“I should have thought of that.”
Kamui muttered while lying on the sofa, her face flushed red.
The magic power she had right now was replenished from Clara.
Even this squid-skin-style dress was created through Clara’s magic power.
The reason she had stayed by her side, even wanting to sleep by her hospital bed, might not be because she cared about her that much, but because once she left her side, this new outfit would lose its magical support and scatter away with the wind.
Just like now, not even a single button remained…
“…Good thing I didn’t leave Clara behind to go eat at the cafeteria.”
If she had left Clara in the ward and gone to the cafeteria with Lucia, what kind of disastrous scene would have unfolded? Kamui didn’t dare imagine.
Theoretically, Kamui’s magic power could also support the clothes Clara had transformed, so they wouldn’t dissipate so easily. But right now, she was in a state of mana overdraft and complete exhaustion.
Kamui was out of magic. In this depleted state, even maintaining her Magic Girl form was difficult, and she had lost her superhuman physique of 1.2 tons per punch. Now, she was just an ordinary loli.
“…Sigh.”
Kamui sighed and walked upstairs with her bare bottom exposed.
At times like this, the advantage of not having a single real window became apparent.
She returned to her bedroom and opened the wardrobe, only to discover that she didn’t have many loli outfits she could actually wear outside.
After all, Kamui’s clothes were all meant for Nangong Xiwang to wear at home to relax, just for herself to see.
She’d feel embarrassed to wear them outside. Earlier, when she let Clara play dress-up, Clara had taken a few normal ones. The remaining styles were even less presentable.
“Anyway, let’s transform back first?”
Kamui tried to cancel her transformation and return to Nangong Xiwang.
“…Cancel.”
Nothing happened.
She frowned, tapped the gold-red gem bracelet on her wrist, and tried again.
“Transformation reversal.”
The Magic Gem still didn’t respond. There wasn’t even a trace of magic power flowing inside the gem.
This bracelet was like a completely powered-off phone; no matter how she pressed the power button, nothing happened.
Kamui’s brows knitted into a tight knot. This was truly the worst situation.
“…Tch, why can’t I transform back?”
In all her years as a Magic Girl, this was the first time Kamui couldn’t transform back. Besides, she was in a state of mana exhaustion now; it should have been easier to cancel, not harder.
“Is it because Clara input cognate magic that triggered some kind of bug?”
“…I need to go see a Gem Artisan.”
Through mana replenishment, Magic Girls could automatically generate various outfits, and even recover from injuries. Behind all these conveniences lay the transformation device called the Magic Gem.
Different Magic Girls had different transformation gems, but without exception, all of them were delicate devices that required regular maintenance to prevent malfunctions in battle. The profession that arose from this was the Gem Artisan.
Kamui’s Magic Gem hadn’t been adjusted or maintained for quite a while.
“Sigh, do I have to go ask that trap for help?”
After all, Kamui was an Independent Hero, and she usually spent money lavishly, so she didn’t have much in her pockets.
Magic Gem maintenance cost money, so she always delayed her Magic Gem maintenance deadline, just like the manga artists she was responsible for.
“Anyway, shower first.”
Maybe if she slept and her magic power recovered a little, she’d be able to transform back.
Suddenly unemployed, suddenly bare-bottomed, suddenly unable to transform back—facing this series of blows, the thick-skinned Kamui remained relatively calm.
When there’s no one to act spoiled with, people become strong.
…Not that there was no one.
Although there was no one to act spoiled with, there did seem to be someone to talk to.
Kamui took her phone into the bathroom, found that person in her contacts, and called while showering.
“Miss Kamui, congratulations.”
Unexpectedly, congratulations came from the other end of the line.
“Huh? Is there something to congratulate me about?”
‘Come to think of it, why is that guy still using a female voice?’
‘Didn’t he go to the Abyssal administration bureau today to restore his physical condition?’
Kamui had called Blue Cavalier.
She continued:
“Although that ‘god’s relic’ thing was still taken by the enemy, the Administration Bureau will compensate you, and the Dread Association will give you a bonus. For you personally, today shouldn’t be considered a failure…”
Kamui interrupted his verbose speech with a sigh and said:
“I’m joining ‘dream witch’.”
The other end paused for a moment, as if thinking, then continued:
“That’s good. Whether that company has problems or not, it’s not a bad thing for you.
“If there are no problems, then Kamui’s drifting freelance hero career ends here. From now on, you’ll have a home and backing, and your future hero activities will go more smoothly. Good thing.
“If there are problems, then it’s a timely removal of the evil organization’s tentacles reaching into the hero side. Kamui becomes an undercover hero who endures humiliation and bears the greatest merit. Isn’t that still a good thing?”
“Currently, Clara is very useful to me.”
“Can she also help you with mana emission?”
“Yeah.”
The sound of water could be heard from Blue Cavalier’s end.
He seemed to be taking a shower too?
“According to your request, I did a little investigation on that mutant named Squill.”
Kamui was a bit surprised. She thought Blue Cavalier didn’t care much about this matter.
“I did say to find the answer yourself, but I never said I’d give up investigating on my end.”
“…About Clara’s identity, I have a speculation. No, I should say, I’ve already found some evidence to corroborate it.”
This made Kamui nervous enough to even temporarily turn off the showerhead, to keep from mishearing due to the drizzling water sounds.
“…Clara, who is she?”
She knew there was some kind of connection between Clara and Squill.
But whether as a daughter or as a sister, the relationship between her and Squill seemed difficult to explain.
Blue Cavalier continued:
“I climbed through the window into his old apartment in Blue Court and found some tissue samples from his bed, clothes, and the floor respectively.”
‘Even though she’s a hero, she casually breaks into a mutant’s home to collect samples…’
Kamui was speechless, but she didn’t dwell on the legality of such actions.
“And then? Any test results?”
“Yeah, I also have Clara’s tissue sample… to be precise, her hair. A few strands she left on the moon bus.”
“Why would you even collect stuff like that.”
Blue Cavalier didn’t directly answer that question and simply continued on his own.
“Clara and Squill have similar genes, but they’re not related as father and daughter or siblings. Her existence is closer to a replicant.”
“Clara is Squill’s clone?!”
“No, that’s clearly not a simple clone. Otherwise, her appearance wouldn’t differ this much.”
Blue Cavalier paused again at this point.
“Time is limited. Let me just state my speculation directly.”
Gulp—
Kamui swallowed.
“Clara is an artificial human. Her paternal genes come from the mutant Squill, and her maternal genes come from… you, Miss Kamui.”
“Ha?!”
At Kamui’s questioning tone, Blue Cavalier put it more bluntly.
“Clara is probably your child.”
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