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

"I'll call it slumber as well. The victims of slumber are teenagers in their teens to twenties. It only occurs within the city of Moonsea, with the most cases at Moonsea Middle School, but it has also happened in other places. There are no traces of magic at the scene, but it is suspected to be the work of magical girls."

After a brief exchange, Yuuki Yu realized that Mizuno Yu knew just as much as she did, and that her dormancy was also occurring in places she was unaware of, not just those around her.

Yuuki Yukino truthfully recounted her investigation into Lin Jiezi and the original magical girl, but she omitted irrelevant details such as the investigation process, who she was with, and any deductions she made. She only mentioned that the investigation might trigger a period of slumber.

Regarding the interpretation of Yuuki Yui, Mizuno Yu also directly raised a different opinion.

“I don’t think so. Your conclusion is based on the fact that two similar incidents occurred during your investigation. But libraries are places where it’s easy to fall asleep, and drowsiness is triggered by falling asleep. So it might just be survivor bias.”

Rebutted by Mizuno Yu, Yuuki Yui also argued: "But what if that magic is the magic of the original magical girls that permeates the entire Moonsea City, which is why we can't sense it? Doesn't that coincide with what I said?"

This debate did not last long and was temporarily put on hold.

Mizuno Yu's statement wasn't absolute. She added that this was just a reminder to prevent Yuuki Yui's investigation from going astray, and she herself couldn't guarantee that she was right.

Yuuki Yui understood, of course. What they wanted to know now was not about the original magical girl, but about the slumber itself.

Before anyone around her was harmed, Yuuki Yui simply believed that she and those around her should try to avoid triggering the conditions and investigate cautiously.

Moreover, Yuuki Yukari herself had experienced it once. When she suddenly fell asleep in Nijiha City, she was not in any danger except for almost choking on water. Yuuki Yukari had a feeling that even if it really happened, it wouldn't be a big deal.

But now is the worst situation for her, the one with the problem is Sakura Hanako, the magical girl, and she's fallen into a deep sleep again.

If Mizuno Yu's statement is wrong, and it is true that her investigation implicated Sakura Hanako, Yuuki Yuuki will definitely feel guilty.

She is already feeling extremely guilty, but guilt won't solve her problems. She needs to understand more about what Sakura Hanako went through.

Didn't Sakura's family notice anything unusual?

"We found out. We called Sakura's mother and told her that we couldn't contact Sakura. She's right outside her house now, but no one answers the door even though we knocked."

Mizuno Yu's choice was very cautious, and Yuuki Yu also thought it was a very clever method. It was to attract the attention of Sakura Hanako's family as much as possible without exposing the secret of the magical girl. If Yuuki Yu were to do it, she would probably do the same thing.

“Sakura’s mother had heard about us. After making several phone calls and receiving no answer, she took leave and came back. That’s when she saw Sakura Hanako lying in bed, unable to get up.”

"Sakura's mother immediately took Sakura to the hospital, and we went with her. The examination results showed that there was nothing wrong; she was just sleeping normally."

It's impossible to detect anything while asleep, since Yuuki Yuuki believes this was an attack or effect directly launched by the original magical girl.

Even the magical girls themselves couldn't figure out the details of things at the magical girl level, let alone with medical equipment.

“Sakura’s current situation is somewhat similar to sleep paralysis, but there are also some differences. In fact, there is another example that is even more similar to her.”

Having just mentioned the uncomfortable term "sleep paralysis," Mizuno Yu suddenly changed the subject and brought up another person.

"Tanaka Tae, that's the name of the woman. She's been hospitalized for a few months. If you don't remember her name, she is..."

“No need to explain, I know who she is.” Yuuki Yu interrupted Mizuno Yu, urging her to continue, “Go on, what happened to Tanaka Tae?”

Yuki Yukino wasn't that forgetful; the girl herself had told her the name Tanaka Tae on the night she first met Sakura Hanako.

Mizuno Yu was hospitalized with a stomach ailment due to overeating. When Yuuki Yui and her group visited her, they encountered the corrupted magical girl who was pretending to be stupid in the hospital garden. Yuuki Yui even fought with Helica for her sake.

It was through Tanaka Tae's words that Yuuki Enishi learned a lot of information about Kuroba Rebirth—even though it was all false.

After leaving Tanaka Tae's hospital room, Yuuki Yui and the accompanying Tomoe encountered Mizuno Yu and Sakura Hanako, who had rushed over. On the same night, Tanaka Tae was silenced forever by Kuroba Kiyo, who had secretly arrived.

No matter how much Yuuki En was involved, she was waiting for Mizuno Yu to explain it to her.

Yuuki En had noticed more than once that Mizuno Yu and Koumori were particularly easy to talk to, and at this moment she was even more convinced of her idea—Mizuno Yu, who had been interrupted by Yuuki En, went straight to the point without pausing.

"Tanaka Tae is a corrupted magical girl who has undergone a trial. Her current state is close to dementia after the trial, but she is still alive and well. She is more like a vegetable."

Yuuki Yuuki is understandable; the magical girl being judged in the game is portrayed as a ball of fluff. But putting aside the fluff ball aspect, it's essentially similar to the state of a person in a vegetative state, although there are some differences, they are generally similar.

Mizuno Yu's point wasn't about sleep paralysis or being in a vegetative state, which can be explained by common sense. Rather, it was that Sakura Hanako had entered a state of trial, unique to magical girls, from a medical perspective.

“But Sakura Hanako wasn’t attacked, the kind of attack we’re talking about during a trial.” Mizuno Yu saw Yuki Yu’s concerns: “We also mentioned that when we went in, we didn’t find any trace of magic, and Sakura’s physical condition… didn’t seem like she had been subjected to that kind of thing.”

Hearing these words did not improve Yuuki Yukino's mood at all.

It's highly unlikely that Sakura was attacked in the literal sense. Given Yuuki Yuki's sensitivity to magic, the possibility of her transforming behind her back to solve the problem is extremely slim.

For example, both Tenrai Helica and Mizuno Yuu transformed today, which Yuuki Yuu knew about. However, since there was no sign of an enemy and the transformation only lasted for a short while, Yuuki Yuu naturally ignored it.

However, the attack that Sakura Hanako encountered may be more serious than an ordinary attack.

Mizuno Yu came to see me today not to interrogate me, but simply to exchange information and clearly stated that she needed my help.

Yuuki Yui didn't refuse, nor did she have any reason to refuse. Even though she had exchanged information with Mizuno Yu, she still believed that her investigation had caused this anomaly.

But Mizuno Yu was right about one thing.

Judging from the fact that Sakura Hanako never woke up, this was an attack.

An attack targeting magical girls.

Unfortunately when

Chapter Ninety-Four: New Victims

Sakura Hanako's slumber was just the beginning.

Because no one knew what had happened to her, Yuuki Yukino had no way to investigate.

Perhaps if I could learn more about the clues surrounding Sakura Hanako's slumber, I could deduce more information related to it.

But what if it's not that no one knows what happened to those who fell into a deep sleep, but rather that nothing happened to them at all?

Yuuki Enishi always maintains an optimistic attitude when faced with difficulties. In her mind, the absence of clues is also a clue, which can help her eliminate many wrong answers.

She had always done this when faced with her own problems, and through this method, she did find quite a few clues—about her complete corruption and about that original magical girl.

However, this only applies to dangers that happen to oneself; Yuuki Yui has always been "lenient with herself and strict with others."

When problems arise among those around Yuuki Yuuki, she can no longer calmly and slowly consider and eliminate various possibilities.

……

"Hyakki! Think carefully, what exactly has happened since last night? Tell us everything, down to the smallest detail."

Inuyama Tomoe's beautiful, ruby-like eyes were bloodshot, and her glaring eyes seemed to want to tear their sockets open.

Although she had slowed her speech down, the unconscious grinding of her teeth, producing a teeth-grinding sound like an angry wild beast, was even more unsettling.

She didn't want it to be like this, but what had already happened around her made it difficult for her to control her emotions.

Baqi raised her hand, wanting to grab Bai Guiqianyou's shoulder, but was stopped by a powerful force, and then slowly lowered her hand in the direction of that force.

With an equally gloomy expression, Yuuki Yui released her grip on Tomoe's wrist and secretly glanced at Hyakki Senyu standing in the bedroom out of the corner of her eye.

Although Bai Gui Qian You remained as quiet as ever, she was no longer as composed as usual. Instead, she was now anxious and somewhat at a loss.

Although Hyakki Chiyu didn't say a word about how panicked she was, the fingers constantly rubbing together on her clenched fists and the veins showing on the back of her hands when she clenched her fists were more direct than any words.

The most obvious reason for all this is the blonde girl sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling slightly on the double bed in this room that has a strong sense of home and shows that the two of them have been living together for some time.

Everyone in the room knows who this girl is; no one except Hong Moli would sleep in Hyakki Senyou's room like this.

Of course, if Hong Moli had simply fallen asleep, she certainly wouldn't have made the other people's expressions so unpleasant.

This is no ordinary sleep; it is the deep sleep that Yuuki Eri has been investigating.

It is precisely because they are in a deep sleep that everyone must meticulously reconstruct the events, trying to find more clues to pull Koumori and yesterday's Sakura Hanako out of their slumber.

Baqi's idea was correct, but her sometimes overly direct style of doing things did seem so inappropriate.

After being pulled back by Yuuki Yuki, Baqi realized that she hadn't considered Chiyu's feelings in her haste.

But she still looked at Hyakki Chiyu with hopeful eyes, wanting to hear Hyakki Chiyu recount the events once more.

"I've said this several times before."

Although Hyakki Chiyu's words sounded reluctant, she had already told what she knew over the phone, then on the way to pick up Ba Qi and Yuki Yuki, and then repeated it on the spot.

But she still repeated everything she knew in detail, and even brought forward the time for the retelling.

“Yesterday, after Mari and I got up, it was almost noon. We went to eat beef rice at Kiraya chain restaurant, then went to the cinema to watch the recently released movie ‘Crystal Dragon’. We strolled around the city, and in the evening we didn’t go out for a proper meal, but instead ate crepes in front of the station.”

When Hyakki Chiyu recounted the story last time, she didn't mention any specific names. Even though she thoughtfully added names and locations this time, it was still useless information.

It's clear that Bai Gui Qian You is already somewhat at a loss due to excessive tension. Everyone knows these things, so just listen to her continue and filter the information yourself.

"After we got back, Hong Moli and I started reviewing our previous lessons. It lasted for about three hours, ending around 10 p.m. I don't remember the exact time, but the first hour..."

Hyakki Senyou continued speaking, and Yuuki Yuki and Baqi listened very carefully, but still found nothing noteworthy.

Yuuki En thought it was useless to tell her what time she studied which subject, but since Hyakki Senyu had said it, Yuuki En listened to her.

"After the study session, you came and told us about the magical girl who suddenly fell asleep. During that time, Mari was holding up the phone while I listened from behind."

During this time, everything that Koumori did was under the watchful eye of Yuuki Yuuki.

After talking with Mizuno Yu about Sakura Hanako falling into a deep sleep, Yuuki Yukina didn't want to waste a moment and went straight to the hospital to visit the sleeping Sakura Hanako under the guise of being her senior.

Just as Mizuno Yu said, Yuuki Yuki didn't get any relevant clues, neither magic nor any traces. After chatting with Sakura's mother, who was a doctor at the hospital, for a few minutes, Yuuki Yuki returned.

Back home, Yuuki wasted no time and immediately made a video call, bringing Hong Moli and Inuyama Baqi together to tell them what had happened.

Yuuki Yui personally investigated but failed to obtain any useful clues. Although the online discussions among the group were not entirely fruitless, they certainly wouldn't yield any substantial progress.

Therefore, the entire conversation mainly consisted of Yuuki Yukino explaining her discovery to the others, while the rest of the time was spent reminding them to be very careful.

Hyakki Chiyu continued, "After my older sister hung up the voice call, Mari said to me, 'Don't worry, I'll definitely be able to sense if any magical girl gets close, so no one will approach.'"

Koumori's sensitivity to magic is unparalleled. Even without transforming, she can find a person's true form with a magic power so weak it's almost imperceptible. Yuuki Yuki believes that no movement can escape Koumori's eyes.

Before Yuuki Yukari and Inuyama Tomoe became their companions, when they tried to kidnap Chiyuu, Koumori, who was being intimate with Chiyuu, noticed the unusual magical aura and looked out the window. Therefore, it was not a coincidence that Yuuki Yukari was discovered that day.

“I replied, ‘Then you must protect me.’ After that, neither of us said anything more. Because Mori planned to go to school the next day to continue the work she hadn’t finished, she wanted to rest early, so we rested too.”

“We turned off the lights and just lay in bed without doing anything. In order to make sure that Mori would be in good spirits to deal with the complicated work the next day, we really did nothing and then fell asleep.”

"I'm not sure who fell asleep first, but I got up in the middle of the night to drink some water. I was very quiet so as not to wake Mori. Mori was already asleep at that time and showed no signs of waking up. I went back to bed and continued to sleep."

"This morning, I found that Mori hadn't gotten up to prepare breakfast yet. She usually wakes up earlier than me and doesn't wake me up, so I knew something must have happened to her."

“At first I thought Mori was sick, but Mori was perfectly normal, except that she was unresponsive. I immediately realized what was wrong with Mori.”

"Then I didn't hesitate for a moment, I called you, then checked the situation here, changed my clothes and waited for you to arrive."

The description of Hyakki Chiyou is much more detailed than before, but the result is still the same as before, and no problems can be found.

"Hyakki, there's something I need to confirm." Baqi then seemed to remember something else: "We all know that slumber causes nightmares, so did Hong have a nightmare last night?"

"How could the Hundred Demons know whether Hong had nightmares?" Yuuki Yuen answered for Chiyu.

Baqi then explained, "That's not what I meant. If you have a nightmare, your body will either tremble, you'll sweat, and you'll talk in your sleep. There are many signs. Doesn't Red have any of these?"