Qingyin

"Big Sister Youyue, still can't find Big Sister Feiyan and Big Sister Yuyan?"

A magical girl with beast ears atop her head and a gray wolf tail behind her spoke anxiously.

"Little Yalin, the Abyssal Return is no simple place." Youyue stroked Yalin's head reassuringly.

"I didn't expect you to be so worried. Don't worry, magical girls aren't that weak."

"I'm not worried about them." Yalin crossed her arms and repeatedly turned her head away.

Youyue paused, then smiled. "Looks like we won't need to rescue them after all."

Magical girl Feiyan's emotions came quickly and went quickly.

Like a blazing sun, she remained especially bright even at night.

"We're finally out!"

Feiyan burst out of the underground passage, unable to contain her joy as she cheered loudly.

Before they saw her, they heard her voice.

"Big Sister Feiyan?!" Yalin brightened in midair.

Her gaze swiftly caught sight of Feiyan on the ground nearby, and she flew straight toward her from the air.

"A magical girl I haven't seen before? An outsider? Why are you here?"

After briefly considering the unfamiliar Ye Qing, Youyue flew down with the other three.

Before Yalin had even landed, she anxiously shouted, "Big Sister Feiyan!!"

Feiyan said in surprise, "Yalin, and Senior Youyue too. I didn't expect to run into you right after getting out."

"This isn't the place to talk. Since you're out, hurry back."

Ye Qing blurted it out, completely ignoring the mood and ruining the joy of their reunion after escaping.

She did not give them even a moment more, as though she could not wait to drive them away.

"You're the magical girl who saved Big Sister Yuyan and Big Sister Feiyan. I'll reluctantly thank you, then." Yalin spoke arrogantly, her words awkward.

Huh?

Ye Qing was just about to put her thoughts into action and curse out the magical girl in front of her.

But when she saw Yalin constantly sneaking glances at her, her tail behind her wagging furiously, she fell silent at once.

A tsundere magical girl paired with a dog tail... what a contrast.

"Thank you for your help. May I ask what your magical girl title is?" Youyue asked with a smile.

A magical girl title?

Was it an alias? An online name like a game ID?

Tch, I'm terrible at naming things.

I wasn't planning on becoming a magical girl anyway.

I'll just make up an excuse to brush them off.

"None of your damn business," Ye Qing answered expressionlessly.

A crack appeared in Youyue's face, which had maintained its gentle smile all along, after hearing such blunt words.

"Even if you saved Big Sister Feiyan and Big Sister Yuyan, that doesn't give you the right to disrespect Big Sister Youyue!" Yalin bared her teeth at Ye Qing.

"Don't, Yalin." Yuyan and Feiyan hurriedly stopped their companion.

"Can you get lost on your own? If you can, then hurry up and get lost, you nuisance," Ye Qing said mercilessly.

"Hehe..." Youyue smiled without any warmth, her eyes fixed tightly on Ye Qing's face.

"In that case, let's leave first. We can discuss this after we return."

"Don't die on the way," Ye Qing added.

Rude words had always indicated that their speaker was unwelcome.

Youyue, the most senior and influential among them, said nothing more and led the other three magical girls away.

Ye Qing watched them leave, intending to first find some secluded place where no one was around and undo her magical girl form.

Her thoughts were a complete mess.

Her inner thoughts clearly were not like that, yet the words she spoke were far too blunt.

Why had she become a magical girl, and why had she acted so rudely? She had far too many questions that needed answers.

Just as she rose into the air, the space before her split open, and two mascots, one skinny and one fat, crawled out.

"Hello, newborn magical girl. I'm Wazi, a magical girl contract beast," said the skinnier mascot.

"I'm magical girl contract beast Qiu..."

Before the plump contract beast could finish saying its name, just as the final syllable began, Ye Qing grabbed it.

"Bastard, you said your name is Kyubey?" Ye Qing's cold voice carried obvious killing intent as she stared straight at it.

"My name is Qiubo!"

Only then did Ye Qing release her grip.

Qiubo fearfully flew backward. The killing intent from before had not seemed fake.

If its name really had been Kyubey, it felt as though it would have instantly died at the hands of this newborn magical girl.

Why was a newborn magical girl so powerful? And why did that name provoke such terrifying killing intent from her?

"From now on, I'm calling you Stinky Penguin." Ye Qing pointed at it.

"So domineering!" Qiubo replied.

"Why penguin? Is that a name you specially gave it?" Wazi asked in confusion.

Because it looked too much like that "Will you top up QB?"

It was hard not to call it Penguin.

Ye Qing did not answer. Instead, she put away the book in her hand and quietly waited for the two contract beasts to speak first.

After a long silence, Wazi said, "Newborn magical girl, join us. Join the Magical Girl Association."

An invitation right away?

Without explaining anything?

"Get lost." Ye Qing refused without hesitation.

"Then all right." Wazi spoke regretfully.

They gave up just like that? Was I that unappealing?

Well, perhaps that wasn't a bad thing.

"We respect magical girls' choices," Qiubo added from the side.

They wanted very much to discern this newborn magical girl's thoughts from her expression.

But her face remained cold and entirely unchanged.

Even when killing intent rose, there was only the slightest change in her eyes. They could not see what she was thinking at all.

Wazi continued, "Then let us introduce magical girls to you."

Magical girls?

It was probably another classic case of enemies sharing the same origin.

Transformation stones becoming corrupted, turning into witches, Fallen Beasts, things like that.

Ye Qing's eyes shifted slightly, but she could not muster much emotion.

"Women who harbor truth, goodness, and beauty, possess powerful wishes, and have souls bearing the aura of this world are blessed by the gods and become magical girls!"

Wazi had only spoken one sentence when countless questions and an immeasurable number of complaints sprang up in Ye Qing's mind.

Where did I get truth, goodness, and beauty?

And where did the woman part come from?!

"Shut up." Ye Qing immediately cut it off.

"Don't start from the creation of the world like an idiot.

Tell me about the shared-origin witch transformation, Fallen Beasts, and stuff like that so I can give up."

"What are shared-origin witch transformation and Fallen Beasts?" Wazi tilted its head, then suddenly understood.

"Although I don't understand what you're saying, magical girls aren't like those in fictional works.

The moment a magical girl falls, no longer possessing a pure heart, her Heartglow Stone will dim or shatter, and she will lose her identity as a magical girl.

Other than that, there is no way to corrupt a Heartglow Stone, and there has never been any witch transformation.

As for Fallen Beasts, are they some race from another domain?"

No shared origin, no witch transformation, and no Fallen Beasts?

Interesting.

Ye Qing immediately became interested and took the initiative to ask, "What do magical girls usually do?"

"Protect order." Qiubo spoke first. "This is my area of expertise."

Qiubo explained, "This world's spatial barrier is unstable, so all kinds of creatures fall here through spatial rifts.

Whenever a spatial rift appears, magical girls protect others from spatial tremors, kill evil races from other domains, and escort friendly races from other domains to the World Space Bureau to study, allowing them to integrate into this world."

Spatial rifts, spatial tremors, and the World Space Bureau were all common knowledge taught in schools from childhood.

Magical girls helped outsiders become part of this place.

If they wanted to return to their hometowns, they needed tremendous luck and ability.

Space was unstable. It was easy to enter by accident but difficult to leave, not to mention returning precisely to one's homeland.

Besides dealing with creatures from other domains and helping friendly outsiders, they also had to contend with all sorts of villain organizations and cults.

In the end, it all came down to protecting order.

"Although you aren't willing to join the Magical Girl Association, if a sudden spatial rift appears, we still hope you'll lend a hand," Wazi said.

"No need to worry. The frequency of spatial rifts has greatly decreased in recent years." Ye Qing waved a hand. She neither agreed nor directly accepted, instead asking, "Why are my thoughts and actions always different?"

It always feels like I really enjoy swearing.

Without holding back, I could put three F-words in one sentence.

Wazi's explanation interrupted her thoughts. "Magical girls possess truth, goodness, and beauty, and truth means one's true nature.

Magical girls take the form they most wish to become in their hearts and act in the manner they most desire within.

Therefore, every magical girl's behavior reflects her truest self."

Like Yalin?

A newly awakened magical girl, very tsundere yet with a tail, revealing her true feelings.

So I really want to be a crude person? Am I really that awful?

"Then why am I so strong?" Ye Qing had dug up more than half the ground and was still brimming with energy.

"Magical girls grow stronger according to the purity of their souls and the strength of their souls," Wazi replied.

Soul? Spirit?

Was I this powerful because the soul accumulated over two lifetimes was stronger?

In any case, anything unclear and inexplicable could all be categorized as idealism and soul theory.

That was very magical-girl-like too.

There was nothing else to do now. I should send them away.

"All right, get lost on your own." Ye Qing waved her hand.

This sort of tossing people aside after using them, without even offering polite farewells, purely self-serving behavior was hardly likable.

Ye Qing found it hard to imagine that she actually wanted to be that kind of person.

But looking at the situation, suddenly gaining immense power and not becoming some "Homelander" was already pretty good.

Fortunately, as contract beasts, they had seen plenty and did not become dissatisfied.

"Would you like to come to the association for a drink? There's a newly released hit drink that lots of magical girls like," Wazi invited.

"Are your ears broken? If you can't understand human speech, go learn human language. Go back and learn it," Ye Qing said without mercy.

"Then see you next time, newborn magical girl." Wazi waved politely.

"By the way, have you decided on your title? You need some form of address."

Tch.

My naming difficulty had struck again. I couldn't just copy an online username, could I?

A name... a combination...

Since Feiyan said my voice sounded nice, and I thought it wasn't bad either, then I'll be called...

"Qingyin," Qingyin said.

With that, she took the lead in flying away, heading straight for home.

Well, now she did not need to take the subway home.