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"It's magical girl Youyue!"

A woman who had just arrived at the café pointed in Youyue's direction and shouted with delight. Her boyfriend beside her looked just as excited.

Running into a celebrity they followed on the street, it was only natural to get excited.

"Keep it down. Don't make things difficult for the magical girls!" the café owner said first instead.

"This café owner is pretty reliable. Looks like we can meet here long-term," Youyue praised.

"The longer it goes on, the more trouble there'll be," Qingyin stated calmly.

"Don't talk about ordinary fans like they're filth. This is something every magical girl has to go through," Youyue replied with a faint smile.

She waved at the couple behind her, who were clutching their phones and holding themselves back from rushing over.

The couple's defenses instantly collapsed. Just seeing their idol greet them from afar left them too happy to speak.

"Wait a moment, okay? I'm going to take a photo with them," Youyue explained.

"Polite fans are quite endearing. I should properly return their affection."

"Whatever," Qingyin answered indifferently.

Behind them came shrill cries of joy so intense they sounded on the verge of passing out, while Qingyin silently drank her absurdly sweet black coffee.

"Um..."

A cautious voice came from behind and to the side. Qingyin set down her coffee cup and turned to see the man with the phone timidly ask:

"You can sit and chat with Miss Youyue, so you're a magical girl too, right? Could I take a picture with you?"

Qingyin could clearly see the nervousness on his face, the anticipation in his eyes, and another indescribable emotion beneath it.

She understood. She understood that feeling—it was the love of a collector.

Like wanting to complete the entire catalog in a game.

His girlfriend was still tugging at Youyue, begging for more pictures, the camera flash clicking nonstop.

Yet he had come to her, which meant he had only taken one photo with Youyue.

Compared to taking pictures with magical girls, what he wanted more was another photo with a different magical girl.

"Fine." Moved by his blazing enthusiasm, Qingyin agreed.

If it were Ye Qing, he would also want a picture with every different magical girl.

"Come on, look at the camera."

Click.

Keeping an appropriate social distance, she took a picture with him. After thanking her, the man retreated to the back and opened his gallery, only to find Qingyin's pose was somewhat different.

He had made half a heart with one hand, while Qingyin gave a thumbs-up.

When he had taken a photo with Youyue, they had both made half a heart with their fingers. The other magical girls had done the same before.

He had thought it was standard practice.

Rather than disappointed or upset, his eyes lit up with delight.

He'd pulled a secret rare! He had to find time to brag about it on the forum.

"Done taking pictures?" Qingyin, who had already returned to her seat, asked Youyue when she reappeared before her.

"Done. That fan was a little enthusiastic," Youyue casually explained.

"What next?"

"Back to the Otherworld. I'll show you your duties and turn you into a true chief magical girl."

Qiubo rushed to speak. "It's my time to shine!"

Using its penguin-like flippers, it tore open the air to either side and successfully summoned a black hole leading to the Otherworld.

"Won't this hurt ordinary people?" Qingyin asked inwardly, puzzled.

"Don't worry, Qingyin. This is a passage exclusively for magical girls," Qiubo immediately replied.

She stepped into the black hole.

In a daze, she found herself standing on the land of the Otherworld.

Magical girls with contracted beasts could enter the Otherworld through their beasts' teleportation without undergoing cumbersome equipment inspections.

Qingyin turned and saw another black hole open beside her. Youyue stepped out of it, with a little thing Qingyin had never seen before by her cheek.

"Shita, my exclusive contracted beast."

Noticing Qingyin's gaze, Shita flew behind Youyue's head, and Youyue introduced it.

Magical girls could only bypass inspection and directly enter the Otherworld through contracted beasts they had personally bonded with.

"All right, you little ones have nothing to do now. Go play," Youyue told the group of mascots.

"Guga!" Qiubo was instantly overjoyed and flashed into the black-hole rift.

"They have companions of their own too. Looks like your Qiubo can't wait to show off to its friends that it contracted with you. How wonderful, Qingyin," Youyue teased with a snicker.

"Enough nonsense. Lead the way. Weren't you going to teach me how to become a chief magical girl?" Qingyin got straight to the point.

"What an impatient girl. Come with me."

Qingyin followed closely behind Youyue as they toured the mountain terrain of Otherworld District 28.

From Youyue's detailed introduction, she learned what her work would entail.

Teaching the new generation of magical girls.

As a chief magical girl, she would need to serve as the team leader and instructor for newcomers.

She had to understand each magical girl's story in the team, then guide and teach them.

When unexpected situations arose, she could not go all out and could only assist the newcomers.

For example, saving passersby they had carelessly overlooked.

By observing them, she had to calculate the losses caused by their battles and deduct the corresponding amount from their pay.

Evaluation, scoring, assistance, companionship.

Those were the duties Qingyin had to fulfill as a chief magical girl.

And a magical girl squad consisted of three magical girls. Just thinking about it gave Qingyin a headache.

After learning the details of her work, she immediately chose to discuss changing the field she would be responsible for.

She wanted to be reassigned to support other districts, fight criminal groups, evil organizations, villainous forces, and the like.

Because...

"I can't teach children," Qingyin said quickly.

She could not bring harm to later students or mislead others.

"Then don't teach them," Youyue said as though it were only natural.

Instead, she looked at Qingyin with puzzlement.

A high-EQ interpretation: confusion.

A low-EQ interpretation: looking at an idiot.

"Is your sense of responsibility too strong? I rather like this mature sense of responsibility you have." Youyue moved close and placed both hands on Qingyin's shoulders.

"They aren't little children. If you shield them from every storm, the flowers will never bloom.

Don't force your own ideas on them. Let them grow on their own, and just stop them when they do something you believe is absolutely wrong. That's part of teaching too.

Just treat them like friends your own age."

Those words dispelled Qingyin's worries about the future.

She had truly feared she might raise the magical girls in some strange direction.

If she treated them as friends, then there was nothing to be wary of.

Little did she know that Youyue had completely unleashed a demon who would speak without restraint in front of young girls.

"Once they join the association, magical girls receive several weeks of theoretical education and physical training.

You don't need to worry at all about whether to change their values or methods. That's the association's job."

After thinking for a moment, Youyue put it in terms Qingyin would understand more easily.

"You're their boss, controlling their evaluations and salaries. They're college students who just graduated."

"Got it." Qingyin understood immediately.

She had caught Youyue's meaning.

She could do things however she wished and train them however she wanted.

"Then why don't I need to attend the association's education and training?" Qingyin tilted her head.

It felt like she had skipped far too much of the story.

She still did not know much basic common knowledge related to magical girls.

"Because I recommended you." Youyue released her and walked in front of Qingyin, pointing at herself.

"District guardians can recommend newcomers to skip the troublesome theoretical beginner stage and become magical girls capable of standing on their own ahead of time."

"What's the price?" Qingyin asked.

After a recommendation, she could take the position immediately. If a magical girl skipped the learning stage and something went wrong, who would be responsible?

"The price is naturally being bound to me." Youyue pointed from herself to Qingyin.

"If you make a mistake, I'll be punished too. If you're demoted, I'll be demoted too. We can only dissolve the bond after you pass your evaluation period and earn the district director's approval.

Don't disappoint me, Qingyin."

With that, she blew Qingyin a kiss.

"Why do you trust me so much?" Qingyin was a little unused to such unearned trust.

Wasn't Youyue afraid she would betray her? Afraid she would make mistakes? Afraid she would be demoted?

Being implicated despite having done nothing at all did not feel good in the slightest.

Back when she had been a student in her previous life, a group of terrible people often used the collective as an excuse for moral coercion. Qingyin had firsthand experience with the feeling of being innocently implicated.

"Why? There is no why. A magical girl's trust needs no reason.

I trust you because I chose you. Even if I really have to be punished and demoted in the future, I'll accept it willingly." Youyue smiled brightly.

"Let me make this clear first. You won't be innocent anymore," Qingyin said bluntly.

Punishment. Demotion.

Then she would just have to take it!

"It's fine. Magical girls act according to their hearts. I chose you because of my heart too. My heart won't deceive me or lead me to make the wrong choice."

Youyue pressed a finger against her heart, her fingertip sinking into the soft flesh there and drawing Qingyin's gaze.

"You keep staring. Are you jealous?"

"Heh heh."