Inhuman

(Bai Ziye)

Under the shade of the parasol, Antarctic Star sat with his knees bent, his face still expressionless, but his hands were nervously twisting together.

"I'm sorry, Miss Miluno, my magic couldn't last until the end."

Hey, did he catch this apologetic habit from Ceruno?

"Don't take it to heart. Since we lost, it just means our strategy wasn't good enough."

To generate enough power to alter the trajectory of a volleyball, an excessive amount of magic was required. Ceruno's magic filtering strategy prolonged the match, causing Antarctic Star to run out of magic power towards the end, ultimately leading to our defeat.

"It's just a party activity; winning or losing doesn't matter."

Even though I was the one comforting Antarctic Star, she scratched a small tuft of white hair on her forehead and asked, "But Miss Miluno really wants to win, doesn't she?"

"It would be a lie to say I don't want to win, but saying all this won't change the outcome of losing... Take a good rest, and once Sirius returns, we should be able to start the barbecue."

"Yes, you're right."

Although her expression was blank, it was not lacking in thought.

On this beach, Sirius's maids are working together to dismantle the tennis net.

Ceruno went for a walk on the beach, and the Golden played with her.

The surroundings fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks.

"Antarctic Star."

In such a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, I couldn't help but strike up a conversation.

"Um?"

"After you became a magical girl, did you ever turn back into a penguin?"

I simply asked a question, and the Antarctic Star beside me emitted a fleeting white light.

The girl in the one-piece swimsuit disappeared, replaced by a giant Emperor Penguin.

It was really big, over a meter tall, taller than me when I was sitting down.

Its dense back feathers are dark and glossy, with a beautiful ring of yellow feathers around its neck, and its snow-white belly makes you want to touch it.

"..."

It stared at me with its round eyes.

I asked, "Can't I talk when I turn back into a penguin?"

"Cough."

The penguin's call was somewhat low, but it conveyed a sense of affirmation.

I reached out and grasped its flipper-like forelimbs; they felt very hard.

"It's hot, isn't it? Let's change back first. It's inconvenient not being able to communicate."

Antarctic Star nodded her goose head and transformed back into her magical girl form. She sat down beside me and said, "I still have a clan to lead, so I often need to transform back and won't always act in human form."

"You really haven't forgotten your roots."

"The Star Crystal will not belong to me forever. When it leaves, I must return to my people."

What Antarctic Star said wasn't some grand philosophy, but something every magical girl already knew.

"But magical girls have such high social status, which is too different from their original identities. Some people will forget or run away from their original selves."

It's quite common for magical girls to never undo their transformations and completely abandon their original lives. The generous welfare provided by the Association can alleviate this gap to some extent, allowing retired magical girls to live a decent life. However, that's merely material satisfaction; the spiritual void cannot be filled with money.

I'm worried about Ceruno now. She's becoming more and more outstanding as a magical girl. Will A-Yao ever be able to come back?

"After all, I'm not human, and there are some complex things that I still don't quite understand, even after studying them."

Antarctic Star lay flat on the mat, its breast, formed from the fat on its belly, becoming particularly prominent.

"But Miss Miluno is definitely not that kind of person; you seem to be very self-disciplined."

"Self-discipline, me?"

"Yes, you are very rational, and rational people don't make such emotional mistakes."

"A mistake based on emotion...?"

That idiot, he seems like an extremely sentimental person, doesn't he?

"Wait! Danger!"

I could vaguely hear Ceruno calling from the other side of the beach. Looking closer, I saw her chasing the Golden toward the rocky area to the west.

I didn't know what had happened, but I still stood up.

"I'll go check on the situation."

"Um."

I greeted the Antarctic Star, brushed off the sand, and stood up.

The beach wasn't far; if we sped up, we could get there quickly. I saw Ceruno squatting in front of the Golden, shoving its mouth open.

He kept yelling, "Spit it out! Spit it out now!"

"Hey, you'll get bitten if you do that."

I grabbed her wrist and stopped her from making that dangerous move.

"What did the Golden eat? Sea snails?"

"I don't know what it is, but it looks yellowish and doesn't look like something to eat. It might be barnacles from the rocks."

"How could you possibly swallow that?"

An upset stomach is a hassle; you have to take the pet to the vet. But Golden doesn't seem to be acting normally.

"Let's ask Miss Sirius..."

Noticing the blonde figure on the beach, Ceruno lifted the Golden from the ground. The magical girl was very strong; she could easily lift even a large dog like the Golden Retriever.

Hey, where have you two been?

Noticing our approach, she was the first to greet us.

"Miss Sirius, it seems the Golden ate something over at the reef. Do you think we should send it to the hospital?"

Ceruno presented such a large Doggy to Sirius, who was stunned for a moment before reaching out to touch the belly of the Golden Ship.

"It's hard; it really does feel like I ate something I shouldn't have."

Ceruno pressed, "You touched it? What was it?"

"It's probably just a rock, but it's nothing serious; it will pass naturally later."

"Huh? It's okay for a dog to eat a rock?"

"Don't worry about this size; if it can't be expelled, it will spit it out."

Sirius put the Golden down from Ceruno's hands and then led her back to sit in the shade of the parasol.

"Listen to me first. Spica just called me directly. I have a few things to explain."

Spica naturally refers to Miss SpiCa.

I sat down next to Ceruno opposite Sirius, and the Golden Dog's head squeezed between our waists and rested on my lap.

"First, let's Ceruno. Your dance yesterday was very popular, and everyone is encouraging you to debut as an idol. Coupled with your excellent performance in today's volleyball match, you already have considerable popularity as a new magical girl."

"Am I popular?"

"After all, they're very cute."

"Hehe, I just feel a little embarrassed."

Ceruno scratched her head and grinned sheepishly, then asked, "I'll consider debuting, but what about other things?"

Sirius's expression turned serious.

"The Simulacrum Core of 'Kraken 13' has been stolen."

"Kraken 13?"

"Oh, that's the codename of that octopus-shaped External Invader from last night. Since similar Monster have appeared too many times, they added a number to the end of the codename. But that's not the point. The key is that this guy stole the core!"

Miss Sirius showed us her phone.

That was captured by surveillance cameras... the silhouette of the Mechanical Werewolf (UI-31).