The two of them went to the nearby Anomalous Entity containment station to register and hand over the dog, thus ending their work for the day.
“Come on, come on, let’s take a photo. It’ll be material for next week’s post.”
After handing over their mission target, Xing Li took out her phone to take a selfie.
In her transformed state, she was a bit shorter than Shui Hua.
When she reached out to put her arm around Shui Hua’s shoulders, Shui Hua easily dodged:
“I haven’t changed out of my costume yet…”
“There probably isn’t anywhere around here to change clothes… Besides, your style right now is pretty good. Why not just keep it like this?”
“All right, I guess it’s a hassle to find somewhere to change, so let’s just leave it.”
Shui Hua put on a businesslike smile and proactively squeezed into the frame, making a cat paw with her right hand.
When she first started out, Shui Hua used to feel embarrassed and would often resist acting cute as a Magical Girl, but now she was a total veteran at it…
“Great… Since you’re so cooperative, I’ll clock out for you. You can head straight home.”
Xing Li was very satisfied, looking at the photo of the two cute Magical Girls on her phone.
“Thanks, Chief. I’m heading out.”
Shui Hua lifted the bag containing her Magical Girl costume and flew into the air to leave.
Of course, she couldn’t just go straight back to the dorm yet; she had to find somewhere to change out of her Magical Girl costume.
Magical Girl costumes were constructed from energy, and if she discarded this one now, she’d have to use her Awakened Ability to weave another one later.
“Where around here could I change clothes…”
Searching the area from above, Shui Hua made an unexpected discovery.
Ahead, an area had been cordoned off, and Ability Bureau personnel responsible for maintaining order were busy evacuating the surrounding civilians.
Normally, Shui Hua would quietly take a detour upon encountering this kind of situation, but her gaze had clearly caught onto something unusual.
A golden figure was darting between the city buildings, chasing after a balloon-shaped object.
“Isn’t that Lin Ling?”
Magical Girl Liu Jin—who was actually her roommate Lin Ling—was currently dealing with an Anomalous Entity.
Since she had nothing better to do, Shui Hua found a railing on a tall building and sat down to watch her roommate in action.
Liu Jin wielded a golden longsword made of light, running vertically along the glass façade of a skyscraper.
Her opponent was a balloon…
Of course, anything that required her to intervene was clearly no ordinary Anomalous Entity; this balloon was much bigger than an average handheld balloon, at least twice the size of Liu Jin.
It was also incredibly fast, its “mouth” frantically inhaling and exhaling, propelling it through the air like a jellyfish.
But Liu Jin was even faster.
She swung her longsword like a paddle, intercepting the balloon’s path.
The balloon crashed into the blade and immediately halted.
Liu Jin then leapt into the air, grabbed the balloon by its inflation nozzle, and gained complete control of it.
“So fast… Tsk, so this is the power of an S-rank Hero…”
Shui Hua smacked her lips in envy at Lin Ling’s overwhelming strength.
Originally, Shui Hua had wanted to see some of Liu Jin’s magic, but her opponent couldn’t even withstand Liu Jin’s pure physical skills, so Shui Hua didn’t get to see any exciting action.
Since the situation was resolved, there was no need for her to stick around for Liu Jin’s autograph session.
Just as she got up to leave, however, a violent explosion rang out.
Shui Hua hadn’t secured herself on the railing, and the force of the blast sent her tumbling head over heels in the air, only stopping herself with magic after flipping twice.
She had deliberately kept her distance so Liu Jin wouldn’t notice her, but the shockwave sent her sprawling anyway.
As for Liu Jin…
Shui Hua’s heart clenched.
When she looked toward Liu Jin’s location, she saw the buildings on both sides had been snapped in half by the force.
Chunks of melting, shattered concrete flew out like bullets, leaving meteor-like scorched marks on nearby structures.
Some pieces shot upward, raining concrete down from where Liu Jin had stood.
Seeing this, Shui Hua couldn’t think about anything else.
She dashed straight toward the center of the explosion, searching for Liu Jin.
Soon, she spotted Liu Jin, who had been embedded into the ground by the blast.
Her Magical Girl outfit was in tatters, her pale skin covered in charred burns and bloody wounds.
“Lin… Liu Jin, are—are you all right?”
It was hard for Shui Hua to imagine an S-rank Hero looking so battered.
She landed at Liu Jin’s side, placing her hand on an uninjured spot to shake her, trying to wake her, but Liu Jin was completely unconscious and didn’t respond.
Shui Hua put her finger under Liu Jin’s nose—her breathing was faint and weak, as if she might stop breathing at any moment.
“It’s fine, it’s fine… I’m a healer…”
Shui Hua comforted herself as she gathered energy in her hands.
Blue, almost tangible energy spread over Liu Jin’s body, mending her wounds.
Although she possessed a noble Healing Magic, there was a reason she was only rated C-Class; her Healing Magic was only effective when used on herself, and barely worked on others.
But for now, she just had to keep the injuries from getting worse.
With such a big explosion, backup should arrive soon.
Shui Hua focused on her Healing Magic, doing her best to conserve energy and maximize its effect…
Just as Shui Hua expected, before her magic ran out, a Hero Medical Team arrived.
As an S-rank Hero, Liu Jin even had her own support team.
The group had been waiting at the base and rushed over immediately after seeing the live broadcast.
“Liu Jin-senpai!”
The one at the front was a pink-haired Magical Girl, apparently a healer as well based on her outfit.
She immediately knelt on the rubble-strewn ground, her purer magic merging into Shui Hua’s Healing Magic.
The effect instantly changed dramatically—Liu Jin’s injuries began to heal visibly, wounds closing, burnt skin turning pale again, and her complexion regaining color.
Shui Hua checked her breath again—Liu Jin’s breathing had stabilized.
“Phew… Thank you, you all got here just in time…”
Shui Hua had used up most of her magic, and the prolonged spellcasting left her dizzy.
Clutching her aching forehead, she braced herself on the ground to keep from collapsing.
“No, no, we should be the ones thanking you.”
Another member, a swordsman-like uncle, had been standing nearby, not daring to disturb the treatment.
Seeing it was over, he approached.
“Thank you for saving Liu Jin-senpai…”
The pink-haired girl hugged Shui Hua tightly, tears of lingering fear in her eyes.
“Sister, what’s your name? We’ll make sure to thank you properly.”
“Actually, I’m a Magical Girl too. This is just my job.”
Shui Hua hurriedly waved her hands.
Since she wasn’t dressed as a Magical Girl, she figured they probably mistook her for a brave bystander.
At that moment, Liu Jin slowly regained consciousness.
Still a bit dazed, her eyes swept over her familiar teammates before finally landing on the unfamiliar blue-haired girl.
Shui Hua and Liu Jin’s eyes met, and Shui Hua’s heart tensed up.
If her Magical Girl form got linked to Liu Jin, her identity as a Magical Girl would likely be exposed…
Not daring to stay any longer, Shui Hua pushed away the pink-haired girl, jumped to her feet, and turned to leave:
“I still have tasks to deal with. Urgent tasks, really urgent. I’ll be going now, goodbye everyone.”