult had to master.
Mama, heh.