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

She couldn't glean any emotion from Mizuno Yu's tone, nor could she know if the other person had any doubts about her.

Mizuno Yu was almost right next to him, and the heat emanating from her body could be felt by Yuuki Yu's skin; Helica and Hayashi Mustard were standing there, and Yuuki Yu could also feel their gazes, but neither of them had any intention of getting any closer.

It's like driving yourself into a dead end.

Was I making a mountain out of a molehill, or was it premeditated?

Regardless of the reason, if I hesitate even slightly now, the problem will definitely be discovered, just like when I was tied up when I first met Mizuno Yu.

Even if you try to cover it up, it will still cause problems, right?

We can only believe that the cognitive barriers created by the magical girl's transformation are strong enough to bypass Mizuno Yu's doubts.

"Of course there are things about me that I don't want others to see."

With a gentle smile, Yuuki Yukino took a half step back and placed her hand on her chest, seemingly without hesitation.

"Even if Mizuno-san said that, we're all girls. Breasts, thighs, and some more private parts... there are things on a girl's body that she doesn't want others to see, even among girls, she'll feel shy."

“Yuki-kun is quite conservative,” Mizuno Yu said, only that one sentence.

Yuuki Yu still couldn't understand the meaning behind Mizuno Yu's words, but she probably managed to gloss over it.

Even when everything appears to be normal, Yuuki Yukino must still express her thoughts in a nonchalant manner:

"Being treated like a dress-up doll by Tianlei would definitely be very troublesome for me. Choosing a yukata would be more enjoyable, right? Lin looked so pitiful last time."

Have I said too much, making it seem like I'm trying to cover something up? But let's leave it at that.

She had expressed everything she needed to say. Even if Mizuno Yu noticed something unusual, she shouldn't immediately suspect anything related to the corrupted magical girl.

At least Mizuno Yu did not make any further response.

Just as Lin Jiezi finished her casual chat with Mizuno Yu, Helica seized the opportunity and strode over, leaving Lin Jiezi standing there.

"Hey! You two! How long are you going to keep talking? What happened?"

Before Yuuki could say anything, Mizuno Yu answered the question for her: "Yuuki-san said she would be shy if she changed clothes."

"What's there to be shy about? Aren't we all girls?" Helica didn't accept this statement at all. She stepped forward, grabbed Yuuki Yuuki's hand, and dragged her into the mall.

Yuuki Yuuki truly couldn't fathom how Helica, with her small frame, possessed such immense strength. Yuuki couldn't even budge Helica with her bare hands, and Helica dragged her along, the soles of her shoes scraping against the floor tiles with a series of screeching sounds.

Yuuki tried her best to maintain a calm smile in front of Helica, but the bulging veins on her forehead proved that she was anything but calm at the moment.

"Tianlei, how about we split up and take a look first?"

"No! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, everyone in Nijisanji has to participate. I'll definitely choose the most suitable outfit for you!" Helica's grip on Yuuki Yuuki didn't lessen at all. "If you're shy, I'll help you take it off! I'll help you get dressed too! Don't worry!"

"This is probably what I'm most worried about!"

Unable to resist Helica's insistence, Yuuki was eventually dragged into the mall.

Actually, she was only being dragged along for the first part of the journey. After that, Yuuki followed along on her own and secretly sent another message to Baqi on her phone, urging her to hurry over and save her from her predicament.

Judging from the attributes, it should be a mine? No, this isn't a fleet game. Mines and water? Wait, what am I thinking?!

The major problem of Kuroba's reincarnation potentially disrupting the festival remains unresolved, and there's also the potential trouble of some Black Demon Marks being exposed. Just staying here is enough to make Yuuki Yui feel incredibly tormented.

Human joys and sorrows are not shared. In stark contrast to Yuuki Eri's melancholy, the whole street was bustling with activity. On the last weekend before summer vacation, many children would go out to play with their parents, and there were also groups of JK girls like Yuuki Eri and her light and agile team.

The festival is still a week away from officially starting, but the lively atmosphere before the festival has already been created quite enthusiastically. Posters related to the festival are posted on the bulletin board, and a wide variety of ready-made clothing and handheld fireworks for the festival are displayed in front of each shop. There are also some fabrics with various patterns hanging on both sides of the shopping street, which are probably for people to order yukatas.

Although it's not necessary to wear a yukata at the festival, this sense of ritual is still very important.

Just like when Yuki Eri went hiking, when they reached the snow-covered mountaintop, most people took out hard, cold bread, sausages, and milk from their bags to avoid buying overpriced tourist souvenirs. At that moment, someone pulled out a large box of self-heating hot pot. Under everyone's gaze, the self-heating hot pot was steaming on the snow-covered mountaintop. That's what you call a sense of ritual.

If it weren't for those troublesome things, Yuuki En would definitely be happily choosing a yukata that suits her, but right now she's not in the mood at all, and has to spend more energy thinking about how to deal with the current situation.

Trying on a yukata is not like trying on a swimsuit, where a yukata can cover up all the areas that a swimsuit cannot.

Ideally, you should change clothes by yourself and lock the fitting room. As long as no one sees you changing, no one will notice the black magic pattern on your body.

If you think about it that way, things aren't that bad yet; it's just that Yuuki Yuki has preconceived notions.

No, things are still terrible.

Yuuki En saw it: in front of a shop in the shopping street, a girl in a work uniform was handing out flyers to passersby one by one.

There are many shops distributing flyers, and there's nothing wrong with that behavior itself. The real problem lies with this hardworking young woman.

That rebellious red dye, as if declaring herself a delinquent girl, and that toughness that couldn't be hidden even in her work uniform, made her undeniably handsome—no one but a certain hidden boss could be it.

To make matters worse, as I looked at the other person, the hidden boss in the game, Lava Lantern, was also looking in my direction. His eyes flickered, and with a stern face that made people want to stay away, he raised his hand and waved at me as if he were greeting me familiarly.

In Yuuki Yui's memory, the only time she met Laughing Mountain was on the day summer vacation started, when she took Baqi to the arcade.

Was it just that one time that made Lantern recognize her as a corrupted magical girl and remember her?

Or was it that Lava Lantern discovered him during a transformation or when he de-transformed?

The Lantern of the Lava Mountain is waving at me. Is it a provocation?

Various unpleasant thoughts raced through Yuuki Yukino's mind, like a bizarre and fantastical movie, making it impossible for her to find the real answer.

Just dealing with the reincarnation of Kuroba has already kept her incredibly busy. If she gets targeted by Lava Lantern, her magical girl career will be over, right?

Being defeated by Kuroba Reincarnation might mean being beaten to death, but Lava Lantern could literally slap himself to death!

It's really one problem after another; I haven't encountered anything good since I left home today.

Regardless, let's respond politely first.

Just as Yuuki Yui was about to raise her hand and wave to Lava Mountain Lantern, Mizuno Yu, who was walking with her, raised her hand first and waved at Lava Mountain Lantern.

Yuuki Yukino's gesture of raising her hand couldn't possibly go unnoticed by her companions. Mizuno Yu turned her head and asked...

"Yuki, do you know her too?"

"Ah, no, I just wanted to stretch." Yuuki Yuu stretched her arms higher, stiffly extending her body.

It turns out she was waving to Mizuno Yu. What a false alarm!

Wait a minute, how did Mizuno Yu and Kouyama Akari, two people who have absolutely no connection, get to know each other?

Yuuki Yuki wasn't the only one with this question; Helica also frowned slightly and looked at Mizuno Yu with a puzzled expression.

"Mizuno Yu, who is this person?"

"This is the one I mentioned to you before, the strong one who not only surpassed me twice in terms of appetite in the hot spring, but is someone I should learn from." When talking about the power of the magma lamp, Mizuno Yu seemed to become a different person, and her cold exterior turned fiery.

"Oh, so she's the one who caused you, you idiot, to get a stomachache and end up in the hospital for so many days, right?"

"That's the result of my own insufficient cultivation; it has nothing to do with her."

As they were talking, the group arrived at Rongshan Deng's side and took the food-themed flyers from his hand one by one.

While Helica was engrossed in talking about flowers with the others, she subconsciously and politely turned towards Lava Lantern when she received the flyer, nodded at her, and their eyes briefly met.

It was this brief exchange of glances that caused Helica's face to turn ashen, her lips trembling slightly as if a fire of rage had been ignited.

"Mizuno Yu, what do you mean by this?!"

The flyer handed to Herika was crumpled in her hand. Herika raised her hand, wanting to throw it to the ground, but when she swung it down, her fist clenched even tighter.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Mizuno Yu was taken aback by Helica's sudden 180-degree change and couldn't understand for a moment what had made Helica so angry.

"You idiot, can't you tell who she is?!"

Chapter 88 I have to go to work, sister.

Yuuki Yui took the flyer from Lava Mountain Lantern's hand, nodded politely to her, and walked past her.

Behind these calm actions, Yuuki Yukino's heart was in turmoil.

Unless you intentionally trigger the storyline for Lava Lantern, you won't encounter this character in the game, let alone fight her.

Yuuki knew everything about Mizuno Yu's fainting spell at the hot spring inn and her overeating at the buffet, which led to her hospitalization.

Given Mizuno Yu's personality—who seems to feel uncomfortable unless she's deliberately causing herself some trouble—Yuki Eri's foolish behavior seems perfectly normal.

So she never asked about it, or even paid attention to it, just as she didn't want to know anything about the General Yumimoto that Mizuno Yu was talking about.

After hearing Mizuno Yu's previous description, Yuuki Yu thought that Mizuno Yu had met some idiot and that the story was fabricated with some embellishment. But she never expected that the guy who had caused so much trouble with Mizuno Yu was Lava Mountain Lantern.

How does Mizuno Yu, a magical girl, get along so well with the corrupted magical girl who is her natural enemy?

As for the specific reason, I'll ask Mizuno Yu when I have the chance in the future, using my ability to see through magical girls' true forms as an excuse.

So now, let's just walk past the Lava Lantern as if nothing happened.

"Mizuno Yu! What do you mean by this?"

Herica, who was walking beside Yuuki Yuuki, suddenly roared.

She should have realized it sooner or later. The black magic runes of the Lava Mountain Lamp were right in the pupils, and since the Lava Mountain Lamp didn't bother to hide them, it was only a matter of time before Helica saw them.

Based on her previous experience in the hospital, the fact that Helica hasn't immediately transformed and attacked is already a testament to her composure.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

Mizuno Yu's reaction was very genuine, as if she really didn't know why Helica was angry.

"You idiot, can't you tell who she is?"

This was a clear indication; not only Mizuno Yu, but also Yuuki Yuki and Hayashi Keko's gazes all followed Helica's line of sight and turned towards the molten mountain lantern, as well as the black magic patterns in her pupils.

Rongshan Deng squinted, scrutinizing the reactions of the others one by one.

Helica was the one who discovered the Black Magic Mark, and from the very beginning, she kept a slight distance, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Yuuki Yukari and Hayashi Keko looked into Rokuzan Tamamo's eyes, but that was all. Tamamo couldn't see any fear or hostility on their faces. If she had to analyze it, the two of them were just nervous.

Yuuki Yui already knew that the black magic pattern of the Lava Mountain Lantern was in its pupil, so she was not surprised at all. At the same time, she was also observing the reactions of the others.

Lin Jiezi's reaction was the same as always: she was completely unremarkable, timid, and lost in thought. When Rongshan Deng looked back at her, she let out a "ee--" sound.

Of the four people, only Mizuno Yui showed the biggest difference in expression.

Yuuki had initially wondered if Mizuno Yu was simply indulging in her old habit of enjoying defeat, which was why she disregarded Lava Mountain Lantern's identity and engaged in a series of childish duels with her. However, judging from Mizuno Yu's genuine surprise, Yuuki could tell that this girl was truly unaware of the situation.

As expected of the idiot Heracles praised, she failed to see the black magic markings in his eyes twice. If Yuuki hadn't witnessed the undisguised surprise on Mizuno Yu's icy expression, she would never have believed it.

From the moment Helica stopped in her tracks to the moment Mizuno Yu recognized Lava Mountain Lantern as a corrupted magical girl, it was only a fleeting moment.

In just a few short seconds, the air became so heavy it felt like it was about to freeze.

"Boss!" Rongshan Deng turned around, opened the sliding door, and called out into the store.