The Emperor's New Clothes? Ceruno

(Ceruno)

"I'm exhausted, cough cough cough... I'm going to lose my voice!"

After a long day of training, my throat was parched and I felt completely exhausted. I was so tired that I just collapsed on the sofa and didn't want to move a single finger...

Not just me, Miluno the same way.

They were sitting side by side on the sofa, enjoying Xiaojie's magical therapy, feeling as if they were soaking in a hot spring.

Because of our combined magic, this day became a super-enlarged day, almost equivalent to two normal days. We didn't get much rest during that time, so it's no surprise that it turned out this way.

However, the training results are also remarkable. They have already learned the dance and the new song. The next few days will be spent deepening and improving their practice to ensure that there will be no mistakes during the performance.

"Call..."

Because of Xiaojie's magic, Miluno let out a comfortable groan and said while holding her forehead:

"Xiaoling, I'll leave dinner to you."

Miluno's words energized the little girl.

"Miluno's request! Leave the rest to me!"

She took out the ingredients she had saved earlier from the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves, and walked towards the counter.

A blurry golden figure followed them inside.

"The dog wants to help with making dinner too!"

Because she spends all day acting like Doggy, Golden, who has to maintain a human form at night, actually offered to help with cooking.

This is undoubtedly progress and growth.

But as far as I know, she only uses the microwave to heat things up, or makes instant noodles.

I looked at Mono was humming a song on the single sofa.

"Mono -chan, can you spend the night with Miss Barbara tonight?"

Because we need to start setting up the stage early tomorrow morning, Ms. Halley suggested that Barbara stay overnight at the City School to avoid having to go to Skyreach City to pick her up early in the morning. Barbara agreed, so we took her back to Skyreach Dormitory and arranged for her to stay temporarily in an empty dormitory room next door.

She's fast asleep in her dorm right now.

She trained with us all day, but her frail body, despite being a magical girl, couldn't keep up.

Oh, and I also want to charge my tablet for typing.

"Don't want!"

But Mono reluctantly muttered something in response to my request:

"Barbara is too skinny, she's not my type!"

"Come on, I didn't ask you to climb into her bed! It's her first time leaving the cabin, she's probably feeling insecure, it'd be better if someone stayed with her... Never mind, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting you go with her anyway."

After thinking about it, I decided to give up. Mono isn't very reliable in situations like this. After dinner, I'll go downstairs and ask if anyone is willing...

Miluno, however, suggested:

"Actually, why don't you just let Barbara sleep in my bed?"

Mono paused for a moment, then was greatly alarmed.

"Wait! That's my bed!"

I echoed Miluno's words.

"You can sleep next door then, we need to take good care of Barbara."

Mono immediately narrowed his eyes and shouted:

"No! I want to sleep with Barbara too!"

Miluno rejected this. "No, you're dishonest, I'm afraid you'll take advantage of her."

"No way! I have absolutely no interest in you pitiful flat-chested girls, not even if we slept together..."

That's why she wasn't interested in Miluno, but saying such things naturally earned her a beating.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! You're really going too far with me!"

With a blank expression and without saying a word, Miluno clamped her arm around Mono's neck, then used her other hand to Mono's head like a wooden fish, making a clanging sound.

Is it hollow? That head.

While Miluno and Mono were still playing amicably, my phone rang.

Good evening, Ceruno- chan!

It was Miss Metal's voice.

"The combat suit you requested is ready!"

"Oh! Ghost Combat Suit? So fast!"

"After all, you have experience. For Minister Hefi, things that have been manufactured before can be mass-produced quickly. So when are you free to come to the Engine Department?"

"I'll Past right now!"

Cheer up, open the portal, and walk through it.

"Miss Metal, I'm here!"

There wasn't even a transition ellipsis needed; they arrived at the Engine Department below the City School.

Miss Metal was sitting cross-legged on her work desk, holding her phone.

Upon seeing me, she silently hung up the phone.

"... That's so convenient! I want to learn teleportation magic too!"

Turning around, Miluno and Mono followed.

Miss Metal jumped off the workbench and pulled a combination lock briefcase from under it.

"This is your combat uniform."

Upon opening the box, a sea of white came into view.

In contrast to Miluno's all-black bodysuit, my Ghost Combat Suit was pure white, with rabbit ears added to the full-face helmet—I don't know if it was for decoration or some other new function...

"Oh! This helmet is so cute! Shall we try it on?"

Mono seemed to really like the design; he took the bodysuit out of the box and put it on me.

"I can dress myself!"

Store the combat suit in the Crystal, then use the One-Click Outfit Change function to put it on.

I don't know what material it is, but this bodysuit is very form-fitting, yet it allows for quite agile movement without any feeling of tightness or discomfort. There's even a special treatment on the chest area, providing a noticeable upward lift that makes it incredibly relaxing.

"How about it? A truly tailor-made, perfectly fitted bodysuit where not an inch of fabric is wasted?"

Miss Metal said boastfully, "The whole time I took your measurements, it was all for this moment. Truly haute couture is like a second skin, making the wearer feel like they're not wearing anything at all... Yes, this is the Emperor's New Clothes!"

"So this is a positive term??"

Miss Metal took the combat uniform's "belt" out of her suitcase.

"Now put this on too. When you need to use it, just connect the tube to Miluno's belt."

My belt is simpler in design than Miluno's; it doesn't have a slot for encapsulating batteries and only has one interface. However, the interface on my belt is a retractable conduit that can be pulled out and inserted into Miluno's belt to maintain the supply of magic power.

Miluno also changed into the Ghost Combat Suit.

The black and white bodysuit makes her look a bit like a character from a superhero comic.

"Then let's begin the experiment."

My conduit will occupy the Miluno battery encapsulation slot, and the longest conduit is only three meters.

In other words, once we enter the covert reconnaissance phase, Miluno and I cannot be too far apart, and we cannot touch anything between us.

"Three meters, that's a bit short."

"It's inconvenient if it's too long. After all, you're only becoming invisible, not disappearing. If the tube is too long and gets caught on something, it could easily expose you."

Miss Metal has a point...

Then I asked:

"So, what's the difference between my combat suit and Miluno's?"

"There's no difference in the clothing; the materials are the same."

She tapped my bunny helmet.

"Your helmet uses more advanced sensors, enabling remote video recording and directional eavesdropping. If there are any situations missed during reconnaissance, you can review them using the helmet's storage system."

These are precisely the functions used during infiltration investigations.

"It's perfect."

Everything is ready, even the east wind is there...

"Miluno, let's go today—"

"No."

They were rejected on the spot.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow. We haven't slept for two days. How can you possibly conduct any investigation in this mental state? Can your brain even think straight?"

Miluno opened a teleportation portal back to the dormitory.