Regarding the fact that my best friend is a magical girl

"Yin Wei, is she a magical girl transformed from a groundhog?"

"Come inside with me first."

She knocked on the wooden door of the cave dwelling, and then a magical girl with long, emerald-green hair peeked out from behind the door, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

Her green is completely different from that of the Mermaid Witch.

The latter has a bluish tint, like the color of a shallow sea.

But the one before me is pure lush green, blending seamlessly with the surrounding nature.

Good morning, Barbara.

Yin Wei greeted them and then pointed to the potions piled up in the car and to me.

"I brought the potentially problematic potion, and I also brought you the lab rat that had the problem."

Although I know I'm just a test subject, calling me a guinea pig is still going too far, isn't it?

Barbara nodded and then opened the door for us.

This petite magical girl was only wearing a white shirt, but the shirt was several sizes too big for her, with the hem covering her knees and her hands unable to come out of the sleeves.

The interior was completely different from what I had imagined. It was very modern, with electricity and water, and very bright. There was no large medicine vat with witch-like contamination as I had imagined.

“Miss Barbara, I am Milno, a magical girl from the D3 region. I was healed twice by the potions you concocted. Thank you very much.”

She simply nodded, offering no further comment.

He hasn't said a word since just now, not even a single interjection; he's as sullen as a gourd.

I asked in a low voice, "Miss Yin Wei, is Miss Barbara perhaps mute?"

Yin Wei shrugged.

"Yes, she doesn't have vocal cords."

No vocal cords?

No wonder she said Barbara would never, and could never, reveal my secret... because she simply couldn't speak.

Is this some kind of word game with me?

"So who exactly is she?"

Yin Wei then asked again, seemingly out of the blue, "Do you know why this place is called Shenmu Park? Do you know why there's a pit in the ground?"

"I don't know, this primeval forest has existed as long as I can remember."

"Because there used to be a 1,400-year-old cypress tree here, and the pit under your feet that has been converted into a cave dwelling is within the root zone of that old cypress tree."

"It's so big... wait a minute."

I looked at Barbara, the magical girl who was making potions, who had to stretch her arms to reach the flasks on the shelf even after moving a stool over.

"Could she be that 1,400-year-old tree?"

"That's right. Although we don't know why, she was chosen by the Star Crystal despite being a plant."

Not just Barbara, but baby too!?

This may be the oldest magical girl in the world.

It's a pity she can't speak, otherwise we could surely learn many stories buried by history from her...

pop-

Barbara gently patted the only single bed in the cave.

"You want me to lie down?"

She nodded.

I glanced at Yin Wei, obediently lay down, and then Barbara pushed me to turn over, burying my face in her pillow, but...

To be honest, this magical girl in a vegetative state doesn't smell good at all.

The entire room was filled with a bitter smell of Chinese medicine, which was probably related to the bottles and jars on the shelves.

Because of the poor ventilation here, the smell of medicine is even stronger than in Xiyintang.

"Barbara will use magic to give you a physical exam... but it might hurt a little, don't worry about it."

After Yin Wei finished explaining, Barbara put her hand on my back.

A stinging sensation.

Sharp, fine hairs emerged from her palms and took root on my back.

She is absorbing my "nutrients".

However, the pain was only momentary; the area she touched quickly went numb and became unable to feel anything.

This process lasted for several minutes, and judging from Barbara's flushed face, she had clearly inhaled quite a bit...

If they don't find anything, then I'll have to charge them for nutrition.

She rolled up her sleeves, ran to the table, picked up her tablet, and started typing.

[We had an in-depth conversation with your body]

That sounds a bit odd.

The matter of physical abnormalities is not directly related to the magic potion.

"But the symptoms did indeed start appearing after I drank the potion."

Your body is correcting the mistake of "you were originally a man." The potion accelerates your metabolism, causing this process to be sped up significantly, which is why you believe the potion is to blame.

"My body feels... that it's a mistake that I was born a man?"

That reason sounds like a joke. Am I gradually turning into a girl?

Hahaha……

There's no laughing matter in this!

As for why this happened, I actually know the answer in my heart, I just don't want to admit it.

Because, at this stage, there is simply no solution...

I have no way of removing the Star Crystal from my body.

[I can concoct a potion to stop this change for you]

"really?"

However, there are also unknown side effects.

"As long as I don't die, it's fine."

Therefore, we will also prepare a neutralizing agent as an antidote for you.

"Oh! Then I'll leave it to you!"

However, the antidote may also have side effects.

"..."

Is this what they mean by "every medicine has some degree of toxicity"?

[Your body data has been collected. After the medication is finished, have Xiao Yinwei deliver it to you... The healing potion is very effective. Please give it to the treatment facility and have them pay the remaining balance as soon as possible.]

"Ok, no problem."

Yin Wei nodded.

But it also reminded me of something.

Seeing a doctor and buying medicine both cost money.

I tentatively asked, "...Does my potion cost money?"

In principle, drugs used in clinical trials are free of charge.

Phew, that's good...

Are side effects the price of free services?

Chapter Thirty: Investigation

(Sun Yao)

【Magical Girl Association - Sky Branch】

【b3·Operations Command Center】

To avoid being late, my mother and I arrived at the command center, located on the third basement level, very early.

It's only a little past nine in the morning.

It wasn't until Spica took the time to explain the details of the operation to me privately that I realized Miss Sirius had been talking nonsense in many parts last night.

For example, there is no future magic company; the military provides the prototypes for military drones.

After being modified at headquarters, this nearly seven-meter-tall behemoth was transported overnight to the Changkong branch by transport plane and is currently deployed in a hangar 40 meters underground.

Despite being called a drone robot, it is not actually a humanoid weapon like Gundam. Its shape is more like a mealworm or a large bus lying on the ground. Instead, it is an automated weapon platform equipped with heavy firepower and heavy armor. Not only are the weapon systems enhanced by various magic, but even the armor covering it is made by magical girls. Theoretically, it has the ability to kill and defend against monsters.

Even so, it is still unknown how much combat power such a drone can exert. Therefore, its core area is indeed equipped with a nuclear reactor, which is not only its power source but also its trump card, in order to take a few monsters with it when it self-destructs.

This experimental weapon, which was modified with a great deal of financial and material resources, is named [Magical Giant God·mk1].

Despite this, people actually lack confidence in this thing.

After all, even the magical girl from seven years ago couldn't do much. At most, a self-destructing drone could only annoy the other side and show our attitude of fighting to the end.

but……

"Mom, why did you bring the dog along?"

The mother was accompanied by the Golden Dog, which was very well-behaved, but having a dog in the command center always seemed out of place.

"It's so pitiful to leave it alone at home."

"We're not here for a picnic... Couldn't we at least let it go play with Miss Zara?"