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

Lin Jiezi half-raised her arm and looked around, then shrank back as if she were a frightened little mouse, taking a step towards the courtyard.

She tried to go back into the room, but it was too late. The three people who had followed her stood in a row, blocking her way back.

"Hey classmate, why are you running? Did I scare you?" As soon as Yuki Yuki, who was standing in the middle, took a step forward, the two people next to her took a step forward as well, and Lin Jiezi took a step back, until she was forced to a position close to the target with no way to avoid it.

"Stop calling her 'classmate,' let me introduce you. This is Lin Jiezi, she's in our Class C." Helica said, gesturing with her chin towards Lin Jiezi. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"I...I...this..." Lin Jiezi looked around the courtyard helplessly, opening her mouth several times but unable to utter a complete sentence. The intermittent syllables made her breathing even more rapid.

“I remember you. You sometimes linger at the entrance of the archery club.” Mizuno Yuu said expressionlessly as she joined Yuuki Yuuki in launching their attack.

“I… I didn’t…” Lin Jiezi turned her face toward Mizuno Yu, waving her hands up and down slightly as she tried to explain.

"It seems there aren't any left, Yuuki. What do you think?" Helica stopped listening to Lin Jiezi's nonsense and directly asked Yuuki Yuen the question.

Yuuki Yui knew exactly what Helica was asking, but unfortunately, she didn't know.

Lin Jiezi, the girl in front of her, had no recollection of either her name or her appearance.

She is not a character in the game, or rather, not a main character in the game, but that does not mean she is not a magical girl. Inuyama Tomoe is a living example.

Is it her? Yuuki Yui pondered the possibility that the other person was the one she was looking for, and her gaze grew even heavier.

"Eek—" Lin Jiezi let out a panicked scream when she met Yuki Yuki's gaze.

Helica nudged Yuuki Yukino from behind impatiently: "Hey, I'm asking you a question."

"I don't know." Yuuki Yui withdrew her gaze and spoke with some difficulty, but she had to give this answer to Helica, who was waiting.

“You don’t know? You have…” Helica took a breath, her tone becoming more forceful.

"It would be better to ask her directly." Mizuno Yu cleverly interrupted Helica at this moment, preventing Helica from saying anything that might reveal information.

"I don't know anything..." Lin Jiezi shrank back in front of the target. Her voice was soft, but loud enough for the others to hear.

"You came over to eavesdrop on our conversation, and now you're telling me you didn't know? Who are you trying to fool? Do you think I'm an idiot?" Helica had been on edge all day, and with nowhere to vent her anger, her tone became even more vicious.

"Eee-ee—" Lin Jiezi's fear was palpable. She crouched in the corner, covering her head with her arms and cowering, only daring to peek at the others through the gaps in her arms.

Was the other person's trembling and near-crying just an act?

Yuuki Yukino began to have doubts.

Something is still wrong.

Mizuno Yu said that Hayashi Mustard would occasionally linger at the door, and she also saw her occasionally appear outside the storage room at noon.

If Lin Jiezi is the potential enemy, then it's only natural that she would observe me. Why would she observe Mizuno Yu? Also, on the first day, my decision to go to the storage room to replenish my mana with Baqi was impromptu, but she was outside the storage room door, and her target seemed to be Helica.

Yuki En was constantly watching the movements of those around her, and Lin Jiezi was only somewhat suspicious in her eyes.

The reason she wasn't included on the danger list was partly because she was of average appearance or had never appeared in the game, but also because Yuuki Yui remembered her and knew that Hayashi Kikuko was in the same grade as her, so an unintentional encounter would be considered reasonable.

But none of that is the most important thing. What is important is that a chance encounter means that I won't see her all the time, and I'm not being followed by her.

Based on Mizuno Yu's words, Hayashi Mustard's target might not be herself, or rather... it might not just be herself.

A terrifying thought lingered in Yuuki Yuuki's mind: Surely her target isn't all magical girls?

Because apart from Lin Jiezi, whose identity is unknown, the other three people present are magical girls, there is a lack of comparison, so she cannot judge whether her guess is correct.

If that were true, it would be terrifying.

But it doesn't matter, Yuuki Yuuki has a verification method that only she can do.

"Let's choose her as the last member."

Chapter 50: You're the last member I've decided on!

"Let's choose her as the last member."

As soon as the words "Spirit*Dream Doctor" were spoken, Helica and Mizuno Yu, unsurprisingly, both showed varying degrees of surprise.

“Her? You know who she is…” Herika’s emotions were still agitated, but as irritable as she was, she wasn’t a simple-minded fool. She knew that there were many things she couldn’t say to the person in question. She swallowed back the words she was about to say in anger: “Yuki Yuki, don’t do anything stupid.”

Mizuno Yu only showed a slight expression of surprise, while simultaneously paving the way for Yuuki Yu to explain: "Yuuki, could you explain the reason to us?"

Yuuki nodded slightly, took a few steps back, and tugged at the two people beside her. The three of them retreated to the doorway connecting the inside and outside, giving Lin Jiezi enough space to be alone.

"Why do we need to establish a club?" Yuuki asked in a low voice.

"Didn't I mention it before? It's to make our actions seem legitimate! So as not to attract attention from others!" Even though Herlica's tone was unfriendly, she lowered her voice, revealing a hint of insecurity.

"Has it been noticed yet?"

"This……"

Yuuki Yuuki's question left Helica speechless.

"Let's not even talk about when she started listening, we still don't know how much she knows about us, or what her purpose is, or even if she's a magical girl." Seeing that neither of them spoke, Yuuki Yukino continued:

"Let's make a hypothetical scenario: in the worst-case scenario, she really is an evil magical girl who already knows everything about us. What would you do then?"

"Execute her, kill her, make sure she can't rise again." Helica hooked her middle and ring fingers together.

"What if she doesn't reveal her identity? Can you make your move first?"

"Can……"

"And what if she were an ordinary magical girl who simply wanted to join us but wasn't good at communicating?"

"..."

"Or perhaps she's just an ordinary person who overheard our conversation out of curiosity, and is skeptical about magical girls?"

"In either case, we can't have a reasonable and accurate countermeasure until we find out her identity." The person who answered was Mizuno Yu: "The purpose of establishing the club is to unite magical girls. We can't put the cart before the horse. Therefore, establishing the club is not necessary, but keeping her is."

“That’s right. When we don’t know what to do with her, we just bring her in. Let her stay by our side. If she really has a problem, she’ll definitely reveal her flaws. Then we can analyze the specific situation, right?” Yuuki Yuen gave a thumbs up.

“Okay,” Helica replied somewhat reluctantly, but ultimately did not object. “What if she doesn’t want to join?”

"Hmph." Yuuki Yukino gave a meaningful smile. "At that time, I will give her a condition that she cannot refuse."

A minute later, three pairs of eyes were fixed on Lin Jiezi, who was sitting at the table.

After being dragged back to the room, Lin Jiezi kept looking around. Judging from the fact that she didn't get up to run away again, she probably had given up the idea of ​​escaping. But in this state, it would probably be difficult to have a normal conversation with her.

“Yes, that’s right, just sign your name here.” Yuuki Yuen stood behind Lin Jiezi, bent down and pointed to the member column on the club application form. She then brought her mouth close to Lin Jiezi’s ear and breathed warmly into her ear, just like when Baqi teased her.

"Ee-okay, okay!" Lin Jiezi's whole body trembled, and her hand holding the pen shook like a sieve. Encouraged by Yuki Eri, she signed her name completely on the pen at an extremely slow speed.

With the final stroke, she slumped into her chair as if resigned to her fate.

"Alright, welcome to the Rainbow Club, Lin-kun." Yuuki Yui took the application form away and looked at Lin Jiezi's signature following the names of the other three. Although the signature was crooked and each stroke had an unnatural wavy line, she still nodded with satisfaction and handed the application form to Helica behind her.

"Okay, ah, okay, please guide me!" Lin Jiezi finally said something understandable, aside from the matter of the glasses.

Forcibly bringing Lin Jiezi into the club was only the first step for Yuki En.

What made Yuuki Yui uneasy was not that Hayashi Keiko was always spying from the shadows, but that she had accurately identified the three magical girls, including herself, before the three of them formed a clear connection.

Whether this is a coincidence or not remains to be seen.

Therefore, she had to make some preparations in advance.

"Inuyama, if you're free after school today, could you come to my house?"

"Oh! Xiaoyuan is finally planning to 'do it' with me?! I'll definitely be there! What do you need to prepare? Nail clippers?"

Baqi's words were like a drop of water falling into a hot oil pan, stirring up a murmur among the people nearby.

"No!" Yuuki Yuuki gently tapped her head and lowered his voice even further: "There are some things I need your help with. Remember to wait for me at my house first, and transform and come in through the window."

“It’s about…” Baqi glanced at Yuuki Yukino’s stomach.

Although Yuuki understood what the other person's gesture of looking at the black magic mark meant, the more she nodded, the louder the misunderstandings and whispers among the surrounding classmates became.

Then, it was time for school to end.

The four of them met at the archery club again today. Of course, Lin Jiezi was half-forcibly dragged over by Tenrai Herika after class.

"The club's application has been approved, no problems. Today is the first day of celebration for the Rainbow Club, we should go to a family restaurant..." Helica naturally began to host the event.

"Ugh..."

"Aren't you going a little too frequently, Tianlei?"

"Yuki is right."

Helica lowered her head in disappointment, but didn't stay so for long before she perked up again: "It's okay if we don't go to the family restaurant, the first activity of the club must be to strengthen our bonds! So!"

“Friends from the same club should go home together sometimes, right?” Yuuki Yui felt that even if Helica said it, it wouldn’t be a particularly good suggestion. She smiled and rubbed her hands together as if she were making a very ordinary suggestion.

"Going home together? What kind of club activity is that?"

Just as Helica was about to express her dissatisfaction, Mizuno Yu chimed in:

"That's a good suggestion. If the club has activities on the weekend, it will be more convenient to know each other's addresses."

As she spoke, she turned her head toward Lin Jiezi, who whimpered a few times but couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

Mizuno Yuu usually doesn't offer suggestions proactively, but she always manages to accurately understand Yuki Yuuki's intentions. It's really enjoyable to have a quick-witted person as a teammate.

"Alright~ then it's decided." Yuuki Yuuki clapped her hands, just like Helica always did, finalizing the matter directly.

The girls going home together sounds youthful, but Yuuki Yukino's purpose is not the process of going home, but to find Hayashi Mustard's place.

She was certain that Lin Jiezi would maintain that timid and fearful demeanor and wouldn't refuse the request to go home together, so she naturally followed her downstairs.

So far, everything has been fine, but why did Lin Jiezi stop here?

Why was it the street where Nishio Reki collapsed in the accident that night?

Chapter 51 Is it deliberately picking a fight?

Lin Jiezi stopped at a street corner and looked up toward Yuki Yuki's room, where the open window swayed slightly in the breeze.

The window was wide enough for a person to pass through, and it was the entrance she used to get Inuyama Hideki into her house ahead of time.

Yuuki En followed Hayashi's gaze to her room, her facial muscles twitching uncontrollably, her heart pounding as if it would burst from her chest.

"Ah... um... I've arrived..." Lin Jiezi gripped her shoulder bag tightly with both hands, lowering her head so low that no one could see her expression, and her voice was pitifully soft.

But this volume is loud enough for several people to hear clearly.

We've arrived? What does this mean?

Provocation? Deliberately picking a fight?