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

"So perhaps this power wasn't innate? No, not necessarily. Putting aside these speculations for now, I'm certain that this power has existed in Yuehai City for longer than Lin Jiezi himself is old."

"Well, never mind, this matter isn't that important. But as long as we know that this power may have been passed down, our investigation should trace it back to its source, rather than focusing solely on Lin Jiezi."

"After all, Mizuno Yu told me before that there is a legend about the annual festival in Tsukimi City, which is to commemorate a god who enabled the ancestors of Tsukimi City to find a place to live in that chaotic era."

"I forget where I heard something similar, but in any case, there was once a girl in Moonsea City who brought miracles and blessings. And she was actually the faith that Saint Shion mentioned, the original magical girl, right?"

“But Sheng Shiyin doesn’t know Lin Jiezi. Even though she met us on the train and had a face-to-face conversation with Lin Jiezi, Sheng Shiyin has no idea that Lin Jiezi is the person she believes in.”

"So, that original magical girl wasn't Lin Jiezi at all, but some girl who existed much earlier, right?"

After a brief pause, Baqi asked a very crucial question.

"But that woman, Xu Yan Zhen Shi, knows Lin Jie Zi. She should know things that even Sheng Shi Yin doesn't know. So, the clue Xiao Yuan mentioned is to find that woman?"

"No, although what you said is correct, dealing with that person is still too dangerous. We can't guarantee whether what she said is true or not, and we're still caught in the vicious cycle I mentioned before, where we only know how to investigate Lin Jiezi."

Yuuki Yukino raised a finger and shook it from side to side.

"The person we should be trying to understand is that legendary deity."

“But so much time has passed, and it happened before Moonsea City was even established. How can Xiaoyuan possibly find out?” Nishio Reki thought for a moment and then asked.

Baqi and Li also cast questioning glances at each other, it seemed they had accepted Yuki Yuki's explanation and were curious about Yuki Yuki's next move.

Yuuki Yui offered a strange answer: "The library."

"The library?" the other two said in unison.

“Yeah, maybe we can find something by checking the library.” Yuuki Yuen raised her eyebrows as if it were a matter of course.

"But, would such a thing really happen in a library? No book would clearly record anything related to magical girls, right?" Nishio Reki asked.

"There's definitely no book that directly records magical girls! What are you thinking, Yuuki?" Yuuki shook her finger like a teacher.

"What can Xiaoyuan find at the library?"

Even Inuyama Tomoe, who usually understands Yuuki Yuuki's thoughts easily, is now puzzled.

Yuuki Yukino crossed her arms and began her long-winded speech.

"Let me give you a few examples. In mythology, there are centaur tribes that are very good at hunting and have great mobility. But the truth is that some people were defeated by tribes that had mastered horse-taming technology in ancient times and were just spouting nonsense to save face."

"There are also legends that some sorcerers possess the skill to manipulate the undead. Actually, it's pretty much the same thing. They were ambushed by soldiers disguised as corpses. The so-called sorcerers were just giving the soldiers a signal."

"For example, there is a legend about a general who won every battle. In reality, the achievements of many people are concentrated on one person. This is the result of a deliberate deification movement. The benefit of this is that it can boost morale."

"And as for the Yuzumi Yuzumi mentioned, the real situation of General Yumimoto might not be as the legend says. I also saw some unofficial historical records online that General Yumimoto was actually a bandit. Although this statement is both unofficial and historical, the meaning is roughly the same."

"Whether it's to cover up one's failure, for one's own benefit, or to attract attention, they all have a blueprint, and that's the kind of situation I want to avoid."

“The various versions I heard before were all hearsay. There are many such legends, and they are bound to be distorted in the process of being spread. I definitely need to find the original story.”

While listening to Yuuki Yuuki's account and nodding along, Baqi also had a question: "Yuuki, that's what you said, but even if you find out the truth, there might be a lot of distortion, just like Yuuki said?"

"Yes, definitely." Yuuki Yui did not deny Baqi's statement: "Given that we already know this matter is related to magical girls, if we approach it with prejudice, we will definitely read something different, right?"

"Besides, no matter how much of what's written down is usable, shouldn't I at least check what's recorded in the book?"

……

When Yuuki Yuuki decides to do something, her drive to act is always exceptionally strong.

Usually, she would have lunch with others during her lunch break, scrolling through her phone and chatting about gossip. Yuuki Emi went to the nearest store and bought a fried noodle bread to eat on the way. By the time she got to the library entrance, she had already finished the whole steaming bread in the bag.

Heated fried noodles with bread, with its carbohydrates and fats, is a great fast food option. It was Yuuki Yuki’s first choice when she often went to the storeroom to have lunch with Helica, who was hiding there—that is, when the two of them were eating bread together.

But today, Yuuki Yuen wasn't in the mood to savor the food. With her tongue still a little sore from the heat, she washed off the grease and smell that had accidentally gotten on her hands in the library's restroom and went straight in.

Even in the original world, when Yuuki Eri needed to study, she would choose a crowded cafeteria, an empty classroom with few people, or a private room in an internet cafe with air conditioning in the summer.

Now, when she needs to study, she and Baqi do it together at home, or in the shop, just like during the recent midterm exams.

This was her first time visiting a library, a place that seemed completely out of place for her.

Although it's lunch break, some students still try to study hard during their lunch break in order to pass the entrance exam for their desired university six months later.

This atmosphere reminded Yuuki En of the somber mood that permeated her class before her college entrance exams.

Of course, the atmosphere in Yuehai Middle School Library is much more relaxed, and many students take advantage of their lunch break to come to the library to read extracurricular books.

At least Yuuki Enishi saw that someone was reading a mystery about how a wicked woman used love to push those who liked her down the path of crime.

Although Yuuki Yukari was also curious about the content, it wasn't her focus today.

On the bookshelf of history and legends, Yuuki En picked out a few books that looked rather suspicious, and carried them directly to a seat.

Because this spot is closest to the bookshelf, it's convenient for Yuuki Yukino to put the book back if she finds it unrelated to what she's looking for. Therefore, Yuuki Yukino doesn't care that a girl with various practice questions in front of her is already sitting opposite her.

It has to be said that studying in such a secluded corner, where you can't see other students studying around you, should make your learning efficiency quite good.

Yuuki Enishi's research was quite fast. Most of the books contained very little information about Yuehai City, only mentioning it sporadically in relation to its past, as if the city had always existed.

These books were immediately removed by Yuuki En, and the tall stack of books that had been brought in at the beginning was gradually decreasing.

Yuuki En casually glanced at the girl opposite her who was immersed in a sea of ​​questions, currently buried in her workbook and unable to extricate herself.

She was literally hopelessly infatuated; the girl's chin was resting on the open exercise book, her arms hanging down as she breathed evenly.

He fell asleep during only about half of his lunch break?

Although Yuuki Yuuki has experienced this before and understands the situation well, I still couldn't help but mutter a complaint in my mind.

Thinking this, Yuuki Yui shifted her gaze back, and, supporting herself on the table, prepared to get up and return the batch of books that had been selected once again to the bookshelf.

She had just gotten up halfway, not even fully standing, when a muffled thud reached her ears very close by.

Not only her, but in the quiet library where only the rustling of pages and the rustling of turning them were heard, such a muffled sound was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Even Yuuki Yuki, who was standing up, was slightly taken aback and looked at the source of the sound while keeping her knees slightly bent.

The voice was so close that she didn't even need to move her eyes; what had happened was laid bare before her very eyes.

The sleeping girl was lying under the table; the thud was from when she fell and hit the table.

The chair beneath the girl also tipped over, seemingly due to it slipping off naturally while she was asleep.

This kind of thing is not unfamiliar to Jie Chengyuan. After so many years of schooling, it is common for a student who falls asleep in class to lose their balance and fall on the table or even the floor.

But no matter where you fall, you'll definitely wake up because of the pain and loss of balance.

The girl in front of Yuuki Yuki remained in an unnatural position, lying on the ground with her body hunched over, her eyes still tightly closed.

No, this isn't sleeping at all.

Just a few hours ago, Yuuki Yui was saying that Mizuno Yui might be making a fuss over nothing, because survivor bias grouped together some random, low-probability events, and that this was something to be worried about.

The same thing happened right before her eyes, and the sheer strangeness of it made Yuuki Yuki take it seriously.

If what Mizuno Yu said is true—this matter is indeed related to a certain magical girl, but at such a close distance, Yuuki Yuuki really couldn't sense any fluctuations in magic power.

That's not the most troublesome thing right now.

After the girl fell off the chair, a series of creaking sounds echoed through the library. No one in the library was unfamiliar with this sound, not even Yuuki Yukino.

That's the sound you make when you move a chair.

Then came the sound of footsteps, and the whispers of a few people.

Such a commotion in the library would definitely attract everyone's attention, even those who weren't particularly interested would turn their gaze to see what was happening.

At the end of everyone's line of sight was the girl who had fallen to the ground.

And Yuuki Yukino herself, standing extremely close to the girl, stared intently at her with an expression that showed not only surprise and panic at the unexpected event, but also an incredibly gloomy expression.

The most terrifying place in Chapter Eighty is the teachers' office.

"Yuki Yuzuki, the girl who sat across from you in the library at noon suddenly fainted in front of you. Did you really not know about it?"

In the teachers' office, the homeroom teacher, sitting upright in a chair with his back to the desk, stared intently at Yuuki Yuuki's face, as if trying to discern something from her expression.

"I do not know."

Yuuki Enishi, who stood obediently directly opposite the teacher, also answered obediently.

The lunch break wasn't over yet, and there were still quite a few other teachers in the office. At this moment, their attention was more or less focused on Yuuki Yuuki.

The teachers' office is not a place that any student likes, and with so many eyes watching her, Yuuki Yuuki felt as if she had fallen into a trap full of needles.

At this moment, Yuuki Yuuki truly experienced what it meant to feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.

"I'm willing to believe you." The homeroom teacher was still looking at Yuuki Yuuki, her eyes seeming even sharper.

It is certainly not the job of a teacher, especially a homeroom teacher, to arbitrarily convict one's own student. Therefore, Yuuki Emi could tell that the homeroom teacher was being very careful with his words.

But even with such a powerful and authoritative aura, Yuuki Yuuki felt immense pressure emanating from her homeroom teacher.

"but."

The homeroom teacher changed the subject, and with her very slow speech, Yuuki Yukino's heart jumped again.

"As far as I know, Yuuki, you never go to the library."

The homeroom teacher hadn't finished speaking.

"I saw what you wrote in your notebook during class today, and then this happened at noon. If this is a coincidence, it's too much of a coincidence. Yuuki Yuuki, can you please explain this?"

Even if the homeroom teacher uses the word "please" on an ordinary student like herself, Yuuki Enishi will feel that it is a questioning of her.

Mizuno Yu mentioned that the student council had suppressed several fainting incidents that had occurred at Tsukimi Middle School.

Before leaving the library, I saw the student council president, Azusa Niijima, doing some work, reminding the students in the library who witnessed the accident not to make a fuss for the sake of the school's reputation.

If the student council knows about it, then these teachers must also be aware of it, and some teachers may even have personally witnessed students fainting in their classes.

Seemingly because they could find an answer to this series of bizarre events, many teachers stopped what they were doing and looked over.

Yuki Yuki's hesitation seemed to have misled the homeroom teacher. Yuki Yuki heard the homeroom teacher's tone become more gentle and slower, as if he were having a heart-to-heart talk with her, intentionally trying to reassure her.

"Don't worry, you were closest to the student who fainted at the time. I called you here to find out what happened. Yuki, do you know something? Or have you also encountered this situation? Have you also suddenly fainted at home?"

The change in the homeroom teacher's attitude was quite significant, making Yuuki Yuen feel as if she had been given a sugar-coated bullet instead of a reassurance.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that the homeroom teacher might have been negligent or simply hadn't considered it. When the teacher saw what the student had written in their notebook while daydreaming during class, they didn't immediately connect the two events. That's already enough to make the teacher incredibly grateful.

But when someone fainted right in front of her, Yuuki Yukino couldn't explain it at all.

Even if I can't explain it clearly, I have to explain, because I'm truly innocent.