I Am Actually a Villainous Magical Girl, Teacher

After being wounded by the magical girl Phantom Wind, the Blue Dream Apostle had remained silent for many years, while the organization was managed on the surface by the new executive, Sha Qina.

In the shadows, however, the Blue Dream Apostle had been preparing for a comeback.

She gathered a large number of former monsters who had been laid off or fired by Sha Qina, reorganized them into her own faction, named it the Dream Creation Beast Corps, and had been working in secret toward the resurrection of the Devil King.

Finally, her hard work paid off; the Devil King had begun to awaken.

Although his resurrection was not yet complete, as long as they offered more Magic Crystals—especially those of their own kind—the Devil King could quickly be restored to his prime state.

This was why bird-type monsters had been exceptionally active in Maple Plain City recently.

With her world-class intellect, she quickly devised a method to have the monsters cause massive destruction.

--This was the reason the Crow Monster appeared at night.

She had assumed this would be a foolproof, earth-shattering move, yet an accident occurred nonetheless.

A magical girl she had never seen before appeared.

No... was she truly a magical girl?

She even felt a sense of oppression that only the Devil Kings had ever made her feel.

But why had such a powerful magical girl never appeared before, and why did she appear at night?

What a terrifying woman...

The Blue Dream Apostle, cautious as always, retreated quickly. Afterward, she saw the completely devastated streets—a hellish tapestry that even a monster in its Perfect Form could not have created.

Even though the destroyed streets were restored shortly after, the Blue Dream Apostle still felt a lingering fear.

Such a terrifying existence could perhaps only be dealt with by the Devil King himself...

She quickly reverted to her human appearance and hid among the crowd.

This time, she didn't even dare to retrieve the Crow Monster's crystal.

Since it was past ten o'clock, the streets were filled mostly with adults. Furthermore, being in the suburbs far from the city center, there were many drunks passed out on the roadside.

Dressed in her usual attire, she walked along the night street, looking slightly out of place.

From time to time, drunken men would try to strike up a conversation with her:

"Little sister... are you a high schooler? Want to go grab a drink?"

The Blue Dream Apostle simply shook her head and walked away quickly.

After walking for a while, she accidentally bumped into someone. The person seemed quite tall, and she could smell the scent of alcohol on them.

The Blue Dream Apostle's first reaction was to look up:

"I'm sorry..."

Then, she saw the person she had bumped into: it was a woman.

She was a tall woman wearing a black dress, with a gloomy temperament and a cold expression. She looked at her calmly, but suddenly revealed a thoughtful look.

So cool...

This was the Blue Dream Apostle's first reaction.

The cold, black-clad older sister before her made her heart skip a beat.

The only other woman who had given her this feeling was her Japanese teacher from her first year of high school.

Cold, ascetic, and elegant—these were the aesthetics of villainy she had always pursued, and the woman before her seemed to be the embodiment of that aesthetic.

This cold-style villainous charm made her unable to resist.

For some reason, the Blue Dream Apostle felt this woman looked a bit familiar.

Looking more closely, she froze.

"...Teacher Haihara?"

After saying goodbye to Ms. Suzuki, Haihara intended to walk home slowly. Not long after, she bumped into someone.

Looking closely, it seemed to be a girl, the very young kind.

Standing there was a girl with a white side-ponytail and clear, bright sea-blue eyes. Her face was pretty, and her figure was similar to Sakaki Chika's, but she gave off a calm and clear-headed vibe.

"If I recall correctly... it's Qingchuan, right?"

Soon, Haihara remembered this girl.

Qingchuan Lan was a student she had taught a few years ago.

She was in the same class as Kiriori and had excellent grades; in her memory, she had always been second in the grade.

As for the first place, that had always been Kiriori.

Since the other party had recognized her, she might as well greet her.

"Yes, Teacher..."

Qingchuan Lan looked a bit at a loss.

Haihara had quite a deep impression of her.

Because this brat was once a problem child in Haihara's class.

However, since she wasn't the homeroom teacher at the time, it didn't really have anything to do with her.

Come to think of it, it seems to be quite late now...

A high school senior, what is she doing around here at this hour?

Forget it, what does that have to do with her.

"It's very late now, stay safe."

She offered a cold, casual reminder, then stopped paying attention to her and walked away on her own.

Leaving Qingchuan Lan alone on the spot, covering her mouth with her small hand, her eyes sparkling as she said:

"So cool..."

Without a doubt, today's date was a bust.

Not long after the monster appeared, they couldn't even finish dinner; the two of them said their goodbyes quite simply and went their separate ways home.

Even though the atmosphere tonight had been so good.

Haihara sighed with a bit of disappointment.

However, after shopping all day, she was actually a bit tired and was about ready to go home and rest.

She was never the type of person who enjoyed shopping anyway.

But that monster that appeared tonight really did evolve into its Perfect Form.

Generally speaking, is it really that easy for a monster to evolve into its Perfect Form?

Although she didn't fully understand the principles of monster evolution, she had some knowledge about it in her memories.

When a Demon King is resurrected, the monsters corresponding to its type become more active and powerful, so it stands to reason that evolution would become much easier.

Watching the news reports recently, it seems quite a few bird-type monsters have appeared in Maple Plain City.

In other words, has the Demon King that Sha Qina mentioned a few days ago already begun its initial resurrection?

Haihara recalled the memories she had regarding the Demon Kings.

The Black Devil Kings, kings of monsters and the source of Magic Crystals, are the natural enemies of magical girls.

Naturally, they are not on the same level as ordinary monsters.

A Demon King at its peak is an existence that even the Queen of the magical girls would need to go all out to deal with.

And there are four such powerful monsters in total.

Even the magical girl in Haihara's memories would have to...

Uh, it doesn't seem like such a big deal.

Anyway, Demon Kings are very powerful beings; at the very least, the magical girls in Maple Plain City right now shouldn't be a match for them.

But the Demon Kings shouldn't be resurrected at their peak state either.

Rather, they would basically be at less than ten percent of their strength.

They are likely possessing some ordinary person with the aptitude for magic.

In other words, an ordinary person with the aptitude to be a magical girl.

Ordinary people like that are few and far between.

In a place as big as Maple Plain City, the only ordinary person with the aptitude for a magical girl is Kirishima Ai.

The others are basically all related to R'lyeh.

While Haihara was deep in thought, she had unknowingly walked to her own front door.

It was very quiet inside; the little girl Sakaki Chika had probably already gone to sleep.

Haihara took out her keys, quickly opened the door, and then gently pulled it open--

For some reason, as soon as she entered the living room, she felt a chilling atmosphere.

Then, she saw a suitcase.

This suitcase with a puppy pattern on it looked a bit familiar.

--It seemed to belong to her "filial" daughter.

Chapter 37: Filial Piety

At night, the lights were still on in Haihara's living room. Haihara sat at the dining table, waiting quietly, while the sound of "gurgling" came from the kitchen, as if something was being boiled.

Haihara just read her book quietly. During this time of night, she would occasionally read some physical books. She didn't particularly love them; she just simply liked to pass the time that way.

After a while, a black-haired girl wearing an apron walked out of the kitchen. She placed a cup of steaming hot cocoa in front of Haihara.

In the mug was a chocolate-colored hot drink with dark cocoa powder floating on top, emitting a rich fragrance along with the steam.

At this hour, the kitchen window was still open, letting in a bit of a chill, so when Haihara reached out and gently picked up her cup, she felt a faint sense of warmth.

"When did you get back?"

Blowing on the steam, Haihara looked toward Kazama Kiriori, who was wearing an apron.

"This morning."

Kazama Kiriori sat down in the seat next to Haihara, holding a cup of hot cocoa of her own, and blew on it as well.

"Is that child asleep yet?"

She was referring to Sakaki Chika.

She remembered that the girl usually went to bed quite early, so at this hour, she was likely already fast asleep.

"Mm, about half an hour ago, I think. She seemed to want to wait for you to come back... ouch, that's hot."

Kazama Kiriori took a slow sip of her hot cocoa, but she seemed to have burned herself, reaching up to touch her lips slightly.

Haihara blew on her hot cocoa with a calm expression, watching her daughter.

To be honest, she was still a bit surprised to see Kazama Kiriori suddenly return home.

However, it seemed that nothing untoward had happened to the two girls while she was away.

"Does she do anything at all while at home?"

Generally, high school girls would want to go out on the weekends, or have some interests or hobbies during their free time, but in the days she had been living with Sakaki Chika, she hadn't noticed the girl having any particular interests.

Kazama Kiriori thought for a moment:

"After she finished her homework, she cleaned up a bit and made dinner, but since she didn't wait for you, she pretty much just sat on the sofa zoning out the rest of the time..."

When Haihara was around, Sakaki Chika was much the same; aside from doing homework and studying, she basically just sat there in a daze.

Although she hadn't shown any other signs of abnormality yet, it was still a little worrying.