"Huh?" Caesar froze. During the brief silence from the other side just now, he had considered every possible thing Lu Mingfei might say, but this was the one sentence he had never expected.
What did that mean? Caesar first instinctively recalled the "otaku" label in Lu Mingfei's file and assumed he was having another episode. Only then did he think of the gorgeous, seemingly alchemical skirt Lu Mingfei had been wearing.
Come to think of it, it really did look a little like the dress worn by a Magical Girl.
And Lu Mingfei had shouted "Magical Girl transformation" when he rushed out just now. The situation had been too urgent at the time, but Caesar had kept his Word Spirit, Weasel Sickle, active the entire time and had heard every word clearly.
"You mean I'm also... a Magical Girl?" Caesar wrestled with his wording. "The kind from Japanese culture that transforms, casts magic, and fights monsters?"
He felt like he must have gone insane, seriously discussing the settings of Magical Girls with Lu Mingfei.
Lu Mingfei nodded in agreement. "But one part's wrong. It's not casting magic. It's close combat."
He pointed at Nono, who lay on the ground with little birds still circling above her head, his tone somewhat uncertain. "Is this the only magic I know?"
"..." There were too many things to criticize. Caesar's brain spun for a while before giving up on thinking.
It was probably just some alchemical weapon recognizing its owner.
"You mean I can have power like yours too?" Caesar meant the power Lu Mingfei had used to blow apart a Deadpool with one punch.
After all, if one could casually obtain such power, then whoever made this alchemical weapon had to be a true master.
Seeing Caesar's strange expression, Lu Mingfei suddenly froze as though he had thought of something, then smiled. "Why don't you try it yourself?"
Caesar fell silent again. As someone with exceptional leadership skills and a gift for speeches, he had gone silent more times today than he had in the entire previous year combined.
Thinking of Lu Mingfei's humanoid Dragon King strength, he had to admit that he was tempted.
Ten minutes ago, he had been hating and resenting his own lack of power. Now power had arrived, though it required just a tiny bit of dignity as payment.
In the end, Caesar gritted his teeth. "What do I do?"
Lu Mingfei broke into a cheerful smile, like a fisherman who had finally caught a fish after a day of nothing. "Simple. Hold the necklace and shout 'Magical Girl Caesar, transform!' at no less than eighty decibels."
Caesar looked at Lu Mingfei without saying anything.
"I'm not lying! I did exactly that just now, didn't I? It has to be over eighty decibels. Otherwise, do you think I'm some kind of pervert?" Lu Mingfei was wounded by that look.
Heaven and earth bear witness! He was clearly such a kind person, guiding a lost lamb yearning for power toward that power. Why was he still being seen as a liar?
Caesar slowly gripped the necklace, opened his mouth, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
"Say it already," Lu Mingfei urged.
"...Put your phone down first."
"Tch." Lu Mingfei reluctantly turned off the phone that had been recording.
In the end, Caesar gritted his teeth and shouted, "Magical Girl Caesar, transform!"
The sheer volume startled Lu Mingfei.
But after half a minute passed, the necklace showed no reaction at all.
"You tricked me!" Caesar suddenly glared at Lu Mingfei.
"I didn't! I swear!" Lu Mingfei hurriedly raised three fingers and swore, "If I lied to Caesar, may Heaven strike me dead!"
Hearing that, Caesar froze, and so did Lu Mingfei.
They looked at each other, thinking of the same possibility.
"Could it be..." Lu Mingfei answered first.
"No need to say it. I know." Caesar cut him off.
As everyone knew, a person's name consisted of many parts, including but not limited to their surname, given name, and title. And Caesar's full name was "Caesar Gattuso."
Caesar, who had always lacked any sense of family honor, felt for the first time that his surname represented his dignity.
Caesar sighed and shouted, "Magical Girl Caesar Gattuso, transform!"
Sure enough, in the next instant, dazzling multicolored light bloomed around Caesar, so bright that Lu Mingfei beside him could not open his eyes.
When the light faded, it revealed Caesar in a yellow-and-white Lolita miniskirt. His bulging pectorals looked ready to burst through the cute outfit, while his muscular thighs stretched the white stockings several sizes larger. Below that, oversized bright-yellow platform heels covered his feet.
The necklace in his hand had transformed into a yellow wand. A breeze passed by, sending an enormous yellow bow behind Caesar's waist fluttering in the wind.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lu Mingfei laughed so hard he could barely breathe. He collapsed onto the ground and pounded it madly.
Lu Mingfei himself had a slender build, so after transforming he merely looked somewhat perverted. From the back, one might not even be able to tell he was male. But Caesar was different. His face resembled that of a rugged action-movie protagonist, and his physique that of a bodybuilding champion. The visual impact he gave others was on an entirely different level.
At that moment, Lu Mingfei finally felt balanced.
But aside from Chu Ke's Fundamental Forces, everything was conserved. For example, Caesar was now on the verge of a mental breakdown.
He suddenly felt grateful that Lu Mingfei had knocked Nono unconscious beforehand. Otherwise, he had no idea how he would ever face his fiancée again. "Hmm?" Just then, Nono on the ground groggily opened her eyes, about to see clearly.
Caesar instantly chopped down with a palm at lightning speed, and Nono once again sank into sweet slumber.
"Whew." Caesar let out a breath.
Lu Mingfei froze. Bro, wasn't that your girlfriend? You hit her that hard yourself, so how did you have the nerve to scold me just now? But were the skills shared? "Bang!" The sound of a party popper exploded out of nowhere, and Chu Ke appeared again.
Caesar jumped in fright and immediately assumed a fighting stance.
"Don't worry, that's our familiar," Lu Mingfei explained.
"A familiar?" Caesar asked curiously.
"Ta-da!" Chu Ke clapped his hands, suppressing laughter as he looked at Caesar. "Every Magical Girl needs a familiar to guide them. I'm your familiar."
Looking at the pitch-black figure before him, who seemed to be holding back laughter, Caesar's fists hardened slightly. Still, he patiently asked, "Then are you the one who made this alchemical weapon?"
Even now, Caesar still thought this was a set of alchemical weapons.
"Alchemical weapon? What's that?" Lu Mingfei asked, baffled.
"Nope. This is another path entirely, one independent of dragon civilization," Chu Ke explained. "It is a spiritual power formed from pure love and miracles—and fun!"
Chu Ke briefly introduced the power of Magical Girls and love power to Caesar.
Afterward, Chu Ke seemingly added casually, "As long as you accumulate enough love power, even something like bringing someone back to life can be done!"
"This..." Caesar's pupils contracted.
There truly was someone Caesar could never let go of—his mother.
If it really was as that familiar said... "Then it looks like I have no choice but to become a Magical Girl." Caesar smiled in relief.
Of course, it was also to monitor whether this so-called Magical Girl organization had any unspeakable secrets.
Chu Ke smiled. As if that were something he got to decide. "Oh, right." Lu Mingfei, who had been unable to find a way into the conversation, suddenly asked, "Caesar, where did you get your necklace?"
"Hm?" Caesar exited his transformation and shook the necklace. "I bought it at a Stationery Store."
Caesar thought the owner had probably picked it up by accident. No, wait!
Caesar suddenly looked up at Lu Mingfei, whose eyes held the same shock. "You mean...?"
"Yes! A Stationery Store owner gave mine to me!" Lu Mingfei felt like he had discovered something. "Was it the Stationery Store on that street in the alley behind the school, the one that turns into a night market every evening?"
"That's the one!" Caesar's expression turned grave. "And I remember that aside from the one in my hand, there was also a blue one!"
Caesar had originally bought the necklace as a gift for Nono. But he had remembered there were others just like it, and worried it would be awkward if Nono ran into someone else who had bought one. So he had casually worn it himself, planning to toss it somewhere after returning.
"And there's more! That means there might be another Magical Girl!" Lu Mingfei concluded.
"I think the most urgent matter is to visit that store first and find out what exactly is going on with that owner," Caesar said.
Before you continue