Silver Bell still remembered that day when she had asked A Xing the same question.
After all, it was she who had proposed this method, wasn’t it?
But someone like A Xing probably wouldn’t feel afraid during a fight.
Sure enough, A Xing just smiled slightly. Perhaps because the light was behind her, Silver Bell couldn’t make out her expression in the sunset.
“No, I think as long as you give it your all in every battle, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
True. Since A Xing could even deal with that Blood Moon Witch, there probably wasn’t any enemy that could scare her.
Inside the training room, Xiaoxi smiled self-deprecatingly.
It seemed she was better at pretending than Silver Bell… except she really wasn’t afraid of anything right now.
Just then, the training room door was pushed open abruptly.
Ye Xinglan, carrying snacks, skipped in behind Qiuli and immediately bounded over to Xiaoxi.
“Good work~ Training’s over, right? Qiuli and I got bored waiting outside, so we went downstairs and bought some snacks. Everyone, come try some~”
Seeing the enthusiastic Ye Xinglan, Xiaoxi let out a light laugh and patted Xiao Keke on the shoulder.
“It’s okay, little sis. Every Magical Girl goes through this stage. The best way to overcome fear is to face it head-on.”
“Tch.” Xiao Keke rolled her eyes.
“Sister, you’re just spouting empty words. What’s the use of that kind of talk? It’s not nearly as practical as Eternal Star Senior’s method!”
Xiaoxi: “?”
‘What does she mean by empty words? The advice I gave came from personal experience, okay? If you can’t understand it, that’s your own lack of insight… How exactly does one face fear? It’s not like I can say, “Face fear in bed, and after a few times it’ll be fine,” right?’
But she never expected Silver Bell to remember those words for so long… Xiaoxi couldn’t help but start thinking about the possibility of a fight breaking out with Silver Bell.
As expected, the safest method was still a sneak attack, right?
Although Magical Girls had extraordinary physical abilities, for someone like Silver Bell, the most vulnerable moment was still before transformation.
Xiaoxi’s mind wandered until Ye Xinglan handed a skewer of fish tofu in front of her. She instinctively dodged.
“Whoa, it got on your clothes, Xiaoxi. Don’t move, let me wipe it off…”
“If you’re going to wipe, do it properly. Don’t pinch me! Go, go, go away. I’ll do it myself.”
Watching Ye Xinglan step back while clutching her head, Xiao Keke, who had been silently holding a hot milk tea, blinked.
“Sister, you’ve got quite a temper. I always thought Sister Xinglan was the one with higher status in the family.”
After all, Ye Xinglan was both a Yue Lu and a Rich Girl.
Someone like Sister, a homebody, definitely couldn’t compare.
Besides, it was only recently that Xiao Keke found out that her Sister Xinglan was the Blood Moon Witch.
No matter how you thought about it, Sister, a B-Class Little Magic Girl, shouldn’t have higher family status, right?
Xiaoxi snorted coldly. No matter what, she was now Xinglan’s nominal guardian.
Wasn’t it normal for her family status to be a bit higher?
‘And could I be blamed for my explosive temper? It was all forced on me by experience! If my temper weren’t a bit fierce, Xinglan would have taken the opportunity to get handsy!’
Ye Xinglan pouted. “Tch, what are you pretending for? It’s not like your status in bed is that—Mmmmph!”
Xiaoxi blushed and tightly covered the Rich Girl’s mouth. “What are you saying nonsense in front of outsiders?!”
“Mmmph mmmph!”
‘Are you blushing? You’re just too embarrassed to admit that your status in bed is lower than mine!’ Ye Xinglan protested internally but couldn’t speak.
After the break, Silver Bell accompanied Xiao Keke in a few more sparring sessions.
Keke seemed to gradually find the trick, lasting longer each time.
Although she still lost in the end, she no longer had that dejected feeling from before.
It wasn’t until her Magic Power was depleted that Xiao Keke ended the training.
But today’s gains were enough for her to digest for a while.
On the subway back, the exhausted Silver Bell leaned on Ye Xinglan and fell fast asleep.
Sitting across from them, Xiaoxi, after seeing Silver Bell sound asleep, opened the chat interface with the Astrologer.
“If Ling’er really has any problems, let me handle them.”
Xiaoxi didn’t intend to cover for her old teammate, but she felt she knew Silver Bell better.
And… well, she admitted she didn’t want the Association to act too aggressively and hurt Ling’er.
It would be more gentle if she handled it.
Then Xiaoxi began to carefully go through the Astrologer’s recent investigations regarding [Judgment Scales].
The more she read, the tighter her brow furrowed.
She could always detect a sense of disharmony in the relationship between Wange Yue and the Church.
Not just in the matter of Magical Backlash, but in all other daily matters.
There was no reason for Wange Yue to be so… obedient to the Church, right?
After returning home, Xiaoxi immediately locked the bedroom door and video-called the Astrologer to bring up this issue.
It was dinner time. This time, the Astrologer took an unexpectedly long time to answer the call.
Xiaoxi keenly noticed that the background was different from before—a completely featureless white wall.
The Astrologer was facing the camera, taking off an apron and wiping her hands.
Xiaoxi suddenly realized why the Astrologer hadn’t replied to her messages earlier.
Even a Six Seat needed rest time.
“Sorry, Ms. Astrologer, were you… making dinner? Am I disturbing you?”
“It’s fine, the kid isn’t home anyway. I just threw together something simple for myself. It’s no bother.” The Astrologer sighed, as if intentionally. “Kids are all busy. They rarely come back to see me, so I don’t fuss over cooking.”
Xiaoxi was slightly taken aback. So the Astrologer was already old enough to have children?
But thinking about it, someone who could become a Six Seat was probably not an inexperienced young person.
“So, Miss Xiaoxi, why did you suddenly think to ask this question?”
“Ah, it’s like this…”
Xiaoxi organized her thoughts.
After all, she was a Magical Girl active since the Great Chaos period, so she naturally knew the history of how the Apocalyptic Church, one of the Six Seats, rose to power.
Unlike the Hidden Bone Hall, a research organization with technical expertise, or the Association, a necessary management organization, the Apocalyptic Church, as a religious organization that grew during the Great Chaos… was essentially powerless.
Therefore, Wange Yue, an S-Class Magical Girl, was not on equal footing with the Church in terms of power.
To put it bluntly, if Wange Yue worked for your Church, that was your blessing.
Where did the Church get the power to make Wange Yue obey so obediently and work like a beast of burden?
“I see. Miss Xiaoxi, you are indeed observant. The Association hasn’t specifically looked into Miss Wange Yue’s past, but… take a look at this.”
A moment later, another document was sent over.
The Astrologer continued, “This is a previous interview with Miss Qiuli by the Association. She briefly talked about Miss Wange Yue’s past. Take a look.”