Chapter 249

NO．11：Oh no, she seems to know she's cute.

In Boundary Gate District, venues like the Magic Staff exchange exhibition are not uncommon.

To promote new products, to exchange new technologies, or simply as professionals' academic discussion, or even merely to build momentum for some future large-scale event—any of these reasons could kick off such an exchange meeting.

They may be loudly advertised, or they may be secretly invited; ultimately they must gather the relevant professionals and even enthusiasts related to the conference topic, regardless of gender, identity, or… race.

Humans, sub-humans, and even enthusiasts of Magic Staff with beastly faces—all gather here.

Among them, horse girls are already a relatively restrained presence, but only because they are in Boundary Gate District can they have a popularity that surrounds them.

Statisticians have found that in Boundary Gate District, 42 out of every 50 people have downloaded umastagram—the social media app registered by horse girls and related fans.

The high penetration rate shows as much; there are no shortage of casters from the Magic Staff school.

They've all gathered there, right?

Aomo thought so.

Leaving Dongshang Biange aside, Zhen Jiling has indeed operated the umastagram account to a considerable level.

Although she is still under the age to set foot on Saichang and merely a pure student horse girl, she already has over a million fans, a purity that peers her age cannot match.

Even among the mages, the proportion coming for Zhen Jiling far exceeds that for Dongshang Biange with the same topic.

Aomo cocked his ear a moment, discerning from the noisy crowd that the mages were chattering advice to the two horse girls—mainly suggestions for Zhen Jiling regarding the Magic Staff.

So he withdrew his gaze.

"Let's go somewhere else." He suggested to Bi Ze.

"Huh?" The latter still looked at that crowd, somewhat surprised, "Won't you go help clear the crowd? That side is indeed your central horse girl, right?"

He seemingly still couldn't tell exactly who that girl was, which isn't surprising.

Before the staff is activated, he is just an ordinary person, lacking the excellent far-sight and dynamic vision to confirm a target through gaps in the crowd.

Moreover, those two girls' heights are a disadvantage; in the crowd they aren't noticeable.

Bi Ze identified the horse girl by her upright black ear covers—horse ears.

Although horse girls aren't necessarily racehorse girls, Aomo would certainly not make such a hasty judgment, but Bi Ze doesn't consider that much.

"Yes, but no help is needed."

"The gathered crowd are merely flower protectors following orders; the idea of clearing them is just unnecessary worry."

When distinguishing the mixed audio, filtering out the speech of the girl who calls herself 'Ka Lian', Aomo heard not a hint of distress, so his eyes held a fair amount of admiration.

However, his steps went toward the far opposite direction.

A junior high student, yet able to face countless earnest remarks with composure—such a person can not only stand poised in the public eye, but also excel at handling the long-and-short questions of a press conference; admiration aside, the trouble is indeed real.

But if he simply turned his back, he would naturally not notice that the two girls in the distance were turning their heads as their ears twitched slightly, looking this way.

When you rely on keen hearing to discern speech in the crowd, hearing not only isn't weak, but even stronger horse girls can do even better.

And the reason they notice this side is naturally because they heard the keyword 'trainer'.

"Can trainers also be seen here?" The short horse girl wearing a witch's hat, at a heartbreaking 139 cm—even adding the length of her horse ears—was utterly unnoticeable in the crowd.

But she is the guide of this horse girl group—a true apprentice witch delving into the magic path, advancing toward the mage's road, Dongshang Biange.

Thus, compared to what comes later, she is more surprised that a trainer would appear at this exhibition.

And being led by her, in her eyes Zhen Jiling was just a whim to come ask for advice on the Magic Staff, yet she noticed the later words: 'Ka Lian was also greatly surprised, saying she didn't need crowd clearing, as if she had figured out the situation here.'

Liking to call oneself by one's name often means especially liking that name.

This name represents the impression one especially wants to leave on others, rather than any other name.

Zhen Jiling—the 'Jiling' from the Dongyan translation is a second variant after translation; the epithets 'Ka Lian', 'pitiful', etc., better suit the semantics under Jidong.

Clearly, she prefers the epithet 'Ka Lian', not the impression of cleverness given by 'Zhen Jiling', nor the cute label.

Being used to this self-naming habit, Dongshang Biange helplessly looked at the friendly mages before him and asked her softly, "I actually think we need help—how about scattering the crowd?"

Although she isn't socially anxious, she also isn't good at dealing with many people.

Moreover……

Mages of the Magic Staff school are the type her grandmother dislikes… she thought that.

Popularized magic indeed brings happiness and smiles, but if the foundations of spellcraft aren't solid, well, I'd still give it a low score!

By comparison, Ka Lian Jiang's social skills are already at witch level, right?

Dongshang Biange looked somewhat embarrassed at this classmate.

Although she's just a junior high student, the little apprentice witch could see her companion handling this situation with ease.

She could even pick up the mages' greetings, instantly cutting her social pressure by a large margin.

"But reform classmate, you didn't say you don't really understand Magic Staff before?"

"No matter what, having so many people talk about it is a bit over the top! And isn't that trainer seeming to know a lot?" Admitting her lack of knowledge, the little witch still pressed her hat brim to hide her face—though it's just an excuse, she simply didn't want to be stared at like that.

"Alright then."

As if somewhat unsatisfied, the gray-haired girl's ears, adorned with black ear covers, drooped slightly then rose again.

"Ka Lian also hopes you, reform classmate, can be more at ease!"

——

"Not bad, I thought I'd have some chance to perform," Bi Ze followed Aomo's steps with a hint of regret, "The odds of running into a horse girl at an exhibition like this are practically like picking a civil engineering class and meeting a goddess."

"You can't say that; if it were a pure magic exchange research exhibition, it would indeed be comparable to the low female proportion in civil engineering or mechanical engineering, but for Magic Staff…"

Aomo paused, then pointed to a not‑far display case where the staff's design could only be described as super‑pink.

"That also counts as one of the main manifestations of contemporary maiden hearts."

Any girl with a magical girl dream would first choose a Magic Staff, a staff whose only barrier is economic.

Regardless of whether they are interested in magic, the costume-changing and transformation-type magic loaded in the Magic Staff itself is enough to satisfy their longing for cuteness.

Indeed, one of the main criticisms that classical faction mages have against the Magic Staff system is that mages under the Magic Staff system are somewhat 'not doing their proper business'.

Several well-known magic staff manufacturers frequently collaborate with the clothing design industry, launching some cute-style women's outfits that can be directly used for changing and transformation magic.

It's aimed at a specific demographic.

There are also those targeting the 'sexy' and 'mature' fields, but the actual feedback isn't great, so there's really nothing worth mentioning.

In this regard, we still have to rely on those 'witches, succubi, and welfare girls' of the classical magic system to take on the big responsibility.

Setting the latter aside, the former's results are genuinely outstanding.

Sales of 'magical girl' style magic devices and magic staffs and the like have remained strong; this type of staff has also undergone generational updates, and you can even see collaborative products with famous mages, plus some staffs that directly pay tribute to their appearance and names.

For example, the Heart of the Rising Sun, the Thunderlight Battle Axe, and such, as well as the Kaleidoscope Staff (Red-Blue Gemstone) and such—all of these appear here, displayed in the manner of future mechas.

Thinking about it… it seems I've vaguely found a logic for why those two horse girls are here.

Aomo raised his eyebrows, but also decided not to think too much about it.

He glanced at the terminal screen beside him, confirming that the Magic Dragon had not yet initiated contact, and he likewise had no intention of reaching out first.

Taking advantage of this free moment, it would be nice to chat with that friend I haven't seen in a few days over there; even if he seems like an alien, earth demons should still be tolerant of this.

But first, the topic still has to be:

"What kind of reference opinion do you want?"

He lowered his gaze to the sky-blue staff in his hand; in Aomo's impression, this guy must have just made his decision not long ago.

One shouldn't rush to modify a piece of equipment as soon as they get it.

"Reference opinions? Ah, I took notes, just a moment, let me check—" Bi Ze said as he pulled out his phone, and Aomo heard two somewhat hurried footsteps coming from behind.

He turned his head and saw the two little girls who were captivating the hearts of many passersby; his gaze inevitably went to the one leading them—clearly the respondent, yet she was pulling the proposer forward, walking ahead with evident enthusiasm.

Compared to the side profile glimpsed earlier in the crowd, she now undoubtedly appears more complete and has taken on an even cuter demeanor.

Moreover, she is laughing happily.

That smile, sweet and gentle, made Aomo unconsciously step back a bit—something that had never happened when he first met Ailisuzhi.

"Classmate Zhen Jiling."

Although it's summer vacation now, there's no need to therefore call her 'Miss'; moreover, Aomo also needs to maintain a teacher-student-like relationship with the trainer to emphasize distance.

"Right, trainer, it's Kalian!"

Under her flower-like smiling greeting, Bi Ze stared blankly, Aomo remained expressionless, and the East Commerce Reform folks turned their heads in surprise.

He looked at the somewhat familiar trainer, then at Zhen Jiling; the little witch first found their mutual greeting strange, then sensed the oddness of the atmosphere.

Currently, after using it, the app provides the most complete and best audiobook sound, integrating four major speech synthesis engines, over 100 voice types, and also supports offline reading as a source-switching tool, Huanyuanapp, a source-switching app.

But she obviously couldn't understand.