One of Us

"Congratulations on becoming the Association's Chief Magical Girl. We'll hold a proper celebration banquet later.

Now, you're about to receive your first official assignment as Chief."

After briefly offering her congratulations, Youyue spoke to Qingyin with a grin.

The first thing after officially taking up a job was naturally work.

"What is it?" Qingyin asked.

"Interrogation," Youyue explained matter-of-factly.

"The two Blood Purity Court officers you captured will naturally be interrogated personally by you, the Chief. Try to get as much useful information out of them as possible."

"I understand," Qingyin replied without a ripple.

"I thought you'd have a more interesting reaction. Don't you want to complain about the sudden increase in workload?"

"As long as I finish my duties during normal working hours, there's nothing to complain about."

If she had already gone home two days ago, ready to clock out and rest, only to be suddenly called out for overtime, then her mood would have been affected.

"Take me to where the Blood Purity Court officers are being held," Qingyin said.

"Considering how gentle you are, Qingyin, I should remind you to prepare yourself mentally," Youyue said cryptically.

Magical Girl Association Prison.

A unique mountain had been turned into a prison, specifically for holding all kinds of prisoners.

Even with a senior like Youyue leading the way, they had to repeatedly verify their Magical Girl identities before being allowed through.

The starlight over the prison mountain flickered faintly, far dimmer than the distinctive mountain of District 28.

The entire place seemed steeped in an oppressive atmosphere.

An unpleasant sensation rose from within Qingyin, and she could not help furrowing her delicate brows.

It was like seeing a many-legged insect or smelling an unbearably foul stench—an instinctive discomfort.

There were still houses on the mountain's surface for people to live in.

The prison itself was underground, a dungeon descending layer by layer.

Criminals were confined to different levels according to their threat level.

The deeper one went, the more unbreakable the dungeon's barriers became.

There was no need to worry about a disaster caused by all the criminals being released at once.

Even if the Otherworld exploded, the barriers in the deepest few levels would remain undamaged.

If an enemy truly managed to destroy every barrier in the prison—

Then there would be no point worrying about these criminals who had committed crimes.

They should instead consider how to survive, and how to save the world.

After all, there was a terrifying existence that stood absolutely above everyone else.

As for the two Bloodkin officers Qingyin had captured, both named Wayne, their danger level only qualified them for the first floor.

In this peaceful age, first-floor criminals were particularly common, and they were no small challenge for the newer generation.

Once Qingyin followed Youyue through the procedures for entering the prison, the impact immediately gave her a clear physical reaction.

Dim lights illuminated the dungeon as a rotten, fishy stench washed over her.

Her vision was filled with severed limbs, dying outsiders, and the gloomy dungeon intertwined into a scene difficult to bear.

The walls were covered in blood that had dried into dark red stains. The criminals merely raised their eyes slightly when they sensed visitors.

The moment they saw beautiful Magical Girls, they immediately erupted into unrest.

With a clatter, they lunged forward and gripped the bars, screaming out pleas or curses.

"Save me, Miss Magical Girl! Please get me out of here! I know I was wrong."

"Magical Girls, you'll die miserable deaths! You preach light and justice, but behind the scenes you commit such cruel acts!"

The rioting outsider prisoners all more or less meant one of those two things.

Without the rationality of her Magical Girl form, Qingyin would probably have already made a fool of herself from the shock of this sight.

"Do you think it's cruel? Has your perfect fantasy of Magical Girls been shattered?" Youyue stopped when she noticed the change in Qingyin's eyes.

Cruel.

There was no doubt about it.

Qingyin had lived in peaceful places across two lifetimes. Seeing a scene that ought to exist only on a screen unfold before her in reality hit her especially hard.

Her sanity had dropped.

But this was a necessary step.

Without harsher measures, if they truly thought love and peace could reform the entire world, Magical Girls and humans would have been wiped out long ago.

"Do other Magical Girls see this too?" Qingyin quietly calmed herself.

Although this world's education leaned toward realism, it still did not teach anything that would make one capable of accepting such a sight.

"Of course..." Youyue changed tack. "They don't."

Qingyin immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Only veteran Magical Girls are qualified to enter the dungeon prison," Youyue explained, her expression turning somewhat grim.

"Even if they ended up like this, they brought it upon themselves."

Outsiders were born with strength that crushed humans. Some possessed immense power, while others could fly through the sky and tunnel through the earth.

They tried to use the mindset of their otherworldly lives to destroy order and harm humans and their own kind. They deserved their punishment.

Those willing to reform, and those whose crimes were less severe, had already been sent to the Space Bureau for labor reform.

The ones still here were a group of outsiders who clung to delusions and could not let go of their ambitions for supremacy.

"Were all these injuries inflicted by Magical Girl interrogations?" Qingyin asked, referring to the prisoners' wounds.

"How could that be? Magical Girls are still embodiments of truth, goodness, and beauty," Youyue answered.

"There are specialists who interrogate and torture prisoners. Most of us Magical Girls only give them a quick death."

As Qingyin pondered this, the sound of chains shifting and Youyue's voice pulled her back from her distraction.

"We're here." Youyue winked at the newly alert Qingyin.

"The rest is up to you. I'll put the new guest you brought into a separate cell."

"No need. Throw him into this cell too," Qingyin said.

How could she be someone who broke her word?

After eating the expensive lunch the old Wayne had treated her to, she had promised to let him meet his younger brother. So she would let them meet.

As for whether he could break out of the Magical Girl Association Prison, that would depend on his own abilities.

The two Waynes, one old and one young, were both restrained in specially made iron chains, kneeling weakly on the ground.

"Twenty minutes. I'll come back for you in twenty minutes at most." Youyue held up two fingers in a V-sign as she spoke.

"Don't let the outsiders here beguile you, Qingyin."

With that, Youyue elegantly left the prison.

Qingyin first looked around the area and found no trace of recording or surveillance equipment. It was a private, enclosed space.

After briefly examining the torture instruments available in the cell, she thought for a moment and decided to use her Magic Weapon, consuming magical power to conjure water and splash it over the unconscious old Wayne.

"Where is this?" The old Wayne slowly came to, his head aching. When he saw his surroundings and the girl before him, he immediately reacted.

"You damned—"

"I am Lord Ye's slave," Qingyin said in a somewhat flat tone.

The sudden words made the old Wayne immediately shut his mouth.

So she was one of us.