Facing Kouga, an opponent she had once fought, Gan Ling shouted with all her might, “I surrender — according to the Geneva Convention, you can’t mistreat a prisoner of war.”
However, Kouga was not as easy to deal with as Yang Xia had been. Her attitude did not soften; instead, she asked with a flat expression and tone, “Do you think I should accept this surrender, or should I not?”
Gan Ling immediately replied, “Your choice can save many lives.”
“You want me to save you from my own hands? Are you serious? And are you really innocent?” Although Kouga’s expression had not changed at all, this long string of words made Gan Ling feel that there might still be a chance. ‘If she really intended to fight, she wouldn’t be talking so much.’
As she thought this and was about to open her mouth to defend herself, the hand Kouga was using to hold her up suddenly let go. Gan Ling’s feet returned to the ground. When she looked at Kouga in confusion, the Magical Girl simply told her with a bored face, “Forget it. I’ve already heard the details of what happened from the Support Association.”
“Then what was that threat for?”
“To mess with you, of course.”
“Huh?” Gan Ling made a sound of dissatisfaction.
In response to her reaction, Kouga spoke another harsh line in her steady, unchanging tone. “It seems you want me to get serious.”
Gan Ling immediately changed her tune, speaking to her in a shallow, flattering voice. “Not at all, Lady Kouga~”
Yan Xi was silent for a moment before she spoke to Gan Ling with her own demand. “Don’t speak to me so respectfully. And don’t just call me by that name whenever you want; just use my real name.”
Gan Ling acted as if the words had gone in one ear and out the other, pushing further by asking, “Then what is your honorable title?”
“I’m Yan Xi. Is there hostility in your tone?”
“How could there be? Lady Yan Xi, this little one is called Gan Ling. You must already know that, right?”
“Enough. If you keep talking like that, I’ll destroy you right here. I’m serious this time.” Yan Xi, the girl behind the Magical Girl transformation, finally lost her composure. She squinted her eyes and flashed a smile, but the corners of her eyes were twitching even more violently than before. Even the magic power in her body began to leak out involuntarily.
Seeing her like this, Gan Ling felt like the resentment from being hunted down had been vented enough, so she quickly changed the subject. “Now then, let’s talk business.” Her tone was light and airy, as if nothing had happened.
“Fine.” It took Yan Xi a long while to say those two words. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Gan Ling, then took the lead by sitting down next to a glass pane. Gan Ling followed and sat across from her.
‘We should be able to focus on talking now, right?’ Gan Ling thought. But Yan Xi did not seem to think so. She waved a waiter over and pointed at several items on the menu in quick succession. Not long after, a plate of strawberry cake, a plate of macarons, a plate of cream puffs, and a glass of juice were placed on her side of the table. Yan Xi completely ignored Gan Ling and began to enjoy her slightly excessive afternoon tea with a knife and fork.
“Hey, aren’t we supposed to be talking?” Gan Ling slapped a hand on the table to remind her.
Yan Xi just wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin and told Gan Ling without looking up, “Eat something first.” She then glanced at Gan Ling and added, “Oh, by the way, if you want to eat, you can order for yourself.”
This time, it was Gan Ling’s turn to fall silent. She naturally couldn’t produce any money to order food. In fact, her request for help from the Support Association included living expenses, but did Yan Xi really not know her situation? ‘So my current state is also…? Dammit, how can someone be so narrow-minded!’ She suddenly realized that this was Yan Xi’s petty way of getting revenge.
“Are you really going to eat all alone?” Gan Ling slumped onto the table and asked weakly.
To this, Yan Xi naturally replied with merciless words, “What else?”
At that moment, Gan Ling couldn’t help but remember what happened when she went to find Yang Xia. ‘You let me follow you to school and even agreed to buy me dinner? Yang Xia, you… It turns out getting a free meal from someone is actually this difficult.’ As she thought this, she could only watch helplessly as those delicious desserts were devoured by Yan Xi. Her strength seemed to drain away along with the vanishing food.
Only after Yan Xi uttered an emotionless “Sorry to keep you waiting” did this torture of Gan Ling finally end. She didn’t leave any room for Gan Ling to catch her breath and went straight into explaining the reason for the meeting. “I looked for you because you still owe me an explanation, and there’s also something I want to confirm.”
“Then go ahead. What specifically do you want to know?” Gan Ling’s dead-fish eyes regained nine-tenths of their brilliance as they shifted to serious business.
Yan Xi continued her questioning. “Since you say you don’t want to work for the Witch, why did you launch a sneak attack on me back then?”
“…It’s because I gained self-awareness the moment you smashed me into that wild warehouse.”
“At that exact moment? You’re not just making up a random reason to fool me, are you?”
“Every word I’ve said is the truth.” Although she didn’t know if Yan Xi could tell, Gan Ling tried her best to use a sincere tone.
“You’re the last person I want to hear that from…” Gan Ling sighed as she spoke. “Who was the one trying to kill me indiscriminately?” Because she was desperate to go home and eat something, she turned the question back on Yan Xi before she could be pressed further. “That’s the explanation you wanted. So, what is it you want to confirm?”
“What I want to confirm is your mindset.” Yan Xi propped both elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palms. Her gaze became sharp. “You say you want to live a peaceful life, but to achieve peace, one side of the conflict usually has to disappear. Even if you have a will of your own, you’re still a Badma. I want to ask, whose side are you really on?”
Her voice was lower than usual and sounded aggressive. However, for Gan Ling, this question was easier to answer than any other.
“I don’t take sides. In the end, I don’t believe that one side absolutely has to disappear.” She stood up and answered with a smile. “To fight for the peace I want, I will do what I believe is right. It has nothing to do with taking sides.”
“Even if it means becoming enemies with both sides at once?”
“I want to live in peace with both sides, but to achieve that goal, I can accept putting in a little extra effort.”
“…I see. You’re a greedy person.” Yan Xi let out a long breath, and a bitter smile flashed across her face for a fleeting moment. When Gan Ling saw this reaction, she knew her answer had passed the test.
I don’t like her, total bitch.