Chapter 6 : Why are we talking about polar bears?

The time went back several hours, to the late evening.

In front of a hotel in the metropolitan area, the Frozen Princess and a man in a suit were having a conversation.

“It seems like Scarlett Lilly is staying in Room 308.”

“I’m sorry for troubling you. You must have been busy…”

“It’s fine. Helping magical girls is my job.”

“Thank you for looking into it.”

Aurora Laura accidentally discovered that Scarlett was streaming.
The only clue was that she was in a hotel room.
But the Frozen Princess had a strong ally.
A supporter.
An efficient public servant who provides multi-faceted support for magical girls.
She called him to ask if he could track her location, and in just 30 minutes, he pinpointed the room.

“Are you sure it’s Scarlett herself?”

She wasn’t 100% sure.
That’s why it was important to meet her.

“Maybe. Both Aurora Laura and I think so.”

“In fact, the police have also requested investigation cooperation. They were asking if the department related to magical girls knew anything.”

“The police?”

“Well… there’s a warrant out for her.”

In the past, just defeating monsters was enough to be forgiven, but times had changed.
It seemed they needed to investigate the damage caused by taking down the dinosaurs, among other things.

“Please don’t tell the police or anyone else. I’m begging you.”
The Frozen Princess politely bowed her head.
It was because of her that things had gotten out of hand.
Even if Scarlett had made a mistake, she didn’t want her hideout exposed like this.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t said anything, and I don’t plan to. I just thought you should know.”
The supporter scratched his head awkwardly.

“Thank you.”

After expressing her gratitude again, the Frozen Princess headed into the hotel.
She took the stairs up to the third floor instead of the elevator.
Room 308 was at the end of the corridor.
After taking a deep breath, she rang the bell.

Ding-dong.
Silence followed.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.
No response, even when she kept ringing.
Maybe Scarlett was deeply asleep, with no sign of waking up.
She had come all this way—should she go back?

But then the words of Aurora Laura flashed through her mind.

“If someone persistent finds out, they might figure out where you are.”
Ordinary people wouldn’t think to search, but there were also people in the world who couldn’t be understood by common sense.
She had heard of someone identifying a location just from objects reflected in a person’s eyes in a photo.
This kind of streaming could be dangerous, she had said.

Moreover, Scarlett was a magical girl who had the attention of the entire nation.
If someone noticed the identity of a streamer in the middle of a slumber broadcast and spread the location of the hotel, it could lead to an irreversible situation.
So, this was just helping her, not a crime.

The Frozen Princess used magic to unlock the door and entered.

“Excuse me…”
She cautiously stepped inside and walked toward the bed.
The pink-haired girl, Scarlett, was asleep.
She had an almost sacred aura, like a fairy from a fairy tale.
Her chest gently rose and fell with each breath.
Even as a woman, she couldn’t help but be mesmerized.
To think that this delicate body had defeated those huge monsters…
It was hard to believe, even seeing it with her own eyes.

“This isn’t the time.”
The Frozen Princess walked toward the laptop on the table.
The website of an online streaming platform was open.
The number of viewers had already surpassed ten.

Should she turn it off?
Her hand, reaching for the mouse, paused.
It felt a bit too much.
Instead, she decided to grab a towel from the bathroom and cover the webcam.
But before that…
Since her face was already on camera, she decided to give a small service.

The Frozen Princess waved her hand lightly at the camera.
It wasn’t intentional, but she was letting people know that even she, who had never fallen from the top ranks among magical girls, had been here.

After watching the clip, she understood why over 1,000 viewers had joined.
It was thanks to the Frozen Princess.
While she had been sleeping, the Frozen Princess had entered her room and waved her hand.
It was only that.
Someone among the viewers clipped the moment and uploaded it to the community, and the rumor spread quickly.

“Hako debuted in a sleep broadcast. Haha!”
“But it worked.”
“This is something I’ve never heard of.”
“Maybe it’s a planned collaboration with Frozen Princess.”
“What’s their relationship?”
“They care about each other.”
“First stream and already some yuri moves.”
“Laura hasn’t even appeared on the stream, but now she’s collaborating with Scarlett?”
“Hasn’t Frozen Princess appeared on Laura’s stream?”
“No, never.”
“Laura tried to persuade her a few times but failed.”
“Is Frozen Princess close with Scarlett?”
“She hasn’t said anything on SNS.”
“They weren’t close until recently, so they’re probably not that close.”
“But now they’ll be building a relationship. Physically.”
“At this rate, the polar bears will all die!!!”
“So, is she Scarlett, or is she Scarlett Lilly?”
“I think she changed her name to Scarlett Lilly.”
“Magical girl names can’t be duplicated.”
“It might be that the wrong information was spread.”

The reactions were explosive.
Is it such a big deal to have contact with an active magical girl?
After all, I had been sleeping at the time.

“Why is everyone talking about polar bears?”
Curious, she searched and found that it was some kind of meme.
The Frozen Princess had been seen for a few seconds, and now there were yuri jokes.
As someone who used to be a man, she felt complicated.

“I’m almost at 10,000 followers…”

The problem is this.
The stream I started without much expectation became a huge hit.

But since the popularity didn’t come from skill, it actually felt burdensome.

“A donation came in, too.”

The reason I started streaming is simple.
It was when I was worried about making a living and wondered if I should get a part-time job—then I suddenly felt like this might work.

Sleep streaming was just a trial.
It was nothing more than an opportunistic attempt without any planned content.

In a way, I was hoping for a stroke of luck… but when it started drawing too much attention, I got scared.

I replayed the video where the Frozen Princess waved her hand.

The moment the door opened wasn’t captured due to the camera angle, but it looked like she unlocked it with magic and came in.

Even though I was tired, I’m the type that doesn’t wake up easily once I fall asleep.

Still, not even noticing someone entering… that’s surprising.

“I need to meet her.”

There was a note with contact information inside the paper bag she left.

I didn’t know what her intention was, but I couldn’t ignore it.

Maybe I could find out how she figured out where I was by talking to her.

The meeting place was a café.

It was relatively quiet, probably because it was a weekday.

As I sat by the window on the second floor waiting, a woman sat across from me.

“You’re Scarlet Lily, right?”

She looked like she was in her early twenties.

A woman with a stylish outfit that gave off a strong college student vibe.

“Frozen Princess?”

It made sense since she was from the third generation, but she looked more mature than her transformation form.

Still young and pretty, though.

“When I’m like this, please call me Yusia.”

“Oh, okay.”

We faced each other across the small table.

“Why do you look so surprised?”

Yusia tilted her head.

“I didn’t expect you to show me your untransformed self.”

“You’re not transformed either. I didn’t think you’d actually dye your hair pink even when you’re not on camera.”

Anyone who didn’t know the situation could easily misunderstand.

“This is just me releasing the magic.”

“Huh?”

“I can control the perception-blocking magic at will.”

“So you’re saying you’re maintaining it intentionally?”

“That’s right.”

It’s not something you can believe easily.

Even I only got this ability after spending years in the demon realm.

“Do you hate showing your untransformed self that much?”

She slightly frowned.

I wasn’t sure if I should say it, but it’d be weird to keep hiding it now.

“It’s because of a special condition. I can’t undo the transformation, so I have to stay like this 24/7. Didn’t Armo tell you?”

Armo is the name of the mascot.

I thought he would’ve told her something about Scarlet.

“He didn’t say anything in particular.”

That unreliable guy.

I had no choice but to explain the whole story.

How I ended up going to the demon realm, how I got the potion, and how I returned to Earth.

That I was planning to retire at the right time, but things got complicated and I had to put it on hold.

Yusia, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke.

“So the potion I drank had that kind of effect… I’m sorry.”

She looked down, as if feeling ashamed.

She survived, but I lost the chance to return to my original self.

She had reason to feel bad, but I had no regrets.

“Don’t apologize. I used it because I wanted to.”

Her expression brightened a little, as if those words brought her some comfort.

“Right, I received your gift. It was delicious.”

The paper bag she left contained several types of desserts.

They looked like they were from a high-end, well-known shop.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I picked a variety. I’m glad they suited your taste.”

Yusia let out a small laugh.

I thought she’d be a cold person, just like the Frozen Princess image.

But unexpectedly, she had a warm side too.

“How did you find the place I was staying at?”

“I asked a supporter to track it down.”

Her teammate, Aurora Rora, happened to see my stream.

Even just the room’s interior was enough to give clues, and with supporters connected to various organizations, they identified the hotel.

“I figured it was possible, but to think it really worked…”

“Sorry for opening the door and coming in on my own. I was worried some viewers might have bad intentions.”

“If you did it for me, then I should be the one thanking you.”

The rumors spread because one of the viewers who was keeping an eye on me started talking.

I’m someone who spent 10 years in a world cut off from Earth—a total primitive.

I decided to treat this as a kind of vaccination.

“What should I call you? What’s your name?”

“Just call me Scarlet Lily. I plan to start using my real name again once I retire.”

If it were gender-neutral, maybe, but my real name didn’t suit a girl’s face.

Besides, by now, the time I’ve spent as a magical girl isn’t that different from the time I lived as a man.

At this point, I’m more used to being Scarlet.

“Scarlet Lily…”

Yusia murmured softly.

By the way, the “Lily” part was added to match the color.

Scarlet is a red hue, but my hair is actually pink.

Adding white balances it out.

I picked it because it sounded nice.

“…Okay. I’ll call you that from now on.”

She switched from polite speech to casual speech.

Her tone suddenly changed.

“That’s all fine, but could you start treating me like an older sister now?”

Yusia gave a fresh, bright smile.