The Mysterious Cowboy Magical Girl

“Ugh!” It proved true that even an ordinary girl, when gripped by panic, possessed an astonishing bite force.

Bitten so unexpectedly by Bai Muxue, the person behind her had just begun to scream before forcibly swallowing the sound.

She swiftly shook off the hand that had been so savagely bitten, then, without missing a beat, clamped a hand over Bai Muxue’s mouth. “Just be quiet!”

No sooner had her voice faded than a ‘click-clack’ sound resonated from outside the tent. A group of nutcrackers, appearing as though roughly daubed with watercolors, were systematically searching the tent, guns clutched in their hands.

Yet, after lingering in this tent for only a brief period, they swiftly departed to scour the next corner. These guards, fashioned from extracted childhood memories, possessed generally low intelligence, rendering them incapable of discerning viable hiding spots from exposed ones.

As the sound of footsteps gradually receded, the girl behind her slowly leaned in towards Bai Muxue, her tawny eyes glinting with a potent mix of confusion and vigilance.

“Don’t speak yet,” she whispered. “This young lady has questions for you.”

“…”

Bai Muxue, feeling a prickle of awkwardness, simply blinked at the blonde girl before her.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” the girl continued, “why weren’t you affected by that wretched jellyfish?”

“…”

Without waiting for Bai Muxue’s reply, she answered her own question.

“Hmm, it makes sense, I suppose. While you don’t appear very old, you must be in middle school by now, right? You shouldn’t be susceptible to the Calamity Beast’s control…”

“Tsk, I’m telling you, if you weren’t affected, then don’t go sneaking into places like this!”

The girl, her irritation mounting with each word, clicked her tongue and grumbled discontentedly. “That’s a Calamity Beast, you hear? A Calamity Beast! Didn’t school teach you to seek shelter immediately when you encounter one? One careless move, and your little life could be forfeit!”

“If you hadn’t snuck in like that, this young lady wouldn’t have acted so rashly… And then you inexplicably bit me…”

Gazing at the distinct teeth marks emblazoned on her right palm, and the incessant, stinging burn, the girl’s lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

Despite the stream of complaints, Bai Muxue could discern the underlying current of concern and worry emanating from her.

‘By this logic, she must have spotted me before I even entered the amusement park, then followed me all this way out of concern for my safety?’

A faint ripple stirred within Bai Muxue’s heart.

“I have no idea why you’d come to a place like this… Shouldn’t a normal person immediately flee as far as possible upon seeing such a situation?”

“Whether it’s out of curiosity or anything else, the bottom line is, this place is truly perilous. That jellyfish…”

Footsteps once again echoed through the tent, abruptly cutting off the girl’s words.

Only after the footsteps had once again faded into the distance, and she had cautiously surveyed her surroundings, did she lean close to Bai Muxue’s ear and whisper:

“Anyway, you saw those monsters just now, didn’t you? This is hardly a place for a little sister like you to go exploring.”

“If you let your guard down for even a moment, never mind that wretched jellyfish, those guards alone could end your life.”

The warm breath from those cherry-red lips flowed directly into her ear canal, and an inexplicable tickle immediately crept into Bai Muxue’s heart. It made her squirm with a touch of restlessness, her fair skin instantly flushed with a delicate blush.

“Hey, why haven’t you said anything at all?”

Noticing that the other person remained silent, the girl puffed out her cheeks in slight annoyance. “Are you scared stiff? Or just playing it cool?”

Bai Muxue: “???”

With an exasperated sigh, she pointed to the small hand still clamped firmly over her mouth.

“Oh, oh, my apologies, my apologies…”

Realizing her blunder, the girl immediately released her grip, sticking out her tongue with a touch of embarrassment as a faint blush bloomed on her cheeks. “Now you can speak, right?”

‘Good heavens, I can finally breathe…’

Bai Muxue drew a deep, restorative breath, and as the flush on her face gradually receded, she finally had the presence of mind to turn and observe the girl standing so close.

****

The girl’s golden hair cascaded casually over her shoulders, crowned by a broad cowboy hat. Her right eye was concealed by an eyepatch, while intricate patterns on her skin, as smooth and delicate as congealed cream, subtly shimmered. Beneath her light yellow jacket, her lithe and elegant figure was distinctly visible.

Below the belt, from which a pistol holster hung, she wore black denim wide-leg pants, revealing the upper half of her fair, shapely calves—ample yet still slender.

Coupled with the girl’s impeccably delicate features, her entire persona evoked that of a… cowboy from a Western film.

‘If she isn’t a cosplayer who’s just escaped from a comic convention… then she must be a magical girl? A magical girl dressed like *this*?’

For a moment, Bai Muxue’s mind simply went blank.

‘In her stereotypical view, weren’t magical girls always those sparkly girls in pretty little dresses, wielding wands, shimmering from head to toe…? How did this one even come to use a gun?’

‘Could it be that she and Shen Jingyi represent the traditionalists, while this one is a radical reformist?’

“Strange…”

Noticing Bai Muxue’s continued silence, the girl tilted her head, a hint of confusion in her gaze. “Speaking of which, little sister, have you perhaps not realized who I am?”

Having said this, she blinked her eyes repeatedly, her gaze fixed intently on Bai Muxue, clearly anticipating a response.

‘You’re the little sister!’ Bai Muxue grumbled inwardly, then subtly furrowed her brow. “This attire… could it be that you are…”

“Ehm-hm-hm! It’s precisely that ‘could it be’!”

Before Bai Muxue could even finish her sentence, the girl nodded, her face alight with a joyous smile, much like a minor internet celebrity delighted to be recognized by a fan on the street. “That’s right, this young lady is none other than the legendary Amber, the strongest magical girl, guardian of the city and upholder of justice!”

‘No, but who asked…?’

As the smile deepened in the eyes of the girl named Amber, and her facial expression grew even more radiant, a faint network of black lines (TL Note: A common Chinese idiom referring to signs of exasperation or speechlessness, often visually represented as sweat drops or lines on the forehead in manga/anime) appeared on Bai Muxue’s forehead.

‘Amber? I’ve never heard of that codename… Yet, her tone doesn’t suggest she’s a rookie. Could she be from another city?’

Automatically dismissing Amber’s lengthy self-aggrandizing speech, she lowered her gaze and silently began to analyze the situation.

Lost in thought, Bai Muxue remained oblivious until a soft sensation gently brushed against her chest. Only then did she realize something was amiss, and she looked up in startled surprise.

‘Whoa, whoa… this isn’t quite right, is it?’

****

The crevice behind the mirror was, in truth, impossibly narrow. Their bodies were now pressed intimately together, the girl’s fair and delicate profile mere inches away. Her silky, smooth golden hair, her tender, alluring collarbones, and her soft, pink lips were all vividly apparent.

Whether by design or accident, Amber’s unique scent now lingered at Bai Muxue’s nostrils. Moreover, the girl’s soft body was pressing and rubbing against her chest, the yielding, elastic sensation stirring a deep sense of shyness and unease within her, causing the blush that had only just receded to quietly creep back onto her cheeks.

‘She feels quite a bit more well-endowed than Teacher Shen…’

‘Wait, wait, what am I even thinking?’