A rather unreliable plan

With the blessing of delicious food, it didn’t take long for the once-sumptuous dinner to be swept clean, leaving only a stack of empty plates in the corner of the dining table.

“You’ve got quite the appetite, haven’t you?” Ran Jiuyi said, sinking onto the sofa after the hearty meal. “I made so much food; I didn’t expect you to finish it all.”

“You have the nerve to say that to me? You ate half of it yourself.”

After a short rest, Meng Shan began clearing the table. “Speaking of which, it was the first day teaching the ‘Little Three.’ How did it feel?”

“How did it feel? It felt terrible. Setting aside the advanced stuff, they don’t even understand the most basic common sense.”

Recalling the trio’s disastrous performance today, Ran Jiuyi spoke with a sense of helplessness. “The way they use their abilities is a total mess, and their basic mana control is practically non-existent.”

“They can’t integrate their five senses, they don’t know how to sense mana, and they rely entirely on their eyes for scouting. Their physical coordination is pathetic, too. They’re supposed to be Magical Girls, yet they do a backflip and end up face-planting on the dirt.”

To Ran Jiuyi’s complaints, Meng Shan replied, “That’s exactly why I wanted you to stay. As an ordinary person without mana, I can only teach them combat methods at best.”

“Things like mana utilization, ability development, and the key points of fighting other transcendent beings—I have no way of passing those on to them.”

“If we really want them to get stronger, we have to rely on a veteran Magical Girl like you to guide them carefully.”

Ran Jiuyi sighed. “I know that. I’m just venting to you. Honestly, this country’s training for Magical Girls is just appalling.”

Meng Shan gave a non-committal shrug. “There isn’t a systematic training institution in this country. Generally, after a Magical Girl awakens, she’s led by an earlier-awakened girl from the Dispatch Center.”

“But in this city… forget about sending an experienced veteran to lead the kids; even the Dispatch Center itself is a stalled project.”

“So the ‘Little Three’ have just been left to grow wild?” Ran Jiuyi continued. “I can help them improve the combat issues if given enough time.”

“But there’s a more important matter that needs to be addressed immediately: they are far too kind. Especially Yi Ziling. Even among Magical Girls, she is excessively soft-hearted.”

“There were signs of it when we fought before. Even though I was their enemy, she was worrying about my injuries while I still had combat capability.”

“At the time, I thought it was just because their opponents had always been Kaijin, so they weren’t used to fighting human-looking enemies.”

“But today, after I gave them a briefing on the common sense regarding Kaijin, things got a bit… problematic.”

Hearing this, Meng Shan asked, “Did you tell them that Kaijin are transformed from humans?”

Ran Jiuyi nodded. “I did.”

“Then it’s not surprising. They are indeed too kind.”

Having lived with the trio for half a year, Meng Shan understood their character well. “No matter what kind of person the other party is, as long as they encounter danger, these girls will worry about them without hesitation.”

“Kindness is a great quality. Unfortunately, in battle, excessive kindness only leads to being restricted at every turn.”

Ran Jiuyi asked, “So? Do you have a good way to solve this?”

“You don’t need to worry too much, actually,” Meng Shan replied. “Given time, Xiao An and Xiao Jiang will figure it out. Even if they don’t become cold-blooded, they’ll at least be able to finish off a Kaijin decisively.”

“The only one we need to focus on is Xiao Yi. Now that she knows Kaijin were once human, no matter how long she thinks it over, she won’t be able to bring herself to deliver a killing blow.”

Ran Jiuyi nodded. “I see. To harden her heart, we need to create an extreme situation to force her hand.”

“For instance, a ‘forced choice’ scenario. Put Xiao Yi in a crisis and make her choose.”

“Next time a Kaijin attacks, I can disguise myself as a civilian. Then we can put on a show: make Xiao Yi choose between killing the Kaijin or letting the Kaijin harm a civilian.”

“Regardless of which one she chooses, we just need to talk some sense into her afterward. Gradually, we can get her to the point where she can kill. I might get stabbed a few times, but it doesn’t matter. I’m hard to kill, I heal fast, and there’s no better candidate than me.”

Ran Jiuyi then raised a new concern. “However, there’s one problem. I don’t know the first thing about disguise. Full disclosure: my makeup skills are atrocious.”

“I can tell. You’re a natural beauty; you don’t need much makeup to hide flaws,” Meng Shan replied. “But don’t worry, I’ll take care of the disguise.”

“Big Shan, you know how to do makeup?”

“I learned it for some… special missions in the past. It’s just a matter of details, don’t mind it.”

“Saying that makes me even more curious about what kind of mission would force a big guy like you to learn makeup.”

“A terrible mission. A very, very terrible one. So, stop asking.” Meng Shan shifted the topic bluntly. “More importantly, I don’t quite agree with your idea.”

Since Meng Shan didn’t want to talk, Ran Jiuyi didn’t push it. Shrugging, she said, “Fine, tell me when you’re ready. So? Why don’t you agree?”

“Because I feel like doing that is robbing Xiao Yi of her choice. You’re only giving her two paths, aren’t you?”

“…Yeah. But in this world, there aren’t that many paths to walk.”

Meng Shan scratched his head. “Forget it, let’s push this matter back for now. We have a long time ahead of us. Right now, there’s something more urgent: Xiao Yi’s birthday is coming up.”

“Xiao Yi’s birthday? Is there a problem? Do you want me to come over and be the chef?”

“No, it’s about getting a gift. That’s how birthdays work, don’t you know… Oh, you actually might not know.”

Recalling Ran Jiuyi’s past, Meng Shan asked, “Has anyone ever celebrated a birthday for you before?”

“Not once,” Ran Jiuyi replied flatly. “It makes sense if you think about it. I was in an orphanage as a kid; no one cared. During my days living alone later, I barely had enough to eat most of the time, so there was no point in caring about something like a birthday.”

Meng Shan asked, “What about Suzuki Tetsuya? She didn’t celebrate it with you?”

“Actually, the fact that birthdays should be celebrated is something Tetsuya told me. Unfortunately, by the time she told me, my birthday had already passed.”

“And after that, I went back to living alone. Chiffon wanted to celebrate it for me, but she was too busy, so I turned her down myself.”

Hearing this, Meng Shan immediately said, “Then, for your next birthday, I’ll celebrate it for you.”

“…Why?”

“No real reason. Simply because it might make you happy. Besides, while you’re alive in this world, you should experience as many different things as possible.”

A trace of a smile appeared on Ran Jiuyi’s face. “Fair enough. But I might not be that happy, since I’m used to ignoring it. Also… I’m not the one cooking on my own birthday, am I?”

“Of course not. I’ll have everything arranged. So, when is your birthday?”

Ran Jiuyi didn’t speak. She silently stood up, walked behind Meng Shan, and rested her hands on his shoulders. Looking at his rugged profile, she slowly leaned her face in.

Inch by inch, closer and closer, and then…

Before the index finger on her right hand could flick him in the forehead, her wrist was firmly caught by Meng Shan.

“I give up. Here I am, a perfect beauty, moved by your tenderness and wanting to share a kiss, and you’re actually paying attention to my hand? Are you even a normal man?”

“Of course I am. My male physiological functions are perfectly healthy.”

“Then why are you immune to my charm?”

“First of all, at your level, I don’t consider that charm. Secondly, I don’t believe that just a bit of tenderness is enough to make you fall for me. Therefore, it was easy to deduce that you were trying to use the opportunity to play a prank on me.”

Exposed, Ran Jiuyi stepped back, saying with a hint of dissatisfaction, “I can’t stand a boring guy like you. Hurry up and do the dishes.”

“Sure. Don’t forget, we need to find time to go buy a gift for Xiao Yi.”

“Fine, fine, whatever you say.”

Meanwhile, in a mid-sized but well-decorated jewelry store, a couple was meticulously picking out a gift for their daughter’s upcoming birthday.

Because they had secretly sold a certain lottery ticket, they had acquired a massive sum of money. After some discussion, the couple decided to take a small portion of it to buy a precious birthday gift for their daughter. The rest of the money was to be saved as her dowry.

As ordinary people living a steady life, the most precious and appropriate gift they could think of was gold that would never fade.

The clerk, seeing through their intentions, pushed sales hard. “You two could look at these earrings. Excellent craftsmanship, great value, and we have an ongoing discount.”

The couple shook their heads. They didn’t want their daughter to get her ears pierced at such a young age.

“Then how about this necklace? It’s a new arrival, top-tier craftsmanship.”

The couple shook their heads again. To them, necklaces were too easy to lose and weren’t suitable.

The clerk thought for a moment and said, “Then why not look at this ring? We just received it today. The patterns on it have been appraised as entirely handmade—a truly classic collector’s piece.”

After examining the ring for a long time, the couple finally nodded.

A well-crafted gold ring was hard to lose and could be used when their daughter eventually married. It was the perfect choice.

After bargaining with the clerk, the couple paid the money and left with their carefully chosen gift.

If the werewolf Ken were here, however, he would have recognized at a glance: this ring was exactly the one he had thrown away.