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

Unfortunately, Yuuki Yuuki hasn't realized this yet.

Her loose tongue led to Helica triggering an explosion.

"Yuki Yuuki, which do you think is more important, your safety or your homework? You were arrested once before, but we didn't know about it then. Now you're being taken away right in front of me! Do you know how worried we are?"

Yuuki Yukino still had a moment to process what Helica was saying.

"Exactly! You! How can you be so calm and worried about others when you're in danger? Can't you worry about yourself instead? Are you an idiot? Are you sick in the head? Are you that unimportant? Do you even know how lucky you were to have escaped from the clutches of the corrupted magical girl twice?!"

Why is Helica suddenly angry?

"I'm sorry..." Yuuki Yui didn't know how to respond to Helica's words, so she decided to apologize first.

"Why are you apologizing! What does this have to do with you!"

"I told you I would protect you! But at first I thought that as long as I stayed far enough away from you, you wouldn't be in danger. I was wrong. This time, just this time, you were kidnapped right before my eyes, and I was still hesitating whether I should transform."

"Even if you had shown fear or blamed me, I would have felt better. But what are you apologizing for?!"

With just a little thought, Yuuki Yuki can arrive at the answer.

There's no doubt that Helica is angry, but her anger isn't directed at Yuuki Enishi; it's directed at herself, who can never help Yuuki Enishi.

It's still an information gap. She took the initiative to go and try to recruit teammates during the battle with Tsukimi Rie, and as she told Helica, she was captured by Miyashita Mia. Today's wild rescue by Baki was a farce, and she was not in any danger at all.

This was something Yuuki Yukari herself knew, and like her inexplicable apology, it was something that was said under conditions of information asymmetry, leading to ambiguity.

The farces that Yuuki unintentionally caused became Helica's reason for blaming herself.

It sounds strange, doesn't it? But that's really what Helica thinks.

Yuuki Yui couldn't speak for a long time. She still thought silence was the best option. Her previous talkativeness had already made Helica so unhappy. If she said anything she shouldn't, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

How could I, who should be so cautious, have become so careless after only one week of summer vacation? There are still so many things waiting for me in the future.

Yuuki Yukino had already shut her mouth and was unwilling to continue discussing this topic, but Helica continued to argue relentlessly.

Helica argued a few more times, then, feeling utterly foolish, she deflated like a punctured balloon, her tense nerves completely relaxing in that moment.

"Sigh, never mind, let's go."

Helica and Yuuki Yuuki looked at each other for a moment, sighed, and continued forward. Yuuki Yuuki followed closely behind, but this time they were no longer walking side by side; instead, Yuuki Yuuki followed behind.

"Yuki Yuki, are you hungry?" After walking a few steps, Helica asked this question out of the blue.

"well enough?"

After Yuuki Yuki finished speaking, she realized that she was actually a little hungry.

After a whole day, Yuuki Yui had only eaten a little something at a family restaurant, and now her stomach was completely empty.

Based on life experience, in this long yet fleeting season, it should be past nine o'clock by the time it gets completely dark, right?

After considering all this, Yuuki Yukari realized that the other person seemed to be trying to break the awkward silence by making small talk, but unfortunately she couldn't react immediately to respond to Helica's words.

Having missed the opportunity, they could only wait for Helica to say something more, but Helica's response was merely a vague reply.

"Oh."

The atmosphere became even more awkward. Yuuki Yuuki herself hadn't expected that her unintentional apology would become the spark that ignited Helica's powder keg.

Helica, unusually, spoke her mind without any awkwardness, and her tone was so irritable that even Yuuki Yuuki couldn't tell if she was being arrogant or just being coquettish.

I stole a few glances at Helica's back, but I couldn't make out her expression.

It's really troublesome to deal with someone who's arrogant and tsundere.

No, Helica is actually even more troublesome than the tsundere.

If all else fails, I'll have to break this deadlock myself.

"Tianlei, how about we grab something to eat together?"

Herlica turned her head quickly, her eyes shining with excitement, her anticipation obvious.

How wonderful, even today's tsundere was so easy to handle.

Chapter Fifteen: The Story You Don't Know

After leaving Moonsea Park, Yuuki Yuki and Herika went into the nearest restaurant.

To make dining more convenient for tourists, there are quite a few restaurants near Moonsea Park. Apart from a few that look luxurious and are designed to deceive unsuspecting tourists, most of the other restaurants can be considered to offer good quality food at reasonable prices.

After walking in the grove for so long, Yuuki Yuki and Helica were too tired and didn't have the energy to carefully find a suitable place for dinner, so Yuuki Yuki just listened to Helica and randomly chose a place.

Of course, Helica chose a family-run restaurant again, and Yuuki Yuki was at a loss for words as to why Helica was so insistent on family-run restaurants.

But Helica was in a bad mood, having just spent half the day feeling self-loathing, and Yuuki Yuuki didn't care what they ate for dinner, so going along with her wishes wouldn't be a bad idea.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened during the rest of the dinner.

During the meal, Helica's mood improved considerably, mainly thanks to Yuuki Yuki's persistent efforts to find topics to cheer her up.

No matter what, Yuuki Yuuki was Helica's only crush when playing the game. Even after coming to this world and interacting with Helica, she deeply realized that Helica was far more troublesome than she had imagined. But she was still upset that she had pushed Helica into the world, and she felt it wouldn't be right not to do something.

From the first time Yuuki met Helica in the storage room, or even earlier while playing games, she knew that Helica was not a talkative person. On the night the barbecue party ended, Yuuki felt this even more keenly.

It's not about replenishing Helica's mana, but about something earlier, when I was treating Helica's wounds, and how Helica habitually kept her distance from others.

This is something that can't be changed; perhaps it will only change when Helica encounters some major upheaval.

Yuuki Yukino always compares Helica to Baki, because the two are very similar in some ways, and completely opposite in others.

For example, in her interactions with Yuuki Eri, Baqi was very proactive. Baqi would always offer suggestions, and Yuuki Eri only needed to follow her lead.

Helica's initiative is only evident in the Nijisanji and the family restaurant, as well as her previous band. Apart from these, Helica is excessively passive.

But even someone like Helica has her moments of initiative.

Herlica neatly placed the chopsticks on the plate, put her hands together, rubbed her fingers together a few times, and then put her hands under the table. Judging from her slightly swaying shoulders, Herlica's intertwined fingers were still restlessly rubbing together.

After waiting for a long time, Helica finally spoke and asked:

"Yuki Yuuki, um, how about we go for a walk together later?"

Being invited by Helica like this was unprecedented for Helica. Helica's usual habit was to propose an idea as if giving orders, and then pull in Hayashi Mustard, who would never refuse, Mizuno Yu, who would do anything, and Yuuki Yuki, who would almost always agree to whatever Helica said, to carry it out together.

But this time, Helica was extending an invitation, or rather, she was asking Yuuki Yukino's opinion.

"Is there anywhere you'd like to go, Tianlei?"

Yuki Enkido

Moon Sea Park.

How ordinary! I just came out of here, why do I have to go back?

I really shouldn't have had too many expectations of Helica.

"If you don't want to, then forget it."

Helica was visibly more disappointed.

"No, no! I think it's pretty good!"

After Yuuki Yuuki agreed, Helica's expression became noticeably brighter.

After nightfall, Moonsea Park does not prohibit tourists from entering at will. From the time the park's gate was built, only an unclosable archway was installed, and there was no consideration of preventing tourists from entering.

However, not many tourists are willing to go deep into the park after nightfall. The park is only lit by a few lonely lamps, and the rest of the area is almost shrouded in darkness. There are no interesting activities or entertainment facilities at night, so it is normal for it to be quiet during the cleanup.

Helica walked quietly ahead, just as she had when they came out of Moonsea Park, making it difficult to guess what she was thinking.

Unable to fathom it, Yuuki Yuzuru could still be asked.

"What are you planning to do?"

Even though Yuuki Yukino asked, Helica did not give an answer.

Yuuki Yuki had a strange premonition that this dark place was the perfect place to do something unspeakable.

Perhaps it's because her thoughts are too filthy, but Yuuki Yukino can't help but think in that direction.

"Tianlei?"

Shh, we're here.

Helica raised a finger and pressed it against Yuuki Yuuki's lips.

The finger left Yuuki Yukino's lips, slowly rose, and then pointed to the sky.

Following Helica's finger, Yuuki Yuuki looked up and saw the sea hanging overhead, a sea composed of countless twinkling stars.

In the pitch-black night sky, the stars seemed to be falling.

Not far from the city, yet lacking its lights, and with no leaves to obscure the empty night sky, Yuuki Yuki realized for the first time in her life that the starry sky could be so close to her.

In this atmosphere, even contemplating those sordid acts seems like a desecration of this starry sea.

It turns out there's such a place in Moonsea City, something that's never been mentioned in the game.

Thinking about games now is a kind of blasphemy.

Yuuki Yukino involuntarily opened her mouth wide. All exclamations seemed too pale; only silence seemed to be the best respect for this starry sky.

Compared to the beautiful starry sky, Yuuki Yuki was surprised that at her age, she still retained the sensual feeling of being awestruck by the beauty of the starry sky.

Humans are such emotional beings.

Yuuki Yukina stiffly shut her mouth and gasped.

"Are you planning to show me this?"

"Please sit down first."

Herlica crossed her knees and sat down on the ground, extending her small hand toward Yuuki Yuuki.

Yuuki Yukino lifted her skirt and sat down next to Helica, raising her head again to gaze at the starry sky. Perhaps because the angle was lower, the starry sky seemed to become larger in front of her, so large that it completely filled her field of vision.

Helica raised her finger again, pointing to the band of light in the sky that looked like a cloud.

Should those clouds reflecting the stars be called nebulae?

As if seeing through Yuuki Yukino's doubts, Helica explained to her.

"There, is the Milky Way."

Helica moved her finger, pointing to a star further up in the Milky Way.