“If we were to rank the Magic Girls by popularity, who do you think would be at the top?”
“Xin Yuehu.”
“I see… She’s certainly an undisputed number one. Even in other cities, she has many fans.”
“Then who do you think would be at the very bottom?”
After a long silence, a name was spoken:
“…Mai Sui.”
This was the Hero Association’s Information Department. Qi Yun was sipping a warm cup of coffee, chatting with the white-haired girl who was flipping through documents in front of her.
S-Class Hero Electromagnetic, and S-Class Hero Messiah.
“Reason?”
“Do I still need a reason?”
Qi Yun grinned, waving her hand, and the phone screen on the table suddenly lit up with a video app.
The video showed a Monster attack in Sui City. The wheat-skinned Magic Girl was bombing the Monster on the ground with magic cannons from the air, sending countless shattered stones and debris flying.
“This is a Monster that the Maisui Squad defeated in February this year. The entire plaza was leveled by her firepower, and the surrounding roundabout road was also destroyed. It took at least a week to barely repair it.”
“A week? What did she do to the plaza?”
The white-haired girl picked up the phone in confusion and glanced at it, her eyebrows raising, a hint of shock in her blood-red eyes.
“…Was this hit by a meteorite?”
“Unfortunately, no. What you see is entirely the destruction caused by Mai Sui’s individual firepower suppression against the Monster.”
The white-haired girl was silent for a long time, then shook her head helplessly.
“No wonder you said that just now. Such disregard for the surroundings… anyone would find her annoying, right?”
“Then you should see this next one.”
Qi Yun snapped her fingers, and the screen instantly switched, showing a small, Golden Fox Fox girl.
“Good morning, everyone!”
“Ah, no, today’s line should be… Good morning, Rong City!”
The bullet comments densely flooded the screen with “Good morning, Fox Fox” and “Today’s video is also early,” but there were also some warning comments.
“I bet everyone doesn’t know why Fox Fox is posting a video at this time, right?”
“Well then, viewers who watched last night’s live stream, you can now type your comments on the screen!”
The bullet comments were so dense that the phone was lagging a bit, so Qi Yun silently turned off the comments so Messiah could see the video content.
The wheat-skinned Magic Girl was bound by chains, surrounded by countless Slime Monsters, each with a feather held in its tentacles, busy touching Mai Sui up and down.
The girl’s wails and cries blended into one.
“Ta-da! The one behind me is the Magic Girl Fox Fox just captured!”
“I’m sure everyone in Rong City has seen many videos of Miss Hyacinth and Miss Iris, right? Fox Fox caught Miss Mai Sui, who just arrived from Sui City yesterday!”
“If there’s anything you want to see, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section, and Fox Fox might adopt it very soon!”
“Whether it’s Slimes or Tentacle Monsters, or even blindfolds, masks, and cold water… as long as it’s not too extreme, it might appear in the video!”
The Golden Fox smiled and moved away from the camera, leaving only the crying and wailing Mai Sui in the frame, and the Slime Monsters wiggling closer to her.
The video ended, the screen paused at the moment the Slimes pounced.
“Finished watching?”
“…Finished watching.” Messiah’s eyelids twitched, and she replied.
“This video was released at nine this morning. According to Xin Yuehu’s usual activity, she probably filmed it around ten last night.”
“We still haven’t found Mai Sui’s exact location. Hyacinth and her team are also trying to rescue her, but…”
The two looked at each other, speechless.
“Have you asked Meteor?”
“I asked, she just said it was impossible.”
“Then it seems we can only wait for Xin Yuehu to have a change of heart and send Mai Sui out herself, or for Hyacinth and her team to figure out another way.”
“Speaking of which, why did Mai Sui suddenly come to Rong City?” Messiah asked, as if feeling the atmosphere was a bit too serious.
Qi Yun shrugged.
“What else could it be? She had a big fight with her teammates, then felt bad and decided to travel, so she came to Rong City.”
“…I see.”
Both sighed at the same time and said no more.
…
Evening, Villain Rooftop.
Mai Sui opened her eyes in a daze.
Hunger, thirst, weakness and exhaustion throughout her body, and magic power on the verge of depletion—every single one caused her immense pain.
Mai Sui instinctively wanted to call for help, but in this space, almost an alternate dimension, formed by powerful magic and barriers, any cry for help was futile.
…No one will come to save me, probably. Mai Sui thought.
Having been hung for an entire day, besides enduring the tickling torment of the Slime Monsters and Tentacle Monsters, Mai Sui, very uncharacteristically, pondered her recent life.
A week ago, she had dealt with a Monster that attacked the train station in Sui City.
Although the Hero Association had urgently evacuated everyone from the train station, and she had beautifully dealt with the Monster, her teammates seemed quite dissatisfied with the extent of the train station’s damage.
“What’s the big deal… as long as the Monster is defeated, isn’t that enough…?” Mai Sui murmured to herself, her eyes downcast.
But what Xin Yuehu said last night also made her feel somewhat uneasy.
“Miss Mai Sui, you don’t even have a friend to eat late-night snacks with, do you?”
“So weak, yet still calling yourself a senior. Mai Sui, you really have no self-awareness at all.”
She had no friends.
That’s why she felt angry because of that remark.
But ultimately… why was she angry? If she didn’t have friends, then so be it! At least she still had Iris, a junior who was willing to chat with her!
—“Rustle, rustle.”
Suddenly.
A rustling sound broke the silence, and Mai Sui instinctively tensed up.
She thought it was another Slime Monster, but when the Golden Fox poked her head in from outside, Mai Sui suddenly froze.
“Ah, Miss Mai Sui. She’s right here, come quickly.”
Following closely was a golden figure, but one distinctly different from Xin Yuehu.
Seeing Mai Sui hanging from the chains, Dandelion waved her magic wand to turn off the nearby camera, then activated her magic, completely releasing the chains binding her.
“Heave-ho!”
The Golden Fox agilely took two steps forward, steadily catching the falling Mai Sui.
“You… are you Miss Dandelion…?”
“Shh, quiet! I’m here to save you!”
Dandelion extended her tail, using the tip to make a shushing gesture.
Mai Sui looked blankly at the nervous, sneaking Golden Fox in front of her, her lips parted slightly, then pressed tightly together.