Comic Convention, and the Joint Performance Stage

Molis waited silently at the side for quite a while, but no continuation came.

"Xia Ya?"

She tried calling her name.

Xia Ya snapped out of her memories and looked at her in confusion.

"Mm? What is it?"

"Wh..."

Molis was briefly at a loss for words, then reminded her hesitantly:

"Didn't you just say something about five years ago?"

"That..."

The pink-haired girl thought for a moment, then looked up and answered, "I don't know either."

"I-Is that so..."

Without dwelling on it any further, the two resumed watching the battle in the distance. After countless high-rises and streets had been destroyed, the giant Monster was finally obliterated within a pillar of magical light unleashed by two unknown Magical Girls working together.

Molis stood up from the rooftop railing and stretched lazily.

"That was quite an exciting battle."

Though it had taken place very far away from them, a Magical Girl's exceptional vision still allowed them to see the entire battle relatively clearly.

Once it was over, the two returned to the subway station, intending to head back to Zohar headquarters. However, they heard the following announcement over the subway broadcast.

[Due to the appearance of a powerful Monster in Zone 1, lines heading to Zone 1 have been temporarily suspended to prevent further danger. We apologize for the inconvenience.]

With no other choice, they returned to the surface. Standing on the bustling streets and watching the crowds pass by, the girls had no idea where to go next.

Xia Ya pondered for a moment before suddenly thinking of a good destination.

"Oh, there's a convention hall nearby holding a comic convention. Let's go take a look."

Molis thought it sounded feasible, so they went together.

After taking the subway to an unfamiliar neighborhood, they arrived at a convention hall built in a square-shaped structure.

Outside the hall, people dressed in all sorts of strange costumes were taking photos in the open air or gathering together for various activities.

Besides some common anime character cosplay, there were even more cosplayers portraying famous Magical Girls.

In Cloud City, Magical Girls still dominated places like comic conventions.

Xia Ya went to a ticket booth and bought two on-site tickets.

Fortunately, this convention sold tickets at the venue. They were a little expensive, but at least the trip had not been wasted.

After entering the hall with their tickets, Molis looked around and found that it was quite spacious, with booths of all sizes arranged throughout.

Molis had never attended a comic convention before, so everything before her felt rather novel. She curiously glanced at every booth they passed.

After wandering around for a while, Molis stood in an open area, stroking her chin as she observed her surroundings as if contemplating something.

Seeing her like this, Xia Ya curiously asked what she was thinking about.

"I'm wondering whether a Monster might have slipped into a place where so many people are gathered."

Molis said as she rubbed her chin.

Xia Ya raised an eyebrow and thought about it as well. "That... I hadn't considered that."

The two stood together in identical thinking poses.

At that moment, a male voice came from beside them, sounding somewhat restrained.

"Um, you two... could I take a photo with you?"

Hearing this, Molis came back to her senses and turned to see a young man standing there. He was somewhat plump, wearing a white T-shirt printed with the image of an unfamiliar beautiful girl. He held up a camera in their direction.

Feeling the silver-haired girl's scrutinizing gaze, the plump man scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, I think your cosplay outfits are pretty good, so I wanted to take a picture as a keepsake."

Only after hearing his explanation did Molis realize what he meant. She turned back to glance at Xia Ya, and after the two exchanged looks, they replied, "Sure."

Click, click.

After snapping away while standing between them, he put away his camera with satisfaction.

Before leaving, he turned back and asked them:

"By the way, what are you cosplaying? You look kind of familiar. You're probably not anime characters, right?"

"We're Magical Girls."

Xia Ya answered.

"Magical Girls... pink and blue-white together... You're Xia Ya, that recently debuted and fairly famous one, and, uh, Molis, right?"

The man stammered as he spoke, sounding uncertain.

"Huh, you know us?"

Molis was rather surprised.

After the previous wave of popularity, her followers had risen to nearly twenty thousand, but she was still far from being well-known. She had not expected someone to recognize her in real life.

"Of course! Those two are fairly well-known among the Magical Girls who recently debuted in our District 11. Aren't you cosplaying them right now?"

The man answered with a confident smile.

You're right, but the real thing is standing right in front of you.

The girl grumbled inwardly.

"See you!"

The man waved to them, then left.

Molis and Xia Ya waved back from where they stood, then continued observing their surroundings.

It was not that they had nothing better to do. Rather, both of them vaguely sensed a familiar Monster aura somewhere within the convention hall.

Both were exceptionally gifted Magical Girls. Xia Ya was also a pure combat-type Magical Girl. She was not skilled at manipulating traffic to gain followers more effectively, but when it came to experience fighting Monsters, Xia Ya far surpassed her peers.

"There's no point waiting around like this. Maybe they're just here to attend the convention," Xia Ya said.

Molis asked in surprise, "Can Monsters live like ordinary people?"

"Mm, during the latent period. Before the condition flares up, they really can."

"..."

Not wanting to keep waiting, Molis only hoped the Monster would not suddenly flare up and ruin their rare chance to relax.

They continued wandering around until they finally arrived before a simply designed open stage in the center of the convention hall.

"A joint performance stage?"

Molis tilted her head as she looked at the large words displayed on the stage backdrop.

Before she could think further, a beautifully dressed female host onstage raised a microphone and called out to the audience below:

"Alright, everyone, our joint performance stage is about to begin! Anyone can come onstage and perform here. In addition, we've invited a Magical Girl today, and everyone present will have a chance to share the stage with one!"

As soon as the host finished speaking, the crowd below erupted in cheers.

"There's something like that?"

Molis found it rather interesting.

"If we get the chance, do you want to go up?"

Beside her, Xia Ya asked Molis with a smile.

"Well, I think I need to consider it."

Once the stage show began, the first half featured ordinary guests and passersby performing.

Though the passersby's performances were not particularly professional, the relaxed and cheerful atmosphere of everyone happily doing something together really affected Molis.

Caught up in the excitement, she began cheering along from below the stage.

Waving her hands from down here was enough. They wanted her to go up there and embarrass herself for no benefit? There was no way she would do that.

After one round of performances ended, the host returned to the stage, and everyone below looked on expectantly.

"Next, please welcome our newly debuted Magical Girl, our adorable Shan Que!"

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