The next morning, at the Commercial Plaza on North Avenue.
Passersby kept glancing back at the adorable girl sitting on the bench, head lowered, fingers nervously twisting the hem of her maid dress.
For Xiaoxi, going out dressed like this was still too embarrassing. She was certain that Muxingge had deliberately chosen this kind of place as their meeting spot.
She knew Muxingge’s personality all too well. If Muxingge insisted that she wear this outfit today, it wasn’t because of any other reason—it was purely to torment her.
Among her teammates, the two with the least interest in romance were definitely Miss L and Muxingge.
Women who were career-driven tended to have less desire in other areas. Besides, Muxingge was a well-known idol.
Because of the particular nature of her profession, she had always scoffed at the idea of finding a partner.
“Not bad, this outfit really does suit you,” Muxingge finally arrived, teasing, “But I don’t like that scowl on your face. It’s just a punishment for spending the day shopping with me, and you’re already this unhappy? Or do you want to try some other kind of punishment instead?”
Muxingge thought her treatment of Xiaoxi was quite generous. If it weren’t for Xiaoxi being on her team, she definitely wouldn’t let her off so easily.
“No, no,” Xiaoxi quickly forced a smile, “It’s just… wearing this kind of outfit out feels a bit uncomfortable.”
“Nonsense. If you weren’t embarrassed, I wouldn’t have made you wear it,” Muxingge rolled her eyes. “Besides, you’re working at a maid café, right?”
Xiaoxi thought to herself, that was different. The café was for work, and besides, there weren’t as many people there!
Compared to Xiaoxi, Muxingge was dressed much more covered up—baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask.
At a glance, it was hard to even recognize her as Muxingge.
“Hold this for me,” Muxingge said without ceremony, tossing her bag to Xiaoxi. “If you enjoy shopping with me today, this matter will be forgotten. If not, get ready to face the consequences.”
Just as they had walked a short distance, Jie Tianxin, who had been looking around, arrived at the same spot. Soon after, Ye Xinglan came jogging over.
“Sorry, Tianxin, have you been waiting long?”
“No, I just got here recently too. By the way, Xinglan, what are you planning to do with the gift you’re buying?”
“You only told me you wanted to get Xiaoxi a gift with some kind of ceremonial significance and asked for my advice. But you two should have already confessed to each other, right?”
Jie Tianxin’s eyes widened suddenly. “Don’t tell me you’re planning… to propose! Oh my god!”
“No! Don’t overthink it. It’s way too early for proposals! It’s just a two-month anniversary gift!”
Ye Xinglan’s cheeks flushed slightly. She grabbed a random excuse.
To outsiders, the two of them already looked inseparable, but no one would guess they hadn’t even taken the first step.
Jie Tianxin clicked her tongue and shook her head. As expected, couples played romance differently. Just picking a random day could become an anniversary.
“Don’t worry, I know romance better than anyone,” Jie Tianxin confidently patted her chest. “By the way, you didn’t let Xiaoxi find out about this, right?”
“No, she said she had work today and even left earlier than me. I haven’t told her I’m going out either.”
It wasn’t that Xiaoxi wanted to lie to Ye Xinglan. It was mainly because the cursed Magic Contract she signed with Muxingge prevented her from telling the truth.
So, she had to come up with a casual excuse about work.
“That’s good. Let’s go get some lunch first. I want to hear what kind of gift you’re thinking of.”
At that moment, Xiaoxi and Muxingge had already sat down at a restaurant inside the mall.
“Did I tell you to sit?” Muxingge suddenly asked. “Don’t you have any sense as a maid? Come over here and massage my shoulders!”
Xiaoxi dared not refuse. She obediently stood behind Muxingge and began to massage her shoulders.
Soon after ordering, Muxingge tossed the menu aside and got straight to the point.
“Perfect timing. Let’s talk about the novel you’re writing.”
“There’s… nothing much to talk about, Senior Xingge,” Xiaoxi smiled awkwardly. “I really have realized my mistakes.”
“I’m not talking about that. I mean the contents of your novel. Don’t tell me all the plotlines are your own original ideas.”
Xiaoxi’s hands froze. No wonder Muxingge was so focused on this particular School Romance Novel. After all, art comes from life—but she never expected to get caught by Muxingge.
As a D-rank Magical Girl, Sirius had no reason to know so many things from the Great Chaos Era, especially those known only to Muxingge’s teammates.
If Xiaoxi insisted all the stories were her own fabrications and any resemblance was coincidental, Muxingge definitely wouldn’t believe her.
Xiaoxi hesitated for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
“Actually… actually, all these stories were told to me by Eternal Star Senior! The plots in my novel are adapted from the stories she shared with me.”
Muxingge frowned. “A Xing told you? How come I never heard you say you knew A Xing?”
“Not exactly… It’s not like we really know each other. It was Minister L who arranged for Eternal Star Senior to give me one-on-one training. Senior made me promise not to tell anyone.”
“Sometimes after training, Senior would chat with me a bit and share those stories then.”
Xiaoxi, not exactly being honest, shifted the blame onto Miss L and Eternal Star.
After all, Muxingge couldn’t reach Eternal Star now, and as for Miss L, Xiaoxi could only say good sisters share their burdens.
Muxingge thought for a moment and nodded. After all, her other teammate, Xiaohongmao, also received special training from A Xing. Having two trainees at once wasn’t unusual.
She was just a little surprised Miss L had gone out of her way to contact A Xing to help her teammates train. Were these two sisters some kind of Miss L’s protégés?
“But during the last assessment, I didn’t see much of A Xing’s influence in your fight.”
Muxingge had noticed something was off because during the real combat assessment, she saw A Xing’s fighting style reflected in Xiaohongmao’s battles.
“Maybe… maybe I’m just slow-witted, learning slowly, and didn’t really pick up much from Senior.”
That stubborn little girl, Xiaohongmao, had improved so much in one month that she was about to break through into C-rank Magical Girl territory.
As Sirius, a normal person, it was okay if Xiaoxi progressed a bit slower.
Muxingge nodded. “Alright then. Don’t be too discouraged. It’s not necessarily a good thing if your fighting style resembles A Xing’s too closely. That wouldn’t help your own development.”
Every Magical Girl was a unique individual. Although at the D-rank stage differences were minor, once they reached C-rank, each Magical Girl would gradually awaken her own unique special abilities and weapons.
A Magical Girl’s power is an inward expression of her heart. Since the Weapon of Awakening is different for each Magical Girl, blindly imitating others’ fighting styles was pointless, even if it was Eternal Star, the Strongest Magical Girl.
That was also why the Association classified Magical Girls into several different attributes based on their abilities.
“That bastard Ali dared to expose my secrets in front of my teammate,” Muxingge gritted her teeth. “Next time I catch her, she’s dead meat!”
Muxingge, of course, didn’t notice Xiaoxi behind her massaging her shoulders, looking guilty… Let’s just say the reasons for not letting Muxingge discover her true identity just added another one.
Just then, the dishes were served. Muxingge waved for Xiaoxi to stop massaging. Xiaoxi thought the “torture” was finally over and plopped down into her seat.
“Who told you to sit across from me? Come sit next to me!” Muxingge pointed at the knife and fork on the table. “Do I have to tell you every little thing? Can’t you be more self-aware?”
Well, it seemed the torment wasn’t over yet. Faced with this pure troublemaking, Xiaoxi accepted it without complaint, sitting down beside Muxingge and feeding her a French fry with her fork.