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

"I'm being a bit direct, but Rose Garden isn't going to stop without you, or without you, right? You're the lead guitarist, but most people in a band are focused on the lead singer. It's not impossible to replace the guitarist."

"Oh," Yuuki Tamaki responded noncommittally, his tone sounding somewhat happy for some reason.

Once Helica shifts her thinking in this direction, she can't help but overthink things.

“My sister also specifically mentioned that the band can earn several times more money than a salesperson, and there’s also the opportunity to pursue dreams together—it’s normal for members to leave the band and for new members to join.”

As Helica pondered, she spoke her thoughts aloud, as if seeking confirmation from Tamaki Yuuki.

"But leaving the band for Yuki Yuki is the reason for my sister's departure from the band, not the reason for the disbandment of Rose Garden. Does my sister's departure really have such great power that the entire band would disband instead of recruiting new members? The core of Rose Garden should not be my sister."

"Maybe there is?" Yuki Tamaki said as gently as ever, her tone still as relaxed, but there seemed to be more laughter in her voice.

“At least I like Rose Garden. The reason I admired my sister was that we were all people who genuinely loved music. So, I don’t believe that Rose Garden would disband just because of my sister.” Helica clenched her fist in front of her lips and rubbed her fingers repeatedly.

"And more importantly, my sister might have let something slip. She said that something happened to the band. Before the band disbanded, there was no negative news. At that time, Rose Garden, which was about to officially debut, did not have a manager or strong public relations capabilities, but no negative news came out... After that, all the band members disappeared. So what exactly did my sister mean by that?"

"Did Tianlei guess all of this himself?" Yuki Tamaki asked.

“Yes.” Helica nodded.

"Tianlei is quite thoughtful." Yuki Tamaki said calmly, "Something did happen in the Rose Garden back then. I might not be able to tell you the specifics, but if Tianlei is curious, as a treat for my fans, I'll tell you."

For the rest of the journey, Herika listened to Tamaki Yuuki's story.

That was a very long story.

Yuki Tamaki left her a thread, and if Helika could hold onto that thread, she would uncover a long piece of the truth.

It seems that Tamaki Yuuki offered to take me home because he wanted to say these things to me from the beginning.

He guided himself step by step, bringing this story, which might never have been known to anyone, into his hands.

When Helica heard the whole truth, something seemed to be stuck in her throat, something she couldn't say or swallow.

Finally, Helica could only manage to speak with difficulty in her hoarse voice.

"Does Yuuki Yukino know about these things?"

"I don't know." Yuuki Tamaki remained as relaxed as ever, as if it were none of his business, after recounting so many things: "But there is one thing I want to say to Tenrai: some feelings are better left unsaid."

"Because the two of you may also encounter similar situations."

Chapter Sixty Reefs

"What what what what what what what what? What did you do? You lashed Kuroba Reisei's face with a whip?"

Upon receiving the group video call, Yuuki Enishi heard Koumori's account and was so angry that her teeth chattered. She babbled meaningless syllables for a long time, her mind going completely blank.

"That's right, she started pointing fingers at me again with that disgusting old trick. I couldn't take it anymore, so I lashed the whip across her face. Qianyou was there too, wasn't she? Qianyou?"

In the video, Hong Moli tilted her phone, and the camera shifted to Qian You, who was lying on the bed and constantly putting chocolate beans into her mouth.

Qianyou nodded toward the camera, gulped down the food in her mouth, and leaned closer to the lens: "You want to bully Moli? I won't allow it."

"Well done! Yes! That's how it should be done!" In the last of the three video frames on the phone screen, the one with Inuyama Baqi's name on it, Baqi slapped her thigh and praised loudly.

I'm sorry, I originally thought that Hong Mali was a normal person, and I was thinking of getting closer to her in the future. But now it seems that anyone who can transform into a magical girl is probably not normal.

Well, Yuuki Yukino herself isn't quite normal either.

Yesterday was a busy day. In the evening, I was first startled by Helica, who suddenly came over saying she needed to replenish her mana. Luckily, Yuuki Tamaki suddenly went home, which eased the awkward atmosphere. Later, I had an incredibly warm sisterly chat with the Yuuki sisters, who had gone home to rest, and it lasted until dawn.

The conversation that night revolved around the direct question about his relationship with Helica. After Yuuki Yuki repeatedly explained that the two of them hadn't progressed to the point of being in a relationship, he was earnestly lectured by his sister on the importance of not deceiving a girl's feelings.

No matter what, I can't tell my sister that Helica is a magical girl and that I'm replenishing her mana, right?

Because the sisters' late-night chat went on too late, Tamaki and Yuuki Yuuki slept in until noon the next day. They ordered pork cutlet rice delivered and ate lunch on the sofa while watching TV. Afterwards, Tamaki said she was going to meet up with her friends that evening and left in casual clothes with her clean clothes.

Just when Yuuki Yuki finally felt that things had come to an end and she could finally get some rest, she received this incredibly shocking news from Koumori.

"Well, what then..." Since it had already happened, blaming Hong Moli would be pointless. Yuki tried to calm herself down and see if there was any way to make amends.

“And that’s it,” Hong Moli replied.

Yuuki Yuuki felt a headache coming on: "That's it?"

On the other end of the video, Hong Moli nodded seriously: "I went back after I whipped her in the face. Oh, right, Kuroba Laisheng also threatened me a couple of times, but I didn't think it was important and I didn't bother to remember it. It was basically the same as what he said to me before."

"Then why did you only tell me now?" Yuuki Yu lowered her head, covered her face with her hands, ran her fingers through her bangs a few times, twisted her fingers together and rubbed them, pulling out a few pink hairs with great force, and deliberately controlled herself so that her sigh was not too obvious.

"I took Qianyou out to get something to eat, and we just got back," Hong Moli replied even more matter-of-factly.

"After the beef hot pot, we also had fresh fruit cake." Qianyou poked her head into the camera lens.

Before Yuuki Yukino got angry, Koumari added one more sentence:

"In that situation, seeing that guy's face and hearing those infuriating words, I couldn't control my emotions. If something had happened, like Kuroba Reisei trying to attack us, you should have been able to sense the magical fluctuations during the battle. Also, if she wanted to attack us, she would have already done so, so it's okay to tell you later."

After hearing what Koumori said, Yuuki Yuuki calmed down a little.

Hong Moli is absolutely right. If a fight breaks out, Hong Moli won't have time to tell me. Besides, everyone is an emotional being. I was embarrassed and cried for half a day in the infirmary a while ago. Now, asking Hong Moli to stay calm in the face of trouble is being lenient with myself and strict with others.

Being able to understand and being able to accept are two completely different things. Hong Moli's astonishing shove completely disrupted Yuki Yuki's subsequent plans.

"I was hoping you could continue to contact Kuroba Reisei and try to get some more information from her, but it's all over, all over." Yuuki Yuen rubbed her forehead in anguish and pulled out a few more pink hairs from her head.

"She just threw a tantrum, right? The situation might not be as bad as Xiaoyuan thinks," Baqi suddenly said.

"Huh?"

Just as Yuuki Yukino had a question, Inuyama Tomoe, as if on cue, began to explain.

"Red was tricked by that Kuroba Reisei guy, she must be really angry, right? It's understandable that she did something impulsive." Baqi sat up from the sofa, propped her phone up on the coffee table, and lazily stretched.

"Hong talked for so long, but she didn't mention any contact with us, right? She just said that she failed, and then Hei Yu Lai Shi was unhappy and wanted to punish her, so she threw the whip back and stormed off, is that right?"

"Although what you said, my sister, is full of loopholes, it's generally true." Hong Moli opened her mouth and took the chocolate bean that Bai Gui Qianyou handed her. She put it in her mouth and rolled it around twice, just like Bai Gui Qianyou did when she ate.

"Since no specific reason was mentioned, Kuroba Laisei couldn't possibly ask, 'Hey! Kurenai Marie! How did you know I lied to you?' She wouldn't ask that, right? So she probably, no, she's 99% unaware that Kurenai has already joined forces with us. That means we can just see it as Kurenai Marie throwing a tantrum because she's unhappy. It's just a tantrum. Kuroba Laisei didn't even make a move at the time. It's not impossible that she would make a move afterward, but it's extremely unlikely! Keep it simple!" Inuyama Tomoe said vividly.

"There's a long way to go between just getting angry at her and sounding the horn of rebellion against her, isn't there?" Baqi then gestured a few times: "Before Kuroba finds out that we've joined forces with Koumari, we have a long time to prepare."

Not long ago, inside the Holy Age Academy.

"You mean, Koumori has already joined forces with Yuuki Yuuki?"

Kuroba Laisei paused in his teacup, causing the nearly full cup of tea to ripple and almost spill out.

"First you told me their true identities, then you stared at me intently, as if afraid I would harm Hong Moli, and now you're coming to tell me this. Which side are you on?"

"I'm not on either side. Whatever happens to you corrupt magical girls is none of my business. The duties of magical girls are also none of my business. Even if you continue with your pointless cleanup of magical girls, it's none of my business."

The hooded girl sitting on the other side of the sofa in the student council room pulled down her mask and took a sip of the steaming black tea on the tea table.

When he heard the hooded girl mention something about cleaning up the magical girls, Kuroba Rise's hand paused again, and the tea churned even more violently.

Kuroba Laishi steadied his hand and gently placed the teacup on the table in front of him: "Just how much else do you know?"

"Almost all, I guess? I just have to tell you these things. It doesn't matter how you see it or how you plan to deal with it." The hooded girl put down her teacup, mimicking Kuroba Ryousei. "Even though it's necessary, don't overthink it. Only I know so much. If you kill me, no one will know."

"What are you trying to do by telling me all this?" Kuroba Reise's tone was thick with gunpowder, as if it were about to explode at any moment.

But she suppressed her anger, something that seemed almost impossible for her to do to others, yet she managed to do it in front of the hooded girl.

Kuroba Reincarnation couldn't defeat the guy in front of her, not because of self-awareness, but because of her own experience.

"I just want to do what I want to do, is that so hard to understand?" The hooded girl leaned back, sinking her entire back into the sofa, resting her hands on the back of the sofa, and looking up at the chandelier on the ceiling that looked expensive.

"What is your purpose?" Kuroba Rise took several deep breaths to make his tone more normal and less aggressive.

Kuroba, despite believing himself to be normal, was still filled with resentment.

"You can use your own eyes to be sure if you can still see that day." The hooded girl lowered her head, but her gaze did not fall on Kuroba Rise sitting behind the desk. Instead, it fell on the girl who had been lying lazily on the sofa opposite her without saying a word.

"Hey, why are you looking at me while you're talking to the president—" The girl lying on the sofa dragged out her words, turned over and changed to a prone position, placing her hands on the low armrests of the sofa and resting her face on the back of her hands.

"I've said what I wanted to say. How you interpret and act on it is up to you." The hooded girl's gaze lingered on the opposite sofa for a moment before she lowered her eyelids, stood up, and walked straight to the door without any hesitation.

"Oh right, you'll definitely try to find out my identity anyway, and you probably won't be able to, so there's no need to bother. If you're curious about my name... I'm Konno Makoto."

A full five minutes passed after the hooded girl disappeared through the doorway before the silence was broken by a lazy girl.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with our proud student council president today? It's unbelievable that she's so tolerant!"

"Help me look up Konno Makoto..." Kuroba Kisei completely ignored the girl's sarcastic remarks on the sofa.

"That's a pseudonym. I remember it was quite famous. It was the name of the main character in the animated film, Konno Makoto. I thought everyone had seen it when they were kids." The girl drawled out her words.

"Uh." Kuroba Laisei gave a brief "uh," picked up the teacup, and took a sip. "There's something I need to trouble you with, Saint."

"Oh—is there something that even the president needs my help with? That's quite rare. So what is it?"

"After summer vacation ends, I don't want to see Koumori at St. Yuu Academy again."

"I can't guarantee my success—"

"I believe in you because you are not only my vice president Saint, but also Saint of Saint Yuu Academy."

Chapter Sixty-One: Efforts to Become Stronger

"Release less magic! Less, do you hear me? Even if you have a lot of magic, you can't just squander it like this! There needs to be a feint attack, a fatal blow. If you distribute the same amount of magic power to each tentacle, it will be easy to defend against!"

As she gave loud commands, Hong Moli spun her body like a waltz, the chainsaws in her hands drawing streaks of crimson light in the air under her control, severing the tentacles that Yuuki Enishi was sending swooping down.

"Battles between magical girls aren't simply a contest of magical power; combat skills are also essential. Your magical power is sufficient, but your ability to control it is far from adequate!"

"Do you know how difficult it is to distribute magic power unevenly to every tentacle?!" Yuuki Yui shouted angrily, holding up the magic book. The tentacles that hadn't managed to get close to Koumori crawled back to their feet.

The only time Yuuki Eri ran out of magic power was during her actual battle with Tsukimi Rie. She herself realized that the reason she was able to last so long was because of her magical power, which she didn't know where it came from, far surpassed that of others.

In the parlance of competitive games, Yuuki Yuuki herself is a stat monster who can output impressive numbers even by mashing the keyboard, and her ability to defeat other magical girls relies not on skill but on the strength of her mecha.

"Again, try to break through my defenses using only your tentacles." Hong Moli shook off non-existent blood from the chainsaw and raised her arms again, getting into a fighting stance.

The severed tendrils were repaired by lines that floated from the pages of the grimoire in Yuuki Yuuki's hand, restoring them to their original shape before they were cut off. They twisted like venomous snakes poised to strike, aiming at Koumori.

"The attack intent is too obvious! Be like a garden eel, move gently and harmlessly! When someone wants to catch it to make eel rice, suddenly take a bite, understand?" Hong Moli raised the short saw and pointed to the tentacles that were pointing at her under Yuuki Enishi's control. Every time a tentacle launched an attack, Hong Moli would quickly cut it off. Yuuki Enishi's tentacles, which had only recently recovered, were cut to pieces again.

"Don't mention eel rice!" All the tentacles surged out at once, surrounding Hong Moli from all directions. Under Hong Moli's chainsaw cutting, they were cut into pieces like eels that were really about to be sent to the grill, collapsing and disappearing.

Not far away, Hyakki Chiyuu, who was performing a double-sword slashing technique, unleashed a horizontal slash before the bullet fired by Inuyama Tomoe exploded. The wind pressure generated when the bullet was forced to detonate blew up her kimono and long gray hair. Hyakki Chiyuu turned her head to the side to watch the battle between Koumori and Yuuki Enishi.

"What's up with her?"

"I don't know, but I think the eel rice recommended by Hyakki is alright, but Xiaoyuan doesn't seem to like it much." Baqi grabbed the chain attached to the matchlock gun in her hand and swung it at Hyakki Chiyu like a meteor hammer, causing a series of explosions before Hyakki Chiyu could block it, kicking up thick smoke and dust.

"I also think the taste is just so-so, I won't go next time." Hyakki Chiyu used the two katanas in her hands to cut through the smoke and dust, and patted the dirt splattered on her face with her sleeve.