When recounting her past, Shandie omitted every part related to Black Rose.
Although Xiaoxi had already seen through her identity as an insider, Shandie believed it wasn’t yet time for complete honesty with Xiaoxi. Some things were better left hidden.
As for the reason she exposed her Magical Girl identity to join the Association, Shandie simply said it was out of necessity—she just wanted to find another job to earn some extra money.
“Do you know what struck me most after joining the Association?” Shandie curled a sardonic smile.
“After transforming into a Magical Girl, people no longer found the wings on my back strange. Several times, I even caught a glimpse of… envy in their eyes.”
“It’s really interesting—it’s the same thing, but when it appears on a Magical Girl, people react differently than if it appeared on a monster.”
“So, you’re a fan formation of [Eternal Star]?” Ye Xinglan suddenly asked an unrelated question.
“Sort of… I used to be,” Shandie shook her head. “She’s disappeared now. There’s no reason for me to keep chasing after her, right?”
Ye Xinglan pursed her lips and mentally tagged Shandie as “tasteless,” instantly losing the desire to continue the conversation.
What’s that? Xiaoxi is also a fan of Eternal Star? Well… that’s apples and oranges!
Xiaoxi hadn’t expected Shandie to have once been her fan. To think that the little blonde girl who liked her sister was actually her fan—it was a bit awkward.
But Xiaoxi deeply understood what Shandie meant.
People always tend to judge individuals by the group’s reputation, but whether Magical Girl or monster, in Xiaoxi’s eyes they were all just humans who could wield Magic Power.
In fact, not all Magical Girls were good. During the Great Chaos Era, Xiaoxi had witnessed many who awakened Magical Girl powers and used them to commit evil.
“I understand how you feel,” Xiaoxi comforted, patting Shandie’s shoulder. “Especially the part about suffering prejudice and struggling to find work.”
“You?” Shandie sized up Xiaoxi with suspicion in her eyes.
“What do you mean? Do I look like someone who finds jobs easily?” Xiaoxi snapped. “I was unemployed for a long time because of Magical Power Syndrome! And I’m currently working part-time as a waitress in a café. Looking at it this way, we’re actually quite similar…”
“You have Magical Power Syndrome? I don’t see it. What are the specific symptoms?”
Shandie found it hard to believe. Patients with Magical Power Syndrome usually shared traits with monsters; there had to be something strange or unusual for it to make sense.
But Xiaoxi looked perfectly normal. Could it be that her symptoms were not outwardly visible?
“Really? How come I never knew about this?”
Ye Xinglan widened her eyes. Unlike Shandie, she had been very open with Xiaoxi many times, yet never noticed anything unusual about her. And Xiaoxi had never mentioned something so important before!
“Really. The effect of Magical Power Syndrome on me…” Xiaoxi’s voice suddenly grew softer. “Is… it makes me cuter… yeah, really.”
At the last moment, Xiaoxi quickly retracted her words. Did she not want to tell Ye Xinglan? Was she embarrassed by this?
Ahem, she wasn’t lying either. After all, Magical Power Syndrome had turned her into a girl—it was a pretty strong effect, wasn’t it?
Shandie: “……”
For a moment, Shandie thought Xiaoxi was boasting. She had never heard of Magical Power Syndrome having such a ‘negative-negative equals positive’ symptom.
“Ahem, but I don’t think you need to dwell too much on the past, Shandie.”
Xiaoxi quickly changed the subject. Suddenly recalling what Miss L had said about the trading partner’s traits, she took Ye Xinglan’s hand and spoke with meaning.
“What matters isn’t the past, but the present. You still have the right to choose. No matter what you’ve done before, as long as you’re willing to choose to be a good person from now on, it’s never too late.”
“If you ever want to talk about anything, you can come find me… What do you think, Xinglan?”
Xiaoxi tapped Ye Xinglan’s hand meaningfully, but still saw no sign of reaction on her face.
Ye Xinglan tilted her head. “What do I think? I think your preaching vibes are kinda like Eternal Star’s…”
Xiaoxi instantly zipped her lips.
After the two left, Shandie remained sitting alone in the chair, reluctant to stand.
“What matters… is that I still have the right to choose now?”
Shandie smiled bitterly. She understood Xiaoxi’s meaning. So Xiaoxi thought she still had room to turn over a new leaf, which was why she hadn’t reported her to the Association?
How interesting. Despite not knowing her well at all, Xiaoxi trusted her so completely? She even pretended to be talking to Ye Xinglan just to spare her feelings…
“Never too late to start from now…”
Shandie murmured, clenching her fists.
……
That night, inside Xiaoxi’s room.
Xiaoxi frowned as she flipped through the file Miss L had previously given her about the Blood Moon Witch.
To be honest, although the Blood Moon Witch was often called her nemesis, after the Great Chaos Era Xiaoxi had little understanding of this adversary.
She knew nothing about what happened after the Association took the Blood Moon Witch into custody.
The official reason was that the Blood Moon Witch was extremely dangerous and uncontrollable, so no information could be leaked. Xiaoxi hadn’t questioned it—after all, she wasn’t part of the Association.
But as she read through the files, Xiaoxi found the Blood Moon Witch’s situation during her confinement in the Hidden Bone Hall differed greatly from what she had expected.
Since the Blood Moon Witch’s lieutenant, Alanbel, had been released quickly after being well-reformed, Xiaoxi had assumed the Blood Moon Witch was kept confined solely because her abilities were too difficult to control, making it impossible for her to reintegrate into society.
But now… it seemed the Association had conducted many experiments on the Blood Moon Witch.
However, the clearance level of the file Miss L gave her wasn’t high enough for Xiaoxi to learn the details.
Yet Xiaoxi keenly sensed that the Blood Moon Witch might not be so easy to lose control.
If she truly were a volatile powder keg, the Association wouldn’t have dared to conduct so many experiments on her.
Xiaoxi knew very well how severe the consequences of the Blood Moon Witch losing control could be, and the Association surely knew as well… which was why they kept her confined in the Hidden Bone Hall.
Could there be another hidden reason?
Lost in thought, the door suddenly opened. Ye Xinglan stepped in, and Xiaoxi hurriedly grabbed a book to cover the files spread out on the desk.