Chapter 210
"That's all for today, I still have to play Hide-and-Seek with other people."
"Oh, right, if you can catch me, I might grant you one small wish, okay?"
After she finished speaking, the other person sent a cute emoji, and their profile picture went dark. It's hard to say whether they really had something to say or just happened to be mindful of the appropriate boundaries in a first conversation.
Chu Yuanqing wasn't in a hurry. Knowing Charlotte well, she knew there were at least seven or eight ways to trick her out, but there was no need for that yet. She turned off her phone and, facing the gazes of Tang Liuli, Xie Qingxuan, Kiriwake Yayoi, couldn't help but feel guilty.
The three Little Idol looked at the woman with the same expression they were giving her, clearly jealous of her behavior.
Chu Yuanqing wasn't stupid; she knew she had been a bit too hasty today, which inevitably made her teammates wonder. But when she tried to explain, she couldn't come up with a proper explanation.
There's no way around it; it concerns Charlotte. Telling the truth would be too risky, and lying is even more despicable. Besides... Xiao Shu is watching here. If I'm going to explain, I'll have to do it secretly, behind my daughter's back, right?
The Pure White Witch could only offer an apologetic smile to the Little Idol, reassure them, and gesture with her eyes that she would find another opportunity to talk about it later.
So this became a minor incident, and the group continued to stroll around St. Stephen's Cathedral as planned, and began to have a lively discussion about where to eat lunch.
Austria, hundreds of kilometers from Vienna, is a small town full of medieval buildings, nestled in a glacial valley, gleaming in the midday sun.
Innsbruck is a renowned ski resort that attracts snow and ice enthusiasts from all over the world every year.
The Alps stretch endlessly, and the tranquil Rhine River flows through the city. Walking along the narrow streets of the old town, you are surrounded by Gothic buildings, Baroque gates, and Renaissance arcades, which perfectly create the atmosphere of the ancient city.
The girl hummed a lullaby, her azure hair braided up, refracting Rainbow Light like silk in the sun. Her phosphorescent pupils were tinged with light, and her delicate and lovely face was filled with a joyful smile. She stood on a corner of the street, looking at the photos on her phone with satisfaction.
"Mmm, as expected of me, the photos are really good."
Charlotte posted it on social media, then glanced at the name that stirred something within her, a name that seemed familiar. She clicked into the chat box labeled Chu Yuanqing, looked at the last reply, "Okay," her smile softening slightly. She looked up into the distance and whispered:
"Chu Yuanqing."
The more I say this name, the more familiar it feels. Could you be the person I've been waiting for?
The young woman felt a pang of regret. She had some important things to do, otherwise she would have been tempted to return to Vienna to see this familiar stranger in person.
Charlotte turned off her phone and, like an untouched fairy, stepped into the late summer sunlight. She softly sang her favorite song, and the entire town was stirred by a quiet yet immense Heart Tide, as if the town was being gently cleansed of all its hidden grime by her stroll.
During this period, in every corner of the small town, dark fog would occasionally appear, like spring snow melting in the sunlight, dissipating between heaven and earth. The [Calamity Species] hidden everywhere would die silently under the extremely terrifying dominance, like crushed insect eggs.
The pendant on her chest shone brightly.
The lanterns are like gemstones made up of thousands of facets, each facet shimmering with different shades of light, with a base of blue, green, purple, pink, and black, resembling the dome of the Crystal Church in the town of Wattens, or Charlotte's eyes.
Even without constructing Magic Armor, the Shine Magic unleashed using only the lantern as the axis still surpasses the strength that most Witch teams can weave.
Therefore, this Saintess of the Holy United States had to shoulder some responsibility for eliminating calamities.
Charlotte usually had to suppress the forbidden areas, but the unusual activity of [Pure White] had intensified the suppression of the forbidden areas, making things much easier for her. She only needed to follow the country's plan step by step.
As for the present, due to the acceleration of the <Flash Dance> project and the attack on the Sea Capital competition area, it has become the task of this Saintess to clear the [Calamity Species] and hidden Calamity Beasts from the commercial performance venue in advance.
Of course, for Charlotte, this task is not a heavy burden. She can unleash large-scale Shine Magic without singing, and can take care of the competition tasks while also traveling, having fun, and playing hide-and-seek with her fans.
On the other hand, this is also the problem of not being able to teleport instantly. Even if Charlotte worked around the clock, she couldn't clear out many territories by herself, as the Holy United States alone was simply too large.
According to Dream Weaver Rabbit's estimate, without affecting the Saintess's body, she can at most clear out Austria and the surrounding small countries in 45 days, but she can't protect the safety of many competition zones.
Unfortunately, contestants from each region are scattered across dozens of locations for commercial performances, affecting a very wide area, making it impossible to cover everything.
Logically speaking, setting up a competition format for commercial performances is unreasonable for the sake of the contestants' safety.
The problem is that, whether it's the [Witch] trainees or the [Fuel] and [Calamity Shell] trainees, if they want to grow as quickly as possible, they can only rely on the stage, and specifically a stage with a live audience.
If we consider the stage as a ritual and idols as a medium, then the audience is a finite pool of energy.
The reason is simple: emotions have a threshold, and willpower and concentration also have an upper limit.
Flash Dance can certainly attract a large audience with Third Performance, but with dozens of teams involved and hundreds of stages swelled up, the experience points are barely distributed among the participants.
For example, last time, Chu Yuanqing's team consumed at least 70% of the audience's votes in the second Public Performance, leaving the other teams with almost no experience to share. This has led to the Little Idol from Capital showing a trend of their overall quality slightly surpassing that of Sea Capital.
Therefore, with only 4 months left in [Pure White], the optimal solution at present is to have each team perform in different places and share a large amount of experience points, thus enabling them to grow rapidly.
This is a conservative policy that takes into account the psychological factors of the contestants; otherwise, it would be more likely that the talent show format would be completely abandoned and a militaristic, centralized system would be used to mass-produce stages indefinitely.
However, the brilliance of the Shine Magic stems from the beautiful emotions in the hearts of idols and the audience. These elements, which must be pure and dreamlike—love, desire, emotion, and persistence—cannot be built on forced and mass-produced performances.
This is a high-stakes gamble that puts humanity's fate on the stage; no one can know the final outcome.
Volume 1: 201. [Amaterasu], The Blessing She Bestowed. (6K6)
The weather in Vienna was exceptionally bright in the afternoon.
Chu Yuanqing's dignified yet adorable face showed a bewildered expression as she walked along the street, carrying a large bouquet of baby's breath, sage, yellow roses, and chamomile, among other things.
These flowers were so scattered, given to me by strangers along the Danube River along my journey: an old man singing Mozart on the street, a kind white-haired couple, a little girl tugging at her mother's clothes, offering her a pink Ronsard gemstone...
Of course, there were also some local college students who tried to chat her up, both male and female. And because they saw how many flowers she was carrying, they all developed a strange habit of giving her a flower as well, which resulted in her carrying so many flowers that she had to buy old newspapers on the street to wrap them up.
Chu Yuanqing was somewhat troubled.
Although she tried to restrain her charm, after a brief exchange with Charlotte of the New Era, her mood improved uncontrollably, and the pleasant emotions she felt infused into the Lantern Gem, creating a shallow, lingering Heart Tide phenomenon.
As for forcibly suppressing the lantern...
This goes against the little guy's nature and will make it feel very wronged.
Even though she's easy to coax afterward, she doesn't consider herself a bad person who would bully small animals!
--Unless the lantern activates some strange vibration mode.
In short, this allows those who see the Pure White Witch on the street to not only share similar joy and happiness, but also experience that sacred and all-encompassing love, and an atmosphere more solemn than the bells of St. Stephen's Cathedral.
The combination of these three factors makes passersby want to get closer, yet unconsciously respect the flowers, ultimately leading to the awkward situation of having so many flowers that they are almost too many to hold.
Sakura Idol was taking pictures of the scenery along the way, and she also captured the scene of Chu Yuanqing receiving flowers. She was unsure whether to marvel at the charm of the Pure White Witch or the simple and warm hospitality of the people of Vienna.
Because besides Chu Yuanqing, the other Little Idol around him were also "spread the love" and received many fresh and fragrant bouquets.
It's worth mentioning that, apart from Chu Yuanqing, Xie Qingxuan and Tang Liuli received the most flowers.
This is probably because Xie Qingxuan is of mixed race, and her appearance is more in line with the local aesthetic standards.
Tang Liuli's situation was similar; her eyes were a tranquil emerald green, and coincidentally, green was one of Vienna's favorite colors. Perhaps, in the eyes of the locals, meeting her was a stroke of good luck.
Yes, that fits the image of a cat mascot perfectly.
Unfortunately, the Green Eyed Cat was preoccupied with worries due to the appearance of a formidable rival, and Xie Qingxuan was also pondering how to win Qing Bao's favor. Only the Little Cotton-padded Jacket was immersed in the joy of playing with her friends and was very happy.
Chu Wangshu lowered her eyes to look at the bouquet in her arms, and asked curiously:
"Xiao Qing is so charming! Nobody in Austria even knows us."
Chu Yuanqing felt ashamed upon hearing this. She really didn't want to display any of that kind of charm in front of her daughter; what difference was there between that and public execution?!
Actually, it's because of her sacred aura that can cleanse the desires in one's heart and awaken the pure goodness within, which makes all those who try to talk to her extremely polite. Otherwise, there would definitely be many people asking for her contact information, which would only make things more awkward.
"... Maybe it's because the people here are very welcoming."
After Chu Yuanqing gave a dry explanation, he changed the subject and said:
"We're almost at the Schönbrunn Palace; we can have lunch there."
Kiriwake Yayoi responded:
"I saw some good restaurants online, and I heard that one of them has really good apple rolls."
Chu Wangshu counted the calories in the sugar on her fingers, and said with a troubled expression:
"While it's true that you shouldn't be too meticulous about calorie counting when you're out having fun, if you indulge too much, you'll definitely gain so much weight in a month that it'll affect your appearance on camera, right?"
"After all, our training time has been reduced significantly due to missions, and our exercise volume is less than half of what it is at the base."
Upon hearing this, all the Little Idol except Xie Qingxuan were jolted awake, realizing the formidable enemy called calories.
Chu Yuanqing found the girls' reactions somewhat adorable. Having lost her sense of taste for a long time, she had a very low appetite and didn't care much about her weight.
Well, to be precise, she doesn't care at all about that unless it's those very embarrassing and erotic parts that gain weight.
On the other hand, as ideal beings, Magical Girl's body size and weight are not affected by the energy they ingest in the Material World.
This also applies to the four teammates who are currently undergoing [Witch transformation].
Currently, after the second Public Performance, Yayoi has achieved 100% resonance with the artificial lantern and has recently begun to transform her Life Form, showing remarkable progress every day.
Once this transformation is complete, the stage of accumulating magic power will officially begin.
After that, once the magic power accumulates to the fullest, the [Lighting Up] can be completed, the Magic Armor can be initially constructed, and the girl can become a true Magical Girl.
Chu Yuanqing had calculated that even if Yayoi didn't perform on any stage now, based on her natural growth rate, she could still approach [Lighting Up] before the Third Performance. With a commercial performance added, becoming Magical Girl was already a certainty.
As for the other Little Idol, their progress is roughly the same. Considering the evolution of the ideal idol, they may even surpass Kiriwake Yayoi at any time.
Therefore, calories have lost their meaning for them, allowing them to relax, indulge in unrestrained eating, and indulge in whatever they want.
Unable to reveal the full story, Chu Yuanqing could only offer her advice in a different way:
"It's okay, we can only play for a few days anyway. It's fine to indulge ourselves for the first ten days. Don't think too much about it, just make sure you lose weight in the following month."
To be honest, even without the Magical Girl's constitution, she still thought her Little Cotton-padded Jacket was cuter when she was a bit chubby, so of course she wouldn't let her be so "self-disciplined" right now.
After listening, everyone agreed that it made sense, and temporarily put aside their body image anxieties, taking a leisurely stroll along the street.
Although they had already visited St. Stephen's Cathedral, they weren't in a hurry to hail a taxi.
These Little Idol are public figures, and they are quite popular in Great Xia. It's hard for them to be as free and unburdened as they are in Austria, without any idol baggage.
Therefore, rather than admiring famous scenic spots, people cherish more this free time of walking on the street, without any pretense, and basking in the sunshine.
Moreover, for tourists who have never been to Vienna, shopping is a very interesting activity in itself, not to mention the series of favorability events that the Pure White Witch triggers with the "NPCs" on the roadside.
Kiriwake Yayoi even suspected that if she took Xiao Qing shopping for a few more days, she could easily gather enough footage for a three-hour vlog, which would still be very entertaining, because she had never seen any celebrity receive such adoration in a foreign country without relying on their fame.
The fact that Chu Yuanqing so popular, coupled with the sudden appearance of Charlotte, completely ignited a sense of crisis in the hearts of the three Little Idol. They were now brewing all sorts of strange plans in their minds to make a big breakthrough in their relationship with each other.
So, during their shopping trip, the Little Idol separated for a while and started having mischievous ideas, all suggesting that they have an hour of free time before heading to the Schönbrunn Palace.
Chu Yuanqing naturally agreed. She sat on an old bench by the street, holding a large bouquet of flowers, like a figure stepping out of a painting. Bathed in the clear light, she blended into the street environment, replacing the artistic graffiti on the walls and the colorful shop windows, becoming the most eye-catching sight here.
Xie Qingxuan turned into a lingerie store called Exquisite.
Little Sakura and the Green Eyed Cat sensed something was wrong and quietly followed behind each other, but soon their faces turned red as they withdrew and went their separate ways.
Kiriwake Yayoi went to a charming little shop with an exquisite window display. It had everything, a combination of a secondhand shop and a department store, with many strange and wonderful trinkets. She picked out some drawing paper, paint, and brushes.
After much deliberation, I bought a model ball of St. Stephen's Cathedral, a beautiful enamel cake jar, two wine glasses engraved with green vines and stained with gold leaf, and a vintage handbag with intricate embroidery.
Tang Liuli thought for a long time before walking into a Swarovski crystal store. She only had a few million left in her account in Great Xia, but she had another card in the Holy United States, which her mother gave her when she was a child. It was worth even more when converted into Great Xia currency.
However, considering Xiao Qing's family background and spending habits, she could only regretfully give up those expensive crystal ornaments that were practically luxury items, and instead chose a classic swan necklace.
One of them has a silver frame, decorated with faceted crystals, and a wing-shaped cutout in the center to hold a hand-cut sapphire.
This is the finishing touch to the necklace. If you place the swan in the sunlight, the central gemstone will tremble slightly, and every facet will refract light evenly, like shimmering clear water, making it look exceptionally beautiful.
The reason why Green Eyed Cat chose it is simple: the design of this accessory and the brooch she endorses— Moon Wing —both feature elements of wings and sapphires, making them look quite compatible.
As for the price, it's only a little over a thousand euros. Just tear off the label and invoice and say it's 100 euros.
Chu Wangshu wasn't so extravagant. She also secretly wanted to give Xiao Qing a gift and bring her Dad some local specialties, but her budget was really limited.
Well, although Chu Yuanqing took advantage of the meeting during the second Public Performance to transfer all the money in her original account to Little Cotton-padded Jacket as living expenses, after chatting with her, Dream Weaver Rabbit very sensibly transferred another amount in her own name that would not arouse suspicion.
However, ingrained consumption habits formed over many years cannot be completely reversed in a short period of time.
Furthermore, the Little Cotton-padded Jacket had a clear understanding of her Dad's savings. She was shocked when she received the 50,000 yuan from Dream Weaver Rabbit and seriously suspected that her Dad had not kept any money at all, leaving only living expenses.
Thus, a sense of mission to help manage the family finances arose spontaneously.
In this situation, it's good enough to save money on food, clothing, and daily necessities, let alone spend it extravagantly.
Chu Wangshu wandered around for a while without any ideas, so she simply went into a vinyl record store and browsed around like an archaeologist.
There aren't many old shops like this still open in Vienna. The fact that the owner has kept it running for so long shows he's a true music lover. The shop has a vintage feel to it, but it's kept very clean.
The Little Cotton-padded Jacket looked at it for a long time, and finally found a Kath Bloom book, "Come Here," at the bottom of a dusty trunk on the floor. Her eyes lit up, she wiped the dust off with a tissue, and bought it for 4 euros.
This is a piece of music from the song "Before Sunrise".
This old movie, which is older than me, tells a classic love story. It's about a man and a woman who are complete strangers who meet in a train carriage, chat happily all the way, and don't want to part even when the train stops in Vienna.
So they decided to stay in the city for one night, and confirmed their relationship when they talked until dawn. At the end of the movie, before going their separate ways, they agreed to meet again at the train station platform six months later.
Chu Wangshu felt that her Dad lacked this kind of romantic element. After thinking for a moment, she bought a souvenir canvas bag for the movie, put the cleaned records inside, and went out of the store to pick out a gift for Xiao Qing.