Even if you're a corrupted magical girl, you still have to try to redeem yourself.

Upon hearing this news, Hong Moli was finally able to put her mind at ease for the time being.

But if that's the case, then what exactly is the purpose of these two people going to such lengths to bring themselves together with Bai Gui Qian You?

Just thinking about the possibility that they might have ulterior motives made Hong Moli uneasy; she always tended to imagine the worst in such unknown situations.

Everyone present, except for Hyakki Chiyu who was still eating cake, knew that opposing magical girls were gathered together? How could that be? This setup couldn't possibly be a simple tea party.

How long will this seemingly calm tea party last before I finally see the turbulent undercurrents?

Time ticked by, the only sound the clinking of Hyakki Chiyuu's fork as it cut the cake.

For Hong Moli, this was a torment.

"Inuyama Tomoe, what is your purpose?" As time went on, Koumori's expression did not soften but became more wary.

"Don't look at me like that." Baqi rested her arm on the table, supporting her sphenoid bone with her clenched fist, and sighed almost imperceptibly.

“I heard that you are highly regarded by the student council president at St. Yonyou Academy and are often entrusted with important tasks by the current student council president. People are saying that you are very likely to be the next student council president.”

“The students at St. Yonyou Academy are very particular about etiquette. Everyone is a well-mannered and good girl who addresses each other as sisters. But you have no respect for me at all. You call me by my first name. You misunderstood my intention in inviting my long-lost sister to dinner. You are not even willing to call me 'Big Sister'.”

I've never seen Baqijiecheng like this before. She's too serious, with a slow and deliberate manner that's different from what I know.

This was something Baqi Hongmoli had never seen before; she was too direct and lacked the elegance that Saint Yuhyu Academy should have. While she was polite, she also harbored a strong sense of aggression.

But Baqi is right. Logically and emotionally, Inuyama Baqi was a senior she should respect. Even when she was on Yuuki Emi's side, she never showed her fangs to her or Hyakki Chiyu. Even if it was just an act for them, she should indeed call her "older sister".

"Big sister..." Hong Moli said with some difficulty. She didn't know why Baqi would say such a thing, or what else awaited her after this.

“No, there’s no need to force yourself.” Baqi raised the hand that was supporting her head, interrupting Hong Moli’s speech: “Since you don’t want to talk about these things, then let’s talk about what Hyakki wants to talk about. Hyakki, aren’t you curious? Who is this girl who came with Hong? And why is she appearing with Hong?”

The crisp sound of a metal fork hitting a plate rang out, and Hyakki Chiyu stopped eating. She placed the fork horizontally on the plate in front of her, took her arms off the table, and obediently folded them in front of her, her sparkling eyes full of questions.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, should I say this beforehand? I'm a magical girl, just like you, a corrupted magical girl." Baqi hooked her finger around her mouth, sticking out her little tongue to show the two opposite her her black magic markings. After licking her lips, she closed her mouth and continued, "Yuki Yuki is the same, a corrupted magical girl."

Something suddenly appeared in Bai Gui Qian You's eyes, as if he had realized something, but he remained silent.

Hyakki Senyou probably didn't know that Baqi was a magical girl, otherwise she wouldn't have been invited out by Baqi so easily.

After observing Hyakki Senyu's reaction, Inuyama Tomoe and Yuuki Yuuki secretly exchanged a glance, further confirming their idea.

“You should have seen Yui that night at the Moon Sea Tower. It was at the top of the tower. Something happened, and Yui had no choice but to do that in front of the magical girl.” Inuyama Tomoe said slowly to Hyakki Chiyu. “We also met that night. The situation was also special. You blocked my way, so a small conflict occurred.”

"I remember, elder sister," Hyakki Chiyu nodded after a moment's thought.

“Even if we’ve had conflicts, they haven’t caused any real impact. We’re all fallen magical girls, so there’s no real conflict between us. There’s no need to fight to the death like we do with other magical girls, right?” Baki continued, extending her friendliness to the two people sitting opposite her without any hesitation.

Hyakki Senyu nodded slightly, agreeing with Inuyama Tomoe's statement.

“Hong knows about this too.” Ba Qi dropped a bombshell: “Hong knows everything about my identity and Xiao Yuan’s identity.”

Hong Moli's pupils suddenly shrank.

Now, the fact that he had hidden information from Qianyou could no longer be kept secret.

"Oh right, I haven't mentioned why Hong and Xiaoyuan came here together, have I?"

The statement that revealed that Hong had been hiding something from Hyakki Senyu was just the prelude; Inuyama Tomoe's words would not stop just because she had thrown out such information.

"Hong is hunting down Xiaoyuan. She said that if Xiaoyuan doesn't obediently let Hong deal with her, Hong will take action against her family and friends." Inuyama Baqi's tone was as if she were narrating an ordinary matter, but her words were enough to stir up a storm on a calm surface.

"I just don't know if the family and friends Hong mentioned include me."

Even Yuuki Yuki, who was sitting next to her, widened her eyes and turned to look at Inuyama Tomoe, who had casually torn the pretense of peace to shreds. With the most ordinary words, she turned this supposedly peaceful chat into a highly charged situation.

So direct! This is the Baqi I know!

"red?"

Bai Guiqianyou neither doubted nor believed, and immediately turned to Hong Moli to confirm Ba Qi's statement.

Hong Moli remained silent, unable to utter any words of rebuttal. What Inuyama Tomoe said was indeed not what Hong Moli wanted to hear, nor was it what Hong Moli wanted Hyakki Senyou to know, but every word was true.

If you try to cover it up with lies, you'll be exposed in an instant; if you interrupt with anger, you'll be suspected in an instant; if you respond with silence, you'll be seen as admitting it.

Hong Moli couldn't answer Bai Gui Qian You's questions.

And his initial question to Chiyu, "Did Baqi do anything to you?", was practically a complete admission of Inuyama Baqi's statement.

"What just happened? Yuuki, would you like to explain it to the Hyakki?" Baqi didn't maintain her dominant control of the conversation and instead passed the question to Yuuki.

"Hey, don't make it sound like you're interrogating me."

Yuki En naturally couldn't be as aggressive as Baqi. If they pushed Hong Moli to her limit and she wanted to fight back, that would be something Yuki En didn't want to see.

In Yuuki Eri's hometown, there is a saying about this situation: "One plays the good cop, and the other plays the bad cop." Similar negotiation tactics of "good cop, bad cop" are also used when interrogating criminals in foreign countries.

Baqi played the direct role, so I reluctantly played the gentle and kind role. This tacit understanding could be achieved even without verbal communication.

Even gentle and kind characters can be aggressive; a touch of cunning is part of their style.

"Wouldn't it be biased for me to say this? Wouldn't it be better to let Hong explain it herself?" Yuuki Yukino revealed the most composed demeanor she had ever shown in front of outsiders, her eyes glancing at Hong Mali's face out of the corner of her eye.

It wasn't just Yuuki Yukino who was stealing glances at Koumori; the focus of everyone's attention shifted from Yuuki Yukino to Koumori.

Hong Mali felt like she had been led by the nose the whole time, ever since Inuyama Tomoe invited Hyakki Chiyuu. Every step she took was within the other party's expectations, and in the end, she was placed in front of Hyakki Chiyuu, who exposed all the lies she had told in the past and publicly executed her.

The reconciliation argument and their attitude were all perfectly justified and irrefutable. Regardless of whether it was just a performance for Qianyou, Hong Moli would be placed in the position of the villain.

Resistance, silence, ambiguity, concealment... Any non-cooperative action Hong Moli takes will only make her evil more pure.

Are corrupted magical girls born evil? Perhaps so, but Koumori doesn't want to be!

She had been ordered by the chairman to commit many evil deeds in the past, and these evil deeds were undeniable.

Because she was unwilling or failed to do what she was told, Hong Moli was also punished quite a bit.

She wasn't punished for doing evil, but for not doing evil. This twisted version of herself was too filthy; she didn't want Bai Gui Qianyou to know she had become so vile.

While Koumori was also struggling with how to deal with the trap set by Yuuki Yukino, an unexpected person spoke up—

Are you bullying Mori?

Bai Gui Qian You spoke in a calm tone.

“If you bully Mari, no matter the reason, you will all be my enemies.”

Chapter Forty-Six: Soul Torture

If we were to divide magical girls into a nine-square grid of factions, then the saintly Yuuki Yuuki in the game would definitely be Lawful Good.

Mizuno Yu is a neutral and kind person who does things her own way and doesn't care about other people's opinions; Helica, a magical girl who will do anything to achieve her goals, is undoubtedly chaotic and kind, even though she doesn't do evil, her actions are unacceptable to many people.

Even the final boss in the game, the student council president of St. Yuu Academy, can only be classified as lawful evil by Yuuki Yuuki, because the student council president's actions are all within a framework called the system.

But each ghost is different from the last.

Let's start with the conclusion: Yuuki Eri determined that Hyakki Senyū's alignment was Neutral Evil, a Neutral Evil that is even less constrained than Lawful Evil.

Hyakki Senyou's actions are not confined to the framework of good and evil as commonly understood; she acts entirely according to her own preferences and within the rules she sets for herself.

If someone makes a deal with her, she doesn't mind helping that person do evil; but if a righteous person or a system stands in her way, she will not hesitate to break down everything that is in her way.

That is why Bai Gui Qian You can say such things so casually and without any psychological burden.

“If you bully Mori, then you are my enemies.”

Hyakki Chiyu's words simultaneously heightened the vigilance of Inuyama Tomoe and Yuuki Yuuki. They judged Hyakki Chiyu to be ordinary, that is, a cunning and shrewd enemy who kept his true intentions hidden. They hoped to make Hyakki Chiyu realize something by slightly pressuring Koumori.

But why does this development seem to be different from what was expected?

A shrewd person wouldn't say something like that, would they?

Or is Hong Moli so important that she makes Bai Gui Qian You abandon all pretenses and reveal her true colors?

Then, Hyakki Senyou spoke again.

"So you're going to keep bullying Mori?"

Hyakki Senyou calmly recounted the rules she had set herself, issuing a threat without hostility.

Based on Yuuki En's assessment of Hyakki Senyu's current state, if she continued to pressure Koumori in this way, she would definitely be attacked by Hyakki Senyu, and the negotiation would be impossible to continue. On the contrary, as long as she did not cross that bottom line, there would be no danger.

Now both sides are sitting at the negotiating table. Although it's a table with cake in front of them, once they're seated, it's no longer a simple question of whether they'll be attacked. If they don't actually solve the problem, they'll just be wasting such a good opportunity.

Yuki En was well aware that she couldn't show weakness at this time. The premise for solving the problem was equal dialogue. Once she was overwhelmed in terms of momentum, the premise of equality would no longer exist.

As the party that initiated this dialogue, we cannot afford to appear weak.

"Did we bully her? It was Xiaoyuan who was in danger."

While Yuuki Yukino was struggling with her decision, Inuyama Tomoe, on the other hand, faced Hyakki Senyu head-on without any fear, showing absolutely no intention of backing down.

Baqi plays the villain, and arguing logically isn't necessarily wrong. The rest can be supplemented by Yuki Emi, who plays the good-natured guy.

"After being chased and threatened by Kurenai so many times, and almost losing just now, it's impossible for me not to mind," Yuuki Yukino said, cupping her cheeks and trying to sound relaxed. "But I hope we can resolve this more peacefully. How can Hyakki-kun think we're bullying Kurenai?"

It's quite amusing that a fallen magical girl would willingly adopt this saintly posture.

In this way, Yuuki Eri can occupy the moral high ground, which, in layman's terms, is moral blackmail.

“You made Mori look so conflicted, that’s bullying Mori.” Hyakki Chiyuu wasn’t buying it at all.

Very well, Bai Gui Qian You has no morals to bind himself.

Regardless of stance or morality, Hyakki Senyou decided to become his enemy simply because he had offended Komamori.

This is Bai Gui Qian You, a little villain whose true nature is unknown. Whether he was influenced by the Black Demon Mark or is simply a villain by nature.

Moreover, Yuuki Emi is certain that Hyakki Senyou has no cunning at all; she's simply a clueless idiot who doesn't think about anything.

Calling him stupid is a bit of a misnomer; calling him naturally naive is a better word.

No wonder the Hundred Ghosts and Thousand Ghosts in the game always gave off a strange feeling; was it just that they were a bit dull?!

I have to say, Hyakki Senyou is quite a troublesome kid.

However, the entry point to break through the two opponents was not exactly the Hundred Ghosts and Thousand Ghosts.

Even if Bai Gui Qian You failed to notice, the subsequent steps remained unchanged.

"Alright, we're not here to argue. If Hyakki-san is curious about these things, she can just ask Kurenai-san when we get back." Yuuki Yukina clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

I was just thinking I couldn't show weakness, so why have I changed my mind now?

Well, of course, times have changed. My act of showing weakness is actually a covert attack on Hong Moli.

Between the two, the one who is relatively easier to win over is Hong Moli.