"Sorry, I got carried away and held you too tightly."
Only after Youyue calmed down a little and released Qingyin did Qingyin lift her head and take a deep breath of air.
It was sweet, carrying a uniquely enticing fragrance.
Qingyin was such an idiot. She had nearly been suffocated and still hadn't known to break free herself.
Catching sight of figures flying over from the corner of her eye, Qingyin spoke to the Magical Girl beside her.
"They're here."
Her three squad members.
"Do you need my help with your first time?" Youyue asked affectionately.
"No." Qingyin flatly refused.
The job of a Magical Girl team leader was simply to ensure that Magical Girls did not suffer fatal injuries.
They recorded the damage to the venue on paper forms, deducted the corresponding Magical Girls' pay, and evaluated their combat performance.
Though it seemed objective, there was plenty of room for subjective judgment in the records.
If they needed someone to lead them even in such an easy job and still could not complete it properly—
They might as well smash their heads into a block of tofu.
After all, she had done who knew how many different jobs just to survive.
They were underestimating her far too much.
"Then I'll leave it to you. I'm heading out first," Youyue said with a smile.
If she stayed around that giant cockroach for too long, it would cause permanent damage to her brain.
Ugh, disgusting.
No longer bothering to say anything, the disgusted Youyue could not even be bothered to use that unidentified Purple Mist. She simply flew off into the distance.
One second after she left, all the squad members landed before Qingyin.
"Qingyin!"
Those familiar faces and energetic postures made Qingyin silently mourn for the three of them for several seconds.
"We got word from Sister Youyue and rushed over immediately. Where's the Evil Beast?" Feiyan asked.
"Below." Qingyin pointed downward.
Following her gesture, they looked down at the park. A giant cockroach was pouncing against the barrier, shrieking as it gnawed futilely at the transparent shield.
"Eek!" *2
Feiyan and Yuyan were frightened to varying degrees and instinctively flew several meters backward.
Yalin, on the other hand, did not react much. Instead, she curiously observed the Evil Beast from afar.
It was a new Evil Beast she had never seen before.
"This is the Evil Beast we have to face?" Feiyan wore an expression of utter disgust.
Its defenses did not look very strong. Killing it from range would not be a problem.
Yalin was unafraid, and Feiyan specialized in ranged attacks.
As for a certain Magical Girl who used her fists as weapons, her face had gone utterly pale.
"Sister Qingyin, help me. Can I sit out this fight against the Evil Beast?" Yuyan pleaded weakly from the side.
"Next time. I'll definitely put in more effort in the next battle."
"Yuyan..." Feiyan looked at her companion.
"Don't be scared, Sister Yuyan. I'll help you when the time comes. It's just a little bug," Yalin encouraged her.
"But..." Yuyan trailed off.
No matter what, she did not want to fight an Evil Beast like this.
Whenever she encountered a cockroach in real life, she had to spray the entire house with industrial-strength insecticide, then shamefully hide at her childhood friend's house for the whole day.
"Scared?" Qingyin looked at her.
"Mhm." Yuyan answered weakly.
"It's normal to be scared. If you don't want to fight, that's fine." Qingyin's response caught everyone by surprise.
They looked at her in astonishment.
They had thought Sister Qingyin, who was always as cold as ice and seemed difficult to approach, would be a strict and serious team leader. They had never expected her to agree to Yuyan's request to avoid battle.
Compared to becoming stronger and gaining combat experience, it seemed Sister Qingyin cared more about their feelings.
They were touched.
Then, in the next moment, that feeling vanished.
"It's fine to be weak. It's fine if you don't want to go in." Qingyin spoke slowly in an indifferent voice, as though she were gently trying to comfort Yuyan.
"But people always have to grow up. If you don't grow now, you can always grow later while looking at the corpses of your companions and family.
"Maybe one day in the future, an Evil Beast like this will appear again. Because of your cowardice, you'll miss the best chance to kill it and let it escape.
"You have someone you like, right? When an accident happens, all you'll be able to do is watch as the Evil Beast you let go devours him alive. You'll hear his screams and cries of pain, then try to fix things after it's too late.
"When all that remains of him is half a body barely clinging to life, stripped of all his former motivation and hope to live, how do you think you'll feel?
"It's fine if you don't want to fight. The people you want to protect can suffer for it. Once everyone you cherish is dead, you can come fight then."
"Stop talking! Stop talking already!"
Yuyan glared furiously at Qingyin. With every word Qingyin spoke, a vivid and despairing scene formed in her mind.
After shooting Qingyin a vicious glare, Yuyan's anger surged to its limit. She abruptly charged into the barrier.
She was going to kill these Evil Beasts and show Qingyin!
"Sister Qingyin, that was too much," Feiyan agreed as she chased after her.
"Couldn't you have put it more tactfully?" Yalin agreed with Feiyan as well. Not wanting to say anything more, she hurried after them.
Qingyin did not know how long the three had known each other, but even though she was their team leader, they did not give her much of a pleasant expression.
It was not only Yuyan's two companions who spoke up for her. The inconspicuous mascot also spoke solemnly.
"Lady Qingyin, wasn't that a little too cruel?"
"Huh? You're still here?" Qingyin's voice carried a trace of surprise.
It had been so useless that the moment she set out, she had completely forgotten Qiubo existed.
Obviously, that remark was even crueler.
"That's too much! Too much!" Qiubo protested in dissatisfaction.
The moment the words left its mouth, a cold gaze from the side settled on it. Qiubo immediately decided it was not too much after all and trembled too much to say another word.
"How was that cruel? I was only telling the truth," Qingyin answered the mascot's question.
When the future became the present, when assumptions became reality, and when everything had settled, it would be too late for regrets.
Being prepared for danger in times of peace was never just empty talk.
Precisely because they were in a comfortable environment, they should think even more about danger. Disaster could strike at any time.
Peace had never fallen from the sky.
If they did not want to fight, they could not resolve the Spatial Rift.
If they did not want to fight, they could not resist foreign races.
If they did not want to fight, they could not deal with Evil Beast attacks.
"She made it clear during her introduction that her dream was her family, and that she loved someone." Qingyin calmly looked below.
"If she continues being as fragile as she was just now, she won't be able to protect her lover or safeguard her family."
Qingyin had never taken an exam to become a teacher, so she did not know how a qualified team leader ought to act.
She only knew that, at the very least, she needed to guide them forward on the path toward the dreams they hoped for.
Feiyan wanted to become stronger, so she needed to fight more and train more.
Yuyan wanted to protect others, so she needed to overcome her weakness and fear, beginning with tempering her courage.
As for Yalin, she could just stay with them for now.
Responding to all changes by remaining unchanged had always been the better choice.
Before that, they needed to grow strong enough to handle whatever came their way.
Still, to be fair—
Fighting a cockroach barehanded was not something just anyone could do.
Goosebumps...
Before you continue