The next morning.
Su Tianqing, who woke up early, left Huatianli Community during her morning walk and went to the Villain's Rooftop to connect with the divine code stone communication she had arranged last night.
"Good morning, Xin Yuehu."
"Good morning, Inari! Did you enjoy your New Year's holiday? How were the snacks from last time?"
"The snacks were delicious, especially the blueberries and dried strawberries—absolutely delightful."
Inari praised.
This was also within Su Tianqing's expectations—after all, it was almost common knowledge that foxes love berries and fruits.
Although she herself preferred to eat all kinds of chicken.
"But then again, I seriously thought about the question you raised yesterday, and I think... it's very worth discussing."
"Oh? Specifically, what aspect?" The Golden Fox pricked her ears, and her tail straightened behind her, her attitude instantly becoming serious.
After they disbanded yesterday, Su Tianqing contacted Inari and explained the situation she encountered.
This included the news of Alice regaining her confidence and finding her belief, as well as her goal of challenging the Ripper starting today.
"Xin Yuehu, from yesterday's situation, it seems Alice has outstanding talent in command and creativity, so you thought she was more suitable for summoning Monsters to engage in battle... Is that right?"
"Yes, Inari, do you have any insights?" Su Tianqing was a little curious.
This was the conclusion she had drawn yesterday—since Alice had excellent design and creative abilities, it would be better to let her utilize these abilities and establish her own fighting style.
This might be more convenient than blindly learning the close-combat techniques of Catcat Rabbitrabbit.
"While it sounds good in theory, you seem to have overlooked a very important issue."
Inari shook her head with a wry smile.
"Xin Yuehu, you are actually the only Magic Girl in history who can summon Monsters, don't you have any self-awareness?"
"...Really? Not even before?" Su Tianqing was stunned and asked back.
She had thought that there should be more or less Magic Girls similar to herself; if not in modern times, then in ancient times, someone must have mastered summoning magic, right?
But from Inari's serious expression, she didn't seem to be joking.
"Of course, it's true."
Inari continued, "The total magic power of a Monster is equivalent to that of an ordinary Magic Girl, and if it's a high-level Monster or Witch above the Spica level, it can almost rival a Star Shadow."
"In other words, to summon a Monster or a Witch, you must pay an equivalent amount of magic power."
"Xin Yuehu... do you think anyone else in the world besides you can sustain such terrifying magic power consumption?"
The Golden Fox fell into deep thought.
Speaking of which, she seemed to have never worried about running out of magic power.
The last time she felt magic power depletion was probably when she activated the legendary spell left by Inari.
At that time, she had infused all her magic power into the barrier at once, falling into a temporary magic power deficiency, but it quickly recovered to normal levels.
Even when she pressed the almost magic-vacuumed and weak Little Fish onto the sofa to replenish her magic power, she didn't feel any signs of her own magic power decreasing.
If she were to explain the details, it might lead to world destruction, so it's better not to mention it.
"Hmm... So, Alice can't use summoning to fight the Ripper?"
"Of course not."
Inari said definitively and without doubt, and Su Tianqing could only sigh, giving up on this unorthodox quick-clear plan.
.
"Although she can't skip class with summoning magic, I think Alice's current strength should be greatly improved from before."
Inari continued, "The source of a Magic Girl's power is 'belief' and 'the will to protect.' If Alice has truly built new confidence, she can boldly try it."
"But I have another idea that could further increase Alice's success rate today."
After speaking, Inari hesitated slightly, but her swaying red fox tail clearly betrayed her current mood.
"Oh? Elaborate."
The Golden-haired Fox Girl pricked her ears, and her tail wagged left and right, instantly becoming interested.
The two Fox Foxes huddled together and immediately began their fox-speak:
"Alice is new to this; her combat awareness and skills are severely lacking. Instead of expecting her to learn and train with Hellcat, you should give her some guidance."
"But I already let her play freely in the Mindscape World; she should be overflowing with confidence right now."
"No, no, that's the worst-case scenario." The Red Fox shook her head, and the Golden Fox tilted her head in confusion.
Suspicion.
"Think carefully: if Alice goes into a fight with the Ripper with absolute confidence and unexpectedly loses, how will she react?"
"Hmm... Maybe she'll keep trying, or... she might start doubting her own abilities...?"
Su Tianqing suddenly understood, clapped her hands together, and exclaimed.
As expected of Inari, she easily noticed details that Ben Hu had overlooked.
Since the plan has risks, it's necessary to prepare a Plan B to mitigate those risks; only then can a perfect plan be made.
"So, that means I should make things tougher for Alice? Like having the Ripper attack her dad?"
"Xin Yuehu... are you serious?"
"Just kidding. But I did think about intentionally guiding Alice's will and belief, it's just... there really wasn't a good place to start."
"While it's a method, it's too dangerous, I don't recommend it." Inari shook her head.
"...But I have another idea that might work."
After a brief pause, Inari spoke, "Xin Yuehu, I think instead of racking your brain to improve Alice's success rate, you should trust Alice's strength and see how she performs today."
"Or take this opportunity to have a good talk with her and see where her heart knot is truly entangled."
"Didn't Mercury say that the Ripper is Alice's magical dark side, and external intervention is extremely difficult? It's better to start from Alice herself."
After listening to Inari, Su Tianqing pondered briefly.
She knew that the Ripper and Alice had a very close relationship, but she should have already basically known Alice's past... Is there anything she hadn't noticed?
"Moreover, Alice isn't in a hurry to eliminate the Ripper; the current situation can be maintained for a while longer," Inari continued.
Su Tianqing nodded, as if having made up her mind:
"I understand, Inari, what you said makes a lot of sense."
"Then I'll temporarily observe Alice's performance today. If she doesn't defeat the Ripper, I'll take Catcat with me to help her with her homework, to prevent her from falling into a low mood."
"It's decided!"
The two Fox Foxes wagged their tails, reaching a consensus.
The magic power communication was interrupted, and Su Tianqing looked at the ridge line of Xiling, falling into deep thought.
...But what if she really wins?