Something's off about this magical girl.

"Alright, I've seriously admitted my mistake. Anyway, let's get down to business and talk about the Seven Star Magical Girls!"

In the psychological counseling room.

Tao Zhuo's face had been stretched half a circle wider by Gu Bai's "iron clamp attack" because of her previous teasing, and now she was completely obedient.

He rubbed his bruised cheeks and glanced at Dongchun, hoping she would stand up for him.

Unfortunately, Dongchun didn't even lift her eyelids. Her red eyes were quietly fixed on the herbal medicine book in her hand, completely ignoring her tragic plight.

Oh dear, Winter is still so cold today!

"Winter~"

"Know...."

Upon hearing this, Dongchun picked up her teacup, moistened her lips with warm water, and then recounted the rest:

"That guy said it was a meeting about Zhenyue's advancement to the seventh star, but this isn't the first time she's refused."

What do you know?!

Tao Zhu shook her head angrily, but her attention had already been drawn away by the topic.

She tilted her index finger to the side, then spoke in a voice as crooked as her posture: "As expected, staying at Six Stars was Senior Zhenyue's own decision."

"So now you're not saying Qi Xin set this up?"

Gu Bai's first thought was the candlestick charts in the various sections of the Qi Xin APP.

"The trajectory of Zhenyue Coin has always been shrouded in mystery. Despite being a potential star performer, its price has been suppressed, remaining stuck in a rut. So, who benefits, and who loses? Who would have thought that the truth behind it is so thought-provoking! Click to follow Xiaotao, and we'll reveal the secret in the next episode—"

Tao Zhuo, possessed by a dramatic flair, used the skills of certain online marketing accounts on herself.

Then, he raised his hands high and switched to the "Entering the K-line" channel in a resolute tone.

"But definitely not. Seven stars is a necessary requirement for entering the main seat of the Falling Flower Ceremony. Vice Zhang is retired, while Senior Zhenyue is seen by outsiders as someone destined to reach seven stars, which is why there is no objection. After all, she was also Qi Xin's 'promoter' in the previous version!"

"Main recommendation?"

Gu Bai had seen similar terms on the Qixin Forum before, which roughly meant a key figure?

"The idea is to create a distinctive magical girl image to enhance public memory of Inori."

Tao Zhuo lifted the stool with her foot while leisurely swinging her legs:

"So 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter' is the main theme for this issue of Qi Xin. As for Senior Zhen Yue, I think it's called 'Sun, Moon, and Stars'?"

Gu Bai silently repeated those three words.

He seemed to have rarely heard of this name outside, and frowned slightly as he said:

"What about the other two?"

"Oh dear, this..." Tao Zhuo's tone lowered slightly: "When Senior Xing died in battle, she was still a quasi-magical girl."

Gu Bai fell silent; he now understood what the word "quasi" meant.

It seems that the 'star' hadn't even had a chance to shine before it fell from the gleaming banner of Qixin.

"After that battle, 'Ri' chose to drop out of Qixin School and faded from the public eye," Fuyutsubaki added, closing the book.

"Could there have been similar anomalies in the past?"

Gu Bai's first thought was that the beast was too strong, but Tao Zhuo, who seemed to be shaking her head, could not verify his guess.

"I don't quite understand. It's strange, because Xing's cause of death was a knife wound, but no further details were released. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Senior Zhenyue didn't want to advance to level seven."

Knife wound?

Gu Bai weighed those two words in his mind.

The beast used claws, bone spikes, or even more direct violence, so it's unlikely to be the work of a beast. The witch usually uses magic, so that's probably not very likely either.

That leaves only one possibility: a weirdo?

Could it be related to the current situation? No, the time interval is too long; it's not realistic.

Gu Bai gently suppressed these thoughts.

Many things cannot be rushed, and besides, this is not the most important thread in the story right now.

Witch...

In fact, Gu Bai also agreed with Tao Zhuo's deduction yesterday.

What he didn't tell Tao Zhuo was that once Qi Xin Academy determined which witch was responsible, it would be time for Gu Bai to leave.

The mundane routine is not eternal; after a rest, we will set off again.

drip-

Is it another disaster-stricken area?

Tao Zhuo's face was dark, but her expression relaxed as she turned on her phone because she found it was a different kind of notification message.

She turned up the screen brightness a bit, and it displayed an internal push notification from the Qixin School Affairs System. The text wasn't long, but the color scheme exuded the rigidity characteristic of official documents:

"Ah, I have a new event planned for Saturday... visiting a retired magical girl?"

"Oh, it'll be rotated once a month. Remember to take a picture and send it to the head of the publicity department," Dongchun reminded her, clearly already having experience with this.

"Isn't Dong-mei coming?" Tao-zhuo instantly moved in front of Dong-chun, her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm socially awkward, I can't do without you!"

"No, we need to prepare new medicine tomorrow."

That was the end of the rejection. Dongchun glanced at Gu Bai out of the corner of her eye. She still remembered the joking hint that Youbi had given her last night.

However, her feelings for Gu Bai actually stemmed more from her own heart.

Even before she used acceleration magic to test him, she had a feeling from their first meeting.

Gu Bai must be the key to immortality...

Meanwhile, Tao Zhuo was blinking rapidly, clearly ignoring Dong Chun's rejection:

"Ahhh, if Dong-meimei hadn't taken me, I would have had to go with Teacher Gu Bai. In dating games, a man and a woman traveling together are usually called a date. If Teacher Gu Bai has mastered the save/load technique, it's extremely easy to get to a special CG scene featuring me—"

"I'll go." Dongchun gave up. If she didn't agree, she felt that Taozhu would keep nagging all day.

Yes, this move was clearly exceptionally lethal, but the backlash was also obvious. Gu Bai had already walked over to Tao Zhuo's side:

"That's well said, but what if I had access to violence?"

"Um, teacher, I generally don't like tasting things with strong * labels..."

Before she could finish speaking, Tao Zhuo's little face was pinched and flung away by Gu Bai's two hands.

A moment later, Tao Zhuo, whose face had become noticeably larger, retreated to Dong Chun's side and muttered:

"Tsk, if you want to go, just go. Why do you have to force me to invite you..."

Seeing Gu Bai looking at her again, Tao Zhuo instantly resumed her proper cross-legged posture, and her tone lost some of its usual playful smile: "Anyway, if Teacher wants to come along, then you'd better be mentally prepared."

"After all, I believe those retired magical girl predecessors are now living a carefree, leisurely life, which might be a little different from the magical girl you envision!"

"No, who said I wanted to go?"

Gu Bai was speechless. Was this self-absorbed magical girl in front of him really a real person?

but--

The retired life of a magical girl? It would be a lie to say I'm completely uninterested; maybe I'll end up living a similar life to "her" in the future.