Mountain Lily and Tiger Lily

"I'm Mountain Lily! Hello, new teammate!"

"I'm Tiger Lily, and I hope we can get along well as teammates."

At the same moment, on the other side of the team formation plaza, Xia Liang also found her new teammates while holding her number tag.

The two magical girls, who called themselves "Mountain Lily" and "Tiger Lily," looked to be about the same age as Xia Liang herself.

As they greeted each other, the magical girl on the left, who called herself "Mountain Lily," appeared lively and seemed very welcoming of Xia Liang's arrival. She had a pair of red, slanted eyes, and while her demeanor was slightly aggressive, it didn't detract from her sweet appearance. Her crimson hair was styled into two thin pigtails on either side of her head, with a delicate lily-like hair accessory on one side, the center of which was a sparkling Heart Gem.

She wore a crimson, round-necked, front-opening blouse, which at first glance had a distinctly ancient Donghua Prefecture feel. However, this ancient charm only extended to the embroidery and cloud-shaped shoulder decorations on the surface of the garment. A closer look at the sleeves revealed that they were asymmetrical. The left sleeve was a long, wide, flowing sleeve, while the right sleeve was off-the-shoulder with a shawl draped over it. The lower garment was a white satin skirt paired with embroidered shoes that appeared to have slight heels, giving the impression of a "modern, cute skirt with a touch of ancient design."

Meanwhile, another magical girl who called herself "Tiger Lily" also smiled, but she seemed a bit more reserved. Her face bore an eight-tenths resemblance to "Mountain Lily" beside her, but her similarly slanted eyes, softened by her slightly gentler demeanor, completely lost their sharpness and instead took on a touch of allure. Her long, scarlet hair cascaded over her shoulders, and a hairpin shaped like a tiger lily adorned her head, giving her a much more demure appearance.

Her top, also designed in the ancient style of Donghua Prefecture, was a light red stand-up collar long gown. The decorative embroidery was limited to half a lily at the waist, echoing the embroidery on the other side of Mountain Lily dress. Below the gown was a red skirt-trouser that reached her ankles, paired with a pair of pointed shoes, making the whole outfit look more elegant.

Are they twins?

Xia Liang had this thought in her mind, but instead of asking immediately, she smiled sweetly and greeted them, "Hello, I'm Little Brocade. I hope we can get along well..."

But before she could finish speaking, she noticed that the girl who called herself "Mountain Lily" suddenly took two steps forward, rushed in front of her, and stared intently at her from a very close distance.

Completely baffled by the other party's intentions, but that didn't stop her from maintaining a docile and harmless demeanor, quietly observing them.

"Great, you've passed!"

A short while later, Mountain Lily took a step back, straightened up, and said with a satisfied expression, "Our team should have very good compatibility!"

"It passed?"

Xia Liang controlled her facial expression, a slight look of confusion appearing on her face. "What does this mean?"

"It means you're very cute, so you passed the interview."

Mountain Lily laughed and said, "I don't want an unlovable kid assigned to my team, because that would lower the tone of our team!"

"... Sister, I don't think these kinds of things should be said in front of others."

Tiger Lily, standing to the side, interrupted Mountain Lily with a hint of helplessness, then apologized to Xia Liang, "I'm sorry, my sister isn't a bad person, it's just that she has a slight problem with her sense of distance. She always says some very irrelevant things to people she's just met. Please forgive her."

"Elder sister?"

Seeing that the other person had used this form of address, Xia Liang readily pretended to have just noticed it and asked, "Are you sisters?"

"Hmph, you only just noticed?"

Mountain Lily tilted her head back smugly, pulled out a folding fan from somewhere, snapped it open, and pointed at Tiger Lily beside her. "That's right, I'm the older sister, and this one over here is my silly little sister."

"Actually, we are twins, and theoretically I was even born first. However, it would cause a lot of trouble if we didn't acknowledge her as the older sister, so nominally I am the younger sister."

Tiger Lily, standing to the side, politely explained, "Because we're twins, we're used to fighting together and it's hard to separate us, so we chose to designate each other as teammates."

"I see."

Xia Liang clapped her hands promptly, revealing an envious expression. "So you two are twins! That's wonderful! Being able to be magical girls together as sisters must be so much happier than being alone."

"You know a lot, Little Brocade."

The appropriate flattery immediately made Mountain Lily show a somewhat pleased expression. "Although she's a clumsy little sister, it's definitely much more comfortable to have someone share the tasks of being a magical girl."

"Actually, it wasn't as fun as you imagined..."

Tiger Lily, standing to the side, showed a somewhat subtle expression, but perhaps feeling that some things were inconvenient to say to outsiders, she changed the subject halfway through her sentence: "But please don't worry, we also know that the practical assessment focuses on team cooperation, so even though we are sisters, please don't worry too much about these things, just treat it as a normal three-person team."

"OK."

While continuing to smile in a friendly manner, Xia Liang casually asked, "So, since you're twins, do you have any unique abilities compared to ordinary magical girls?"

"Great taste! I admire you more and more!"

Mountain Lily closed her folding fan. "That's right. Because my sister and I are both magical girls, we can perform many combinations that other magical girls of the same level simply can't, achieving a synergy greater than the sum of its parts. Being drawn into our team, you've definitely hit the jackpot!"

"Wow, that's amazing!" Xia Liang continued clapping.

"Hmph, that's how powerful I am." Mountain Lily said confidently.

"Is it possible for us to defeat those people on the 'Carry Ranking'?" Xia Liang feigned innocence.

"Of course!" Mountain Lily said arrogantly.

"Wow!"

Xia Liang tried her best to make her eyes sparkle, feigning admiration. "To be able to defeat people on the Carry Ranking, you wouldn't all be at the Leaf Rank, would you?"

"Huh? Then it's definitely at the Bud Rank."

Mountain Lily looked at her, somewhat puzzled. "We're only 14 years old this year, and we've only been magical girls for a little over a year. How could we possibly be at the Leaf Rank?"

"Huh?" Xia Liang's voice suddenly faltered.

"My sister and I both became magical girls around last spring."

Tiger Lily whispered an explanation from the side, "If it were this time next year, both she and I would probably have a chance to become Leaf Rank, but this year it's just a bit..."

"But as long as I can be with my silly little sister, I won't be afraid even if I encounter Leaf Rank opponent!"

Mountain Lily put her hands on her hips and said, "Don't worry! The two of us are definitely the strongest among the Bud Rank!"

"Um, then, about the Carry Ranking I mentioned earlier..." Xia Liang cautiously asked again.

"I did a mental test," Mountain Lily said without any hesitation.

Xia Liang's expression gradually froze.

At this moment, even someone as oblivious as her should have realized that her luck in this assessment might have been rather average.