Chapter 244: Pleading, Meow?

Ye Xinglan secretly observed Silver Bell with a hint of anxiety. Although the other girl didn’t seem suspicious at all, hadn’t it been way too long?

‘Xiaoxi had guaranteed that things would be finished quickly!’

‘No, I have to find a topic to distract her. Ideally, it should be something that makes Silver Bell take the initiative to think and speak, leaving her no time to consider anything else… Got it!’

Ye Xinglan spoke casually, as if just making small talk. “By the way, Ling’er, I think I heard Qiuli mention before that you were the one who vouched for her so she could join the Association, right? When Qiuli was chatting with Xiaoxi, she even seemed to say you were really cool back then. Is that true?”

“Huh? Um… yeah, that did happen…”

“Did you take the initiative to go and negotiate with the Association?” The soul of a gossip-monger ignited in Ye Xinglan’s eyes. “Tell me about it~”

Although Ye Xinglan had witnessed the terrifying stats of the Silverflame Dragon Princess many times in battle, she was now very familiar with Silver Bell’s socially anxious personality.

This made her even more curious about the matter.

It was hard to imagine this socially anxious little girl being able to pull off a cool negotiation with the Association, let alone something like murdering Yue Wangge.

Ye Xinglan no longer believed that such a thing could have anything to do with Silver Bell.

“Do… do I really have to tell you? It’s actually quite embarrassing… Fine, I’ll give you a brief summary.”

Silver Bell was the type who couldn’t say no to people she was familiar with. Ye Xinglan’s gaze was far too enthusiastic—so enthusiastic that she felt too embarrassed to refuse.

“Actually, Wangge came to ask me for help back then. She wanted me to vouch for her together, and I felt bad saying no… so I agreed.”

Ye Xinglan nodded, thinking to herself that it made sense. ‘This seems much more reasonable; there was no way Silver Bell had the type of personality to take the initiative for something like that.’

In truth, Silver Bell hadn’t agreed to Yue Wangge’s request just because she was too shy to say no, but also because she wanted to take the opportunity to repay her.

The way Silver Bell and Yue Wangge met was very simple.

One was a Guardian transferred to North Blossom City by the Association, and the other was an S-Rank Magical Girl directly under the Church.

It was easy for the two of them to appear together or cross paths at various events.

At first, Silver Bell thought this would be just like any other colleague relationship—limited to a nodding acquaintance.

After all, Yue Wangge wasn’t into anything Two-Dimensional, and Silver Bell didn’t think there was any possibility of her forming a deep connection with her.

It wasn’t until a short while later, when the two of them were attending another commercial event at the same time, that Silver Bell was in the Rest Room trying to process her nerves.

These crowded occasions that required socializing were always what she feared most, but as a Guardian, she naturally couldn’t avoid such things.

Suddenly, Yue Wangge arrived uninvited. Wearing her usual gentle smile, her first words were expressing concern over whether Silver Bell was feeling socially anxious and nervous.

“…Why do you think that?”

For a moment, Silver Bell’s brain practically stalled. One had to understand that when she was on the clock, she would transform into her Silverflame Dragon Princess form.

Very few people dared to approach or talk to her. Over the years, her habitual isolation, reticence, and expressionless face had always been seen by Outsiders as the coldness of a powerful person.

This was the first time anyone had seen through her disguise so easily!

“Because I noticed it during those two previous events we attended together. You always looked like you were struggling because your body was so tense. It’s probably because you’re nervous, right?”

Before Silver Bell could think of a way to cover it up, Yue Wangge had already continued on her own.

“It’s okay. During the event later, I’ll try to speak as much as possible so there won’t be any awkward silences. You can just follow my lead and take your time.”

Silver Bell really was saved during the event that day. Yue Wangge stayed with her the whole time and handled most of the social trouble for her.

That was the first time Silver Bell had ever completed a social engagement with such ease.

Meticulous gentleness and unsolicited kindness—that was Silver Bell’s first impression of Yue Wangge.

Thinking about it carefully, the personality of this Magical Girl from the Church was quite similar to A Xing’s, though A Xing was a bit more lively in private.

That was the starting point for Silver Bell and Yue Wangge to gradually become familiar with each other.

Afterward, they were still frequently scheduled to attend events together.

As if it were a tacit understanding, Yue Wangge would always handle the social segments for her, even though Silver Bell never actually admitted to being socially anxious.

Later on, Silver Bell slowly discovered that Yue Wangge was the kind of person who was very comfortable to be around in private.

She knew Silver Bell’s character and would look out for her emotions when they were alone, yet she always maintained the perfect amount of distance so that Silver Bell wouldn’t feel the panic of being ‘taken care of.’

Back then, Silver Bell even thought Yue Wangge was a bit of a Monster. Usually, people rarely used normal emotions to care for the strong.

When people saw the Silverflame Dragon Princess in that state, they would only feel a sense of pressure.

By the time Silver Bell realized it, her relationship with Yue Wangge could already be considered quite good.

This was the first time she had made a friend in the Association outside of her former teammates.

So when Yue Wangge came to ask her for help regarding Qiuli, Silver Bell grit her teeth and agreed.

However, after hearing that she was helping a Corpse Collector from the Bounty Hunters, she wavered again.

“As long as both you and I vouch for her—with two S-Rank Magical Girls acting as guarantors—the Association will definitely relent and agree. Please, please…”

The quiet girl pressed her hands together in front of the expressionless Dragon Princess.

This was the first time Silver Bell had ever seen Yue Wangge act cute like this in front of her… But that wasn’t the point!

Silver Bell frowned. “But she’s a Corpse Collector, Wangge. Are you sure you want to help someone like that? You might not know what a Corpse Collector’s job entails among Bounty Hunters.”

“I know, but I promise you that Qiuli really had no other choice!”

“It’s not about that,” Silver Bell said, her tone conflicted. “I believe you, but she’s still a Corpse Collector. Do you know how helping her will affect you?”

“I know. I’ll be fine,” Yue Wangge said softly. “But if we don’t even give her a single chance, then she’ll… she’ll be so pitiful.”

And that was it—sometimes Silver Bell felt that Yue Wangge had a bit of a Saintess complex.

But the biggest difference between her and the Saintesses in those apocalyptic webnovels was that those people would only sacrifice the interests of others to satisfy their own kind hearts.

Yue Wangge’s kindness never cared about what she herself would have to pay.

Silver Bell herself didn’t really care, since Yue Wangge was the one leading the effort.

But for Yue Wangge, as an S-Rank Magical Girl of the Apocalyptic Church, taking the initiative to help a Corpse Collector was a very… self-destructive move for her career.

However, Silver Bell knew she couldn’t talk Yue Wangge out of it. She still nodded and agreed.