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

If you were to ask Nishio Reki if she wanted to go out with Yuuki Yuki, the answer would be yes, but she couldn't ask Yuuki Yuki to take her along.

"I plan to go to Nijiba City with Koumori and Hyakki Senyu," Yuuki Yuu continued, making no attempt to hide anything from Nishio Reki.

"Me too! Me too!" Baqi waved excitedly.

Yuuki Yukina cleared her throat and began to explain her motives to Nishio Reki without reservation, point by point.

"Firstly, because of me, everyone wasn't able to fully enjoy the school trip, and recently the store has been incredibly busy with Halloween. This is a good opportunity to make up for those regrets and relax a bit."

Secondly, on Halloween, I asked Hong Moli and Bai Gui Qianyou for help, and it's an undeniable fact that they encountered danger. I should at least make amends a little, mend our relationship, and express my apology.

That concludes the explanation of Yuuki Yuki.

But Nishio Reki could sense that Yuuki Yuuki was hiding something from him.

"What about the third?"

"So, Koki found out after all?" Yuuki Yuen smiled sheepishly. "As for the third point, Gen Urobuchi Mashiro is no longer in Nijiba City. If you want to investigate Nijiba City, now is the best opportunity."

It is an undeniable fact that Genken Mashiro drew Yuuki Yuuki and the others' attention to St. Yuuki Academy, and Nishio Reki was also aware of this.

However, taking the opposite approach and finding out what Mashiro Urouge did in Nijiba City while she was away, and whether she left any clues, would also be helpful to Yuuki Yukino and her group.

After all, the Holy Age Academy is so large that the clues may lie in blind spots that ordinary people would not think of.

"However, it's definitely not going to be that smooth. There's a very high chance that we'll have gone through all that trouble and found nothing."

Fearing that Nishio Reki wouldn't agree, Yuuki Yukino changed the subject again.

The slight unpleasantness that Nishio Reki initially felt because Yuuki Yukina didn't specifically invite him to go with her completely vanished.

The main characters of this short trip should be Koumori and Hyakki Senyu. Whether it's expressing apologies to them or learning about Urouge Mashiro's past, it's all related to them.

Unfortunately, I also have a less-than-pleasant experience with them, and if I were to go with them, it would only make things worse.

Everyone had a bad time and couldn't make up for the regrets. They also felt constrained when acting together. It didn't seem worthwhile for them to go alone.

Yuuki misinterpreted Nishio Reki's hesitation as a sign that she was unwilling to grant her request, so she simply squatted down next to Nishio Reki's seat, saying nothing but looking at her with her watery, misty eyes.

"Sigh... I understand. I'll take care of the weekend job."

After pondering for a moment, Nishio Reki finally agreed.

Working for Yuuki is also helping Yuuki, giving her the opportunity to learn about information that might be related to removing the pollution from the black magic markings on her body. Nishio Reki has no reason to refuse.

"By the way, did you tell the store manager about this?"

"Not yet, but the shop manager is my sister's friend, so she definitely won't refuse me!" Yuuki Yuen shook her head, but confidently made a peace sign.

"Also, Xiao Li, after this is over, let's go there to make up for the time we didn't get to spend enough time with Qunwu Balongyi."

Yuuki Yuki, who was squatting next to Nishio Reki and hadn't even gotten up yet, moved a few steps on the ground, leaned close to Nishio Reki's ear, and whispered something to her.

"Just the two of us, how about that?"

Before they could hear Nishio Reki's reply, Yuuki Yuuki stood up and stuck out her tongue at Tomoe, who was pressing her to tell her if she had just whispered something to Nishio Reki, repeating words like "secret".

Going out alone with Yuuki Yuki sounds good. Before he even started helping Yuuki Yuki with her part-time job, Nishio Reki was already thinking about where the two of them would go.

……

In the evening, as soon as Yuuki Yukino entered the coffee shop, the customers drinking coffee and Minato Nana all smiled at her.

"Yuki, you've changed your partner again." Minato Nana said, never one to miss a chance to stir things up. "You're just like your sister, very popular with girls, but you're not like your sister, who's such a blockhead. She's never been intimate with anyone."

Yuuki Yui didn't say anything, but went straight behind the bar and put on her apron.

"What, are you shy?" Minato Nana's tone softened a bit. She couldn't bully Yuuki Yuuki too much, because if Yuuki Tamaki, who was so protective of his younger sister, found out, he would definitely come after her.

Yuuki Yukino didn't respond, but Nishio Reki asked with some confusion, "Another change? What change? Did Inuyama Tomoe come yesterday?"

Minato Nana looked at Yuuki Yuki, then at Nishio Ryū, grabbed Nishio Ryū's hand and pulled her aside, covering her mouth with her hand and whispering in Nishio Ryū's ear.

"It's not Inuyama Tomoe, it's a girl named Tenrai Herika, she's from Yuuki Yuki's club, the one who was making a lot of noise in the shop the night before last."

“I know her.” The anger that Li had suppressed earlier that morning resurfaced.

Considering Helica's strange words to him, such as the only way to get in touch with Yuuki Yukino was through force, Nishio Reki could easily guess how that guy bullied Yuuki Yukino yesterday.

After all, she knew perfectly well how terrible Helica's personality was.

Fortunately, the store manager didn't mention that Heracles had started kissing Yuuki Yukino, otherwise Nishio Reki would have been even angrier.

Nishio Reki understood why Yuuki Yuuki would bully Helica when she was in a bad mood before her identity was exposed.

It's no wonder this guy was bullied by Yuuki Yuuki!

“By the way, I didn’t come here for that kind of thing, it’s for Yui…” Nishio Reki didn’t want to let Tenrai Herika’s messy affairs occupy his mind any longer, and then brought up his original purpose to Minato Nana.

"It would be better if Yuuki Yukino said this," Nishio Reki thought, raising his voice slightly, "Yukino, haven't you told the manager yet?"

"Tell me? What are you saying?" Cho Nana looked at both of them. "Is it because you also want to work together? Being close to the source makes it easier to get the moon, right?"

"No, I'm planning to take a leave of absence. I'll rest for two days this weekend, and Xiao Li will cover for me while I'm resting." Yuuki Yui couldn't stand Minato Nana's casual remarks and quickly interrupted her.

"How many days off?"

Minato crossed her arms and rhythmically tapped her fingers across her arm, looking very hesitant.

Yuuki Yukari and Nishio Reki were both on tenterhooks. Yuuki Yukari had sneaked out on Halloween and was now planning to ask for leave. She had been disregarding the rules and regulations for the past week.

"Well, you've been quite busy the past few days, so it wouldn't be bad to take a good rest this weekend."

Minato Nana's first words after a long silence did not disappoint Yuuki Yuuki.

But Yuuki Yuki also knew that Minato Nana's seriousness wouldn't last long.

Then, Minato Nana began her inappropriate remarks.

"But you need to be careful not to get too carried away with the fun. If you come back on the weekend and can't even get out of bed, no, I mean if you're so tired from having too much fun that you can't work, I'll really be angry."

Who is this person? How could they openly make lewd jokes about their friend's sister?!

"Don't worry, we've already climbed the mountains in Rainbow Leaf City, so we definitely won't be too tired to get out of bed." Yuuki Yui pretended to be confused while knowing the truth, deliberately misinterpreting Minato Nana's meaning, perfectly countering her move.

"Nijiha City?" Minato Nana's face, which had been all smiles just a moment ago, stiffened when she heard Yuuki Yui mention the place name: "Yuuki Yui, you're going to Nijiha City?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Yuuki asked, puzzled.

Minato Nana moved the corners of her mouth slightly and took a deep breath:

"I think it's better if you don't go."

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Setting Off Again Towards the Known Lands

The rhythmic, muffled sound of the train rolling over the tracks repeated itself endlessly. The similar scenery outside the windows rushed past, and the music flowing inside the carriage made the passengers, who were swaying slightly with the train, drowsy.

But not all passengers were so gloomy; the young women, who were full of anticipation for their trip, were brimming with energy during this long-awaited holiday.

The girls, sitting together, were using this trip as the center and their conversations, which were about topics that might be related or unrelated, were going about in an endless, radiating direction.

"When the store manager heard that I was coming to Nijiba City, his expression changed immediately, and then he told me that he did not recommend that I come to Nijiba City." Yuuki Yui used gestures to accompany her words as she recounted her experience last night to her companions.

"Huh? Xiaoyuan, you didn't mention this to me at all! So how did you talk to the manager? And why didn't the manager want you to come?" Baqi's small eyes were filled with great doubt as she asked a series of questions.

“We went to Nijihae City on our school trip before, didn’t we? A lot of things happened then, mainly because of that school trip,” Yuuki Yui said slowly.

"Hmm, and then?" Hong Moli leaned in curiously to listen.

"After I came back, I had a nightmare. I dreamt of a very realistic scene. Although I can't describe it clearly to you, I just know that it must have been Moonsea City."

Speaking of her nightmares, Yuuki Yukina couldn't help but think of what Nishio Reki had said yesterday about having a nightmare as well.

While nodding in agreement as she listened to Yuuki Yukino speak, Baqi was thinking about the same things and occasionally chiming in.

"Yeah, dreams are always the opposite of reality. I know someone who was..."

"Alright, anti-tank gun, I got it." Yuuki Enishi quickly interrupted Baqi's spellcasting.

"What anti-tank gun?" Hyakki Chiyu and Koumori exchanged a glance, completely unable to grasp this concept that was far too advanced for them.

"It's nothing, I'll continue." Yuuki Yuen waved her hand; explaining such a tired joke to them would be another blow to her brain.

"That day I had a nightmare, and I woke up in fright. My sister happened to be home at the time, and I groggily told her about the nightmare."

"When my sister heard that I had a nightmare, she called the store manager and asked her what to do. That's when they started contacting each other again. After that, it was purely coincidental that I went to work at the store manager's store."

"Oh right, speaking of which, my sister is quite worried about me. She thinks that I have a psychological trauma from the fact that my house was destroyed in the magical girl battle when I was a child, so she is particularly afraid that something similar will happen and trigger me."

"One day, my sister told the shop manager about this. After hearing it, the shop manager thought that I must be afraid of magical girls. If I came to Rainbow Leaf City again, I might be traumatized again, so he didn't plan to let me come."

Baqi recalled that a few days before Halloween, Yuuki Yuuki overheard Yuuki Tamaki and Minato Nana talking by chance, and in a moment of madness mistakenly believed that the two of them were related to the corruption, and ran away from home in a fit of anger.

"Yes, that's true. Your sister and the store manager were really worried about this before, right? I had to drag you back with my bare hands."

Yes, it was because of Tomoe that Yuuki Eri achieved a score of 47 in the runaway competition.

"Wait, something's not right!" Halfway through her thought, Baqi raised her hand to block Yuuki Yukino's path, signaling her not to speak, and scratched her head with one hand: "Is this really why the shopkeeper said he didn't want you to come to Nijiba City?"

“Yes…” Yuuki Yuu grinned, as if she had returned to the speechless state she had when explaining to Minato Nana the night before.

"Isn't your sister protecting you a little too much? Even the shop manager has caught her influence?" Ba Qi pouted, sighing, "The dangers Xiao Yuan encountered were far more dangerous than they imagined."

Psychological trauma? It's a miracle that Yuuki Yuuki doesn't inflict psychological trauma on anyone. Instead, she's constantly being chased and ambushed by magical girls—regardless of the actual situation, that's the theory.

“Who says otherwise?” Yuuki sighed. “But no one can tell their family that they are a magical girl. It’s normal for family members to worry about us because they don’t know us well enough.”

“Yuki Yuen is right. Our family members never really know what our situation is, what we want, or how to get along with us. They just feel sorry for themselves for giving and then ask us to repay them.”

Hong Moli, who had suffered greatly from this, sighed.

The others had some idea about the situation at Hong Moli's home.

During her junior high school years, Hong Moli worked hard to catch up with Bai Gui Qianyou, and as a result, she always had excellent grades at school, which made her strict mother very proud.

Pride is followed by endless greed, with the desire for Hong Moli to go even further; at the same time, he also believes that Hong Moli's excellence is all his own achievement, and he strengthens the restrictions on Hong Moli.

So after arriving at St. Yuu Academy, Hong Moli was practically cut off from her family and lived at Chiyu's house, supporting herself through part-time jobs, scholarships, and Chiyu's help.

It must be said that St. Joseph Academy truly lives up to its reputation as a prestigious academy. Even the scholarships are a considerable sum, enough to cover Hong Moli's expenses for an entire academic year.

Of course, Koumori's evaluation of Yuuki's words was indeed somewhat biased, but Yuuki also knew the environment in which Koumori grew up, so he wasn't surprised that she would say such a thing.

Even someone as rational as Hong Moli reveals some of the adolescent or rebellious traits typical of girls her age when discussing family.

This also made Yuuki Yuuki realize that, despite their fearsome and corrupted magical girls, they were still young girls at the right age.

Continuing to follow Hong Moli's lead would only make the conversation more awkward, so Yuuki Yuuki simply steered the conversation back to herself, raising her hand and separating her index finger and thumb, gesturing a distance that was neither too long nor too short.