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

Having vented, Yuuki Yuki needs to get back to the main topic.

"Lin, are you able to use the power within you?"

"No, that won't do." Lin Jiezi shook her head.

Well, that's definitely asking too much.

The reason why I, Baqi, and Tsukimi Rie were able to use the power given to them by Nishio Reki was because that power originally belonged to them. However, the primordial power within Hayashi Keiko not only did not belong to her, but was also stronger than the Three Pillar Gods.

Yuuki Yui didn't feel disappointed and continued to ask.

"Can you control when she appears?"

The Primal Power will awaken when Lin Jiezi is in danger or when she senses the power of the Primal Darkness, but this is unstable and Yuuki Yuen has no way to utilize it.

However, if Hayashi Keiko could freely switch personalities, even if she couldn't control it, she could still be of great help to Yuuki Yukino by creating situations where she was alone with her enemies.

“This… doesn’t seem to work either…” Lin Jiezi continued to shake her head.

"Then..." Yuuki Yui rolled her eyes, "Are you able to give yourself suggestions and decide on your goals in that state?"

“I haven’t tried it…but it probably won’t work…” Lin Jiezi shook her head again.

Yuki Yuki's questions were unrealistic to begin with, and asking them was just a gamble; even if she got nothing, it wouldn't matter.

However, Yuki Enishi's questions were not simply a matter of luck; she was also using this method to understand Hayashi Mustard's current state.

The result is clear: Lin Jiezi is still an ordinary girl, no different from any other ordinary girl except for the time bomb implanted in her body that could destroy everything.

It's a minor issue that the primordial power might go berserk during the battle of the three pillar gods, but it would be a major issue if Lin Jiezi were to suffer any harm as a result.

Lin Jiezi is not a magical girl, nor does she have any reason to fight.

Yuuki Yukino still cannot, and absolutely cannot, involve herself in his actions.

"Even if you go with us, how can you help us?"

Yuki Gen himself felt a little reluctant to speak in such a distant manner, but in order to persuade Hayashi Mustard, he had no choice but to choose the fastest method.

However, Yuki Yukino tried to steer the conversation back a bit, suggesting that a combination of firm and persuasive tactics would be best.

"Lin, I'm doing this for your own good. If you encounter danger, we'll have to take care of you instead, don't you think?"

Yuki En understands Hayashi Mustard: she lacks her own opinions, goes with the flow, and seems so ordinary that she could disappear into the crowd at any moment.

This time, it seems that Kelin Mustard didn't succumb to pressure as Yuuki En thought, but instead bravely voiced her objections.

"No, no!"

Lin Jiezi shook her head like a rattle drum, and Yuki Yuki wondered if she would shake her glasses off because she was shaking them too hard.

As it turns out, Yuuki Yukino's wild guesses were not unfounded at all; Lin Jiezi's glasses really did come off their grip during one of her head shakes.

Lin Jiezi hurriedly caught the glasses and put them back on her nose, just like the day she secretly watched Yuki Yu and Mizuno Yu chatting in the archery club.

"Lin," Yuuki Yui said earnestly, "this really won't work."

"No, I... I want to go, I don't want to... I don't want to..."

Lin Jiezi stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence, as if something was stuck in her throat.

Lin Jiezi clenched her fists, her cheeks flushed, as if she were trying to swallow something stuck in her throat, or spit out words that were stuck in her throat.

"I don't want to be protected by you! I don't want to be excluded every time! I'm also a member of Nijisanji! I should also have the power to fight! I...I..."

Lin Jiezi shouted, but soon deflated like a punctured balloon, reverting to her previous stammering self, unable to utter any more words of resistance.

Lin Jiezi really wanted to tell Yuki En, to tell her her true feelings, and to tell her her journey so far.

At first, the ordinary girl saw sparkling girls in those non-existent memories. Even though she thought it was just a strange dream of her own, her curiosity drove her to get closer to them.

So her clumsy actions were noticed by the girls, but the girls, who knew she had done a lot of impolite things, did not blame her. Instead, they kept her by their side.

At that moment, Lin Jiezi felt truly happy. It was as if she, an ordinary and taciturn person, could shine just by being by their side.

Although Hayashi Mustard doesn't have any magical powers and can't transform into a magical girl to fight various enemies, she's really happy.

While she was happy, she was also worried that the pink-haired girl who lived next door might, as she had dreamed, become the embodiment of darkness and destroy the entire city.

Although there were only fragmented pieces, Lin Jiezi knew who the other person was and what they might do in the future.

Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, she knocked on the neighbor girl's door and received the proper hospitality, but not the answer she was looking for.

Unbeknownst to Yuuki Yukino, while she was on guard against what Lin Jiezi might do, Lin Jiezi was also on guard against her.

It was only during the very beginning.

Gradually, Lin Jiezi began to integrate more into the group. She was as ordinary as a mustard seed that could be seen everywhere, but miraculously, she gained friends, unforgettable times, and the most beautiful memories, just like everyone else.

We went to the beach together, ate barbecue together, visited festivals together, studied together, and went on a school trip together...

In those beautiful memories, the emotions that Yuuki En returned to everyone were not fake.

Lin Jiezi didn't know why she thought that way, but she just knew.

Even though Nijisanji fell apart because of Yuuki Yuki's deliberately concealed identity, she never doubted Yuuki Yuki's sincere feelings at the time.

She always knew who Yuki Yuki was, and she always knew who the enemy everyone was looking for was, but Lin Jiezi never said it, and she never even had such a thought.

Because she loves everyone and cherishes every moment spent with them, she feels truly alive only here.

When Nijisanji truly fell apart, Lin Jiezi felt somewhat saddened, saddened that her past experiences were nothing but a beautiful dream, and that she could only find happiness in her dreams.

When you wake up from the dream, you will become that inconspicuous self again, like a mustard seed, unnoticed by anyone, growing and withering alone, just like countless others of the same kind.

However, she was powerless, just like when she first met the girls; Lin Jiezi was unable to do anything.

The same applies when magical girls are fighting, and also when their place of refuge no longer exists.

Later, thanks to the efforts of a similarly unremarkable girl, the members of Nijisanji reunited, seemingly more cohesive than before.

They formed a band together and spent the New Year together...

Even though she had never said it, even though she simply didn't have the courage to express her feelings, she didn't want to experience that feeling of falling apart again.

Lin Jiezi still had many things she wanted to do together, even if they weren't what she wanted, even if they just wanted her to be included.

But Lin Jiezi knew, she just knew, that it was the voice inside her that told her, that it had appeared countless times in those dreams that didn't belong to her, and that it was bound to happen.

This time, everyone will fall apart again, because of an irreversible fate.

So, even if it's the last time, even if there's nothing she can do, Lin Jiezi wants to stand with them and look at the same scenery before this final moment arrives.

Together with them, witness the end that belongs to us, to them, and to the entire city.

Chapter 181 Like Burnt Roasted Meat

Lin Jiezi's glasses were covered with a thick layer of fog. Perhaps it was the sweat on his forehead that had evaporated and then solidified again, or perhaps it was because he was breathing too rapidly. Perhaps no one but Lin Jiezi himself knew the reason.

However, the presence of the mist prevented Yuuki from seeing what kind of look Lin Jiezi had in her eyes, but she could see that Lin Jiezi was slightly biting her lower lip.

Yuki En could still see Lin Jiezi pressing her hands against her wildly beating chest, her fingertips sinking into the folds of her pajamas that she hadn't yet changed out of, as if trying to squeeze out her few remaining fragments of courage from the fabric.

Yuuki Yuki just watched her, watching as Hayashi Keko, whose body was not tall to begin with, hugged her tighter and tighter. She seemed even more frail as she silently persisted in this way, despite not possessing the power of a magical girl.

Yuuki Yukino wasn't incapable of understanding Hayashi Mustard's thoughts. She felt this way when she was pretending to be an ordinary person and encountered situations where she had to fight alongside the other members of Nijisanji, and she felt the same way about Nishio Reki, with whom she spent every day.

However, these examples are different from Lin Jiezi. She can secretly find an opportunity when no one is paying attention to show her strength and quell the turmoil. Nishio Reki also gained the power to fight alongside everyone because of his various experiences.

Lin Jiezi was different. She possessed power stronger than anyone else, but she lacked the ability to use it and might even endanger others. Therefore, she could only watch helplessly as her companions plunged into danger, leaving her all alone in the same place.

Yuuki Emi can understand Lin Jiezi's current struggles, her past efforts, and the results she wants to achieve; her empathy has always been very strong.

But no matter what Lin Jiezi says, Yuki Yuki absolutely cannot be soft-hearted.

Actually, the solution to getting rid of Lin Jiezi and escaping this predicament has always been simple: just let Yuuki Eri abandon Lin Jiezi.

But if Yuki Yuki hadn't been so reluctant to do it, she wouldn't have needed to waste so much breath on Hayashi Kikuko.

It's more accurate to say that Yuuki Yuki has always been creating her own prison.

At this moment, Yuuki Yuuki couldn't help but envy Tenrai Helica. Tenrai Helica always had a strange leadership quality, as if everyone would unconsciously obey whatever she said.

If Helica were here, she would surely have a way to keep Lin Jiezi calm, right?

Unfortunately, Yuuki Yukino couldn't deliberately call Helica over, nor did she possess Helica's leadership qualities that allowed her to perfectly resolve the current problem.

Yuki Yukina bit her lower lip, slowly turned around and walked in the opposite direction, leaving Hayashi Kikuko behind.

"Yuki-kun..." Lin Jiezi called out to Yuki Yuuki, her voice softer than the falling cherry blossom petals in spring, yet it became the only sound in the silent night, making it impossible for Yuki Yuuki to ignore it:

Do you remember... everyone... going... to... Moon Sea Park... for... barbecue?

Yuuki Yukino paused briefly.

Of course she remembered. It was the first large-scale outdoor event of the Rainbow Society, her first meeting with Tsukimi Rie, and Herika's first hug to her—all of it happened on that day.

There were so many things that happened that day, so many that even Yuuki Yukino would find it difficult to throw them into a dusty corner of her memory.

But why bring up that day all of a sudden?

Yuuki En thought to herself and turned to look at Hayashi Mustard.

Yuki saw that Hayashi was still clutching the fabric in front of her chest, crumpling her loose and smooth clothes into a ball, as if she was holding onto something important that she was unwilling to let go of—like she was tightly holding onto the memories of that day.

"That time... I was very happy..."

Lin Jiezi stammered as she slowly approached Yuki Yuki's back, her steps slow and deliberate as if she were worried about disturbing him. Yet, each step was firm, making it impossible for Yuki Yuki to find any sign of retreat in her eyes.

"Even though... it was burnt... it was really fun sharing it with everyone..."

That day, Herika held a large bunch of vegetables skewered on bamboo sticks and charred them over a charcoal grill; Mizuno Yu, who was not good at cooking, repeatedly sprinkled salt on marshmallows, mistaking it for sugar; and Hayashi Mustard, flustered and trying to help everywhere, only made things more complicated for everyone.

Yuuki Yukino herself was busy cleaning up their mess, keeping the not-too-burnt vegetable leaves, wrapping salty marshmallows on toast as a condiment, tidying up the things Hayashi Mustard had accidentally knocked over, and handing over the meat she had grilled to everyone.

From initial panic to gradual acceptance, if it weren't for that disappointing little incident at the end, everyone might have gone to see the starry sky that Helica pointed to, creating even more beautiful memories.

No, even so, the memory of that day is already very beautiful.

Lin Jiezi stammered, then reached out and grabbed Yuki Emi's drooping wrist.

"Back then... you said... even the burnt parts... were delicious, because, because it was a mistake we all made together, it was... the taste of youth."

The night breeze lifted Yuuki Yukino's long pink hair, the ends brushing against the fingertips of Lin Jiezi's fingers that were gripping Yuuki Yukino's wrist.

Yuki suddenly noticed that the fingernails of the hand that was tightly gripping the front of her clothes had carved crescent moons in the palm of her hand, and there were water droplets on the girl's eyelashes, whether they were dew from the night or tears in the corner of her eyes.

“Yuki-kun… doesn’t blame us… Yuki-kun… always manages to clean up our messes… and brings us… delicious food… and… a happy ending.”