Thing

(Ceruno)

"Cough, Ceruno..."

Miluno seemed to have something she wanted to tell me.

She asked, "You want to know who's inside this Base Body, right?"

I nodded.

Since SpiCa's Witch Persona wasn't extracted, who's controlling this Base Body?

It couldn't possibly be an empty shell that suddenly came to life, could it?

She didn't look at me; she just tilted her head and scratched her cheek.

"Didn't I absorb twelve Black Crystal on the Other Side a while ago in order to retrieve SpiCa?"

"Hmm, are there any side effects?" I asked.

"At this point, it's too early to say whether it will have side effects..."

Hesitantly, Miluno rarely spoke so curtly.

Instead, the Magical Girl Soldiers's Base Body walked up to her and smiled at me.

"Ceruno- chan, actually... I'm Miluno too."

"No, Miluno would never talk like that."

"I am the Witch Persona, I am the witch Miluno!"

"Witch!"

Has Miluno become a witch?

She showed no negative emotions, and no darkness could be detected in the Crystal. The doctors said she was very healthy; the only change was that her hair had turned pure white.

Miluno then sighed:

Whether she has Witch Persona is still debatable, but she did indeed spring from within me. At this stage, it's unclear whether she's friend or foe, but since she claims she can become my power, I'll spare her for now.

It's truly strange that she developed Witch Persona even though she didn't actually become a witch.

I asked, "What's her name?"

My question took Miluno by surprise.

After a long pause, he managed to utter, "Little thing."

"Ah?"

Did Miluno always refer to her Witch Persona as "little thing"?

But the "little thing" was clearly not happy about it.

"Hey! I could tolerate you calling me that before! But now that I have a body, how can you still call me 'little thing'? Don't you think that's a bit insulting? Would you be happy if I called you 'steel plate'?"

"This is so annoying, why don't you just choose a name yourself?"

Miluno was getting a little impatient, so the little thing said:

"Then I want to be called Miluno too!"

"That's obviously not going to work! One of the purposes of a name is to distinguish oneself from others. How can you tell people apart if they have the same name?"

Miluno's sarcastic chop landed mercilessly on the little thing's forehead, and the latter yelped and sat down on the sofa, clutching its head.

"Then name one."

After a moment's thought, Miluno said:

"Then let's shorten 'Witch Miluno' to Mono."

Miluno is really wicked; after going around in circles, the "little thing" is still the same thing (もの).

The little thing seemed to know this too.

"How could this be! It's too casual!"

She glared at Miluno with displeasure, and only gave in after a long while.

"Fine, Mono it is Mono."

The Witch Persona, now officially named Mono, asked, "Can I live with you?"

"No, you can sleep in the empty room in the next dorm."

Mono said, "Hey, we can't go too far, okay? This body will malfunction..."

"Um?"

That bothered me, I asked:

Why can't we go too far?

"Oh, because I wasn't completely extracted from Miluno's body, only a small part was inserted into this Base Body. Ceruno- chan can sense Dark Energy, right? There's still an inseparable connection between Miluno and me."

With her eyes closed, she could indeed sense a faint connection of Dark Energy between her and Miluno.

"So, you're actually still inside Miluno's body, just remotely controlling it?"

"That's not wrong. If I go too far away, the line will break, and I will lose control of this body. I will have to get close again to move."

Hmm, so in that case, Miluno will have to carry her Witch Persona with her wherever she goes, right?

Isn't this relationship even closer than ours as lovers?

"Well, Ceruno- chan, don't worry, I'm not interested in her figure, so I won't be your rival."

Mono said, opening his arms to me on the sofa.

"But I'm also Miluno, so I like you too! So I don't mind sharing her..."

"I mind!"

Miluno pulled me behind her and said:

"This little thing is a witch after all, and she has many wicked traits. Be careful when you're with her, and don't let her take advantage of you."

I didn't say anything even though others took advantage of me so much...

"Hey! Who talks badly about someone to their face like that!"

Mono was also fuming until she saw the roast meat on the table.

"Oh! There's food!"

I packed enough for five people.

In other words, there was no meat on the table for Mono to eat.

"Hmm, I'll go get another one to go."

But Miluno grabbed my arm.

"No need, I'll just eat a little. I still need to go to SpiCa after I finish eating... I'm sorry, Ceruno, I was afraid I'd really become a witch, so I didn't dare tell you about the little one before."

She apologized to me.

What should I say?

I sat down at the table and took the hot roast meat out of the insulated bag.

I asked, "You didn't tell me because you were afraid I'd worry, right?"

"Um."

"Since you're thinking of me, why apologize?"

Xiaoling pulled Xiaojie to her seat, while Golden waited by with its bowl in its mouth... It found eating like a human to be a hassle, so most of the time, it chose to eat like a dog.

As for Mono, I shared some of my and Miluno's roast meat with her.

Although the amount wasn't large, she didn't seem to have a big appetite... Does Magical Girl Soldiers's body even need to eat?

She claims to be Miluno's Witch Persona, but her behavior is completely different from Miluno's; she is carefree and acts more boldly.

However, she wasn't very good at reading between the lines, and by saying something to make sure it was Miluno's birthday, I understood why Miluno had been looking sour these past few days.

"Mono."

"... Um?"

She hadn't gotten used to the name yet, and it took her a moment to realize I was calling her.

"Earth and 'the Other Side'... Which side are you on as a witch?"

"I stand with Miluno and you. I can't hear the Dream Murmur of the Great Will, so don't worry about me betraying you."

Huh? Can't I hear you?

Is there still a witch who can't hear that willful, delusional talk?

I then asked:

"So, what kind of magic do you have?"

Since it uses the Base Body of Magical Girl Soldiers, it should also be able to use the magic of Artificial Crystal...

"Oh, that's a helper class."

She wiped her greasy lips and closed her eyes.

A magically formed eyeball appeared out of thin air and flew around the living room.

"I can share vision with the Demon Eye, but it's useless to me."

Reconnaissance magic can be replaced by drones... it seems a bit of a waste.

"No, every spell is useful."

Miluno shook her head and asked:

"Does this Demon Eye have a range limit?"