Esper X Family – Chapter 17 – Codename, Lullaby!

“Actually, I’ve watched a few magical girl anime myself.”

“Really? So you’ve been interested in magical girls this early, Ye Yao!”

Mo Qiuli was even more delighted to hear Ye Yao mention this.

If she were a puppy, her tail would probably be wagging like a fan right now.

With such a solid foundation, she could totally become a brand-new magical girl.

Ye Yao wasn’t just interested in magical girls. She had an ability and was an adorable girl to boot.

It would be a waste for her to just be the Magical Girl Alliance’s advisor.

She should become the second magical girl and fight against evil together.

Ye Yao saw through Mo Qiuli’s thoughts and quickly shook her head. “I’m interested, but I’m not looking to become one. Spare me from something that exhausting.”

“Right… Ye Yao prefers to slack off…” Mo Qiuli’s expression turned disappointed again.

“Mhm~ Glad you understand.” Ye Yao nodded in satisfaction. “But I can still chat with you about magical girl stuff.”

“My computer’s arriving this afternoon. We can watch anime together then.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

The Countermeasures Bureau’s efficiency didn’t disappoint Ye Yao.

Although she had said “afternoon”, someone showed up with her computer at around 12:30.

And it was already fully assembled.

All she had to do was plug it in, and it booted up perfectly.

Ye Yao gazed contentedly at the pure white fish tank case, feeling utterly pleased.

In her past life, she prioritized practicality and would never splurge on flashy aesthetics.

But now, as a loli and with the government footing the bill.

Skimping on top-tier specs would be a crime against herself.

She loves these flashy, over-the-top stuff!

Anyway, it wasn’t her own money.

After setting up the computer, Ye Yao closed the door and drew the curtains, creating a cinema-like atmosphere.

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Now, the room held just two little girls.

Everything was ready.

“So, the question is… which magical girl show should we watch?” Ye Yao mused, chin in hand.

This was Mo Qiuli’s area of expertise.

“I’ve seen almost every magical girl anime out there. Which ones do you want to watch, Ye Yao?”

“Well, there’s《Gushing Over ¹ —”

“Not that one!”

Mo Qiuli let out a bunny-like squeak, her face flushing as she cut Ye Yao off mid-sentence.

“ Ohhh~ ”

Ye Yao gave her a meaningful look as she made a vague noise.

“So you did watch it.”

“I-I… I just watched a bit…”

Mo Qiuli stammered, fidgeting as she averted her gaze, not daring to meet Ye Yao’s eyes.

Her shyness was oddly cute.

When it came to magical girls, her gloominess vanished entirely.

Turns out, Mo Qiuli was a cultured girl who knew everything.

She had definitely watched the whole thing.

“Let’s save that for another day. We’ll watch something wholesome for now.”

“ Whew —” Mo Qiuli exhaled in relief.

Dodged a bullet.

Almost got labeled as a pervert.

In a different apartment’s living room.

Lou Wei and a few others sat in silence, staring at the scenes displayed on the large screen.

They had been watching magical girl anime all afternoon.

A group of battle-obsessed weirdos, glued to a kids’ show for hours.

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If Ye Yao knew, she would salute them in awe.

At least she had a cute loli by her side.

She could chat every now and then to keep things fun, turning boredom into pure enjoyment.

“She’s into this stuff?”

“Probably the other girl’s influence. Low priority for now.”

“Tch. Who knows if their meeting is good or bad? Will the problem child’s bad habits spread?”

“Probably not…”

“I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Thankfully, Ye Yao had the sense to not play that kind of anime.

Otherwise, Mo Qiuli might have already been flagged as “unqualified”.

Previous investigations showed that Ye Yao had no vices.

Why would she watch questionable content after meeting Mo Qiuli?

It must be a bad influence from the problem child!

Luckily, that didn’t happen.

Ye Yao really didn’t want to lose such an interesting girl.

Before long, dusk arrived.

Mo Qiuli left before dinner.

But not before agreeing on a meetup time that night.

Ye Yao’s plan was to sneak out using her ability without her parents noticing.

Meanwhile, Mo Qiuli was unfazed.

She was a seasoned veteran at this.

At 10 PM.

Ye Yao allocated her 2 unused attribute points to mental power, boosting it from 10 to 12.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Activating her ability, she deployed her fission body.

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And her main body returned to bed, leaving no traces behind.

Outside the residential area—

“Sneaking out successful!”

Ye Yao grinned, her distinctive features thoroughly concealed.

She was now far from the neighborhood, avoiding all surveillance.

The extra 2 points in mental power had also extended her fission body’s duration by nearly 10 minutes.

As long as she didn’t use attribute fission, it would be enough.

She then jogged to Mo Qiuli’s apartment.

The black-haired loli had already slipped out and was waiting at the rendezvous point.

“Ye, Ye—”

Ye Yao quickly covered Mo Qiuli’s mouth.

“ Shhh … Use my codename outside.”

Mo Qiuli blinked and nodded.

Only then did Ye Yao release her.

“Then… Lullaby ² I translated the name since it’s her magical girl name. It’d be weird if I translated 水星shuixing as Mercury but not 童谣tongyao. ?”

“Exactly.”

Ye Yao nodded approvingly.

They had agreed on this earlier.

Because the nation was so sensitive about her existence.

Hearing her name elsewhere might raise alarms.

It would be harder to sneak out after that.

“No time to waste. Let’s head somewhere further away.”

“Yeah!”

Mo Qiuli nodded, equally excited for the night’s adventure.

With Ye Yao around, it definitely wouldn’t be boring.

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“Transform.”

A flash of light enveloped Mo Qiuli.

In an instant, she became a blue-haired magical girl.

“Magical Girl—Mercury! Taking the stage!”

Her aura shifted dramatically as she turned to Ye Yao, extending a hand clad in a frilly white lace glove.

“Let’s fly, Lullaby. Are you afraid of heights?”

“Shouldn’t be.”

Ye Yao took her hand. It was soft, with a lovely texture.

The gloves felt silky smooth, almost like stockings.

“Even if you are, I’ll protect you. You definitely won’t fall.”

Mo Qiuli tightened her grip, lifting them both against gravity.

“Hold on tight, Lullaby.”

“Don’t worry about me. Just go at full speed.”

Ye Yao grinned, feeling only thrill and excitement, not a single trace of fear shown on her face.

“Okay!”

Mo Qiuli ramped up her ability’s output, and their speed surged.

Soon, the two vanished into the night sky.

Ten minutes later.

They landed on top of a tall building in the city center.

Like a lion surveying its domain, Ye Yao gazed down at the city’s nightscape.

“Going out like this once in a while isn’t bad.”

From now on, she could probably follow her to complete tasks and earn attribute points.

However, Ye Yao didn’t know.

Tonight’s outing wouldn’t go as smoothly as planned.