First, she used her steel tentacles to move onto a nearby tree trunk, then kicked off with her legs, spinning gracefully in midair.
Qianling landed on the back of the statue’s horse with an almost perfect motion. She sat down, then closed her eyes and fell into deep thought.
First, my current location is Star Lake Town, where there are very few Magical Girls. Aside from “Amber” and “Ember,” the transformations of Yangmo and Yangxia, the most likely ones I might encounter are “Iris” and “Weilu.”
Moreover, this is before the original storyline takes place. The protagonist whose name appears in the title Magical Girl Weilu hasn’t signed her Contract yet, so even if what happened earlier made Yangxia see me as an enemy, this place is undoubtedly relatively safe. There’s no need to worry about encountering someone as combative as Huangya.
Next, I should find a place here to settle down.
Then there’s the matter of my next goal.
In my previous world, I already died, so there’s no point in thinking about how to return. Besides… would anyone there really be hoping for my return?
What’s more important to me… is to do what I’ve always, always wanted to do.
At that moment, the image of Yangmo’s silly, smiling face naturally surfaced in Qianling’s mind.
In that lonely hospital room, she had witnessed that girl’s predetermined fate countless times.
The same fate as—mine.
A death that had long since been foreseen. Isn’t it the same for both of us?
But for some reason, I was saved and given a chance, a once-in-a-lifetime Second Chance.
So now, it’s my turn to save someone.
I want to save Magical Girls.
No matter what, at the very least, I have to rewrite that person’s ending.
Within her heart, Qianling’s resolve became clear.
To do that, the most urgent thing is to become stronger. With my current level of power, there’s no way I could save anyone. Besides using the methods I know from the original work, I must go see that Homunculus Witch.
Just as she was still lost in thought, she vaguely heard someone calling out.
“Qian…ling!”
“Qianling, can you hear me?”
The voice was distant at first, but by the second call, it was very clear.
There’s only one person who would call “Qianling, Qianling” like that.
But how? Didn’t I activate Stealth Magic?
Perplexed, Qianling opened her eyes and saw, standing by the pond, a girl with light golden hair and amber-colored eyes.
Yangmo was bent over, hands on her knees, panting for breath. When her eyes met Qianling’s, she straightened and looked up at her.
“Um… you seem to get along really well with crows.”
“Hm?”
Only then did Qianling notice the extra weight on her shoulders and head. She’d been so absorbed in her thoughts, she hadn’t paid attention.
She turned her head, and whichever crow she looked at stared right back. Even poking them with her finger didn’t make them move.
Wait, I get it now.
She immediately remembered she hadn’t deactivated her Stealth Magic.
“Move aside.”
After she canceled it and waved her hand, the three crows fled in panic.
Qianling turned back, and Yangmo’s gaze met hers again.
Maybe the scene had struck Yangmo as funny, because she smiled at Qianling, overlapping with the image of her in Qianling’s mind.
“Never thought I’d still get found like this. I admit defeat.”
Qianling let out a light sigh and jumped down from the statue to stand beside Yangmo.
“How did you know where I was? I was using magic to hide myself just now.”
“Huh? You used that kind of magic?” Yangmo looked surprised, then said, “But I used magic on my side too.”
“You used magic too…?”
“Qianling, check your right pocket.”
Yangmo didn’t reveal her trick directly, but instead let Qianling follow her instructions.
Qianling obeyed and reached into her pocket, only to pull out a wrinkled Paper Crane. Unfolding it, she saw a few scrawled words: Big sister is a pigeon.
Yangmo picked up the slip from Qianling’s hand and further explained.
“Last year, my sister didn’t come to see my performance, so I used magic to send this Paper Crane to her. That’s why it still has a tiny bit of my magic power left in it.”
After hearing this, Qianling was completely certain.
It really is that—Amber’s exclusive magic, the one that can breathe life into “paper.”
Although Qianling knew every detail of the original work, the magic used by Yangmo, who exited the story early, hadn’t appeared many times. In other words, the exact effects of this magic were still largely unknown to Qianling.
Even this time, the Tracking effect produced by the lingering magic was a use Qianling had never imagined.
Besides, even I, who am particularly sensitive to magic, hadn’t noticed this thing on me at all. Just how faint is this “tiny bit” of magic Yangmo was talking about?
After this chain of thoughts, she came to one conclusion: “I see, I was set up.”
And the one who set her up was none other than that seemingly harmless Yangmo.
“No…no, that’s not it!” Yangmo hurried to explain, “I forgot that paper was still in your pocket. I only realized it when I was trying to chase after you. And aren’t you curious how I can use magic?”
“When I said I was a magical Homunculus, you didn’t even look surprised, did you?”
“Ah, I guess that’s true…”
With that, Yangmo scratched the back of her head, looking a bit embarrassed as she smiled.
“But it’s not too late now. Let me introduce myself again. I’m Yangmo, and I’m also the Magical Girl Amber, guardian of Star Lake Town.”
Hearing this, Qianling felt a faint pain in her temple.
“Don’t go telling people this kind of secret so casually, silly Magical Girl.”
But Yangmo only smiled even more happily.
“If Qianling says that, I can be at ease. I trust you won’t tell anyone else.”
In front of Yangmo like this, Qianling decided to be honest for once as well.
“Let me reintroduce myself too,” she confessed to Yangmo. “I’m Qianling, actually a Homunculus made by a Witch. But I’m not a bad Homunculus—I don’t want to do bad things, and I don’t want to help the Witch. That’s all there is to it.”
Qianling spread her hands in helplessness, but Yangmo didn’t seem to have any particular reaction to her words.
“So you really are an evil witch?”
“Taxonomically speaking, yes. After all, I’m some kind of evil magical creation.”
“Evil magical creation? You, Qianling?”
“I’m not joking.” Qianling put one hand on her hip and raised an index finger with the other, stressing again to Yangmo, “Among the Homunculi created by Witches, I’m a special case. I have several sisters who are nothing short of killing machines, so if you see someone who looks like me, be careful, okay?”
“I understand…”
Yangmo finally seemed to accept it, but still smiled and said, “But it’s all right. Qianling is that ‘special case’ to me.”
She reached out a hand to Qianling.
“Now, let’s go home together.”
As if it were only natural, she seemed to think that “home” meant the same thing to both of them.
Earlier, she’d already expressed hope that Qianling would stay, only for Yangxia’s call to interrupt.
Now, answering would be agreeing to that previous request, wouldn’t it?
Looking at the outstretched hand, then at Yangmo’s face, Qianling pondered.
I can still come up with reasons for myself, but why does Yangmo care so much about someone she just met today?
Even if, like in the original, it’s because she lacks family companionship that she clings to me, everything she’s done is still too much.
But regardless, Qianling needed a place to stay, so she was willing to take that hand.
As their palms touched for the second time that day, a warm, spring-sunshine smile blossomed on Yangmo’s face.
“Great! Let’s go!”
She took Qianling’s hand and was about to leave, when Qianling quickly pulled her back.
“Wait a minute! What about your sister? Did you settle things with her?”
“Don’t worry, she went shopping. We’ll leave after dinner. Qianling just needs to hide for a while.” She sounded completely serious.
“What do you mean, just needs to…”
Qianling’s voice grew quieter and quieter. Suddenly, she felt like she was boarding a pirate ship—she could only take things one step at a time now.