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

"After the seniors returned from their school trip, everyone became very strange. Since that day, no one from Nijisanji has ever gathered in this activity room again, and no one has spoken in our Nijisanji group chat."

“I can understand what Yuuki-senpai is saying. I heard that Yuuki-senpai found a job and is working every day now. She spends her lunch break with Inuyama-senpai. She has her own things to do. Besides, Yuuki-senpai is not a magical girl. I can understand all of that.”

"Also, Senior Lin, she has never been one to express herself. Without someone's help, she finds it difficult to make a decision on her own, so it makes sense that she didn't come."

"But what about Senior Tenrai? Senior Tenrai is both a magical girl and the president of the Rainbow Club, but even though there is a Rainbow Club activity room, Senior Tenrai insists on going to the dusty storage room to eat bread by herself."

"And who else, senior? You should know something, but you just won't tell me."

Sakura Hanako became unusually serious and began to pry into Mizuno Yu's life.

"Nijisanji shouldn't have disbanded, right? The group chat is still there, but everyone seems to have something on their mind, and I'm the only one kept in the dark. This is really strange, isn't it?"

Everything happened after the school trip, which went wrong. An explosion occurred at the hotel where Yuehai Middle School students were staying, a fact that was common knowledge at the school.

At this very moment, Nijisanji has become like this again, and since Nijisanji is a club mostly composed of magical girls, it's impossible not to connect these things together.

Sakura Hanako stood up, frowning as she wanted to raise her voice to show how serious she was about the matter, but out of politeness, she didn't dare to go too far.

"Mizuno-senpai, what exactly happened during your school trip?"

"Nothing really happened." Mizuno Yu was somewhat exasperated by Sakura Hanako's relentless questioning.

"You and Senior Tianlei really didn't have a fight?"

Sakura Hanako's next question caught Mizuno Yu off guard.

Sakura Hanako believed that her judgment was correct.

Yuuki Yu and Hayashi Keko were both absent; only Mizuno Yu and herself remained in the club's activity room every noon. This was likely the reason why Tenrai Herika didn't come.

Since I have no grudge against Helica, the problem must lie with Mizuno Yu.

"No," Mizuno Yu replied calmly, her expression completely unwavering, just as she always did when interacting with others.

Ironically, this answer only deepened Sakura Hanako's suspicions, and Mizuno Yu's vehement denial took on a different meaning under Sakura Hanako's erroneous assumptions.

With Mizuno Yu's repeated denials, Sakura Hanako couldn't ask any more questions. Her hard-won curiosity and determination to get to the bottom of things were ultimately abandoned halfway.

The lunch break came to an end, and after saying goodbye to each other, Sakura Hanako returned to her classroom.

But her heart still remained with Nijisanji, and today's sudden questioning led her to some new speculations.

Two senior magical girls got into a fight. Although they were members of the same club, they weren't magical girls and had no say in the matter, so they could only leave in disappointment.

Sakura Hanako examined her deduction and concluded that it was quite reasonable.

After all, although Senior Tianlei is a very good person and is very responsible in magical girls, studies, and club activities, she has a very sharp tongue.

Most of the time, Mizuno-senpai ignores Tenrai-senpai's complaints and even criticisms, but it can't be guaranteed that Mizuno-senpai can completely ignore them, right?

Perhaps they had a disagreement while dealing with a corrupted magical girl during their school trip? Or maybe they failed to stop the enemy's attack? Herika was under a bit of pressure, which made Mizuno Yu, who was already in a bad mood, lose her temper, so the two of them had a big fight?

The direction should be correct.

Thinking about this, Sakura Hanako was almost completely convinced that Helica and Mizuno Yu's argument was real.

The remaining task is to figure out exactly what happened during the school trip.

Senior Mizuno and Senior Tenrai definitely wouldn't tell me, and communicating with Senior Hayashi would be too troublesome.

However, there is another excellent candidate.

She went on a school trip with me, is a member of Nijisanji, knows about magical girls, and is in the same group as Helica Tenrai.

Most importantly, that person was very gentle, did not show any resistance to Nijisanji when meeting me, and was a senior I could talk to.

If Sakura Hanako wants to reconcile with her seniors and revitalize the Nijisanji, which she values ​​highly, she has no choice but to seek out Yuuki Yukino to find out what's going on.

Chapter Seven: Today's Part-Time Job

"Midterm exams? When I was your age, I never worried about anything like that."

Minato Nana was lying listlessly on the sofa, clutching her phone which was playing a video of foreign musicians commenting on contemporary internet-famous rock music, and talking to Yuuki Yuuki.

"Was Miss Minato's academic performance excellent when she was in school?"

Yuuki Yukino was holding a mop with both hands, concentrating on mopping the coffee shop floor tiles. When she heard what Minato Nana said, she couldn't help but straighten up and wipe the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“No, that’s not it.” Minato Nana rolled over, turning her face towards the inside of the sofa. “I dropped out of school when I was your age, so I didn’t need midterms.”

"..." Yuuki Yui was speechless for a moment, then nudged Minato Nana's shoes with the mop handle: "Minato-san, lift your foot up a bit."

"Oh..." Minato Nana raised her feet high, and after Yuuki Yuki quickly mopped the floor clean, she put down her feet, which were a little sore from being raised for so long.

Yuuki Yuuki felt very comfortable being with Minato Nana.

To be more specific, Minato Nana doesn't act like a boss at all. Of course, she'll lie on the sofa, roll around, and lift her feet to have her hired little sister mop the floor. Such behavior shows no bossy authority whatsoever.

This isn't the only time that Minato Nana has lacked authority.

One day, when Yuuki Yukino finished her part-time job, she suddenly remembered the day of her job interview and casually asked a question.

"Ms. Minato, why did you make me a cup of coffee on the day of my interview?"

"Yuki, don't you think this is quite a ritual? The young and mysterious coffee shop owner personally brewed a cup of coffee and chatted with the job applicant, exchanging information over the aroma of coffee. Isn't that wonderful?"

So the coffee that night wasn't a demonstration of how to use a siphon coffee maker, nor was it a test of my coffee-tasting skills; it was simply for the sake of ritual.

"I was planning to ask some more philosophical questions, but I forgot about them after making the coffee. It's not too late to ask you now, is it? Yuki, what would you do if you encountered the trolley problem?"

"I will think of a way to save them both."

That's how Yuuki Yukino answered, and that's what she used to do too.

"How cunning! That's such an ideal idea." Minato Nana looked surprised when she heard this answer.

Yuki Yuen understood from that day on that her boss was not some particularly artistic youth, but an ordinary boss who was full of rituals yet simple.

Yuki Yui also knows something about the boss's past.

For example, one day before leaving work, Yuuki Yukina asked Minato Nana the same question.

"What did Ms. Minato do before opening the coffee shop?"

"You don't know?" Minato Nana looked very surprised when she heard Yuuki Yukina's question.

"How would I know? Is Miss Minato a very famous person?" Yuuki Yu was also very puzzled.

"Doesn't Yuuki watch bands?"

"Ah, well, I do know a little about that. For example, my favorite band is Hello Happy World, but if we're talking about the atmosphere at a live show, ARISE A SUILEN is definitely more energetic..."

After Yuuki Yukino seemed to have been turned on and talked non-stop for a minute, she realized that she had gotten too excited and that the era of big girl bands wouldn't work in this world.

Therefore, when Nishio Reki first came into contact with me, he deliberately wore the costume of a character I liked so that I could judge that Nishio Reki definitely knew something about me.

“Ahem, um.” Minato Nana cleared her throat: “Anyway, before I opened this coffee shop, I was the lead singer of a band. After the band broke up, I used the money I earned to open this coffee shop.”

I see. Yuuki Yukino has a deeper understanding of Minato Nana now.

The girl band that opened the coffee shop is very lucky that the coffee shop has survived and not gone out of business. This is her entire resume as the owner.

Perhaps because of their similar ages, coupled with the lead singer's unique MC skills that easily bridge the gap between herself and the audience, Minato Nana acts more like an older sister when interacting with Yuuki Yuuki.

One night, Minato Nana complained to Yuuki Gen about how she had eaten beef rice at a certain restaurant and found it to be terrible. Another day, she told Yuuki Gen that she forgot to close the window when she went out, which caused the wind to blow her potted plant off.

Although Minato Nana often gives people the impression of being unreliable, she is very serious about coffee.

Even though she's a band's lead singer who switched careers to open a shop, her strict attitude towards coffee and the completely different taste of the coffee she brews using the same method as Yuuki Eri demonstrate that Minato Nana has definitely put a lot of effort into coffee.

This is also a good thing, allowing Yuki Eri to gain a more comprehensive understanding of her boss, who is consistent across most of the timelines.

There is one thing that Yukichi Yukichi still hasn't answered.

"Miss Minato, why did you kick me out so easily back then, and then tell me at night that I could come back to work if I wanted?"

"Isn't that cool? To be able to play a capricious boss who turns the tide for an employee when they're at their lowest point, right?"

Minato Nana's answer was very rock and roll, but she had been learning to hide her thoughts for a long time, especially not to show any weakness in front of Mizuno Yu, and she had some experience in how to see through her weaknesses.

Unless it's a top-tier con artist like Mashiro Gorky, whose every step and every word is a lie, even when victory is assured, she's still plotting her downfall.

Unless someone is that kind of person, Yuuki En could usually see some clues about it.

At least when Minato Nana said that, it was obvious that she wasn't sincere.

But she didn’t know the reason. She guessed that maybe after she told Rongshan Deng about her failed interview, Rongshan Deng said something to the boss.

In short, Yuuki En felt quite comfortable working at Minato Nana's coffee shop.

Even turning over to lean against the back of the sofa didn't seem to satisfy Minato Nana's laziness. Minato Nana sat up directly from the sofa, leaving a clear shoe print on the floor that Yuuki Yuki had just mopped.

"By the way, Yuuki, the midterm exams must be pretty tough, right?"

"The midterm exam wasn't too hard, but it made the floor I just mopped dirty again. I feel really bad right now."

Yuuki Yui was just about to take a break when she saw her work being trampled on in a literal sense. She sighed and turned back to vigorously rub the ground where Minato Nana had unconsciously lifted her feet.

"The exam is next week, do you need to take a few days off to study?" Minato Nana lifted her leg and put it on the edge of the sofa.

"Miss Minato thinks I'm not doing well and is planning to fire me?" Yuuki Yuki joked.

"How could that be? Yuuki, you are... the best employee I've ever had!" Minato Nana gave Yuuki a thumbs up.

"Has Ms. Minato had any other employees?" Yuuki asked in return.

“Apart from the next life, there is nothing else,” Minato Nana replied.

"Who is Xiao Laisheng?" Yuuki Yuen heard an unfamiliar name and couldn't help but become curious.

Why did this boss's former employee leave? Did he simply decide he didn't want to continue working there after a while, or is there another reason? Yuki Emi thinks it's worth listening to.

"It was a little black cat, our store's mascot. Everyone loved it. But one day, a high school girl insisted on hugging it and it slapped her. So I retired it."

"Where is it now?"

"I'm enjoying my retirement at home, eating a big fish and meat feast with my dad."

Well, Yuuki Yukino felt she shouldn't have bothered asking about it.

"If I take leave, will I still get paid?"

Of course, Yuuki Yuki was just joking.

"Dream on. If you take leave, forget about your salary, you won't even get to eat the leftover fries and mousse cakes every day."

The mousse cakes in the shop are all purchased frozen. A portion is thawed every day, and the ones that are not sold end up in the stomachs of Yuuki Yuki and Minato Nana. If they still can't finish them, Minato Nana will suggest that Yuuki Yuki pack some to take back to her classmates.