After returning home, there was still quite some time before Yang Mo got out of school, so Qianling had nothing in particular to do for the moment.
Over the past few days, she had become much more familiar with kitchen work than she’d been at the beginning, but even so, it was still too early to start cooking now.
She lay on the sofa scrolling through posts on social media. By chance, she came across a post about baking, and suddenly an idea struck her—could I learn to do this?
Unfortunately, there was no oven at home, and she couldn’t even gather all the necessary ingredients. Everything about this idea ultimately came down to one word: money.
Even if Yang Mo could help her get a phone SIM card, a personal bank account required identity information no matter what, and most jobs did as well.
Qianling couldn’t help but start worrying about her future.
Could it be… could it be that I’ll have to live in poverty for my entire life?
If it were her pre–isekai self, she never would have imagined that even after coming to a world with magic, she’d still have to worry about such down-to-earth problems.
Still, there was actually one possible solution in her mind.
That was the “Magical Girl Support Association.” Maybe if she reported her achievements in defeating evil demons to them, she could get some money.
Of course, doing so carried risks. If they ended up categorizing her as an evil demon instead, she’d be done for—at worst, she might even face a more severe manhunt than before.
In the end, she decided she’d ask Yang Mo about it later and have her try to help gather some information.
Thinking this through, her mind gradually calmed down.
Right… Yang Mo.
More importantly than all this, wasn’t there something she really needed to tell her?
After returning from Yang Xia’s place, Qianling still hadn’t shared her feelings with Yang Mo.
That day, she arrived near the school earlier than usual to wait for Yang Mo to get out of class.
While waiting, she kept mulling over what topics she would talk about with Yang Mo later.
She’d run into lots of interesting things that morning. Some parts involving Yang Xia couldn’t be told, but as long as she blurred out the key details, it should be fine, right?
The aquarium trip she’d been looking forward to for so long could finally be done together with everyone—what kind of reaction would Yang Mo have? Would she be even more excited than she’d sounded over the phone?
Leaning against a utility pole behind her, Qianling waited while thinking. Before long, the school gate was completely clogged with people—the moment of dismissal had finally arrived.
A petite girl with golden hair and amber eyes managed to break through the human wall with great effort.
At a glance, she spotted Qianling standing and waiting at their usual spot.
“Qianling—!”
Whether because of the slanting sunlight or simply because her eyes were naturally clear, her gaze seemed to flicker and dance like flames.
She waved toward Qianling from afar and sprinted toward her as fast as she could.
Although Qianling had imagined that Yang Mo might seem a little different today, seeing her greet her with the same boundless enthusiasm as always instead filled Qianling with a deep sense of relief.
So, just like always, she raised one hand high to let the girl know: I’m here.
However, just as Qianling lifted her hand to its highest point, the situation suddenly changed.
The girl—Yang Mo—stumbled unexpectedly, likely tripping over something underfoot, and then fell forward, crashing to the ground.
Seeing this, all the thoughts in Qianling’s mind scattered in shock.
“…!”
She froze with her mouth hanging open for two seconds before hurriedly breaking into a run toward Yang Mo.
“Seriously… I should’ve told her not to rush…”
She muttered this to herself as she ran. At that moment, Yang Mo struggled to prop herself up with her arms.
“Ugh…”
She let out a faint groan. Her face scrunched up as if she’d bitten into a lemon, and just as Qianling had expected, a teardrop hung at the corner of her eye.
Supporting Yang Mo’s arm, Qianling asked, “Are you okay?”
“Ugh… ugh…”
Yang Mo couldn’t even get any words out and just nodded weakly, tears welling in her eyes.
With Qianling’s help, she finally managed to stand up.
Even so, she remained hunched over, her legs trembling. Letting go now would likely mean she couldn’t stand on her own, so Qianling kept a firm grip on her arm.
After a moment, Yang Mo finally managed to say her second sentence since seeing Qianling.
“Qianling… it hurts… ugh…”
“Calling my name before even crying about the pain—you really tried your best.”
Yang Mo didn’t directly respond to what might have been praise. Instead, she continued making indistinct whimpering sounds and leaned in, wrapping her arms around Qianling’s waist.
Compared to the last time—before they went to the library rooftop—Qianling was still a little surprised by this action, but only a little.
She simply closed her eyes calmly and pulled Yang Mo into her embrace.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. The pain will all fly away.”
As she said this, she noticed Yang Mo was holding onto her tightly, so she gently stroked the top of her head again and again, as tenderly as a loving mother soothing her child.
When Qianling felt that Yang Mo had calmed down enough, she spoke softly. “Alright, that should be about enough. Let’s check your injuries.”
“Mm.” Yang Mo replied, her voice still slightly nasal.
She then loosened her hold and stepped half a step back, placing her hands on one knee to steady herself.
Qianling crouched down to examine the other knee. The skin had been scraped away, exposing a dark red wound, with a small amount of blood seeping from the dust-stained edges.
After all, she’d fallen on a concrete road—Qianling had already imagined how bad it would look even before seeing it.
“This needs a trip to the hospital.”
She made that judgment, then asked, “What about the other knee and your palms?”
Following her instructions, Yang Mo lifted her hands off her knee. Qianling looked over and saw that the other knee only had the surface of the tights scraped, with a few pale abrasions on the skin beneath. The base of her palms was red, but there were no obvious wounds.
Overall, aside from the knee she’d checked first, there was nothing serious.
So Qianling slightly opened her arms and said to Yang Mo, “Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
Yang Mo immediately recognized the posture—she knew exactly what Qianling was about to do, since she’d done the same thing before going to the library rooftop.
“Huh? You’re doing that here?”
She suddenly felt a bit embarrassed at this point. After speaking, she glanced around, seeing pedestrians coming and going in every direction.
Qianling told her, “I could use stealth magic if you want.”
“No… that’s not necessary.”
Yang Mo answered at once. With a look of determination flashing in her eyes, she declared, “Let’s do it.”
Then she reached both hands toward Qianling’s shoulders.
Qianling supported the bend of her knees with her left hand and her waist and back with the other, lifting her straight up.
It was a classic princess carry.
With their previous practice, the smoothness of their movements had improved considerably.
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