Xiaoxi sighed quietly, realizing that there was no way to make Xiao Keke give up on this matter in the short term.
Since that was the case, she might as well take this opportunity to discipline the girl a bit—stop her from being so reckless on every mission.
“Being impatient is never a good habit. Do you think, in your current state, you’ll be able to get enough rest before tomorrow? Will your magic power recover enough to continue training?”
“This is just training for now. But I’ll ask you—if you really face an enemy far stronger than you in actual combat, what would you do?”
“Do my best to stall and keep fighting the monster, and try every possible way to buy time for reinforcements!” Xiao Keke answered decisively.
“Wrong!” Xiaoxi gritted her teeth. “If you can’t even win the fight, why do you have to throw yourself into trouble? If you encounter a monster you can’t handle, you run! It’s not like the Association has no other Magical Girls to deal with the monsters!”
“But…”
Xiao Keke blinked in surprise, not expecting Senior Eternal Star to respond this way. But during the Great Chaos Era, wasn’t Eternal Star always the one charging headfirst into battle?
Magical Girls were supposed to stand up in times of crisis to protect the people—that was the lesson she had learned from Eternal Star.
“I understand now, Senior!” Xiao Keke suddenly realized. “You don’t have to test me. I won’t run away to save myself in a moment of crisis! This is my responsibility as a Magical Girl!”
Damn it… Xiaoxi was exasperated, even suspecting that Xiao Keke was deliberately arguing with her.
Why did the girl insist on thinking she was contradicting her? Wasn’t it possible that Xiaoxi’s words were sincere?
Xiaoxi had indeed calculated that Xiao Keke was a fan of Eternal Star, but she had overlooked one thing: Xiao Keke trusted Eternal Star too much.
Her senior must be a Magical Girl filled with a strong sense of justice, and everything she did was definitely for Xiao Keke’s own good!
Xiao Keke was practically born with a Sacred Beast Body—no matter how much the Boss fed her empty promises or played mind games, she believed it all wholeheartedly.
Not only did she believe it, but she also worked hard to improve her performance… The problem was, the Boss’s real intention was to force her to quit voluntarily so they wouldn’t have to pay 2n+1 in Resignation Compensation!
“What’s wrong, Senior? Why so quiet? Don’t worry, everything I just said is the truth! From the moment I decided to become a Magical Girl, I’ve been mentally prepared!”
If anyone else heard such self-sacrificing words, they would probably be moved. But Xiaoxi just felt a surge of nameless anger in her chest.
Why was the girl so stubborn? Even when her idol was criticizing her, she insisted on holding her ground? Couldn’t she just… give it up obediently?
“That stubbornness of yours needs to change! Is just having hot blood enough? Can’t you learn to protect yourself first? Have you ever thought about how those who care about you feel?”
“If it weren’t for this flaw, you wouldn’t have gotten into such danger during your last mission! Do you know how serious your injuries were? If the wound had been just a bit more misplaced…”
“Senior, how do you know about my injury on the last mission?”
Xiao Keke’s confused voice sounded, and Xiaoxi immediately fell silent, realizing she had spoken out of turn in her emotional state.
But Xiaoxi still maintained a cold expression on the surface. She was the senior here, and under no circumstances could she lose her composure in front of Xiao Keke.
“…Miss L told me. Didn’t you have her come find me?”
However, Xiaoxi’s quick explanation didn’t convince Xiao Keke. She furrowed her brow, thinking for a moment—had she ever mentioned this to Minister L?
After all, Xiaoxi had only happened to be on the scene last time. The mission was carried out by another Magical Girl team, so Xiao Keke hadn’t even submitted a Mission Report afterward.
If Minister L had heard about the injury from another Magical Girl, that made sense—but would that person remember the exact location of the wound?
Xiao Keke remembered only Sirius had checked her injury then…
“Alright, that’s enough for today. We’ll talk about the next training once your body is mostly recovered. Miss L will inform you of the specific time.”
Xiaoxi quickly cut off Xiao Keke’s wandering thoughts. She had originally hoped to break Xiao Keke’s resolve in one go today, but surprisingly, the stubborn girl had quite the endurance.
No problem. She would just go back and figure out other ways to make her give up. Xiaoxi refused to believe this girl could keep holding on forever.
Watching Eternal Star’s hurried retreating figure, Xiao Keke took a long time before finally getting up from the ground.
She felt that something was off. The tone Senior Eternal Star had used earlier made her feel as if she had been scolded by an elder.
It was like when she was little and fell while playing outside, getting hurt. At home, her older sister would scold her for being careless while tenderly helping her dress the wound…
Also, Xiao Keke hadn’t expected Senior Eternal Star’s training intensity to be so high. No wonder she said things like, “If you can’t hold on, then don’t be a Magical Girl.”
Her senior must have said that to motivate her, to give her both the drive and the sense of crisis to keep going.
After all, there was no way her senior would deliberately want her to quit, right?
Come to think of it, Senior Eternal Star left in such a hurry earlier—did she have something urgent to deal with?
Well, she was a living person too. It was normal to have things to take care of. And since it was Eternal Star, whatever she had to handle must be very important, right?
Xiaoxi herself had something very important to do… She was rushing home to make breakfast for Ye Xinglan.
When Xiaoxi returned home, Ye Xinglan had just woken up and was sitting on the living room sofa, trying to clear her head.
The little rich lady, still in her pajamas and looking sleepy, formed a stark contrast to the energetic Xiaoxi, fresh from her morning run.
“Eh? Xiaoxi, what were you out so early for?”
“Went for a run, to exercise a bit,” Xiaoxi smiled. “Morning exercise really clears the mind. What do you want for breakfast? I’ll make it for you.”
Ye Xinglan nodded silently, surprised that Xiaoxi still had the energy for morning workouts. Thinking about it, Xiaoxi really had many good qualities—diligent and motivated, and cute too.
Compared to her… she probably only had ‘rich’ going for her.
With that thought, Xiaoxi’s driven personality made her an excellent candidate for a partner…
Realizing her thoughts had drifted again, Ye Xinglan shook her head, blaming her foggy brain for just waking up.
But recently, she found herself growing more and more fond of Xiaoxi, just like the saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
“I want bread with jam and a fried egg, plus hot milk!” Ye Xinglan put on her proper young lady pose.
“Got it, Miss. Just wait a moment.”
If Xiao Keke knew that her admired Senior Eternal Star had hurried off early to go home and make breakfast for her little girlfriend, how would she feel?