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

Another long silence followed.

"Perhaps...you're right."

As Yuuki Yukino began to soften her stance, Baqi's attitude also became less forceful. She sighed softly, "It's not a good day to continue. Let's go."

"Are you just going to leave like that?" Yuuki Yuen was unwilling and wanted to take a few more steps toward the girl, but Baqi grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Let's go."

Baqi pulled Yuuki Yukino a little further out, dragging her arm towards the door, and said in an irrefutable tone, "If you hadn't done so many stupid things in your haste to defeat Kuroba Reisei, would we have just left without doing anything? Let's go!"

Yuuki Yuki was completely speechless.

"And your hair."

Baqi took the wig that Yuki had taken off from the ground and put it on Yuki's head, then led the half-willing Yuki out the door.

"Oh, right." After pushing Yuuki halfway toward the door, Baqi turned back to face the girl lying on the bed.

"I'm so sorry for troubling you today." Baqi lowered her head apologetically towards the bed. "If you'd like to talk to us, you're welcome anytime. If not, we won't bother you any further."

Yuuki silently adjusted the wig that Baqi had forcibly put on her, using the black part to cover as much of her long pink hair as possible. She pushed open the ward door with a heavy thud and walked out.

Baqi followed behind Yuki Yuki, and when she had walked halfway out, the girl on the bed made some noises.

It was the sound of the body rubbing against the fabric as you got out of bed, and the brief creak of the heavy metal bed frame as the pressure eased.

Hearing the girl's unusual movement, the two who were about to leave stopped and stood at the door, their eyes fixed on the girl.

Amidst their astonished gazes, the girl walked to the door, pressed down on Yuuki Yu's hand holding the doorknob, and slowly closed the door, then led Yuuki Yu back into the room.

"I will tell you."

For the first time, Yuuki Yui heard a sound other than a painful groan from a girl's mouth.

The girl's voice was a little hoarse and dry, but her words were incredibly clear, and Yuuki Yuen could hear every single one.

"You said you wanted to defeat Kuroba Reincarnation, right..."

"I will tell you everything I know."

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Mixed Fish Sauce

"Wow! Today went so smoothly! How was it, Xiaoyuan? How was my acting? Wasn't it great?"

After walking a short distance from the ward, Baqi raised her elbow and nudged Yuki Emi's side, then walked briskly toward the elevator with a face full of excitement.

Yuuki Yuki, walking side by side with Inuyama Tomoe, kept her eyes fixed ahead, moving her lips slightly as if nothing was happening, her expression as calm as ever.

"Shh, there should be hospital security cameras around here. Let's talk about this when we're a bit further away."

After the girl stopped Yuuki Yui, she changed her previous feigned dead attitude and answered the questions posed by Yuuki Yui and Baqi very cooperatively.

The girl answered every question the two women asked with remarkable fluency.

By piecing together the girl's words, a logically consistent story can be created.

There's no need to go into detail about how the girl became a magical girl or how she fell into darkness; Yuuki Yukino isn't curious about such things.

The girl then recounted how she met Kuroba Reisei, was captivated by his powerful abilities, and was recruited to become his partner, or more accurately, his subordinate.

Upon hearing this, Yuuki Yukino immediately guessed the other person's identity. This girl had appeared in the game before, but she was a super minor character who would not be remembered even if she had.

When you first meet Helica, she is arguing with her band members. These band members actually have their own names and appearances, but in the game they are just insignificant characters named Band Members A, B, C, and D, sharing the same character portrait.

The same applies to this girl. Her real name is an unremarkable name like Tanaka Tae, but in the game, her name is even more unremarkable, "Dark Magical Girl A." Her image is a black silhouette without any character illustration, making her even more pitiful than Band Member A, who uses a generic high school girl character illustration.

In the game, these lowly corrupted magical girls don't even know how to use normal True Name Release; they only emit black rays from their palms during battle.

Because these minor characters had such a low profile, Yuuki Yuuki barely paid any attention to them after her transmigration. She only remembered the villains with names and identities, and these minor characters were simply not within her comprehension, so they were automatically filtered out and ignored.

Yuuki Yukino didn't suspect anything when Koumori mentioned that no one had joined Kuroba Reisen's organization.

However, this also provided some clues for Yuuki Yui. Before Kuroba Kisame recruited Koumori and Hyakki Senyu, she already had several corrupted magical girls who were like subordinates. This was something that Koumori and the others did not know, which also shows that Kuroba Kisame never trusted Koumori and the others from the beginning and had some reservations about them.

If that's the case, then it's not a problem that Kuroba Reisei concealed from Koumori and the others that Vice President Seishion was a corrupted magical girl.

Then, when Yuuki asked Tanaka Tae why—well, it's better to just call her "Mixed Fish Sauce"—and when Yuuki asked why Mixed Fish Sauce kept pretending to be stupid, Mixed Fish Sauce's explanation was as follows:

"Because Lady Reise once fought a very powerful magical girl. At that time, everyone else who was caught up in the battle, except for Lady Reise and that powerful magical girl, was beaten so badly that they could not get up again. I turned around and ran away because I was scared."

"Does 'everyone' refer to all the corrupted magical girls?" Yuuki asked.

“Yes, after that battle, Lord Lai Shi’s entire army was wiped out,” Zayu Sauce replied.

Is it because the entire army was wiped out that they need to frantically expand their strength, and even ask Hong Moli for help?

This explanation also aligns with what Koumori said about Kuroba's personality changing drastically in his reincarnation one day.

The reason why Hong Moli and Bai Gui Qianyou were not placed on the same level as the miscellaneous fish is probably because they are students of St. Yuu Academy, or because their combat strength is stronger than that of the miscellaneous fish.

Is it possible that Kuroba only allowed Koumori to join him after losing all his subordinates in the afterlife?

"And then what?"

"Afterwards, because of my desertion, the furious Lady Lai Shi wanted to put me on trial in her rage. But because she was too angry, she just punished me haphazardly. Seeing that I was too weak to resist, she left. So I was fortunate enough to still retain some of my sanity. I could only pretend to be unable to get up again, so that I could deceive Lady Lai Shi's eyes and make her think that I had been completely defeated."

It's reasonable, convincing, and perfectly in line with Yuuki Yuki's prejudice against Kuroba Ryouse, that arrogant guy.

"Do you know who the magical girl who fought against Kuroba Reisei was? Any information about her will do."

When Yuuki asked her that question, the girl shook her head frantically, saying that she ran away immediately because she was too afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

That concludes the conversation. Overall, it seems fine. A timid magical girl is retaliated against by an arrogant and petty villain for deserting her post. She hides in a hospital pretending to be mentally unstable. Apart from some minor inconsistencies, there's really nothing logically wrong with it.

To protect patient privacy, hospitals typically do not install cameras in ordinary inpatient wards. Some stories that happen in the wards, stories about human nature that are not so easy to make public, are hidden in corners that no one wants to talk about.

That's why Yuuki Yuuki dared to release a large swarm of tentacles to threaten the minor girl in the ward, even though those threats were just a performance to put on a show with Baqi.

In the morning, Yuuki Yukino took the girl back, so it was the best choice for her to play the villain now. It was the complete opposite of when she dealt with Koumori. Although the process was a bit bumpy, the scene was successfully completed.

Unfortunately, no cameras were able to capture their brilliant performance, and these conversations could only be remembered in their minds.

But once outside the ward, they would be within the range of surveillance cameras. Under these circumstances, Yuuki was worried that her careless words might leave a record, which is why she didn't discuss it further with Baqi.

Walking through the inpatient ward, the oppressive low ceiling, the pure white walls, and the long corridor filled with the smell of disinfectant were still there.

They were still walking side by side, just like when they arrived.

The two silently stepped into the elevator, pressed the button, and the elevator arrived at the first floor amidst mechanical noise and irregular shaking.

After finally getting out of the inpatient building, we walked through the garden to the hospital entrance.

"Xiaoyuan, today went so smoothly, how could it be so smooth?"

Baqi couldn't contain her joy and wanted to share it with Yuki Yuki. She put on a little act and successfully got the information they wanted. It was a great success.

"Yes, it went so smoothly."

Yuuki Yuki's voice didn't sound that excited.

Why do you seem a little unhappy?

"Because things might not go so smoothly from now on."

As Yuuki Yukina spoke, she raised her finger and pointed to the blue-haired girl who was standing in the middle of the garden, surrounded by snowflakes.

Chapter Seventy: I Saw a Rainbow

The blue-haired girl, standing alone in the middle of the garden, had already completed her transformation. She held tightly the ice crystal longbow that belonged only to her, and several ice crystal arrows that shimmered with a ghostly blue light under the moonlight rested on her naturally hanging hand.

It was Mizuno Yu, and she had been waiting here for a long time.

Upon seeing the two people emerge from the building, Mizuno Yu raised her longbow vertically, just as she had done during her archery practice. The difference was that the arrow she nocked now sent chills down one's spine—both in terms of the feeling in one's heart and the temperature felt on one's body.

"I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Mizuno Yu was hospitalized in this hospital for a stomach ailment. The straight-line distance between the two wards was only a few dozen or a hundred meters. It would be strange if Mizuno Yu didn't notice the two magical girls walking around in the hospital.

Her appearance was expected; if all else fails, let's have a fight.

"What exactly are you here for?" Mizuno Yuu aimed her arrow at the two men. Yuuki Yuu had no doubt that if she made the slightest move, Mizuno Yuu's arrow would be delivered to her in a faster speed than she could make.

Since Mizuno Yu asked that question, was she trying to communicate with me?

There was nothing for Mizuno Yu to say. There was no conflict between them at all. If they were to be connected, it would just be a karmic entanglement stemming from a few encounters.

While Yuuki Yui was still pondering Mizuno Yui's thoughts, Mizuno Yui began asking and answering her own questions.

"No, whatever your purpose is, I will stop you here, and then defeat you... no, I will give you the punishment you deserve!"

"Did she just say she was defeated?" Baqi raised her eyebrows, looked at Mizuno Yu's serious expression, and turned to ask Yuuki Yuuki.

"He didn't say!"

Yuuki Yui, who knew Mizuno Yui's personality, didn't react so dramatically and answered with certainty, "I don't think I misheard, she said it."

"I didn't say that!"

Baqi turned her gaze to Mizuno Yu, looking the magical girl who was drawing her bow and nocking an arrow up and down: "Why does this girl think about defeat all the time? Doesn't she know any shame?"

"I already said I didn't say that!"

Mizuno Yu released the hand that had rested on the bowstring, and the ice arrow she shot went straight for Baqi's shoulder.

This arrow was significantly slower than the slash of the Hundred Ghosts and Thousand Netherworlds.

In the past, Baqi could fight Mizuno Yu to a standstill. Now, with her magic and skills greatly improved through special training, blocking a mere arrow is no problem at all.

As the ice arrow reached Inuyama Tomoe, Tomoe swung her arm, and a chain shot out from the sleeve of her white coat collided with the ice arrow, causing a small explosion that blasted the ice arrow away without a trace.

Logically speaking, this arrow should have been the signal to start a war, and the group should have engaged in a duel.

Tomoe, who blocked the attack, Mizuno, who launched the attack, and Yuuki, who was standing to the side, did not make any further moves.

Yuuki Yu and Tomoe weren't originally there to fight. Yuuki Yu had already told everyone that Mizuno Yu had a stomach ailment when she said today's special training would be postponed by half a day. Tomoe had no grudge against Mizuno Yu and didn't intend to make Mizuno Yu unable to fight back. Defeating this defeatist Mizuno Yu wouldn't give her any sense of accomplishment.

Mizuno Yu felt a churning in her stomach, as if something was about to rise up.

Mizuno Yu's strength is definitely not limited to this, but she is currently unable to unleash her full potential.

So it was blocked after all. Mizuno Yu thought to herself, if she hadn't been constantly tormented by her stomach problems, she wouldn't have been able to do this much.

This is also a trial! You must endure physical pain and engage in fierce battles with your enemies to hone your skills in real combat and become stronger.

When she unexpectedly encounters that seemingly powerful woman and engages in a binge-eating contest with her, Mizuno Yu thinks this is just another episode proving her weakness.

But that's not all. When Mizuno Yu was taken to the hospital while coughing up rainbows at home, she realized that this was a trial given to her by God!