[Tuesday, October 28]
Half asleep, I felt something wriggling under the covers.
At first, I thought Barbara had sneaked in while I was asleep, but when I quietly lifted the covers, I found a big blob of pitch-black jelly instead.
It was Azura.
She was round and plump, like a tempting dessert...
And to me, she really was edible.
"Pfft! Big Sister, I'm sorry I woke you up!"
Noticing my gaze, she spoke in a girl's voice from within her round body.
She even wiggled her spherical body and wrapped her tentacles around my leg in a show of affection.
"Azura, how come you crawled into my bed?"
She usually stayed quietly beside my pillow.
"It smells like you under the covers, Big Sister, so I feel safer, poyo~"
Wouldn't it be a problem if my bed smelled like someone else?
And what was with calling me "Big Sister"? Had she picked that up from some anime?
"Did you manage to fall asleep under there, then?"
"Nope~"
Of course she couldn't sleep.
She was just a mass of pure dark polymer, with no ability to sleep.
Still, I patted her springy body.
"Then lie here a little longer. I'll go wash up and get changed."
"Okay~"
She curled up in my blankets like a cat.
"Will you take me to the Old District today?"
Standing in front of the bathroom door, I answered:
"The soil and air in the Old District are full of darkness, so I'm not planning to take Barbara, but you'll be fine... Think of it as helping with the purification. Absorb as much as you can, okay?"
"Yay!"
Azura bounced excitedly on the bed.
Without her mechanical prosthetic body, she didn't even have a human form.
And yet, I really did feel like I'd gained a