“Heave-ho.”
With a cute exhale, reminiscent of a schoolgirl on a field trip, the ghost-class peak dimensional beast ahead collapsed on the spot.
A hole ran clear through its chest, and a skewer had been stabbed straight down through its head, stringing it up like a kebab.
“That’ll do.”
Luo You looked on indifferently, gathering her team while the magical girl from the neighboring city gawked in disbelief.
Ignoring the cheers and praise that erupted after a long silence behind her, Luo You returned to the Huahai City branch, where she was immediately swarmed with more enthusiastic compliments from Qiu Yu and the others.
“Lady Golden Scale! I saw the livestream!”
“That was incredible! The beast you took down this time was a ghost-class peak dimensional monster! In the past, it always took top-tier magical girls to handle something like that safely, and yet you just crushed it!”
“Our Golden Scale truly has the bearing of an emperor!”
Seeing these people going more and more overboard with their flattery, Luo You brushed them off hastily and left.
She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, her swelling vanity would just burst.
It was a pity, really.
Luo You had no interest in these magical girls who only ever stayed in the rear.
Otherwise, she’d probably develop some… illicit relationships with a few of them during work.
***
Meanwhile, on the 11th floor of the Huahai City Entertainment Center, a few people who looked like office staff were peering downstairs with binoculars.
“That’s the Golden Scale everyone’s talking about lately? Gotta admit, she looks pretty badass.”
A lazy young man took the cigarette from his mouth, flicked it onto the carpet, and ground it out, blowing a smoke ring.
“Damn, it’s annoying… but I can’t help but feel it’s a shame, too…”
Another middle-aged man with glasses came up behind him, hugging a laptop to his chest.
“Everything’s ready… but are we really targeting her? I still think it’s better to use this on Manjusaka.”
The young man pulled a higher-end cigar from the pack, lighting it up as he replied, “Manjusaka… that one’s too hard to read, there’s no guarantee of success. This time we go for both—if either plan works, it’s our win.”
“Really? I don’t think this Golden Scale looks like some naive little fool. Would she really fall for it that easily?”
“Heh, what do you know? It’s these magical girls who just awakened and then get put on a pedestal—they’re the most likely to get arrogant, look down on everyone, and fall for a trick.”
The young man sneered.
Magical girls were, at the end of the day, just kids in their teens or early twenties.
Even among the Ten Seats, only two or three really had any strategic sense.
If you wanted to play them, there were all sorts of ways.
“After being put on a pedestal, crashing back down… Heh, let’s hope this Golden Scale doesn’t end up shattered in one go.”
As he finished speaking, the young man suddenly grimaced and flung his freshly lit cigar to the ground, grinding it with extra force.
“Pah! What garbage, this thing’s a fake, isn’t it?!”
“Bought ten for 29.9, of course it’s not the real thing.”
“Screw you!”
***
Back at home, Luo You discovered that Zhi Zhi had let herself in again.
“…Zhi Zhi, are you really this bored?”
“That’s a rude thing to say. I’m only here because I’m worried about you, You You.”
“Maybe try looking at where you just came out of before you say that.”
If Zhi Zhi hadn’t just crawled out of her drawer where she kept her stockings, Luo You might have believed her.
But Zhi Zhi, on the other hand, retorted confidently, “I was just curious, what’s wrong with taking a look? I didn’t mess anything up.”
“Seriously, what’s so interesting about that?”
“How long have you even been a magical girl, and already you’ve got these amazing results? I suspect you’re secretly a retired veteran. Maybe there’s some proof of your past hidden somewhere in your house.”
“So you decided to search my stockings?”
“You never know, sometimes you hide things in the most unlikely places.”
Deciding to let that go for now, Luo You saw that the drawer wasn’t messed up, so she didn’t mind.
She noticed that Zhi Zhi’s visit was sudden this time.
Though she always popped up like this, today her intentions were obviously different.
“Are you here to call me to the front lines?”
“That thought crossed my mind. Everyone in the group’s telling me to bring you over to show your face. What do you think, You You?”
“Hmm… let’s wait a bit.”
“Smart move. Don’t go getting cocky just because you took down another ghost-class peak dimensional beast. King-class dimensional beasts are ten times tougher than ghost-class ones, and King-class appear all the time at the Boundary Gate. If you went there, you’d be shredded in a couple of days.”
Though her words weren’t very nice, Luo You could tell she was genuinely concerned about her safety.
This brat actually had her cute side.
“If you went to the Boundary Gate and got shredded to pieces in a few days, Zhi Zhi would lose all face!”
***
Damn it all.
Annoyed, Luo You pulled a white Death Swimsuit out of her wardrobe and tossed it onto Zhi Zhi.
“What, you want to invite me to the hot springs?”
“What are you thinking? Social media! You’ve been slacking on that lately, haven’t you? Only one post every ten days, what are you, raising fish?”
“I can’t help it! I’m not like you—I’m a member of the Ten Seats carrying the fate of humanity! How could I be obsessed with that kind of—”
“Hurry up and put it on. And, what are you supposed to call me right now?”
Zhi Zhi’s cheeks flushed instantly as she lowered her head and mumbled, “…Mom.”
Hmph.
Soon, it would be time to witness the CG of the impish little succubus daughter in a Death Swimsuit!!!
Sss-ha sss-ha sss-ha sss-ha!
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get dressed.”
Luo You pressed.
“Okay.”
Zhi Zhi tried to act nonchalant, but kept sneaking glances at Luo You.
“Hm? What’s wrong, don’t tell me Zhi Zhi doesn’t even know how to put on a Death Swimsuit? Ah~ such an innocent child, come, let Mom teach you step by step~V.”
“N-n-n-no way! I can do it myself! I was just worried you might wear something too indecent, that’s all!”
To be fair, Luo You was dressed quite properly—deep black Death Swimsuit, paired with white stockings.
Zhi Zhi was the opposite: white Death Swimsuit with black stockings.
Side by side, the color contrast between them immediately made the scene pop.
“This… isn’t this a bit much?”
After the photoshoot, Zhi Zhi started to worry.
No matter how you put it, this was definitely going a bit overboard.
Fortunately, these Death Swimsuits weren’t the filthy kind from manga, so there weren’t any mysterious bulges to be seen.
Otherwise, that would have crossed the line.
Still, it wasn’t far off.
“What are you thinking?”
Luo You gave her a look that screamed “idiot.”
“Of course, the good photos are for myself. The leftover scraps are for social media, like these.”
She picked up a few photos to show Zhi Zhi.
Anything that included the upper body was mostly blurred, the rest were just shots of their legs and feet, and some were just of the outfits and stockings.
Uwah… that’s just mean.
What does she even take her fans for?
But this way, Zhi Zhi could accept it.
“Alright, now that we’ve got some social media material, let’s get to the real business.”
Under Zhi Zhi’s confused gaze, Luo You grinned mischievously, “Zhi Zhi, how about you come with Mom to the bathroom for some even more exciting photos?”
“Wha—! M-m-more… more exciting?!”
“Relax, it’ll still be wholesome… but maybe not so wholesome for someone as pure as you~”
Luo You had wanted to try this for ages.
Like in those manga or anime, with two impish little girls in Death Swimsuits pressed together, covered in foamy body wash.
Just imagining it was thrilling!
Plus, Luo You wanted to use this chance to test whether Zhi Zhi was straight or not, and just what sort of unknown XP she might have.
She’d been raising this cloud-daughter long enough—it was time for the harvest.