V5: Chapter 56: Pink Petals and Milk Tea, Huh?

Chapter 56: Pink Petals and Milk Tea, Huh?

To give Yuu-chan, whose eyes were still red, some time to calm down, I brewed some tea with slightly higher quality tea leaves.

As she calmed down, a question seemed to arise in her mind...

"Well, my burns have healed... that's good, but what's the principle behind this? Thinking about it calmly, it's actually pretty scary."

"That's because of the power of my love for my little sister..."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about right now. Such super-healing... my body won't explode from the backlash, will it?"

She was coldly brushed off. Is this what they call a rebellious phase?

The Succubus who orchestrated this whole thing answered her question, rolling an empty bottle between her fingertips.

...Why is every single one of her movements so alluring?

"Magical Girls, the stronger their magical power, the more their physical and healing abilities increase, right?" (Lux)

"Well, that's true." (Yuu)

"That's not just limited to Magical Girls, but... magical power has an effect that... elevates the... status of living things. Living things become stronger, more beautiful... and more resilient." (Lux)

That explains why there are so many beautiful girls among Magical Girls. It makes sense why, even before transforming, everyone, including myself, has such high facial attractiveness.

Well, I do take care of my skin and beauty routine in particular.

"You can also forcibly raise the upper limit of magical power by ingesting it from external sources. It's like... forcibly pouring water into a balloon, I guess?" (Lux)

"When you put it that way, it's kind of scary..." (Yuu)

"It's okay. The excess is redirected elsewhere. It's like a temporary buff, I guess?" (Lux)

That seems to be the case, which explains why my mother suddenly became so energetic.

"That's how it is! You can rest assured, right?" (Shizuku)

"I can tell from your face that you just heard it. Why doesn't the person who provided it know?" (Yuu)

Well, when it comes to magic and magical power, I'm more of an intuitive type...

"Then why isn't it popular? They should do more of it..." (Yuu)

"It's not very efficient. You know, that girl? The always energetic fire magic user. Um..."

"You mean Bradia? Our number three?"

It's been a while since I heard that name. I wonder how she's doing...

The top ranks of magical girls are full of rich girls with strong personalities, but they tend to get lost in the crowd.

"Yes, that girl, right? If we consider the quality and quantity of her magical power as 1 While..." (Lux)

"While?" (Yuu)

"While Satellite-chan is 3—..." (Lux)

"That's certainly... only a limited number of people can do that, after all." (Yuu)

"—3000 times stronger in total? Yes, that's why even if it's a little inefficient, she can brute-force it with just quality and quantity. It's like she forcibly raised her status as a Magical Girl and recovered... that's the feeling?"

"Pfft!?" (Shizuku)

I almost choked on my tea. What does that even mean?

Wait, so to someone who can see magical power, it looks like a person-shaped form of magical power is moving?

"I've only ever heard of 3000x multipliers in games... Am I really human?" (Shizuku)

"Well, it's so high, I'd almost believe it if someone told me that you were a literal living star, wouldn't I?" (Lux)

"Even so, 3000x is an incredible multiplier, isn't it? To get a value like that... what kind of game is that?" (Yuu)

"Uh... ah... what kind of game was it? Ahaha I forgot." (Shizuku)

That was close...!

I broke out in a cold sweat, realizing my social standing had almost been wiped out.

"Because of my job, I've seen a lot of kids suffering from injuries and lasting after-effects, so I want to help somehow... but I feel bad about sending my Onee-chan to a farm for that." (Yuu)

"I'd rather not be treated like a convenient recovery buff item..." (Shizuku)

Speaking of which, she's working on memory processing job, isn't she? It seems like a pretty tough job.

It's true that I do want to help those kids, but...

That said, I don't really like convenient recovery items that aren't sexual at all.

It's kind of unpleasant when they're consumed out of obligation or necessity.

"Well, that's why... you have to be careful when handling these things, okay, Shizuku-chan?"

"No way, I wouldn't do something like... scatter bodily fluids outside... I wouldn't do that..." 

I couldn't say for sure that I hadn't done it.

That was about four months ago... when I went to Chloe's villa.

During a nighttime stroll, I think it was in the rose garden...

"This might be bad..." (Shizuku)

"You should go and check on it next time." (Lux)

Seeing how my child's slime and tentacles have grown so much, something might be changing there.

"Honestly, this is troublesome... Pink-chan." (Shizuku)

【?】(Pink)

"Why are you keeping slime and tentacles as pets?" (Yuu)

"Well, I've grown attached to them after giving them various things." (Shizuku)

"...I'm not going to ask that question anymore." (Yuu)

The pink slime that was on my lap shook, seemingly understanding the meaning of my words.

Conversely, it understood that it was a language.

Looking at this, something is definitely wrong... I hope it hasn't turned into some kind of vine-tentacle monster.

★

After several hours of driving, I arrived deep in the mountains, where the air was clean and refreshing.

"That's unusual, wanting to see the garden... Do you like flowers?"

"Well, I like them about as much as the average person, I suppose? But this time, it's not for that reason..."

I had hastily made an appointment and come to the villa where we'll spend our future together (when I put it into words, it's quite an extraordinary place).

It belongs to Chloe... or rather, it's her villa, so of course she's there.

In fact, if anything were to happen, I'd need her judgment.

I immediately headed to the garden I'd been looking for, and confirmed the presence of the familiar fountain and table...

"This must be it. Ah, perhaps... you came to see these roses?"

"Now that you mention it, yes, but... this is incredible..."

There was a section of the flowerbed where only a portion of the red roses had unusually thick vines and were in full bloom.

Moreover, while they appeared to be the same variety as the surrounding roses... only the petals were pink.

Putting my memories together, it matched a place I'd stopped by during my walk.

In other words... yes, it was my fault.

"For some reason, they're pink, and the gardener has no idea why... do you have any idea?"

"Well, that's... I think I know... but also don't know...?"

"What is it? You're being unusually vague..."

Why is it that everything that happens near me... ends up being my fault?

"They're so beautiful, and since we've picked them, I've dried them for you. Would you like some rose tea?"

"Ah, yes... but before that, may I explain a few things?"

And so, while enjoying the tea... and vaguely mentioning my little sister's back injury, I finished explaining how my bodily fluids were being treated almost like a buff item...

"Indeed... lately I've doing incredibly well. How did you know that?"

"Well, that's because of my... milk, or something..."

"...Tell me more!"

Of course, I had no choice but to explain the circumstances.

Naturally, Chloe's eyes widened in confusion while I listened.

Right, she'd be confused...

I added milk and sugar to the second cup of tea she served me and enjoyed it as milk tea.

Seeing the pink petals floating on top of the tea like this, I didn't really mind using it as fertilizer.

That said, it's a little embarrassing when someone specifically points it out.

Shipping it to an unspecified number of people wasn't exactly a pleasant event...

Well, in this form... if it goes through plants or something, it's barely acceptable... right?

As I was thinking this, Chloe, who seemed to have finally come back to her senses, crept closer to me.

"So, you're free after this today, right?"

"I am, but..."

Well, if I've come all this way and are just going to look at the garden and leave... since I'm here, I might as well stay the night.

"I haven't had my share yet." (Chloe)

"Huh?"

"I'm saying I haven't tasted it yet."

Chloe stared at me intently, her eyes still devoid of light. The sheer intensity of her presence almost made me recoil.

"Why, why are you excluding me? I like you so much, I love you so much. I've been holding back for so long, wanting to taste Shizuku... I never imagined there was such a way. And yet... you're just enjoying yourself by silently excluding me... Do you really understand how much I love you? I searched for you, sacrificing sleep, begging everyone I could find to search for you! I even prepared a house for you, I've tried so hard..."

"Um, Chloe-chan? I appreciate the sentiment, but is it really something to be so concerned about?"

Even if it had value to me... I doubted whether my milk had any value to her.

Perhaps my attitude wasn't good, because before I knew it, I was being pushed down onto the bed.

"Um, Chloe-chan?"

"Hmm... you're being mean..."

She hugged me tightly, her body heat and sweet scent filling the blankets.

They say hugging releases beta-endorphins and makes you feel happy... and I might actually be happy.

"I... I kinda like being hugged. Hug me tighter?"

"You're so confident, ugh... it's annoying."

She bit my neck, leaving teeth marks, as if to vent her frustration.

It's rare to see Chloe sulking, and I feel bad for her, but... I think it's kind of cute.

"So... want to drink?"

"...Yes."

"I see, then... be gentle, okay?"

I pulled my jacket open, revealing my skin... and she gently traced her tongue over my neck to my breasts.

It's kind of endearing, or rather, it tickles my maternal instincts...

I might actually like this kind of thing.