Li Yi had gone to sleep very late yesterday.
When she got up in the morning, she nearly ended up late.
Sitting on the bus with nothing to do, she took out the letter she had stayed up so late writing and looked it over again.
She read it word by word. Sentences that had seemed perfectly normal yesterday felt strange when she read them again today, even a little embarrassing.
She pressed herself against the window, half hiding the letter. Her handwriting was actually rather delicate and small; even someone sitting beside her might not be able to make it out if they leaned over to look. But Li Yi kept feeling as though other people could see it.
She kept feeling furtive, like a thief. After reading through every word of the letter, she felt her cheeks grow warm and put the pink letter away again.
Of course, she had not actually wanted to use pink stationery.
Because her sister had said something about pink stationery being better for love letters, she had wanted to write hers on a different color.
But after picking through all the choices, she still felt that pink looked prettier and suited it better...
After all, after all, it was a letter asking to be friends. Pink was gentler, while the other colors all felt a little aggressive or cold...
The contents of the envelope were actually perfectly normal. Broadly speaking, she hoped to learn more about Jiang Si, hoped to become good friends with him, and hoped he could understand her thoughts. She sincerely hoped Jiang Si and Keke could make up.
Precisely because Li Yi had an older sister herself, she could understand all the better how miserable Keke felt right now. She also believed Jiang Si might not have deliberately turned against Keke. In the end, they were family who depended on each other.
If they truly hated and loathed each other, how could they possibly have lived together for so long?
If they could communicate properly and understand each other, then even if they could not love each other like ordinary siblings, at the very least, Keke would not have to feel coldness and loneliness at home.
As captain of the Magical Girl Combat Team, it was her duty to care about every member's family situation, help them resolve their family problems, and become a qualified member of the Magical Girl Combat Team!
So she was not confessing to Jiang Si, or in love with him, or anything like that...
As her thoughts wandered, Li Yi took out the letter and sneaked another look.
It shouldn't get mistaken for a love letter, right?
It was all her sister's fault for saying something about a love letter. It had left her worrying that unclear wording might cause a misunderstanding, weighing every word several times, until she had stayed up past midnight.
Last night, she had originally intended to write while waiting for her sister to come home, but her sister still had not returned by the time she fell asleep.
Now that she had finished writing it, she had no idea whether it was appropriate.
Besides, wasn't making friends through letters a little too old-fashioned and outdated? What if Jiang Si laughed at her?
If he mistook it for a confession and rejected her, that would be that. Though the thought was a little discouraging, it would not cause any trouble.
But if he accepted, then wh-what should she do?
Should I say yes?
If I said yes, would I clash with Shion? I couldn't beat her, but Jiang Si, having accepted my confession, would stand on my side, right...?
Her wild thoughts strayed rather far. By the time she came back to her senses, even Li Yi herself felt mortified. She immediately slapped her cheeks hard twice, telling herself to stop letting her imagination run wild.
The passenger beside her jumped in fright.
Having hurt herself, Li Yi rubbed her slightly red and swollen cheeks with tears in her eyes, while starting to think about revising the letter properly once she got to school.
But there were too many busybodies at school, and she was something of a center of attention in class. If she started writing a letter in the classroom, rumors that she was writing a love letter would definitely spread everywhere.
I'll have to find somewhere deserted to write...
Jiang Si probably would not come to school today either, so there was no hurry to deliver it. She could go find Keke after school that afternoon.
She had already arranged with Keke to go for a walk and clear their heads every day after school, doing their best to finish their homework at school.
Because of Jiang Si's relationship with Shion, although the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau did not dare take further action against Jiang Si, it did not dare let Keke enter the bureau again either, both as a precaution and to protect her.
After all, although there were not many people in the bureau who were unfriendly toward the Azure Cloud Sect, there were still some. Her own sister had originally hated the Azure Cloud Sect too. Now that the bureau's Miracle Seeds had been stolen, if Keke kept going there, she would inevitably attract suspicion and gossip.
Having her captain lead her on daily missions and accompany her to take her mind off things did not require going to the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau.
In the end, most of their time at the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau was spent on boring things like meetings anyway. Not going was not necessarily bad. Yinlian herself did not want to go, at any rate.
When she went for a walk with Keke after school that afternoon, she could ask Keke to help deliver the letter. Besides, she could also have Keke look it over and see whether there was anything wrong with it...
Her sleep-deprived mind worked groggily. Half asleep and half awake, she somehow found Jiang Si's perpetually expressionless face surfacing in her mind again and again.
She had actually noticed it before. Judging by his features alone, Jiang Si was rather good-looking in a delicate way, which did not quite match his somewhat irritable and fierce personality. If he put on glasses and sat quietly in a classroom, people would probably take him for a well-behaved student.
He was the type Li Yi rather liked...
No, no! Li Yi, what are you thinking!
Her eyes snapped open. Li Yi knocked her forehead hard against the metal railing beside the window, telling herself not to let her imagination run wild.
Anyway, anyway, I only want to be friends!
After calming down, Li Yi looked out the window and suddenly noticed something wrong.
There was a dense concentration of tainted magic nearby?
Before she could react, the bus shook violently. Screams rang out inside, and the driver desperately steered toward the roadside, repeatedly slamming on the brakes in an attempt to stop the bus.
A Calamity Beast had appeared in the distant park!
It seemed to be a bull. Its enormous body had appeared directly in the sky, and when it plunged into the park, the tremors traveled all the way to the bus. Even the asphalt road here was covered in cracks!
There were no people visible among the flying dirt and park exercise equipment, which meant someone had evacuated the area around the park in advance.
Only the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau could do something like that, but why hadn't she received any word?
The bus barely managed to stop against the curb. Gripping her seed, Li Yi rose from her seat. A little magic spilled out, helping her squeeze through the packed crowd to the front. She got off the bus and quickly ran toward the park.
Before Li Yi could find somewhere concealed to transform, Calamity Beasts began appearing in other places one after another!
She looked around, momentarily at a loss.
Why hadn't I received any word?
The Disaster Countermeasures Bureau could detect the appearance of Calamity Beasts in advance. With so many appearing today, the bureau must have been able to detect them. As captain, she should logically have received word yesterday...
Two beautiful streaks of rainbow light swept across the sky. Raising her head, Li Yi saw Keke and Rose, transformed into magical girls, moving to intercept the bull-shaped Calamity Beast.
It was as though they had been prepared all along.
Down below, police cars and Disaster Countermeasures Bureau special vehicles near the park were sealing off the danger zone.
Beside the other Calamity Beasts, magical girls from the Azure Cloud Sect were also carefully cordoning off the areas, keeping losses to a minimum.
Every last thing proved that she alone had not received word.
Sensing something unsettling, she walked into a concealed corner and took out her Miracle Seed to transform, only to discover an extremely dark little black spot on it.
The spot was clearly tiny, yet so conspicuous that Li Yi could not help reaching out to rub it.
But no matter how she rubbed, the black spot would not disappear, as though it had been engraved inside the Miracle Seed.
She was in no mood to worry about it. Just as she was about to transform, her phone rang.
Li Yi glanced at it. It was the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau's Inspection Section.
"Hello, is that Yiyi? Have you gone to school yet?"
"Sis? Why are you using the Inspection Section's phone? And why didn't I receive any word about all these Calamity Beasts appearing in the city? I saw Keke and Rose, and they seemed to have received word. Even the Azure Cloud Sect's magical girls are here..."
"That's too many questions all at once. Sigh, anyway, our Disaster Countermeasures Bureau has been infiltrated until it's full of holes like a sieve. The Azure Cloud Sect even knew before we did that large numbers of Calamity Beasts would appear in BH City."
"Whatever it is, let's talk when I get back. I'm going to deal with the Calamity Beasts first!"
But the moment she transformed, she noticed something wrong.
There was something slightly unusual about her magic.
She lowered her head for a look. The tiny black spot on her Miracle Seed seemed to have grown just a little.
"My silly little sister, there's no need to rush. With the Azure Cloud Sect and your teammates there, these Calamity Beasts won't cause too much harm. The death toll will be in the single digits at most."
"Sis, what are you saying...?"
"I mean that you have something more important to do. Right now, not only is the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau under attack by Calamity Beasts, but members of the Witch Association and the Azure Cloud Sect have also begun to move. I can feel that the bureau is in a very dangerous position right now. We need you to come back and stabilize things, Yiyi..."
Ahead, the huge bull, which was approaching the level of a B-rank Calamity Beast, suddenly stamped the ground and roared. Terrifying magic overturned the surrounding police cars, and Keke was nearly blown off her broom by it.
Under its repeated trampling, the park had become a vast, ruined crater. Its terrifying tainted magic kept Rose and Keke from getting anywhere near it.
Pawing at the ground, the bull Calamity Beast lowered its head slightly and braced itself to charge.
Then it charged out with savage force!
Streets, vehicles, streetlights, and factories were flattened in an instant by its charge!
Rose and Keke stood in its path. Even giving it everything they had, they still struggled to stop the Calamity Beast's charge.
The power of that charge alone was enough to rival a B-rank Calamity Beast!
Only when countless pink petals came fluttering over and surrounded the bull Calamity Beast did its charge gradually slow.
Then one leg buckled, and it fell to the ground. Half its head slammed into the earth, gouging out another enormous furrow. Only when its horns rammed into a building ahead did it finally come to a stop.
Rose and Keke both turned back in delighted surprise. "Captain!"
"Sis, I'll come back as soon as I've dealt with the Calamity Beast!" Hanging up, Yinlian flew over and stood shoulder to shoulder with the two girls. First, she asked, "Did you both receive word in advance?"
Seeing them both nod, Yinlian took a deep breath and did not press further.
Because after driving its horns through the building ahead, the bull Calamity Beast shook its head and stood back up.
"Focus! Work with me to eliminate the Calamity Beast!"
"Yes, Captain!"
The Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, Inspection Section.
Yinluo stared at the disconnected call, briefly lost in thought.
In the crystal ball beside her, Shuangsheng's detestable face appeared, giggling. "Oh dear, your own little sister hung up on you. How pitiful. Even when you told her outright that you were in danger too, she didn't care at all."
"After all, she is the captain of the Magical Girl Combat Team."
The constantly flickering phone screen cast shifting light and shadow over Yinluo's face. She looked almost proud, yet almost disgusted. "First, she has to carry out her duties as captain of the Magical Girl Combat Team and protect everyone as a magical girl. Everything else comes afterward."
"Even her big sister falls under 'everything else.' How sad."
"Yes."
Yinluo took off her glasses and picked up the crystal ball. "What's even sadder is that the little sister who once obeyed your every wish, who could only follow behind you and rely on you, has become so independent. She can even order you around and protect you behind her instead, as though your roles have been reversed."
"Feeling out of sorts?"
Without answering, Yinluo merely smiled and raised the crystal ball. "Miss Shuangsheng, as we agreed earlier, I gave you half the potion, and you were to help me activate the Grief Seeds the captain scattered. But the numbers don't look right, do they? Aren't there considerably fewer than we agreed on?"
"Oh dear, oh dear, listen to yourself. You make it sound as though I'm cheating you." Shuangsheng looked aggrieved. "It's not as though you don't know how cautious the captain is. I've already done my very best to awaken this many Calamity Beasts. Lots of the Grief Seeds were forcibly activated before they'd even stored enough tainted magic. With so much wasted, the captain is definitely going to fly into a rage afterward. How can you still blame me?"
"Besides, isn't the fact that you let the Inspection Section's information leak more important than the number of Calamity Beasts I activated? You went to all that trouble, but the Azure Cloud Sect still received word in advance. In the end, the only person you kept in the dark was your own little sister. That's much more fatal than me not activating enough Calamity Beasts, isn't it? If the Azure Cloud Sect hadn't received advance warning, it would definitely be chaos outside right now, with heaps of people dead."
Rubbing her temples, Yinluo walked out of the Inspection Section.
"It couldn't be helped. It's the Azure Cloud Sect, after all."
Yinluo entered the corridor, surrounded by other Disaster Countermeasures Bureau employees hurrying about.
Outside the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau came the roars of several Calamity Beasts.
Bringing Grief Seeds into the bureau's separate space and awakening them was no difficult task for Yinluo.
Peony had already gone outside to provide support, while Rose and Keke had not been in the bureau to begin with. There were currently no magical girls in the entire Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, which was defending itself solely with its magic barrier.
Ammunition poured from large numbers of heavy weapons and exploded against the Calamity Beasts. The violent shaking kept making it difficult for anyone inside the bureau to stay on their feet.
But against the Calamity Beasts, it barely managed to suppress them.
Under the attacks of so many Calamity Beasts, the magic barrier had already begun to waver.
She headed toward the secure room. With all the bureau's armed forces dealing with the Calamity Beasts, the now "completely empty" secure room was naturally unattended.
Unlocking the door, passing verification, decrypting, swiping her card-the layers of security looked highly professional.
But having worked here long enough, Yinluo naturally knew how much of it was mere window dressing.
As she passed through, she asked, "I'm curious. Why did you betray the Azure Cloud Sect and join the Witch Association?"
"Same reason you betrayed the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau. I just couldn't stand certain people."
"If you only wanted to deal with the Azure Cloud Sect, wouldn't the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau have been a better choice? It would have left you room to maneuver, too."
"Don't make me laugh. Do you believe that yourself? Have me join the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau to deal with the Azure Cloud Sect? I might as well work alone."
Yinluo walked all the way to the third brick in the corner of the eastern wall. Opening it, she could see an exquisite box inside.
A hint of intense emotion appeared on Yinluo's face, which had remained elegant and composed all along.
Stroking the box with excitement and greed, she impatiently tried to open it, only to discover that it was not locked.
The lock-picking tools she had prepared were useless. Yinluo paused, then opened the box and discovered that only two Miracle Seeds remained inside.
If she remembered correctly, shouldn't there have been three?
"Hey, hey, hey, the present I prepared for you has arrived. I won't interrupt your first grand display of might after gaining your power, then. Bye-bye~"
Shuangsheng's face vanished from the crystal ball. Hearing a disturbance, Yinluo also whipped her head around.
Susan leaned against the wall, her arms folded, watching her with a trace of mockery and disgust:
"Is there anything else you'd like to explain, Miss Yinluo?"
After a brief pause, Yinluo quickly ran through the people who knew about this in her mind, then sighed.
Shuangsheng, you little bitch...