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

"Never mind, I can't stand being praised, it makes me feel embarrassed." Yuuki Yui waved her hand again: "Speaking of which, did you properly report to Hyakki Senyou today? I don't want her and Baqi to misunderstand us again when we're halfway through shopping."

“Of course, I didn’t say anything last time because your situation was special, didn’t I?” Hong Moli raised her hand, explaining to Yuuki Yuen with a finger gesture: “I know you don’t like beating around the bush, so I’ll just say it directly. Is there nothing else besides buying things?”

"Have...have lunch?" Yuuki Yuen raised an eyebrow.

"Phew." Hong Moli breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness. I thought you were going to use some excuse to find me again, like before."

"Is there?"

"some."

But not this time!

"Phew, I'd better not repeat myself like this." Hong Moli interrupted the pointless conversation at just the right moment: "Why did you call me out, but specifically to meet me alone?"

“Uh, well…” Yuuki Yui scratched her head: “Because calling you is the most efficient way to get results.”

“If we bring Baqi along, when we go out together, we won’t just look at Halloween decorations. We’ll go into costumes, food, clothes, and any shop that might interest her.”

"It's really rare to see this side of my older sister."

"If you were to summon Hyakki Senyou, you might want to consider her feelings, right?"

"Yes."

"Li, that's the black-haired girl you fought with and who injured you badly, the mysterious person we're talking about. You know who she is. Tell her to come out with you..."

"Because of consideration for my feelings, and for Chiyuu's feelings since she won't be coming, I had to choose between her and me, and you think I'm better." Hong Moli directly stated Yuuki Yukino's thoughts.

That's why!

Yuuki Yukino enjoys spending time with Mari because Mari is more rational most of the time, and although their relationship isn't particularly close, it's still quite good.

The subtle distance that this good relationship creates makes it most efficient for Yuuki Yuki to act together.

As mentioned before, if someone had to be sacrificed during the festival battle, sacrificing Hyakki Senyou and having Koumori join the future operations would be the most suitable choice for Yuuki Yukino.

Hong Moli is like a mercenary; most of the time, she simply calmly completes her tasks.

This is similar to the migrant worker warrior, Rongshan Deng, but Rongshan Deng won't accompany him shopping, and he doesn't have money to pay Rongshan Deng.

Furthermore, although Koumori is a student at St. Yuu Academy, her family background is relatively ordinary. It might not be appropriate for someone like Hyakki Senyu or Inuyama Tomoe to do the job of buying things.

It might just be a personal bias, but Yuuki Eri felt that if it were left to them, they would definitely be able to find the best one, but they wouldn't find the most suitable one based on the budget.

But Hong Moli is different. Someone who prepares food for Hyakki Chiyuu will definitely frequent various supermarkets and should have a clearer understanding of market prices and quality. Such a person will definitely work very well with Yuuki Eri.

There was another very strange reason: Yuuki Yuki felt that ghosts and vampires were quite Halloween-themed, and that having Koumori come would be very fitting.

Yuuki Yukino's guess was correct; her combination with Koumori was indeed twice as effective with half the effort.

In just one morning, I had bought most of the things I needed.

"Little colorful flags, pumpkin ornaments, ghost pendants, decorations to stick on the door, and this deadwood decoration, is that enough?" Yuuki Yuen counted the things in her hands and looked at Hong Moli, who was carrying a deadwood decoration that was taller than a person.

“It should be about time.” Hong Moli, who was bent over under the weight of the tree, replied, looking at Yuuki Yui with resentful eyes: “Although I wanted to ask you before why you didn’t come by yourself, I think I know the reason now.”

"What? It's not solid wood anyway." Yuuki Yui squinted, seemingly oblivious to Koumori's resentment, and suddenly slapped her palm: "Right! We haven't bought the pumpkins for carving jack-o'-lanterns yet. Once we buy them, we can hang them on the tree."

Although Komamori is reliable and gets along very well with Yuuki Yuuki, she is still just an ordinary girl. When she heard Yuuki Yuuki say that, she put the tree down on the ground and leaned on the trunk with one hand, panting for a long time, looking like she was going on strike.

"No way!"

"Just kidding, just kidding, how can I let you hold it forever? Give it to me." Yuuki looked around, took off her coat, and draped it over the tree branch.

In Hong Moli's opinion, Yuuki Eri's act of taking off her clothes was simply to help her carry the heavy object better, since the branches on it could easily damage the knitwear.

But Yuuki Eri's freedom far exceeded her imagination.

To Koumori's astonishment, a dark purple aura of transformation flashed, and then Yuuki Yuuki, who had already completed her transformation, casually picked up the knitted cardigan hanging on the tree and carefully put it over her magical outfit.

From the cuff of the coat, a swarm of tentacles slowly emerged and coiled twice around the tree trunk where Yuuki Yuki's hand was still attached.

The dark purple tentacles seemed to blend into the already pitch-black tree trunk, and then, the huge thing that had exhausted a lot of Hong Moli's strength was easily carried on Yuuki Yuuki's shoulder.

After taking two steps, Yuuki Yukari realized that Koumori, who had nothing in her hand, had not followed.

"What's wrong? Aren't we supposed to buy pumpkins?" Yuuki Yuen stopped in her tracks and asked.

"I said, you don't actually intend to go like this, do you?" Hong Moli twitched the corner of her mouth.

“That’s right, what else? Isn’t this the kind of time when magical girls use their powers?” Yuuki Yui said matter-of-factly.

"Yuki Yuen".

After being asked to change her form of address, Hong Moli has been avoiding directly addressing Yuuki Yuuki by her first name or surname, and out of politeness, she uses the second person pronoun "you" instead.

But upon seeing this, Hong Moli couldn't hold back any longer.

"Did you corrupt my older sister?"

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Next Mission

The shopping trip in the morning went exceptionally smoothly, except for the little incident where Yuuki Eri transformed while trying to carry the heavy items; otherwise, it was perfect.

Under Nana's incredulous gaze, the two of them carried the items they had bought—far exceeding their combined weight—into the coffee shop in one go.

Hearing that the cost was much lower than she had expected and seeing so many things in front of her, Minato Nana's satisfaction was palpable.

"Yuki! You've worked so hard! You bought so much, take a rest."

Yuuki Yukino would have been even more satisfied if she hadn't replied with, "Why is the girl you brought today different again?"

"Hello, store manager. I'm Yuuki Yuki's friend. My name is Koumori." Koumori bowed very politely to Minato Nana.

“Inuyama Tomoe’s junior, the acting student council president of St. Yuu Academy. I felt very comfortable working with her, which is why I called her here. Oh right, Minato-san, Kurenai isn’t single, so it would be too much to make jokes like that to her,” Yuuki Yuki added.

"Sorry, sorry, don't listen to my nonsense." Minato Nana apologized very decisively, then realized, "Saint Yuu Academy? Isn't that the academy for young ladies? You asked the young lady to carry a tree back for you?"

“The tree was brought back by Yuki,” Hong Moli said truthfully.

Although it was retrieved through transformation.

"Also, I'm not some rich girl. Saint Yuhyou Academy has the qualification to admit students with excellent grades. I just happened to be able to study at Saint Yuhyou Academy because my grades were a little better."

"Look at others, look at Baqi, and then look at you, Yuuki, how come you're the only one who failed the exam?" Minato Nana couldn't resist making sarcastic remarks about Yuuki Yukino, who failed because she didn't write her name.

Looking at Yuuki Yuenen's eyes, Minato Nana couldn't bear to be too harsh on the hero of the day, but she still asked, "By the way, a tree, and so many pumpkins... did you two bring all these things back?"

That's right, it turned out that Yuuki Yuki really did hug the tree and go to buy pumpkins.

Although it was Hong Moli who came to buy the pumpkin, Yuuki Yuuki hid in a corner to avoid attracting other people's attention.

Upon hearing Nana's question, and under the resentful gaze of Makoto, Yuuki Yuuki vaguely brushed off the unimportant question.

However, when Minato Nana insisted on having the two of them stay at the shop for lunch, they couldn't help but be quietly criticized by Koumori, who was sitting across from them.

"How could you do something so outrageous in the street! Don't you know what fear is?"

"It's okay. Aren't magical girls supposed to use their abilities when necessary? We're corrupted magical girls, we're not stealing or robbing, we're just moving some things."

Yuuki Yukino, however, didn't think much of it. Her impulsive decision to go surfing with Baqi in their transformed forms before was far more outrageous than this.

It's not uncommon for people to sit in a hot air balloon with tentacles, turn on a small speaker, and fly around enjoying the city's night view when they're bored.

To be honest, I have been much more restrained in the last few months.

But these things still couldn't convince Hong Moli.

Koumori is a pure pragmatist and will never transform except when necessary.

Yuuki Yukina felt that her idea seemed a bit like nonsense.

However, if she is not in danger and does not intend to fight others, Koumori will not transform.

Before buying the decoration made from the dead tree, Yuuki asked her, "What do you think about using your wand to secretly cut down a tree in a deserted place and then painting it black with black paint?"

"Good idea, but where can we cut one down?"

"Aren't there lots of trees on the back hill of Moonsea Park? Let's go there."

"Okay, it's settled then."

"When are we going?"

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Of course...of course I was just kidding, hahaha."

With Koumori already showing that expression, what more could Yuuki Yukino say?

It was only now that Koumori realized that Yuuki Yuuki wasn't just talking casually; she had come prepared.

If he agreed, Yuuki Yuki would definitely take him to cut down a tree and then spray it with black paint.

"What if other magical girls come knocking on our door if we transform randomly?" Koumori asked seriously, but she didn't want to be too rude to Yuuki.

"Don't worry, we haven't done anything wrong. Even if they come looking for us, it's no big deal." Yuuki Yui spread her palms. "Besides, they can't beat us, can they?"

"Even if what you said is true, I'm not worried about those ordinary magical girls." Hong Moli stared at her reflection in the light brown liquid rippling on the table, her hands clasped together as she pondered something with a grim expression.

Yuuki Yui knew what she was thinking.

I was the one who told her that information.

……

"Is that bespectacled person who's always startled a magical girl? Or the original magical girl?"

Listening to Yuuki Yuki's bizarre personal experience, which she wanted to question but couldn't find a way to approach, Koumori was left only with shock.

There was so much information flooding in that Hong Moli's brain couldn't process it all at once, leaving it scattered like seashells on a beach, embedded randomly in the grains of sand.

It took Hong Moli quite a while to finally manage to organize the messy seashells into a rough order, stringing them together using time as a thread.

“Ghostly Mashiro is the one who made me a magical girl. Her goal is to erase all magical girls in the world. She can achieve her goal by erasing the first magical girl, but she didn’t think of this at first.”

After a long silence, Hong Moli uttered her first deduction, or rather, a narration of what had already happened.

"The entire Moonsea City is enveloped by the magical power unintentionally emitted by that first magical girl, just like the tide, which reaches its peak on the day of the festival. At that time, people standing on the beach can more easily come into contact with the seawater."

These were all pieces of information that Genki Mashiro revealed to Yuuki Yukino after Lin Jiezi had temporarily stabilized. It was difficult to tell whether they were true or false, but Yuuki Yukino couldn't find any reason why they might be wrong.

Mashiro Gonno has always been doing this: mixing truth and lies to create a new color, and then using that as the base color to begin creating.

Now, Yuuki Yui told her story to Koumori and Hyakki Senyu, and then Koumori repeated it.

"On the day of the festival, she conducted an experiment by contacting me, trying to find out if directly amplifying a certain negative emotion could turn someone into a corrupted magical girl, but she failed."