"Oh~ I see now."
After hearing what Natsumi Kyouno said, and recalling the ridiculous behavior of Meteora and the others in front of her earlier, Mamika Kirameki clenched her fist and smacked it into her palm with a look of sudden realization.
No wonder, even though she's clearly just a child, she always interacts with others using the appearance of an adult.
So it was because she didn't want anyone to see her true form.
Although Mamika didn't know why Natsumi was so intent on hiding her appearance, considering they were already in this world now, wasn't that behavior kind of pointless?
"Umm… you know that you're a fictional creation, right?" Mamika Kirameki asked with a puzzled look. "Haven't you realized yet that to the people of this world, you have no secrets?"
Hearing those words, Natsumi Kyouno steps came to an abrupt halt.
She suddenly turned her head back, her eyes and expression filled with belated shock and a dawning sense of dread.
Seeing that look on her face, Mamika Kirameki confirmed her suspicions.
So this kid… really hadn't realized it.
Though, it wasn't all that surprising when you thought about it.
After all, Natsumi Kyouno had only recently descended into the real world. First, she was targeted by a self-proclaimed lolicon pervert, and not long after, she caught the attention of Altair. Given all that, it was understandable her mind hadn't fully adjusted yet.
"S-So you're saying…" Natsumi voice trembled. "That everyone in this world knows what I really look like?"
"Well, it's not like everyone in this world knows," Mamika replied. "Probably just the people who've read your original story. Since we fictional characters all seem to come from pretty popular worlds, I'd say… maybe just a few million people know your secret?"
"A few million, huh…"
Natsumi furrowed her brows slightly and said slowly, "Not too bad."
"What do you mean 'not too bad'?!"
Sensing something was off, Mamika quickly asked, "What are you thinking of doing?"
"Well, if the entire world knew my true appearance, I'd have no choice but to destroy this world," Natsumi said, flashing a broken, twisted smile. "But now, I just need to eliminate those few million people."
At her words, Mamika felt her scalp go numb.
What kind of character did I just save!?
Does she really think her secret is that important?
Wiping out a few million people just like that?!
Why do I always run into problematic kids!?
"Wait!!"
Seeing Natsumi turn to leave, Mamika immediately jumped in front of her with a big leap, spreading her arms to block the way. "I won't let you do something that crazy! Just calm down, okay!?"
"How am I supposed to calm down when so many people know my deepest secret!?"
"I don't get it at all! Why do you even care so much about something like that!?"
"Something like that?" Natsumi clenched her fists. "Heh… well, of course someone like you—so cute and pretty—wouldn't understand what it feels like to be an ugly duckling like me."
"C-Cute?"
The sudden compliment made Mamika Kirameki freeze. She blushed and held her face with both hands, shyly murmuring, "No way I'm that cute… I'm just an ordinary middle school girl…"
Wait, no.
This is not the time to get flustered!
If she didn't say something fast to stop this girl, who knew what reckless things she might actually do in a fit of emotional instability?
Mamika Kirameki little brain started spinning wildly—for the first time in her life, she was trying to solve a problem with wisdom instead of brute force.
If it were back when she first arrived in this world, and she ran into the current Natsumi, she probably wouldn't have hesitated to pull out her wand, knock her down first, and then try to talk her into changing her ways.
That was how things worked in her original world.
And it always worked out pretty well.
But ever since coming to this real world, a lot of things had quietly changed within her.
Many things that were common sense in her own world were actually nonsensical here.
So, she had to adapt.
"Nanami, please listen to me…"
"My name is Natsumi!"
"Ah, sorry, I'm really bad at remembering names," Mamika said, scratching her cheek awkwardly. "How about I just call you Little Nana from now on?"
After coughing twice to hide her embarrassment, Mamika rubbed her cheeks and put on a serious expression.
From the conversation just now, she had picked up on a very important piece of information.
Initially, she thought Natsumi was desperately trying to hide her true identity because if people found out, something bad would happen.
Like, maybe it was a setting where if a demon's true name was revealed, they'd lose their power or something like that.
But from what Natsumi had just said, it seemed the reason she hid her true appearance wasn't something like that.
It was because… of insecurity?
Because she saw herself as a pitiful ugly duckling, she wanted to present herself as a beautiful swan?
If that was the case, then Mamika could understand it.
Appearance anxiety, huh… a lot of girls deal with that to some extent. Even in her original world, she'd seen cases where demons took advantage of that kind of insecurity and stole girls' smiles.
"Then let the Magical Girl Slayer Mamika help you regain your confidence!"
Mamika Kirameki beamed with a confident smile.
This wasn't her first time handling something like this.
She had once helped a girl who lost her smile due to appearance anxiety recover it.
She could definitely do it again.
Mamika walked up to Natsumi, ignored her resistance, and gently tidied up her messy long hair, revealing her full face.
Although she had seen Natsumi face before, she had been focused on finding a safe place at the time and hadn't really paid attention.
Now that she was looking closely, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"This… isn't ugly at all?"
She had originally thought Natsumi might be so sensitive because of some kind of facial deformity or birthmark…
But as she looked now, that wasn't the case at all.
Far from being ugly, she was actually quite cute.
With just a little hair tidying, without those dodgy, evasive eyes, and if she stood up straight, she'd totally look like a lovable little girl!
"I don't know what you've been through, but Little Nana, I can tell you with full confidence—you're not ugly in the slightest."
Mamika Kirameki said this earnestly.
"If you can just regain your confidence, you'll realize that too!"