Faded Idol

(Bai Ziye)

"Miss Qiao, Jolina was an idol in the Past?!"

We obtained unexpected information from Sirius.

"Hmm, her stage name is Halley, right? She was already somewhat famous when I first arrived on Earth. I even referenced her choreography in my early days. She never told you about herself?"

"No? She only said that 'Kuluoluo' missed the high-speed train of 'magical girl idols,' insisted on training ordinary idols, and was eventually abandoned by the times... Ah!"

If an agency insists on nurturing traditional idols to the very end, then that's probably...

"That's right, it's that 'Ah!'~"

As the Western-style meal was served, Sirius picked up his wine glass and elegantly swirled the red wine.

"A talent agency like Kuluoluo's, with its outdated ideas, should have gone bankrupt long ago. But Halley used her savings from when she was an idol to buy Kuluoluo and transformed herself into a manager, trying to revive the agency... However, there's only so much she can do. After all, signing a magical girl who's interested in becoming an idol isn't cheap, and other big companies are all vying for her."

I still don't understand.

I shook my head and asked, "After everyone else gave up, where did her unwavering determination to not give up come from?"

Sirius shrugged.

"Then you'd have to ask her directly. But I think it's not hard to guess; it's most likely because of guilt."

"Crime? What crime has she committed?"

"The agency believed Halley could break into the new era's battlefield until the very end, pouring all its resources into her. However, the number of fans willing to follow her was slowly decreasing. She chose to retire at that time, leaving the agency with nothing in the end... It's normal to feel guilty about that, right? But I believe she did her best at the time. However, the gap between traditional idols and magical girls cannot be bridged by hard work alone. These days, when people mention girl idols, they only think of magical girls. They don't even get corporate endorsements or product endorsements from traditional idols, do they?"

The essence of idols is the creation of gods.

Magical girls are clearly closer to gods than ordinary people.

Whether intentional or not, magical girls are taking the life out of traditional idols.

"Sigh, I was hoping to learn from her about the work of a talent agent."

Sirius nodded in agreement.

"That's a good way to think. She's perfectly capable of being a manager, and she's also excellent in vocal training, physical training, dance, and makeup. After all, she's a trained idol, and she could easily find a producer position at another agency."

Despite being very capable, he preferred to stay alone in a small bungalow and personally go out into the streets to discover promising talents.

Ultimately, talent scouts have long been obsolete, since you can't actually find magical girls on the street...

Sigh, they won't admit it even if they get caught!

"She's a pitiful person too; perhaps I should be kinder to her."

"You didn't do anything wrong by rejecting her, Miluno- chan."

Sirius sipped his red wine and replied, "She definitely needs to sober up. I'll keep this business card. I'll talk to her when I have time and see if she's willing to sell Kuluoluo to me. I'll make this old brand shine again."

"Doing charity?"

"Of course I'm saying this because there's money to be made!"

I wasn't sure what Sirius's money-making plan was all about. It had been a good thing for Miss Jolina before, so I didn't think much of it and left my business card with Sirius.

"Then I'll go back and get Ceruno training."

"Well, just a heads up, the lineup for this competition is pretty impressive, with several internationally renowned magical girls participating as idols. It's practically a world-class talent show. You'll have to get Ceruno- chan to give it her all to go far..."

There weren't enough Monster deployed " on the Other Side" to go around for the magical girls to enjoy. Is the "industry" in a slump so everyone's turning to idols?

"However, whether as a magical girl or an idol, that child is quite talented, but she must overcome her psychological barriers."

"I know what to do."

I patted my chest and guaranteed it.

"I will ensure she participates in the Idol Festival in her best condition."

"Ceruno! Look, I got the test questions for the Supernova Idol Festival from Sirius. They're a few new songs, come practice... Guh!"

"Bring me the steak! Woof!"

As soon as I got home, the Golden came rushing towards me and crashed headfirst into my stomach.

Besides the stomach pain, I also experienced auditory hallucinations. Did it just speak?

I mentioned... steak?

"Woof!?"

I looked at the Golden, and the Doggy blinked innocently at me...

It must be an illusion, since even UI-31 can't talk, so how could a dog possibly talk?

"So, Yezi, you went to see Sirius today."

Ceruno took the USB drive from my hand and said, "There's no need to hide this kind of thing, is there?"

"I didn't specifically hide it..."

The renovation of Metal's house is taking shape, and the load-bearing walls are currently being reinforced. Aunt Yuehan is lying on the sofa with a tablet in her hand.

But it still felt like someone was missing from the room.

I asked, "Where's Jila?"

"She took Heat Haze out to look for part-time jobs."

"Leaving aside Heat Haze, that demolition genius, Jila shouldn't be short of money, right? Aren't the bounty and security deposits enough for her?"

"Metal said that magical girls should also enrich their lives outside of battle, and that having rich experiences can also help in battle... Jila thought this made a lot of sense, so she went out to look for a job."

That makes sense, but Metal is a magical girl who doesn't want to go to the front lines and only wants to be a support character.

It's not very convincing for her to say that.

"Then I'll go back to my room and listen to some music."

With the USB drive and the tablet from Aunt Yuehan, Ceruno went back to her room.

It's just my bedroom; in her own bedroom, Metal tore down a wall, and part of the space will be converted into a passageway.

Surprisingly, all the photos and posters of "Miluno" on her room walls had been removed, making it look very clean.

"Little Yezi ~"

The gray-haired girl, lounging lazily on the sofa, waved at me in a sticky, affectionate manner.

As our relationship deepened, I saw more and more of Ceruno in her.

She didn't spend any of Ceruno's childhood with her, yet the mother and daughter, who hadn't seen each other for many years, were so similar—it's truly astonishing. Can personality be inherited through genes?

"Come watch TV with me for a while if you have nothing to do?"

"Okay, but I have to go downstairs to buy groceries in a little while."

The TV was showing some unknown talent show, but the contestants weren't magical girls; they were all handsome men... Well, it was an idol male singer audition, so magical girls couldn't possibly appear on such a show.

After I sat down, she continued, "Regarding the magical girl you mentioned yesterday who can Goldmaking, SpiCa has replied to me. Among the magical girls currently on record, none possess the magic to perform alchemy over long distances. Furthermore, two 'Empty Wormhole' have appeared in the city in the past two days, and she hopes we will proceed with caution."

Empty Wormhole.

It means that a wormhole appeared, but no Monster or witches appeared.

"What new tricks are they up to? The Other Side 'll definitely continue targeting Ceruno, after all, her magic combined with wormhole technology poses a threat to them."

Ceruno is hope.

It is humanity's hope for a counterattack.

"We have an urgent news briefing."

The commercials for the talent show were replaced by temporary news footage.

"A Greenfield Park near Skyreach International Airport has been attacked by External Invader, resulting in several deaths and multiple injuries."

"The Association has urgently sealed off the disaster area. The general public is urged to evacuate as soon as possible and is prohibited from going there."

An invasion... and there were even casualties?!