Lying on the bed, Lu Ren began to ponder over the things that had recently unsettled him.
First of all, there was the Shadow Beast he had encountered lately, the one that could use human language.
It could write threatening notices, hide itself, and even possessed abilities that no other monster had.
No matter how he thought about it, it was a troublesome enemy.
Secondly, there was still no clue regarding Jia Yi’s situation.
The Official Department still hadn’t found the source of that pile of equipment and the new type of contraband, let alone the reason why those twelve people felt dizzy and faint during the abduction.
If this continued, sooner or later, new victims would appear.
However, considering the possible involvement of supernatural powers like the Night Demon, it was actually quite normal that there were no developments in the case.
As for the last matter, it was Lu Ren’s own private concern.
Recently, he was considering whether to tell his parents that he had made some money, so they didn’t need to send him a living allowance anymore.
If he had to choose one from these three matters to seek Pandora’s help with…
Hmm…
“…I’ve never really understood, why did the Idolization Activities of Magical Girls appear?”
Lu Ren voiced a question he hadn’t even expected himself.
Strangely enough, when he spoke this unexpected question aloud, he felt his body become much lighter.
How ridiculous.
He was actually troubled to such an extent by something so unrelated to his daily life.
Lu Ren couldn’t help but close his eyes and laugh at himself.
“So that’s the question… Looks like you’ve been worrying about the other Magical Girls lately. You’re quite a sentimental human, aren’t you?”
“But, I don’t dislike humans like you.”
“Go ahead, tell me—what do you think an idol should be?”
Hearing Lu Ren’s question, Pandora’s voice carried a hint of laughter, guiding Lu Ren to share his thoughts with her.
“Mm… I always thought idols should be the kind of people who can inspire others, looking bright and healthy.”
At this point, Lu Ren had no more reservations in his heart, and simply stated his narrow definition of an idol.
Pandora listened to Lu Ren’s thoughts, thought for a moment, and then asked him,
“Then isn’t having Magical Girls become idols quite in line with your definition of an idol? Why do you feel disgusted by it?”
“…I feel that those Magical Girls aren’t true idols. Some of them become idols for money and fame, and some are even forced into it.”
“I don’t see genuine smiles on their faces. I hate Magical Girl idols like that.”
Lu Ren gave the answer he’d come to long ago.
Upon hearing Lu Ren’s true thoughts, Pandora gave a rather human-like snort of laughter and said to Lu Ren,
“No wonder you were sighing all day yesterday and seemed completely off. So you’re still harboring such childish thoughts.”
“To think you’re an adult, yet you don’t even know the most basic social common sense.”
With that, Pandora actually jumped off the bed, walked over to Xu Wenxing’s side, and tugged at Xu Wenxing’s pant leg with her paw.
Xu Wenxing took off his headphones and looked at Pandora, who was tugging his pants, and asked her curiously,
“What’s wrong? Looking for me about something?”
“Your roommate wants to ask you a question. Can you answer him?”
Pandora sat gracefully on the floor and relayed her request to Xu Wenxing.
She seemed to have already found the root of Lu Ren’s psychological problem, and planned to let his roommate answer it for him.
“Ren-ge has a question for me? Sure, go ahead.”
“Very good, you’re an excellent human too.” Pandora praised, “Then, can you tell your roommate—do truly noble professions exist in this world?”
Upon hearing Pandora’s question, Xu Wenxing didn’t answer right away, but instead fell silent for a moment.
Xu Wenxing looked down at Pandora, whose eyes were full of resolve, then at Lu Ren lying on the bed, saying nothing, and seemed to understand something.
His mind drifted back to his own growth over the years, recalling the lessons from his parents, and remembering those stirring examples he had learned about.
After reviewing all the cases that had left a deep impression on him, Xu Wenxing smiled lightly and gave his answer.
“No, there are no truly noble professions in this world. There are only noble personalities.”
When Lu Ren heard this familiar saying, one he’d heard in the past, he suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in bed.
That’s right, he had even forgotten this.
What should be noble is the spirit of humanity, not any particular profession!
“Ren-ge, have you ever heard of Harold, the Death Doctor from Mist City?”
Seeing his roommate finally snap out of his former state of dejection, Xu Wenxing couldn’t help but smile and decided to share a case to answer Lu Ren’s doubts.
“No, I’ve never heard of him at all.”
Hearing this unfamiliar name, Lu Ren shook his head, indicating he had absolutely no idea about this “Harold” case.
However, given the nickname Death Doctor, Lu Ren could pretty much guess that Harold was probably no good.
“Good, then. Since you haven’t heard of it, I’ll tell you about Harold’s case.”
Seeing that he could help Lu Ren, Xu Wenxing excitedly rubbed his hands together and began recalling the man’s deeds.
“Harold, traumatized by his mother’s death from illness, developed the idea of learning medicine and using drugs to kill.”
“More than twenty years after graduating from medical school, he opened his own clinic in a small town on the outskirts of the city, attracting a large number of patients.”
“Harold took advantage of the natural trust patients had in doctors. When they came to see him, he would inject them with overdoses of medication to kill these trusting patients, then falsify their medical records so that others wouldn’t suspect the cause of death.”
“Through this method, he killed nearly two hundred people, and even after being caught, he showed not a hint of remorse.”
Xu Wenxing’s brief introduction ended there.
Sitting on the bed, Lu Ren, after hearing this chilling story, subconsciously clenched his teeth, wishing he could stomp on the man’s ashes and feed them to the dogs.
Pandora watched Lu Ren’s expression, and, seeing that he had finally returned to his usual self, slowly jumped to Lu Ren’s side and lazily spoke her summary.
“In other words, what you want to see in an idol isn’t an idol, but a human shining with the brilliance of humanity.”
“Am I right?”
Lu Ren listened to Pandora’s summary of his inner question, remained silent for a long time, and then slowly nodded.
Pandora was right; what he truly liked were those shining, noble souls.
That was why, even now, he still admired Sapphire and regarded her as his idol.
Although, in a professional sense, Sapphire wasn’t really an idol; her job was merely to protect City A from monsters as a Magic Girl.
But the reason Lu Ren liked Sapphire was precisely because she always protected City A!
That noble spirit was why he regarded Sapphire as his idol.
“Thank you, Pandora. Now I know what I need to do.”
After receiving help from Pandora and Xu Wenxing, Lu Ren once again felt revitalized, and the motivation he’d lost before returned to his body.
With a solemn expression, Lu Ren reached out to Pandora, intending to use a human gesture to express his gratitude to this Magic Fairy from another world.
“As long as I could help. Just don’t let me down in the future, Magic Girl Blazing Flame.”
Seeing Lu Ren’s gesture, Pandora also extended her left forepaw and shook his hand.
“Don’t worry, I’ll never back down again,” Lu Ren promised Pandora. “Until I’ve completely defeated the Night Demon, I won’t fall before you.”
“Not bad, you’re fired up now—that’s the attitude a red-themed Magic Girl should have.” Pandora was quite satisfied with Lu Ren’s response. “Alright, from now on, let’s drive the Night Demon out of this world before death claims us!”
“Mm!”
Lu Ren looked at Pandora with a determined gaze, earnestly accepting Pandora’s invitation.