Chapter 21: Kidnapping

“小 Bai, what’s going on today again?”

After school, having dealt with a few more suspected corrupted wild dogs, Jiang Yao staggered along the way home, tiredly scolding Xiao Bai: “Didn’t you say there wouldn’t be any trouble recently? Why, after just one week of rest, are there new monsters popping up again?”

“Got to go home to study, still have activities to catch up on, plus helping Mom adapt to modern life… too much to do. What’s with all these dark trash creatures showing up so often?”

“I… I don’t know either.”

Xiao Bai, completely limp like a ball, hung on Jiang Yao’s shoulder. It had been running all over to report news to her and now didn’t even have strength in its little paws.

“The Dark Fairy faction also splits its forces. Their goal has always been to open a breach… you know about the Dongsha City incident, right?”

Jiang Yao nodded.

That was a brutal tragedy. All the Magical Girls in Dongsha City were killed in action. The enemy had set a trap that lured in many reinforcements of Magical Girls, and their fate was just as grim.

In the end, the entire city was completely overrun. It took three years before it was successfully retaken last year, but it was already too late.

The Dark Fairies and Demonspawn had already absorbed enough power there. Rather than saying the city was retaken, it was more like the enemy had drained all its value and no longer intended to defend it.

Their strength increased severalfold, putting tremendous pressure on the Magical Girl defenses in several nearby cities as well.

Before this, victories by the Dark side were not unheard of, but never had any been as devastating as that one.

It served as a wake-up call to those complacent in the facade of peace. Many clear-headed people realized one thing: even now, at this very moment, it is still a time of war.

And Magical Girls—they are human too, not gods. When killed, they die.

The last time something like this happened was at the beginning of everything—the Great Dark Catastrophe.

A small number of Magical Girls, overwhelmed by fear and collapsing mentally, abandoned their magic and contracts. The fairies bound to them were taken back by Fairy Kingdom officials for re-education and accountability.

Although fairies are generally lively and simple creatures, they hold no tolerance for failure in such matters.

Aside from those few, the vast majority bore heavy hearts, prepared to sacrifice themselves at any moment.

Magical Girls are girls, but also warriors. This is why society tries to help more openly: enacting laws to protect Magical Girls’ privacy, establishing special agencies, and even censoring media related to Magical Girl incidents.

If help can’t be provided, then at least don’t stab them in the back—that’s how today’s leaders decide.

As for Jiang Yao herself, she didn’t know when her ultimate test would come. Maybe that time she was ambushed by a Demon was her death day.

After all, she wasn’t even sure if her body still had the hidden energy reserve she could self-destruct with in a critical moment, much less if she could release it then.

That old thing who was blasted by the pink-haired Ancient Magical Girl hadn’t even made a move.

Who knows what other abilities that high-level Demon might have.

Regardless, Jiang Yao knew she couldn’t die—not for any reason.

Even if Magical Girls feel fear, it’s usually just about quitting, let alone others.

Those girls fighting the darkness head-on—no matter their personalities or methods—all have a golden kindness at their core.

That’s the Magical Girl’s Golden Spirit.

Those who abandoned magic didn’t truly despise their own virtues; they were just too afraid of what might come, and their magic faded along with their will.

Before the Fairy Kingdom agents confiscated their Transformation Devices and dissolved their contracts to return them to normal life, they still had the “potential.”

But Jiang Yao believed she did not.

She never thought of sacrificing herself to help others. If she’d known a Demon was there, she wouldn’t have dared to fight that bug head-on so boldly.

If it was something within her capacity, she was happy to do it—even if it required effort, she wouldn’t mind.

But once it came to “sacrifice,” she wasn’t willing.

No pretense, no self-deception—Jiang Yao clearly knew she didn’t want to risk her life to save others.

Such thoughts were very “un-Magical Girl.”

But Jiang Yao didn’t care. Whether she had that Golden Spirit or not didn’t matter. She became a Magical Girl simply because she happened to find Xiao Bai, who deemed her suitable, and because she lived alone with a steady supply of food.

At that time, her mother was still unconscious. The main reason Jiang Yao started to engage with magic was to:

Find her father.

She remembered everything about him, but all traces of her father—even in the whole world—had vanished.

It was as if her father had been banished by this world itself.

This wasn’t something a physical universe could explain; only magic could.

What had happened to him? Why was her mother still in a coma? These were questions Jiang Yao and magic needed to solve.

So Jiang Yao had to obtain magic.

The original plan was to join the Magical Bureau in a few years and proceed carefully, but it was obviously easier to become a Magical Girl directly.

“Who would have thought it’d be such a hassle—studying all day, having to rush out whenever trouble happens, and Xiao Bai’s completely useless. I don’t even know if it really graduated from Fairy School…”

“What?”

Xiao Bai didn’t catch Jiang Yao’s muttering.

“Never mind, go on.”

“I mean, logically, this city is completely worthless. Why would Demons be sent here?”

Xiao Bai was baffled.

It had only picked this city because there happened to be a vacancy for a Magical Girl, and it was peaceful enough not to have trouble. So it squeezed in with a little ‘trick.’

“Sigh, who knows.”

Jiang Yao shrugged:

“I still have to develop the magical gear’s functions. You, at least tell me something useful?”

“Well, um…”

Xiao Bai’s whiskers trembled, its small eyes darting aside:

“Every Magical Girl has her own talent. Every magic is unique…”

“Enough, enough.”

Jiang Yao said impatiently:

“I already checked at the Bureau. That’s the first unit in your Fairy School textbooks, the only part currently released for humans, and even the Bureau knows it. That’s your standard answer. Aren’t you supposed to be a descendant of some great scholar? Where’s your research spirit?”

“Uh… uh…”

Xiao Bai sheepishly said in a low voice:

“Research… um… what’s for dinner tonight?”

“Sigh.”

Jiang Yao deeply worried about the future of this small city, Mudu City.

An unreliable Magical Girl paired with an unreliable fairy—only heaven knows what’s ahead.

At least now she knew there was another mysterious Magical Girl active in the city, which relieved some pressure.

And her mother had woken up! She finally truly had family with her!

Finally home, pushing open the door and casting all worries and exhaustion aside, Jiang Yao smiled and loudly called out:

“Mom, I’m back!”

But unexpectedly, there was none of the usual delicious smell of food.

The room was in chaos, as if a typhoon had blown through. Things were scattered all over the floor, windows wide open with curtains billowing in the wind.

“…Mom?”

Jiang Yao’s voice trembled.

Still no response.

She noticed a letter placed on the shoe cabinet by the entrance, marked “For the eyes of Magical Girl Crystal only.”

She immediately grabbed the letter and opened it, reading two small lines inside:

“Dear Magical Girl, I have to say, you are far too careless. Since you have no idea how to hide your whereabouts, I have no choice but to come myself.”

“If you want your mother to remain unharmed, come alone to the Old Steel Factory outside the city before sunset.”

“If you fail to arrive before sunset, then prepare your coffin and get ready to be buried.”

Clutching the letter, Jiang Yao fell silent.

“This… this is a kidnapping!”

Xiao Bai on her shoulder was alarmed: “Crystal! We have to save your mother!”

“…”

“Crystal! I’m sure this is the work of Demons! Only Demons have such cunning!”

“…”

After a moment of silence, Jiang Yao’s hoarse voice said:

“…What kind of scum.”

Her throat emitted a low growl, and under some force, the letter shattered into fluttering paper fragments.

“How dare—how dare—how dare—”

Xiao Bai sensed something in the escaping magic, suddenly leaping up:

“Crystal—Crystal! Human named Jiang Yao! Calm down—your magic is off right now! You…”

“How dare you do this!!!”

“Boom—”

The gust blew Xiao Bai flying against the wall with a “smack.” Its little eyes widened in terror. It felt that Jiang Yao was becoming somewhat frightening.

The Magical Girl’s Light Magic seemed to be undergoing an even more terrifying transformation.

However, although Xiao Bai’s own power was weak, it was a proper fairy and could not stand by.

Kicking off the wall, it flew up desperately to block Jiang Yao who was already rushing out the door. Pressing its body against Jiang Yao’s face, it shouted loudly:

“Calm down! Ma-gi-cal—Girl—Crystal! Listen to me! Only Light Magic can defeat their Dark Magic! We have to prepare!”

As if the storm stopped in an instant, Jiang Yao listened and actually halted.

“…You’re right.”

The now clear-headed girl stretched out her arm, grasped her longsword, and whispered:

“Let’s go.”

At this moment, Jiang Lingwei, who had been cooking, suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and lost consciousness—knocked out with a blunt blow.

The disadvantage of being incomplete was this. In the past, she wouldn’t have been caught off guard so easily.

Who would have thought to be ambushed at home!

But there was no use complaining now. Jiang Lingwei simply looked outside cautiously and spoke to a tall figure with an unusually imposing aura:

“Where is this? Who are you?”

“Hehehe… such a beautiful lady, you’re awake.”

The pale, inhuman-faced man dressed in a suit and black top hat clapped his gloved pink hands with a smile, then said to Jiang Lingwei:

“Don’t worry, you will soon be reunited with your daughter.”

He licked his lips, greed gleaming openly in his eyes:

“Of course~ it’ll be in the form of a feast—I’m going to hang her up!”

The pale-faced man shouted orders loudly. Jiang Lingwei felt the cage she was in begin to rise, suspending her in midair.

“Ke ke ke ke ke—hahahahaha!!!”

Without another word, he laughed and vanished into the darkness, leaving behind more grotesque little demons like goblins, who followed with sharp, mocking laughter.

Ah… the full-on atmosphere of a demon’s lair.

And Jiang Lingwei? She was now staring at the plain iron cage around her—no magic, no seals, not even traps—and at the pathetic little Demonspawn below. She touched the necklace around her neck.

(Huh?)

Ordinary person. Occasional Magical Girl. Lingwei Jiang’s thoughts puzzled:

(Am I… bait for a kidnapping?)

(Kidnapped? Really? O.o)