Gone, Gone, Ceruno

(Ceruno)

[A beautiful girl is a magical girl!]

In today's world, this idea is quite widespread.

Even before I became a magical girl, I was a staunch believer in this idea, but now I realize that it's definitely incorrect.

After all, there are quite a few good-looking ordinary people, such as Sister Luer and Xiao Wei. Although the two sisters are both beautiful and have their own unique characteristics, neither of them was chosen by the Star Crystal and could only serve as liaisons for the magical girls.

But the girl in front of me gave off a "Wow! This person must be a magical girl!" feeling.

Putting aside the fact that his mature demeanor is out of place for his age (after all, there are always precocious children), that head of silver hair makes him look like no ordinary person. Although Grandpa Gong also has a full head of silver hair, that's just because he's old!

Multicolored hair has always been the exclusive domain of magical girls, and coupled with their overly delicate faces, it would be an injustice if they weren't magical girls.

"That's very suspicious."

At this critical moment, to ensure that the two of us wouldn't get separated or bump into anything, Miluno gently put her arm around my waist from behind and pushed me quietly into the main room, following closely behind Miss Gong Ling.

"Hmm, how is it?"

She was muttering to herself again.

"Really? Then we should definitely investigate this thoroughly."

I know she's talking to Mono, but I can't hear what Mono is saying inside her head... So even though we're working together, I still feel like an outsider.

I can only ask in a low voice:

What are you talking about?

Miluno then came to her senses, rubbed my stomach, and explained:

"Oh, so Gong Ling's body is indeed filled with Contaminated Crystal. She's also a Fake Magical Girl. I'm planning to implant Demon Eye into her too..."

She's gotten used to doing things with Mono alone, and even though she's holding me, she's ignoring my presence.

"Don't stand there like an idiot, move aside."

Suddenly being pulled away, I realized that Gong Ling was striding towards us. Miluno grabbed me and sped aside, only to turn back and see that Gong Ling had already closed the main door...

Ah, we can't get out.

They can't get out, at least not for the time being.

"Why did the store close before Snow Sis even came back?"

"Dantai Xue must have the key."

Miluno didn't take it seriously and kept up with Gong Ling's pace as they returned to the bedroom.

This bedroom is opposite Dantai Zhengchu's, and it is one of only two bedrooms in the main house.

"How can someone who is clearly a caregiver be allowed to live in the main room?"

"Probably for convenience or something... she's closing down!"

Once inside, Gong Ling turned to close the door, but in her haste, Miluno, with me on her back, bent down and sped up, Past the door frame under her arm.

"Oh, that was close!"

But Gong Ling seemed to have sensed something.

He looked around the bedroom suspiciously, as if searching for something. He hadn't touched anything; had he just brushed against something when he rushed Past?

Miluno and I dared not move, not even breathe too loudly, for fear of making any more noise. Even though she was Fake Magical Girl, her senses were more acute than those of an ordinary person. If we concentrated, she might really notice us...

But in the end, nothing happened.

Gong Ling took her pajamas out of the closet, then took her change of clothes and went into the bathroom.

Oh, are you planning to take a shower?

That Past...

This gave me the opportunity to take a look at Gong Ling's bedroom.

It is a mirror image of Dantai Zhengchu's bedroom, but it is decorated in a very feminine style, with a dressing table full of bottles and jars, a dressing mirror with Crystal stickers, and several posters of magical girl idols on the wall.

Miluno thought for a moment and said:

"This used to be Dantai Xue's boudoir, but now she's sharing it with Gong Ling."

"Oh? How did you figure that out?"

"Mono surveyed the entire room and found that the underwear in the closet didn't fit Gong Ling's figure."

So, compared to Dantai Xue, Gong Ling's figure is somewhat flat... but Miluno herself is more well-endowed.

"I see. That explains why girls from the countryside wouldn't have so many high-end cosmetics and magical girl idol posters."

I heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom.

Miluno continued:

"Besides, given Dantai Xue's personality, arranging for a girl to stay in her room is entirely within her capabilities. Coming home every day to a beautiful silver-haired girl to warm her bed, that's certainly a kind of happiness, isn't it?"

Miluno always lets me shower first; is it because she wants me to warm her bed?

"There's a Fake Magical Girl hiding in the Dantai Society, Dantai Xue never mentioned before... She really has been hiding a lot of things and hasn't told us the truth."

No, not necessarily.

With her chin resting on my shoulder, Miluno whispered in my ear, "I'm going to analyze this."

"On the bright side, perhaps Dantai Xue and that Dantai Zhengchu really don't know the truth? They don't have a dark radar like Mono. Even if they vaguely sense that Gong Ling is a magical girl, they have no evidence. If she doesn't admit it, they can only treat her as an ordinary person, right?"

"Then you can tell us as a suspect."

"This is an internal matter of the Dantai Society. Even if it needs to be dealt with, it should be resolved privately. How could we possibly expose everything to an outsider like you..."

However, two days have Past since I went to investigate, and it seems that Uncle Dantai hasn't asked Gong Ling about this matter yet?

The waters of Dantai Society are deeper than I thought.

"Etc."

As if sensing something, Miluno disregarded whether her invisibility would be exposed and kicked open the locked bathroom door.

"Wow! What are you doing all of a sudden—wait, what?"

The only sound in the bathroom was the dripping of water, but Gong Ling, who should have been taking a bath there, had vanished... Did she disappear while taking a bath?

"Miluno, what's going on?"

By adjusting the hourglass at her waist, Miluno closed the bathroom door she had kicked open before explaining:

"If someone is taking a shower, the sound of water will definitely have varying degrees of intensity, but the sound of water in the bathroom is very regular, clearly just the water being turned on."

Miluno so detail-oriented; I hadn't even noticed that.

"It seems the culprit who was secretly monitoring Dantai Zhengchu has already confessed without being asked."

Undoubtedly, this Fake Magical Girl named Gong Ling is an informant lurking within the Dantai Society, but I didn't expect her to be so vigilant, just because she sensed a slight breeze between Miluno and me?

"But she got away anyway. Were there any traces of teleportation magic left behind?"

"No, I'm afraid they didn't go through the teleportation channel."

However, the bathroom is enclosed, with only a small window that can be opened above the ventilation window, but it's definitely too narrow for a person to squeeze Past.

"It's alright. Since she wasn't teleported away, the magic Mom sealed can still be reversed."

A clanging sound came from Miluno's direction, like the sound of someone hitting a helmet.

But after a moment, she clicked her tongue.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"This girl named Gong Ling... vanished on the spot."