Chapter 7: Jiang Yin, Why Are You Rewarding Her?

That night, Jiang Yin slept in the Bureau.

According to Ning Rong, the traces left after her transformation would take time to erase, and in order to protect her identity, a new ‘real’ Identity Proof would also take time to process.

So for the next two days, it was best for her to stay inside the Base and not go out.

Coincidentally, as a new Magical Girl, she still had classes to attend.

Yes, being a Magical Girl meant attending Makeup Classes—a unique feature of Huaxia, and Jiang Yin couldn’t escape it either.

The teacher was Ning Rong.

The courses were divided into two parts: theory in the morning and combat class in the afternoon.

“Every Magical Girl is an independent, special individual. The experiences of predecessors are of limited use to those who come after, so what you need to learn is only knowledge related to Monsters.”

“Here, I need to correct a common misconception.”

She tapped the blackboard, her expression turning serious.

“First, the Monster classifications in the minds of civilians are completely wrong. The abilities, origin, and actual strength of Monsters are only related to Emotional Force, and exhibit random characteristics within a certain range.”

“In other words, those ‘human-type’, ‘monster-type’, or ‘special-type’ classifications among the public are entirely incorrect. In reality, Monsters are special lifeforms born from the accumulation of negative Emotional Force.”

“Sounds a lot like Magical Girls.”

Jiang Yin nodded, finding it easy to understand.

“They’re both random.”

“That’s right. In essence, Monsters and Magical Girls are two sides of the same coin, both special existences derived from humans.”

“Then what about animals? Animals have emotions too, right?”

Jiang Yin asked the question that had always made her curious.

She had argued about this with many people online, but never got a clear answer.

“If ordinary animals’ Emotional Force could give birth to Monsters, then you’d have to rely on eggs and soybeans for protein.”

“…Then I’d rather die.”

“Exactly.”

Ning Rong shrugged.

“So, do you understand now?”

“Understand what?”

“The reason Magical Girls fight for humanity.”

Ning Rong pointed at the blackboard.

“This is the first lesson I want to teach you. There are no lofty ideals, nor is it out of empathy for human nature. Simply put, the existence of Magical Girls is highly dependent on humans. The logic of lips and teeth—you should get it.”

Jiang Yin understood, but was also curious.

“Why put it so bluntly?”

She gestured animatedly, trying to express her thoughts.

“I thought it would be…well, it doesn’t fit our traditional values, does it?”

“Because things went wrong before.”

Ning Rong shrugged.

“Not here, but with Eagle Sauce.”

“They taught their Magical Girls to fight for Democracy and Freedom. Later, something big happened—a large number of Magical Girls fell, and after that, the country immediately learned its lesson and changed its educational approach.”

“Ideals can crumble. Human nature is unreliable. Only the rawest dependence is the most secure and least problematic.”

“As for those lofty things, they can wait until a Magical Girl’s convictions have been solidified before pursuing them.”

“I see…”

Jiang Yin rested her cheek on her hand, feeling a bit lost.

Lofty things, the desire to protect, love—

She seemed to lack these.

They had existed before, but as days passed, they faded away with time.

Thinking about it, after eating lunch in the Lunch Hall and taking a nap, Ning Rong led her to the Training Ground to begin the afternoon combat class.

Combat class wasn’t easy, but there was nothing particularly special about it.

Jiang Yin hadn’t awakened yet, so no one knew what her combat style would be after transformation.

Close combat?

Long-range?

What weapons, what magic?

All of it was unknown.

So the only things she could train were hand-to-hand skills and…

“Rational combat actually goes against human nature.”

The red-haired woman stood on the Training Ground, her tight white T-shirt accentuating her curves, revealing a gleaming, toned abdomen, with only shorts and tactical boots below.

She was valiant and dashing.

She picked up two Soft Boxing Gloves from the Weapons Rack and put them on, explaining as Jiang Yin slowly put on her protective gear.

“When people feel pain, they retreat. When they see danger, they want to run. They like to use their full strength to deliver a deadly blow to the enemy. But that’s all wrong.”

“Have you ever watched fighting videos?”

“I have.”

Jiang Yin nodded seriously, fully equipped.

As a former man, she had also been interested in combat, watched many videos, but never had the time to learn herself.

“Watch me throw a punch.”

Ning Rong stood straight and swung a wide, forceful punch with all her strength, spinning halfway around from the inertia before stopping.

“See what’s wrong?”

“Stance is off, not stable, force isn’t delivered through the body, only the arm is moving, and it’s too slow. The enemy would have plenty of time to land a straight punch to the face.”

Jiang Yin shrugged.

“I know the basics.”

“That makes things easier.”

Ning Rong nodded in satisfaction, curling her gloved hand toward Jiang Yin.

“Come on.”

“What?”

“Let’s start the sparring right away!”

The core principles of basic combat were simple, but embedding them into your bones as instinct wasn’t.

That took countless battles to become a habit.

“Ahh…”

“It hurts!”

Sitting on the Infirmary bed, the white-haired girl was bruised and battered, with tears shimmering in her eyes, looking pitiful.

Si Beili hadn’t transformed, but her right hand glowed with a faint blue light as she kneaded the bruised areas on Jiang Yin’s body inch by inch.

“Hehehe… Hehe…”

Strange laughter escaped her mouth from time to time.

But it had to be said—the treatment was truly effective.

An unawakened Magical Girl couldn’t freely use magic, and her physical strength was only slightly above that of an ordinary person, roughly equal to a regular adult male who worked out.

Such injuries would take a normal person a week to heal, but under Si Beili’s touch, the bruises faded almost instantly, and even the cracked corners of her mouth healed right away.

It just hurt a bit—so much that Jiang Yin couldn’t help but cry.

It was a physiological response.

‘A girl’s body really is too sensitive…’

Jiang Yin sighed silently in her heart, finding yet another downside to transforming.

As she despaired, Si Beili had already healed her upper body, then grabbed her slender calf and began working her way upward—from the calf, to the knee, then the thigh…

“Wait! Where are you touching!?”

Jiang Yin suddenly raised her foot, clad only in white stockings, and pressed it against Si Beili’s face, trying to kick this pervert away.

But the difference in physical strength between an unawakened and a mature Magical Girl was real.

Even with all her might, Si Beili merely leaned back a bit, and even pressed her face harder against Jiang Yin’s foot.

Her nose twitched, catching a hint of the sour scent of sweat fermenting between the toes.

The face, distorted by the pressure, looked even more excited!

“Help——!!!”