Chapter 21: Bond

Morning reading.

Walking back to my seat with Tang Xiaolu, I took out the English book for today’s reading, then sat in a “well-behaved” posture, staring at the corridor outside the classroom.

After what happened last night, I was now incredibly curious about who this legendary “transfer student” really was.

Compared to the values, friendships, and bonds of Magical Girls, I was actually more concerned with what that Magical Girl said in the beginning.

‘In one month, the strongest Witch, Koutili, will arrive in this city. Her main target is your Black River City No.3 High School.’

The strongest Witch?

Her main target is Black River City No.3 High School?

Not to mention what Witch could be called the “strongest,” but assuming such a Witch existed, why would her target specifically be Black River City No.3 High School?

In other words, is there something special about our Black River City No.3 High School?

Is its location special?

Does someone important live here?

Or is it because Heijiang No.3 Middle School is the only “Colorful Bird Experimental High School” in Black River City?

I couldn’t think of an answer.

A “Witch” is the final form a Magical Girl takes after her Soul Gem is tainted and she falls completely into Despair.

According to Tang Xiaolu, the main reason some Magical Girls quickly become Witches is that they are too “sensitive,” “stubborn,” “emotional,” or “overly idealistic.”

To put it more bluntly, “their hearts are too fragile.”

Compared to these negative emotions, simply using Magic hardly causes much filth to accumulate in a Soul Gem.

Tang Xiaolu and I talked about this last night at the “Secret Base.”

She said that the reason my Soul Gem didn’t produce filth after using Magic was most likely because I had no expectations about “saving people.”

No expectations meant no Hope.

No Hope… naturally, there would be no Despair.

Tang Xiaolu also admitted that while destroying the intersection cameras, she had thought, ‘Why do we Magical Girls have to hide our identities when doing good deeds?’ And when she pulled the female driver out of the driver’s seat, the thought ‘Even if we try our best to save people, no one will remember us’ also crossed her mind.

It was these thoughts and negative emotions that tainted Tang Xiaolu’s Soul Gem.

As for me, I didn’t seem to think about these things at all, so my Soul Gem showed no signs of filth — even though my Soul Gem was already black.

Additionally, Tang Xiaolu explained some basic characteristics of “Witches.”

The darkness inside most Witches’ Barriers is closely related to their personality and experiences from when they were alive.

For example, Tang Xiaolu’s former friend, “Jia Jia,” couldn’t bear the torment of online harassment and eventually became a Witch.

Inside her Witch Barrier, sharp cries, curses, and laughter echoed everywhere.

Hearts pierced by knives were visible, along with keyboards and monitors that kept shooting out blades.

“Jia Jia’s Witch Barrier was full of blood. Blood everywhere, nothing but blood and keyboards. The sounds those keyboards made were ear-splitting.”

Tang Xiaolu said.

“I saw one heart after another, one keyboard after another. The letters on the keyboards kept jumping, forming sharp lines of text. These lines turned into swords stabbing Jia Jia’s heart and sound waves rushing toward us.”

“We knew Jia Jia was in a lot of pain back then. She would rather use her own heart to bear the swords of online abuse than turn the blade against us.”

“In the end, we destroyed all the keyboards in Jia Jia’s Barrier and took her Grief Seed from the center of that mangled, bloody heart.”

“As for that Train Witch we met at the school gate, her life experience probably had something to do with trains too.”

“She might have been a hardcore train enthusiast, or maybe a train delay once caused her an irreparable regret.”

“Simply put, the scene inside a Witch’s Barrier is a microcosm of that Witch’s life story. Outside, no one cares about the injustice or grievances she suffered while alive… When we Magical Girls go to hunt Witches, these dark sides also affect us, and then get passed on to the next Magical Girl who hunts us.”

Tang Xiaolu also said that judging whether a Witch is powerful mainly depends on the magnitude of her “Causality” from when she was alive.

If a girl’s Causality is so small that it can’t support her Wish, Qiu Bi will “distort” that Wish in some way.

For example, if a girl is ordinary, hasn’t done anything great, isn’t remembered by others, and doesn’t have many friends, even if she wishes to Qiu Bi, “I want to become the omniscient and omnipotent god,” the Wish won’t truly be fulfilled according to her intent.

Instead, some “distortion” will occur.

Qiu Bi might arrange for her to become a “god in her dreams” — like becoming the ruler of dreams when she sleeps at night.

A god in a dream is still a god.

Your wish has been fulfilled.

As for saying this wish is deceptive or accusing Qiu Bi of being heartless… that just falls into its trap.

Because for Qiu Bi, it can’t wait for you to fall into darkness and become a Witch sooner, so it can gather energy faster.

Besides the magnitude of Causality, a Witch’s strength is also related to her level of Despair when alive, her talent as a Magical Girl, and how long she has survived as a Witch.

If a Magical Girl is utterly hopeless the moment she becomes a Witch, and she was very strong as a Magical Girl, and she devours many souls and negative emotions after becoming one, then that Witch is indeed stronger than an average Witch.

So, which type was the “strongest Witch” Koutili that the strange Magical Girl mentioned last night?

A Causality-type Witch?

A post-growth-type Witch?

And how did she know that this “Koutili” would appear at Heijiang No.3 Middle School in a month?

Did it have to do with her abilities as a Magical Girl?

Predicting the future?

Time travel?

A detection talent for tracking Witch movements?

“Xiao Yao.”

Just as I was still playing the curious little kid, guessing all sorts of things, Tang Xiaolu beside me suddenly placed her small hand lightly on my thigh, tapping a few times with her fingertips on the “Absolute Territory” between the pleated school skirt and black thigh-high socks.

‘As expected of my wife. So soft.’

Hey!

What’s with this sudden pervert possession?!

At that moment, along with the bell for morning reading, the homeroom teacher led a girl into the classroom.

“Is everyone here? If so, get back to your seats and sit down! If you haven’t finished breakfast, put it away and eat it after class! Look at all of you, such a smell!”

Our homeroom teacher was a woman in her thirties, very strict.

But the girl who came in with the teacher looked very well-behaved — she had braided pigtails, wore glasses, and had a pair of clean ankle socks and uniform shoes under her skirt, giving off a slightly “dowdy” impression.

“We have a new transfer student joining our class today…”

Before the teacher could finish, the girl ran down from the podium in quick, “click-clack” steps, went straight to Tang Xiaolu’s side, grabbed both of her hands, and looked at her with big eyes full of anticipation.

“Sister Lulu!”

The girl’s glasses reflected the clear blue sky and white clouds outside the window in the morning light.

“I’ve become a Magical Girl too! Let’s do our best together from now on!”