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

Mina stretched, grabbed a snack bar from the coffee table, tore open the packaging, and stuffed it into her mouth, crunching away. She then handed another one to Helica.

Herika took the snacks from Minato Nana, but didn't open them right away. She said softly, "I've always been doing what I want to do, but it seems like I'm causing trouble for others. I also hate myself for doing whatever I want."

"Whether it's causing trouble for others, doing things you'll regret, or doing things you'll hate afterward, is that something you really want to do?" Minato Nana swallowed what was in her mouth and asked in return.

"Doesn't that count?"

"I don't know. I don't expect to say anything reasonable, nor do I expect to change others. I used to think that as long as I tried my best, everything would be alright. But ultimately, that was just my own opinion. If I could change other people's opinions, things might not be like this now. Like, I thought you might need help, so I brought you back. Actually, you might not have wanted me to do this at all. Maybe I was just being presumptuous?"

“No,” Herika shook her head repeatedly. “Miss Minato did help me a lot. What you said makes a lot of sense.”

"Mm," Minato Nana replied, without saying anything more.

On TV, another song began, the rousing drums and ferocious guitar instantly transforming the lead singer's previously lyrical style into a more aggressive and psychedelic one.

When the music ended, Helica the Thunder God also let out a long breath.

"Miss Minato."

"Ok?"

"Actually, I am a magical girl."

Chapter 257 I Miss You So Much

"Ms. Minato, I am actually a magical girl."

Helica looked at the next program playing on TV and spoke in the most normal tone she could muster, but her voice still trembled slightly.

Upon hearing Helica's words, Minato Nana simply let out a knowing hum.

"Ah."

Out of the corner of her eye, Helica saw Minato nod, her expression remaining unchanged despite Helica's shocking revelation, as if the other woman had already known all along.

To protect the identity of magical girls, there is something called cognitive impairment in magical girls. Since Minato Nana's reaction was so small, Herica could only think that she might have accidentally exposed her identity somewhere.

Minato's reaction made Helica swallow back the words she had finally mustered the courage to say to the other person, as if she had lost most of her motivation.

After a moment, Helica asked cautiously.

"You already knew?"

"I don't know, but this makes a lot of things make sense. For example, at the end of last year, Sakuragawa Nana tried to cause me trouble several times, and she probably caused trouble for you too, right? But she failed every time because a magical girl happened to stop her, and she didn't get hurt."

"Ah...that's true."

"Some unpleasant things happened to me in the past, and these things are closely related to magical girls. So I can't say it's bragging, but I'm more sensitive to things related to magical girls than others. Whether it's out of intuition or something else doesn't matter."

"Something you hate."

"Well, I don't think I've told you this yet. I don't remember, but I don't plan to. This matter involves more than just me; it has completely changed the future of many people. Anyway, that's the gist of it."

Minato Nana shook her head from side to side, as if trying to shake out any unnecessary thoughts from her mind.

Of course, these things aren't absolutely off-limits. When Yuuki Yukina made a misunderstanding in a moment of impulsiveness, Minato Nana and Yuuki Tamaki shared their past experiences. At the time, Inuyama Tomoe, who was somewhat of an outsider, was also present and heard about it.

But since this wasn't exactly something to be proud of, Minato Nana really didn't intend to tell Tenrai Herika again. Besides, Tenrai Herika was clearly in a bad mood, and she probably wouldn't want to hear her long explanation anyway.

However, Tenrai Herika knew about what happened to Minato Nana, though she couldn't remember exactly who she heard it from.

“Hmm…” Tenrai Herika replied, “And then, the turmoil a few days ago was actually the one that happened more than a month ago, Miss Minato, do you remember?”

"Of course I remember. It was a really chaotic night outside. I closed the shop early and went to bed early with my kitten. I couldn't fall asleep and couldn't concentrate on watching TV or the news. I kept wondering what was happening outside, but thankfully I wasn't affected," Minato Nana replied, still feeling lingering fear about what happened.

This is normal; the worst-case scenario that day could turn the entire Yuehai City upside down.

Tenrai Herika paused to gather her thoughts before giving Minato Nana a brief explanation.

Tenrai Herika didn't want to tell Minato Nana that Yuuki Yuki was actually a corrupted magical girl, or even a pink demon, but since Minato Nana had some premonitions, there was no need to hide many things.

For example, Helica Tenrai revealed that almost all members of Nijisanji were magical girls.

Of course, under normal circumstances, such information should not be revealed. Letting ordinary people know the identity of a magical girl is a dangerous thing in itself. Moreover, Minato Nana's life has already been messed up because of the magical girl, so Helica really shouldn't have done this.

But Herika's emotions were already on the verge of collapse, and Minato Nana gave Herika so much tenderness that Herika couldn't think things through as thoroughly as she could.

When Minato Nana learned that all the members of Nijisanji were magical girls, she couldn't help but widen her eyes and look at Herika with an incredulous expression, listening intently to Herika's story.

At least Helica was certain that Nana's gaze hadn't left her for some time.

How they met or what happened in the past didn't matter much to Herlicati; she focused on what happened that night.

The matter of the Primal Power and the St. Eternal Academy is too complicated for Tenrai Helica to explain. However, it can be explained in a few words that a villain had an evil plan, a group of magical girls went to stop him, and Yuuki Yuuki was corrupted by the power while protecting everyone.

After that, in order not to affect everyone, Yuuki Yuki left Tsukishima City alone, and Tenrai Herika told her about it.

“No wonder.” Minato Nana stroked her chin, thinking for a while: “No wonder Yuuki Yuki suddenly stopped coming to work.”

Minato Nana must have guessed something. After Yuuki Yuki stopped working, Minato Nana hardly asked anything. This conversation between her and Helica ended here.

“Yes. Nishio Reki told Yuuki Tamaki the gist of the matter, but I don’t know if Yuuki Tamaki told you, Minato-san. But anyway, thank you for listening to me, Minato-san,” Tenrai Herika said.

“If you hadn’t told me, I might never have heard these things,” Minato Nana replied, shaking her head.

Actually, earlier on, Minato Nana had indeed noticed that some people around Yuuki Yuuki, and even Yuuki Yuuki herself, were magical girls, and she had mentioned this to Yuuki Tamaki. At the time, both Yuuki Tamaki and Minato Nana were very worried.

But as time went on, the two of them gradually came to terms with it. After they told Yuuki Yuen about the past of the Rose Garden members that night, their attitude changed to respect and non-interference.

Actually, after Yuki Yuki disappeared, Minato Nana did call Yuki Tamaki, but the call was very short. Yuki Tamaki only said that she was also worried about Yuki, but she didn't know where Yuki Yuki was.

These words were enough to make Minato Nana realize that she shouldn't continue to investigate these matters, which is also why Minato Nana didn't contact anyone else.

In conclusion, this conversation between Minato Nana and Tenrai Herika has come to an end.

In the end, Tenrai Herika didn't say anything about herself, and Minato Nana maintained her usual attitude: since Tenrai Herika didn't take the initiative to talk about it, there was no need for her to ask.

Minato Nana's house was originally the place she had chosen long ago, intending it for herself and Kuriko to live in later. Despite many things that happened in between, Minato Nana still bought it, as it was more than enough to accommodate the two of them.

So one of the bedrooms was left for Helica by Minato Nana, who also thoughtfully told Helica that she could stay there as long as she wanted, and Minato Nana would cover all her expenses, provided that Helica could only eat whatever Minato Nana ate.

That night, Helica slept soundly and had many dreams. She dreamed of her childhood, of becoming a magical girl, and of Yuuki Yukino returning to everyone's side in the end.

The rain outside the window didn't stop overnight.

The next day around noon, Minato Nana finally dragged herself out of bed and ordered two beef rice bowls and a whole fried chicken for breakfast for herself and Helica.

When Minato Nana woke up, Herika had already finished washing up, using disposable toiletries that Minato Nana had prepared for her the day before. Although they weren't very comfortable to use, they were much better than what Herika had experienced in the previous few days.

After breakfast, Minato Nana changed her clothes and went out. Herica was still hesitating whether to offer to help out at Minato Nana's shop, but she didn't say it until the door to Minato Nana's house slammed shut.

In the afternoon, Minato Nana received several new messages on her phone.

One of Inuyama Tomoe's messages reads: "You blond dwarf, you're not home at all! Where have you been hiding? Everyone is worried about you. If you see this, please reply so they know you're not dead out there."

There's also Sakura Hanako, whose meaning is similar to that of Tomoe, but she phrases it much more tactfully and pleasantly.

"Tenrai-senpai, everyone is worried about you. You didn't go home last night. Are you alright now? Nishio-senpai said that Yumehara-senpai could help, but Mizuno-senpai and Inuyama-senpai stopped Yumehara-senpai. They said you have to get through this on your own. Hang in there, Tenrai-senpai. No matter what happens, we're all waiting for you to come back."

There were also discussions in the Rainbow Society's group chat. Some people were concerned about themselves, but another part was about who would help Lin Jiezi master the primordial power today, and that Lin Jiezi had made no progress at all.

Helica turned off her phone screen, lay on the bed and covered her eyes with her arm. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. After a long period of contemplation, she finally picked up her phone.

But Helica simply scrolled through the records of other people who had shown interest in her again before turning her phone off, then rolled over in bed and buried her face in the pillow.

Half-asleep, occasionally glancing at her phone, listening to the noisy rain outside the window, Helica spent her entire afternoon like this.

In the evening, Helica sent her mother a message saying that today's tutoring went smoothly, and then pulled out some practice questions for the college entrance exam that would be coming up some time later and started working on them on her phone.

Although Helica had no interest in studying, finding something to immerse herself in made time seem to pass faster.

After doing several problems in a row, Helica's motivation to study suddenly vanished, so she threw her phone on her pillow and rolled around in the dark of the room.

What should she do? Helica had no idea.

Her previously clear plans for the future suddenly became a blur.

"Wasn't it already decided before? Magical girls aren't everything. I'll lose these powers someday. I should focus on reality. I have family to care about, exams to prepare for, and a bright future. I... there are still so many things I can do."

Helica muttered to herself, trying to cheer herself up.

"But, so annoying! Why is it so annoying! I don't want to do anything, I just want to die, I just want to die. Ah, no, it's not that I want to die, it's that I want to sleep until the world goes dark, and forget all the annoying things."

"I want to...I want to..."

Herlica clenched her fists, placed her hands on her chest, curled her body into a ball, and began to mutter softly.

"Yuki Yukino, I miss you so much..."

Chapter 258 The rain-soaked city finally welcomed the sunshine.

"Yuki Yukino... I miss you so much..."

Helica sniffled softly, wiping the tears welling in her eyes onto her pillowcase, sobbing softly as she repeatedly murmured the name of the person she had known for four years.

Even though Helica knew perfectly well that what she was doing was meaningless, she was the one who had seen Yuuki Eri with her own eyes, and she was also the one who couldn't find Yuuki Eri. She had miraculously seized the opportunity, but then let it slip through her fingers.

Helica believes she has done her best, but will the outcome change if she tries a little harder? A little harder? Wasn't Yuuki already moved in the first place?

But this is the only thing Helica doesn't know, and perhaps no one else does.

In short, only one thing is certain: she is still in Yuehai City, lying on someone else's bed, pathetically sobbing and murmuring the name of someone she can never find again.

"What...what should I do..."

"Cough um."

An awkward cough came from beside the bed.

Herlica lifted her head from her pillow and saw Minato Nana standing beside her bed, looking at her with an incredibly subtle expression. She had taken off her coat, but was still dressed in the same outfit she had worn at the coffee shop, clearly having just returned home from get off work.

Herlica's face flushed red instantly. It was one thing to be sad, but it was another thing for others to see her sad.

The embarrassment pushed aside the sadness that had been occupying Herika's heart, leaving Herika's lips twitching slightly as she unsure of what expression to use to face Minato Nana.

Minato Nana didn't say anything more, just stood at the door and said, "Dinner's ready," before turning and leaving the room.

Helica wiped her tears again with a pillowcase, feeling embarrassed. It seemed that wasn't enough, so she washed her face to completely remove the tear stains, but there was no way to clean her bloodshot, red eyes.

Tonight's food is ramen, which looks like it was bought from a shop by Minato Nana after she closed her shop. It also has a large piece of char siu pork in it, so it's obvious that Minato Nana deliberately added this extra dish.

The meal passed quickly. Neither of them said anything during the meal; they simply ate their dinner quietly. Minato Nana didn't mention that Herika was crying in bed, and Herika herself was even less likely to say so.

An unusual silence prevailed during the meal. Although Nana's phone kept playing manzai (a traditional Japanese stand-up comedy routine), making Nana laugh out loud from time to time, and Herika couldn't help but laugh out loud as well, there was really no other sound.

After dinner, just like yesterday, Herika and Minato Nana sat on the sofa and watched TV. Herika didn't have anything she wanted to watch, so Minato Nana chose a movie about girls fighting off zombies at a school and watched it while fiddling with her phone from time to time, as if the TV was just providing background noise for everyone.

But Helica watched quite intently, observing how everyone lived seemingly normal lives at school, how they collected supplies, how the defensive fortifications made of desks and chairs were pushed down by zombies, and how the girls narrowly escaped crisis time and time again.