Miss Hell, Who Could No Longer Grow Taller (Two-in-One)

[Congratulations, Miss Witch, you've completed another random event.]

[You received a reward: Grief Seed.]

"Heave-ho~~!"

The hardworking Miss Hell held a shovel as she buried her newly acquired Grief Seed in front of her Tree of Calamity.

Once she was done, the girl leaned on the shovel, put one hand on her hip, and looked the tree up and down before nodding in satisfaction.

[The Tree of Calamity belonging to the cutest, cutest, cutest Miss Witch in the whole universe!]

[Growth index: 100 points, "sapling stage."]

[Congratulations, Miss Witch, your Tree of Calamity has entered its second growth stage. Your soul has grown stronger as a result and can now accommodate a second superpower/Magic Cursed Technique~]

"That clears a space for the Speed Force ahead of time."

Miss Hell looked at the "towering tree," which had grown to be slightly taller than she was, and felt quite pleased.

But when she came back to her senses, she was a little troubled.

She rose onto her tiptoes and muttered softly:

"Can magical girls still grow taller?"

Hearing her, Skynet's Little Crow flew down from the treetop onto her shoulder and began a serious analysis:

"Probably not, Master. After you become a magical girl, your body's growth stops, whether your magic is sealed or unsealed, unless you retire and lose your magic."

"But the good thing is that you're certain to become the greatest witch in the future, so you have absolutely no need to worry about 'retirement.' Therefore..."

"You'll never grow any taller for the rest of your life!"

Skynet's Little Crow, it had to be said, had the emotional intelligence of a full-grown cricket.

After all, it didn't understand what use height was to humans.

As far as it was concerned, its master was already unbelievably beautiful, perfectly cute from every angle.

"Stop, stop, stop. Don't say any more. I don't want to know."

Miss Hell immediately covered her ears and left the Domain of the Heart.

She wasn't listening!

As long as she buried her head in the sand, she could still hold on to a little hope.

...So was she really never going to grow taller for the rest of her life? (Sad.)

A light drizzle fell on Taiping Prefecture that night, as gloomy as Miss Hell's mood.

Police cars sped past, splashing water along the roadside as they headed for Whale Sea Park, where an enormous explosion had occurred.

After Miss Hell lifted her Magic Curtain, an angler in the park had called the police to report that the forest behind him had suddenly gone completely bald!

Damn it, he'd nearly been so scared he fell into the water.

The Taiping Prefecture police rushed to the scene, and after confirming the traces of magic there, they could only report it to the Ministry of Magic.

This was beyond their capabilities.

Whenever anything involved superpowers or magic, all they could do was show up afterward to set the scene.

After all, the United Government paid them so little, and trading fire with gangs from various countries and guys from the Middle East every day was dangerous enough already.

Meanwhile.

Miss Hell, who had quietly taken her leave without claiming credit, sat on a tall stool by the glass at the Lawson Convenience Store.

She turned her sorrow and frustration into an appetite, eating tiramisu dusted with cocoa powder.

As the cake melted in her mouth, the girl took a sip of her steaming latte and gently swung her feet, which couldn't reach the floor.

Only then did she feel her mood improve again.

As for why she was at the convenience store.

Naturally, it was because her fight with Golden Feather had used up a lot of her strength and magic, so she had to treat herself properly.

Even before she got the system, she had loved sweets, and after becoming a magical girl, she liked them even more.

After all, sweets like cake and cocoa not only tasted good but were also naturally suited to replenishing magic thanks to their high calorie content.

Just then, several young men in local idol fan outfits walked past the window under umbrellas.

Suddenly, one of them caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye and froze.

"Hey, hey! Wait up! Isn't she the girl we ran into last time?! I'm sure of it, she's the magical girl Hell!"

Though Hell couldn't hear what the boys were saying through the double glazing, they looked very happy.

She even vaguely recognized the taller one among them.

At that moment, one of the boys held up his phone horizontally and deftly typed out a line of scrolling fan-support text:

"Miss Hell, we're your fans. Could we take a picture with you through the glass?"

The person beside him immediately held up his phone too: "If we're bothering you, we're sorry. We'll leave right away!"

Hell held her fork between her teeth and thought for a moment before nodding gently and putting it down to show they could.

So the boys crowded together in front of the glass by Hell and raised a phone to take a group photo.

In the photo, Miss Hell, who had just elbowed the Ministry of Magic, was clearly in a good mood, the corners of her mouth raised in a cheerful smile.

She raised her right hand in a sideways peace sign, lending a playful touch to her young-lady aura,

but she was still just as elegant and noble. She merely seemed a little less out of reach to her fans.

After the photo, the boys excitedly thanked her and left without bothering her any further.

"Quick, quick, quick, send me the photo!"

"Hehe, you're crying because you can't wait!"

"I'm crying because I can't wait!!"

"I can't take it... Miss Hell is so cute!! Thank goodness I didn't stay home today, or I'd have regretted it for the rest of my life."

"A cute, cold-faced beauty's smile is practically a nuke. I can't take it, why does my heart feel like it hurts..."

"Of course it hurts, your heart's doing cardio!"

After the fans left, Miss Hell finished her tiramisu.

Just then, three girls in sailor uniforms walked into the convenience store with umbrellas, complaining to their friends:

"This is so annoying. How did it suddenly start raining in this weather?"

"My clothes are wet..."

"Let's buy a towel and dry off. We don't want to catch a cold."

Their voices sounded familiar to Miss Hell. She glanced over and discovered that the three girls were none other than Bai Xiaoxiao and Saionji Kirika.

And... Tang Xiaoyu, whom she had just met yesterday.

The girl's short, dark blue hair partly covered one eye, and a beige hairpin held back her bangs.

Bai Xiaoxiao and the other two also noticed Hell sitting by the glass and immediately looked pleasantly surprised.

Saionji Kirika: "Miss Hell? Long time no see..."

Bai Xiaoxiao: "What a coincidence, Miss Hell... Xiaoyu only just told us about you today! I want an autograph too!"

Hell glanced at the three girls' soaked tops and couldn't help wondering why they hadn't used magic.

Was it because Tang Xiaoyu was with them, and they were worried about revealing their identities?

Hell hopped lightly down from the tall stool and urged them, "Stop, catching up can wait. Hurry and dry off before you catch a cold."

With that, she went to buy towels.

Afterward,

Saionji Kirika and Hell took the towels they had just bought and carefully dried Bai Xiaoxiao and Tang Xiaoyu off, respectively.

Come to think of it, although Wuhua was the young lady of the Saionji Family and had grown up in a wealthy household, she was surprisingly good at taking care of people.

"Mm..."

Tang Xiaoyu, standing in front of Hell, was bright red. She tilted her head up slightly, her heart pounding. She hadn't expected to meet Miss Hell here.

She had only just told Bai Xiaoxiao and Wuhua about Hell at school that day, and she hadn't expected to run into her again that evening.

I'm so lucky...

Before long, Hell finished drying Tang Xiaoyu's hair. She turned and saw that Wuhua's hair was still soaking wet.

"Let me help you," Hell said.

"Huh? Then... thank you..."

Wuhua's earlobes reddened. A little embarrassed, she nevertheless nodded gently and handed Miss Hell the towel.

Wuhua's hair was very long, so it took more time to dry, but Hell had been used to looking after her younger brothers and sisters since she was little.

So she wasn't impatient in the slightest.

Bai Xiaoxiao and Tang Xiaoyu were buying hot drinks at the counter.

Meanwhile, Miss Hell's fingertips passed gently through Wuhua's hair.

As she gently and patiently dried it, Little Wuhua narrowed her violet eyes, so comfortable that she nearly purred.

Her thoughts wandered: Mm... Whenever I get close to Miss Hell, I can smell that faint freesia fragrance on her.

I want to get even closer...

No, I can't. That's such a rude thought!

Soon, Bai Xiaoxiao and the others came over carrying four cups of hot cocoa.

Hell finally finished drying Wuhua's hair and asked why they had suddenly shown up here.

Bai Xiaoxiao held her hot cocoa, warming herself as she said, "We had dinner together after school, then went to see the latest Magical Girl Eclipse movie, so we just got out of the theater."

"Who knew it would suddenly start pouring before we'd gone more than a few steps?"

Hell nodded. "No wonder you haven't gone home this late."

The white-haired kitten looked curious. "What about you, Senior Hell? Why are you alone in a convenience store? Are you on a mission?"

At that, all three girls looked curiously at Hell.

Hell picked up her hot cocoa and took a gentle sip before replying unhurriedly:

"That's grown-up business. Children shouldn't ask."

"Huh?? That's so sneaky, Senior Hell! You're only sixteen yourself, aren't you?"

Bai Xiaoxiao and Tang Xiaoyu immediately looked disappointed, but both were sensible enough not to press her.

Wuhua covered her mouth and chuckled beside them.

After that, the girls bought some oden and prepared food and moved to a table that was a little friendlier to short people.

They crowded together, chatting and laughing as rain slid down the glass, spending a more enjoyable late-night snack time than usual.

Meanwhile, in the sky above Jinghai District.

A red meteor with a long trail streaked across the night sky and landed in the forest at Whale Sea Park, which had been cordoned off.

The park's wooded area, nearly a hundred meters across, had been reduced to scorched earth, and the remaining stumps had been burned to charcoal.

The red meteor slowly revealed itself to be Lin Xiaohong, the Ministry of Magic's head in Jinghai District and a B+ rank magical girl.

Her magical outfit was a set of wizard's robes in a distinctly old-fashioned style, and she wore a wide, pointed wizard's hat that hid half her face.

Lin Xiaohong, the magical girl known as Red Sparrow, now looked grave.

Sitting on her magic staff, she stared at the charred corpse in the center of the scorched ground and the faint traces of a witch's aura lingering at the scene.

She thought:

Fire magic over such a large area... Was it a fire Cursed Technique like mine?

The mission Golden Feather had received was to investigate the Gun Witch, a member of the Witches' Association. With her strength, it should have been a very easy assignment.

After all, Golden Feather was one of the Ministry of Magic's rare melee-type magical girls.

Yet she had died along the way at the hands of a witch of unknown origin.

After investigating the scene, the Ministry of Magic had found only one clue: the other party had at least B+ rank total magic and was a fire-type magical girl, just like Lin Xiaohong.

Now that this had happened, Lin Xiaohong, as the person in charge of Jinghai District, had to take responsibility and investigate it to the end.

After all, a B+ rank witch had been lurking in her jurisdiction without her noticing at all, a serious dereliction of duty on the part of the person in charge.

Once word reached the Ministry of Magic, she would inevitably be questioned and might even be suspected of colluding with the Witches' Association.

Although Golden Feather had always treated her, her nominal superior, badly, she was still her companion...

At the thought that Hu Xueting's displeasure and an accountability letter from the Ministry of Magic would both arrive at her office tomorrow,

Lin Xiaohong's eyes gradually filled with tears as she sat on her magic staff.

She was sad about Golden Feather's death, and sad for herself too.

"My career..."

"Looks like..."

"It's come to an end..."

Her immediate superior, Hu Xueting, had never liked her to begin with, and now she had something on her. Forget getting promoted; it was hard to say whether she could even get through this.

Lin Xiaohong pulled down the hat on her head and flopped back onto her magic staff, her petite body wrapped in her magical robes as she gazed helplessly at the sky.

The cold, icy rain slapped haphazardly against her face.

The girl could see no color of hope.

It was as if the whole world had turned gray.

At that moment, Lin Xiaohong, only seventeen years old, had already begun wondering how much pension she could draw from the United Government each month after losing her magical abilities and retiring at the rank of a county or district head.

She still had three younger sisters to support at home... Would it really be enough?

Her grades weren't good either. If her job as a magical girl hadn't guaranteed her a place, she would have struggled even to pass the civil service exam.

If she lost her status as a magical girl, and Hu Xueting got something on her and kicked her out of the Ministry of Magic...

Then Lin Xiaohong felt that, given her lack of practical skills and inability to tell one grain from another, she would probably only be able to find a night shift at a convenience store or miserably shake milk tea at Mixue Ice City.

Boo-hoo...

In Taiping Prefecture today, some people were destined to be happy, and others sad.

After the drizzle gradually stopped, Tang Xiaoyu reluctantly waved goodbye to the others and got into the driver's car to head home.

Miss Hell then watched Bai Xiaoxiao and Wuhua get into their car before turning away, finding an alley, setting up a Magic Curtain, and undoing her transformation.

By the time she took a taxi home, it was nearly midnight.

Bai Xiaoxiao had just finished bathing. Wearing an off-white shirt, she lay on her stomach on the sofa with Moon Studio's official account open on her phone, refreshing it every few seconds.

"That damned Moon Studio, why haven't they released Miss Hell's Q&A interview yet?!"

Mo Zhen walked over and gently touched her damp white hair by her ear. "You didn't dry your hair? You could catch a cold like that."

The air conditioner was still set so low, too.

Feeling a little guilty, Bai Xiaoxiao didn't dare look into her brother's beautiful blue eyes. "I was waiting for Magical Girl Hell's interview."

Mo Zhen sighed, went upstairs to fetch the hair dryer, and plugged it in.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaoxiao immediately rolled over from the sofa with practiced ease and lay across Mo Zhen's lap. She played on her phone as she obediently waited for him to dry her hair.

Ever since the little incident with the cake, their relationship as brother and sister had improved considerably.

Perhaps influenced by them, Mo Xiaochuan and Mo Chou had also gradually begun to get over the hurdle in their hearts.

Mo Zhen loved how this moment felt. Everything was good.

"Mmm..."

Warm air rushed through the girl's shoulder-length gray hair.

It was worth mentioning that Bai Xiaoxiao's hair was actually a little lighter than Mo Zhen's gray hair in witch form, closer to white.

Once her hair was dry, Bai Xiaoxiao finally refreshed the page and found the video Moon Studio had just released:

"Magical Girl 'Hell': The official interview and ten quickfire Q&A questions~"

"Brother~!"

"Magical Girl Hell's interview is out!"

Bai Xiaoxiao held up her phone and showed it to her brother, her little face full of excitement.

Seeing it, Mo Zhen remembered yesterday's photo shoot. His ears reddened, and he unplugged the hair dryer and got up.

"I'll watch it later. I'm going to take a bath first."

Bai Xiaoxiao had no choice but to nod. Then she suddenly remembered something and hurriedly reminded him:

"There's cake in the fridge! I bought some for you and Xiaochuan. It's tiramisu covered in cocoa powder, and it's really delicious! I tried it for you first."

Mo Zhen paused, remembering the little cakes she had bought before leaving the convenience store. He had thought she was saving them for herself that evening.

But it turned out she had bought them for him.

"Mm, got it. Thank you."

Coming back to his senses, the boy chuckled and raised a hand to rub and rub and rub Bai Xiaoxiao's freshly smoothed hair, thoroughly mussing it up again.

"Mm... if you keep rubbing my hair like that, I'm going to bite you!"

Before the white-haired kitten could hiss at him, Mo Zhen turned and left.

Bai Xiaoxiao puffed out her cheeks, cupped her burning face, and rolled back into the blanket on the sofa.

Stupid Mo Zhen!

With such a gentle, handsome face, he keeps provoking me... doesn't he know that makes it easy for people to want to do bad things?

Fortunately, though, no bad woman had appeared by her brother's side to fight her for him yet. Otherwise, Bai Xiaoxiao really would have felt uneasy.

Meanwhile.

Mo Zhen returned to the second floor. The door to Mo Xiaochuan's room was open, and he was playing War Thunder on his computer. Judging by his bright red profile and the smoke constantly rising from his head... he was probably in a good mood?

Mo Zhen only hoped his younger brother wouldn't get so carried away that he punched through the monitor.

On social media, meanwhile, the view count for Miss Hell's interview video had begun to skyrocket after its release.

The video began with an introduction from Richard, Tang Wenjie's secretary and the studio's star host.

He hosted the interviews for basically every superhero and magical girl who debuted, making him a familiar face to all their fans.

People called him Taiping Prefecture's "Little Sa Beining."