“Very well, then. Mr. 520, please have a seat over there and wait for a bit.”
After Jiang Cheng came up, even the bright, sunlit smile of the girl couldn’t hide the exhaustion all over her.
“Let me recover for a moment.”
Watching the girl plop down on a rock amid the ruins, not caring about the dust at all, Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but ask:
“Xiao Wei? What’s going on right now?”
His question caught the girl off guard.
“Xiao Wei? Why did you…”
“Swish!”
A flash of white light, and everything rewound to just moments ago.
The girl sat on the rock, speaking tiredly:
“Let me recover for a moment.”
“Wait, I can talk now?! Xiao Wei! You—”
“Ah!”
“Let me recover for a moment.
(Alright, alright, I get it.)
As the scene flashed back again, Jiang Cheng more or less guessed what was happening.
It was probably a magic sealed within the gem that he had triggered, creating an illusion from his memories.
That part where he couldn’t move earlier was probably something like a “cutscene” in a game.
Now, Jiang Cheng was like he had returned to the past, except he couldn’t act out of character for what he should be at this time—like just now, calling out Xiao Wei’s nickname—otherwise, the “game” would restart.
Shifting his gaze to look around at the environment, it really was so; the nearby scenery was fine, but further away, it was like a game trying to save memory—the textures were all blurry and indistinct.
Now that he’d figured out the situation, Jiang Cheng also realized this was a good chance to recover memories of himself and her.
Everything here must have some foundation, presumably recreated from the memories he’d lost.
However… the tentacle he retracted in the “cutscene” made him a bit uneasy about his own identity.
(I have some impression of coming out from a door, but, was I some kind of tentacle monster before? That’s just too disgusting.)
(Amitabha, I beg all the gods out there, please don’t let it be like that, amen.)
Muttering inwardly, Jiang Cheng said:
“Hello, may I ask who you are?”
“I’m a Magical Girl, Uncle 520.”
The pink-haired girl let out a sigh:
“Just call me [Aurora].”
“While I’m resting, if you have any questions, go ahead and ask.” Here it comes!
Just like a gal game protagonist, it was obvious that this was a key question. What should he ask next?
“Um… Why call me Number 520?”
After pondering for a few seconds, Jiang Cheng asked.
“Eh?”
Aurora showed an amused expression:
“You’re not going to ask what a Magical Girl is? Oh, oh, with that silver hair of yours, Uncle, I get it now—you’re an otaku, aren’t you?”
“What are you saying, Xiao Wei, you—”
“Swish!”
“Let me recover for a moment.”
Alright, it’s restarted again.
(Seems I have to watch my words.)
Jiang Cheng was a bit speechless. If only he could save his progress, these repeated restarts were a hassle.
After a while, the story returned to the previous spot, and Jiang Cheng responded:
“Not exactly. It’s just that, rather than the fact that Magical Girls actually exist, I want to know why you gave me a number.”
“Because I’m tired.”
Not hiding her fatigue at all, Aurora leaned slightly against a rock beside her, her dusty little face twitching a couple of times before she finally said: “I need to know how many people I’ve saved. Later, I still have to treat each of you, and then one by one… Anyway, I have to keep track in my heart.”
“And, it’s something to hold on to.”
Not wanting to show too much of her vulnerable side in front of an ordinary person, the girl forced herself to smile again:
“Think about it. After saving the first one, you want to save the second, then the third, then the fourth.”
“To tell the truth, by the time I reached number two hundred and twenty-three, I already felt like I couldn’t go on.”
“But look, how did it turn out? It wasn’t until I got to you that I completely ran out of strength, and magic too.”
“Haha, see? I’m actually pretty capable, aren’t I.”
Standing there dumbfounded, facing Jiang Lingwei who could still smile so optimistically in such circumstances, Jiang Cheng actually didn’t know what to say for a moment.
If possible, he really wanted to confess right there and take on everything for the girl from now on.
But he couldn’t, because that would cause another flashback.
“What do you mean, Uncle? I’m still young, you know.”
Touching his own cheek, Jiang Cheng also sat down by a broken section of wall nearby:
“Say, you’re out of strength now. Aren’t you afraid I might be a bad guy?”
“Ah? I wouldn’t go that far.” Aurora immediately opened her eyes wide, clearly not having thought of this: “Oh no, I forgot things like that could happen. I’m warning you, don’t you dare pull anything like those guys in those doujinshi—betraying your savior and all that! I still have a backup hidden power source I haven’t used!”
“Since I reminded you, it proves I won’t. But still, you should have a bit of caution.” [
“Mmm-hmm.”
With a weak hum, Aurora squinted at Jiang Cheng:
“Oh, wait. Now that I look carefully, you’re not actually that old. It’s just your hair.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Why call me Uncle?”
“Fine, then.”
The girl waved her hand lightly:
“Then, ‘brother’—that’s okay, right?”
She yawned:
“My magic… totally depleted now… Brother, help me keep watch around. If you suddenly feel afraid, or anxious or anything, wake me up immediately. I’ll… just rest a little.”
Jiang Cheng had a black line on his forehead: “Say, Xi… Aurora, are you sure it’s alright to trust me this much the first time we meet? Aren’t you worried I might peek at something?”
“It’s fine, brother.”
The girl replied perfunctorily: “I can tell—you’re not a bad person.”
“Besides.”
Forcing herself to perk up, she smiled and pinched the hem of her skirt: “Even if you tried to peek, you wouldn’t see anything.”
“Hmm?”
Right in front of Jiang Cheng, without another word, the girl lifted her magical outfit’s skirt:
“See, a Magical Girl comes with her own Holy Light.”
Jiang Cheng: “…”
Looking at the pink, bow-adorned panties under the girl’s skirt, he felt not the slightest bit of desire, just an overwhelming urge to retort.
On the other side, following Jiang Cheng’s gaze, seeing that he was clearly not blinded by any light, Aurora’s small hand froze.
“Wait!”
She quickly dropped her skirt: “No light?!”
“Yeah.” Jiang Cheng nodded. “No light. But at least you’re wearing something. By the way, pink really suits you.”
“Who cares about that—there’s no light!”
Blocking the handful of sand the flustered girl threw at him, Jiang Cheng was certain he was following the right sequence.
Because this magical world was probably built from his perspective and real memories. That meant, since he could see Aurora’s panties now, he must have seen them back then, too.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been pink, bow-adorned fabric down there, but something like [Insufficient Rendering Materials] or the like. “Aiya!”
Aurora scratched her hair in annoyance:
“Gramps never told me that when magic runs out, the Holy Light system stops working! I thought as long as I was wearing my magical outfit, I’d be fine!”
“Wait, if that’s the case, let me try… Dammit! Hah! As expected, the Magical Girl barrier’s gone too! Tsk tsk tsk, a blessing in disguise, maybe~”
She quickly found something to be optimistic about again.
Looking at her like this, Jiang Cheng’s heart ached even more.
He knew that logically, he should ask the next question, but he really didn’t want to.
He told himself again and again—this was just an illusion. If he didn’t follow the sequence, it would just restart, so there were things that had to be done.
Only then did Jiang Cheng make up his mind and, with some difficulty, ask:
“Then.”
“What about the other… Magical Girls…?”
“Ha…”
Aurora’s smile froze on her face.