Speedrun

Before she could finish speaking.

The adult Bloodkin man closest to the Bloodkin girl was slammed into the wall.

A hostile glint flashed through Qingyin's eyes, sending chills down the spines of the remaining Bloodkin.

Don't even think about facing a magical girl head-on.

As ordinary Bloodkin civilians, they had never seen anything like this. With a crack, they dropped to their knees.

Their remorse was swift and obvious.

No one wanted to be the next one cemented into the wall.

Poor Friend D. We'll always remember your sacrifice.

The sobbing Bloodkin girl neither noticed nor dared to care about what was happening outside.

Deafening impacts rang in her ears as she clutched her head and curled up in the corner.

A pleasant fragrance lingered beneath her nose, strangely calming her and driving away much of the fear in her heart.

"Stop crying."

A sweet, pleasant voice rang out. The Bloodkin girl blankly raised her head, tears blurring her eyes as she made out a vague silhouette before her.

She hurriedly wiped away her tears. The cool, beautiful girl in her vision stood backlit, like an angel descending upon disaster.

Her crying stopped abruptly as she stared at Qingyin in a daze.

"I'm a magical girl. Can you tell me how you were captured and brought here?"

Qingyin crouched down, her gentle gaze giving the Bloodkin girl immense courage.

"It... it was a bad uncle. He grabbed me while Dad wasn't around." The Bloodkin girl spoke haltingly, choking out the words through sobs.

Qingyin slowly reached toward her. Seeing no fear or attempt to dodge from the Bloodkin girl, she lifted the girl by the armpits.

She held the Bloodkin girl seated against her chest.

The girl clutched Qingyin's clothes and turned to see several adult Bloodkin men kneeling on the floor.

"Come, tell me—which one of these people captured you and brought you here?" Qingyin's tone was calm, but it made the Bloodkin tremble all over.

The Bloodkin girl's gaze swept across the kneeling Bloodkin, then her finger pointed at the creature embedded in the wall.

"That one."

The Bloodkin awaiting the girl's judgment breathed deep sighs of relief. They hurriedly withdrew their furtive glances and lowered their heads again in repentance.

"He tried to touch me earlier too," the Bloodkin girl added.

"What about the bad uncles who are kneeling?" Qingyin prompted her.

"They seemed to be watching the whole time," the Bloodkin girl replied.

"Did you see any other children here?"

"Yes, lots and lots. They were locked up before, but then an adult took them all away. I was too scared, so I hid."

Just as expected.

She had found proof that there were more trapped children.

"Magical girl big sister, I want to see my dad." The Bloodkin girl gently tugged at Qingyin's clothes, looking straight at her with watery eyes.

That familiar yet unfamiliar feeling finally reminded Qingyin who she was.

This was the Bloodkin girl whose lollipop she had snatched away last week. She had the same eyes.

What was her name? Qingyin had heard it before.

It seemed to be Yun'er.

"Do you like candy?" Qingyin abruptly asked.

Yun'er, whose attention had been drawn away, replied, "I do."

Her father had taught her that she had to answer when someone asked her a question.

Qingyin's Heartglow Stone flashed. A limited-edition candy Karina had given her appeared in her hand, and she held out the lollipop by its stick to the Bloodkin girl.

"Eat this candy slowly. Once big sister finishes dealing with things here, I'll take you to see your dad, okay?"

Yun'er shook her head.

Just as Qingyin was starting to wonder how to handle a child, she heard Yun'er say,

"I can't eat candy anymore. I promised Dad that I could only eat one piece whenever he eats one. I already had my candy for today, and it's bad for my teeth."

So she wasn't refusing Qingyin's request. She was refusing the candy?

Qingyin's thoughts raced as she said,

"Was it a bad big brother who snatched one of your candies last week?"

"Yes, yes." Yun'er nodded repeatedly, a hint of resentment in her cute expression as she said,

"Even though that big brother took the candy back from some other bad human big brothers and gave it to me, he still snatched one of mine.

"I was grateful to him, but I still didn't get to eat any candy."

"Wasn't there one left?"

"That one was for Dad."

"Then take this candy as an apology from that big brother last week. That way, you haven't eaten more candy, and you haven't eaten less either."

Yun'er was left confused by Qingyin's reasoning, but her expression showed that she was tempted. Her eyes could not leave the candy.

Qingyin leaned close to whisper in her ear, like a devil continuing to tempt the girl.

"This is a limited, rare candy for magical girls. Only good children with good luck get the chance to eat one.

"As long as you listen to big sister and slowly finish this candy, big sister will come back and take you to see your dad."

She would not be eating extra candy.

She would not break her promise.

And she could eat a rare candy from a magical girl big sister.

The Bloodkin girl's simple logic accepted it. She took the candy that had been pressed into her hand.

"How did big sister know about that big brother?" Yun'er noticed the key point. No, something was off.

"Magical girls know everything," Qingyin lied.

Magical girl Qingyin was straightforward enough to say whatever she wanted to say.

And right now, she wanted to tell a kind lie.

"Stay here and don't run around."

Qingyin set the Bloodkin girl down, summoned her Magic Weapon, and set up a square barrier.

As long as Yun'er did not run around inside the barrier, it could protect her for a while even if Qingyin went far away.

Then Qingyin turned her gaze toward the kneeling Bloodkin men.

Trafficking children of their own kind made them accomplices to evil, even if they had not done much themselves.

The deep legal education from her previous life kept her from killing them without hesitation.

Instead, she knocked them all unconscious and would send them to the Magical Girl Association to await judgment.

Before leaving, she gave Bloodkin D in the wall an extra stomp. He had laid hands on an innocent child of his own people. He was rotten to the core.

Qingyin shot out of the eastern factory like a meteor and hovered high in the sky, aimlessly scanning the surroundings.

The night was pitch-black. Beneath her lay the dim factory, while the streets in the distance blazed with lights. Nothing seemed out of place.

There was no clue at all about the children Yun'er had said were taken away.

She closed her eyes. A magical girl's sixth sense was like a beacon in the darkness, pointing her west.

Ignore logic, ignore clues, ignore everything, and go straight to the answer.

Qingyin instantly vanished from above the factory and reappeared in midair at the entrance to the toll station leading to the highway, stopping a large cargo truck.

A staff member who had just been about to let the truck through cried out in surprise,

"A magical girl! Did something happen? Why are you here?"

Qingyin waved without replying, then flew over and braced both arms against the driver-side window, staring sharply at the cargo driver.

"Bloodkin, do you know what you're transporting?"

"I don't."

"No, you do. My intuition tells me that you're a member of the Blood Purity Court too."

"You need a conscience when you speak! You need evidence! I'm a law-abiding citizen! You can't just slander a good person!"

The adult Bloodkin, guilty and wanting to flee, felt the pressure Qingyin gave off grow ever heavier. It seemed to take physical form and crush down on him, terrifying him into transforming into a blood bat and immediately trying to escape.

But the instant he transformed, Qingyin knocked him unconscious.

Before losing consciousness, the adult Bloodkin had one final thought.

What the hell kind of monster was this magical girl?

"Scaring you actually made you give yourself away." Qingyin said it aloud in surprise.

Her intuition was not that absurdly powerful.

She had originally planned to restrain him first and confirm his innocence after everything was over.

Well, that made things easier. Once this was over, she could consider putting him on trial.

Intuition really was useful—whether as a bluff or in actual practice. Qingyin was quite satisfied with this ability.