“Whew, that really scared me.”
Following the crowd of people leaving work, Clara loosened her tie and took deep, uneven breaths, her small chest rising and falling rapidly, still shaken from the ordeal.
“Nyx, it’s thanks to you that I got out of this alive. Sometimes you really come in handy…”
She said this because just a little while ago, as she was descending the escalator to the subway station, her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket—it was the sound of a new message notification.
Unaware of what was happening, Clara was about to pull out her phone to check it when Nyx reminded her inside her mind.
【Don’t move.】
【This message is a test from Miss Lucia.】
Lucia was watching her from above.
Realizing this, Clara’s heart rate shot up to triple digits. She hurriedly stopped what she was doing to avoid revealing any cracks and then entered the subway station.
But she still couldn’t relax. After all, Lucia’s behavior meant that…
“What do I do, Nyx? That girl is already suspicious of me, isn’t she?!”
【No need to panic. Analyzing from behavioral psychology, she only has slight suspicion. Since this attempt failed, she will temporarily set aside her doubts.】
Only temporarily?
No matter how much she acted, disguised herself, or lied, Clara was still Squire, the brother Lucia admired. Facing a younger sister she had watched grow up with, it was almost impossible not to slip up…
And tomorrow they had to attend the Hero Festival together, which meant there was a high risk of exposing herself.
Clara walked into the train carriage with frustration and muttered to herself.
“Ugh, why did I even force myself to eat that spicy chicken burger?”
On the other hand, despite eating such heavily seasoned food, she hadn’t experienced the expected side effects. With such heavy salt and spice, her body should have been sore and dry…
Nyx had an explanation for this.
【Although your data was used, defects were repaired when generating the combat body. Eating salty food will not cause physical discomfort.】
“Huh? Repairs? Does that mean it’s okay to eat heavy salt and spice now?”
For Clara, this was unexpectedly good news, but Nyx denied it.
【No, it’s not completely without issues. Even if your body doesn’t feel discomfort, your mind can’t fully adapt yet. Consuming salty food will trigger psychological stress reactions.】
Nyx elaborated further.
【That reaction is similar to when you were forced to eat squid—just not as severe.】
When eating the spicy chicken burger, even swallowing made her throat resist.
“…Then maybe I shouldn’t eat it after all.”
Even if she had become cuter, she was still a squid at heart.
Back at her apartment in Blue Court, Clara finally felt truly at ease.
“I’m home~”
Although the Commander’s provided dorm was luxurious and comfortable, a golden cage or silver cage was no match for one’s own (rented) doghouse. Clara could only fully relax in this familiar space.
After taking a shower, Clara sat back down at her desk.
Alright, time to work!
Thinking that, she suddenly shouted:
“Nyx, help me out!”
【Understood.】
Ten tentacles controlled by Nyx emerged from Clara’s hair.
Forty-plus pages of serialized comic work were definitely not doable in one night under normal circumstances, but with an assistant as incredibly efficient as Nyx, Clara’s workload was greatly reduced. Plus, the storyboard was already prepared—they just had to finish the final draft…
——————
《Magical Girl Clara》Chapter 1 in Production! Stay Tuned!
Author: True Sword Hero
——————
“All set! Application successful~ Starting today I’m officially a professional. I can apply for special benefits aimed at Hero Company employees… and also for Miss Clara’s…”
While Clara worked hard on her manuscript, Lucia sat on her bed, muttering to herself. Wearing glasses, she was preparing for tomorrow’s convention.
“Next, I need to schedule based on the popularity of attending heroes and their autograph times… The official website lists the heroes attending tomorrow… They even have hero rankings on the webpage? The organizers are really thoughtful~”
With so many heroes, lining up for autographs was unrealistic. Even arriving early and leaving at closing time wouldn’t be enough.
Therefore, to get signatures from popular heroes to resell, careful planning was essential.
“Hmm, lesser-known heroes will be working all day, but popular heroes only appear on stage for a short time. I have to calculate when to get in line for their booths ahead of time…”
Lucia was making a spreadsheet, but she wasn’t good at typing.
Her laptop was a gift from her older brother after she passed the university entrance exam. Before that, she hadn’t really used a computer.
Although she had a phone, living in the countryside meant most people around her were middle-aged or elderly, and they mostly sent voice messages, so her typing speed on the phone was slow.
Thus, when using the computer, she used the “two-finger method”—only two fingers on the keyboard while constantly glancing back and forth between the keyboard and screen, which made her typing very slow.
“Huh? The new Sigma-series hero is attending tomorrow too? Although big brother already got his autograph, having an extra one isn’t a loss…”
Because this was a popular new hero, autographs from Pure White Storm could sell for thousands or even tens of thousands, and prices were still rising. Popular heroes were basically cash machines.
To avoid oversaturating the market, popular heroes only signed for limited times to control the number of autographs available…
“No, wait. The Sigma-series heroes are so popular that the queue for them will be massive, but that will also draw fans away from other booths.
Maybe it’s more efficient to get autographs from other popular heroes during that time?”
Mentioning Sigma heroes, Lucia couldn’t help but recall the recent attack. But unlike the fan meet-and-greet, that was an exclusive event for the Sigma series.
The “Radiant Hero Festival” would have a large number of heroes present, so it was impossible for an evil organization to attack—at least, not even the “Fourth Calamity” would dare… right?
The “Fourth Calamity” villains were notorious for being neurotic and unpredictable, like a true disaster. Even Lucia wasn’t certain…
But from a hero’s perspective, if an evil organization did attack the Radiant Hero Festival, it would actually be a good opportunity.
It would be a stage handed to them on a silver platter. Like last time’s fan meeting, although it was disrupted, the Sigma series trended as a hot topic…
Though it was clear there was capital behind the scenes pushing that narrative.
Thinking this, Lucia casually opened a related news article from the trending list.
“Wait, could this be…”
The clip from a live broadcast she’d seen many times before caught her attention once more.
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