In Green Heart Park, by the serene lake, a long bench formed by magic sat.
Two golden figures sat on either side of the bench, with two Magic Girls in the middle.
Chatting?
Chatting with a villainous Magic Girl?
Nightingale felt as if she was engaging in a deal with the Devil.
Iris had a similar thought.
After subduing Hyacinth, Su Tianqing lifted Iris's stasis magic but didn't forget to confiscate her magic wand.
Then, she conjured two cups of clear tea with magic, had her familiar serve them to the two, and leisurely hummed a song while sitting by the bench.
As for Hyacinth?
Poor Hyacinth, her mouth was tightly gagged, and she was currently blindfolded, contemplating life.
“…”
Iris sipped her clear tea in small mouthfuls.
The familiar moved closer to the elegant and pure Magic Girl, smiling sweetly at her.
No one can resist Ben Hu's smile! Not even her tail!
“Um, Xin Yuehu… Miss?”
Nightingale tentatively addressed Su Tianqing's true form beside her.
“Mm-hmm~?”
Su Tianqing tilted her head to look at the light yellow Magic Girl beside her, her ears perked high, a smile brimming.
“What’s wrong, Miss Nightingale? Do you not like the tea?”
“No, that’s not what I meant… I just, I just feel like this is a bit… strange…”
Nightingale answered honestly.
Next to her, Iris was staring blankly at the Fox Fox familiar, forgetting even to drink her tea.
Nightingale really wanted to scold her colleague for her weak will, but she felt she wasn't in a position to do so.
“This… is strange?”
Su Tianqing feigned not understanding.
“In what way is it strange? Aren’t we all Magic Girls? Sitting together like this, drinking tea and chatting, isn’t that perfectly normal?”
“But didn’t you say you were—”
“A villain, Miss Nightingale, you were going to say that, weren’t you?” Su Tianqing interjected, smiling.
Nightingale was silent for a moment, then nodded.
“Miss Hyacinth often says I’m a hateful bad guy, so what about you, Miss Nightingale, do you also think Fox Fox is a bad guy?”
As she spoke, Su Tianqing gently patted her tail a few times.
Nightingale didn’t say anything, slowly shaking her head.
“Miss Xin Yuehu… although she always plays pranks and causes destruction in the city… she has never harmed innocent people.”
“So I don’t think you’re that kind of truly bad guy.”
“Is that so? I didn’t expect Miss Nightingale to have such a high opinion of Fox Fox~”
Hearing Nightingale’s evaluation of her again, Su Tianqing’s mood brightened considerably.
As if she had heard their conversation, Iris turned to look, then spoke:
“Um, Miss Xin Yuehu.”
“Mm-hmm~?”
“I’ve always wanted to ask, Miss Xin Yuehu… why exactly do you cause all that destruction in the city?”
Iris voiced the question that had bothered her for a long time, looking at Xin Yuehu with expectant eyes.
Since her first meeting with this little Fox, Iris had never chatted with her like this before.
And the last conversation with Tianqing Jie still lingered in Hua Ling’s mind:
“This shows that the child already knows her limits, and she might be thinking about how to explain it to you. It would be much better to take the initiative and approach her now.”
Isn’t this the perfect time to take the initiative?
“Because that’s the only way Fox Fox can attract everyone’s attention, you see.”
Su Tianqing smiled gently.
“But if you cause destruction like this, everyone will think you… are a bad guy, Xin Yuehu…” Iris said, puzzled.
“Mm-hmm~ But everyone in the live stream is telling Fox Fox to summon Monsters at the company entrance and in schools, doesn’t that mean everyone likes it this way?”
Su Tianqing said with a smile,
“And Fox Fox always notifies everyone in advance, so there won’t be any casualties, you know.”
The two legitimate Magic Girls were speechless.
Even Mu Yao herself had thought about having Xin Yuehu cause a ruckus at her school a few more times, which would give her a legitimate reason to take a holiday and attend the Magic Girl anime convention.
Plus, the Hero Association had recently released new merchandise, and she also really wanted to see if there were any “Nightingale” posters or standees at the convention.
Hua Ling always felt this wasn’t right, but she couldn’t find a reason to refute it. After thinking for a long time, she finally said:
“Then… do you have any other reasons for causing such destruction?”
“Because it’s a lot of fun, you see.”
The Golden Fox’s smile remained on her face, but Iris’s movements suddenly stiffened.
“F-fun?”
“That’s right.” Su Tianqing laughed,
“As long as Fox Fox appears, Magic Girls will appear beside me to stop me—it’s simply too wonderful.”
Iris was stunned for a long time.
She felt there was something not quite right about Xin Yuehu’s words, yet it also seemed perfectly fine.
She had indeed fulfilled her fans’ wishes, and she had indeed caused no casualties. The pranks she played also didn’t lead to any serious consequences.
At most, it just made her feel a little expectant, but that should be her own problem.
Shouldn’t it?
Iris thought for a long time but ultimately couldn’t figure it out.
“Time’s almost up, let’s stop playing for today.”
Suddenly, the Golden Fox stood up. Her familiar vanished with her movement, jolting Iris abruptly from Fox Fox’s gentle embrace back to reality.
“Eh? Are you leaving already?” Iris said instinctively.
Then Nightingale gave her a subtle look.
“Of course, you see. If Fox Fox doesn’t go home soon, I’ll be late for tonight’s live stream.”
“Oh, by the way, Miss Iris and Miss Nightingale, have you watched Fox Fox’s live stream? I’ll be singing a song especially for the two of you tonight~”
With that, the Golden Fox smiled and turned, walking over to Hyacinth, who was tied on the ground, and removed the blindfold from her face.
Then she smiled gently at her.
“Miss Hyacinth, you’re much cuter when you stay quiet, you know.”
After saying that, teleportation magic activated, and the Golden Fox instantly vanished before the three of them.
Aside from the silenced Hyacinth, it was as if nothing had happened.