The Troublesome Magical Girls

“The only problem is, what you did was a bit too extreme. It’s like throwing soldiers with barely any training onto the front lines; it’s prone to backfiring.”

Meng Shan remembered the look the three girls gave him when they woke up. It was nearly identical to the eyes of green recruits huddling in a trench for the first time, shivering under enemy artillery fire.

“I had originally planned to take them to the biennial Magical Girl Open. They could have sparred with others, slowly understood their own strength, and built up their mental fortitude.”

Ran Jiuyi replied with indifference, “So what? If they can’t overcome a little thing like this, why be Magical Girls at all? And are you so sure your method is better? It’s just the difference between a long, lingering pain and a short, sharp shock.”

“Besides, aren’t you here? You’re the old veteran; shouldn’t you hurry up and go mentor these three spooked recruits?”

Meng Shan sighed helplessly. “Sigh, I’m not great at comforting people. You’re really upping the difficulty for me. Well, there’s no other way. I’ll talk to them today and see how bad the situation really is.”

“Wait a second—you mean you haven’t talked to them yet?” Ran Jiuyi said. “If you haven’t talked to them, why are you complaining to me?”

“They were sleeping like dead logs yesterday; how was I supposed to chat?” Meng Shan said. “They woke up for a brief moment in between, and from what I saw, they were scared witless by you. I just don’t know the specifics.”

“Oh, relax,” Ran Jiuyi comforted him. “I understand your concern, but don’t worry. The hearts of Magical Girls are resilient. There won’t be any issues.”

“By the way,” Meng Shan continued, “based on my observations over the last few days, your battle with Cheng Ya has been suppressed. Not only is there no news coverage, but there isn’t even a single comment on the internet. The information has been scrubbed completely clean.”

He looked at her significantly. “You understand what I mean, right? The Laboratory’s influence in this country is quite formidable.”

“I understand. I’ll be even more careful from now on.”

Half an hour later, in Meng Shan’s office, he looked at Jiang Yunshu and Yiziling. They were huddled together in a corner like startled little animals, eyes darting around warily. Meng Shan couldn’t help but lament: And she said there wouldn’t be any issues!

“There’s no need to be this scared; you aren’t even late,” Meng Shan said, trying his best to soothe them. “It doesn’t matter that you lost last time. I’m not going to criticize you. Just work harder next time.”

As he spoke, he cautiously approached. “This place is very safe. Nothing is going to happen to you. And if something does happen, both I and Ran Jiuyi will protect you.”

The moment he mentioned Ran Jiuyi, Jiang Yunshu and Yiziling jumped like cats whose tails had been stepped on, their entire bodies shivering.

Jiang Yunshu, usually the bolder one, shouted, “Ran… Sister Ran?! Where is she? Is she coming here?!”

Well, she wasn’t that bold. Her voice cracked and her bravado withered the moment she finished the sentence.

Strangely, it was the usually timid Yiziling who was the most composed now. “Brother Shan, are you okay? Where did Sister Ran go? Did she come here?”

Meng Shan waved his hand. “Something came up for Ran Jiuyi. She took a leave of absence yesterday, saying she had to handle some private business out of town. You probably won’t see her for the next two weeks.”

“Besides, what could happen to me? I’m standing right here, aren’t I? More importantly, how are your bodies recovering?”

Hearing Meng Shan’s reassuring words and the news of Ran Jiuyi’s temporary absence, the two girls let out a long sigh of relief. Finally lowering their guard, they both lunged forward and hugged him. They clung to him tightly, as if he might vanish if they let go for a single second.

“Thank goodness! Thank goodness you’re okay, Brother Shan!”

“Waaaah… Brother Shan, you’re still alive… I’ll never make you angry again.”

Uncontrollable tears soaked Meng Shan’s shirt. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he just remained silent and held them close.

It took quite a while before their crying subsided. Once their emotions stabilized, Meng Shan asked, “Are you okay? Do you need me to do anything?”

Jiang Yunshu, her eyes still watery though she had stopped crying, replied, “We’re fine. We’re all okay.”

Meng Shan asked again, “Are the injuries from yesterday healed? Do the wounds still hurt? And where is Bai He’an? Why isn’t she here?”

Yiziling shook her head, letting out an occasional sob. “Hic… We’re fine. Our injuries have been treated. Sister An called and said she’d be over in a bit.”

Meng Shan finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Isn’t that great? Look at me—I’m perfectly fine. Five features intact, all limbs accounted for. I don’t look like someone in trouble. But tell me, why did you think something happened to me?”

“…” x2

After hesitating for a long time, Jiang Yunshu finally answered, “Because we all thought you had already been tortured into an unrecognizable state by Sister Ran.”

“Tortured into an unrecognizable state?” Meng Shan asked, bewildered.

Yiziling said timidly, “Yes… I was so scared that when I got here, I’d see Brother Shan had been flayed and had his ribs broken by her…”

“Flayed? Broken ribs?” Meng Shan’s confusion deepened. “Why would you think she would do those things to me? Wait…”

A thought struck him. “Do those two things have something to do with ‘Bian,’ who fought you yesterday?”

The two girls immediately nodded their heads like woodpeckers.

“Alright.” Meng Shan sighed helplessly. “If you’re up for it, can we sit down and talk in detail about what exactly happened yesterday?”

After a long conversation, Meng Shan pieced together the fragments of their story to understand what Ran Jiuyi had done before he arrived.

“So, Bian only said those things, but didn’t actually do them, right?”

The two girls shook their heads. Thinking back, Ran Jiuyi hadn’t actually followed through on any of her threats.

Internally, Meng Shan relaxed a great deal. It seemed Ran Jiuyi was telling the truth; she knew how to draw the line. Her actions were far gentler than the scenarios he had imagined.

“After going through that, are you afraid?”

“To be honest, we’re terrified,” Jiang Yunshu said, looking down. “If I encountered Bian again… if I had to fight her… I… I think I’d just run away in fear.”

Yiziling also lowered her head. “Me too. Just thinking about it now makes me tremble. Is combat really such a terrifying thing?”

Meng Shan asked another question: “What if it wasn’t Bian? What if you had to face an ordinary monster? Would you still be afraid?”

After a moment of hesitation, both of them nodded.

After fighting Ran Jiuyi, they realized for the first time that they might encounter such cold-blooded and horrifying enemies. The crushing disparity in power still made them feel nauseous. Especially Ran Jiuyi’s expression—even when saying such horrific things, she showed no fear; she even seemed… excited.

“I see. I understand.” Seeing the fear in their hearts, Meng Shan changed the subject. “Then why did you think I was in danger?”

The two girls exchanged looks. After a long silence, Jiang Yunshu mustered her courage. “Because we think Ran Jiuyi is Bian!”

“Oh! Anything else?”

Meng Shan feigned total ignorance. In reality, he had guessed this the very day he met Ran Jiuyi.

“Uh… also, we thought she had done something to you while she was ‘treating’ you, so we felt… we felt…”

Yiziling trailed off, unable to voice the last few words.

“So you felt I was dead?” Meng Shan finished for her. “Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine. There’s no need to be embarrassed to say it.”

Yiziling lowered her head weakly. “I just couldn’t say it… am I useless?”

“Not at all,” Meng Shan comforted her with a chuckle. “It just shows you’re a good kid.”

Then, his tone shifted. “However, I have to criticize you. Knowing this place might be a trap, why didn’t you even give me a call? What were you thinking?”

“If Ran Jiuyi really were Bian, what were you going to do? Could you beat her? Could you escape from right under her nose? Coming here like this is no different from delivering your heads on a silver platter.”

At this, Jiang Yunshu also lowered her head. The two of them were now playing the part of ostriches with their heads on the table.

Meng Shan sighed. “I know you came here with great determination, but often, determination alone isn’t enough.”

“Intelligence, resources, a meticulous plan, and deployable force—only after all those does determination come into play. Without the things preceding it, it’s just ‘courageous behavior’ with no guarantee of a ‘try again next time.’”

“For example, huddling in a corner like newborn kittens just now… it’s cute, but useless. At most, it would only pique an enemy’s interest.”

“Seriously… you didn’t actually plan to offer yourselves up to trade for me, did you?”

“…” x2

Looking at the two silent girls, Meng Shan slapped his forehead. “You actually did plan that. It’s a good thing Bian is a woman and had no such intentions for you. Promise me, you will never do this again, okay?”

The two nodded frantically. They seemed to agree, but Meng Shan—knowing them well—knew that if something like this happened again, they would likely do the exact same thing.

Seriously, this is the kind of stuff you’d see in a ‘Galge’ (adult game) Magical Girl story. Why are these two doing it? Is this world a Galge world after all?

“When Bai He’an gets here, tell her everything I just said. Delivering your heads is bad enough, but doing it one by one like the ‘Hulu Brothers’ (Calabash Brothers) is even worse. Why couldn’t you at least wait until you were all together before coming?”