UI-31's Identity

(Bai Ziye)

The boar-like Monster, who looked like cannon fodder but wasn't even cannon fodder, fell. Its massive body was mostly preserved intact, the only missing piece being half a piece of its head meat—well, I kicked it to pieces.

Then we just waited for the branch's drone to come and retrieve it.

That's it for today, not even a sword.

It was as if they were just throwing in a defective, Monster to complete a task, giving off a perfunctory attitude.

Ultimately, with so many magical girls present, the fact that they still dared to send Monster to invade suggests that the Other Side probably couldn't grasp the situation here either. Yet, they were able to pinpoint Ceruno's location, which inevitably raises curiosity about the underlying principles.

"Miss Miluno, there's a reason why you have so few fans."

Sirius sighed, rubbing his forehead, "The drones weren't even ready for the live stream and you've already kicked this idiot's head to pieces. There's no way you'll gain any followers."

Fan?

I don't care about fans.

"I'm not fighting for fame."

That's exactly what I think. Even if I gain fans, it will only generate revenue for the Association. So far, I haven't received a single penny in compensation.

But Sirius rolled his eyes at me.

"Fine, you're so high and mighty, but couldn't you have controlled your strength a little? Look at this pig's blood, it's made this whole beach dirty. When the tide comes in, the seawater will be polluted too, and then we'll have to turn over the sand to cover it up, it's exhausting!"

Although that's what they say, the maids of the mansion are definitely in charge of cleaning up the mess.

Antarctic Star trotted over and said, "Sirius, UI-31 seems to really want the Simulacrum Factor inside the Monster."

The Werewolf sitting next to the sand sculpture asked the innocent penguin girl to ask for the Simulacrum Factor. I don't know how they communicated, since I couldn't explain it to him clearly.

Patting Antarctic Star's forehead, Sirius replied, "Tell him I'm saving this Simulacrum Factor for him. Once his human identity is confirmed, I'll give it to him as a gift."

"Knew."

It's very easy for the Association to investigate someone's identity. Even if they only have a name, they can dig up their entire life story from childhood to adulthood, knowing more about them than the person themselves does.

Melissa is handling this matter, which is why she's staying at the mansion.

Moreover, the Simulacrum Factor is not like the Star Crystal. This stuff can't be eaten or used, and it can be found on every Monster. The one thing the world has in abundance is Monster. Sirius using this as a gift is practically a risk-free business...

I asked again, "So, are you planning to keep him hidden on the island like this for the next few days?"

"Isn't that good? He can also cover for you. As long as you can figure out how to make it talk, he'll be your best cover man."

"Is one afternoon not enough? Do I have to have him impersonate me for the next three days?"

I couldn't accept it and pointed out, "This could very well give us away."

"Does Ceruno seem suspicious? Don't worry too much. Since her main job is as a spy on the Other Side, there's no need to worry about her acting skills."

The acting was indeed quite good; she even pretended to have a sore throat while eating barbecue, but having someone else take over her identity always felt psychologically unsettling.

And, is this guy going to sleep with Ceruno tonight?

That's terrible.

The barbecue party ended early due to the invasion of the wild boar Monster, and the afternoon party was also canceled. However, it was time to go swimming in the sea. Although Ceruno was a terrible swimmer, with her magic bubbles, she didn't have to worry about sinking at all.

As for me...

My back injury has finally healed, so now is not the time to go swimming.

"Yezi ~"

It was Ceruno calling out to me. I was about to turn around and answer, but I saw her running towards UI-31 with some seashells she had collected.

"Look! Let's decorate your castle with these!"

"Aww!"

UI-31 patted its chest to indicate that there was no problem, and then decorated the sandcastle with Antarctic Star.

However, he had forgotten to keep his distance from Ceruno.

Sirius asked, "What were you doing taking him to the grove just now?"

"I told him about your arrangements and asked him some questions, but this guy can't talk, so I couldn't get anything out of him."

"I do have a way to get him to talk about this."

"What do I do?" I asked.

Sirius shrugged and replied, "Star Crystal can modify the bodies of chosen ones, granting them power and turning them into warriors against invaders, that is, magical girls... And I am the Star Crystal, so adjusting the structure of his throat is not a problem for me."

So that's how it is. It's like Sirius temporarily became a suitable candidate for UI-31, and his voice was modified to be able to speak.

"Speaking of which, was Miss Melissa a magical girl too?"

"Hmph, I might as well tell you. Actually, all the maids in the mansion are magical girls."

"Oh! Miss Zara too?"

"That child too? Not only as my maid, but also as my personal guard."

There are fourteen maids in total, including Melissa. There are only 14,000 known magical girls in the world. Many small cities don't have that many magical girls. Skyreach City is located in a region with a high incidence of wormholes and is also a megacity, so it has a relatively large number of magical girls.

But the fact that there are fourteen magical girls on this small Coral Reef Island is hard not to be surprised, not to mention that Melissa's strength is quite good. Her unshakeable and extinguishable Flowing Fire Magic is enough to kill many Monsters... at least I'll have some trouble with her.

I sighed, "No wonder you're not worried about intrusion or anything UI-31 might cause."

Eighteen magical girls—even if UI-31 had a pair of wings, it might not be able to fly away.

"Young Miss, Miluno."

The long-lost voice of Miss Melissa came through my headphones.

"Oh, there's a result so quickly?"

"Information regarding UI-31..."

Melissa stammered, Sirius asked directly, "What? It's fake?"

"No, that's true, but he's someone who disappeared twelve years ago. If everything is true, he's been held captive on the 'The Other Side' for twelve years."

"Were they people who were arrested at the start of the war?"

"Yes, but he said he was only detained for a few months, which doesn't add up."

Sirius thought for a moment and said, "Melissa, send his file information to my terminal. I'm going to face him in a bit. Maybe for him, twelve years won't Past such a long time."

I asked, "... Do you think time flows more slowly over there than it does here?"

"A quick reaction? We can't rule out that possibility."

It certainly cannot be ruled out.

After all, my magic can prove that time is not a constant line.

"If this theory holds true, then perhaps for those who disappeared seven years ago, not too much time has Past?"

"... A witch?"

I continued with my reasoning.

"I have a hypothesis: perhaps time flows much slower on the Other Side, so even if they keep dropping monsters, we'll only see one Monster per day."

Sirius shook his head. "No, the frequency of appearances was higher twelve years ago than it is now. Besides, there's more than one Monster appearing every day around the world."

"Miss Melissa, I would like to ask you to investigate the eight witches who have been captured, focusing on the intervals between their intrusions."

"Understood, please wait a moment."

Melissa was working on the computer, but Sirius, unusually, frowned.

"Wait, you wouldn't...?"

"Hmm, I'm afraid witches are only transformed and released one by one; not all the magical girls on the first expedition have been transformed into witches yet."

Sirius stroked his chin and thought for a moment.

"... If that's the case, perhaps I can still save them."

I know.

She began to take a liking to SpiCa's plan.