Last night sure was fun, huh?＾＾

Thanks to Miyume-chan, I’ve got a new weapon in the works, got a mysterious lap pillow moment in too, and managed to keep my cool all the way through.

Same thing happened during the Chroma arc—I think I’ve been pulling off some solid mysterious moves lately…!

Cough cough… ugh…

Well, I caught a cold though!

Just like that! A full-on mysterious cold! And I totally made it worse!

“Are you alright?”

“…Yeah.”

Come to think of it, it was stupid cold despite it being summer, and my body did feel kind of sluggish.

A mysterious beautiful girl catching a cold? That’s so impossible it loops back around to being absurd.

Starreader’s Staff-chan got so worried he popped out as Zero in full form.

And seeing him worry so hard honestly makes me feel kinda uneasy too.

It’s fine, it’s just a cold.

『…A human contracted to me cannot fall ill. What exactly is happening here?』

Maybe it’s not just a cold…

Maybe it’s something way worse…

“I-it’s okay. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

『Even in this state, you still insist on acting like a mysterious beautiful girl…?!』

“Well, it’s the more profitable image.”

『That relentless drive for improvement—I’m truly impressed.』

A beautiful girl catching a cold? For me, that’s just a juicy event trigger!

But I won’t allow any beautiful girl other than me to get sick.

These painful suffering-themed bishoujo events? I’ll handle every last one!

Loss of limbs, mental breakdowns, memory loss—leave it to me!

I’ve already prepped for it all, so rest easy!

『…Just now, were you imagining self-destructive behavior in an oddly positive light?』

“Heheh, caught me—cough”

“Okay, okay, let’s get you some water now.”

Starreader’s Staff-chan offers me a glass of water.

Since he looks exactly like Sorciera, it feels like Sorciera herself is nursing me.

Voice drama: “Sorciera takes care of you”? Yeah, I’m into it.

『This is definitely strange. There’s no way you should be like this.』

She tilts her head curiously as she says that.

Then, she climbs onto the bed and straddles me.

…Why??

『Pardon me for a moment.』

With that, she leaned her face toward mine.

Y-your face is too good-looking…!

『This won’t hurt a bit.』

I feel something press gently to my forehead.

It’s the sensation of Starreader’s Staff-chan’s forehead touching mine.

From the outside, this must look like two identically beautiful girls doing a forehead touch—some kind of religious painting.

Call an experienced painter to this room, now.

I’ve got the money. I’ll sell myself to the board of directors if I have to cover the rest.

『Hmm hmm… I understand now.』

With a smile, she pulled her forehead away.

She brushes my cheek as she does, which earns extra points.

Beauty lies in the details, after all.

I’m proud of how much Starreader’s Staff-chan has grown.

『Partner, you seem to be in a state of serious fatigue.』

“…I see.”

『Originally, I was designed to burn through my contractor’s life force. To me, humans are nothing but energy tanks.』

Wow, he’s saying some wild stuff now.

『Once I’ve used them up, I convert the contractor into a guardian and cease functioning myself. Extended activity like this was never intended.』

She says this while pulling out an apple and starting to peel it.

Where the hell did that apple come from?

『You constantly generate magic, and you have an unprecedented compatibility rate. Thanks to that, you’ve survived up until now… but it seems that’s finally caught up with you.』

Lowering her eyes sadly, she finally says it clearly.

『The ASMR dual recording—that was the trigger. Your magic output exceeded your consumption, and now your own magic is eating away at you.』

“…I see.”

So my body couldn’t handle the ASMR recording.

That’s just pitiful.

But being consumed by one’s own power kind of sounds like a classic overpowered character issue, and that is pretty cool.

『You’re thinking it sounds cool, aren’t you?』

“Heheh, who knows~”

She’s been reading my mind since earlier…

『Well, a few days of rest should be enough. Suppress your magic production and take it easy.』

“…This time, I’ll obey like a good girl.”

『I like obedient girls.』

She pats my head.

Then offers me an apple cut into a perfect star shape.

How do you even cut it like that?

『So, with that—I’m heading out for a bit.』

“Huh?”

Her words catch me off guard.

Letting Starreader’s Staff-chan loose in the wild without a reasonable person like me nearby is dangerous.

If I’m not there…

『I’m boosting the magic supply to myself right now. I’m stronger than usual. I’ll burn off the excess magic outside, okay?＾＾』

Makes sense. She’s going to deal with the excess magic for me.

『I’ll beat up any evil organizations I find and act like Sorciera while I’m at it. Two birds, one mysterious stone. What do you think, partner?』

“…Do whatever you want.”

『Hahaha, glad to see it meets your approval. Oh, activate the Trans-Anchor too, will you? It’ll help burn off a little more magic.』

She kisses the back of my hand as she says that.

Lately, this guy’s been kissing me a lot.

『Well then, I’m off.』

“What, already? It’s still super early.”

『A mysterious beautiful girl’s morning starts early.』

She gives me a wink.

Something Sorciera would never do—feels pretty fresh.

『Besides, I have to make sure your condition is perfect before the Hinotsuchi Cultural Festival.』

After all that, I can’t exactly stop her.

We’re still in the part of the story where angels don’t show up, so there’s nothing I need to do.

We never did find the conductor who fought Touraku-kun in Chroma’s original timeline, but I’m sure they’ll pop up at the festival. I’ll take them down then.

For now, I’ll just rest.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

『Of course, leave it to me.』

Starreader’s Staff-chan smiles and activates a magic circle over me.

“…What’s this?”

『A really effective fever-reducing spell.』

“Very specific.”

That spell is seriously helpful.

I really do feel my body getting better…!

『Alright, I’m off then.』

She activates a teleportation spell and gives a cool smile.

But midway through, he suddenly remembers something.

『Oh right, one last thing—avoid sensing any beautiful girls, okay? You generate magic when you get involved with beautiful girls, and that’s what’s wrecking your body right now. So do not sense any bishoujo.』

“That’s basically a death sentence?”

『Later then.』

With a flutter of her hand, she finally disappears into the teleportation circle.

All that’s left in my room is a half-eaten star-shaped apple, a half-drunk glass of water, and a beautiful girl with a cold.

And I’ve been forbidden from beautiful girl stuff.

I wanted to do a cursed Sorciera arc, too…

I even had plans for a photo shoot in Erosion Form… now all of it’s scrapped.

“…Guess I’ll sleep.”

Beautiful girl mode sealed, I’m powerless.

All I can do now is sleep.

■

『…Hmm. Seems she’s asleep now.』

Starreader’s Staff peeks into Kei’s room through the magic circle and nods.

She looks exactly like Sorciera.

If there’s any difference, it’s that her face is twisted in anger.

A fierce emotion the normally calm and composed Sorciera would never show.

Starreader’s Staff mutters to herself, almost spitting the words out.

『Those damn angels…』

What she told Kei about the cause of her condition was true.

But Starreader’s Staff had deliberately withheld part of the truth.

When their foreheads touched, she had directly probed Kei’s body.

She understood everything going wrong inside her.

『You dare lay a hand on my partner? You really must have a death wish.』

The real cause of Kei’s condition… was an angel.

She didn’t tell Kei that—but that was the heart of the issue.

(Yes, there’s physical exhaustion. But more than that, her body’s overreacting to a virus that invaded her system.)

Demonsgear, originally built to kill angels, reacts violently to angelic presence.

The merging of magic from their Dual Star Form allowed Starreader’s Staff’s magic to mix into Kei—causing it to go haywire inside her body.

(So the Seraph who lost to Demonsgear adapted and sent in a counter-angel, huh? Unbelievable—)

『Guess I’ll have to kill them now.』

Her voice was flat, mechanical.

But her eyes never looked away from Kei.

『Hurting her, protecting her—those are privileges reserved only for me.』

Her madness-filled eyes gleamed with savage brilliance.