After spending the whole morning with Lin Ling in the registration hall, they finally finished all the procedures for her new ID card.
At that point, there was nothing more Yu Hua could help her with.
Moreover, with her abilities diminished, Lin Ling didn’t want to remain as an S-Class Hero—a position she could no longer handle.
That afternoon, she chose to go to the Ability Bureau for a retest of her Hero Level and to handle matters relating to her decline in ability.
“There’s nothing I, a regular person, can do about what happens at the Ability Bureau, so you’re on your own for the rest, all right?”
Yu Hua had already missed several days of work and needed to return to the Supernatural Department Magical Girl Administration Bureau that afternoon, so he naturally couldn’t accompany her any further.
“Mm.”
One headed east, the other west, and they parted ways.
Yu Hua, as usual, found an empty rooftop and Transformed into Shui Hua, then hurried off to the Magical Girl Division.
As soon as the door was pushed open, two Magical Girls rushed up.
Fei Xing wrapped herself tightly around Shui Hua’s left arm, her small face rubbing again and again against Shui Hua’s shoulder, while Xing Li, taking advantage of her petite size, hugged Shui Hua’s thigh and buried her face in Shui Hua’s skirt.
“Shui Hua, my Shui Hua… During the days you weren’t here, we missed you every day. We couldn’t eat or drink, and we had no heart to handle any work at all…”
Xing Li seemed genuinely on the verge of tears, and before long, she was tugging at Shui Hua’s skirt and wiping her eyes with it.
“All right, all right,” Shui Hua looked helplessly at the two clinging ornaments attached to her, “so how much mess did you leave for me this time?”
“Actually, not that much…”
Xing Li raised her head, blinking her large eyes, trying to look innocent.
“After all, most of the tasks had to be settled daily…”
“In other words, you left everything that could be postponed until I came back?”
Shui Hua raised an eyebrow, instantly picking up on the subtext.
“But we really did our best just to barely finish the ddl tasks.”
Just thinking about it made Xing Li’s eyes redden again as she dabbed at her eyes on Shui Hua’s skirt hem.
“Fine, fine, I get it, I’ll just get to work.”
Rubbing her forehead, Shui Hua shook the two Magical Girls off her and sat down at her workstation.
When she turned on her computer, the densely packed Task List on the screen made her vision go dark.
“By the way, is it true that Liu Jin-senpai has already… sacrificed herself…”
At the mention of this, Xing Li’s eyes immediately dimmed.
The reason Shui Hua took leave was Lin Ling’s passing, and as one of the few who knew Liu Jin’s true identity, they naturally understood what this implied.
“There’s been an update,” Shui Hua said lightly, “I resurrected her yesterday.”
“Really? You’re not joking, are you?”
Xing Li’s eyes went wide.
“But Liu Jin-senpai wasn’t on duty in today’s Livestream…”
“Do I look like the type to joke about this kind of thing? I just took her this morning to cancel her Death Certificate.”
“Divine healer, Shui Hua! You can even bring someone back to life?”
Xing Li immediately straightened up at her seat, though her attention quickly shifted elsewhere.
“So all that about your Healing Magic not working on others—were you just playing me and Fei Xing?”
“It actually didn’t have much to do with me. I just provided a bit of magic power, and then she somehow managed to complete her Transformation. Now she’s maintaining the form of a Magical Girl, which counts as being alive again.”
“Even so, it’s all thanks to you. If not for you, Liu Jin-senpai might really have…”
Upon hearing the good news, the gloom on Xing Li’s face and the exhaustion from overtime vanished completely.
“Of course. I did my best, okay? Never mind that the reports say Anpelin did all the work—in reality, the rest of them just coasted to victory while I soloed the whole thing…”
“I don’t believe that. With your attack power, you’d barely be able to scratch the enemy!”
“I forced myself to Transform for that. She used Time Stop to get right up close, and in a flash, she slit my throat. But who knew that in that state, I’d gained Elementalization powers—my wounds turned to water and instantly healed. Then I hit her with a bit of Overhealing using Healing Magic, and took her down in one move.”
After all, Shui Hua had sacrificed so much to win, so naturally, she had to brag a little in front of these two.
“You really did a forced Transformation?”
Xing Li looked her up and down, but didn’t spot any changes in Shui Hua.
“Of course. And it left me with serious aftereffects. Now, whenever I sleep, I turn into Shui Hua, and every Transformation has to last a full eight hours…”
Shui Hua sighed.
When she forcibly transformed through self-alteration, she tried to revert but couldn’t.
At the time, Shui Hua thought she’d be stuck like that forever…
In the end, it turned out she could still change back, and she thanked the heavens for it.
After calculating, she realized the threshold was about eight hours.
In other words, if she used that power two more times, she might never be able to turn back.
“That reminds me…”
Xing Li stretched and flopped comfortably into her recliner.
“Since you’re back, I can finally sleep soundly.”
“Are you even human?”
Shui Hua couldn’t help but complain.
Watching her department chief go back to slacking off, Shui Hua sighed in resignation and got to work clearing the mountain of backlogged tasks.
Even with Shui Hua’s work efficiency, she barely managed to finish the online work before clocking out.
The offline tasks would have to wait until tomorrow.
“Phew, that’s that. Time to eat.”
She glanced at the time—it was noon when she Transformed, so she’d have to wait until eight in the evening to undo it.
She was just considering where to go for dinner, and planning to visit Anpelin at the Hospital afterward, when the door to the Magical Girl Division was unexpectedly pushed open.
At this time, it was rare for anyone to come to the Propaganda Department, so Shui Hua looked up curiously—and her expression froze at once.
“Hello, everyone in the Magical Girl Division,” the blonde girl at the door cautiously pushed it open and introduced herself, “I’m Liu Jin.”
“Liu Jin-senpai? What brings you here?”
Xing Li reacted even faster than Shui Hua, bouncing up from her chair and standing at attention.
What is she up to—did something leak out again…?
But Shui Hua noticed that Liu Jin only cast a quiet glance her way, apparently not here specifically for her.
Liu Jin walked straight up to Xing Li and, her eyes firm, spoke.
“I’m here to join the Magical Girl Division.”
“Huh?”
Shui Hua had thought that after Lin Ling’s weakening, she’d just stay on her original post until she recovered, or retire and devote herself to academic research.
Never had she expected this.
“Liu Jin-senpai, you—you’re not joking, right?”
Xing Li stammered, “We’re just a Propaganda Department, mostly handling things like Community Patrol and activity announcements. We’re all just ordinary Magical Girls, how could an S-Class Hero like you possibly…”
“I’m not S-Class anymore. Due to my injuries, my abilities have dropped to B-class, so I can’t handle my previous work. That’s why… I applied to the Vice Director to join the Magical Girl Division, so I can rest and recover here while working, and return to my post once my strength is back.”
As she said this, her voice grew softer and her cheeks flushed slightly.
“I know it’s sudden, but…”
“Not at all, not at all!”
Xing Li grabbed Liu Jin’s hands in excitement.
“It’s our honor to have you join us. Please feel free to rest here, and let me know if you need anything!”
She turned to the other two and winked:
“Fei Xing, Shui Hua, come welcome our new member!”
“Welcome, welcome!”
Fei Xing was naturally delighted to have a new member join.
“Welcome, welcome…”
Shui Hua echoed listlessly.