“Yesterday was truly exhilarating!”
Nan Xiaofeng chuckled, eating the food in front of her, and said to Hua Ling and Lin Muyao at the table.
Lin Muyao swallowed her food and looked at Nan Xiaofeng.
“Hmm? Didn’t Xin Yuehu invite you alone yesterday? How was it? Did you have fun?”
The girl’s tone carried three parts confusion, three parts surprise, three parts curiosity, and one part nonchalance.
Nan Xiaofeng happily looked up, her eyebrows dancing as she vividly described what happened last night to the two of them:
“Do you know? I met two Alices yesterday! One gold and one black!”
“The black one came right at me for close combat, and I knocked her flying with two loud thuds! The gold one tried to restrain me with magic, but I charged up and subdued her too!”
Clang, bang, thud, smack.
Nan Xiaofeng’s description, interspersed with many onomatopoeic words, left Hua Ling and the other person stunned. It took them a while to reconstruct the scene of last night in their minds.
“...I think she was beaten silly by the Hellcat,” Lin Muyao muttered expressionlessly.
Black, good at close combat, there really was such a person in Xin Yuehu’s team.
That person was called Black Hole Form Hellcat.
There was indeed a gold one who used magic; that person was called Xin Yuehu.
In Lin Muyao’s opinion, Nan Xiaofeng had completely hallucinated after taking a double beating from the cat and fox last night, or perhaps Xin Yuehu had cast some powerful illusion on her that hadn't worn off yet.
“No way! The Hellcat didn’t even make a move last night. They told me to be a sparring partner for those two Alices!”
Nan Xiaofeng said,
“I even held back my strength on purpose. Anyway, it was a very satisfying fight! I haven’t felt this good in a long time!”
“It was like putting on a brand new ceremonial dress after transforming with a brand new guardian star on New Year’s morning!”
Nan Xiaofeng’s strange analogy did not alleviate Lin Muyao’s confusion; instead, it made her even more perplexed.
Under their persistent questioning, during the leisure time of finishing their meal and drinking soup, Nan Xiaofeng meticulously shared more details.
From the appearance of the two Alices to her experience as a sparring partner, she recounted everything to the people around her.
Then Bai Ling gave her a hard slap on the shoulder.
“Xiaofeng, are you stupid! Xin Yuehu told you to be a sparring partner, and you actually did it?” the White Sable Spirit said.
“What else could I do?” Nan Xiaofeng spread her hands helplessly.
“With a Hellcat standing menacingly on the rooftop, if I didn’t cooperate with them, I’d probably be fighting the Hellcat myself right away!”
“But you can’t—”
The White Sable Spirit was about to say more when she was poked in the back by the Fox Spirit who was eating snacks beside her.
“Xiaofeng has a point, Senior Bai Ling, and Xin Yuehu really didn’t threaten Xiaofeng’s safety, did she?”
“Even you, Little Yue, say so… Well, alright then, I’ll tentatively forgive your unauthorized actions, Xiaofeng!”
The White Sable Spirit crossed her arms over her chest, her sable tail curled beside her, looking smug.
“But then again, Xiaofeng, you just said there were two Alices. That’s quite interesting.”
“Oh? Little Yue, do you know what’s going on?”
Bai Ling tilted her head curiously.
The Fox Spirit nodded.
“Not entirely clear, but I remember reading a thesis on advanced magic when I was studying—”
Then, Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox, almost exactly replicated the theoretical analysis she had heard from Inari, leaving the three people and one sable with slightly agape mouths and expressions full of wisdom.
It was like students being enlightened in an advanced mathematics class.
“In short, Alice might have encountered this characteristic of Star Realm Projection, which is why she became two Alices,” Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox, concluded.
“Star Realm Magic is truly amazing; even such exaggerated situations can occur,” Lin Muyao sighed.
“...Although I don’t understand, I have a feeling our situation will get worse later,” Hua Ling whispered.
Subsequently, everyone exchanged glances and simultaneously turned their attention to the White Sable Spirit.
“Bai Ling, don’t you think we’re severely understaffed right now?”
Nan Xiaofeng looked at Bai Ling beside her and said,
“Tianqing Jie… oh, Miss Dandelion has been tutoring my older sister recently. They’re so wrapped up in each other, they have no time to participate in our activities.”
“Yes, speaking of which, Senior Bai Ling, have you been recruiting new Magic Girls lately?” Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox, chimed in, adding insult to injury at the opportune moment.
The White Sable Spirit froze for a moment, her expression quickly turning helpless.
“Oh, don’t even mention it. I’ve sent out several guardian stars recently, but not a single one successfully transformed. There’s been no news from them so far.”
“Really? Are you sure you, Bai Ling, didn’t just get lazy and throw the guardian stars somewhere?”
“What are you talking about! I’m very professional, thank you very much!”
Bai Ling slapped Nan Xiaofeng on the shoulder, making her wince.
Then she quickly became dejected.
“I selected several girls from different schools who seemed quite suitable, but the guardian star simply didn’t recognize them, so I just had to give them away as souvenirs.”
“Why, though?! I really thought they were super suitable! But why didn’t it work?”
Bai Ling wailed, clutching her head, while Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox, pinched her chin, deep in thought.
Su Tianqing was currently micromanaging the familiars.
She had thought Bai Ling was slacking off, but she didn’t expect her to be seriously looking for new Magic Girls in private. She had misjudged her.
But to continuously send out several without any follow-up… Was her luck a bit too bad?
Considering that the Autumn Osmanthus Squad would soon finish their performance and return to Mountain City, Su Tianqing suddenly felt a little worried.
It seems they need to expand the number of righteous Magic Girls! Otherwise, the fun in the future will be greatly reduced!
“Senior Bai Ling, can I see your delivery list?”
Yue Tianxin asked.
Bai Ling didn’t hide it. She rummaged around in her magic space, pulled out a notebook, and handed it to Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox.
The two Observers huddled together, carefully reading the list. Nan Xiaofeng and the other two, feeling a bit bored, invited each other to leave the private room to pay the bill and get some drinks.
Today was the squad’s New Year’s holiday dinner, and all expenses were paid by Nan Xiaofeng, who had successfully finished her homework and received her pocket money.
When the Observers finally finished going through Bai Ling’s list, Nan Xiaofeng looked at Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox, who was floating in mid-air with a solemn expression, gazing at the horizon, and asked curiously:
“Miss Little Yue, is there something wrong with Bai Ling’s list?”
In Nan Xiaofeng’s eyes, the advanced scholar Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox, had completely surpassed the old-fashioned academic slacker Bai Ling, clearly becoming the most reliable Observer in the squad.
Yue Tianxin floated down from the sky and sat on Nan Xiaofeng’s shoulder. After pondering for a moment, she spoke:
“How should I put this… Senior Bai Ling, these children you’ve chosen…”
“What about them, what about them? Don’t you think they’re super potential?”
“...On the contrary, I don’t think their suitability is enough at all.”
“How can that be?!”
The White Sable Spirit wailed, clutching her head, but still asked with a glimmer of hope:
“B-but why? They clearly love Magic Girls so much, and their families even collect merchandise, just like Xiaofeng and the others…”
“If collecting a lot of Magic Girl merchandise was enough to become a Magic Girl, then how do you explain Hua Ling?”
Being singled out as an example by Yue Tianxin, Hua Ling didn’t find it surprising.
She only gradually developed an interest in merchandise after becoming a Magic Girl, but it was just about playing along with everyone else, not fanatically pursuing it.
“So, Senior Bai Ling, the potential to become a Magic Girl isn’t just about passion!”
Yue Tianxin, the Fox Fox, said earnestly, flying into mid-air and raising a finger at Bai Ling.
“Leave the task of finding new Magic Girl candidates to me!”