The Law-Abiding Male College Student Magical Girl

On the balcony, Ziwei watched chaos erupt at all three positions.

"Master, they're retreating."

"At least they know what's good for them."

She pushed off on her toes. A streak of purple-gold light pierced the clouds and vanished in an instant.

In the stands, three Night Watchers agents slumped beside the broken railing, their backs soaked with cold sweat. No one tried to stop her. No one even looked up.

Third floor of the teaching building, restroom.

The stall door was locked. Purple-gold light faded from the cramped space.

Su Bai braced himself against the partition and slid onto the toilet lid, rubbing his hollow stomach.

He had been transformed for less than ten minutes, but it had burned through a layer of fat. His stomach felt alarmingly empty.

He opened his hand. A black card lay in his palm. No name, no replacement if lost. Eight hundred thousand in Brotherhood cleanup team funds.

Add the other seven cards whose passcodes had checked out, and he'd made nearly two million.

“Money earned by digging Source Cores out of people.” Su Bai slipped the black card into his pocket. “I’m doing justice.”

"Master, you picked up a promising new recruit while you were at it."

"An unexpected bonus." Su Bai gripped the partition and stood.

“What about the Student Loan?”

"That's fate."

When Su Bai pushed open the back door of the lecture hall, the department head was halfway through the attendance sheet.

"Su Bai."

The department head didn't look up.

Dozens of eyes swung toward the back door.

Su Bai held the doorframe, wiped away a bead of sweat, and called out in a strong voice, "Here!"

"Mm." The department head marked the sheet. "Next time you go to the restroom, don't spend half the class there."

"Yes, sir."

He slipped into the third row from the back and collapsed into a chair.

Lin Guoguo leaned over and looked him up and down. “Why do you look so awful? Fall into the toilet?”

"Squatted too long. My legs went numb."

"Here." She pushed half a compressed biscuit toward him. "Left over from breakfast. Don't complain."

Su Bai stared at the half biscuit for two seconds.

A compressed biscuit. A calorie bomb. Right now, he wouldn't trade it for any delicacy in the world.

“Lin Guoguo.”

"What?"

"You're a good person."

"Get lost! Why are you giving me the 'good person' line first thing in the morning?"

Su Bai swallowed the biscuit in a few bites, laid his head on the desk, and listened to the department head lecture about the Third Gastric Sac of Abyssal Beasts. In his mind, he spoke up.

“Kabi, let me ask you something.”

"Go ahead, Master."

"I'm a law-abiding male college student. I attend class on time, repay my loans on time, and don't even dare skip attendance."

"Mm-hmm."

"So why do those high school girls and the authorities increasingly see me as some remorseless demon king reborn?"

Kabi gave it serious thought.

"Master, have you considered the possibility..."

"What?"

"That they're excellent judges of character?"

“...I'm cutting off tonight's leftover magic from Demon Hunting.”

"Master, I was wrong!!!"

The bell rang.

The department head closed his textbook. “I’ll give you a spot check on the Third Gastric Sac’s digestive enzyme chart next week. No getting out of it.”

Books and bags rustled around the classroom. Lin Guoguo had just stood and stretched when a commotion broke out by the back door.

Two agents in navy uniforms entered the corridor. One carried a Magic Disturbance Detector half a meter tall, its antenna jutting out as green light swept across the screen.

Yellow caution tape went up behind them, sealing the corridor from the stairwell to the far end.

"Again?" someone in the front row groaned. "They sealed the dorms this morning, and now the teaching building? Are we supposed to live here?"

"I heard they carried three people out of Building Three. The stretchers were covered in blood..."

"Shh. Don't spread rumors."

The PA system came on immediately after: "By order of the Monster Hunting Bureau, all teaching buildings are under lockdown effective immediately. Entry is permitted; exit is not. Faculty and students, remain where you are and cooperate with the inspection."

The department head adjusted his glasses. "Everyone, sit down and cooperate."

Lin Guoguo said nothing. She sat back down, pulled her bag into her lap, and pressed the zipper firmly shut.

"Hiding something?" Su Bai glanced at her.

“Oh, shut up.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “The whole city’s on edge lately. You haven’t run into any Patrol Teams on your night deliveries, have you?”

"No. I take the back roads."

"I nearly got caught last night." She patted her chest, still short of breath. "The boss sent me to deliver a package. I crouched in a back alley holding the box for forty minutes. A patrol car was parked right at the intersection, and it didn't even turn off its lights."

"Did you deliver it?"

“Yeah. Black Crow checked it and even gave me an extra two percent.” She gritted her teeth. “But it was creepy. The Patrol Team was looking for supernatural contraband. I thought my heart would burst right out while I was holding that box.”

Su Bai leaned back, tore open an energy bar, and kept his face blank.

That box held a Rift-Splitting Dreadbeast’s spine. The Patrol Team was scouring the streets because Ziwei was trending again.

He was the one they wanted. He was the one they were searching for.

"Master, she called you creepy."

"I heard."

"Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"I'll give her another two hundred for the trouble later."

"Generous!"

Su Bai chewed his energy bar and looked out the window.

At the Third Women's Dormitory in the northeast corner, waves of green light surged upward faster and faster.

“The Wind Element is breaking out of its cocoon.” Kabi’s tone turned serious. “More than an hour ahead of schedule.”

"You said it had two hours left this morning."

“The Demon-Attracting Incense burned for a while. It forced her threshold wider, as if someone gave her a shove ahead of time.” Kabi paused. “Master, if she awakens right under the Monster Hunting Bureau’s nose, they’ll recruit her on the spot. Then they’ll trace her contacts, and your whole trip this morning will come to light.”

Su Bai folded the wrapper into a little square. "I know."

The front door opened.

Liang Bing walked in with two Enforcers behind her. They wore black trench coats and had compass-like devices strapped to their wrists, each dial set with a crystal the size of a fingernail.

The moment the crystal entered the classroom, it lit up. The needle spun so fast it blurred.

"Enforcer Liang, the interference is too strong..." The Enforcer beside her stared at his compass.

"The array can only narrow it down to the campus. The source is close, and the compass is pulling in different directions." Liang Bing raised her wrist. "Nobody move. Wait for it to stop."

The needle whipped around a few more times, then slowed and came to a trembling stop, pointing toward the row by the windows.

Several students by the windows froze.

"You, you, and you." Liang Bing pointed to three students. "Where were you between eight and nine this morning?"

"I was in class..."

"I skipped class and slept in the dorm. My roommate can vouch for me!"

"I had a stomachache and went to the clinic. They have my registration record..."

She questioned them one by one and got nowhere. Liang Bing walked down the aisle, her boots striking the floor with every step.

She stopped at the third row from the back.

"Su Bai?"

"Enforcer Liang." Su Bai swallowed the last bite of his energy bar. "Long time no see."

"Why do you look so pale?"

"Night deliveries. Haven't slept enough. That's life when you're poor."

Liang Bing studied him for two seconds. "Where were you between eight and nine this morning?"

"Diarrhea. I was stuck on the toilet." Su Bai pulled a crumpled receipt from his pocket and spread it on the desk. "Eight seventeen, campus store. Bought hand soap. My hands were still wet when I came out, so the receipt got soaked."

The ink had bled, but the store name and time were still legible.

"And this." He pulled out a sheet of paper folded into quarters. "Leave slip. My academic advisor signed it."

"Weren't you in class? Why do you have a leave slip?"

"I'd planned to take the morning off and make deliveries during rush hour." Su Bai sighed. "But miss the department head's class three times and you lose your Student Loan eligibility. I couldn't risk it. I dragged myself to class, then something I ate upset my stomach and I spent half the lecture in the restroom."

"I can vouch for him!" Lin Guoguo raised her hand. "His face was green when he came back. I even gave him half my compressed biscuit."