In the evening, the orange Magic Girl flew above Rong City.
Her magic staff was held in her hand, and her flying posture was relaxed and comfortable, coupled with her iconic orange-osmanthus ceremonial dress, it was easy to identify her identity—
Qiugui, the popular Magic Girl from Mountain City.
Orange ribbon-edged loafers and white knee-high socks outlined the youthful curve of the girl's calves; even without looking at her gorgeous ceremonial dress, Qiugui fans would make strange comments:
“Qiugui’s shoes, my lunchbox.”
Although Qiugui herself just smiled at such comments and didn't mind them, it didn't prevent her fans from leaving a bad impression on people's minds.
Speaking of Qiugui fans, people would invariably associate them with Qiugui’s shoes, which had already become a popular meme in the Magic Girl circle.
“Rustle… Miss Qiugui, can you hear me?”
A voice came from the communication divine code stone in her pocket, and the girl casually answered:
“Received, I hear you clearly.”
“The Monster at Rong City East Suburb Sports Center has not yet launched an attack. Witnesses say its movements are very strange. Please be careful.”
“Qiugui understands.”
The girl calmly returned to communication standby mode and yawned.
Five minutes ago, she received a Monster attack notification from the Rongcheng Hero Association.
A Monster suddenly appeared at the East Suburb Sports Center, interrupting the ongoing football match. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
And her task was to deal with it, which was the most important mission for Magic Girls.
“What’s going on today, did I poke a Monster nest?” Qiugui muttered to herself.
She had been in Rong City for most of the winter break.
During this period, the frequent Monster attack incidents in Rong City had significantly decreased. She had only encountered four attacks in total, and today counted as two.
Coupled with Xin Yuehu being sighted elsewhere, Qiugui drew a simple conclusion from this:
Most of the previous Monsters were deliberately released by Xin Yuehu!
But the reduction in Monster numbers also significantly reduced Qiugui's workload, and her winter break travel plans proceeded smoothly.
Today was an exception; it was the busiest day in this period.
She hastily woke up at seven in the morning to deal with a Monster, and another one appeared in the evening when she was about to have dinner, making Qiugui, who was almost accustomed to Rong City's leisurely life, unaccustomed for a moment.
“I’ll quickly take care of this Monster, then go home and rest to prepare for tomorrow’s concert~”
The girl leisurely planned her route for tomorrow.
The Autumn Osmanthus Squad had a total of four members. During the winter break, all of them came to Rong City to travel and incidentally participate in Rong City's defense after Hyacinth was transferred.
Her own Station Mountain City had handed over the defense mission to several Magic Girls from other places who were also on winter break, so there was no need to worry for now.
“Anyway, let’s do our best!”
In the distance, she could already see the stands of the East Suburb Sports Center. Qiugui sighed and accelerated her flight towards it.
…
…
The football field was empty.
Qiugui landed on the football field, where most of the grass had already been plowed. Her magic perception spread out, keeping an alert watch on her surroundings.
She did not see any trace of the Monster.
According to the Hero Association staff observing from the perimeter, the Monster had not left the football field, so theoretically, it should be hidden somewhere within the football field.
But as she looked around… apart from scattered banners and some messy objects in the stands, she didn't see any existence related to the Monster.
“Strange…”
Qiugui smelled a dangerous aura lingering in the air and silently gripped her magic staff tightly.
The orange-osmanthus magic staff glowed with magic in her hand, and a magic shield instantly formed, firmly protecting Qiugui within it.
—In the squad, Qiugui served as both commander and damage dealer, a role similar to a combination of Iris and Nightingale in the Hyacinth Squad.
And her long-standing experience brought her a rich variety of magic spells and comprehensive abilities.
Although she didn't have as high a ceiling as Star Shadow, she was more than capable of handling ordinary Monsters or even low-level Magic Girls.
But the current situation made Qiugui feel a strong sense of unease.
She had never encountered a situation like today.
In the past, she was always the one who actively engaged and fought the Monsters. There had never been such a bizarre phenomenon where the Monster disappeared after she arrived at the scene.
…No, if she had to say, there was indeed one time, and that was when she rushed to deal with the Razor Freak not long ago, which was also the only time she came up empty-handed.
And that time, she met Xin Yuehu.
“Good evening—no, should it be good afternoon now?”
“!!!!”
A sweet greeting unexpectedly sounded behind her, but Qiugui trembled all over in fright and hastily turned to face the source of the sound.
The Golden Fox Girl Magic Girl sat obediently on the main stand of the stadium, her tail slowly wagging behind her.
The moment their eyes met, the frequency of her tail wagging immediately sped up significantly.
“Xin Yuehu?!” Qiugui blurted out the Fox Girl's codename.
“That’s right. Although it’s not the first time we’ve met, at least this is our first official meeting, isn’t it, Miss Qiugui~”
“Last time in Mountain City, I just said a simple hello. This time counts as making up for that official greeting~”
Xin Yuehu's sweet and charming smile should have made people feel refreshed, but at this moment, Qiugui only felt a chill down her spine.
That was Xin Yuehu!
The top-tier villain among Magic Girls, the absolute leader of the villains!
Wasn't she in Hong Kong City recently? Why did she suddenly return to Rong City?
“It seems Miss Qiugui is… quite surprised that Fox Fox appeared here?”
The Golden Fox tilted her head and said, feigning surprise.
“Hehehe… However, since Miss Qiugui is showing such an expression, it seems Fox Fox has indeed given you a big surprise.”
Surprise? More like a scare!
Qiugui silently cast all available magic shields on herself, layering on magical armor layer after layer, wishing she could immediately ascend and escape, not wanting to stay for another moment.
But just as Qiugui was about to escape, another voice sounded from the other end of the stadium:
“Nice to meet you, Miss Qiugui.”
Looking back, the dark blue Cat Girl leaned against the goalpost on the opposite side of the stadium.
Hellcat.
If Xin Yuehu was present, there would almost certainly be a Hellcat as well.
With a pair of cat paw gloves on her hands, Hellcat seemingly nonchalantly looked in her direction, fully displaying the lazy characteristic of a feline hunter.
Qiugui's suspended heart finally buried itself in the ground, very peacefully.
She was like that overconfident kitten, chasing a mouse into the bushes, only to run head-on into a tiger, and a fox sunbathing on the tiger's back.
But this was not some fox borrowing tiger's might! Both of them were genuine Star Shadows!
“…Don’t worry, Miss Qiugui.”
Hellcat rubbed her fists together and walked towards Qiugui.
“I’m just testing my skills with you; I won’t treat you like Hyacinth.”
“Don’t come near me, ahhhhhh!!!!”
Qiugui’s wails echoed through the sky.
…
…
Ten minutes later,
When the remaining members of the Autumn Osmanthus Squad rushed to support, they only saw a horrifying scene:
Qiugui was tied up like a zongzi with sturdy ropes, dangling precariously from the goalpost.
And on the lawn in front of her, a giant grass mural had been magically drawn: fox carrots and cat paws.
Qiugui expressionlessly looked at the astonished and horrified expressions on her companions' faces and said weakly:
“I have something to tell you, please don’t be scared.”
“…Xin Yuehu, she’s back.”