Wanting to Return to Mother's Body, Ceruno

(Ceruno)

"Wow?!"

The sensation of Miluno falling jolted me awake instantly, and I sat up in bed.

Turning my head, I saw two legs lying on the bathroom doorway, while the upper body was inside the bathroom. When it fell, it had no support and just fell straight onto the bathroom tile floor, its chest almost bursting!

It hurts so much!

Not only Miluno, but Mono on the bed also showed no reaction. What happened to both of them at the same time?

But compared to Miluno's fainting, there was something else that seemed quite urgent...

"Miss Barbara, could you please help Miluno to the toilet?"

Barbara tilted her head in confusion, but the situation was extremely urgent.

"There's no time to explain! Hurry up!!"

Fortunately, we made it in time.

Women's bodies aren't very good at holding urine. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if Miluno lost control of her bladder using my body...

After cleaning myself up and putting on my underwear, I carried Miluno back to bed and covered her with the blanket.

Barbara asked worriedly:

"What happened to them?"

"I don't know. If he lost consciousness along with Mono, he probably had some kind of dream related to the 'Great Will' again."

Of course, this is just my speculation.

Barbara nodded, then snuggled up to me like a cat. For a moment, I couldn't tell if she liked Miluno or just Miluno's body.

"You can think about what you're going to say at tomorrow's concert first."

"Speech."

Barbara's speech is still somewhat slurred, but it's just a difficulty in expressing herself. From what I've observed, her mind is actually very clear; her small body contains the wisdom of 1,400 years, and she's not someone who doesn't think things through...

For example, she certainly knew that her feelings for Miluno were borrowed.

But she didn't reject it; in fact, she quite enjoyed this feeling that she wouldn't have otherwise had.

"Yes, a speech, have you thought about it?"

"Acknowledgements, explanation of use, gift, custom-made potions."

"Wait, what's a custom potion?"

"I want to donate the most magical potions to the people who want to donate the most. Within the limits of what's possible, I can decide the potion's effects. My potions can cure disabilities and diseases, and even regenerate severed limbs... or make the mind clear, slow down aging, and so on."

Are they using magic potions to stimulate viewers' impulse to buy?

But that's not a good idea.

"If only the top few receive rewards, it might actually reduce the enthusiasm for fundraising, right?"

Barbara whispered, "I don't understand."

"Buying the forest and returning it to nature was originally a charitable fundraising effort, but with this ranking reward, the fundraising becomes distorted... How about changing it so that only the top three are guaranteed to receive potions, and then a certain number of people are randomly selected from all the donors to receive potions? Everyone who participates has a chance to win, and many people who originally didn't plan to donate will start spending money!"

"Understood."

Barbara thought for a moment and then said, "Then draw more. Making potions isn't difficult, and it won't cost me much."

"We're sure there will be a lot of people at our concert!"

Knock knock--

There was a knock on the bedroom door.

It's already past eleven o'clock, I wonder who came running over at this hour...

"Sister Ceruno, what did I hear? What happened?"

It was Xiaoling. Azura and Xiaojie were also peeking out from behind her. Weren't they asleep so late?

"Fine."

She heard Miluno collapse in the bathroom.

She added, "Um, Azura wants to sleep with Miluno."

"Huh?"

Azura hugged Xiaoling's waist, pursed her lips, and looked at me expectantly.

"... Is that not allowed?"

I sighed and said, "It's not impossible, but Miluno is already asleep."

"Hehe, Ceruno's body is Miluno's now? Azura can just hold you while you sleep~ You can be a surrogate mother too!"

"... Okay then."

Azura is, after all, a young girl, and doesn't take up much space on the bed.

Xiaoling left Azura behind with a grin, while I let this little wild girl crawl into my bed.

And so Barbara slept on my left, Azura on my right. They both wanted Miluno, but I was sandwiched between them. Though I was an aggregate of Black Mud, I still had this warm body temperature...

I feel a bit hot, but it's also inconvenient to move around.

Although I anticipated this situation when we swapped bodies, I didn't expect it to happen so soon. If we hadn't swapped bodies... wouldn't Miluno be sitting on both arms right in front of me?

For a moment, I didn't know whether to feel fortunate or regretful.

"Sigh, go to sleep early."

"Good night."

Barbara fell asleep, her peaceful breathing the only sound.

I closed my eyes, but couldn't sleep. Miluno's situation was worrying, and on the other hand... Azura's behavior was also giving me a headache.

She was lying next to me with her arms around mine, but now she's trying to climb on top of me from under the covers... Is she trying to use Miluno's body as a bed, to lie on it?

It's not like any flat surface is a bed. Even if it's a small child, if they're pressing on my chest, it will make it difficult for me to breathe!

"Mommy~"

She kept her eyes closed and murmured as if in Dream Murmur:

"I want to go back into my mother's body..."

Um?!

Feeling something was amiss, I abruptly threw back the covers, only to see that half of Azura's body had already merged into my... Miluno's body.

In the form of Black Mud.

"Ah?!"

Miluno's Crystal has the property of absorbing darkness. When she is an aggregate, she is not directly absorbed. After she degenerates into Black Mud, she can be easily absorbed like this. If Mono, who is good at manipulating darkness, is awake, she can repel her, but Mono will lose consciousness along with Miluno.

"Azura! Change back quickly!"

"I want Mom to eat some of my food..."

What is this girl saying?!

The darkness has been severely depleted; she has lost her human form and is about to turn into complete Black Mud!

Barbara rubbed her eyes and sat up. Seeing Azura's condition, she frowned and put on a stern face. Then she stretched out her right hand, and her fingertips transformed into thin tree roots, stabbing towards my chest.

"No, I... I can't seal it."

Although it's unclear what she did, the Crystal's absorption of the Black Mud did indeed slow down somewhat after she touched it...

But this only provides temporary relief.

If this continues, Azura will be completely devoured sooner or later, although she doesn't seem to care. Even though her lips are practically melting, she still says:

"I want to go back, to become a part of Mom again."

"No!"

What if Miluno woke up and realized she had eaten her daughter in her dream...?

Who can help in this situation?

Besides Mono, who else knows a lot about Dark Energy...?

Holding Azura, who was gradually collapsing and losing her form, I rushed out of the bedroom and ran to the dormitory next door in a few steps.

Knock on the door loudly.

"Professor Stratos! Are you there?"