Chapter 46 | This Magical Girl Is a Bit Strange

An unfamiliar scent hung in the air of the Wings of Freedom headquarters.

It was a mixture of instant fried noodles, marker ink, and air freshener.

The coffee table had been pushed into the corner, replaced by a folding table brought in from who-knows-where. Atop it sat three smartphones, a laptop, and a tablet, with various cables sprawling across the surface like a spiderweb.

Night Sakura was crouching on the folding table, her chin nearly touching the laptop screen as her fingers slid rapidly across the trackpad.

Her mask was worn squarely on her face, the tiny silver beads adorning its edges shimmering in the blue light of the screen.

This crouching posture made her look like a bird poised to pounce on its prey—though in this case, the prey was the stream configuration settings in the livestream backend.

“Testing, testing—Kohinata, move half a step to the left. The camera can't catch you from that angle—yes, yes, yes, right there, don't move!”

Night Sakura shouted without raising her head, then lowered her voice to say something into her headset, likely confirming the audio latency with Amamiya.

Kohinata stood in the cleared space in front of the sofa, already wearing her transformed combat uniform.

She held the hammer that was taller than herself, its head resting on the floor. Her hands were stacked on the end of the handle, and her chin rested on the back of her hands.

She was practicing her opening remarks in front of one of the phone cameras.

“Hello everyone, we are the Wings of Freedom—no, too fast. Hello everyone, we are the Wings of Freedom! Today is our first livestream—no, that's not right either... Hello, everyone~ Welcome to the Wings of Freedom's very first livestream! I'm Kohinata! Please take care of me today! Yes, this one is good, this one is good—”

Every time she finished reciting, she turned her head to look at Night Sakura, waiting for confirmation.

Night Sakura told her to try again every time, and she would adjust her tone and rhythm from the beginning without showing any sign of annoyance.

Amamiya leaned against the armrest of the sofa, already transformed into her light-gray combat uniform, the hilt of her twin kodachi crossing in an X-shape behind her waist.

Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was steady; she seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Qiluo stood at the doorway, keeping quiet.

She felt as if she had walked into the backstage of a theater undergoing final rehearsals, with everyone in their positions making their last checks.

The atmosphere was much like the five minutes before a shift change at a convenience store—seemingly chaotic on the surface, yet everyone knew exactly what to do next.

Once Night Sakura was mostly ready, she raised her head and spotted her.

“Lightweaver!” She jumped down from the folding table, moving so fast she nearly dragged the laptop's power cord with her. “You actually came! I thought you'd drag your feet until really late!”

“...I said I would come, so of course I came.” Qiluo walked in, bypassed the coffee table, and sat on the other end of the sofa.

Night Sakura followed behind her, pressing, “Were the jellyfish pretty? When I went last time, the jellyfish wall was undergoing maintenance, and I only saw a tank of sea cucumbers.”

“Sea cucumbers are pretty too,” Kohinata chimed in without turning around. “It's just that sometimes they feel like they're invisible; you can't find them.”

“When did you ever go to the aquarium?” Amamiya opened her eyes, suspicion in her half-awake voice.

“Last time. You were sleeping at the headquarters by yourself and didn't come.”

“Did that happen?”

“Yes. You even said the aquarium was too far and you didn't want to go, then turned around and slept at the headquarters all day.”

“...”

Qiluo sat on the armrest of the sofa, watching them bicker.

Night Sakura didn't press further about the aquarium. She simply pushed her mask up a bit.

This revealed her chin and the small patch of skin near the corner of her mouth, slightly flushed from staring at the screen for so long, before she returned to the folding table to continue adjusting the streaming parameters.

She had probably been busy since the afternoon. The cup of coffee on the table was already empty, and an empty energy drink can sat beside it.

“Viewers are already waiting in the stream room.” Night Sakura turned one of the phone screens toward them.

【Open the door! Open the door!】

【Subscribe to Wings of Freedom, meow~ Thank you, meow~】

【Loli idols are just the best~ If you ask me, all Magical Girls should be like this!】

【Wings of Freedom is broadcasting? For real?】

【Does Wings of Freedom have a debut song?】

Watching the bullet comments scroll across the dark screen, Qiluo silently shifted her gaze to the three little ones.

Admittedly, the figures of these three were as petite and delicate as fairy tales...

Did everyone in this world prefer this type?

In Qiluo's world, anyone who liked underage girls would be rained on with fireballs by the Enforcement Department...

Qiluo looked down to compare them to her own. Mm-hmm! Mine is the perfect one!

Amamiya and Kohinata didn't pay attention to these random things like Qiluo did.

“We don't have a debut song,” Amamiya said, leaning in to look at the comments below. “Unless you want me to beat the rhythm with my hilt.”

“Then I can beat the floor with my hammer!” Kohinata raised her hand.

“No. You can't.”

“Why?!”

“Last time you hit the floor, you cracked the tiles, and the Store Owner has kept it on our tab ever since.” Night Sakura pulled the phone back, preparing to read through the chat. “But we'll have a debut song once we get popular. Meruru's composition team does freelance work; I've already checked.”

“You even looked into that?” Qiluo looked at Night Sakura in surprise.

“Of course. It's called career planning.” Night Sakura configured the last set of stream parameters, closed her laptop, and stood up to pat the dust off her skirt.

“There are still a few dozen minutes left. Let's use this time to go through the entire schedule once more.”

“First segment: opening remarks and self-introductions. Second segment: commentary on the highlights of our debut video. Third segment: Q&A interaction. All to be wrapped up within forty minutes.”

“Amamiya, did you change your self-introduction?” Night Sakura turned to her.

“I'm Amamiya, a member of the Wings of Freedom. I specialize in combat. Please take care of me.”

Night Sakura fell silent for a moment. “...The first version is still better. Whatever, let's stick with the first version. Kohinata, what about you?”

“I've practiced! My opening is absolutely foolproof! Ahem~ Hello everyone~ Welcome to the Wings of Freedom's very first livestream! I'm Kohinata! Please take care of me tonight!”

Kohinata hoisted the hammer onto her shoulder, struck a pose, then immediately slumped and rubbed her wrist. “So heavy.”

Kohinata lowered the hammer from her shoulder, holding the end of the handle with both hands as if carrying a stubborn pet. “Maybe it's because I'm nervous. Whenever I get nervous, my magic circuit sinks, and once it sinks, the hammer gets heavy—”

“Lightweaver,” Night Sakura suddenly called out to her, “do you want to make a sound before we start?”

Qiluo, who was eating potato chips and drinking cola on the side, froze upon hearing Night Sakura's question.

She was startled, much like a student caught sneaking snacks during class by the teacher.

Didn't we agree I wouldn't appear on camera? I don't want that many people staring at me.

“No.”

“It's not appearing on camera~ Just flash some threads of light from off-screen when we start as a signal. Let the viewers know you're there too, okay?”

She paused, her teasing tone softening slightly. “Mainly to keep the chat from constantly asking whether the white-haired big sister actually exists.”