“For our victory!”
Raising her glass, Tian held her head high, her sea-blue hair cascading like waves, laughing heartily—her grin wide enough to almost see her molars.
Then, as expected, Tian casually poured the wine straight back into the bottle and grabbed it to start chugging.
She only used the glass for clinking with others.
“Ha~”
Leaning back in her chair, her hair flowing like ocean waves, Tian squinted and praised, “Good wine… good wine~ Ah~ delightful~ Wu~”
“Drink a little less, okay? Drinking like that isn’t good for your health.”
Aurora hurriedly supported her back, worried she might topple over.
“Mmm~~~ Little Aurora~ You’re the best~ I’ll marry you as my wife~”
“Stop talking drunk nonsense.”
Aurora sighed, “No matter what, you can’t drink straight from the bottle—your stomach won’t handle it. Also, remember! We’re not even of age yet! This kind of plot wouldn’t even pass censorship in a magical girl manga.”
“No big deal~ Magic’s here~”
“But we’re retiring soon. We can’t just use magic recklessly anymore; we need to start adapting now.”
Aurora had to remind her of this.
“Hmm~”
A mischievous glint sparkled in Tian’s narrowed eyes.
“Even without magic, I’m still a sea ‘massive’!”
“…That pun is so lame……”
“Hey hey, Aurora, just let her drink.”
Across the table, the magical girl [Senra] popped a chili pepper into her mouth and said, “If it gets bad, I’ll make her a sobering soup… although we probably won’t even need it.”
“Senra-nee…”
Aurora looked at her helplessly, “Magic sobering soup is useless.”
“Sigh.”
Senra rested her cheek on the table, “But then I can’t have the little tree spirit help me with my homework, clean the house, cook, wash windows, or find things.”
“Usually, no.”
“Ugh~ So tiring, I don’t want to.”
“Tired or not, you have to do it.”
“Then I’ll just bury myself in the yard. I want to be a plant, I want to photosynthesize!”
“Don’t say such selfish things…”
“Please! Aurora-mama, from now on all watering, fertilizing, and pest control tasks are yours. You have to take care of me.”
“Stop saying such selfish things!!!”
Helping the lazy magical girl pick up a piece of boiled cabbage and putting down her chopsticks, Aurora sighed.
This magical girl retirement party had been going on all day, yet no one was willing to be the first to leave.
In truth, everyone understood in their hearts that in the future, they would fully shed the burdens of being magical girls and return to ordinary lives.
The companions who had spent day and night together would each embark on their own life paths.
Maybe they wouldn’t see each other again, or if they did, their relationships would never be the same as now.
Beyond being magical girls, their other identity was as students at school, and at this moment, the magical girls felt like students about to graduate, facing a brand-new life, harboring some confusion and unease.
What would the future hold? Would these friends become lifelong companions? Where would everyone go after this? Would they ever meet again?
Tian chose to let herself…
In the distance, magical girl [Zidian] shook her head wildly while hugging her guitar, and Yunxia—with her tall, big-sister figure—was silently crouched in the narrow space between the bookshelf and the ceiling, thinking like a cat contemplating life.
Even the usually serious Beifeng said, “Everyone should just have fun. Aurora, don’t worry about them.”
There was a hint of a smile in her eyes.
“These guys are actually all breathing a huge sigh of relief inside; they’re just not used to it yet.”
“After all, no one wants to go through last month’s intense battles again—that was way harder than the college entrance exam.”
“All right, all right.”
Aurora nodded and followed Beifeng’s gaze, taking in everyone with her eyes.
Tian, Senra, Zidian… and others, and…
“Well, I guess that’s what I want too, but unfortunately… it’s still just a dream.”
Aurora sighed in disappointment and slowly stepped forward to sit before the girl with hair like the sun—a harmonious blend of gold and deep red.
“Why come find me last? Do you hate me, Little Aurora?”
The girl blinked, a playful smile twitching at her lips.
“Can’t help it. If I’d come first, this dream would’ve ended long ago, Sister Corona.”
Aurora—Jiang Lingwei—smiled bitterly, then pulled out a chair and sat opposite her.
“Ah~ That’s true. We all spent the first few lessons basically looking for flaws in dreams. But without my obvious one, you’d have figured it out long ago.”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Lingwei had to admit, “Everyone’s performance was too orderly, almost like they were coming to find me one by one. Oh, except Zidian—she’s still partying over there. She’s responsible for the BGM.”
“Ha ha ha.”
Amused by her words, Corona lightly covered her mouth and let out a restrained chuckle, then looked down at her hands and said, “Looks like I’m still pretty great in your heart, huh? Didn’t cause trouble, just quietly drank tea here. And this outfit you prepared for me is really splendid.”
She leaned forward, then smiled gracefully and asked, “Is it because I died young?”
“No! No! That’s not it!”
Jiang Lingwei refused to touch that topic.
“Look at you—if even I don’t mind, why are you so taboo about it?”
Corona elegantly raised her tea cup to her lips, took a delicate sip, then continued:
“What if we fail in the future?”
“Well, not exactly…”
Jiang Lingwei defended, “We did make a difference. Otherwise, this place would’ve suffered disasters much earlier. At least we delayed it by ten years; that’s not a failure.”
“That’s good then. Everyone tried their best. You tried your best. That’s enough.”
Corona stood, and as the darkness outside gradually faded, a streak of morning light shone upon her, bathing her in golden radiance.
“You’re our light. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
“Relax in your dreams when you need to; you’ll always be welcome.”
“But, well, the sky always brightens… so don’t get greedy.”
Corona revealed her radiant smile.
“…Hmmph…”
Jiang Lingwei rubbed her cheeks, waking from a long, beautiful dream.
Yes, the sky had brightened, sunlight pouring into the room, not directly shining on her, but enough to brighten the space.
Patting the bed beneath her arm, Jiang Lingwei pushed herself up.
“…Hmm…”
Still sleepy from the comfortable rest, she reluctantly opened her eyes.
“…?”
She suddenly noticed the feeling beneath her wasn’t quite right.
“Ah?!!!!”
Jiang Lingwei’s eyes met Jiang Cheng’s wide ones in shock—her realization hitting.
She wasn’t lying on the bed.
—She was half lying on Jiang Cheng’s body.
“!”
Her face flushed from neck to cheek, “I, this… I’m getting up right now!”
As she scrambled to move away in a fluster, she felt something pressing slightly under the blanket near her knees, right on her calf.
“Ah!”
Almost certain what it was, and knowing what boys tend to do in the morning, Jiang Lingwei gave a small shout and immediately rolled and scrambled to the other side.
“Xiaowei, you never told me you like to… when you sleep…”
“Don’t talk!”
Before Jiang Cheng could finish, a pillow flew and covered his face.
And so, the couple’s first morning began with chaos and commotion.