r18novel Chapter 47 Open and Honest
Chapter 47 Open and Honest
"Well... but what I just said were conclusions I drew from some information I collected after I started working, plus my own imagination."
Lu Yue picked up another can of beer and pulled the tab.
"...Ah, speaking of work, I'm not actually in the clothing business, I work at the Civil Defense Bureau."
"Hmm." Shen Zixin nodded. "I guessed it too."
Lu Yue breathed a sigh of relief, but a wry smile appeared on her face. "Little brother, did you really sense it based on your intuition? I noticed you weren't surprised at all when you heard what happened to me. You didn't know it from somewhere beforehand, did you?"
"Sis, you've put it so plainly, so as family, of course I won't hide anything from you," Shen Zixin replied.
It's time to tell her.
"I knew it! You were definitely hiding something from me." Lu Yue smiled and took a sip of beer. "So, bro, what's your secret?"
"Ahem... Well," Shen Zixin cleared her throat, but a strange sense of pleasure lingered on her face, "I can't tell if it's a surprise or a shock."
He straightened his posture slightly—"Then I won't beat around the bush."
The next moment, he closed his eyes.
A white rainbow of light spread from his body, instantly filling the entire living room. It was the unique magical rainbow light belonging to a "magical girl"—
When the light faded, Shen Zixin, who had been sitting in the chair, had vanished.
Appearing in Shen Zixin's original spot was a petite figure dressed in a red and white Lolita dress, with short silver hair gently swaying, and deep red eyes quietly watching the dumbfounded Lu Yue.
Lu Yue's mouth dropped open, and the beer can in her hand froze. She stood there, motionless, as if she had turned into a statue.
"Is it really that surprising?" Lingbo's petite body was a little too small for the chair, so she placed her hands on the table and leaned forward slightly to support herself.
Lu Yue slowly came back to her senses. She stiffly reached out and pinched her face hard.
"—Ouch! This isn't a dream!"
"What, you're a magical girl, but I can't be one?"
"...This is completely incomparable!" Lu Yue practically jumped up, slamming her hands on the table. "W-what kind of story is this where a man turns into a magical girl?! And—"
She looked at Lingbo, her tone growing increasingly agitated: "Shouldn't a magical girl's apparent age follow her real age until she's eighteen?! If she's over eighteen, her apparent age should still be eighteen?! Why is your magical girl form... why does it look like a ten-year-old loli?! This is illogical!"
She paused, as if remembering something more important:
"And another thing! I, as the magical girl Ji Xia, just met you this morning! That super cute and brave ten-year-old magical girl who saved people this morning is actually my twenty-three-year-old brother—"
"Damn it!!!!!!!!!"
A roar, filled with shock, confusion, and some indescribable sense of collapse, burst from Lu Yue's mouth. She grabbed a beer from the table and chugged it down.
"You too, sis," Lingbo said calmly, looking at Lu Yue. "Your real identity is Ji Xia, the famous magical girl in Yuehua City. You're a public figure, a big star."
Then Lingbo changed the subject, her tone taking on a touch of Shen Zixin's keen awareness of family finances, "Besides, sis, the money you earn as a magical girl must be more than just the salary in your bank account, right? Where did all those extra bonuses and rewards go?"
This sudden questioning left Lu Yue, who was already somewhat confused by the shocking fact that her "brother had turned into a little girl," frozen in place once again.
"Ahhh, this, this..." She put down the beer can, her eyes starting to drift uncontrollably to the side, trying to avoid Lingbo's gaze.
"The salary on my card is the basic salary issued by the Civil Defense Bureau... As for the other income I get from the magical girls' extermination of disaster monsters... I... I've saved it all! Yes! I've saved it all..."
"To be honest," Lingbo said, lowering her eyelids.
"...Okay, I was wrong! I spent it all! I don't have a single penny left! I'm so sorry!!" Lu Yue lowered her head and clasped her hands together.
"..." Lingbo looked at her older sister's behavior and was speechless.
"I told you, sis, you have absolutely no control over your spending. You're a grown woman who's been working for several years, but when it comes to money management, you're practically a child. Tell me, where did you spend it all? You couldn't have gone to buy figurines again, could you?"
Lingbo recalled the wall of figurines in her older sister's room and sighed softly.
"Um... I really didn't this time! I bought the magical girl's artificial costume!" Lu Yue quickly explained.
"...Artificial costume? Well...at least I didn't waste my money—" Lingbo's words trailed off as she suddenly realized something and frowned slightly. "Wait, what kind of costume did you buy? Don't tell me it's one of those flashy but impractical things again."
Lu Yue's body trembled slightly. "Ah... do I really have to ask that? Isn't it a matter of personal privacy?"
She tried to bluff her way through.
"I have a strong feeling that you've probably bought something that's not really useful again."
"Ugh..." Lu Yue let out a whimper that was hard to understand, and then fell silent.
Lingbo sighed inwardly.
—My older sister, usually so cheerful, confident, and helpful, is an inspiring presence.
But why do they become so unreliable when it comes to money and certain hobbies?
"Um, well, let's not talk about this anymore! Oh, right!" Lu Yue suddenly remembered something and tried to forcefully change the subject, "'Lingbo,' weren't you injured this morning? How are you now? Are you alright?!"
"I've already received treatment, so there shouldn't be any problems for now."
"Eh? It's already been treated... That's good." Lu Yue breathed a sigh of relief, then slowly sat down. "The person who treated you was Noah, right?"
"...Ah, you can tell that?" Lingbo thought for a moment and realized that it wasn't anything particularly difficult to guess.
"Of course. Noah looks about eighteen years old, which is the appearance age of an adult magical girl, so I guessed she was also a magical girl. Since she is a magical girl, then she is probably the one who healed you."