Fans

"It's Magical Girl Youyue!"

A woman who had just entered the café pointed in Youyue's direction and cried out joyfully. Her boyfriend beside her looked just as excited.

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

"Keep it down. Don't make things difficult for the Magical Girl," the café owner said first instead.

"This café owner is pretty reliable. Looks like we can meet here for a long time," 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 something filthy. This is something every Magical Girl has to go through," Youyue replied with a faint smile.

She waved at the couple behind them, who were holding up their phones and barely restraining themselves from rushing over.

That single gesture instantly sank the couple's defenses. Merely seeing their idol greet them from afar left both of them too happy for words.

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

"Polite fans are very endearing. I should properly respond to their affection."

"Whatever," Qingyin answered indifferently.

Delighted shrieks, so shrill they nearly broke, came from behind them as Qingyin silently drank her extremely 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 here and chat with Miss Youyue, so you're a Magical Girl too, right? Could I take a photo with you?"

Qingyin could clearly see the nervousness on his face, the anticipation in his eyes, and an indescribable emotion mixed within.

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

Like wanting to complete every entry in a game's collection.

His girlfriend was still clinging to Youyue, begging for more pictures as the camera flashed nonstop.

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

Compared to taking a photo with a Magical Girl, what he wanted more was another photo with a different Magical Girl.

"Fine." Moved by his fervent feelings, Qingyin agreed.

If it were Ye Qing, he would also want a photo with every different Magical Girl.

"Come on, look at the camera."

Click.

Keeping an appropriate social distance, she took a photo with him. After thanking her, the man stepped back and opened his gallery, only to notice that Qingyin's pose was different.

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

When he had taken a photo with Youyue, both of them had made half-heart gestures with their fingers. It had been the same with the other Magical Girls before.

He had thought it was some kind of convention.

Rather than disappointment or sadness, delight shone in his eyes.

I got a hidden variant! He had to find time to brag about this on the forums.

"Done with the photos?" Qingyin asked Youyue, who had returned to her seat early.

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

"What next?"

"Back to the Otherworld. I'll show you what your duties are and make you a true Chief Magical Girl."

Qiubo jumped in first. "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 in confusion.

"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 who had contracted Contract Beasts could enter the Otherworld through their Contract Beasts' teleportation, without needing to undergo the 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 now at the side of her face.

"Shita, my exclusive Contract Beast."

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

Magical Girls could only bypass inspection and enter the Otherworld directly through a Contract Beast they had personally contracted.

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

"Guga!" Qiubo was instantly overjoyed and flashed into a crack in the black hole.

"They have companions of their own too. Looks like your Qiubo can't wait to show off its contract with you to its friends. You're really impressive, 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 job entailed.

Teaching New-Generation Magical Girls.

As a Chief Magical Girl, she needed to serve as the leader and instructor for the new generation.

She needed to understand every Magical Girl's story within the team, then guide and teach them.

When unexpected situations arose, she could not go all out. She could only assist the new generation.

For example, she would save passersby they had accidentally overlooked.

Through observation, she would calculate the losses caused by their battles and deduct the corresponding amount from their pay.

Evaluation, scoring, assistance, companionship.

Those were the duties Qingyin needed to fulfill as a Chief Magical Girl.

And a Magical Girl squad had three Magical Girls. Just thinking about it gave Qingyin a headache.

After learning exactly what her work would involve, she decisively chose to discuss it, hoping to switch to another area of responsibility.

Something like supporting other districts, fighting criminal groups, Evil Organizations, or villainous forces.

Because...

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

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

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

She instead looked at Qingyin with confusion.

In polite terms, confusion.

In blunt terms, she looked at her like an idiot.

"Are you too responsible? I actually like that sense of adult responsibility you have." Youyue moved closer affectionately and placed both hands on Qingyin's shoulders.

"They aren't little children. If you only shelter them from wind and rain, the flowers will never bloom.

Don't force your own ideas on them through education. Just let them grow on their own, and stop them when they do something you believe is absolutely wrong. That's also part of education.

Just treat them like friends your own age."

Those words dispelled Qingyin's worries about the future.

She had truly feared she might raise those Magical Girls in some strange direction.

If she treated them as friends, there was nothing to be so cautious about.

Little did she know that Youyue had completely unleashed the demon who would speak without restraint before teenage girls.

"When Magical Girls join the association, they undergo several weeks of theoretical education and physical training.

You don't need to consider whether you should change their values or methods. That's the association's job."

After thinking for a moment, Youyue put it in terms Qingyin could better understand.

"You're their boss. You control their evaluations and salaries, and they're fresh college graduates."

"Got it." Qingyin understood immediately.

She understood what Youyue meant.

She could do things as she pleased and train them however she wanted.

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

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

There was a great deal of basic knowledge related to Magical Girls that she still did not know.

"Because I recommended you." Youyue released her hands, stepped in front of Qingyin, and pointed at herself.

"District Guardians can recommend that New-Generation Magical Girls skip the troublesome initial theoretical stage and become Magical Girls capable of standing on their own ahead of schedule."

"What's the cost?" Qingyin asked.

She had been recommended and immediately promoted. If an existence like a Magical Girl skipped the learning stage and something went wrong, who would be responsible?

"The cost is that you're bound to me." Youyue pointed at Qingyin.

"If you make a mistake, I'm punished too. If you're demoted, I'm demoted too. We can only end that bond after you pass the observation period and gain the district minister's approval.

Don't disappoint me, Qingyin."

With that, she shot Qingyin a flirtatious wink.

"Why do you trust me so much?" Qingyin could not quite handle this baseless trust.

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

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

Back when she was a student in her previous life, a bunch of terrible people often used the collective as an excuse for moral coercion. Qingyin had personally experienced what it felt like to be innocently implicated.

"Why? There's no why. Magical Girls don't need a reason to trust.

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're not innocent anymore," Qingyin said bluntly.

If punishment came and her position was demoted,

then she would 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 chest, her fingertip sinking into the soft flesh and drawing Qingyin's gaze.

"You keep staring. Are you jealous?"

"Hehe."