Give You Something Good to See

The internet exploded again.

[Pure Love Warrior Love] was the number-one trending topic, and it blew up.

[The Adorably Cute Girl with the Ultimate Contrast] ranked third.

[Knight's Concert] ranked fifth, and it was still climbing—for thanks to a certain pink girl shouting into the camera, the concert ticket reservation page crashed twice at three in the morning.

The fans had set up a topic forum overnight.

In short, nearly everyone across the city had become a devotee of this mysterious Magical Girl almost overnight.

And this matter naturally found its way onto the meeting table at the Magical Girl Association Headquarters.

"Everyone's seen the video." The voice at the head of the table revealed no emotion. "One punch, with extremely high power output. Healing abilities, unverified but most likely genuine. No registration information. Refuses contact, but is friendly toward the Association. Claims to be 'Love.'"

"The Branch judged her to be a suspected Dawn."

"But Headquarters' analysis of the data from multiple sources indicates that she should be at least Dawn."

The meeting room fell silent.

"We've confirmed three signs of Liberation Faction activity in that city."

Another person flipped through the documents.

Recently, it wasn't just that place showing traces of Liberation Faction activity. They were everywhere.

No one knew what had happened. Lately, the Liberation Faction members seemed to have gone mad, picking fights all over the world.

The person seated at the head of the table rubbed his chin.

"That area has been peaceful for too long. It probably won't be able to hold out now."

"Although there's a Dawn there, it seems that particular Dawn is naturally free-spirited and doesn't like being controlled. So I suggest sending a few Magical Girls over to provide support."

"Agreed."

At the same time, at Our City's Branch, in the Underground Training Ground.

Yes, that's right. This place was literally called Our City.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"BANG!!"

Metal alloy dummies lay scattered across the ground. The chests of the three in front were completely caved in and deformed, while the last one had been driven straight into the cushioning mat.

It was a familiar scene.

Knight stood in the middle of the training area, sweat covering her silver armor, the hand gripping her sword trembling.

"Knight, you've been training for six hours already." At the edge of the field, Old Wei finally couldn't hold back any longer. "Take a break."

"Again."

"Your hands are torn open!"

"Again!"

Old Wei and Lin Guo exchanged a glance. They both saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Ever since she had returned last night, she had been like this. After handling the scene and submitting her report, she had plunged straight into the training ground and trained until now.

No one could persuade her to stop.

"Brother Wei..." Lin Guo said softly. "What's wrong with Knight? Didn't she win last night? Love showed up too, there were zero civilian casualties, and the whole internet is praising her..."

"That's exactly the problem." Old Wei sighed. "The whole internet is praising Love. But in our Miss Knight's eyes, last night's battle report contained only one sentence—she, the Magical Girl stationed in Our City, was beaten to her knees by two Second-Tier Fallen Beasts, and in the end, she had to rely on someone else to save the day."

"But those two Fallen Beasts were obviously abnormal. Anyone would have ended up on their knees..."

"That's true." Old Wei looked at the stubborn figure in the field. "But that girl has never cared about reason... She lost, so she only becomes harsher with herself."

Inside the training ground, Knight took up her stance again.

She stared at the last dummy before her, but the scene from last night kept flashing through her mind—

She had knelt amid shattered glass, panting like a stranded fish.

Then that pink figure had come riding on the light. One minute, two punches, utterly unruffled.

The entire city had cheered those two punches.

But no one knew that when she had knelt amid the shards from the storefront window, there had been only one thought in her mind:

Knight, you're too weak.

Weak enough to fail to protect this street, weak enough to make the citizens watch her in such a sorry state, weak enough to... let down everyone's expectations.

"Haaah—!"

She swung her sword, slicing the last dummy in half at the waist.

"Huff... huff..."

She leaned on her sword, sweat dripping from her chin onto the ground.

Again. As long as she became a little stronger, a little faster—

"Wow."

A voice suddenly sounded behind her.

"That was amazing! Dummy-kun died on the spot!"

Every hair on Knight's body stood straight up.

She spun around, her sword tip pointing straight at—

A pink skirt. Pink hair.

Pink starry eyes.

Love was crouching on the cushioning mat behind her, propping up her cheek with one hand and cheering her on with a sincere expression.

With her other hand, she had pinched the tip of Knight's sword between just two fingers, preventing it from advancing even an inch.

"You—you you you—" Knight nearly dropped her sword. "How did you get in?! This is the third underground floor! Association restricted grounds!"

"Through the window."

Love pointed above her head.

"There are no windows on the third underground floor!"

"Love cannot be stopped by any obstacle!"

Love sounded completely self-righteous.

Knight: "..."

Old Wei and Lin Guo had already turned to stone at the side of the field. The Branch's security system, infrared sensors, access controls, and Magic Power monitoring formed a three-layer defense—but when this young lady had entered, not a single alarm had gone off.

However, now that he had finally run into Love, how could Old Wei let her escape? He immediately reached for his phone.

Then his hand found nothing.

"They're here."

Love turned around and waved the two phones in her hands.

Lin Guo froze for a moment, then looked down.

At some point, the phone in her hand had vanished without her noticing.

Up ahead.

Love looked at Old Wei with a solemn expression.

"Do you know? I once swore an oath..."

"Anyone who makes me go to work will be the enemy I hate most in this life."

The corner of Old Wei's mouth twitched.

He had thought Love was preparing to say something serious. And that was it?

But since Love was so vehemently opposed, Old Wei naturally couldn't say anything more. He shoved both hands into his pockets.

Fine, forget it.

"What are you doing here?"

Seeing that Love had finally turned back toward her, Knight sheathed her sword, her expression complicated.

"You're asking that? Can't I come see you when I have nothing else to do?"

Love took two steps forward.

Knight felt that Love looked somewhat different from when they had first met.

Could her personality have been affected by her wish?

Wasn't this something that only happened to new Magical Girls? At the beginning of their transformation, their personalities would be affected a little, then gradually return to normal afterward.

It did seem that way, didn't it? She had seemed like that the last few times they met as well.

Knight recalled the scene in the hospital ward.

Could it be that the Association's suspicion that she was a newly awakened Magical Girl was actually true?

"I don't believe it."

Knight shook her head.

"Believe it or not."

Love somehow produced her phone and began tapping away on it.

Although she didn't look up, she didn't stop talking either.

"I saw that your concert is about to start, so I came specially to encourage you!"

"I'm really looking forward to the concert!"

"A shining girl showing her radiance to her heart's content onstage!"

Suddenly, Love found what she had been looking for and held it up before Knight as if presenting a treasure.

Knight lowered her head and took a look, then froze.

On the screen was the comment section from last night's livestream.

[Knight fought two-on-one for a full ten minutes! Ten minutes! Seeing her injuries broke my heart...]

[Am I the only one who feels sorry for Knight? She was injured, but still stood at the front and didn't retreat a single step.]

[Love stepped in at exactly the right moment! We couldn't let Knight keep getting hurt!]

[Those damn Fallen Beasts actually ganged up on Knight! No martial ethics!]

One comment after another.

The entire screen was filled with messages for her.

No one said she was weak. No one said she had failed to protect the people there.

Everyone was worrying about her and encouraging her...

"You..." Knight's throat tightened. "Why are you showing me this..."

"Because you definitely didn't look at it." Love spoke with absolute certainty. "Someone like you only reviews everything you did wrong after winning a battle. When people praise you, you only think, I don't deserve it. From last night until now, your head must have been full of thoughts like I'm too weak and I let everyone down, right?"

Knight opened her mouth, but couldn't refute a single word.

"See? Now you've seen it, right?" Love pushed the phone a little closer to her. "When you were kneeling on the ground, you thought you looked pathetic. But what everyone saw was a Knight who refused to retreat even after being injured... a handsome and steadfast warrior!"

"You think you've let down everyone's expectations. But everyone's expectations were never that 'Knight must never lose'—they were that 'Knight mustn't get hurt.'"

The girl raised her face, her pink starry eyes gazing at Knight earnestly.

"Miss Knight, everyone loves you not because you're invincible."

"It's because you've always been there."

The training ground fell silent for a long time.

At the edge of the field, Lin Guo was already covering her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.

Old Wei turned his head away, pretending to study the fire extinguisher on the wall.

Knight lowered her head, and the hand gripping her sword slowly relaxed.

"...Thank you." Her voice was hoarse. "For coming all this way to tell me that."

"No need to thank me." Love waved her hand, then suddenly moved closer, her eyes sparkling. "But you have to promise me one thing!"

"What?"

"The concert!" Love enunciated each word. "You have to make it a success!"

"Not for the Association, and not to complete a mission—think about it. So many people want to see you in person. They want to return to you, with their own hands, the love you've given them this year, these past years. You don't get many chances like this."

"And—" She winked playfully. "Someone will be waiting for you in the front row."

Knight's breath caught sharply.

Mom.

The front row.

"...Okay."

She heard herself speak. Her voice was quiet, yet more resolute than any sword swing.

"I promise you."

"I'll make it a success."