After the mission, although Jiang Yin played a crucial role in holding back the enemy and protecting Qv Si Nan and Lu Zhizhi, she never saw the Puppet Hunter from beginning to end.
This guy was pulled into the Magical Space by Xiao Zi the moment he arrived on the scene.
Then Ning Rong and Taotao arrived, making it three against one, and they immediately overpowered the enemy. The Magical Device Jiang Yin had given Ning Rong in advance wasn’t even needed.
She could only admit she had underestimated the Bureau’s strength. A slightly troublesome high-risk Monster wasn’t enough to drive Magical Girls to the brink of magical exhaustion.
“So why did you tell me ten minutes back then?”
Jiang Yin tilted her head, looking curiously at Ning Rong, who stood calmly beside her.
Right before the attack, Ning Rong had used thought communication to tell her it would take ten minutes for them to arrive, but in reality, they showed up less than five minutes after the fight began.
Isn’t that a bit suspicious?
“The Awakening of a Magical Girl usually happens in extreme crisis situations. Intense emotions and hormonal surges can accelerate the growth and activity of magic within the body.”
Ning Rong sighed helplessly.
“At that moment, we really couldn’t make it in time, so we thought of giving you a sense of crisis to see if it would push you to Awaken and save others who might be in danger.”
“But you handled it perfectly.”
She didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
When the little warrior who had just started driving the cat car was about to be struck by the Monster, there were only about three seconds. If Jiang Yin’s reaction had been a bit slower, Ning Rong might have Awakened under intense emotion.
Moreover, if Jiang Yin weren’t so special and was just a sixteen-year-old girl, then whether it was Qv Si Nan being attacked at the inn, the subsequent spread of Monsters, or the previous encounter with the C-rank puppet Monster, she would’ve had many chances to Awaken.
To an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl, these were all crises that couldn’t be handled in normal ways and could only be resolved through magic and miracles.
But Jiang Yin solved everything with her own wisdom and courage. Even after participating fully in a high-risk Monster incident and encountering multiple crises, she didn’t show any signs of Awakening.
However, Monster crises are extremely dangerous events, and as Magical Girls, Ning Rong and the others couldn’t deliberately slow down just to push Jiang Yin into Awakening.
At most, when they really couldn’t make it in time, they could only give Jiang Yin a bit of pressure and hope she would Awaken.
Who would’ve thought she could lead the warriors and fight back directly!
“I see.”
Jiang Yin shrugged, her tone playful with a hint of pride.
“So I’m just too amazing after all.”
“But the first encounter with a Monster is usually the time when the chance of a Magical Girl’s Awakening is highest. The longer it drags on and the more familiar you become with Monsters, the lower the probability of Awakening becomes.”
“There are also cases in history where Magical Girls never Awakened.”
“It’s fine.”
The white-haired girl stubbed out her cigarette, looking at Qv Si Nan and Lu Zhizhi, who had started arguing again for no apparent reason, and at Squad Leader Zhang, who was on the phone reporting to superiors. She smiled softly.
“I don’t really care. Living quietly for a lifetime is fine by me.”
“The Bureau won’t cut my allowance just because I didn’t Awaken, right?”
“…No, they won’t.”
A second ago, Ning Rong had been moved by Jiang Yin’s pure smile. The next, she was utterly speechless.
She really was an old corporate slave, battered by society. Jiang Yin might be passionate or kind, but when it came to work, she was definitely the laziest among Magical Girls.
If there hadn’t been no other option this time, she probably wouldn’t have worked so hard and would’ve started slacking off from the start.
Thinking of this, Ning Rong’s lips curved ever so slightly, but her tone remained calm.
“But didn’t you want to transfer to a Logistics Post?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Before a Magical Girl Awakened, it’s required to work on the frontline until Awakening. It’s a rule.”
“Eh!?”
“Also, the Internship Period for unawakened trainees is three years. Only by Awakening can you end the Internship Period early and receive Formal Salary.”
“Eh——!!?”
Normally, a Magical Girl Awakens within three months of magic appearing in their body, and rarely exceeds a year, so the three-year Internship Period rule is essentially meaningless—a loophole from earlier, less refined times.
In fact, Ning Rong was just teasing Jiang Yin. If she really went over a year without Awakening, the Bureau would directly transfer her to Logistics, maybe to the Research Institute or Equipment Office.
After all, even unawakened Magical Girls still possess magic, and Logistics is always short of such talent. They would never truly make her spend three years on the frontlines wasting her life.
But Jiang Yin had just joined and didn’t know these internal unwritten rules, so Ning Rong really fooled her.
She even considered running away.
What kind of job has a three-year Internship Period!
But she couldn’t escape.
First, the Magical Girl Administration Bureau was a military unit, and Magical Girls were theoretically special military personnel with military status.
Although Huaxia now recruits only volunteer soldiers, and because there are too many applicants, only those who pass strict physical exams are selected, it’s still Conscription.
Most people consider completing military training as serving their term.
And Conscription gives the right to forcibly enlist you as a soldier—otherwise, why do you think the Magical Girl Administration Bureau is a military unit?
If Jiang Yin ran now, she’d be considered a deserter!
“So the three-year Internship Period corresponds to three years of Obligatory Military Service!”
Having seriously researched the matter of escape, Jiang Yin, realizing she couldn’t run at all, complained to Qv Si Nan while drinking beer.
Then she glanced at Lu Zhizhi beside her.
“So? What’s your situation now?”
The death of a Monster has never meant the end of an incident.
Most cases the Magical Girl Administration Bureau handles involve complex human relationships, and reality isn’t like anime—defeating the evil Monster doesn’t solve everything.
Whether as a friend or investigator, Jiang Yin had to keep a close eye on the psychological state of these two ordinary people dragged into a Monster incident.
Then she found that a whole day of fleeing had no effect on these two oddballs…
She couldn’t tell if it was mental illness or just big hearts.
“No situation.”
Surprisingly, Lu Zhizhi spoke first this time.
“I’ve given up.”
“Hm?”
Jiang Yin was stunned. Since the afternoon, she’d been focusing all her attention on the mental duel with Mr. Monster and hadn’t noticed the subtle exchanges between the other two.
“She moved on!”
Lu Zhizhi pointed at Qv Si Nan, a look of righteous anger like someone exposing a scumbag.
“She moved on so quickly! I don’t like her anymore!”
“Wow!”
Jiang Yin’s eyes widened, leaning forward.
“What? Who did she fall for?”
“You want to know?”
Lu Zhizhi smiled mysteriously and waved for Jiang Yin to lean in.
The girl eagerly moved closer, and then…
“Not! Telling! You!”
Volume explodes!!!
Lu Zhizhi absolutely did it on purpose, yelling with all her strength into Jiang Yin’s ear, the sound so sharp it almost overloaded.
Frightened, Jiang Yin jerked back and fell off her chair.
“Duang~!”
“Hahahahahahahahaha!”
Lady Lu mercilessly laughed, stood up, took one last look at Qv Si Nan, who was silently drinking, and waved her frilly pink dress as she left the room.
“Bye-bye~ If you need anything, come find me at the company. Whether I help depends on my mood~”
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