Contract Beast

Abyss Return Organization cadres could leave the base at any time.

The boss had never restricted the cadres. On the contrary, he encouraged them to exercise their own initiative.

They could do whatever they wanted, as long as they did not miss the weekly meetings.

Then, at the meetings, they had to report what they had been doing recently.

They could not seem too outrageous, nor could they seem too useless. They needed to strike an appropriate balance.

They could split an important matter across several weeks of reports, then read out a prepared script on meeting day. It was enough for the boss to approve it after listening.

In truth, Ye Qing did not need to clock in for work, nor did he need to sit in the office every day. He could freely have fun outside or stay home all day.

The only reason he did not do that was because the boss was too kind and had awakened his conscience.

So much vacation, so little work, such generous pay—he was already doing nothing all day. If he did not even come to work, Ye Qing always felt he owed them too much.

He could not take this money with a clear conscience, you know?

Once he clocked in every day, he could feel at ease.

Of course, it was also to avoid exposing himself. Staying in the office gave him an excuse.

If he stayed outside without achieving anything, he could easily be demoted or even fired.

It was never wrong to be cautious.

Anyway, whenever he had personal matters to handle, he could simply leave Abyss Return and clock out early. No one stopped him.

This time was no exception.

Inside a café.

Ye Qing, transformed into her magical girl form—Qingyin—sat in a corner of the café. Across from her sat the ever-smiling Youyue.

"Sugar cubes specially requested for Qingyin." Youyue pointed at the sugar jar.

"If you know my taste, why not just order sweet coffee?" Qingyin asked, somewhat puzzled.

She even had to specifically order a cup of black coffee and add sugar herself.

"Well... the café owner is someone with quite a story. He only makes various kinds of black coffee and allows customers to add their own sugar, but he absolutely refuses to make sweet coffee," Youyue explained with a sigh.

Qingyin had nothing to say. Who knew how much information Youyue had dug up about this café while Qingyin was away, simply because she was bored?

With her bad luck, their first meeting had been at this kind of café.

As a result, every time they met here, she had to add sugar herself.

Qingyin began using the little tongs to add sugar cubes to her coffee one by one.

"What is the process for signing a Contract Beast?" Qingyin asked as she added sugar.

She had come mainly to sign a Contract Beast and form a magical girl team.

Once the important business was done, she could think about chatting or having fun.

"Before signing a Contract Beast, you naturally have to get to know the Contract Beast first." A cloud of purple qi floated before Youyue, and two familiar little flying creatures emerged from it.

Wazi and Qiubo.

"So it's you two." Qingyin raised her eyes to look at them, though her hand did not stop moving.

"You know them? That's great." Youyue raised a hand and briefly introduced them.

"These two are Wazi and Qiubo, the two Contract Beasts of Bailan City.

"Wazi is a Contract Beast that perfectly embodies Bailan City's philosophy. Qiubo is still young and has yet to comprehend the city's true essence."

"What is Bailan City's philosophy?"

"Lying flat."

"..."

Qingyin's hand froze as she picked up a sugar cube, and she muttered inwardly.

What a terrible pun.

"What do Contract Beasts do?" Qingyin asked again.

She did not need anyone to teach her how to lie flat.

"A Contract Beast is a magical girl's agent. Whether you want to take on missions, travel to other districts, appear in variety shows or movies, or arrange your schedule, you can leave it all to your Contract Beast," Youyue answered.

"What about my identity?"

"Don't worry. If you do not wish to expose yourself, the Contract Beast will not intrude on your daily life, nor will it be able to find you."

"Let us introduce ourselves first," Wazi suggested after the topic ended.

"That's right. I stole your job." Youyue agreed, taking a sip of the bitter black coffee.

"Hello, magical girl Qingyin, I am—"

"Sign with Qiubo."

Qingyin interrupted Wazi before he could finish.

Wazi immediately turned to stare at Qiubo. Qiubo was slow to react, making a confused sound like a penguin from some fan creation.

"Hey? Does Qiubo mean me?"

"Tell me what each of us gains from signing a contract, Qiubo." Qingyin took a sip of coffee loaded with half a jar of sugar. It was so sweet it cloyed her throat.

At last, it was drinkable.

"Um... uh..."

With Youyue, Qingyin, and his senior Wazi all staring at him, Qiubo inevitably grew nervous.

Like a socially anxious fresh graduate at his first interview, he stammered.

"We Contract Beasts gain a small amount of the contracted magical girl's magic power. With the magical girl's permission, we can absorb her magic power as food. Magic power nourishes our growth.

"The stronger the magical girl we sign, the faster we grow and the stronger we become. The magical girl may unilaterally terminate the contract and refuse to provide magic power.

"We can sign contracts with six magical girls in total. Once we exceed six, we cannot sign any more. Even beings made of magic power like us have limited energy.

"Magical girls gain a Contract Beast that will come whenever called. By transmitting magic power into the contract, the Contract Beast can tear through space and arrive.

"Scheduling work and travel, accepting commission missions, buying plane tickets and medicine, accessing the Otherworld Association—magical girls can call on us for all of this daily-life-related work."

Qiubo explained everything in exceptional detail, even informing Qingyin of Contract Beast common knowledge that she had not asked about.

He waited anxiously for Qingyin's answer, caring intensely about what HR thought of him right now.

An agent assistant?

After thinking it over, Qingyin extended her index finger before Qiubo.

"How do we sign it?"

"I'll do it, I'll do it!" Qiubo was overjoyed and hurriedly hugged Qingyin's finger.

He pressed his forehead against her index finger and began drawing a tiny, incomprehensible magic circle.

"What a pity," Wazi said regretfully.

He was one person short of having all six slots filled.

For that final slot, he had hoped for a powerful magical girl.

Along with the five magical girls he had already signed, who had now grown stronger, reaching the next stage was only a matter of time.

Unfortunately, Qiubo had gotten the advantage.

"The contract is complete!" Qiubo said delightedly.

The process had gone especially smoothly. Qingyin's magic power had not resisted in the slightest.

Qingyin could sense a faint connection with the penguin Contract Beast before her. She could use magic power to summon him at any time.

It was like calling "pspsps" when seeing a puppy and having it automatically run over to her.

"Such, such pure magic power!" Qiubo exclaimed instinctively.

The magic power that poured into him after the contract made him cry out. The entire penguin was enveloped in white light, instantly undergoing a growth evolution.

"Gugu gaga! I've surpassed you, bro! I'm so strong now!"

"Can I return him?" Qingyin looked at his bizarre cries and words, suddenly losing all affection for him.

This penguin seemed to be a different penguin.

He now looked nothing like the one that gave out Q Coins.

"No, no! I was wrong, I was wrong."

Like an eager puppy, Qiubo flew to Qingyin's face and rubbed against her left cheek, then her right cheek, trying to please her.

"Isn't a lively one cute too?" Youyue persuaded with a smile.

"Our attributes conflict," Qingyin said something incomprehensible.

"What attributes?" Youyue asked in confusion.

Penguins and Ye Qing shared the same idiot attribute.

What was this, birds of a feather flocking together?

Hah, an evil Contract Beast using its cute appearance to deceive an innocent magical girl.

She had thought it would be a wealthy Contract Beast that could support her and let her live without worries about food or clothing.