After finishing breakfast, Lucia leaned against the dining table, watching Clara do the dishes.
“Senior isn’t going to the Company today either?”
“Yeah, field work, recruiting new members~” Clara replied.
“Recruiting excellent team members is also work. Going to see Kamui, is that skipping work? No, it’s adding excellent members to the Company, which is also work. So my salary should still be paid.”
“Well then, safe travels! I’ll bring this one to the Company myself!”
Lucia stuffed that “head” back into her backpack.
Was it because she studied mechanical engineering?
Or because she didn’t understand the value of the god’s relic?
Either way, Lucia didn’t seem bothered by this head. She picked it up without any caution, casually tossing it into her bag.
Although plenty of people and Organizations were eyeing this thing, the dream witch’s office was just in the underground garage of the nearby building.
That short distance shouldn’t cause any problems. She could just transfer it to Fran’s lab for her to study at her leisure.
[Miss Lucia is a talented person.]
Nyx suddenly spoke up.
[Aside from the head, there may be other parts. Please help Nyx assemble a complete body.]
“Ha, that’s easier said than done. It’s not like collecting cards at a convenience store.”
Besides, if so many people were fighting over this head, then the other parts likely spawned strong self-aware AIs like BB-0027. They’d either be hoarded by other Organizations or locked away in the Administration Bureau’s vaults.
Just from this one head, they’d unearthed A-Class black-box technology. The being that developed Nyx was a treasure trove, a mine of technology. The other parts surely held considerable research value as well.
[There may still be a chance. If Nyx obtains a complete body, perhaps the malfunctioning functions can be repaired, and Nyx can leave your body.]
“…We’ll talk about that later.”
Clara didn’t think that kind of luck could keep going. Getting this head was already lucky enough.
Early in the morning, she took the subway, heading against the rush hour crowd into the Blue Court Area.
Clara pressed Kamui’s doorbell in the apartment lobby. After Kamui answered, she carried large and small paper bags of clothing into the elevator.
Yeah, large and small bags.
On the way here, she’d splurged on two sets of normal dresses in her own size. After all, her current body was modeled after Kamui’s, so if they fit her, they’d definitely fit Kamui.
[You’re already a girl who can walk into a women’s clothing store alone, try things on, and make selections.]
“Stop joking about that kind of thing.”
Even so, Clara was in a pretty good mood while buying and trying on clothes.
Who doesn’t like looking at cute girls?
Looking at herself in the mirror, Clara felt her spirits lift…
The elevator doors opened.
This was the apartment Kamui and Nangong Xiwang shared. It wasn’t her first time here, so Clara didn’t feel particularly nervous.
She rang the doorbell. Within three seconds, the door clicked open. Kamui seemed to have been waiting right behind it, but when the door opened, there was no sign of her — just the sound of pitter-patter footsteps.
“Miss Kamui? Where are you?”
Clara asked while slipping off her shoes. On the coffee table in the Living Room sat a giant squid dry, half eaten.
“She hasn’t been eating just this since last night, has she?”
“And Miss Nangong?”
Clara furrowed her brow, then looked toward the stairs leading upstairs. That’s when she spotted Kamui’s little head peeking out, her bare shoulders and arms visible — she was probably only wearing underwear… or maybe not even that?
She looked pitiful, Clara thought.
“I’ll leave the clothes here, okay?”
Clara set the clothing bags at the bottom of the stairs, then turned around.
From upstairs came the sound of rapid footsteps running down.
“Thanks…”
Then more footsteps running back up.
The bags at the bottom of the stairs were taken away. Clara sighed and began cleaning up the trash scattered around the sofa. She hadn’t been here for a few days, and it was already a mess again.
It took about ten minutes before Kamui reluctantly came downstairs.
A thick white winter coat over a red dress, with thick pink-and-white striped long cotton socks on her feet…
Kamui looked at Clara tidying up and wore a satisfied expression.
Of course, those socks weren’t bought by Clara.
“We can head out now.”
“Clara, you don’t need to clean up anymore. I’ll do it myself later. Let’s first go see a Gem Artisan I know…”
Clara put down the broom and looked up in surprise.
She actually said she’d clean her own room…
“Wh-why are you looking at me?” Kamui averted her gaze and asked.
“…Nothing.”
Kamui was way too unusual today.
Was Kamui’s true nature, the roughness she normally showed — did losing magic power change her personality? Or was this her real self, just suppressed by the influence of magic?
No, maybe this was a good thing.
Clara set down the broom and said, “Then let’s get going!”
“Yeah, we need to figure out the Magic Gem’s malfunction… it’d be a problem if I can’t be a Magic Girl anymore.” Kamui replied.
Going to see the Gem Artisan might reveal what was happening with Kamui. Hopefully, they could fix the Magic Gem’s malfunction.
The two left the apartment, but in the elevator, Kamui never once met Clara’s gaze. That bashful, fidgety reaction was abnormal and made Clara feel uneasy as well.
[Not strange.]
Her ever-present little assistant Nyx chimed in, analyzing Kamui’s psychological state.
[Losing magic power wouldn’t change her personality, but she’s become an ordinary person again. Her mentality would definitely be affected.
After all, this isn’t just a demotion from being a Hero — it’s going from Hero to ordinary person overnight, and she doesn’t even know if she’ll get her power back and become a Magic Girl again.]
[Not knowing if she can get her power back… that does sound pretty bad.]
Clara followed Nyx’s reasoning.
Right now, Kamui was just an ordinary little girl. Before, she could arm herself with violence and strength, but now all of that was gone.
She must feel pretty helpless, right?
Maybe I should take care of her a bit more?
Clara thought this, shuffled her feet over beside Kamui. The latter tried to dodge, but she was already pressed against the elevator wall — the whole scene looked like Clara had cornered her.
“Miss Kamui, you can rely on me a little more, you know?”
“…What are you saying? You’re just a little girl yourself.” Kamui turned her head away.
What’s going on? Why is she still being stubborn at a time like this?
Clara couldn’t read her at all. She just looked into her eyes.
I want to help you. That’s all.
“Why do you take care of me so much? Is it because I’m your…”
“Ah, what? I-I’m what?”
Clara didn’t quite catch what Kamui said.
But before she could press for an answer, the other girl dashed out through the open elevator doors, leaving Clara standing in the elevator, utterly baffled.