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

"The root cause of those ordinary girls' corruption is the existence of these guys."

Chapter 166 Parasite

In fact, every fallen magical girl, every instance of her fall, has a traceable cause.

Because of arrogance due to contempt for others, and inferiority due to inadequacy, one will fall into darkness.

Anger arises from the inability to achieve everything, and laziness arises from the ease with which everything is successful; thus, one falls into darkness.

Greed arises from having too many desires, and envy arises from not being able to obtain what one desires; thus, one falls into darkness.

Anxiety arises from putting too much pressure on oneself, and withdrawal occurs from thinking altogether, leading to a descent into darkness.

Whether it's Yuuki Yukino and the other magical girls, or those magical girls who want more people to "become" us, everything must abide by the same rules.

They all fell because of one thing, and the name of that thing is known to all—desire.

"Alright, let's get back to today's main point."

Yuuki Yukino then turned around, holding the chalk, and faced the blackboard.

"At the beginning, I mentioned the conditions for corruption to everyone, and we also learned that these corrupted magical girls did not fall into darkness for conventional reasons. Knowing this, we can now analyze further."

The chalk continued to scribble on the blackboard, and all around was silent. Some people probably had never stared at the blackboard so intently, even during actual class.

Accompanying the intermittent sound of writing was Yuuki Enishi's unhurried explanation.

"First, we need to understand what they actually are."

Baqi cutely raised her hand, cooperating fully with Yuuki Yuuki: "So, Yuuki-sensei, what exactly are they?"

Yuuki nodded approvingly. This scene looked just like the interaction between a teacher and a good student in the class, giving many people a similar sense of déjà vu.

“Good question. I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. They are a special kind of life form that looks no different from ordinary humans, especially when they are using human bodies, which makes it very difficult for us to distinguish them.”

Immediately afterwards, Yuuki Yukino changed the subject.

"But they are fundamentally different from humans. We can think of it simply and understand them and magical girls as having a parasitic relationship. Everyone is familiar with the concept of parasitism, right?"

Parasitism refers to two organisms living together, where one is harmed and the other benefits.

To reiterate, it's crucial that one side benefits while the other suffers, which is why Yuuki Yukino uses parasitism as an analogy for the current situation faced by magical girls.

Yuki Yukino paused for a moment, and only continued speaking when no one objected.

“We consider them as parasites. These parasites infect young girls through some means, and after successfully infecting them, they begin to grow by consuming the host's energy until they hatch. But it is difficult for people to detect them before they hatch.”

Yuuki Yui started with a simple introduction and then began to explain every detail in great detail, such as how she discovered it and how she confirmed it.

The process is lengthy because Yuuki needs to ensure that everyone else understands the underlying principles, so that their subsequent actions will be more advantageous.

However, the conclusion is actually not complicated.

Parasites all draw energy from their hosts, and these things that Yuuki Eri calls parasites are no exception.

However, they feed on the soul to maintain its minimal growth, just as they constantly plunder the host's magic.

However, the effect is extremely slight, only enough to make the host feel slightly tired, so even the host can hardly detect it.

At the same time, they are constantly connected to the host's mind, intentionally or unintentionally giving the host some negative suggestions, keeping the host in a low-pressure state full of negative energy.

There is no conclusive evidence to prove the truth of this point, but sometimes knowing the conclusion is enough, and the reasoning process is not so important.

After all, this is a crucial period before they are about to upgrade their grades or even enter higher education. More than 95% of girls of this age are students, so it is quite common for them to be in a low mood. Therefore, it is not easy for one or two girls who are parasitized to receive attention.

“We can easily see the weeds on the ground, but no one can find the grass seeds in the soil, so it is difficult for us to find them directly. They are deceiving us and the host’s eyes in this way.”

Yuki Yukino summed it up like this.

"After that, the parasites that have successfully parasitized the host will wait for the right opportunity and create it in secret. Once the host meets the conditions for 'corruption,' they will hatch."

"They are not the host's second personality, but a completely new individual that grows solely by relying on the host's nutrients. They will continue to lurk in the host's body."

"When they mature, they will continue to manipulate their original hosts through suggestion, causing the hosts to cause more destruction and bring despair to more people, which will also accelerate the hatching of their other companions."

"Moreover, when necessary, they can even directly replace the original host, just like the monster that took over Niijima Azusa's body. I don't know if this process is reversible."

"But without a doubt, that's what they are—all those corrupted magical girls we captured are like that. Just like the 'Inner Birds,' right?"

The Inner Bird is a legendary monster that lays its eggs, smaller than a pore, inside a human body. The hatched bird then eats the human from the inside.

After the birds finish eating their food, they don't fly away. Instead, they manipulate the host from within, using this method to kill more people.

Although Yuuki and her team always arrive at the scene within minutes whenever a problem arises, the affected area remains relatively small.

Yuki En imagined that if those parasites were allowed to further expand the affected area, it would be like igniting a chain of gunpowder, blowing the entire Moonsea City into the sky.

Just thinking about it sent chills down Yuuki Yuki's spine and filled her with lingering fear.

She was still explaining things, and even if Yuuki Yuki had some strange thoughts in her mind, she wouldn't interrupt herself for the sake of trivial matters.

“Even though they don’t communicate, they all follow the same rules and share common memories. After I locked Niijima Azusa up, the other broken-down dark magical girls could still continue what they were saying and keep arguing about ‘it’s urgent’, as if the same account was logged in from several different places at the same time.”

"Besides using trash talk to try and break people's defenses, they kept referring to themselves as 'we,' and for example, they repeatedly emphasized that they are human beings."

"So," Yuuki Yui concluded, "I'm more inclined to believe that they aren't individual entities, but rather a collective with a shared consciousness, a monster created by humans that has made a mess of the world."

After that, there were only minor details. Yuki Yuki spoke very quickly, and most of it was just supplementary information. It took her more than ten minutes to finish speaking.

After Yuuki finished speaking, the girls in the room all kept their lips tightly closed, each lost in thought, but none of it was clear that it was related to what Yuuki had just mentioned.

After a moment of silence, the girls had all formed their own opinions and began to whisper among themselves.

Baqi tilted her head and summarized what Yuuki Yuuki said: "What Yuuki means is that these guys can parasitize ordinary people and have the ability to catalyze the corruption of ordinary girls, and then take their place when they fall into corruption."

Helica, however, had already begun to think further, preparing to trace the origins: "That seems to make sense, but where did they come from? Isn't that a question? Even parasitism has an origin, right?"

"Is it possible that these parasites were deliberately thrown out by someone?" Sakura Hanako asked, her face full of worry during the discussion.

Hong Mali nodded, following Sakura Hanako's train of thought. Now, the animosity between the two of them, which had been so intense before, was no longer visible: "I think it is. It's inseparable from those two from St. Yuu Academy, and I didn't notice them making any moves the whole time."

"Is there any way to identify them so far? I don't think there's any capability that can be done without leaving a trace. Even enemies like Sumireko Yumehara, who don't leave any evidence, were found, weren't they?" Mizuno Yu's considerations were more realistic.

“Yes, there definitely will be…maybe we can approach it like this…” Baqi said, starting a new round of brainstorming.

Yuuki Yui didn't join the discussion. Instead, she pulled up a chair, sat in front of the blackboard, and listened quietly to their conversation.

Yuki Yui hadn't originally planned to speak up; perhaps letting their thoughts collide would help her discover something she had previously forgotten.

Finally, the girls reached a consensus.

Based on this consensus, the girls' counterattack officially began.

Chapter 167 This tracing method is incredibly useful!

"Yuki-kun, you can sit in the corner next to Tenrai-kun. It's spring break now, so our course schedule might be a bit tight. If you have any questions, you can write them down and give them to me. I'll find some questions that everyone is curious about and answer them all at once."

The tutor spoke to Yuuki Yukino, who had arrived at the tutoring center early, and pointed out her seat.

"Okay, thank you, teacher." Yuuki Yuu bowed slightly to the teacher, then turned and walked towards the seat.

Yuuki Yui thought she had arrived quite early; there was still almost an hour before class officially started, but the large lecture hall was already more than half full.

It truly lives up to its reputation as a tutoring center for good students.

Yuuki Yukino sighed inwardly, then walked briskly to Helica's side with a blank expression, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Herlica had introduced Yuuki to the cram school, and she was entitled to a 50% discount on each lesson, so she was definitely already waiting in her seat.

As soon as Helica saw Yuuki Yuki sit down next to her, she immediately leaned closer to her.

"How are you? Do you sense anything unusual?"

"It can't be that fast. I think this teacher is really arrogant." Yuuki Yuu stuck out her tongue and took out the textbooks she needed for tutoring from her schoolbag and spread them on the table.

"There's no way around it. She's a renowned teacher. She started at St. Yonyou Academy, but couldn't stand the school's atmosphere, so she came to Yuehai Middle School. She only teaches students preparing for college entrance exams. Yuehai Middle School even created a separate class for her. Later, it seems that she was reported by a student's parent, so she had to quit."

Helica rarely expresses praise for others, and very few people can gain her approval, especially in her areas of expertise.

But when talking about this female teacher at the cram school whose face was as cold as ice, Herika's adoring expression made Yuuki Yuuki a little jealous of the teacher.

Yuuki Yukino herself didn't know how this nameless jealousy had arisen.

"I know, I know, but don't forget why we came here in the first place." Yuuki Yuen tried her best to make her tone as gentle and doting as possible, but there was still a little bit of impatience in her tone.

The reason why Yuuki Yukino is here can be traced back to her discovery the day before.

……

Three days after Niijima Azusa's fall from grace, and two days after Yuuki Yukino gathered everyone together, the girls reunited in the Nijisanji activity room.

Because of everyone's wonderful performance at the Christmas party at the end of last year, no one will suspect anything if a group of them rushes into the activity room of the Rainbow Girls Club. Therefore, this place is the most suitable base for the magical girls.

Why does it give me this weird sense of déjà vu from The Phantom Thieves of Hearts?

Never mind that, we're here to get down to business.

"I have organized what everyone gave me on the first day, and I will tell you about my findings later."

Wearing a spring uniform, Yuuki Yukino rested her hands on the table, with a thick stack of papers beneath them. If her red-rimmed glasses were replaced with sunglasses, she would look even more like a gang leader.

"Ready! Boss Yuuki!" Baqi immediately stood at attention and shouted in the innocent tone of the children in the orphanage.

Because the imitation of that phrase was so accurate, many people couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Thanks to Baqi, the atmosphere at the first launch of the l-in~g/-dream/first*operation meeting wasn't so serious and tense from the start.

Yuuki Yukino couldn't hold back her laughter any longer and laughed for a while before wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Alright, alright, let's get started quickly."

"Yes! Let's get started. You told us to collect information on these people's movements, the more detailed the better. What have we found?" Helica urged impatiently.

That's right, what Yuuki En asked others to collect was the whereabouts of the corrupted magical girls she imprisoned in the Dreamland, and the more detailed the better.

It was too difficult for Yuuki Yukino to do it alone, so she took out a detailed list and gave it to everyone so that others could help.

The results were surprisingly good; in just two days, Yuuki Eri had gathered more information than she had expected.

She certainly had her own clever uses for these things.

Yuuki Yui slowly got up from behind the chair, took the stack of papers, and pasted one of them onto the blackboard.

"I have compiled the information on the whereabouts of these corrupted magical girls before their corruption, which I asked everyone to collect. I have arranged it in chronological order. Thanks to everyone, the information you collected is very detailed."

Next, Yuuki Yukino read aloud her summary from the first sheet of paper.

"The first one to fall into darkness was Ishikawa Megumi. She was Helica's classmate in the same cram school and lived in the Flower Tower Ward. Her daily routine was to go to school, attend cram school, eat at the Kira family chain restaurant, and then go home. On weekends, she would go to the municipal library. Her routine was really regular."