The Second Magical Girl

“Hey, just confirming—you’re with Raging Flame right now?”

Lao Lin’s voice came through the phone.

Tidal glanced beside her. Raging Flame was waving her phone around in all directions, as if searching for signal.

“Yes. What’s up?”

“So, I’ve successfully contracted the second magical girl.”

“…”

Tidal froze for a moment, then asked:

“…What’s she like?”

“She’s carefully selected—her talent is guaranteed. As for personality… kind of similar to your niece. Strong-willed, does things her own way. You’re gonna have your hands full, hehe.”

“As long as she can fight, I don’t care. Anyway, when do we meet up?”

“Now. I’m assigning a simple mission so she can get used to the process. You two go to the designated location first—I’ll bring her over.”

“Got it.”

After hanging up, Tidal called out to Raging Flame, who was still waving her phone around.

“Raging Flame, just—”

“Senior, I told you—the app glitched this afternoon!”

Before she could finish, Raging Flame rushed in. “See? No reaction at all. We came all the way for nothing.”

“Yeah. Maybe I was overthinking it. Still, better safe than sorry,” Tidal said.

They were in the neighborhood where Bai Mian lived. The app’s silence seemed to confirm Raging Flame’s theory—no sign of the Nightmare Fiend here.

Yet Tidal still felt uneasy.

Whether from experience or instinct, she couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t as simple as they seemed.

…Anyway, let’s leave it at that for today.

With that thought, she quickly summarized Lao Lin’s call for Raging Flame.

At the mention of a new teammate, Raging Flame’s eyes lit up.

“A new teammate!? For real? What’s she like?”

“I don’t know. We’ll find out when we meet.”

“—Ah! It’s not her, is it?”

Like a bad memory resurfacing, Raging Flame sucked in a breath, her face suddenly sour.

“I remember,” Tidal said. “Back at the base, when you peeked at Lao Lin’s files, you had the same reaction. What’s wrong? Do you know someone on the list?”

Tidal already knew the answer, but she had to pretend ignorance.

“…Senior, remember I told you I got suspended for fighting after standing up for my friend?”

“Yeah. And?”

“Well… the girl I hit is on Lao Lin’s candidate list,” Raging Flame pouted.

“…I see. What a coincidence.”

“But how do you know it’ll be her? There are dozens of profiles. Everyone has an equal chance, right?” Tidal tried to reassure her.

Truthfully, Tidal was praying the new recruit wasn’t Mo Li.

Because if it was her… the moment they met… just imagining it made Tidal’s nerves tingle. And after that, as long as their conflict remained unresolved, teamwork against aberrations would be impossible. Not fighting each other would be a miracle.

“Oh, right,” Raging Flame said, nodding obediently. “With so many candidates… what are the odds? I’m overthinking it. Hehe.”

Teenagers’ emotions were volatile in general, but this was especially true for Raging Flame—or rather, You Xi.

Just moments ago, she’d been gloomy, worried the new teammate might be someone she hated. Now, her eyes sparkled as she excitedly imagined who the newcomer might be.

“Senior, senior! Do you think she’s older or younger than me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Senior, senior! I just thought of a serious issue: In terms of magical girl seniority, I’m the elder. But if she’s older in real life, should she still call me ‘senior’? Wouldn’t that be awkward?”

“Whatever.”

“Senior, senior! Should we take a detour to the shopping district and pick her a welcome gift? I think it’d be super meaningful, hehe.”

“Not necessary.”

****

As they flew, Raging Flame chattered on and on, completely ignoring Tidal’s silence.

Clearly, having a magical girl teammate was something she’d been longing for. And today, that dream was finally coming true.

“We’re here.”

Above a wetland park, Tidal came to a stop.

“The target today is called the Mole Men… See? Over there.”

She pointed to an open field below.

By the pale moonlight, Raging Flame could clearly see a group of figures huddled together, moving furtively.

“That counts as an aberration? They look like wild animals,” Raging Flame said, hovering in midair.

The Mole Men looked like plump, clumsy giant moles. Appearance-wise, compared to the grotesque, monstrous aberrations they’d fought, these things were actually… kind of cute. Maybe even nine-tenths cute.

“Do we really have to fight them? Is it even necessary? They don’t seem like they’d do anything bad.”

“…I’m guessing you really didn’t read a single page of the materials I sent you, did you?”

“Hehe.”

Seeing Raging Flame play dumb, Tidal sighed and continued:

“Take the Arm Monster and Shadow Hunter we fought earlier. Combined, their threat to society is less than one percent—maybe even one-thousandth—of what these Mole Men cause. Know why? From birth to death, they never stop digging tunnels. Understand what that means?”

“…That they’re hardworking?”

“Idiot.”

Tidal shot her a look and went on:

“Under our city are countless pipes, wires, fiber-optic cables. If they dig through them, the damage and losses would be incalculable. Get it now?”

“Ah! Now I remember!” Raging Flame snapped her fingers.

“Back when my internet was out for nearly a week because of a fiber break—was that these Mole Men’s fault?”

“Very likely,” Tidal nodded.

Tidal remembered that incident.

About four months ago, their neighborhood lost internet for nearly a week due to line damage. She hadn’t minded much—mobile data still worked.

But You Xi, a hardcore online gamer, had plunged into depression when she couldn’t play her favorite FPS.

“…Senior, don’t interfere.”

As Tidal recalled this, Raging Flame had already drawn her greatsword from her soul gem.

“This is my fight.”