(Ceruno)
The concert was nearing its end.
Whether it was me, backed by the Earth Crystal and the other Magical Girls, or Miluno, supported by that little goddess, we were both doing everything we could to win the audience's votes.
We each had one solo song left, followed by the closing duet.
Yet the results in both our vote banks were neck and neck...
This captain election was intensely close. Fortunately, it was only close—there had been no conflict. After all, if we started fighting, both sides' ratings would drop, which would benefit neither of us.
Still, it was surprising that Mi Xue had not pulled any tricks. Had she really taken Miss Sirius's words to heart?
"Ceruno."
Miss Terra came over and clung to me again.
"D-Don't press so close... ngh, my membrane's going to burst!!"
When consciousnesses pressed together like this, they could easily blend, especially consciousness entities that had served within the Earth Crystal for a long time. The "membrane" wrapping their consciousness was generally thin and fragile, so they could merge if they were not careful.
"Some more information has been mixed in from your Miluno's side."
"Huh? What did she say this time?"
"Hmm..."
Rather than answering directly, Miss Terra sent the information over at the level of consciousness.
"Don't trust the vote bank?"
It was a remarkably brief message. The members of the Hive Consciousness had done well to fish out Miluno's message from that vast torrent of data.
"Could the vote bank results have been falsified?"
As I asked that, Terra's consciousness mass wrapped around me even more tightly.
"I said don't get so close! You don't even have a human shape anymore!!"
"The vote bank results were only ever a reference. We can review people's intentions and see whether more people support