Chapter 12: Electronics Street

In Fang Ting City, Sunset District, the electronics street near Central Avenue is the city's most bustling pedestrian commercial zone.

Senior Cuique rubbed her wrists as she emerged from a rarely visited alley, ignoring the glances that occasionally swept over her. She walked past roughly two intersections and saw Lin Xiaolu, wearing a school uniform, at the agreed-upon spot.

She quickened her pace, stepped forward, and greeted her in a neutral tone: "I'm here."

"Senior Cuique?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiaolu looked over, first widening her eyes, then her eyes lit up. She circled Senior Cuique once and shouted with an expression as if she had seen something rare: "So beautiful! This dress is so cute!"

"Is it?"

Senior Cuique lifted her sleeves and looked left and right, noncommittal: "Thank you for your compliment."

"Ah... I'm so envious. If only I could pull off this light and soft feeling too. This is the magical girl style I want!"

"I think you can do it."

"Can I take a photo?" Lin Xiaolu pulled out her phone, eager to try.

"Hmm... feel free?"

It wasn't that Senior Cuique couldn't tell if a piece of clothing was cute; it was that she herself didn't know what image she projected in her current outfit. After all, the dress she was wearing was brand new; she hadn't even tried it on.

Senior Cuique had not previously prepared casual clothes for her magical girl form. Therefore, upon being told the target was on the electronics street and that she had to appear in the bustling market as Senior Cuique, she was forced to go to a department store and buy herself a few items.

Furthermore, because appearing directly with Senior Cuique's face while wearing the magical girl's transformation outfit in a shopping mall would be too conspicuous, he ultimately went to the children's clothing section in the form of Lin Yun.

As an ordinary adult male, Lin Yun stood 183 cm tall. Even at 14, when he first gained magical girl powers, he was around 170 cm. This figure was very healthy for a male, even making many of his same-sex peers slightly envious. But for some reason, when he transformed into a magical girl, becoming Senior Cuique, his impressive height shrank to a mere 139 cm.

Was this a case of extremes reversing? Or some strange coincidence? Lin Yun had never figured it out.

This also meant that when he wanted to buy clothes for his Senior Cuique form, unless he ordered custom-made ones, it was very difficult to buy women's clothing normally.

In comparison, buying children's clothing was much more convenient and simple; not only were the sizes easy to match, but there were both skirts and pants available. Thus, Lin Yun, lying that he was buying clothes for his daughter, gave the size suitable for Senior Cuique and walked into a children's clothing store under the staff's enthusiastic welcome.

During this time, the sales assistant even asked if he had a photo of his daughter, saying that seeing her specific appearance would allow her to give more appropriate advice. However, Lin Yun did not have a narcissistic habit of keeping photos of himself as a magical girl on his phone. He simply selected a few sets of clothes and skirts claimed to be "new arrivals of the season" and left quickly.

After leaving the department store, he randomly found a chain budget hotel that looked relatively legitimate on the roadside, rented an hourly room to change clothes, and then took the high-altitude flight route directly to the electronics street.

As for whether these clothes were suitable, he was not worried.

He actually knew that Senior Cuique's appearance could be described as "exquisite and cute" by general aesthetic standards, even standing out among magical girls who already had high average looks.

Precisely because of this, as long as she wore normal clothes with reasonable accessories and hairstyle coordination, she would not look too bad.

Although, as a father, being called "cute" by his daughter in this situation made his feelings complex, even feeling a tiny bit strange, this mood was quickly calmed down.

What else could he say? Responding neutrally was already the best approach.

Without much small talk, after this one-sided new outfit show, Senior Cuique cut straight to the point:

"So? Where is that child Moko mentioned?"

"Ah, about that..."

Mentioning this matter, Lin Xiaolu blinked and slowly turned her head to look at Moko: "How to put it? We lost her?"

"Lost her?" Senior Cuique also glanced over at Moko.

"No way!"

Seeing Senior Cuique's gaze turn toward him, Moko shivered all over and immediately refuted: "It's not that I lost her; it's that the child kept diving into crowded places, and her magical aura was completely covered up!"

"So the result is still that you lost her?" Senior Cuique put one hand on her hip.

"Well, that's not wrong," Moko muttered guiltily: "But I can still feel she is in this area; I just don't know the exact location."

"You..."

Senior Cuique lowered her eyelids and sighed lightly. She could guarantee that this pink cat in front of her was the most unreliable Sower she had ever seen in her magical girl career.

Other Sowers, although as fairies they tended to be a bit mischievous, were still competent at their main job. Not necessarily great helpers to magical girls, but at least finding talented children, conveying information between the Kingdom and the magical girls, and sensing the location and strength of Remnant Beasts... these auxiliary tasks were actually done very well.

And Moko? Putting aside its state of knowing nothing about anything, even when doing its main job it gave a clumsy feeling, truly making it hard to feel at ease.

But all that could be put aside for now; the most important thing at the moment was to find that girl with magical talent. So Senior Cuique didn't dwell on this matter and quickly moved the topic forward: "So what can we do now? Wait here for Moko to lock onto her position?"

"Hmm... how about we go check out a few shops?"

Lin Xiaolu made a suggestion: "That girl must have come here to shop and won't leave for a while. Why don't we go play together? Maybe we'll run into her along the way."

"Not safe."

Senior Cuique shook her head and analyzed calmly: "The other party might just be here to buy things and leave immediately after. If we don't keep watching constantly and let her slip out of the electronics street while we are negligent, it will only be harder to find her."

"Then let Moko continue looking for her while we go play?"

Lin Xiaolu's suggestion made Moko emit a shocked "Eh?" sound.

"That way seems like no problem..." Senior Cuique's opinion shocked Moko even more.

It hurriedly flew to the middle of the two, waving its two paws: "You can't do this! Even if I am responsible for losing the person, you can't leave me alone to go play. That would be too cruel!"

"Where exactly do you get the confidence to say such a thing?"

Senior Cuique glanced at it and sighed again: "Sigh, true. I wouldn't feel safe letting you go stake out alone either."

"In that case, let's use the dumbest method. I'll split up with you two and guard the two entrances and exits of the electronics street. Once we spot the target, we'll..."

"--We'll what?" A questioning voice came from beside Senior Cuique's ear.

"--We'll call each other, then block that child first, and wait for Moko to come..." Senior Cuique still wanted to continue speaking, but after not even two seconds, she suddenly realized that the voice asking the question was a bit off, or rather, somewhat unfamiliar.

She looked at the Lin Xiaolu in front of her and noticed she was staring at the top of her head, her expression revealing a hint of timidity.

Senior Cuique pondered: The top of my head? Is it my hair? No, that position; she isn't looking at the top of my head, but at my back?

After a brief thought and realizing something, Senior Cuique immediately turned around: A strange young girl was standing there with her hands behind her back, her pure gaze carrying a hint of inquiry, hands clasped behind her back, a smile on her face.

The girl looked young, only a little taller than Lin Xiaolu, with a very youthful face, yet her clothing and styling appeared quite mature and flashy.

A black corset-style suspender dress paired with a loose, ruffled white shirt embodied ample girlishness. Her short black hair reached her shoulders, the hair strands fluffy with slightly curled tips, and the lower part of her straight bangs was dyed purple. She wore light makeup on her face, and her translucent thin lips were clearly coated with lipstick. False eyelashes under her eyelids made her pair of bright eyes even more sparkling. A faint glow shimmered on her earlobes, suggesting she was wearing earrings.

Looking at the combination of two humans and one demon in front of her, she stepped forward, leaning her face toward Moko: "And what is that cat over there, a holographic projection? Augmented reality?"