Even Borel had no time to look for amusement now. She tossed Yukieda aside and hurriedly fled into the distance.

She was incredibly fast. Mortal eyes couldn’t catch her figure. It looked like a video with frames missing, as she kept flashing across the rooftops toward the horizon.

Now that she was free again, Yukieda naturally noticed the howling sound overhead. Without time for anything else, she unleashed her magic at full power.

With one hand, she grabbed the unconscious Mr. Kenji. With the other, she seized Mai by the collar. Like carrying two chicks, she fled with them in the opposite direction.

Above them, the terrifying upright ape’s crystallization of wisdom kept reacquiring its target and correcting its trajectory.

Almost in the blink of an eye, Yukieda felt the night sky flare as brightly as day.

Then, a thunderous roar and a violent shock wave slammed into them from behind!

What should she do?

She couldn’t dodge it.

This blast—

“Shield!”

A ponytailed girl in a red dress descended from the sky and landed behind Yukieda.

She drove the red-tasseled spear in her hands into the ground. Then she rapidly deployed three layers of warm-colored, semicircular shields.

She completed everything within a few short seconds.

“Don’t move!” the red-haired girl shouted.

The shock wave arrived right after her. It carried countless fragments of buildings and the wreckage of cars, crashing into the transparent, warm-colored shields and sending ripple after ripple across them.

The shock wave came fast and vanished just as quickly.

Before long, the street fell silent. Only the black dust drifting through the sky remained, slowly descending.

And the flames filled the heavens.

The missile had set the residential district ablaze. The compensation and resettlement costs afterward would certainly be astronomical.

Yukieda raised her head and saw the red-ponytailed girl covering her ears.

She was about as tall as Yukieda, with an equally youthful face. Clearly, she was exactly the type certain groups adored.

“Yes, I’ve reached the destination. I didn’t detect any other traces of magic.”

After saying that, the red-haired girl turned around and looked down at Yukieda. A trace of amazement flashed through her eyes.

“So cute…”

“Ahem. I’m the guardian of the neighboring city, Yasaka. You can call me Almond. What’s your name?”

Almond greeted Yukieda in a bright, energetic voice.

Yukieda was deeply grateful to the Magical Girl who had arrived just in time to save her. It was obvious that they were in the same line of work.

“I’m Oriuchi. Oriuchi Yuki. This is my partner, Mai.”

Mai glanced at Yukieda, sighed, and offered her thanks as well.

Almond froze for a moment before saying, “Next time, introduce yourself with your codename. Don’t give out your real name.”

“But since you’ve already told me yours, I can’t keep mine hidden either!”

“Remember my name. I’m Kazama Kurenai.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Kazama Kurenai covered her earpiece and shouted, “What’s the big deal? She already told me her real name! Besides, she’s super cute!”

There was probably a partner on the other end of the earpiece. But Yukieda had no attention to spare for that.

Mr. Kenji’s condition was extremely serious. He needed help.

“Mm, let’s talk again later. I’m going ahead to see if anyone else needs my help.”

“Oh, you’re a rookie, right? If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me!”

Kazama Kurenai pulled her spear from the ground and sprinted into the distance.

Soon, the rescue convoy that had been waiting outside entered Liang District Three and began the cleanup operation.

Tonight was destined to be a long one.

By the time everything was over, it was already two in the morning.

Yukieda spent the entire time answering questions and undergoing medical examinations.

At last, she said goodbye to the unconscious Mr. Kenji, who was across the window with a respirator over his face.

Only then did Yukieda find an empty corner and dispel her transformation.

When she turned on her terminal, she discovered more than a dozen missed calls and several messages.

They were all from Shizuku.

Yukieda hurriedly called her back.

Shizuku was clearly relieved to hear her voice. Then she complained, “You and Mai ran off without saying a word, and you didn’t answer my messages! Mr. Yoshitaka and I were really worried about you two!”

Shizuku had switched into lecture mode.

Yukieda thought left and right, trying to figure out what excuse she could use.

In a situation like this, a direct apology was probably the most effective.

“I’m sorry!”

Yukieda wasn’t good at dealing with Shizuku when she was angry. Without realizing it, she used a slightly coquettish tone.

When she came back to herself, her face grew hot. She looked around in a panic.

Mai was staring at her.

Yukieda waved her hand, signaling Mai to go somewhere else for a while instead of hovering beside her.

People really were right when they said no one knew a daughter better than her father.

Shizuku was completely susceptible to this tactic. Under Yukieda’s assault, her displeasure quickly faded.

She told Yukieda that she was staying at an inn near the shopping district.

She was homeless now.

It wasn’t just Shizuku. Almost the entire residential area of Liang District Three had been destroyed. No one could even determine how many people had been affected.

“Mr. Yoshitaka wanted me to stay at his place. He said he has plenty of spare rooms.”

“But I felt bad, so I turned him down. Even though he’s Mai’s grandfather…”

“Hey, Yukieda, are you listening?”

Shizuku’s voice pulled Yukieda’s thoughts back to reality.

“Mm. How about you come stay with me, Shizuku?”

“Huh?”

……

The next day, Baihe City suspended work and school for one day because of what had happened the previous night.

Today should have been Shizuku’s first day back at school.

Nearly every television station and news headline was reporting on last night’s incident.

The television was playing an interview.

A young mother holding her child covered her mouth.

“I saw her last night. She was super cute.”

“I saw her too! I saw her too!” a child shouted, bouncing up and down.

“She was a brave warrior!” said a special operations officer who refused to reveal his name.

The camera then shifted to a young man who looked rather disheveled. He was carrying several large bags.

“That useless person is the reason I have to move in with my relatives!”

Yukieda changed the channel.

The news vanished from the screen, replaced by an anime.

Then she turned her gaze toward Mai.

“About what happened last night…”

Mai’s voice rang through the living room as he told Yukieda what had happened while she was unconscious.

He also explained the Witch’s origins.

“So Mai’s sister was a Magical Girl too. She was Mr. Kenji’s lover, and that Witch named Borel killed her.”

Mai answered Yukieda with silence.

Yukieda hadn’t expected such a complicated past to be involved. She stared blankly for a moment before asking, “Then… did that Borel die last night?”

“I don’t know.”

Perhaps because the atmosphere between them had grown awkward, Mai deliberately changed the subject.

“Do you feel any different? Is there anything wrong with your body?”

Mai had personally witnessed Borel infusing magic into Yukieda the previous night.

The examinations afterward hadn’t found anything wrong, but matters like this couldn’t be taken lightly.

After all, Demons were born when humans accepted a Witch’s power.

No one knew what would happen when a Magical Girl accepted a Witch’s power.

Yukieda was probably the first person to receive a Witch’s magic. At least, that was what the official records said.

“Do I feel different?”

Yukieda sat on the sofa.

For a moment, her mind wandered. Her house clothes transformed into a pure-white ceremonial dress, and a sacred air gathered around her.

“I feel like I can control my magic more precisely.”

“But as for any concrete changes… maybe it’s this?”

Yukieda focused her thoughts.

A Western-style gun appeared in her left hand.

Then she looked at her right hand with golden eyes. After a flash of golden light, another gun appeared there.

The two guns were different.

The one that appeared later had an ominous black substance wrapped around its barrel like a ribbon.

It looked extremely out of place.

Mai examined it for quite a while but couldn’t determine anything. In the end, he could only say, “If you get the chance, ask some higher-ranked Magical Girls. Maybe they’ll know something.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the apartment door.

Yukieda sprang up excitedly. She knew it had to be Shizuku.

At last, she could live together with her daughter. She wouldn’t have to worry about Shizuku sneaking out at night.

Shizuku was a well-behaved child and certainly wouldn’t do anything outrageous. Still, Yukieda felt more at ease keeping her under her watchful eye.

Mai naturally knew about this.

He quietly crossed his legs, taking care not to expose himself.

Yukieda had discussed the arrangement with him the previous night: Shizuku would move in with them.

Mai hadn’t objected. He had only asked, “Then what about my identity?”

Yukieda had pressed her palms together.

“I’ll definitely keep your secret. Shizuku won’t find out!”

Soon, Shizuku’s voice rang through the spacious living room. She sounded both amazed and a little uneasy.

“Can I really stay here? This place must be expensive, right? I should still pay rent.”

“Of course not!”

Shizuku soon noticed Mai.

“So Mai lives with you and Yukieda?”

“No, he doesn’t. Mai used to live in Liang District Three too. His house was damaged last night, so he moved here today. Right?”

Mai nodded and smoothly took Shizuku’s luggage.

She didn’t have much with her. She’d only bought some basic daily necessities.

“Is that so…?”

Perhaps seeing that Mai also lived there made the hesitation on Shizuku’s face disappear.

“In that case, thank you for having me!”

“Heehee. Heeheehee.”

Yukieda kept grinning foolishly.

After briefly putting her things away, Shizuku went to take a shower.

Listening to the rushing water from the bathroom, Yukieda looked at Mai with some hesitation.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to peek.”

Yukieda raised an eyebrow.

“And I’m not going to let Shizuku scrub my back either. Don’t forget, I still have a secret.”

Only then did Yukieda nod in satisfaction.

But after washing up, Shizuku came out wrapped in a bath towel.

“Mai, which room is yours? Lend me a change of underwear.”

She turned her head.

Yukieda was leaning against Mai, covering Shizuku’s eyes with one hand.

“Huh?”