Chapter 7: Transformation!

“…Huh?”

It felt like sneezing in her sleep, jolting her from a dream.

Jiang Lingwei blinked, staring at the necklace in her hand.

No doubt—this was her transformation device.

But why was it here?

Closing the box, she felt something was missing, like… a note.

Had someone left her a message?

She couldn’t recall.

The recent moments blurred like last night’s dream, leaving her dazed.

She retraced her steps since entering the room, but no note came to mind.

She’d only seen the box.

Touching the crack on the pink gem, unease stirred.

This was her magical core, now scarred.

She slipped the necklace on, a familiar magical connection easing her nerves.

Her body felt truly awake, as if emerging from a coma.

Magic flowed through her again.

Fairy magic from the Fairy Plane was wondrous.

Beyond each magical girl’s unique talents, their magic control and release hinged on willpower.

Lively girls wielded passionate magic; calm ones, precise magic.

Magic also chose its wielders, shaping them in turn.

This explained magical girls’ vivid personalities—tsundere, emotionless, overly enthusiastic, even yandere—traits society often found odd.

Magic amplified their emotions, making their personalities bold, defying societal norms of blending in.

This cycle strengthened them against darkness and despair, mentally and physically.

But in social life, it caused friction.

Fairies’ barriers and transformation disguises protected magical girls’ identities.

Distinct personalities meant obvious weaknesses.

Some magical girls grew outspoken in daily life, sparking issues—though their beauty often earned leniency.

Others separated their transformed and normal selves, keeping them distinct.

This made their transformed personas more intense, like a different person.

It could seem like a split personality.

“Cancel transformation.”

Jiang Lingwei tried summoning her magic, but nothing happened.

Her body remained unchanged.

Sighing, she rested her hands on the bed.

“No form to transform into now, it seems.”

Magical girls’ bodies could solidify post-childbirth—a little-known fact.

She’d learned this when the old fairy lewdly suggested she could become a girl permanently through a relationship.

She’d kicked him into a wall like a ball.

He rambled on:

“Your body’s been reshaped by magic. A male body can’t hold Fairy Kingdom magic—it’d explode without your unique compatibility.”

“I left a backdoor in your magic core. Retire, give up magic, and you’ll transition seamlessly to a normal girl.”

“Post-childbirth, your youthful body stays preserved. See? You’re touched! No need to thank me—really, it’s my duty—”

She’d hung him on the wall again.

A vague theory formed about her past.

After the final battle, for some reason, she’d planned to retire as a woman, abandoning magic and her transformation device.

She’d grown from a young girl into a matured woman, bearing a child.

Thus, her current form solidified.

‘…What the hell.’

Her biggest issue: where were her memories?

She’d resolved to keep her magic post-retirement to stay male, living like a light novel hero.

Not the heroine!

How had it changed so easily?

Sensing her magic without transforming, she noticed a difference.

Unlike at the sanatorium, she felt magic now, but it cycled—replenishing and dissipating, never full.

Like a childhood puzzle of a pool filling and draining simultaneously, endlessly frustrating.

The good news: no eggs, no pain.

The crack in the magic core might explain it.

‘I’m worried.’

She couldn’t recall dropping the device.

It looked like a gem but wasn’t fragile.

“Okay, one more try.”

Holding her long-sought transformation device, Jiang Lingwei stroked the gem.

“Transform!”

Time slowed.

She flashed a sunny smile, making a scissors gesture before her eyes.

“Yeah!”

“In the name of all that’s good and just!”

White light dots swirled around her, forming a pink Lolita skirt adorned with bows and trinkets.

Her height shrank, her figure slimmed.

“Punish all darkness and evil!”

She shouted, summoning a pink-and-white staff topped with a floating heart-shaped magic stone.

“Magical Girl [Aurora], reporting in!”

(Two seconds total.)

The light faded.

Mother Jiang Lingwei was gone.

In her place stood a cherry-pink-haired girl in a pink dress, gripping a magic wand, brimming with confidence.

Posing for a few seconds in the empty room, she slowly covered her face with her free hand.

‘So embarrassing, so embarrassing! It’s not a real battle—why did I say the lines?’

‘It’s the magic messing with my personality!’

Ten minutes later, Jiang Lingwei, back to her composed self, explored the third floor.

She headed downstairs to check on Jiang Yao and find food.

Whether fed nutrient solution or something else during her coma, her body was fine.

But she was starving.

She also planned to check her bone age or use advanced methods to confirm her physical age.

By the timeline, she’d be in her thirties.

But with Jiang Yao at sixteen, her body was likely in its early twenties.

Four or five years after the battle, she’d abandoned her past, bearing a child?

Impossible.

With too little information, she needed to investigate.

Jiang Yao was innocent, so she accepted her daughter.

But she wouldn’t live in such a fog.

How could she accept her cherished companions vanishing?

She’d rather believe they awaited her somewhere in this world.

She also needed to ask Jiang Yao about the box and necklace.

Midway between the second and third floors, she heard Jiang Yao’s voice.

“Just play along!”

“No way! I’m a noble fairy—how can I act like a dog?”

“How do I explain this to Mom?”

“There’s a consciousness barrier. She can’t see me.”

“In her eyes, it’d look like a dog flying to the fridge, chugging milk. What would she think?”

“That’s fine… fine. I’ll avoid her.”

The voice seemed to relent.

Jiang Yao pressed.

“No, you act now.”

“Don’t push it! I chose you for the contract to live alone here, but now—don’t come closer!”

Whoosh—

A white furball arced perfectly before Jiang Lingwei’s eyes, vanishing down the stairs.

Bang!

It hit a wall somewhere.

‘Goal!’ Jiang Lingwei cheered inwardly.

Descending, she saw Jiang Yao in home clothes, cheeks puffed, retracting her kicking foot.

“You were starving when I took you in out of kindness!”

“Kindness, my foot!”

Jiang Lingwei feigned hearing only the last bit.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, uh…”

Noticing her mother, Jiang Yao faltered.

“It’s… a stray dog I adopted. It was naughty just now.”

She waved quickly.

“Xiaobai! Come here!”

The kicked furball bounced before them.

It resembled her old mentor but had black mustaches instead of a white beard, like a Pringles mascot, oddly humorous.

Up close, Jiang Lingwei saw sorrow in its chocolate-bean eyes.

“Look, Mom, isn’t it cute?”

Jiang Lingwei studied the fairy, waiting.

“…Woof woof.”

Xiaobai barked reluctantly.

“Super cute.”

Jiang Lingwei smiled.

As Xiaobai relaxed, ready to flee, she added:

“But do you have dog food for it?”

Xiaobai’s eyes widened, darting between Jiang Yao and Jiang Lingwei, urging her to speak.

“No, Mom. I adopted him a few days ago.”

Jiang Yao focused on her mother, ignoring Xiaobai.

“Buy some. Dogs get sick eating other foods. Stop feeding him scraps.”

“Yeah! Mom’s right!”

Xiaobai’s jaw dropped, stunned.

It seemed to discover human mischief for the first time.