Chapter 176

Episode 172: Solciera’s Beautiful Illness

Last night was fun, wasn’t it? ^.^

Not only did I get Miuye to make me a weapon, but I also got a mysterious knee pillow. Everything went coolly from start to finish.

Just like with Kroma, I feel like I’m pulling off some pretty mysterious moves…

“cough cough… ugh”

Well, I caught a cold!

I seriously twisted things into a mysterious cold!

“Are you alright?”

“…Yeah.”

Thinking back, even though it was summer, it was freezing cold, and I felt sluggish.

It’s just impossible for a mysterious beautiful girl to catch a cold.

Star Reader’s Staff is so worried that he’s showing up as Zero.

Watching him worry makes me feel uneasy too.

I’m fine, it’s just a cold.

“…The human who is my contractor should not be unwell. What exactly is this?”

Maybe it’s not a cold…

Maybe it’s something worse…

“But I’m fine, don’t worry. I’m okay.”

“To still behave as a mysterious beautiful girl despite your condition… impressive!”

“Well, it’s more advantageous this way.”

“Your relentless ambition is truly admirable.”

A beautiful girl catching a cold? To me, it’s nothing but a delicious event!

However, I mustn’t let other beautiful girls besides myself catch a cold.

I’ll handle all these suffering-based beautiful girl events!

Leave the deficiencies, mental breakdowns, and memory losses to me!

I’ve already prepared quite a bit, so rest assured!

“…Are you currently imagining self-harm?”

“Hehe… I understand perfectly well―cough”

“Oh, here, drink some water.”

Star Reader’s Staff hands me a glass of water.

He looks exactly like Solciera, so in this moment, it feels like Solciera herself is taking care of me.

Getting nursed by Solciera, that works.

“Still, this shouldn’t happen. You shouldn’t be like this.”

Star Reader’s Staff tilts his head curiously.

Then, he straddles me while I’m lying down.

Why??

“I’m going to be a little rude.”

Saying that, Star Reader’s Staff leans closer.

His face is so close…

“It won’t hurt, promise.”

The sensation of our foreheads pressing together.

It’s unmistakably the feeling of my forehead touching Star Reader’s Staff’s forehead.

From an outside perspective, this probably resembles two identical beautiful girls with lovely faces doing a forehead-touch ritual, making it look somewhat like a religious painting.

Call an artist skilled in portraits immediately.

I have money; if it’s insufficient, I’ll sell myself to the Board of Directors to cover the costs.

“Hmm, hmm… I understand the situation now.”

With that, Star Reader’s Staff smiles brightly and pulls away from my forehead.

As he does, he strokes my cheek—this earns extra points.

For beauty resides in the details.

Thanks to Star Reader’s Staff’s growth, I feel proud.

“Partner, you seem to be in a state of considerable fatigue.”

“…That’s right.”

“Originally, I was designed to use up my contractors. To me, humans are merely energy tanks.”

He’s saying something outrageous.

“After using them up, I transform the contractor into a guardian and shut down myself. Such a long operational period was never anticipated.”

While saying this, Star Reader’s Staff takes out an apple and starts peeling it.

Where did that apple come from?

“You constantly produce magical power, and your compatibility rate is unprecedented. Thanks to that, we’ve managed to survive until now… but it seems to have backfired.”

After looking down sadly, Star Reader’s Staff clearly said this:

“The cause is ASMR simultaneous recording. The explosive production of magical power exceeds consumption, and now you’re being invaded by your own magic.”

“…I see.”

So, my body couldn’t handle the ASMR recordings.

It’s embarrassing to admit.

But hearing that my body is being invaded by magic makes me feel like an unstoppable character I can’t control, which is kinda cool in its own way.

“Right now, aren’t you thinking how cool this is?”

“Hehe, perhaps.”

Since earlier, Star Reader’s Staff has been reading my thoughts.

“Well, you’ll probably be fine if you rest for a few days. Suppress magic production and stay still.”

“…This time, I’ll obediently follow.”

“I like obedient children.”

Star Reader’s Staff strokes my head.

Then, he offers me an apple cut into perfect star shapes.

How does one cut an apple like that?

“So… I think I’ll go out for a bit.”

“Eh?”

Hearing Star Reader’s Staff’s words, I froze for a moment.

It feels very dangerous to let Star Reader’s Staff wander around without my common sense present.

If I’m not there…

“I’m increasing the magic supply to you right now. I’m stronger than usual. I’ll go out and consume excess magic by causing some chaos out there ^^”

I see. It seems he plans to burn off the excess magic on my behalf.

“I’ll wipe out random evil organizations and act as Solciera. This way, I can pull off some mysterious moves, killing two birds with one stone. How about that, partner?”

“…Do as you please then.”

“Ho ho ho, glad you approve. Oh, activate the Trans Anchor, would you? Consume a bit of magic that way too.”

Saying that, Star Reader’s Staff kisses the back of my hand.

This guy has been kissing me a lot lately.

“Well, I’m off.”

“Eh? Already? It’s still early morning.”

“Mysterious beautiful girls wake up early, you know.”

Star Reader’s Staff winked at me.

An action Solciera would never do, so it’s refreshing.

“Besides, I need to fully recover before the Hinotuchi Culture Festival.”

There’s no stopping him when he says it like that.

Right now, since we’re in the original timeline where angels haven’t appeared yet, there’s nothing I need to do.

We didn’t find the conductor who fought Tourak in the original timeline’s Kroma, but well, they’ll surely show up on the day of the festival. We’ll deal with them then.

For now, I’ll rest quietly.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Aye, leave it to me.”

Star Reader’s Staff smiled and cast some kind of magic circle over me.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a highly effective fever-reducing spell.”

“Sudden pinpoint magic?”

What’s this incredibly helpful magic?

I really do feel better already…

“Alright, I’m off.”

Star Reader’s Staff deployed a transfer magic circle and smiled coolly.

But halfway through, he seemed to remember something and opened his mouth again.

“By the way, one note―don’t feel the presence of beautiful girls, alright? Whenever you’re around beautiful girls, you produce magic, and that’s why your body is in such bad shape now. Absolutely, do not feel the presence of beautiful girls.”

“Isn’t that like a death sentence?”

“Alright then.”

Star Reader’s Staff finally waved goodbye and disappeared into the transfer magic circle.

All that’s left in my room are the star-shaped apple (half-eaten), water (partially drunk), and the sick beautiful girl me.

And I’ve been sealed from beautiful girls.

I wanted to suffer under a curse like Solciera, but…

I had planned to take photos after transforming into an invasive form, but now it’s all gone.

“…I’ll sleep.”

Being sealed from beautiful girls leaves me powerless.

Now, all I can do is sleep.

■

“Hmm, he’s asleep.”

Peering through the magic circle into Kei’s room, Star Reader’s Staff nodded.

He looked exactly like Solciera.

If there was any difference, it might be the anger visible on his face.

Passion that the calm and composed Solciera would never display.

Star Reader’s Staff muttered alone, as if spitting out words.

“Just you wait, you angel scum…”

The cause of Kei’s illness, as told to her, was true.

However, Star Reader’s Staff deliberately withheld some information.

When their foreheads touched, Star Reader’s Staff interfered with Kei’s body and understood all the abnormalities occurring within.

“That someone dared to lay a hand on my partner means they must want to die desperately.”

Kei’s illness was caused by an angel.

Though he didn’t tell her, this was the crux of the matter.

(The reason she’s ill is partly due to physical fatigue. But more importantly, it’s because her body is reacting excessively to a virus that entered her system.)

The Demon’s Gear, originally created to kill angels, exhibits an abnormal rejection response toward angels.

As a result of the dual-star form, the magic from Star Reader’s Staff that had merged into Kei’s body was wreaking havoc inside her.

(Has that wise angel learned from losing to Demon’s Gear and sent an angel specifically designed to counter it? Tsk..)

“I should probably kill them right away.”

His voice was flat, almost mechanical.

But his eyes remained fixed on Kei, unwavering.

“Only I am granted the privilege to protect her… and to hurt her.”

The madness in those eyes shone brightly.