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

As a teacher here, Murakami frowned as he realized that he had to be comforted by a young girl he had just been indirectly pressuring.

Calling it dereliction of duty might be an overstatement, but Murakami was indeed a little unhappy with himself for being a step behind.

Moreover, even after seeing how Yuuki Yuuki used to play with children, Murakami-sensei didn't completely trust her.

A magical girl who inquires about inside information at St. Eternal Academy doesn't gain complete trust so easily.

But Murakami-sensei couldn't just stand there without reacting. As Yuuki walked towards Wakayama, Murakami left the girls aside and quickly walked towards the sobbing little Wakayama.

"Yes, the teacher didn't argue with the older girls."

"The teacher is lying."

Wakayama shook his head like a kitten trying to dry itself, forcing Yuuki Eri to remove the hand that had been on his head.

Ruoshan shook her head vigorously as she spoke in her incredibly pitiful tone.

"The teacher said lying is wrong, but the teacher herself is lying! I heard it all at the door just now. Sister Tianlei said she didn't want to leave. The teacher must be bullying the sisters and trying to kick them out!"

Yuki Yuki and Murakami-sensei were both startled at the same time.

Did Wakayama overhear everyone's conversation?

The topic they discussed beforehand, namely magical girls, was something that absolutely could not be heard by any ordinary person.

Even though the children had all gone to take their afternoon nap, and there were temporary support staff looking after them, under normal circumstances no one would be able to hear them. Both sides also intentionally lowered their voices when they spoke.

But it's better to be safe than sorry.

Yuki was worried that her chat would be discovered, and so was Murakami, but she had one more worry than Yuki.

Magical girls are all dangerous beings, and this is especially true of a magical girl who is interested in and knows about the past of St. Yū Academy but does not belong to St. Yū.

If Yuuki Yuuki were weak, she wouldn't have been able to obtain so much top-secret information and still be sitting here unharmed, asking me about the St. Yuuki Academy.

Just like Yuuki Yuki at this moment and Urouge Mashiro who returned from Nijiha City a year later, both exuded an unfathomable aura of danger, which Murakami-sensei could still sense even though she was no longer a magical girl.

What if Jiecheng Yuan develops special feelings for Xiao Ruoshan because Xiao Ruoshan overheard something she shouldn't have...

No, no, Yuuki Yuki may have an ominous aura, but she's unlikely to be the kind of magical girl who would commit such horrific acts. For some reason, Murakami-sensei just wants to believe in Yuuki Yuki.

Perhaps it can be said that Yuuki Yukino exudes a charm that makes people trust her.

Even if Yuuki Yuki doesn't actively seek trouble, such a girl is bound to encounter all sorts of problems. In order to protect this pure land, Murakami-sensei still doesn't want to have too much contact with Yuuki Yuki.

After Murakami finished his rapid thought process, he immediately prepared a response plan—for Wakayama and for Yuuki Enishi.

"No, the teachers and older sisters were just having a normal chat. But speaking of which, why is Xiao Ruoshan here? Where is Auntie? It's nap time now. It's bad behavior for a child to run away from home and not listen to the rules. Xiao Ruoshan doesn't want to be a bad child, does she?"

Murakami spoke gently, showing no sign of anger, but the pressure behind that gentleness was considerable.

While it is true that there is pressure, it can also be translated as the authority of a teacher.

At this point, Murakami's identity as a teacher comes in handy.

The negligence of the temporary support staff member responsible for looking after the children really made the village teacher a little angry.

Normally, she might be more relaxed, but it just so happens to be this time...

Yuuki Yukino's eyes flickered, and she glanced at Murakami-sensei beside her. Then, she nodded in agreement and stepped back a few paces from Wakayama, leaving the main unknown to Murakami-sensei.

Murakami's series of questions really stumped Wakayama. A child's brain can't remember so many things at once, and he stammered for a long time without being able to give a coherent answer.

"If Ruoshan is a good child, then you should go back to sleep now, okay? Teacher will come with you, alright?"

Mr. Murakami patted Wakayama on the back, speaking in a half-coaxing, half-lying manner.

"Hmm...uh." Xiao Ruoshan nodded.

"Then I'll take you back now." Teacher Murakami pushed Wakayama, making her obediently walk towards the door, and took Wakayama's little hand, about to take her back to her nap room.

When Ms. Wakayama reached the door, she paused for a moment, then turned to look at Yuuki Yukino, who was closest to her, and the other girls behind her.

"Everyone, thank you for coming to play with the children today. On behalf of all the children in the kindergarten, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you. However, I will not see you off."

Should we take this opportunity to let this matter pass?

From both a moral and logical standpoint, this is indeed a good solution. Everyone can gracefully leave, and the matter will be considered closed.

Even Helica, the Thunder Goddess, couldn't continue her capricious behavior under the watchful eyes of the children. Although she was a little annoyed, she could only dejectedly prepare to leave with everyone.

But just when most people were ready to call it a day, a dissenting voice arose.

"No! You can't leave!"

The voice was so childish, but the owner of the voice, with his puffed-up face, made this seemingly insignificant statement sound so resolute.

Everyone looked at the owner of the voice in disbelief. It was Kowayama, who was being led by Murakami-sensei and was supposed to go back, but for some reason, he had stopped.

For a moment, Murakami-sensei's smile froze on her face, but she quickly composed herself and squatted down in front of Wakayama: "Little Wakayama, the older sisters are already very tired today, so you can't keep playing with them."

Seeing that Murakami-sensei had squatted down, Wakayama's expression clearly showed a little fear. To disobey a teacher, especially one who had been with him day and night, taking care of him and managing his affairs, might not be so easy for a small child.

Xiao Ruoshan's slightly frightened expression was quickly replaced by determination, and she clenched her two soft little fists: "I don't want to play with my sisters, but they can't leave, and they can't leave now."

Many people had questions about Ruoshan's behavior, but they couldn't ask him directly because of their status.

Ultimately, only Mr. Murakami could ask such a question.

"Why, Xiao Ruoshan? Your older sisters have things to do, you can't keep bothering them."

Ruoshan practically had her secret written all over her face, but she just wouldn't say it, looking like she was determined to keep it hidden: "I...I know! But it just won't work. Wait a little longer, just a little longer and we can leave!"

Teacher Murakami squatted down in front of Wakayama and tried to reason with him for a long time, but Wakayama remained unmoved and insisted that Yuki and her group leave later.

The two men were locked in a tug-of-war, while the girls found themselves unable to move an inch.

There's only one door to the cafeteria, and it's currently completely blocked by Wakayama and Mr. Murakami, although there's some space on both sides to go around it.

But squeezing past the two of them sideways didn't seem to fit the atmosphere at all, and the girls ended up stuck there.

Although the girls didn't really have anything they wanted to do later, they found it rather interesting to listen to Koyuki and Murakami-sensei arguing back and forth.

Most of the time, however, it was just listening. Xiao Ruoshan wouldn't let everyone leave. Teacher Murakami tried various methods to find out why, trying to get Xiao Ruoshan to go to sleep, but there was no progress.

Mr. Murakami seemed quite patient. If it were a teacher with a bad temper, he probably would have used force long ago, regardless of whether there were other people watching.

Aside from the fact that she is a retired magical girl from St. Yuu Academy, Murakami-sensei shows more of her good teacher side. Her interaction with Wakayama adds a lot to the girls' impression of her.

After a while, Xiao Ruoshan finally gave in to the struggle.

In terms of perseverance, Koyukiyama is definitely no match for an adult. (Reimu + Erlings + Jiuqisi)

However, Koyuki's concession did not mean allowing Yuuki and her group to leave, but rather that she told Murakami-sensei the reason why she did so.

"We want to prepare a surprise for our sisters and teachers."

Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Surprise for the Girls

It seems that in the previous round of persuasion, Ruoshan was slightly outmatched.

While Ruoshan was speaking, he kept looking at everyone with longing eyes. It was obvious that he didn't want the girls to leave. So he made the girls, who had already stood up and were ready to leave at any time, retreat.

In the end, Murakami-sensei softened after Wakayama's persistent pleas and decided to bring Yuuki and the others to see what surprise the children had prepared for everyone here.

"This is so as not to disappoint the children's good intentions. If you just leave like this, they will be disappointed."

That's what Murakami said, and Yuki Enishi couldn't say whether Murakami's words were a way of backing down or just being arrogant, but there was no need for everyone to leave like that.

Moreover, the girls were also very curious about what exactly the surprise that Ruoshan mentioned was.

However, after revealing that everyone had decided to prepare a surprise for the girls and their teacher, Wakayama stopped revealing any further information.

"I can't tell my sisters and teachers what the surprise is yet, but that's okay, just wait a little longer and you'll find out!"

During the entire lunch break, everyone sat in the cafeteria waiting. Because Xiao Ruoshan was there, the topics they had discussed before could not be picked up again, and no one mentioned leaving. Everyone was focused on making the aggrieved Xiao Ruoshan happy.

Xiao Ruoshan was subtly asked what had happened, and then she heard Helica saying something about not wanting to leave. The atmosphere inside also seemed off, which made her realize that they were arguing.

However, after being distracted by the girls, Koyuki quickly forgot about the argument between Murakami-sensei and the girls.

The lunch break passed just like that. As soon as the children's nap time was over, Xiao Ruoshan immediately pulled everyone back to the classroom they had been in.

"Teachers, sisters, this is for you."

As soon as Mr. Murakami and Yuki Yuki, led by Xiao Ruoshan, entered the classroom, the other children swarmed around them like little ducks, and Xiao Ruoshan obediently returned to the children's group.

The child at the head of the group held something in his hands and handed it to the teacher, Murakami, who was standing at the front of the line.

It was a very large sheet of paper, probably the size of two exam papers put together. A picture was drawn crookedly on the paper with watercolor pens.

Although the content of the painting is somewhat abstract, and you can tell from the style that it is not the work of one person, Murakami can still make out what the painting is about.

The background of the painting is the courtyard of a kindergarten, and the building where they are now is also painted on it in a very abstract way, in a corner of the picture.

The main subject of the painting is children holding hands. Each child has a slightly different style, so it seems that each child painted themselves.

The person in the very middle, holding their hands, was none other than Mr. Murakami, a teacher who was wearing work clothes, had long hair, and was noticeably taller than the children.

Perhaps because there were too many children, they couldn't all put their hands down, so the children stood in four rows, like a group photo.

If that's all there is to it, then it can only be considered a personal surprise for Murakami-sensei, and has nothing to do with Yuuki and the others.

However, among the children who stood in four rows holding hands in an abstract way, there were a few who were noticeably taller.

On both sides of each row, there is a picture of a girl, plus the logistics aunt who takes care of them, which is just enough to fill these four rows.

Mr. Murakami lifted his gaze from the painting and turned to the support staff member standing at the back of the children's line, looking slightly embarrassed.

The reason the logistics lady blushed a little wasn't because she saw the painting; rather, she witnessed the entire creation process of the painting.

"The children all begged me to give them and you a surprise before the children who came to help us take care of the children left. I felt bad refusing, so I secretly brought them over."

When Murakami-sensei looked directly at her, the aunt seemed a little reserved and turned her face away shyly.

"Ruoshan ran away by herself. When I went to chase after her, I saw her with all of you. It won't do if no one is looking after her here, so I didn't want to bother you..."

The children meant well, which is undeniable, but even if they meant well, the aunt who indulged them is indeed negligent in her duties, or to put it more seriously, knowingly committing a mistake.

But Murakami-sensei doesn't intend to dwell on these things.

If a teacher were to fuss over such things, it would inevitably dampen the spirits of the children who had so carefully prepared this surprise. That would be rather heartless, and she would be even less likely to be a role model for the children.

"It's alright." Teacher Murakami gently shook her head at the aunt. "As long as the children are all alright, that's all that matters."

After all, Ms. Murakami was Auntie's direct supervisor, and Auntie only breathed a sigh of relief after she clearly stated that everything was fine.

Mr. Murakami looked at the children's paintings again before turning around and holding up the painting with both hands to show it to the girls.