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

The raised hand was clenched into a fist by the Lava Mountain Lamp, and the magic power floating around the hand dissipated into the air. The half-turned body turned back and left straight away.

This time, no one tried to stop the departing Lava Lantern.

Hearing such a broadcast, even if it was a fake Yuuki Yuki, she would still go and take a look, let alone since she was almost certain that it was Inuyama Tomoe who did it.

As expected, Yuuki En spotted Inuyama Tomoe standing in front of the service desk, looking around from afar.

Baqi was dressed the same as before, the only difference being that she was wearing a mask on her ear.

Upon seeing Yuuki Yuki, Inuyama Tomoe stood on tiptoe and waved vigorously in their direction, jumping a few times as if afraid Yuuki Yuki wouldn't see her. The thumping sounds attracted the attention of many people.

"Yuki~ I found you!" As Yuki and the others got a little closer, Inuyama Tomoe ran a few steps and pounced on them, hugging Yuki's neck and rubbing her cheek against Yuki's face.

The stunned Yuuki Yuki, and Inuyama Tomoe, who was clinging to her like a koala, instantly became the most eye-catching sight in the entire area.

The Rainbow Society members were also startled and took a few steps back. Lin Jiezi, who was slower to react, was pulled aside by Helica, as if to say, "Don't drag us into your stupidity."

"Excuse me, what's going on here? Your sister seems a bit old, doesn't she?" The staff member standing at the service counter asked gently with a kind smile, but the murderous intent in his eyes was unmistakable.

"Oh dear, my phone is dead. I happened to see Yuuki, but when I tried to catch up, I couldn't find her~" Baqi must have prepared this excuse in advance. She put her legs down from Yuuki's waist and stuck her tongue out at the staff through her mask: "I only said that my sister was lost, I never said that my sister was a child."

Yuuki Yuki fell silent, as did the staff member. Everyone present was persuaded by Baqi's seemingly flawed yet perfectly reasonable explanation.

Suspicion? It's not surprising that a guy who ignores everyone else's gaze in public and lunges to hug someone would do something like this.

Since Baqi had already adopted this attitude, what could anyone else say? The staff could only awkwardly clear their throats and remind her, "Please make sure your phone is fully charged before going out next time. If possible, please contact others yourself instead of occupying public space."

"Okay—I'm really sorry!" Baqi said cheerfully, letting go of Yuuki Yui, whom she was holding, and then led Yuuki Yui by the hand and walked into the crowd as if no one else was around.

It was just a little commotion, nothing spectacular, not enough to make many people stop and linger. After Baqi apologized, the onlookers dispersed, leaving only a few members of the Rainbow Society standing there.

“Yuki, who is this…” Mizuno Yu asked.

"Eh—" Baqi looked at the people opposite her, her expression as bright as a little sun as she pondered something.

Aside from Helica, no one else should know Inuyama Tomoe. Helica only noticed Tomoe because she was paying attention to Yuuki Yuki and her grades.

Kebaqi knew these people very well, although she didn't include Lin Jiezi, who was practically invisible.

"I'm Xiaoyuan's classmate! My name is Inuyama Baqi~ Nice to meet you! Please take care of me!" Baqi raised her arm and shook it, her body swaying with her movements.

“Inuyama…” Mizuno Yu had some recollection of this surname. After a moment’s hesitation, she extended her hand to Tomoe: “Nice to meet you. My name is Mizuno Yu. Please take care of me.”

“Oh!” Baqi and Mizuno Yu shook hands, then extended their hands towards Helica: “I remember you, you were the one I argued with in the cafeteria on the day I transferred schools! And then you secretly hid in the storage room to eat bread by yourself! Your name is… Tenrai Helica, right? I also remember your name, you were ranked second in the whole school, right!”

With the most sunny expression, she said the most aggressive words; it's clear that Baki really hates Herika.

Baqi had spoken ill of Helica to Yuuki Yuuki more than once, but it was all directed at the magical girl faction; she herself didn't have much of an opinion about Helica's reality.

It's not so much that she dislikes her. Baqi is simply still resentful because Helica beat Yuuki half to death. She has also heard about the series of events that happened in Nijisanji. From an outsider's perspective, she is just very dissatisfied with Helica's arbitrary behavior.

Coincidentally, Herika didn't like Baqi either. Baqi was always clinging to Yuuki and maintaining an ambiguous relationship with her. Baqi had also surpassed her in academic performance, and Herika felt a deep-seated, inexplicable dislike for her.

"Inuyama-kun, I remember you too~ It wasn't very nice of you to tease someone like that, was it? Yui was shopping with us."

Herlica grasped Baqi's hand, her smile even more radiant than the staff member's. She subtly tightened her grip, and Baqi, feeling a sharp pain, smiled even brighter and tightened her hold on Herlica's hand. A silent contest had begun.

The two, who appeared to be getting along well, acted like sulking children, holding hands with smiles for a long time without letting go. Yuuki Yuen, who was watching from the sidelines, had noticed this long ago.

Before the conflict between the two could escalate further, Yuuki Yukino grabbed one of their wrists and separated them, smoothing things over and quickly introducing the relatively unknown Lin Jiezi to Baqi.

"Alright, alright, and this is Lin Jiezi, who is in the same class as Tianlei."

"Ah! Um! I'm Lin Jiezi! Please, please guide me!"

Lin Jiezi cried out and stretched out her hand to Ba Qi, and the two shook hands.

After forcibly separating the two, Yuuki Yukari finally breathed a sigh of relief, managing to temporarily quell the crisis.

But leaving Baki and Herika alone together is a bigger crisis!

Chapter 90 Intelligence Sharing

In the end, Yuuki Eri's minor trouble was resolved—she would certainly not be forcibly stripped of her clothes by Helika in the fitting room now—but she also found herself in another equally significant problem.

Today was supposed to be a group activity for the Nijisanji club, but someone suddenly joined in, which is definitely not polite.

Yuuki Yui intentionally prevented Tomoe from contacting anyone else in the Nijisanji, lest Tomoe accidentally let slip about her corruption. However, this was something she couldn't tell either Tomoe or the Nijisanji.

Although Yuuki Yui thought so, she didn't do it in a deliberate way. It wouldn't matter if Baqi knew that Yuuki Yui was deliberately preventing her from contacting others, as their relationship could be explained in a single sentence. But if it attracted the attention of others, it would be a loss.

But today, in order to prevent herself from encountering even bigger problems, Yuuki Yukino had no choice but to acquiesce to Baqi following the other two magical girls. Throughout the entire process, Yuuki Yukino felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

As for this level of rudeness, it's nothing compared to Yuuki Eri's crisis. If all else fails, they can just take Baqi along to apologize.

Baqi clung to Yuuki Yuuki and refused to leave, and this was something Yuuki Yuuki herself tacitly approved. Even if the others had some resistance in their hearts, they wouldn't say anything.

In reality, Mizuno Yu and Hayashi Mustard didn't have any objections. Being dragged around by Helica to do this and that, their tolerance threshold had become very high.

Of course, Herika is not included in this list of other people who do not conflict with her, as Herika and Baki are always sulking.

Because there was someone who didn't belong to Nijisanji, Helica couldn't maintain absolute dominance over others as she used to; similarly, because they weren't alone together, Bachi was very restrained and couldn't be as intimate as before.

All the resentment these two people felt while shopping was vented on each other.

Overall, although Baki and Helika didn't get along, they kept each other in check and their sulking kept the shopping trip relatively peaceful, I guess.

On the surface, things seem relatively peaceful.

It's unclear when exactly, but the two have shifted their focus to what kind of yukata Yuuki Yuuki should wear.

"Xiaoyuan looks better in this pink yukata! It matches her pink hair perfectly!"

"Do you even know what contrast is? You have to wear cool colors like this to look good, such as this black one!"

They even had to argue about the design of the yukata before deciding on it.

"The pattern should be maple leaves. The fiery red maple leaves go better with the light blue background. Clothes without contrast are just awful!"

"Summer should feature patterns of fireworks and goldfish! That kind of seamless integration is the most natural. Your pieced-together elements have no substance whatsoever!"

They even argue about hairstyles.

"Hair should be down! Xiaoyuan looks prettiest with her hair down!"

"What do you know, you idiot? You have to braid your hair! You need to look more formal for the festival! Braid your hair!"

Because the two of them were constantly wavering and unable to reach a consensus, Yuuki Eri ended up changing quite a few clothes throughout the day, which, in a sense, greatly satisfied the girl's desire to go shopping and try on clothes.

Fortunately, since three people couldn't fit in one fitting room, Yuuki Yuki had a legitimate reason to forbid anyone from following her into the fitting room.

The discovery of the Black Magic Mark was avoided, but the fate of the Dress-Up Doll was inescapable, but fortunately, Yuuki Yuuki was enjoying it.

In the end, everyone else had chosen their own new yukata, and even Tomoe was caught up in the atmosphere and bought one. Only Yuuki Yukino got nothing because the two sides were arguing and couldn't reach an agreement.

It was a bit of a shame that she didn't buy the clothes she wanted, but since she had avoided any potential problems, Yuuki Yuki couldn't help but think of more.

After parting ways in the commercial district, in order not to leave any evidence, Yuuki Enishi chose to go home with Hayashi Mustard.

Lin Jiezi remained the same, stammering and hesitant. When Yuki asked about the Lava Mountain Lamp, Lin Jiezi stammered out a few words about things that Yuki already knew, which was equivalent to giving Yuki a recap of the plot.

First, she had a low profile, and second, Lin Jiezi looked like she was easily bullied, giving people the illusion that she was harmless. For so long, Yuuki En had not been able to get any useful information from Lin Jiezi.

Upon arriving at her doorstep and watching Lin Jiezi enter, Yuuki Eri took out her phone to contact Inuyama Tomoe, who was taking a detour, to come back.

"What are you thinking? Why did you choose that method? Wouldn't it have been better to just call me?"

As soon as Inuyama Tomoe entered the room, she saw Yuuki Yuuki's carefully maintained social persona crumble instantly, and she grabbed her and started criticizing her.

“If I had called you, I would have given myself away, wouldn’t I? How about that? This time, I solved the problem without transforming, and they didn’t suspect anything, right?” After taking a longer route and catching her breath, Baqi took off her shoes and put on a very proud expression.

“They didn’t suspect you because of you…” Yuuki Yuki wanted to argue a bit more, but to be fair, Baqi had already done a great job today. Even if the method she used was very different from what she had thought, she shouldn’t criticize her, a hero, just because she was dissatisfied with her method.

"Well, to be honest, it was pretty good." Yuuki Yuu changed her tune, scratching her cheek.

"Of course! I was worried about accidentally revealing my black magic markings, so I wore a mask!" Praised by Yuuki Yuki, Baqi became even more smug and pounced on Yuuki Yuki to give her a big kiss on the face.

If you can think of such detailed things, why is your plan to save yourself from dire straits so abstract?

Since this matter is in the past, there's no need to dwell on it.

There were some regrets, though. Aside from not being able to buy a yukata, Yuuki Yukino had originally planned to get some information from the other members of Nijisanji, but with Tomoe getting involved, she couldn't get any information about magical girls at all.

In theory, information about magical girls should be a secret within Nijisanji, and Tomoe, as an outsider, should be completely unaware of it.

Speaking of magical girls, it's necessary to share some information about Lava Lantern with Baqi.

"Oh, right, before you get here today, there's one more thing. Do you remember that person we met at the arcade on the day the holiday started...?"

Next, Yuuki told Baqi everything that had happened that day about the Lava Mountain Lantern, and some information obtained from God's perspective was embellished and presented as speculation.

It wouldn't be a bad thing for Baqi to take this opportunity to obtain information about the Lava Lamp.

"Oh! I get it! Since that guy said so, he must be stronger than Kuroba Reisei, right?" After listening intently to Yuuki Yukina's explanation, Baqi seemed very excited.

What excited her was that the short, blond-haired guy got his comeuppance in Yuuki Yukino's story, which made Baqi very happy.

"Shh, keep your voice down." Yuuki Yuen pointed to the next room, indicating that if it was too noisy, Lin Jiezi might hear. After Baqi nodded, she continued, "That's exactly what I guessed. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said that she would only come to find her after she was at least stronger than that magical girl with many wings. But it's not like I guessed wrong and didn't invite her out."

"Hmm...hmm...that should be it." Baqi slowly shook her little head thoughtfully, then suddenly clapped her hands, her eyes lighting up: "Hey, wait a minute, I've thought of a great idea! Maybe it can solve the problem of Kurenai and Hyakki!"

"What method?" Yuuki asked.

Baqi's methods may not be good, but her amazing thought process always provides Yuuki Eri with some brand new ideas that she has never thought of before.

"Think about it! That lamp! That corrupted magical girl you mentioned, she loves fighting so much, why don't we find a way to make her fight Kuroba Reisei on the day of the festival?"

Yuuki nodded noncommittally, and then Baqi continued to tell Yuuki about a series of new ideas she had just come up with.

"For example, since she likes working so much, could she also work at the festival? If her job was ruined and she couldn't earn any money because of Kuroba Reisei's attack, it would be normal for her to fight with Kuroba Reisei in a fit of anger, right?"

"For example, if you tell her that Kuroba Reisei is also very strong, she might just run up to Kuroba Reisei and fight her, right? That way, Kuroba Reisei won't be able to make a move on the day of the festival."

"And... well, and... I can't think of anything else right now. Anyway, these are all immature ideas. We can slowly come up with specific solutions, but this idea is pretty good, right?"

Baqi stared at Yuuki Yuki with sparkling eyes, shaking her clenched fists with a childlike expression that longed for praise.

“No.” Yuuki Yui answered decisively: “It’s not that I haven’t thought about this, but it’s definitely not a solution.”

"Hey, why? It's a good idea, isn't it?" Baqi pouted, tilted her head back in disappointment, and lay down on Yuuki Yuuki's lap: "Yuuki, tell me, why can't it be done?"

"Perhaps, as you say, Kuroba Reincarnation can indeed be stopped by Lava Lantern and nothing will happen at the festival. But what then? Lava Lantern and Kuroba Reincarnation have no grudges against each other. Would she really go to such lengths to kill them all?"

"As long as Kuroba Reisen is not completely defeated, she will not give up easily. She can avoid Kuroba Reisen during the summer vacation, but the next day is the new school term. Are you going to let Koumori and Hyakki Senyu skip school because they are afraid of getting into trouble?"

“If something unexpected happens at the Holy Eternal Academy, we may not be able to provide timely support as we would at the festival. In fact, we would be too late to provide support. At that time, Kuroba would have countless opportunities to make a move.”

"We've all fallen into a misconception. The real challenge we need to overcome isn't the festival where Kuroba Reincarnation might make a move. The festival isn't important at all; it's just an ordinary event. The real challenge is the potential attack by Kuroba Reincarnation."