“…Huh?”
Like sneezing in a light doze and suddenly waking from an afternoon nap’s dreamy haze, Jiang Lingwei blinked and looked down at the necklace in her hand.
Without a doubt, this was her transformation device.
But why was it here?
She closed the box, still feeling that there should be something else inside—like… a note.
If it were a note, would someone have left her a message?
She couldn’t remember.
Everything that had just happened faded from her mind like a dream from the previous night, leaving her a bit dazed.
She carefully rifled through her memories since entering the room but found no note; the box was all she had seen upon arrival.
Touching the crack on the pink gemstone, a sense of unease stirred in her heart.
This was the core of her magical power as a Magical Girl, yet now it lay battered and scarred before her.
She quickly put the transformation device around her neck, and a familiar sensation of magical connection eased her mind slightly.
At the same time, she felt as if her body was truly “waking up from unconsciousness” — just like before, the feeling of magic flowing inside her returned.
Magic was back.
The magic brought by the fairies from the Fairy Realm was a wondrous thing.
Beyond each Magical Girl’s unique “talent,” the control and release of magic were influenced by their personal will.
Those with lively spirits tended to wield more passionate magic; those calm by nature had more precise spells.
In reverse, magic also “chose” the Magical Girl, shaping them in turn.
This was why many Magical Girls displayed distinct “personalities.”
For example, tsundere traits, apathetic attitudes, excessive enthusiasm, or even borderline yandere tendencies that ordinary people might find hard to accept.
Magic amplified their souls, guiding and strengthening their emotions in specific areas.
Externally, this meant Magical Girls often had very flamboyant personalities, forming a type of character far from the socially “normal” or “adaptive” mold.
Their “personality” made their magic stronger, and their magic made their “personality” even more prominent.
From the perspective of combating darkness and despair, this cycle greatly benefited both their minds and powers.
However, from a social standpoint, from the perspective of ordinary human society, it was quite another matter.
Therefore, the fairies applied various barriers and concealments, and the Magical Girls’ transformation traits themselves provided social protection for them.
After all, a vivid personality often came with obvious weaknesses.
Sometimes Magical Girls would become even more “expressive” in daily life, leading to various problems (though many things were forgiven because they were pretty).
Some even completely separated their transformed and daily lives so the two would never interfere with each other.
But this often made their magical expression after transformation even more intense, as if they were a different person.
Giving off the impression, “Does this person have multiple personalities?”
“Dispel transformation.”
Back to the present, Jiang Lingwei stubbornly tried to activate the magic in her body, but nothing happened; she was still just herself.
She sighed and placed her hand on the edge of the bed.
“Looks like I don’t have a transformation form right now.”
After giving birth, Magical Girls’ bodies would solidify in their current state.
This bit of trivia was something most people didn’t know.
She only learned this because the old man had once shamelessly suggested she could just have a proper romance and fully become a girl.
After she kicked the old man into the wall like a ball, he went on a long tirade.
For instance, he said that for someone like her, a male candidate who was an extremely rare case, she wouldn’t need to go through childbirth to remain female.
She could simply give up being a Magical Girl.
“Because your body has already been altered by magic, but the male body can’t contain the Fairy Realm’s magic; for unqualified people, it usually explodes outright.”
“So, for your own safety, I left a backdoor in your magical core so that when you fully retire and give up magic, you can seamlessly become a normal girl.”
“Also, the benefit of preserving your youthful, solidified body after childbirth still remains. Ah, I can see that look on your face—you’re touched, aren’t you? No need to thank me, really no need. This is all—”
Then, that fuzzy little fairy was physically thrown against the wall a second time.
She had a vague guess about the past: after the final battle, for some reason, she really intended to retire completely as a woman, not only giving up magic but the transformation device itself.
Later, she matured from a girl into a mature woman and had a child with someone…
Thus, her body solidified into the form it had today.
(…Seriously, what a mess.)
Everything, every problem, boiled down to one question: where were her memories?
Jiang Lingwei knew very well that back then, after deciding to retire, she had chosen to keep her magic and maintain her male body to enjoy the true life of a light novel male protagonist!
Not the heroine’s role!
How could she have changed so easily?
Jiang Lingwei tentatively tried to sense magic without transforming.
Unlike at the sanatorium before, this time she could feel the magic’s presence, but it was continuously replenishing and dissipating, not a steady, full force as before.
To put it simply, it was like the classic childhood brain teaser about a swimming pool being filled and drained at the same time—when would it ever be full? Annoying.
The only good news was she didn’t have any eggs to hurt, so no pain.
This might be related to the crack on her magical core.
(Sigh.)
She couldn’t remember when she’d dropped the transformation device.
Besides, it was just a gemstone on the surface; it wasn’t something fragile that could easily be broken.
“All right, let’s try this.”
Finally clutching the transformation device she’d been thinking about, Jiang Lingwei gently stroked the gemstone with her fingertips.
“Transform!”
The next second, time around her slowed.
She started to move.
First, a sunny smile appeared on her face, then she made a peace sign in front of her eyes.
“Yay!”
“In the name of all that is beautiful and just in this world!”
As she waved her arms, white light dotted with sparkles swirled around her.
Within a fraction of a second, her outfit transformed into a pink-themed Lolita dress decorated with small accessories and bows.
Her height shrank, and her figure became more petite.
“Punishing all darkness and evil in this world!”
Reciting the phrase loudly, a pink-and-white wand appeared in her hand, topped with a floating heart-shaped magic stone.
“Magical Girl—[Aurora], reporting for duty!”
(The entire process took two seconds.)
As the glow faded, Mother Jiang Lingwei was gone.
Celebrate! The room now held only a girl with cherry-pink hair, wearing a pink dress, holding a magic wand, full of energy, and smiling confidently in place.
After posing for a few seconds in the empty room, she slowly raised her empty hand to cover her face.
(So embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing! This isn’t even an official mission; why am I reciting lines?)
(It must, must be the magic affecting my personality!)
…
Ten minutes later, Jiang Lingwei had returned to her mature woman form and had roughly checked the entire third floor.
She was about to go downstairs to see what Jiang Yao was doing and grab some food.
She didn’t know if she had been directly given IV nutrition while unconscious or what, but she was sure her body was fine, and now she was really hungry.
Later, she planned to check her bone age or see if there were more advanced methods in this era to verify her real age.
Theoretically, according to the timeline, she should be in her thirties.
But if Jiang Yao’s words were true—that she was now sixteen—then her physical age would be barely in her early twenties!
She had decided within four or five years after the great battle to fully give up her past life and have a child for someone else?!
How could this be possible? No, it wasn’t possible!
There was too little information right now; she needed to investigate further.
Some things were as she told herself—Jiang Yao was innocent.
So she accepted her daughter, but for everything else, she would never allow herself to live in such confusion and uncertainty.
And her cherished companions—how could she accept their disappearance?
Jiang Lingwei preferred to believe they were still somewhere in this world, waiting for her.
Also, about the box and the transformation device inside it—she needed to ask her daughter if she knew anything about them.
While pondering, she reached the landing between the second and third floors.
She could hear Jiang Yao talking to someone.
“I told you, just act a little!”
“I won’t! I’m a noble fairy; how could I pretend to be a dog?”
“Then how am I supposed to explain to Mom?”
“Isn’t there a subconscious barrier? She won’t see through it.”
“But to her, it’d be like a dog suddenly flying up and opening the fridge to pour milk into its belly. What do you think she’d think?”
“Awesome… fine, I’ll avoid her then.” That voice seemed to relent a bit.
But the girl refused to give in: “No, at least for now, you have to act a bit.”
“Don’t push me too far! I only signed a contract with you because you live alone, and now there’s… you, don’t come over—”
“Whoosh—”
A white fluffy ball traced a perfect arc right before Jiang Lingwei’s eyes, then disappeared from the narrow stairwell view.
Then came a “thwack” sound, like it had bumped into a wall somewhere.
(Goal scored!)
Jiang Lingwei mentally applauded as she descended a few steps and saw Jiang Yao already in casual clothes, puffing her cheeks in indignation while pulling her foot back from the kicking pose.
“You were practically starving back then; I took you in out of kindness!”
“What kindness?”
Jiang Lingwei pretended to have only heard the last sentence, feigning ignorance.
“Ah, this, this…”
Realizing her mother had come downstairs, the girl stammered: “It’s, it’s the stray dog I adopted earlier. It was a bit unruly just now.”
She hurriedly called out:
“Xiaobai! Come here!”
The furry ball that had been kicked against the wall bounced over to the two of them.
It looked very much like the old man Jiang Lingwei remembered—but instead of a white beard, it had two black mustache-like markings.
It resembled the mascot on a Pringles can, giving off an inexplicable comical vibe.
As it got closer, Jiang Lingwei clearly saw the pitiful expression in its chocolate-bean-sized eyes.
“Mom, look, isn’t it cute?”
Jiang Lingwei looked carefully at the fairy, as if expecting something.
“…Woof woof.”
The fairy reluctantly let out two low barks.
“Wow, it really is cute.”
Jiang Lingwei smiled.
Just as Xiaobai visibly relaxed and was about to make a run for it, Jiang Lingwei said:
“But did you prepare dog food for it?”
At this, Xiaobai’s little eyes opened wide, glancing at Jiang Yao and then Jiang Lingwei, signaling her to say something quickly.
“No, Mom, I just adopted it a few days ago.”
Jiang Yao’s eyes were full of her mother, completely ignoring Xiaobai.
“Then you should buy some. Dogs get sick easily if they don’t eat proper dog food. Don’t feed it other stuff.”
“Mm-hmm! Mom’s right!”
Xiaobai opened its mouth in disbelief.
It seemed like it had just discovered how cruel humans could be.