Senior, please guide me!

What was happening?

What did this mean?

What was the logic here?

You Dong—Magical Girl Tidal—froze on the spot, completely motionless.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t move, but that she didn’t dare to, was too embarrassed to, and had no idea how she should move.

From transforming, to rushing into the factory, to defeating the monster and saving You Xi.

Throughout this series of actions, you could say that Tidal had been operating purely on a rush of hot-blooded passion and the determination to save her niece.

In other words, she had been in a state of self-forgetfulness until now. To achieve her goal, she had no time to consider what she had become, or what effects and consequences her actions would have.

Only after the dust had settled and her heightened emotions had calmed did she finally have the time to care about what had actually happened to her own body.

The first and most direct sensation was that Tidal felt like Alice in a land of giants; everywhere she looked, everything had become enormous.

And then.

‘—Couldn’t this magical girl have some plainer clothes?’

The exquisite dress, which she had previously only seen in cartoons or shop windows, was now on her own body. This established fact made her feel dizzy, the shock nearly causing her to faint.

She looked down.

Delicate, cute ribbons, a gorgeous Lolita dress, over-the-knee socks trimmed with lace, and black Mary Jane shoes.

…

Tidal still had no idea what her transformed face looked like.

That is to say, in her subconscious, all these light and cute clothes were actually draped over the body of a brawny man who was 1.8 meters tall and weighed 160 jin.

Just imagining that image…

She didn’t dare to think about it too much, because even the slightest thought was enough to make her soul ache with numbness.

Right now, Tidal didn’t have the courage to face anyone in this state, especially not her niece, You Xi.

‘If she saw her uncle dressed like this…’

‘Oh, God.’

‘If I’ve truly sinned, could you just give me a quick end?’

Her head didn’t dare to move.

Her body was frozen in place.

Tidal savored this shame alone, along with the chilly breeze blowing under her skirt.

“…Why isn’t there a response?”

“Were we not polite enough? Did we make the great senior angry?”

“…Shh! Shut up, you guys. Great seniors are all like this. It’s called dignity, you get it?”

Tidal heard the sound of sneaky discussion from behind her.

At the same time, she could feel four pairs of hot, sincere gazes fixed tightly on her back.

“…”

‘What is going on?’

‘Lao Lin, where’s Lao Lin? Don’t go offline, help me out here!’

Tidal cried out for Lao Lin’s help in her mind. However, as the messenger of the Magic Kingdom, Lao Lin himself couldn’t figure out the situation either.

It wasn’t that he had no experience contracting with the first generation, but that was over 20 years ago.

Although the upper limit depended on the individual, the second generation of magical girls had a much higher lower limit because they could use soul weapons perfectly suited to their own characteristics from the very beginning, unlike the first generation who started with a single magic wand and whose potential depended on fate.

For this reason, the first-generation magical protocol had long been swept into the dustbin of history, unused for many years.

So, how could one explain the authentic magic wand in Tidal’s hand?

In these few short minutes, Lao Lin thought of two possibilities:

1. There was a problem with You Dong’s magical protocol.

2. The “Successor of Flowers” was a real thing.

Both were currently unverifiable conjectures. However, Lao Lin was more inclined toward the second answer in his heart, as it also perfectly explained You Dong’s terrifyingly high aptitude as a magical girl.

“…Everyone.”

While Lao Lin was pondering these things, Tidal finally moved, unable to bear the overly enthusiastic gazes of her “juniors” any longer.

She still lacked the courage to turn around; she simply stood her ground and slowly raised her left hand to the side of her face.

“Since the monster has been eliminated, let’s dismiss for today. Everyone, please go back.”

‘…I’m begging you, please hurry up and leave, I can’t hold on much longer.’

Tidal screamed frantically in her mind.

“…Huh? Dismissing already? I still have so many questions for our great senior,” Violet Lightning grumbled.

“How dare you question the great senior’s words? When the great senior says dismiss, we dismiss. Let’s go, let’s go… Ah, it got on me.”

Heron glanced at the slime on her hand, her face sinking. She had probably gotten it on herself from Violet Lightning by accident during their earlier scuffle.

Realizing this, she sneakily moved her hand toward Frostail’s emerald green Bavarian dress…

“Heron, did you just wipe something on my clothes?”

“Captain. I saw it. Senior Violet Lightning did it.”

“What what, what’s this about?”

“…”

After the noisy trio left, the empty, abandoned factory became much quieter.

Lao Lin got into the car and started the engine.

“You Xi. Get in, I’ll take you home.”

“Please wait a moment!”

As if having made some kind of decision, You Xi crossed the stream paved by moonlight and came to stand behind Tidal.

‘…Don’t, don’t come over.’

Tidal almost fled, but at the last moment, she managed to maintain her motionless posture.

‘—Calm down, calm down.’

‘Logically speaking, in my current state, even my own mother wouldn’t recognize me, so how could You Xi possibly know?’

After steeling herself with this thought, she finally turned around, feigning composure, and looked at her niece with an indifferent expression.

In that instant, both of their hearts stirred violently.

Tidal: ‘Holy crap! How is You Xi a head taller than me?’

You Xi: ‘What a majestic face… Is this the dignity of a superior being?’

“G-Great Senior…”

“Tidal is fine.”

“Then, S-Senior Tidal.”

After hesitantly calling out this name, You Xi silently lowered her head. She fidgeted constantly, pinching the hem of her skirt and fiddling with her nails.

Tidal was puzzled.

She had lived with You Xi for five years and had never known her niece to have such a shy and coy demeanor.

‘…But I have to say, it’s pretty cute.’

“If you have something to say, just say it.”

“C-Can I?”

“Why not?”

“O-Okay.”

You Xi paused, then bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Senior Tidal. If it weren’t for you, I might have died.”

Hearing the word “died,” Tidal’s cheek twitched.

‘You idiot. Your uncle appeared here precisely to stop that from happening…’ Tidal thought to herself.

However, she wouldn’t say this out loud.

The true identity of Magical Girl Tidal is a 30-year-old man, and her much-disliked uncle at that… something so absurd and cruel would surely make You Xi sad and find it hard to accept.

She wanted to care for her but didn’t know what was troubling her niece.

She’d mustered the courage to have a heart-to-heart, but it always backfired, ending in a cold war.

Years of contact and attempts had made Tidal understand that she was likely a failure as a guardian.

‘Well then, at least in my identity as a magical girl, I shouldn’t shatter You Xi’s fantasy…’

At this moment, she made a decision in her heart: to completely conceal her identity.

“No need to thank me. This is my duty as a senior.”

“A-And also…”

“Also?”

You Xi took a deep breath.

After mustering her courage, she clasped her hands to her chest and loudly requested:

“S-Senior, please guide me!”

“I want to become stronger! I want to become a magical girl as beautiful and cool as you, Senior!”

“…”

Tidal was taken aback.

Her silent reaction was seemingly interpreted as hesitation by You Xi.

And so, an even fiercer barrage of sugar-coated bullets was fired.

“Beautiful!”

“Cool!”

“Mysterious!”

“Exquisite!”

“Elegant!”

“Majestic!”

“Powerful!”

…

With stars in her eyes, You Xi listed off every positive adjective in her head as if reading from a menu.

Realizing that in the real world, her niece might never speak to her with such an adoring attitude and tone, a sense of happiness slowly welled up in Tidal’s chest.

‘Although, taking a huge step back, I have to say.’

‘Thinking about it calmly, aren’t I basically just putting on a different skin to deceive You Xi right now?’

‘But how can a white lie be called a lie? I haven’t stolen or robbed anything; I’ve just used another method to reap the rewards of being both a mother and a father for the past five years.’

Thinking this, she could barely suppress the corners of her mouth from turning up.

“…Hmph. A rookie as weak as you would probably die soon if I just left you alone.”

To solidify her persona in her niece’s mind, Tidal began to mimic the way cool characters in anime spoke.

“It can’t be helped. While I’m staying in Shangjing City, I suppose I’ll play with you for a bit.”