(Miluno)
"So, this is the real Mi Xue?"
The humanoid made of black mud didn't even have a clear outline, never mind any color. She was nothing but a pitch-black silhouette, with no resemblance to Mi Xue whatsoever.
In both appearance and aggression, she fell short of the fake Ceruno had poured out.
The Proxy had gone to great lengths to fish this lump out of the middle of the crater.
"Whew! If I'm not mistaken, this is Mi Xue while she's still growing. Without absorbing us as her pillars, she can't turn back into the way she was..."
Ceruno rested her chin on her hand in thought and asked:
"Could the one next door become a pillar?"
She meant the fake, but how could we let Mi Xue eat something so dubious?
"No, no, no. Wouldn't eating that give her an upset stomach? Why don't we let Azura look after her for now... Look, they're pretty similar in form, aren't they?"
I waved my hands in refusal, and Ceruno continued:
"Even if we can teach her to become Mi Xue again, are her memories and everything... still there?"
Time had been reversed, so surely they were gone.
That was what I thought, but Aldebaran cut in. "In theory, they can be restored. According to the rules, a god's consciousness is unique and cannot be altered at will..."
"Professor Aldebaran, I don't really understand. Could you put it more simply, please?"
I raised my hand to make the suggestion. Aldebaran thought for a moment before answering:
"In terms you can understand, she's roughly equivalent to a system file that requires administrator privileges to delete. Although she's no longer an administrator and has no privileges, she's still classified as a system file. Only Miluno, as you are now, can delete her."