READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 173
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“Oh, that looks great! Ayle? This time, let’s do this─.”
“U, uh……”
“Alright. Just keep the pants and change the top this time…….”
“Ugh, ack, eek-.”
After that, Ayle was dragged around by Snowa for hours, turning into a dress-up doll.
Her body was unusually accentuated, but Snowa managed to find several outfits that suited Ayle, proving that she wasn’t just a product of the Magical Girl stereotype.
“I, is this me…….”
“Hmm. It’s surprising, even for me.”
Ayle couldn’t hide her shock at her completely transformed appearance.
“How can I walk around in such shameless attire…….”
“……I don’t think you’re in a position to say that.”
Of course, that didn’t mean it was a good thing.
Snowa remembered how Ayle usually looked, that is, as an Evil Magical Girl, and let out a sigh.
When she would casually flaunt her underwear in public and mumble that it wasn’t embarrassing since it wasn’t underwear, how could she be ashamed of this?
Sure, Ayle’s outfit was quite indecent. With her large chest, any style would inevitably highlight that feature. Hiding it just made her look overall plump.
“Hmm…… well, this fashion just barely passes the test.”
“A, a close call…? I thought I was going to die…….”
“Should we get rid of that frustrating hair while we’re at it?”
“W, why suddenly the hair…….”
“I’ve wanted to get rid of that hair since the first time I saw you as a Magical Girl!”
With that, Snowa took Ayle out of the department store. Of course, payment was made with Ayle’s card. Snowa couldn’t help but be slightly shocked to see Ayle casually paying for what must have been expensive luxury items.
After all, Ayle, who had accumulated quite a fortune as a Magical Girl, couldn’t spend money so nonchalantly like Ayle did. Well, it was also because being a Magical Girl was just a seasonal gig, but still……
The next stop was a hair salon in the neighboring city that Snowa frequently visited.
“Snowa! Long time no see! Haven’t been shooting lately?”
“It’s been a while. Director. I’m just a washed-up has-been now.”
“Oh dear! A washed-up has-been? You’re still so pretty!”
While Snowa chatted with the director, Ayle shrank back, overwhelmed by the elegant atmosphere of the fancy salon she had never been to in her life. Naturally, her shoulders hunched forward, and her back bent.
Standing next to her, Snowa gave Ayle a playful smack on the back, prompting her to straighten up, and introduced her to the director.
“This is my friend Ayle. We came here today because of her.”
“Hmm… I see. A complete gem! But why has this gem been neglected?”
“She seems to have no idea about makeup, so I’d like to ask for a makeover today.”
“Hehe, so I’ll be the one to take her first? Lucky me!”
“Uh, uh-oh…….”
Ayle, who had been stumbling over her words, was immediately forced into a chair prepared at the salon. When asked what hairstyle she wanted, she just kept nodding and said to do whatever. When it came time for makeup, she had no clue how it worked and simply squeezed her eyes shut.
After what felt like an eternity to her, when she was signaled by the director to open her eyes, Ayle realized that her appearance had completely transformed.
The gloomy, limp hair had regained fullness and vitality, and the makeup covering her face was natural and beautiful beyond comparison to her previous attempts.
If she had to sum it up in one word…… yes, she looked like a Magical Girl. A Magical Girl who sparkled and shone, highlighting her beauty wherever and whenever……
“Wow, you look absolutely beautiful! I wonder who will pick up such a gem?”
“Give up, Director. Our Ayle already has someone special.”
“Oh dear! Really? What a shame! I know so many boys…….”
Staring blankly into the mirror, Ayle was gently nudged by Snowa to turn her head. Seeing Ayle like this made Snowa chuckle softly.
“Alright, Ayle? Let’s go.”
“Uh, where to…….”
“Where else?”
Snowa grabbed Ayle’s hand and pulled her up, opening her mouth.
“Dressing up like this is all to impress someone, isn’t it?”
“Oh….”
Finally remembering why her day had been so painful, Ayle let out a soft gasp. Yes, the reason she was able to endure such a hellish time. That was──
To show her transformed appearance to the Scientist.
So that the Scientist would fall head over heels for her, allowing them to have a beautiful relationship filled with mutual affection……
With that, Ayle headed towards the Evilus Corporation with Snowa.
* * *
Even after becoming a professor, my daily life didn’t significantly change. Only my position changed. In terms of dimensional mechanics, one could say a lot of things changed.
Whether in corporate labs or school research facilities, I continued my research. It could even be called study. To prevent forgetting what I had learned on Earth and to forcefully twist and break free from the limits of knowledge, which I couldn’t advance beyond.
Fortunately, this world had various mysterious things that didn’t even exist on Earth. Superpowers, beastmen, devils, and other supernatural beings. It meant that while I couldn’t move up, I could surely move sideways.
“Hmm…….”
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, listening to you, it sounds like beastmen weren’t even planned beings.”
“We’re not gods. It means we can’t oversee everything.”
These days, my main research topic was history or origins of this world learned through conversations with the Observer. The Observer was a being created by whoever made this world and thus knew well about the ‘starting point’ of this world.
Of course, Earth scientists also made guesses and analyses about what had transpired on their planet, from its inception to the present── but speculation and observation are two different things.
“By the way, I had no idea there were such secrets about superpowers…… so all along, were people saying they weren’t human?”
“You can’t call a designed being that. Do you intend to call clones born in a lab human as well?”
“Whoa- that touches a very sensitive topic, you know?”
Honestly, talking to the Observer was enjoyable. Just recently, we had been at each other’s throats due to conflicting opinions── but aside from that, it was so much fun.
I hadn’t met a conversation partner I could connect with since falling into this world, so that fact further increased my enjoyment. It was a bit unfortunate that it was an AI and not a human, but…… hey, it wouldn’t be that strange to be friends with an AI.
After all, in this very world, there were people treating Evilus Agents, who fell short of being called artificial intelligence, like lovers.
─A, Scientist?
And at that moment.
Someone knocked on the door from outside the lab. I recognized Ayle’s voice. Normally, she would barg into my room without asking for permission, but for some reason, she knocked first this time……
When I said she could come in, the doorknob shook left and right for a moment. Hesitating, Ayle finally opened the door and stepped inside.
The person who entered like that was a woman I had never seen before.
“……Who?”
“It’s me, me. Scientist…….”
To my surprise, it was indeed Ayle who walked in. Her appearance was about 180 degrees different, or rather a complete 540—so much that I couldn’t recognize her as the same person.
She was dressed in a fashionable outfit that perfectly captured the image of a university student, which she would never wear normally, and her hair, which I had always thought needed a trim, was completely gone, revealing her beautiful face.
If she had looked like this from the start, she would have probably enjoyed the social life she had longed for, regardless of being an Ability User or not. I admired that and cautiously opened my mouth.
“……What’s the occasion? Why the sudden makeover?”
“I, I wanted to show you, Scientist…… so I dressed up like this.”
“For me?”
With a bitter smile, I thought about how I had sent her to university to get her out of my space, only for her to come back with this university look she got from there.
As I looked at my daughter, who was over twenty yet still clung to her father with affection, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy.
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