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

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, there are so many people in the way today. Do all magical girls have a habit of bothering others?"

The magical girl wielding a long whip asked the question, but without waiting for an answer, her figure transformed into a streak of pink light and disappeared at the end of the street.

The crisis was resolved just like that. Everything happened so fast. From the appearance of the golden magical girl to the escape of the enemy, it was only a matter of seconds.

A golden magical girl wielding a giant hammer appeared amidst a thunderous burst of lightning, defeating her enemies with overwhelming force. It was undoubtedly Helica the Thunder God.

Although this development is very different from what Yuuki Eri had envisioned, deciding to take this gamble was truly a stroke of luck.

Chapter Forty: A False Alarm in Various Senses

With the enemy gone from the battlefield, Mizuno Yuu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her legs, which had been supporting her as she stood to shield Yuuki Yuuki, gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.

She still held onto her tattered clothes with one hand, while the weapon in her other hand, which looked like solidified ice crystals, vanished as specks of light. Her body swayed a few times, unable to support itself any longer by simply sitting, and she fell to the side, barely managing to steady herself by bracing herself with her upper arm before collapsing.

The aftereffects of shielding Yuuki Yuuki from a wand attack were beginning to show. Mizuno Yuu's expression was becoming increasingly grim, her chest heaving violently beneath her clothes as she gasped for breath.

"Are you alright?" Yuuki Yu quickly helped Mizuno Yu up from behind, letting her lean against him.

Meanwhile, Helica, who had fallen from the sky, showed no intention of approaching. She planted her hammer head downwards on the ground, hugged her shoulders, and leaned against the giant soldier. She turned her head to look at Mizuno Yu, who was lying on Yuuki Yuki's lap:

Aren't you going to pursue her?

Mizuno Yu's ominous expression had already replaced her answer.

"Tch." Helica snorted unhappily.

"You...aren't you going to chase after them?" Mizuno Yu struggled to squeeze out a few words through clenched teeth.

"I used up all my magic with that attack just now, and it's hard to even maintain my transformation. I really don't know how she managed to block it." Helica hugged her shoulders and leaned back against the giant hammer, closing her eyes, completely indifferent to the situation.

Herika's reaction annoyed Yuuki Yuuki. Both Mizuno Yuuki and Herika were trying to help out of a tight spot, but they gave off completely different vibes.

Judging from the result, Helica exhausted her magic power to force the enemy away with an undeniably powerful blow, and if we were to talk about contributions, Helica might be the one who made the greater contribution.

On the other hand, Mizuno Yu only fired a few arrows, but she took the initiative to block the enemy's attack for Yuuki Yui. Even though this kind of scene is very common in ACG works, as the one who was saved, Yuuki Yui would definitely be more emotionally inclined towards her. Who could refuse a girl who would risk her life to save them in a dangerous situation?

Oh no, I'm starting to feel a little tempted.

On the contrary, you only know how to do things but don't understand the art of speaking. That won't do, Helica!

“I’m saying, how much longer are you going to lie on the ground? Do you want to drag ordinary people into this? If you can’t walk, I can carry you away.”

Helica's statement is not fundamentally wrong. The general policy of magical girls is to avoid involving ordinary people in conflicts, and concealing their identities is a necessary part of this.

If ordinary people who are unable to fight find out the identities of magical girls, how will they be treated by villains who want to know their true identities? For details, please refer to Nishio Reki, whose special CGs in the original game are no less than those of other characters.

Besides, although the way she expressed it was problematic, Helica did mean, "I can help if you need it."

Yuuki understood this, but saying something so insensitive in this situation brought Yuuki's displeasure to its peak.

Then she lost her temper and shouted at Herika in a hoarse voice, "Didn't you see how badly Mizuno got hurt because of me?!"

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a brief moment of silence before the three girls simultaneously uttered short syllables.

"Hmm?" This was Helica's questioning voice.

"Huh?" This was Mizuno Yu's surprised voice.

"Uh..." That was Yuuki Yukino's voice filled with regret.

What did I say?! How can I just casually reveal such important information? Yuuki Yukina screamed inwardly.

Oh no, oh no, oh no! In a fit of anger, I revealed information from God's perspective.

Magical girls' transformations are designed to conceal their identities, so even if their appearance doesn't change before and after the transformation, it's difficult for people to connect the two. In other words, unless you see a magical girl transform or de-transform, it's almost impossible to discover her true identity.

However, Yuuki Yui impulsively exposed Mizuno Yui's true identity, which is inexplicable.

Come to think of it, maybe my reaction just now wasn't quite right. A normal person would scream in fear and run away after being attacked, but I seemed a bit too calm.

Because it was a sudden attack, no one had thought about it that much.

How could she possibly explain to Helica that she could make up some lies to fool her? But given Mizuno Yu's keen perception, any ordinary lie would definitely be exposed immediately.

Yuuki En already had a picture in her mind: she had let something slip and Mizuno Yuu noticed, then tied her up like last time, whipped her with a small leather whip while interrogating her about whether she was a spy sent by an evil organization.

Most importantly, Yuuki Yuuki truly knows everything about the evil organization, including the identities and abilities of all the corrupted magical girls, whether they joined or not.

With her clear self-awareness, she would definitely confess everything in no time if interrogated.

It's over! The plan to cleanse my name is ruined! Joining the evil organization is impossible without cleaning my name!

Just then, Mizuno Yu, who was lying on her lap, spoke weakly.

"Yuki-kun."

"W-What's wrong?" Yuuki Yu stammered a little, and started thinking about whether she should transform and run away as soon as possible, but Mizuno Yu's actions completely dispelled her idea of ​​running away.

"Did I protect you well?" Mizuno Yu's voice grew weaker amidst her constant panting. She raised her hand, trying to touch Yuuki Emi's cheek, but it fell limply before she could reach it, leaving only increasingly heavy breathing.

Then, Mizuno Yu tilted her head to the side, her long hair, damp with sweat, obscuring her face. Blue light spots scattered across Mizuno Yu's body, and her tattered magical outfit transformed back into her usual uniform.

Did he deactivate the transformation in front of an outsider like himself?

"Mizuno-kun..." Yuuki called out, but received no response. She could only see Mizuno Yu's chest rising and falling less and less.

No way... is a True Name Release attack really that powerful?

An ominous premonition grew in Yuuki Yu's heart. She cupped Mizuno Yu's face in her hands, hurriedly brushed away the messy hair covering Mizuno Yu's eyes, and called out the other's name loudly. She didn't even realize that her voice had become trembling with sobs.

"Mizuno-san!"

Then, Yuuki saw Mizuno Yu gazing at her silently with her bright, heart-shaped eyes, filled with deep affection.

"..."

"..."

"Yuki-kun... if you don't agree to help me with the special training, I might not make it." Mizuno Yu shifted her gaze guiltily, her voice hoarse and weak as she spoke.

state.

Yuuki Yui directly lifted Mizuno Yui's head to the ground, the skull hitting the ground with a dull thud. At the same time, she clearly saw the fleeting expression of pleasure on Mizuno Yui's face when her head hit the ground.

What a relief! What a scare!

Chapter 41 Magical Girl

Mizuno Yu's head hit the ground with a thud. Then, the girl reluctantly got up, dusted herself off, and pretended to be unharmed, abandoning her earlier acting. But her heart-shaped eyes kept glancing in Yuuki Yuuki's direction.

That glance sent chills down Yuuki's spine; it was the same look that Baqi had given her when she attacked her that night.

"Tsk, so you two know each other. Since you already know a magical girl, I'll just de-transform too." After watching the show for a while, Helica straightened up from leaning against the giant hammer. A flash of light appeared, and she de-transformed, her magical armor and hammer disappearing together. "Yuki Yuki, be careful. I don't have time to protect you every day. It's okay if I look after you a little bit now and then, tch."

The reason for canceling the transformation as soon as he heard that he knew a magical girl is too hasty. Actually, this kid probably just wants to show off that he is a magical girl.

"Tianlei-kun?" Yuuki Yukino feigned surprise.

"What, it's me, and you're not satisfied?" Helica retorted, a hint of satisfaction flashing across her face, before falling silent.

Let Helica be content with her own situation for now and leave her alone. Given Mizuno Yu's recovery ability, her physical injuries should be mostly healed by now. But showing a little concern at this time would only earn her more goodwill, wouldn't it?

"Are you alright, Mizuno?" Yuuki Yui turned her attention back to Mizuno Yu.

"Yuki-kun! You're willing to be with me..." Mizuno Yu swallowed hard, her usual coldness completely gone.

Shut up! That's not your persona!

Yuuki Yui immediately guessed the reason why Mizuno Yui would become like this: Is it because the effect of the magic wand Lily hasn't completely disappeared yet?

"It's so good that Mizuno-kun is alright." Yuuki Yui completely ignored Mizuno Yu's strange words and clasped her hands together with a relieved smile.

Now we should get to the main point: all the trouble I went through to build good relationships with these two people was for today—to become friends, to fight against the evil magical girl together, to do the things girls do together, and finally to use friendship and bonds to clear my name.

It would seem contrived to be so belatedly show fear now; it would be better to act the way you normally do when you're with Helica.

Then Yuuki Yukino spoke up again: "Speaking of which, shouldn't you two give me some explanation?"

"Huh?" Helica tilted her head.

"Why are you able to transform into that form? Why can you use such magical powers? Why was I attacked by strange people on this day? Why is this happening?" Yuuki Yui launched her attack unhurriedly. Now that Mizuno Yu was out of her mind, it was the perfect opportunity.

"So annoying! So annoying! So annoying!" Helica shouted, drowning out Yuuki Yu's voice. After Yuuki Yu shut up, she turned to Mizuno Yu: "Don't you know her? Why didn't you tell her anything?"

“She doesn’t know anything, but if Yuuki-san is willing to train with me…” Mizuno Yu said slowly, cupping her face in her hands.

I made you lose your mind, not make you say strange things!

"Huh? You didn't say? You didn't say you dared to deactivate your transformation in front of her?" Helica's expression was quite interesting, her features twitching and squeezing together, it was hard to tell whether it was anger or regret.

"Why is that?" Yuuki Yuen continued to smile kindly, launching her pursuit at just the right moment.

"If you don't know, just ask her!"

"If you promise me, Yuuki-kun, I'll tell you everything."

"Why is that?"

The pointless conversation went on for a long time before Helica finally lost her temper. She grumbled and dragged the delirious Mizuno Yu and the accusing Yuuki Yuki to a family restaurant to eat fried rice and talk.

Mizuno Yu woke up halfway through and kept muttering things like, "I was wrong, I was really wrong. I shouldn't have transformed in the first place. If I hadn't transformed, my embarrassing state wouldn't have been discovered."

Yuuki Yukino only wanted to achieve her goal of becoming best friends with the three of them, and had absolutely no interest in eating fried rice. As soon as the fried rice was served, she couldn't wait to ask, "Magical girls? Do they really exist?"

"Didn't you see it with your own eyes? The person who attacked you was a magical girl, and so were we." Helica still looked very impatient, but a happy smile appeared on her face with every bite of fried rice.

"By the way, how did you recognize her?"

Oh no, we've been outmaneuvered.

Yuuki Yui couldn't come up with a suitable answer, so she could only make one up on the spot: "The reason? I feel like that person is her?"

"So, you're very sensitive to magic, but you don't know what a magical girl is... Could that be why you were attacked? Hmm, that's certainly possible." Helica tapped the table with the handle of her spoon as she pondered.

How can you even explain this? But it's really kind of you to take the initiative to make amends for me.

"So what exactly is a magical girl?" Yuuki Yukino thought to herself, but she still had to appear genuinely interested.

"What's your hurry?" Helica snapped, just like when they bickered in the storeroom every day, but she still started explaining to Yuuki Yuuki.

"A magical girl is a girl who can use magic to transform, and she can only be a girl. As she grows older, her memories and abilities related to magic will disappear."

"Once a girl reaches a certain age, she has the potential to become a magical girl. Becoming a magical girl is a... natural process. It's like she suddenly awakens one day and becomes a magical girl."

"But even if you become a magical girl, there's no mission to protect world peace. It's not like a children's cartoon. How can the world be saved by magical girls? If everyone is unreliable and we magical girls have to save the world in the end, then the world is not far from its end. Anyway, all I'm saying is to tell you that as long as magical girls don't misuse their abilities, it's fine."

"But there are still some magical girls who abuse their powers for their own purposes. These people will be branded with unclean marks on their bodies. The magical girl who attacked you today was one of those. If you see her, run as far away as possible."