"No.

No, shit.

No.

Shit, just wait a second.

"What did you just say?!"

*Shake shake*

"If you shake me like that, Aia's mainboard will break. Alice needs to be more considerate toward Aia."

"Do I look like I can be considerate right now?! What did you just say?!"

"I said Alice has become a man."

"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!"

What the hell?! How did she find out?! Haven't I been hiding it well enough?! I've been getting a bit more comfortable with my role lately, but did I make a mistake somewhere?! As far as I remember, I haven't made any major slip-ups!

'What is it? What's going on? Where did I mess up? Rabbity, what did I do??'

[W-wait... I'm trying to gather my thoughts too... Ah, f-first, the mascot!]

Of course, this was a disaster.

My secret as a man had been exposed. This was completely different from when Shin-ah found out.

Back then, the situation was what it was—I knowingly took the risk and jumped in, somewhat prepared for the possibility of being discovered.

But now?

Aia just blurted out that I'm a man.

"U-u-u-um, w-why? Why do you think that? You have evidence, right? If not, I could sue you for defamation... Ah, no... um..."

My thoughts were so jumbled that words came out half-formed, retreating back in, mixing with other thoughts until I couldn't even remember what I was trying to say in the first place.

'...Become a man?'

Something seemed off.

Usually... wouldn't someone say a man was pretending to be a woman?

Gender reassignment isn't that common.

"...Um."

But Aia's words made it sound like I was originally a woman who became a man for some reason. As if I was still the same Alice who had been active all along, just with a different gender...?

'Why on earth?!'

How could anyone make such a misunderstanding?!

Is there even a precedent for this?! At least I've never heard of one!

Is there an Abyss One that can cast curses that change people's gender? I suppose it's possible... Abyss Ones come in all varieties after all...

'...But if that's the case...'

I tried to gather my scattered thoughts and make a judgment.

"Haha, Aia must have watched too many movies or dramas. There's no way Alice could have become a man. How could someone as pretty and lovely and slender as Alice possibly be male?"

I deliberately twirled my skirt and emphasized my thin arms, which were slender even for a male, trying to defend myself.

The first step was obviously denial. With Aia, she might genuinely just say "I was just imagining it" and end this unfunny joke.

"But the current Alice appears male to Aia. After analyzing various habits including your gait and voice, even in transformation state... Aia has concluded that Alice has a male body."

"Hmm... couldn't you be mistaken?"

"The probability of Aia misidentifying Alice is equivalent to the probability of Aia forgetting about cup noodles while playing games and ending up eating bloated noodles."

That sounds pretty high, actually.

"The statistics show about 20%."

"That's extremely high!"

"But it's fine. That's why Aia observed Alice multiple times."

"That makes me feel worse!"

"Um... uh... well... um... the situation..."

Meanwhile, Shin-ah was still stammering beside me, completely lost about what was happening.

She was the first woman to learn my secret... and while she had been helping me keep it until now, she clearly wasn't prepared for someone to suddenly declare "Alice is a man" right in front of us. Even I was so shocked that I could barely string words together.

"...Shin-ah? If you don't mind, could you get us some coffee? It seems Alice needs to have an honest conversation with Aia today."

"Uh... y-yes! Leave it to me!"

*Scurry*

...At least I got Shin-ah out of here. In these unexpected situations, it's easier to handle things alone.

Shin-ah doesn't know all my secrets, so things could get complicated in strange ways.

*Fidget fidget*

"U-um... so Aia's only evidence that the current Alice is male is based on... habits? I'm sorry, but... that alone isn't enough to put Alice in such an awkward position. Everyone has different habits..."

Even as I responded, I felt like I was burning up inside.

If she claimed to have clear evidence, I could tailor my response accordingly. But I couldn't tell if she was truly convinced I was male, just had suspicions, or was playing some cruel joke.

"If Alice is truly innocent, there's a simple way to prove it."

"...What is it?"

"Let's see it."

*WHACK!*

"Owww..."

...Oops, my staff moved faster than my words.

I could see a bump forming on Aia's head, but... I didn't feel particularly sorry.

Considering what she just suggested, knocking her unconscious would have been justified, not just giving her a bump.

"Ugh. Why did you do that? It's a definitive way to prove your innocence."

"How can you even suggest that?!"

"If not that, does Alice have another way to prove it conclusively?"

...No, I don't. There never was one to begin with.

How could I possibly prove I'm female when I'm actually male?

*Fidgeting*

'...Maybe if I use some illusion magic...'

I clutched the hem of my skirt, alternately gripping and releasing it while fighting an internal battle.

The passive Stellar Escape spell normally prevents anyone from seeing up Alice's skirt from any angle. Even if I were doing a handstand, no one would be able to see under my skirt.

Though not specifically created as illusion magic, its function is quite similar to what illusion magic does.

And since Stellar Escape was my first true unique magic that gave birth to Stellar Shift, my proficiency with it was quite high.

*Gulp*

'If I do it right...'

Theoretically... even if I showed Aia what she wanted... I could make it appear female.

I'd never tried it or tested it before, so I couldn't be certain... but it seemed... possible...

*Thump thump thump thump*

'If I fail, it would be utterly humiliating...?!'

If I tried and failed... I'd just be showing that I'm a man.

'...Is this my only option?'

The mere thought of failing made me want to die, but the benefit of success was clear.

Habits or whatever, if I showed I was female, what more would need to be said?

It would even overturn her conviction that I was male in one decisive move.

*Trembling...*

"...Fine. Alright. Watch carefully. I'll let you confirm it."

Even as I spoke, each word was a struggle. Seriously, what man could possibly maintain dignity in this situation?

"...Phew."

*Grip*

I grabbed the hem of my long skirt, similar to Alice's, and squeezed my eyes shut.

I'd finished adjusting Stellar Escape. If this works, it would resolve everything...

"I brought coffee... Um... what are you doing?"

"I'm receiving Alice's ID card."

"ID card?"

"In other words, a national ID. An identification card showing date of birth would certainly guarantee Alice's gender."

".................."

*WHACK!*

"Senior?!"

"Fortunately, if Aia hadn't put up a guard, her IQ might have dropped to double digits."

"...What a shame. This could have been Alice's first murder scene."

*Trembling...*

"S-senior? Are you crying? You're not crying, are you...?"

"I'm not crying. Alice isn't the kind of woman who sheds tears in front of evil."

"Hmm. Aia doesn't understand why Alice is acting this way. Aia only made a reasonable request."

Afterward, there was a vigorous internal debate about whether to turn Aia into what she used to be, but ultimately it didn't happen.

As someone living in her house, I shouldn't do that to her home. Of course not.

"......Sigh. Let's hear what you have to say."

I calmed down and reconsidered.

What just happened was probably just her trying to tease me, and anyway, this woman was convinced that regardless of whether I was female in the past, I'm male now.

In that situation, doing something so unfunny... ah, this is irritating, so I'll stop thinking about it.

"I admit that hiding my gender wasn't perfect. Since I couldn't control 100% of my unconscious behaviors, someone with your level of analytical precision could make an inference."

"V."

"...So. Why did you say that? I should warn you, if you're trying to blackmail me with this information to make strange demands, I won't stay quiet."

Aia probably thought I was a woman who became a man because... she must be certain the original Alice was female. The original Alice was sociable and had good relationships with the first-generation Magical Girls.

But having confirmed I'm male...

............Unless she thinks I'm an identical twin brother who took over the Magical Girl contract and is pretending to be her, it's not unreasonable to think I might have been cursed with gender transformation.

"I wanted to comfort Alice for your hardships, and I also wanted to get closer to you."

"Usually when people want to get closer, they don't reveal they know the other person's secrets. Wouldn't that just make them wary?"

"That's why Aia is going to tell you a secret of equal value. It's called mutually assured destruction."

"...Secret?"

"Ah, Mia can hear this too. Seeing how you keep Alice's secret, Mia seems to have a mouth as heavy as her chest."

"Wasn't there something unnecessary in the middle of that?!"

"Aia's secret is... this."

"Ignored?!"

*Swish*

Ignoring Shin-ah's protest, Aia held up Momo.

"...Why Momo?"

"It's Aia's staff."

"Yes, Alice knows that."

"And, it's also Aia's mascot."

"........."

It took a moment to understand.

I furrowed my brow, thinking "so what?" while trying to interpret the meaning of her words.

"............Wait a minute."

[Hold on, what is that?!]

Rabbity's shocked voice reached me around the same time I realized what was happening, as he had gone to silence Aia's mascot like he did with Mia's during the earlier unexpected situation.

Mascots belonged to mascot society. They had their own hierarchy, with some supreme being called the Mascot Queen at the very top.

From their mass-produced appearance to their naming convention of "motif object" + "serial number," one could guess that mascots were indeed similar to mass-produced items. Under the massive entity known as the Mascot Queen.

The reason mascots come to our dimension is to fulfill the Queen's orders and their purpose: to contract with Magical Girls and stop Abyss Ones.

The mascots we see are just a few among hundreds, thousands, or even more dispatched to countless dimensions across the universe.

And... staffs belonged to Magical Girls.

Though created when contracting with mascots, it was more like the contract provided Magical Girls with the seed to create their own staff.

That's why retired Magical Girls who distanced themselves from mascots still had their staffs. The staff was an item that belonged to the Magical Girl herself.

"......You introduced it as a staff first, right?"

"That's correct. I thought Alice would understand the significance immediately."

*Swish swish*

[Aia's hand is cold.]

"It's Momo who is cold."

............It would have been better if she had said a mascot could also function as a staff.

But a staff functioning as a mascot...?

[Could that... be possible...?]

'...What have you done?'

This crazy woman had essentially committed fraud against a transcendent being who established the Magical Girl system by sending mascots throughout the universe.

Though it might be just replacing one brick, still.

It's like removing a brick from a wall built by a transcendent being beyond human comprehension and inserting your own brick in its place.

.....................Though I guess I was committing fraud too.