“Why are you following me again?”
As soon as Yu Hua walked out the door, he felt someone trailing behind him.
Sure enough, when he turned around, it was Lin Ling.
“I’m not following you. It’s because Shui Hua works in the afternoon, so I also have to go to the Magical Girl Division in the afternoon,” Lin Ling explained with complete seriousness.
“Oh, oh…”
Yu Hua was just thinking, this is so typical of Lin Ling, when he suddenly realized there was a trap in her words.
He feigned ignorance and played dumb.
“Wait a minute, what do you mean by ‘also’? And since when can you bother Shui Hua so freely?”
“Because I joined the Magical Girl Division.”
“Well, good luck,” Yu Hua congratulated her helplessly, then asked, “But speaking of which, why don’t you just fly off? Why are you still following me?”
“Oh, right, I instinctively wanted to go up to the rooftop to transform… Well, I’ll go on ahead then.”
Lin Ling casually cast Presence Reduction Magic on himself, and in an instant, flew out of the stairwell window.
“Take care…”
Yu Hua watched Lin Ling’s figure vanish into the distance, thinking that since she couldn’t revert back, it actually made things a lot easier for him—he just needed to find a suitable rooftop.
***
By the time Shui Hua arrived at the Magical Girl Division, Liu Jin was already seated at her workstation.
“Liu Jin, you’re here so early?”
Shui Hua feigned surprise.
“I came early to familiarize myself with the work, so I arrived first.”
“The work here for Magical Girls is quite different from your previous job. Most of it is paperwork and promotional activities; sometimes we even have to participate in variety shows. However, Xing Li and the others left quite a few field assignments behind, so you can ease into things by starting with those.”
With a new person to help share the load, Shui Hua was in a great mood, patiently explaining the job to her.
After all, once this newcomer was trained, his own workload would be halved.
“Let’s start with this field task.”
Shui Hua opened his computer and selected a mission that was due today.
[Incident: Elevator Anomaly]
[Location: Huyin Complex, Dongjiang District, Seventh Building]
[Description: The building’s elevator is exhibiting anomalous behavior, teleporting people to random locations. Initial assessment suggests the anomaly is related to the Magical Power System. The Magical Girl Division is required to investigate and handle it.]
Once the objective was confirmed, Liu Jin followed Shui Hua as they set off, with Shui Hua continuing to explain the Magical Girl Division’s work along the way.
“The issues we most commonly deal with are things like this—not particularly dangerous, but incredibly annoying if left alone… Though sometimes, these are even more troublesome than fighting.”
The two quickly arrived at the residential building.
The elevator was just to the right of the entrance.
There was a roadblock in front of the elevator door labeled “Beware of Anomalies,” and the elevator button had been sealed with tape.
The two Magical Girls soon went to interview Mrs. Huang, the resident of 601, who had reported the incident.
“This elevator started acting up three days ago. I was bringing a delivery home, and when I took the elevator, it sent me to Eighth Building next door… I thought I’d gone into the wrong building, but when I ran back and took it again, it sent me to Sixth Building.”
“Is there anything else you can recall about the details?”
Among the remaining three members of the Magical Girl Division, one was a kid, one was lazy, and one was antisocial—so only Shui Hua could handle interviews like this.
“Um… I really didn’t pay attention…”
“For example, did you notice any changes inside the elevator? You must have taken the elevator downstairs, right? Does the teleportation only happen when going up, or does it occur both ways?”
“Uh, I remember there was no change in the interior… As for up or down, I didn’t really notice. I just realized the hallway looked different from mine, so I left right away without checking if it was the same building.”
“Alright, thank you for your help. We Magical Girls will definitely protect your daily life. Ciallo~(∠・ω< )⌒☆”
Shui Hua put on an energetic expression, tilted his head, closed one eye, and made a V-sign, smiling at her.
Once the door was closed, Shui Hua immediately put on a senior’s air.
“Liu Jin, did you see that? As the face of the Ability Bureau, a Magical Girl must always maintain a cute image. You should learn to do the same.”
Shui Hua was obviously setting her up, since even he himself didn’t bother acting cute when there was no camera around…
He was just corrupting her, teaching her to act cutesy at anyone.
“By the way, Ciallo is a combination of Italian ‘ciao’ and English ‘hello.’ It’s supposed to be a greeting, not a way to say goodbye, right?”
Yu Hua had asked her to get a few galgames from Liu for fun before; it seemed she’d actually listened.
“Don’t worry about those details! Liu Jin, try it out on me?”
“Do I really have to say Ciallo? It’s honestly kind of embarrassing…”
“So you’re saying I’m thick-skinned, huh…”
Shui Hua puffed his cheeks and pretended to be angry.
“No, no, I’ll do it…”
Liu Jin took a moment to compose herself, then carefully mimicked Shui Hua’s pose, earnestly copying the gesture:
“Ciallo~(∠・ω< )⌒☆”
Normally so serious, Liu Jin looked adorably clumsy when she tried to act cute…
It seemed she genuinely wanted to master the art, which made it even more endearing.
“Not bad, not bad! Just like that. When Xing Li and Fei Xing get back tonight, be sure to show them what you’ve learned.”
After this little interlude, Shui Hua returned to business and headed to the elevator on their floor.
Here too, the elevator button was taped, and a warning sign had been placed in front.
The investigation hadn’t produced any useful leads, so Shui Hua decided to test the elevator herself.
She firmly peeled the tape off the button, pressed it, and waited as the elevator arrived.
On the surface, the elevator seemed normal, displaying the correct floor and opening its doors as expected.
Shui Hua and Liu Jin entered and pressed a random floor.
When the doors opened, they stepped out, and Shui Hua flew down to check the building number, then quickly returned, looking puzzled.
“No teleportation? Does it only happen when going downstairs? Or is it just inconsistent?”
Yu Hua paced back and forth.
“Guess we’ll have to keep testing. Uh… Let’s try going up this time?”
The two got back in, this time replicating Mrs. Huang’s experience: first going down to the first floor, then taking the elevator straight to the sixth.
They continued their experiment.
But even after Shui Hua double-checked the building number, there was still no sign of teleportation.
“What’s going on? Could it be that because we’re Magical Girls and have magical power, it’s afraid to teleport us?”
“In that case, someone will have to de-transform and try it alone,” Lin Ling suddenly suggested.
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