Before sleep.
Kiyono Inori followed her usual stretching routine prescribed by the Kiyono family doctor, relaxing her muscles and organizing her thoughts.
First was the newly summoned Stellaron girl.
From brief understanding, Stelle's Trailblaze journey was currently at the beginner village stage on Jarilo-VI. This was before Cocolia had turned against the Astral Express crew.
Which meant plenty of Cat Biscuits to farm. At the very least, Cocolia, the final boss, was fair game. The Herrscher of Ice was worth 2000 Cat Biscuits. Who knew how many Cocolia would give?
The only issue was how to intervene.
Her Transform-Into-Cat Magic Staff was on cooldown, so she could not intervene directly. Strengthening Stelle with Destruction and Erudition Blessings was risky. She was afraid of another accident like with the pink pig-cat.
This was far more dangerous than last time.
The world of Honkai: Star Rail was much more dangerous than the Previous Era during the Herrscher of Ice period. If Stelle's Stellaron resonated with a Destruction Blessing and the Emanator of Destruction glanced over, things would get very messy.
Conclusion: Wait for the Transform-Into-Cat Magic Staff cooldown, then use the Mysterious Killer to establish a connection with Stelle's world.
At this point, Kiyono Inori did not yet know that the item that came with the new Stelle Cat, the Memoirs of Jin Lajitzde, was practically Stelle's exclusive weapon.
Next was Mobius.
No more gacha for now. The shop curios were too fun. Once the staff cooled down, she would drop by Elysia's world to take a look.
Otherwise, Dr. Snake would cry and make a fuss. She could also complete the date quest she had promised the pink pig-cat.
Finally, strength.
Compared to before obtaining the Cat Dominion, her offensive capabilities had improved significantly. Two Destruction Blessings plus fairy magic.
All out, she could likely outgun most ability users in this world. As long as the Honkai energy concentration was high enough, even Herrschers from the pink pig-cat's world would struggle to outgun her.
As for defense.
Well. A fragile high school girl with strength 3, speed 4, durability 4. Both Elysia Cat and Stelle Cat could knock her over easily.
Any solution?
Nope.
The status panel clearly stated that even if she stuffed a Herrscher Core into her body, the 70 percent independent durability decay would still apply. Instead of researching defense, she might as well work on her sit-ups.
Fifteen minutes of stretching ended.
Kiyono Inori shook her head. She had not even encountered a single Mysterious Side Assault yet. Thinking about this only caused power anxiety and nothing else.
"Good night, my dear Elysia. Do not sleep on top of me."
"Good night, Stelle. If you go out to play tonight, do not sleep in a trash can. Come back to sleep."
The drowsy girl reminded the two cats. The moment her head hit the pillow, she sank into deep sleep.
…
Elsewhere.
The two cats Kiyono Inori had summoned were meowing at each other.
"Hi, Stelle, right? Little Inori said you started your great unknown adventure across the universe before you were even three days old. That is amazing, meow!"
Elysia Cat spoke from the heart. She had thought that traveling the world while underage was impressive, but this was next level. Born and immediately went interstellar.
"Meow… it is not that amazing, meow."
Stelle was a bit overwhelmed by this enthusiastic cat.
"Let me tell you a secret. Little Inori's world has lots of fun things too. Apparently there are magical girls and monster executives, stuff you only see in anime. Sadly, I have not found them yet, meow."
"Magical girls?"
Stelle thought of what March had said:
"The Astral Express is full of hidden masters. Every passenger has hidden power. I may look like an ordinary pretty girl, but I am actually a magical girl. It is just that my transformation is too cool, so I will not show it, or you might fall for me!"
March was like her. She had lost all her memories and was picked up by the Astral Express.
If March had not been lying, and magical girl powers were real, then this place might be March's hometown.
Stelle felt she had uncovered the truth.
"Hey, Stelle, look at your expression. The feelings of 'I really want to see magical girls' and 'I really want to meet them' are overflowing, you know!"
Stelle showed a (⊙_⊙) face. "Sister Elysia, Sister Inori said I can act freely. Can I go outside and see this world now?"
"Eh…?" Elysia Cat tilted her head. She suddenly felt like a colleague being asked to sign a permission slip for someone else's kid. "Of course you can. Why ask?"
"Uncle Yang also said I could explore freely before. But when I did, I got stuck in the train's ventilation ducts and made a lot of noise. I called March, and she got stuck too. In the end, Uncle Yang, March, and I all got scolded hard by Pom-Pom, meow."
Stelle complained pitifully.
"Oh come on, silly Stelle. You are a cat now. A cat that can turn into fluid. Where could you even get stuck, meow?" Elysia Cat said seriously.
"That makes sense, meow! Then I am going to Trailblaze, meow!"
Stelle meowed and walked to the hospital door. She jumped high, and in the brief moment she hovered in the air, she stretched out her paw, flicked and pulled with lightning speed, and opened the door.
"Watch out for the cameras outside. Do not let them find out you are a superpowered cat!" Elysia Cat reminded her.
"Got it, meow."
After hours of studying at Herta Space Station and running the Simulated Universe, Stelle had a basic understanding of this kind of technology.
"Good luck! The Stellaron girl's isekai adventure officially begins!" Watching Stelle Cat disappear into the distance, Elysia Cat's mouth curled into a smug, plan-successful smile.
Young. Way too young. A kid not even three days old could not possibly understand Inori-chan's charm.
Elysia Cat closed the hospital door and hopped back onto the girl's bed, carefully approaching the pillow.
The sleeping girl's face was peaceful and calm. Elysia Cat could not help reaching out to poke her a few times. The faintly itchy, warm sensation made the girl hum softly in her sleep.
"Mm~!"
Petting people felt great.
Kiyono Inori slept incredibly well. As long as you did not step on her, no amount of petting would wake her. At most, she would hum a bit. Elysia Cat was experienced at this by now.
Perfectly justified.
Little Inori always petted her. It was only fair that Elysia Cat got to pet Little Inori too.
After being dragged into the bathroom for a bath and with the pressure of Stelle Cat possibly returning at any time, tonight's petting session felt especially thrilling.
…
Hospital, Hidden Corner.
Stelle had wanted to investigate magical girls, but without a map of the hospital and with a body far too convenient, she wriggled through corridors and eventually encountered a trash can.
Stelle: (⊙_⊙)
A nice-looking trash can, filled with discarded medical supplies. Still, just a trash can. Even getting close, the sharp smell of disinfectant assaulted her nose.
Do you still want to open it?
Open it
Open it
Open it
The answer was obvious. After being controlled by March all day and never touching a trash can, Stelle, oppressed by can deprivation, would obviously choose to open it.
Hospital, Hidden Corner 2.
Following past experience, Stelle found another trash can. Two, actually. One stood shiny and polished, the other lay rusted and battered.
The rusted one looked as if it had been scorched by fire. Its body was twisted and deformed, black ash-like material spread thinly at the bottom. When light shone in, the particles floated gently, as if dancing.
Stelle: (⊙_⊙)
She wanted to set the rusted can upright, but stopped. Because the Trash Can Sage, Jin Lajitzde, once said that even trash cans have their dignity.
Investigating magical girls, wrong.
Investigating trash cans, correct.
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.