# Title: Is Alice Coming to the Award Ceremony Today?
There's a rumor that the support-type Magical Girl getting promoted today is Alice's disciple. Does that mean Alice will attend her disciple's promotion ceremony?
Anonymous(222.122): She might come? But Alice secretly hates these kinds of events, so I'm not sure.
âAnonymous: She hates them?
ââAnonymous(222.122): Any longtime fan knows this. She never shows up at events, so people speculate she's either extremely busy with her personal life or just hates crowded places.
âââAnonymous: But she appears on TV sometimes?
ââââAnonymous(222.122): Her appearances increased dramatically since the second half of last year. Before that, there was practically nothing.
Anonymous(111.118): Mia is like Alice's disciple, right? They definitely have similarities.
Likeri: Alice doesn't attend such events. I'll wear an armband if she does.
âAnonymous: Screenshot taken. Let's see.
ââLikeri: It absolutely won't happen, so I don't care. Bye.
# Title: Why Do So Many People Know About Today's Event?
Isn't the award ceremony only open to Magical Girls?
Anonymous: You've opened your eyes.
Anonymous: Remember that all the comments you're reading might be from Magical Girls.
Yurika: But seriously, news spreads on the gallery within a minute whenever something happens. There must be tons of industry insiders here, even if they're not Magical Girls themselves.
# Title: Isn't It Unfair That Support-Type Magical Girls Can't Get Promoted Without Kariel's Permission?
When their rank changes, their support funds change too. Does Kariel make up the difference?
Anonymous: You know a lot.
Anonymous: Fact) Yes.
Anonymous: You seem well-informed?
Anonymous: That's why she doesn't get criticized.
Anonymous: Do you think you can mess with Kariel, who almost single-handedly ended the Middle East conflict?
âAnonymous: From her photos, I only see boobs, not anything else.
ââAnonymous: Get out.
ââAnonymous: Ugh, trash.
ââAnonymous: (Get out of the Magical Girl gallery! Con)
***
-Brushing teeth sounds
"Senior... Good morning... but... why is Aia lying like that?"
"I haf nuffing to shay."
"She says she has nothing to say."
-Spit
"You should be grateful I stopped at just that."
It was early morning, closer to dawn than daybreak.
Shin-ah, rubbing her eyes as she came out, expressed confusion at the sight of Aia lying face-down on the floor with a bump on her head.
Well, it's nothing special. Not something I need to explain myself.
"Ugh... I only said I wanted to see Alice's magic..."
"What kind of magic? Was it difficult?"
"I just wanted to verify the enlargement magic that men supposedly cast every morning, so I was carefully observing Alice's skirt area."
"Are you done washing up? I'll go in next."
"I'll leave the hair dryer out. I need to use it."
"Ugh... even Mia has abandoned me... Aia has lost all usefulness..."
-Whirring sound
"Ugh. When will I ever finish drying my hair?"
"If you help Aia up now, I'll gift you a machine that dries hair in ten seconds..."
"Ah, Senior. Could you pass me that comb?"
"Here you go."
The two-person household was busy from early morning. Today was Mia's promotion ceremony, so they needed to get ready and leave quickly.
Why am I getting ready too, when only Mia needs to go early?
.........Well. It's something I can do for her.
"Today you'll finally become A-Rank. Now you can proudly call yourself a Magical Girl anywhere."
"I should aim for S-Rank next."
"No, that requires talent."
"Aren't you being too harsh?"
"A-Rank to S-Rank is the hardest jump. There's a reason so many Magical Girls retire as permanent A-Ranks."
"Hmm. That's disappointing."
For most Magical Girls, A-Rank was essentially the final destination. S-Rank was reserved for those who could transcend the A-Rank standard, placing them in the top 0.1%, and Magical Girls with S-Rank potential typically showed exceptional abilities from early on.
Mia was certainly talented for a Magical Girl, but that was only when compared to average ones.
The B-Rank that Mia had occupied until recently after years of steady growth was equivalent to the rank first-generation Magical Girls achieved immediately after awakening from being ordinary people just minutes before.
Of course... it would be too harsh to measure Mia against first-generation Magical Girls, but that's simply reality.
"Recognize that A-Rank is already quite high. Right now, you're at the bottom of the A-Rank hierarchy."
"There are others getting promoted with me, so I'm not at the very bottom!"
"You're tied for last place."
"Hmph."
"Aia doesn't enjoy being ignored..."
-Tap
"I'm ready, so I'll use the extra time to make some toast. The ceremony will be long, and you'll get hungry."
"That would be appreciated."
It would have been nice to have one more person to make toast, but unfortunately, only Mia and I were home right now.
I spread butter on the pan, took out bread, and toasted it while fluffy Mia was drying her hair.
She said she needed to groom herself more carefully than usual since there would be at least dozens of people at the ceremony.
While Magical Girls' bodies are maintained in near-perfect condition when transformed, there was no harm in making extra effort.
Better to be safe than embarrassed if something went wrong?
-Knock knock
"Get up now. How long are you going to lie there? We need to leave soon."
"Alice shouldn't use Aia's lower body as a sofa cushion."
"You can easily get out from under that."
"But if Aia moves out by herself, it lacks style. So I won't come out until you move."
Seeing such dedication to staying in character is truly impressive.
"Hup."
-Slide
"Hmm. For a moment, I felt like the monkey pressed under Buddha's palm."
"That's what you get for asking questions you can't handle."
"A woman sometimes needs to charge forward even knowing she'll fail. Like trying to snatch the latest graphics card from a trap before it activates."
I suppose she could use Stellar Shift to warp out. Wait, why am I even thinking about solutions for her?
"But after Aia asked the question, Alice deliberately lifted her skirt with her hand to prevent anyone from seeing what's underneath..."
-Thud!
"Mia. Are you ready? Shall we go now?"
"J-just a moment. Let me add some jam."
***
After Aia's upper body disappeared under the sofa, Mia and I left home for the ceremony venue.
Since the ceremony was held quarterly, it was an opportunity for participating Magical Girls to see famous people in the industry.
-Murmuring
"Look, it's Alice."
"Wow. Should I go talk to her? I've been a huge fan for ages."
"I heard the support-type Magical Girl getting promoted to A-Rank today was taught by Alice."
"Maybe I should ask her to teach me too? I want to reach S-Rank before I retire."
'I can hear everything, you know.'
I took a sip of chocolate milk from my wine glasswhile inwardly smirking at the whispers around me.
First of all, Alice attending this ceremony was unprecedented.
Naturally, I had no reason to attend ceremonies before.
-Sip
'And I probably won't attend again unless something like today happens...'
I might come if Mia gets promoted to S-Rank, but otherwise, this won't happen again.
However, this wasn't just about Alice attending a ceremony for the first timeâit was also because Alice's stock among Magical Girls was currently at an all-time high.
After returning from the Abyss, I had revealed some experiences through various programs, but the information wasn't as extensive as people expected from "the first Abyss survivor." Then suddenly, I announced a contest supporting Magical Girls' unique magic, which only increased people's curiosity.
What's the connection between going to the Abyss and unique magic? Did something happen with unique magic in the Abyss? Such speculations were rampant.
'I'm just doing it because I need it.'
The truth was simply that I wanted to raise the average quality of abilities I could copy and increase my knowledge about unique magic quickly and conveniently. It wasn't like I overcame crises in the Abyss using unique magic...
...Stellar Shift did play a crucial role, but that was just luck that my unique magic happened to be Stellar Shift.
'......'
After yesterday's conversation with Aia, certain thoughts kept circling in my mind.
The scam that Rabbity and I pulled off, and the crazy thing Aia did.
'Aren't they... more sloppy than I thought?'
It was too early to judge with only two examples, but the mascot system I had imagined wasn't this flawed.
Transcendent beings fighting Abyss Ones with a system built across the universe being sloppy? It seemed strange to even think that way.
But. Both I and Aia had broken through it.
Looking at the timeline, Aia had already done her thing before I switched with Han Se-rin, and she hadn't been caught.
'Rabbity. Any ideas?'
[Hmm... maybe the security mascots neglected their duties...?]
'So there are security mascots?'
[I don't know either. Look, I understand how you think of mascots, but I don't know the entire mascot system. We're only given knowledge and information related to our specific roles before being deployed. Even on Earth, a field employee doesn't know the entire company structure, right?]
'I've never worked at a company, so I wouldn't know.'
[How can you not know what I know?!]
"...Sigh."
My head was complicated.
I was already troubled from last night's events, and now trying to think through these complex issues was giving me a headache.
Just as I was leaning back in my chair, sipping chocolate milk and lost in these worries...
-Soft pressure
"Wow. It's Alice. Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
"...You're heavy."
"I certainly am heavy. I even considered surgery before awakening as a Magical Girl, but having a sturdy body is nice."
A heavy weight pressed against the back of my head, accompanied by a languid voice.
It was Kariel, the Magical Girl who would present Mia with her promotion badge at today's ceremony.
...............But she's really heavy, and I wish she'd move.
I'm also worried Mia might see this and give me an earful later.