Chapter 55: The Rookie Magical Girl

After the disaster beast was eliminated, tranquility returned to the shopping mall.

Beneath the rubble, the massive and ferocious disaster beast, its core now shattered, saw its flesh and blood gradually granulate into a cluster of pitch-black abyssal aura that surged toward the magical core of the cyan-clad magical girl, much like experience points in a video game.

Aside from the collapsed floors, it was as if the disaster beast had never existed at all.

Violet looked at the magical girl before her with somewhat complicated feelings. She was always the one who snatched other people's monsters; she had never encountered a magical girl who dared to snatch hers.

However, she felt awkward voicing this, as the claim that she had saved this disaster beast for her younger sister didn't really hold up. Eliminating disaster beasts was an unquestionable, urgent duty for magical girls.

Besides, she didn't want to bicker with a newbie magical girl over a low-tier disaster beast.

Just as Violet was wondering how to explain, the cyan magical girl spoke first, her tone much gentler than before.

"Little sister, you must be a newcomer. Fighting disaster beasts is extremely dangerous—it's nothing like what you see in anime. Next time, never rush out alone, you hear?"

There was no helping it; Violet's physique was simply too deceptive. With her junior high schooler-sized stature, purely judged by appearance, nobody would ever believe she was a battle-hardened veteran magical girl.

As she spoke, the other girl reached out a slender hand and gently patted Violet's head. Seemingly feeling that her previous words had been a bit too severe for a child and wanting to comfort her, she began to introduce herself.

"My floral name is 'Green Tangerine'. You can call me Senior Green Tangerine. If we encounter a disaster beast again in the future, let's eliminate it together, okay?"

The tone of the green magical girl sounded like an older sister soothing a young child—gentle, kind, and full of well-meaning deception.

Violet: "..."

Just as she was about to explain, another emerald-green ray of light appeared on the horizon. Violet and Green Tangerine both looked over as the emerald light descended, and Bai Youqing finally arrived.

"Senior Xiao Lan!"

Landing on the ground, Bai Youqing happily waved at Violet, then asked in confusion, "Where's the disaster beast?"

Violet pointed at Green Tangerine. "You're late. The disaster beast has already been taken care of by this senior magical girl."

During the explanation, she deliberately emphasized the word "senior".

"Ah! How could this happen?"

Bai Youqing let out a mournful cry.

Ever since the successive accidents earlier, she had been practicing diligently, training her magical control and incantations all for the sake of future revenge and beating up disaster beasts.

Standing to the side, the Green Tangerine magical girl seemed to sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere, gleaning some information from their conversation.

Recalling how the disaster beast had stood frozen in place like a living target, she drew a sharp breath.

Hiss—it seemed she had just stolen a senior's opportunity to leave a monster behind for her junior's practical training.

What was even more embarrassing was that she had patted the other person's head and spouted a whole bunch of patronizing remarks.

Talk about brandishing a broadsword before Guan Yu—she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Green Tangerine took a sharp intake of breath. Her face flushed visibly with blood, and she became so mortified she couldn't even raise her head.

Her eyes darted about nervously, making everywhere she looked feel wrong; she wished she could instantly vanish from the face of the earth.

Ah, she wanted to die, she wanted to die! She wished there was a trash can right next to her so she could dive straight into it and let the garbage truck haul her away. She didn't want to stay here for another second, yet leaving directly would be impolite.

Violet looked at the Green Tangerine magical girl, who had completely retreated into her own world of self-imposed autistic silence, and smiled helplessly. "You don't need to take it to heart. It was just a low-tier disaster beast anyway. Killed is killed, it's no big deal."

Green Tangerine cautiously glanced up and saw that Violet indeed seemed completely unbothered.

This only made her retreat even deeper into her shell...

"Green Tangerine, are you a newcomer like Xiaoqing?"

After a delay of several good seconds, the Green Tangerine magical girl lowered her head and gave a soft "Mm."

She had become a magical girl three months ago, but her actual combat experience was practically zero. Every time she sensed the aura of a disaster beast and rushed over, the battle was already over.

"Don't you have a guide?"

"What's a guide?"

"It's the magical spirit that contracted with you, like her."

Violet stretched out a finger and pointed at Xiao Ai, who was hiding behind Bai Youqing and playing a mobile game.

"Oh, oh, oh, I remember now! Three months ago, a cute little magical spirit like that found me and asked if I was willing to become a magical girl. Of course, I excitedly agreed. But after becoming a magical girl, I never saw it again."

Prompted by this, Green Tangerine finally managed to recall some things.

Violet's gaze turned to Xiao Ai, who hurriedly shook her head and said, "I'm not only 'notorious' among magical girls, but I'm also infamous in the magical spirit world. No spirit is willing to play with me. However, the magical spirit that contracted with her certainly hasn't died, otherwise I would have felt the sorrow and cried over the passing of a peer three months ago."

"I see, I understand."

Violet's gaze returned to Green Tangerine. "Have you joined any Adjudication Squads?"

"What does 'Adjudication Squad' mean?"

"Magical girls are organized, too. Every region has its corresponding adjudicator squads. For example, Wan Cheng District, Hanjiang District, and Tianxin District in Ye-qiu City are under the jurisdiction of the Jianlan Adjudication Squad—which is us."

"Uh... No, I haven't." Hearing this, Green Tangerine awkwardly shook her head.

"Then, would you be willing to join our squad?" Violet asked, nodding as she had anticipated this, extending an olive branch to the girl.

"Eh? Really? My strength isn't very high."

Green Tangerine could hardly believe it. This time she finally raised her head, her voice tinged with a hint of insecurity.

"When the nation faces peril, every citizen bears responsibility. Our squad has never recruited members based on strength. Instead, we look at whether you possess the responsibility to protect the weak, the courage to fight against disaster beasts, and the resolute determination to drive the abyssal disaster beasts out of Earth. Without a doubt, you demonstrated one of those just now."

"Can I really do it?"

"Mmm, believe in yourself. By the way, what school do you go to?"

Violet asked a follow-up question. If she were a student at No. 1 Qiuyuan High School, she wouldn't have gone three months without making contact with the Jianlan magical team.

"I study at Changya Middle School, and I'm currently in the second year of high school."

"Alright. If you've made up your mind, call this number to contact me." Violet pulled a business card from her pocket and handed it to Green Tangerine. She had deliberately printed these beforehand; items like this would be indispensable if the Jianlan Adjudication Squad wanted to make some extra cash in the future.

"Okay."

On the way back, Bai Youqing looked at Violet and said happily, "Senior Violet, what you said earlier was wonderful! In the future, I will also work hard to move in that direction, wipe out all the Abyssal Demon Maidens, and drive all the abyssal disaster beasts out of Earth."

"......"

Violet froze for a moment, a faint, somewhat complicated smile appearing on her face. She patted her younger sister's head and chuckled, "Keep it up, I believe in you."