Magical Girls Exposed!

Xiao Chun analyzed it like this.

The three of them hit a dead end in their discussion and fell silent at the same time.

Nino, off to the side, did not join in. She simply lay lazily on the ground basking in the sun, her tail swishing back and forth.

Then, in the midst of the silence, a cheerful ringtone sounded from Xiao Chun.

The ringtone drew the attention of all three. Xiao Chun took out her phone and glanced at it before suddenly jumping to her feet.

"Oh no! It's already this late!"

"Ah?" Chen Xiaoxia looked at the clock, which showed 1:45 p.m., utterly confused. "What time?"

It did not seem to be time to get off work yet.

And today was not a holiday, much less anyone's birthday...

"Ah..."

Xiao Chun suddenly froze. Her gaze darted around as she murmured,

"Um... well... that... manga! Right, the manga release time! Today's release is a limited edition, and if I miss it, I won't be able to get one, so... I'm leaving first!"

After saying that, Xiao Chun hurried out of the room, leaving Yu Muqiu and Chen Xiaoxia staring at each other.

After quite a while, Chen Xiaoxia narrowed her eyes and said,

"Something's off. There's definitely something going on!"

Nino, who had clearly been sunbathing nearby, actually came over as well. Mimicking Chen Xiaoxia, she narrowed her eyes, rubbed her chin, and nodded.

"There is indeed something suspicious."

"Come on, let's follow her and see!"

Chen Xiaoxia grabbed Nino, scooped her into her arms, and prepared to chase after Xiao Chun.

Yu Muqiu looked at Chen Xiaoxia hesitantly. "Isn't this a little inappropriate...?"

"What's inappropriate about it? Xiao Qiu, have you ever seen Xiao Chun act all hesitant and evasive before? The way she acted just now made it obvious she's hiding something from us!"

Chen Xiaoxia said righteously, "To keep Xiao Chun from being tricked by bad people, it's our duty to follow her, protect her, and see what she's up to!"

"..."

Even if all of us got scammed, Xiao Chun probably never would... Yu Muqiu wanted to say that, but in the end, her curiosity overwhelmed her reason.

And so, half-willingly, Yu Muqiu was dragged by Xiaoxia to follow Xiao Chun out of headquarters.

What surprised them was that the moment Xiao Chun left headquarters, she transformed into a magical girl and flew into the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Qiu: "..."

Xiaoxia: "..."

Nino: "...That direction seems to be Rock City?"

The two of them: "???"

"Mr. Fang, you now have administrative authority over the website."

Fang Ming sat in the Rock City branch of the Investigation Department. An official seated before him was personally teaching him how to use his permissions on the Magical Girl Website to edit its information.

After finishing his explanation, the official added,

"However, even with these permissions, there will be monthly evaluations and reviews. If you fail either the evaluation or review, we will revoke your access. I hope you understand, Mr. Fang."

"I understand, I understand. I'm not going to use the permissions to make random changes everywhere. I just feel that some of the wording and descriptions on the site are a little inappropriate, so I wanted to revise them myself."

Fang Ming explained.

The official smiled. "Understood. The magical girls feel the same way, and they each have their own permissions to edit entries as well.

"Mr. Fang, you also want to change your own description, right? But please do not make your personal description differ too much from reality.

"Although the Magical Girl Website is largely intended for entertainment, it is still an official website. Please exercise restraint, Mr. Fang."

Unlike serious encyclopedia sites and the actual official internal websites concerning Nightmares, Demons, magical girls, and the like, the Magical Girl Website was an entertainment site launched by the authorities to give the public an outlet.

Still, it was ultimately an official site. Small-scale edits were fine, but they could not go too far.

Fang Ming nodded. Suddenly thinking of something, he asked the official,

"By the way, who is the person in charge of this website...?"

"Oh, she is..."

"Sorry... sorry! I'm late!"

Before the official could finish, the door was kicked open with a bang. Murong Xiaochun rushed in, slightly out of breath. Upon seeing Fang Ming, she immediately returned to her usual gentle demeanor and said to the two of them,

"Sorry for keeping you waiting. And long time no see, Brother Fang Ming."

She gave Fang Ming a smile at the end.

Fang Ming looked at the Xiao Chun who had burst in with surprise, then turned toward the staff member beside him, who nodded at him.

He immediately understood.

It seemed the person in charge of the Magical Girl Website was Murong Xiaochun.

Murong Xiaochun

[Name: Murong Xiaochun

Alias: Xiao Chun, Chun-chan, Mama Xiaochun, Classmate Murong (first appearance)

Representative color: light green

Magic: Arrows, Healing

Character introduction:

A character appearing in Magical Girl Xiao Qiu, first appearing during the ending of Episode 2.

She is a classmate of Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia, in the same grade and school but a different class.

Born into a scholarly family, she is an outstanding student at school. Due to the immense pressure from her family environment, she goes out every night to clear her head and occasionally feeds the stray animals nearby.

At the beginning of Episode 3, her grades drop slightly and she is scolded by her mother. While feeling down, she unexpectedly meets Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia, who are searching for Nightmare Seeds.

As a result, she becomes caught up in a Nightmare Barrier and witnesses the world of magical girls firsthand.

When Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia are fighting Demons and begin to lose ground, Nino tells her that she has the aptitude to become a magical girl. She voluntarily becomes one and helps Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia defeat the Demons.

In Episode 4, she comes to Rock City with Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia during summer vacation to search for Nightmare Seeds. When Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia are suppressed by the 'Speed Demon,' she appears and attacks it, but nearly suffers severe injuries at its hands.

Fortunately, Magical Girl Xiao Bai helps her escape disaster.]

The moment he saw Murong Xiaochun, Fang Ming recalled the information related to this magical girl.

Fang Ming was not unfamiliar with Murong Xiaochun.

After all, she had stayed at Fang Ming's home for quite a long time, and he often dealt with Murong Xiaochun when she was acting as a magical girl.

Compared to the innocent and lively Yu Muqiu and the single-minded Chen Xiaoxia, Fang Ming actually had a better relationship with Murong Xiaochun.

Perhaps because of her family background, Murong Xiaochun behaved very maturely, giving Fang Ming the feeling that he was talking with someone his own age.

It might have been a little rude to Xiao Chun to put it that way, but that was indeed what Fang Ming thought.

Xiao Chun was indeed well suited to manage the Magical Girl Website.

"Brother Fang Ming, why are you looking at me like that?"

After the official left, Murong Xiaochun tilted her head and looked at Fang Ming in surprise as they were left alone.

Fang Ming smiled and answered,

"It's nothing. I just didn't expect the three girls who stayed at my house back then to all be magical girls."

"..."

Murong Xiaochun blushed slightly at his words and lowered her head. "Sorry, Brother Fang Ming. We didn't mean to hide it from you."

"Why are you apologizing to me? I'm not angry. I just think..." Fang Ming trailed off.

He had wanted to say that becoming magical girls was too dangerous, but upon further thought, that would make him sound like Magical Girl Xiao Bai.

To distinguish himself from her, Fang Ming hesitated briefly before saying to Xiao Chun,

"...I just think you've all worked too hard."

For some reason, Murong Xiaochun took a deep breath upon hearing Fang Ming's words, as though steadying herself, before immediately replying,

"It's nothing, it's not hard at all! After all... no Demons have appeared recently. Aside from being trained by the authorities in some combat techniques, we don't have anything else to do. Our normal... normal lives are still the same."

"Is that so? That's good, then."

Fang Ming nodded, seemingly relieved.

Yet he felt that the Demons could not possibly give up so quickly, nor could the magical girls truly remain peaceful forever like this.

Even though Fang Ming felt that Magical Girl Xiao Qiu would most likely end outright after its first season.

But... what if? What if there really was a second season, or a spinoff, or the first season's characters became side-story characters...

Any of those things could happen.

After all, even the Pretty Cures next door had to be dragged back into battle after becoming adults and getting jobs. These girls were no exception.

Still, compared to the other magical girls, who could only rely on themselves and their companions, this group of magical girls now had the country behind them. There probably... would not be any major problems?

Fang Ming got a little carried away in his thoughts and remained silent for a long time. Murong Xiaochun, however, did not think that much about it. She simply cherished this rare time alone with Fang Ming.

That was right.

Xiao Chun liked Brother Fang Ming.

It was not a sudden affection. If nothing unexpected happened, the matter between Xiao Chun and Brother Fang Ming would be explained in the upcoming Episode 6 or Episode 7.

Because Xiao Chun remembered that after they learned the Wisdom Demon was a creature formed from multiple Nightmare Seeds gathered together, they began special magic training.

And then...

They encountered a second Wisdom Demon.

It was a Demon that appeared in a lake in Rock City. Xiao Chun was the first to discover it and fought it, but because Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia did not arrive in time, Xiao Chun fought that Demon together with the mysterious magical girl Xiao Bai.

Then, near the end of the battle, Xiao Chun was dragged underwater by that Demon alone and nearly died.

The one who ultimately saved Xiao Chun was Fang Ming.

Although Xiao Chun did not remember how she got from the bottom of the lake to its surface, she clearly remembered that when she regained consciousness, Fang Ming was the first person she saw.

Childhood sweethearts, spending every day together, and a life-saving favor were all circumstances that could most easily breed affection.

Fang Ming had saved Xiao Chun, and it was from that moment onward that Xiao Chun began paying attention to him.

Then... gradually, that attention turned into affection.

But Xiao Chun never dared to say it aloud to Fang Ming, because she knew Fang Ming only saw her as a younger sister.

There was not the slightest trace of improper desire toward Xiao Chun or the other girls in his eyes.

But precisely because of that, Xiao Chun liked Fang Ming even more.

On top of that, Fang Ming was a writer with physical books in publication. For Xiao Chun, who came from a scholarly family, that was an even bigger bonus.

Unfortunately, Xiao Chun did not dare take the initiative, while Fang Ming had no other feelings for her. All she could do was hide her feelings in her heart.

However...

Xiao Chun secretly glanced at Fang Ming, who was seriously reviewing the website, then lowered her head with a smile.

But this was good too. As long as she could stay by Brother Fang Ming's side, she was already content.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Outside the window, Chen Xiaoxia had used Yu Muqiu's Light Magic to turn invisible. Together with Yu Muqiu and Nino, she secretly watched the scene inside the meeting room.

Chen Xiaoxia clicked her tongue repeatedly, while Nino cooperatively made strange noises along with her.