Chapter 1717: with translation of chapter title

NO．331：Mist Circuit

Following behind Mancheng Chazuo and Aimu Zhiji, the true clever one walked step for step, head lowered, gazing at the sand beneath its feet.

Even without looking at the group's movements, it's not hard to guess the turmoil within.

Brother once again gave everyone a surprise.

He should have been passive in this field as usual, letting the horse girls chase each other, but now the entire track is targeting the racers.

Just as the president said, is he angry?

Did we make a mistake?

Ka Lian, really should we give up?

Amid the occasional obscure glances of the black-haired and brown-haired horse girls, the gray-haired horse girl's steps were somewhat clumsy.

For her now, thinking is clearly a burden, after all, that's how people live.

When you want to forget something, what you must forget is not just that event, but even more.

After all, a person is not a program that can be paused at any time, nor can one simply stop.

Wanting to forget but being unable, one must first forget strength itself; wanting to forget pain also means forgetting happiness; the best way to not think of something is to think of nothing at all, because at that moment anything will remind you of the fact that you're stuck in a mire.

You lost to others, to many people; you have no chance, and even persisting will draw pitying glances from others, as if… as if you've lost all your luster, no longer the lovable Ka Lian of before.

But what can you do?

Can you erase the existence that has participated in most of your life up to now?

When was that original existence?

Was it the online consultation when you were eleven, in fifth grade of elementary school?

No, careful tracing shows it must be earlier, back when that account hadn't yet become known as a popular science writer.

Was it from the first live stream you attempted at age four?

Yes… she still remembers that username, as coincidental as it was.

Children born in the Holy Terra Federation always awaken early.

Some source energy aiding enlightenment, some prosthetic modification assistance for steadily decompressing the consultation compression pack, can achieve safety and smoothness far surpassing Hol Haiya's childhood surgery.

Thus, when Hol Haiya underwent her first full-body checkup in the Federation, it once caused a stir throughout the department, even prompting the police to send someone—without prior notice that she had undergone this surgery in her foreign homeland, locals would mistake it for an unlicensed quack performing the criminal surgery of my thinking, and she was that quack's victim.

In a sense, that's not wrong, but for the feathered serpent bound by this for over a dozen generations, it's truly emptiness hard to describe.

Regardless of how she sorts her feelings, it doesn't change the fact that, in the locals' eyes, this is a matter of course.

Including those horse girls who bear foreign souls yet have local blood and education.

Even if, out of unconscious competitive concern, their families have them opt for one fewer prosthetic implantation option from childhood compared to other classmates, the horse girls can still be allowed by the association, with the help of several kinds of enlightenment source energy, to as smoothly as possible pass through the earliest and most concealed abnormality trial of full-scale development.

Yes, it's the earliest and most concealed, yet it shows clearly in newborns.

The child's overly sensitive hearing and abnormal balance point when learning to walk, plus the care of tail fur and food intake exceeding normal child standards—basically, it's the equine ears, tail, and the calorie consumption accompanying outstanding athletic ability that bring human families the worries of a demi-human household.

This isn't too hard for any sane intelligent life, but for a babbling child it's an excessive trial, so external source energy is often standard equipment, practically tradition.

Even if technological development advances rapidly, it merely struggles to shake the orthodox status of source energy in everyone's minds.

The true clever one is no exception.

And as a selfie angel, she even tried selfies from an early age, and even livestreams.

On tiptoe reaching her mother's dressing table, she smeared lipstick into a lopsided heart shape. The terminal on the tripod flashed blue light, like a talking magic mirror from a fairy tale.

"Ka Lian Jiang's first livestream starts now~☆" The little princess at home pointed the camera, making a scissor hand, her bangs clipped into a high ponytail by a hairpin, "Today's theme is——the kindergarten cutest girl contest!"

Cherry blossoms drifted in through the window onto the microphone, and that exquisite fleeting balance made the little princess's eyes sparkle: "Did you see this petal? It's Ka Lian Jiang's exclusive cheering item~!"

There was no response, which is also to be expected.

In the Federation's vast sea of livestreamers, a four-year-old precocious child is hardly unique; even the livestream room would be mistaken as a clumsy child's accidental trigger of a livestream loophole and be taken down by a super moderator.

Thus the little princess quickly grew bored of the magic mirror that wouldn't give opinions, trying in her grooming to restore her usual look, but she couldn't find her favorite strawberry hairpin.

Where did it go?

Did it fall to the ground?

The little princess, her face pressed to the floor, uncaring of the chill, searched for the limited-edition strawberry hairpin her mother bought from around Tokyo Tower, the most important of all. When the little princess danced wearing it, even the kindergarten's bionic parrot would flap its wings in follow.

However, even the fact that tears on the tatami mat formed a penguin-shaped stain yielded no result; it only made the panicked little princess rush to the magic mirror.

"Ka Lian, Ka Lian Jiang's most important thing is missing!"

【Umastar: three o'clock direction, abnormal wrinkling at the curtain's end】

「？！！！」

Not knowing whether to be startled by characters popping up below or by the meaning of those characters, the little princess who didn't understand the three o'clock direction instinctively turned her head toward the curtains behind her and crawled over, discovering the hairpin caught in the gap between the curtain and the tatami mat, even still holding half an irregular cherry blossom petal.

"Are you a magician?!" the little princess shouted at the magic mirror, a snot bubble bursting beside the terminal's camera.

【Umastar: Before crying next time, check the ground's reflection angle】

【Umastar left the livestream room】 dynamic prompt flashed and disappeared, while the little princess, completely unaware of this, kept insisting on asking; ultimately, with no response and only some numeric IDs repeatedly entering the livestream room, she turned off the livestream.

This became the topic of conversation the next day with her little partners, and was quickly forgotten, because even when she later started livestreams again she never saw that string of half-unintelligible characters.

Only in a language class a year later did she learn that those were stars.

The abbreviation for horse girl in English… and… stars?

Much later, looking back, that was probably just an ordinary coincidence.

Umastar is called Sensei by many because that account not only interacts intensely with people, but also flits through many horse girls' livestream rooms.

It only replies to greetings, never initiates them.

It only speaks up to offer suggestions when the livestreamer encounters a problem, being more like a silent yet caring mentor compared to the magic mirror.

That enthusiasm obviously doesn't mean he cares, so he likely isn't particularly invested in the many livestream rooms he's scrolled through, unless a livestreamer who remembers him DMs him, which brings him to his main setting of intense interaction with people.

But in the end, he still disappeared.

Whether it's a magic mirror or the stars, or even a tutor……

Only left with myself who learned how to be cute, and just as muddled as now.

Still demanding that I become cute, yet missing a link to contact that account, each day I feel something lacking, hard to muster enthusiasm.

It was then that she advanced to second year of junior high and was assigned a dorm with the senior high department's Aimu Zhiji.

"Please give me your guidance, Aimu Zhiji senior!"

"... Please give me your guidance, clever classmate."

At first, just to reduce trouble, I endeavored to maintain the cute persona and tried to get closer to that hard-to-get-along-with senior roommate.

But I soon discovered.

"Ayabe is secretly practicing endurance running again!"

When I caught that person under the fourth streetlamp on Cherry Blossom Slope, even the morning mist hadn't fully dissipated.

"The junior high's alarm should be at seven; why are you here at six?"

"Because Ka Lian Jiang doubts Ayabe can keep up like this!!"

"... I have my own rhythm, you don't need to manage me."

"Huh? Rhythm? Isn't the teacher's education more important! Would high school teachers demand such a terrifying training schedule?"

"... I have a somewhat capable specialist helping me; it's a bit extreme, but I can still manage."

"Someone who sounds dangerous actually demands Ayabe's training at this time."

"No, I originally trained at four, but they insisted I wait until at least five to guarantee the basics."

""

"Besides, that person hasn't contacted me anymore… they might indeed be dangerous, after all disappearing so suddenly."

"But their method should be fine, as long as my physique remains stronger than before……"

Simply put, I'm crazy—a super stubborn crazy older sister.

Furthermore, according to what Aizhi sister later revealed, looking back now…… that 'ta' she mentioned is probably my brother, right?

She never asked; back then she was even more concerned about her roommate's physical health than about that vague person.

With a sense of responsibility to 'not die in my dorm,' she competed with them for over half a year.

"Ka Lian Jiang, are you going to use this?"

"What is that?"

"Soft and fluffy dryer No. 3."

"? Oh, a bedding dryer? What about No. 1 and No. 2?"

"At home and in the tent!"

"... A tent……"

Few victories, but the relationship development showed clear results.

After prolonged interaction, she even began to truly regard that person as a sister—someone she could relax and be natural with, despite having few true friends over the years.

Furthermore, she started to feel admiration for that person's unwavering, wholehearted demeanor.

Aspiring to become such a self-reliant person, and in the tug-of-war with her overly dangerous training regimen, she emerged from her former state—in fact, the time spent in that tug-of-war far exceeded the time she used to chat with Umastar.

But the good times didn't last; Aizhi sister's condition and grades kept deteriorating, and when it seemed she could barely cope, her brother appeared.

The information matched, consistent with what I had tracked down before the deletion.

They're a bit young, but considering I myself was that precocious, it's not impossible for them to be so mature.

Appearance… there's not much to say about it; the Federation isn't lacking in handsome, elegant people. The point is to have a distinctive trait, and the stereotype brought by that trait indeed matches Umastar's overly rational remarks.

So, all that's left is to test the waters.

Perhaps that was the karmic retribution of that time……

Without fully devoting myself to my roommate's emergency, I still had the heart to probe my brother, then seek him out again; after the full showdown, however, just a few months later, my brother changed Aizhi sister and even became her trainer.

Even Aizhi sister regained her original younger self.

……

Is there still a place for me?

Twenty and eighteen—truly a fitting age.

184 cm and 165 cm—truly a fitting height difference.

The slightly taut build in a suit and the always-sweater-wearing silhouette that shows off a superb figure, standing together, make a perfect match of talent and beauty.

Every time I see them walking together, I can't help but think that, and that lively, frank little sister-san is practically my superior replacement……

……

Is there still a place for me?

By now, I don't even know whom to ask—maybe I should look for Dahe classmate?

She originally had few friends who had seen her private self, and though she wanted to build a social circle around Aizhi sister and her brother, she now has no place for herself either.

So who can she turn to?

The embarrassment felt like a tiny hammer striking her eyeballs, the sour pain almost bringing her to tears.

Then she saw a suddenly illuminated light screen.

Because it's a swimsuit, carrying a cute, display-friendly phone is inconvenient, so she had to bring the terminal, which was activated by a sudden message; the adaptive screen position, even if she lowered her head, was right before her eyes.

【Three o'clock direction】

"……"