"Phew… so sleepy, so sleepy, meow?"
After wrapping up her day, Elysia opened her eyes and realized she had not respawned in Kiyono Inori's arms. Instead, she was lying in a soft, fluffy cat bed. Without thinking, she rolled over inside it.
Kiyono Inori had promised that once the cooldown on the Transform-into-a-Cat Magic ended, she would turn into a kitty and come to Elysia's world to play with her.
And so.
Over the past few days, besides her daily training, responding to Honkai incidents, and enthusiastically recommending cute skirts to Mobius, Elysia had also been visiting the shopping street near the Fire Moth base to plan routes in advance for taking a kitty out to play.
Elysia was the type who got excited and made meticulous plans when acting alone. When going out with others, her plans became even more detailed. This piggy-cat was very experienced when it came to having fun.
But this time, her companion was a cute cat!
Which meant all prior experience was useless. Even if the soul inside was human, many places designed for people were extremely inconvenient once you became a cat. Elysia knew that much.
So.
The pink piggy-cat had been having a rough time lately, meow.
After rolling around a few times and leaving her kitten scent behind, Elysia Cat yawned and crawled out of her bed. Next to it, she saw another cat bed in a Stelle-style trash-can design.
Hmm. Hers was fairy-tale themed, with a little white bunny plush inside. Pretty cute.
It was obvious that Kiyono Inori really wanted her to sleep properly in the cat bed.
Unfortunately, absolutely impossible.
No matter how comfy the bed was or how cute the bunny plush looked, those things had no soul. Compared to her beautiful caretaker's blankets, they had zero appeal.
"Mmm…"
"Based on the data we have so far, we need to re-derive the formation scale of Fairy Magic, then mesh it with the base code formula of the Emperor's Scepter, and add in the compatibility variables of Inori Cat, Elysia Cat, and Stelle Cat. Ugh, which step is wrong?"
Elysia Cat: (⊙_⊙)
She had originally wanted to pounce into Kiyono Inori's arms and act cute. Being a cat was different from being human. You could throw shame out the window and shamelessly cuddle up to a pretty girl. That was how the base code for cats who loved people worked.
But.
Kiyono Inori was radiating the aura of advanced, out-of-scope knowledge. That made Elysia Cat instinctively wary. She took a step forward, then retreated, terrified that Inori might suddenly get inspired and start teaching her something.
If she fell asleep here, the other side of her would wake up.
In other words, if she arrived here only to be stuffed full of after-class tutoring by Inori-chan, her other self would wake up immediately.
Immediately.
And because of the weird magic of turning into a cat and back, she would end up exhausted but unable to sleep, forced to stare at her phone all night. Rounding it up, that was basically pulling an all-nighter.
"Ah, Elysia, you're awake!"
The beautiful caretaker noticed her. Elysia Cat met her gaze. The caretaker tilting her head like that was pretty cute.
"Um, I have to ask just in case. Inori, you're not going to suddenly explain some weird knowledge again, right?"
Elysia Cat shrank back timidly, her pretty eyes working hard to read the caretaker's micro-expressions.
Kiyono Inori was a woman with a natural talent for being a bad girl. Her expression control was top-tier. But Elysia Cat's Observation was even stronger. At least she could tell whether her caretaker was lying.
"Ah…"
Kiyono Inori blinked her icy blue eyes.
Earlier, she had explained a lot of strange knowledge to Elysia Cat because the Transform-into-a-Cat Magic Wand was damaged, turning Elysia Cat into the bridge between her and Doctor Snake.
To let Elysia Cat shoulder that responsibility, both sides had silently agreed to give Elysia and Elysia Cat some tutoring now and then.
So.
Elysia had been traveling between the two worlds more and more frequently lately. That also meant more times fainting in class. Still, she was very smart. She might fall asleep during lessons, but she learned things incredibly fast.
If you removed the debuff of falling asleep in class, she might really become Doctor Elysia someday.
"Hehe, not today!"
That was the truth.
Because the Emperor's Scepter had very low fault tolerance, Kiyono Inori was researching how to merge the data of Elysia Cat, Stelle Cat, and her own Inori Cat together, taking the best parts of each.
In theory, it was doable.
In practice, it was extremely difficult. It involved Fairy Magic, Mobius's biological knowledge, cat system code, and Emperor's Scepter protocols. In the end, it became a mountain of pure spaghetti code.
Even with the skills of the Pioneer of the Stars, this level of rule-breaking required a lot of luck.
Simply put, the goal was to write a set of factors that expressed the strengths of all three cats, minimized negative traits, fit the Scepter's protocols, and could actually run.
The electrical signal Rupert Eight had already established an absolute mechanical empire, and the code carried the trait of Perfect Scholar.
To put it metaphorically, compared to Teacher Anaxa who had reincarnated thirty million times without turning himself into a philosopher's stone, this was even more extreme. After all, the prototype of this signal was a true genius.
Elysia Cat and Stelle Cat both had the Savior trait in their codex entries. But the infection intensity of the Anti-Life Equation Simulation in the Scepter's simulated world was already very high. So Inori Cat's Star Opening and Descender traits had to be stitched in to increase the chance of cracking it.
Inori Cat had low HP and low defense.
Elysia Cat had nearly perfect base stats, but the Scepter's simulated organic world was already beyond saving. If Elysia Cat with the Lover attribute was deployed, the virtual Elysia Cat inside might suffer damage to her mental functions.
Stelle Cat also had excellent base stats, but her actions were unpredictable. Once her factors were input, Inori's ability to interfere would be limited. It was hard to calculate what kind of chaos Stelle Cat might cause.
In the Absolute Mechanical Empire dungeon, running Stelle Cat's factor once might turn it into the Absolute Trash Empire dungeon instead.
"What are you doing, Inori-chan? This is so weird. What is this? It's all sparkly and glowing!"
Elysia Cat jumped onto the bed, found a comfortable spot, and stared suspiciously at the Scepter CPU in Inori's hands.
"Ah… seeing you this energetic is a relief, my dear Elysia. Anyway, now it's time to give the kitty a bath. Come on, let's go to the bathroom together!"
Kiyono Inori put away the Scepter CPU. Her pretty eyes sparkled with intense curiosity.
"Huh?" Elysia Cat took half a step back. "Why are you bathing me again, meow? Please, it's really embarrassing! And my Fairy Magic can clean me just fine!"
"I don't care. Elysia Cat is too cute!"
Kiyono Inori had no intention of reasoning with her.
If they started reasoning, Elysia Cat's silver tongue would definitely drag it out.
And right now, the Super Cat Synthesis plan was stuck. The whole process was tangled, and she could not tell where the error was. She decided to activate the previously developed Fairy Magic Luck and try to brute-force it with superstition.
Code worked like that, right? The process did not matter. As long as it barely ran in the end, it was fine.
Just like how Fairy Magic Healing got buffed when used in hospitals or beds, Fairy Magic Luck also got buffed after dragging Elysia Cat off for a bath.
As for why, it probably had something to do with the environment Fairy Magic was born in. Kiyono did not really understand the origin logic either.
"Meow, meow."
After a few minutes, Kiyono Inori finally caught Elysia Cat, who had climbed onto a cabinet, grabbed her around the waist, and carried her down. Elysia Cat struggled with all her might. At the bathroom door, she suddenly turned liquid.
Starting from the waist, the cat stretched into a long arch, reached out with both front paws, and firmly grabbed the doorframe.
"Waaah, Inori is bullying me, meow! Why is Stelle the one who flips trash cans, but I'm the one who has to get washed? Bathing as a cat is scary! I don't want a bath, meow!"
Elysia Cat cried pitifully.
"My cold is almost better, and tomorrow is a day off. Be good, Elysia Cat. I'll take you out to play."
A heavy bribe.
"No! When I wake up it'll already be night, meow. The outside world is dangerous. Kitties caught by bad guys get eaten, meow. You go to bed early every day, so you wouldn't know, meow!"
Elysia Cat babbled nonsense.
"I'll cook for you. You can eat whatever you want. Haven't you always said the Fire Moth cafeteria food isn't as good as mine?"
Elysia Cat hesitated for a few seconds, but thinking about the embarrassment and sogginess of a cat bath, she still let out a rejecting meow.
"Then…"
Kiyono Inori thought for a moment. The one condition Elysia could not refuse was probably that. "How about I bathe with you?"
Elysia Cat froze for a split second.
"H-hey, what are you saying, meow? This is already content that a young kitty like me shouldn't be seeing, meow! And bathing as a cat is still really uncomfortable, meow!"
"Then why did you let go?"
"I just slipped, meow!"
After immense effort, the beautiful caretaker finally tricked Elysia Cat into the bathroom.
…
Elysia Cat: (O_o)
After being placed inside, she felt like ants were crawling all over her. She could not sit still.
Sure, they already had the kind of relationship where they crawled into the same blankets. But bathing together still made Elysia's heart pound harder.
After all, Kiyono Inori had a weak constitution and got sick easily, so she wore cute pajamas when sleeping. Crawling under the blankets just felt fluffy.
But Elysia Cat was not as calm as she looked.
Seriously.
A beautiful caretaker bathing with a cat was normal, but she was not an ordinary cat. She was a beautiful girl too. Was this really reasonable?
Girls bathing together was actually very common.
On the Mu continent, close girls would share lipstick and bathe together without embarrassment. The more daring ones even went a bit further, stopping short, with light kisses and such.
But this pink piggy-cat was still an early-stage piggy-cat from the Fifth Honkai era. She had not yet grown into the terrifying predecessor-civilization form.
The place she descended into, Vladivostok 51, was a remote, simple, and conservative town. She had received relatively conservative education from a young age.
As a result, although she had already developed the heart-stealing abilities of a predecessor-civilization type, her defensive stats clearly had not kept up. To be fair, even in her complete form, her defense was still low.
So.
Even though cats usually felt cold during baths because of their long fur no matter how hot the water was, Elysia Cat felt like she was overheating. The poor kitty was incredibly nervous.
She both hoped the beautiful caretaker would come sooner and hoped it was all a joke. She was stuck in the indecision of a fledgling bird.
At that moment, a creaking sound came from behind as the door opened.
Elysia Cat stiffly turned her head and saw the beautiful caretaker smiling at her, her fair skin dazzlingly bright.
Dazzling, literally.
A smooth neck with no extra flesh, a slender waist, long toned legs. What was visible could easily be called a great figure.
But.
The parts Elysia was most curious about were blocked by several layers of extremely bright holy light. In other words, the exposure level was no different from a swimsuit.
"Whoa! This is way too stimulating, meow! I can't even keep my eyes open!"
So bright. Really bright.
As the smiling girl approached, Elysia Cat squinted from the glare. "Inori-chan, what is this? Why is your magic always so weird, meow?"
"It's fairy magic!"
"What? You're lying to this poor little kitty again! Waaah, it's cold, the water is cold! How can anyone bathe in water this cold, meow!"
"Ah… it's already pretty warm, though?"
Kiyono Inori tested it with her hand. It was quite hot, the kind that normal people would find a bit scalding. "My dear Elysia, if you're this willful, I'll be troubled, you know."
"Who's being willful here!"
Elysia Cat let out a wronged meow.
Somehow, it felt like she had been tricked. The beautiful caretaker really was a bad woman, meow. She said they would bathe together, but she came covered in holy light. Totally unfair.
Kiyono Inori took out the cat shampoo that Misumi Uika had given her and lathered Elysia Cat up, spreading the foam evenly with practiced motions.
Elysia Cat was very shy.
Kiyono Inori was not. She was just washing a meowing kitty. Her attention was focused on Fairy Magic Luck. The prerequisite of bathing Elysia Cat had been fulfilled.
"Meow?!"
Twenty minutes later.
Holding a hair dryer to dry her own hair, Kiyono Inori carried out Elysia Cat, who had gone completely limp.
"Aren't you enjoying yourself? My dear Elysia."
Seeing how soft Elysia Cat looked, Inori showed a knowing smile. That ability to see through weaknesses was really overpowered.
"Inori… I've actually always wanted to ask you something. Just how many beautiful girls have you turned into cats before?"
"Huh?"
"You're way too skilled! Is this really reasonable? I'm your first summoned cat or something, right? Inori, you didn't secretly lie to the Pink Fairy Lady, did you?"
"Perhaps it's a natural talent."
Blowing her hair, Kiyono Inori's expression grew serious.
"A natural talent for raising lots of beautiful catgirls? As expected of Party-All-Night Inori."
Elysia Cat meowed and crawled into Inori's blankets. "Forget it, I won't argue with you for now."
"Hey, why are you so shamelessly crawling into my bed again? I specifically rushed an order for a custom cat bed!"
Kiyono Inori suspected this was the pink piggy-cat's scheme. Make her feel guilty first, then legitimately invade the blankets.
"Mind your own business! I'm just checking it out. I'm not sleeping with you, meow. You don't get it because you don't spend much time as a cat. Once you turn into a kitty, you just want to crawl into something big and warm like this, meow."
As she spoke, Elysia Cat stupidly rolled herself up like a fast-food chicken wrap.
Kiyono Inori: (⊙_⊙)
Forget it. While Fairy Magic Luck was at its peak, she might as well see if she could produce runnable code.
She chose to immerse herself in the Scepter's strange raising game.
First, she used Inori Cat with Descender and Pioneer of the Stars Opening traits as the base.
She added some of Elysia Cat's Savior, Fairy Magic, and Speed, then added some of Stelle Cat's Optimism and Trailblazing Spirit.
Finally, she equipped the exclusive weapon of the five-star Pink Fairy Lady that she had unexpectedly pulled while rolling for Stelle. Blossoms of the Past.
And just like that, a savior capable of opposing the Mechanical Emperor should have been born.
Wait.
Why did Stelle Cat's Trash Can trait fall in?!
Kiyono Inori froze. She had been prepared for failure, but strangely, the combination that should have failed succeeded thanks to the Trash Can trait.
Fairy Magic Luck had kicked in.
The missing component turned out to be the Trash Can trait she had not valued. Who would think to add a trash can to a savior? Other than Masked Fools, no one would do that.
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.