A Farewell and a New Path

The day’s outing eventually came to its close, bringing with it a farewell.

Compared to the initial ease, Saint Lily felt a certain stiffness as they parted, intentionally avoiding Red Spider Lily’s gaze. Whenever their eyes met, she was reminded of those bullet comments, their destructive power formidable, harming both others and herself.

“Saint Lily, are you still upset about what happened earlier?”

‘Even without looking at her, the concern in her voice made my face flush.’ Saint Lily wondered, ‘What exactly is happening to me?’

“I… I don’t mind.”

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?” Red Spider Lily immediately saw through her. “How could you not mind? Who would willingly endure being insulted? It’s not like you have some special fetish for it, and you reacted instantly when I brought it up.”

“I… I didn’t.” Saint Lily wasn’t sure what she was refuting, but her words betrayed a significant amount of guilt.

“Alright, if you say so.” Red Spider Lily sighed, yielding to the pitiful display. After all, she had helped Saint Lily regain some composure.

She handed a helmet to Saint Lily. “I’ll take you home.”

“Okay.” Saint Lily responded softly and obediently.

This wasn’t the first time Saint Lily had ridden on Red Spider Lily’s motorcycle, her arms wrapped around Red Spider Lily’s waist. The closeness of their bodies made her face grow warm, but this time, instead of pure shyness, there was a comforting sense of security.

Saint Lily wasn’t fighting this battle alone. Yet, it seemed that from the very beginning, she had been cast as the ‘supporter,’ the ‘elder,’ and the ‘guide.’

If a perfectly gentle Saint Lily truly existed in this world, she would never complain, nor would she ever wish to escape this responsibility.

But this Saint Lily, the one cared for by her sister, a useless writer who couldn’t craft interesting stories—this was the role Bai Ruoli painstakingly played.

So, this Saint Lily sometimes longed to lean on others, but found herself unable to do so.

Saint Lily was the one her companions relied upon.

She was also the object of Ruoruo’s admiration.

Saint Lily would not show weakness; she was strong enough on her own.

“……”

“Red Spider Lily.”

“Hm?”

The wind lovingly lifted their hair, unwilling to let it fall, yet the girl never tore her gaze away from the back of the other girl.

“If, in reality, I wasn’t good at dressing up, or socializing, perhaps a bit socially anxious, clumsy with my hands, and utterly useless, what would you think?”

“Hmm…” Red Spider Lily considered. “I wouldn’t think much of it. Just an ‘oh,’ that’s all.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Why else? It’s not because of those reasons that I like Saint Lily! And aren’t we friends? If our friendship could be shaken by such flaws, wouldn’t it be inherently false?”

“……”

“Ah…”

“Honestly, these kinds of flaws are perfectly normal. Why can’t you accept them yourself? Truly unacceptable flaws would be, for example, if a magical girl was actually a boy! Or if a magical girl was actually an evil supervillain!”

Saint Lily paused, amused by Red Spider Lily’s unusually peculiar examples. “Well, maybe it could be like that! And how could a boy become a magical girl?”

“……” Red Spider Lily smiled. “You never know!”

“Then they must be a very cute boy!” Saint Lily replied with a laugh.

‘No, they’d be a handsome older man. Wait, how is 26 an older man?’

“……” Perhaps the wind had grown stronger, as Saint Lily hugged Red Spider Lily a little tighter, feeling the warmth emanating from her.

‘It’s truly wonderful to be Red Spider Lily’s friend.’

****

……………………………………….A Passage of Time~……………………………….

‘Dandelion.’

Miss Dandelion rested her chin in her hand, watching the floating dandelion seeds. She let out a soft sigh, then rose to her feet.

Descending the steps, she observed White Rose still utilizing the training room.

White Rose was now sprawled on the ground, drenched in sweat. Dandelion handed her a specially formulated energy drink.

“Ha~”

“I’m alive again!”

“With a drink made by Dandelion, I could fight for another hundred years!”

Watching White Rose’s spirited smile, Dandelion merely shook her head helplessly. “Energy drinks aren’t a panacea. You still need to balance work and rest.”

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Having just made your comeback, White Rose, your performance has already been excellent! You don’t need to be so hard on yourself.”

“It’s not enough. I want to become stronger.”

“But this isn’t something that can be rushed. You need to take it slowly.”

“Dandelion, why do you sound just like Saint Lily, always preaching? Slowly? If I can be fast, why be slow? I can train harder, why rest? Besides, my recovery is super fast; I’ll be fine in a moment!” White Rose shook her head dismissively, indicating she wasn’t listening.

“Moreover, Saint Lily has already ‘flowered.’ I’ll catch up to her in no time, just like before! After all, I’m the core ace of ‘Lucky Garden,’ aren’t I?”

“……” Miss Dandelion mused. “Having a competitive spirit is good; it helps you grow continuously.”

“However…” Miss Dandelion paused.

“What? Are you going to leave me hanging?” White Rose sat cross-legged, clapping her hands to urge her on.

“Speaking of which, White Rose, your initial goal was to be ‘popular,’ wasn’t it?”

“What about it?”

“Saint Lily once told you, ‘That’s wonderful, because popular people are often excellent people. Striving to become excellent for your dreams is a truly admirable initial goal.'”

“Oh, what’s with bringing that up now?” White Rose looked a little embarrassed, scratching her cheek.

“It was probably from that moment, being affirmed and witnessing Saint Lily’s excellence in various aspects, that you made her your constant imaginary rival and goal, chasing her to continuously grow stronger.”

“……” White Rose remained silent.

“Ever since you reached the same stage as Saint Lily, your improvement has slowed. And your respect for Saint Lily has waned; you’ve become irritable. Saint Lily merely sees it as a delayed rebellious phase and tolerates it.”

“But I’ve noticed. Because Saint Lily’s advancement has been too slow, she’s become a stumbling block for you, making you feel annoyed, even wanting to harm, or rather, eliminate her, haven’t you?”

“…What are you saying? I don’t understand.” White Rose stiffened, turning her head away.

“It’s just us here, White Rose. For a Seedling Girl, the most important thing is to face her own heart. Only then can you understand your true path!” Miss Dandelion stated calmly.

“Saint Lily has flowered, and you’re delighted. You can become even stronger, and that’s why you’re so anxious now—because you’ve been impatient for a long time.”

“But I can tell you clearly: Saint Lily can only reach ‘flowering.'”

“What?”

“Don’t be surprised. You might have already guessed it. In fact, because she rescued you all, her skill choice this time was also a support skill, which means…”

“No, don’t say it!”

“The current you can easily defeat her!”

Like a bolt of thunder, a ‘boom’ echoed, leaving White Rose’s mind blank.

“If you want to continue growing, you must change your approach instead of continuing this meaningless, self-comforting training.”

“……”

“I… what should I do?” White Rose blinked blankly.

“Frost Snow Royalty.”

“That’s the pinnacle of superhumans. How about making her your object of pursuit? If you want to become stronger, she is undoubtedly the most suitable, and she’s right here in Hehe City.”

“Yes… yes, she is!”

“There’s an opportunity to get close to her. A document recently arrived regarding an operation against the villainous ability user Su Mo, commanded by Frost Snow Royalty. And our ‘Lucky Garden’ is also among those summoned.”

“Really?”

“But… to strike up a conversation, to get close, that right is usually reserved for the captain of each superhuman squad.”

“Ah…”

Miss Dandelion looked at her, speaking gently. “White Rose, with your strength, you should be capable enough to become the captain of ‘Lucky Garden,’ shouldn’t you?”

“But, but… Saint Lily is the captain…”

“If you want to pursue a new goal, then it’s time to surpass the old one, isn’t it? And Saint Lily is so gentle; if it could help you, she would certainly help you. So, do you want to become stronger, White Rose?”

“Yes~”

……