Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 74 Origins

Guanlan was eventually picked up by people sent by the Ximing Church.

That's normal, after all, given her future status as bishop, it would be strange if she stayed in Qixin for a long time.

Meanwhile, at the Prayer Academy, the witch countermeasures team, led by the magical girl Wei Zhi, is working on determining the specific abilities and patterns of their actions before attempting to intercept them.

As for the news of the Calamity Witch descending upon the human world, Qi Xin is strictly controlling related topics and has ordered aspiring magical girls to continue evacuating residents of the calamity zone.

Strangely, the Witch of Calamity did not go on a killing spree as rumored, and the technology for her explosive bombs stopped evolving, as if she had disappeared.

But everyone knows that after making threatening remarks to the magical girl of the heart, she must be accumulating the cards she has in hand, waiting to deliver a fatal blow one day.

The evacuation was even more difficult. Without sufficient compensation funds, most residents still held the belief that the magical girl in Qi's heart would definitely take care of them, and rejected the relevant proposals.

As for the stock market, futures market, and cryptocurrency market, all three sectors are currently immersed in the grand blueprint of "magical girl immortality" described by the Ximing Church, and are thriving with no sign of decline.

The perspective shifts to Gu Bai. Tao Zhuo, that idiot, still has to attend class. Dong Chun seems to have gone to cultivate, perhaps because of You Bi?

A storm is brewing, yet the past week has been uneventful.

Another afternoon, in the psychological counseling room.

After eating the meal brought by Xia Zhi, Gu Bai continued looking at the map of the mainland.

With the Prayer Zone at its center, the Witch Realm is located in the upper right corner of the continent, bordering the Free Federation, with the Witch Forest serving as the dividing line between the two.

In the past, in his search for Mo Xin, he had ventured deep into the Witch's Forest, but he never truly reached the Witch's Realm. Now he realizes that it was probably the magic that prevented him from ever getting there.

When we set off again in the future, our goal will be clear—to become the Witch of Learning.

But relying on myself alone might not be enough. Now that I've discovered that having someone who can use magic makes things much easier, should I consider bringing a magical girl along as a companion?

"Teacher, Sister Dong has finished her seclusion and will come to bring good news soon!"

A joyful shout came from outside the door. It was Tao Zhuo's voice. No, why did she skip class again?

bang——

Tao Zhuo then pushed open the door and entered, her eyes still shining: "Teacher, teacher, did you hear that!"

"Is it six stars?" Gu Bai turned around; he could roughly guess that there was good news.

"Seek the truth outwards, seek the truth inwards..." Yubi, who was landing on Taozhuo's head, shook her head and said, "The former is the requirement to advance to six stars, while achieving the latter will allow you to advance to seven stars."

"Why aren't you sticking to Fuyutsubaki?" Ignoring Yubi's comment, Gu Bai was puzzled because the magical girl it was following seemed off.

"Although my relationship with my master has grown somewhat during these days of training, it hasn't reached that point yet!"

"I mean, why are you on this magical girl's head?" Gu Bai clearly remembered that Youbi's name for Tao Zhu was...

"Just like that." Yubi's address to Momoko remained unchanged: "Even though she's just a low-level magical girl—"

"Get off me!" Upon hearing this, Tao Zhu began to shake her head vigorously, trying to fling Youbi away.

"Wait, wait, wait, but during the time the master was in the cultivation room, she brought him a lot of delicious food, so we can barely forgive her. Anyway, she's much better than that blue-haired one."

After Youbi finished speaking, Taozhuo barely stopped shaking, mainly because she was afraid of making herself dizzy.

But was bribing this guy really that easy?

Then why hasn't Guanlan gained its trust after all this time...?

Gu Bai realized that his initial impression of Guan Lan as intelligent and aloof was wrong. Seeing that Dong Chun hadn't arrived yet, he simply asked, "What did Guan Lan do to you?"

"Speaking of that guy..."

Yubi flew to Gu Bai's desk and gestured with her little hands in the air:

"Theoretically, it is possible to reach the seventh star, but how should I put it, she always thinks that everything is under her control, but in fact, the previous magical girl of the past always covered for her."

"That's true." Considering Guanlan's subsequent actions, she does seem to lack something compared to the other Seven Star Magical Girls.

"It's a pity he's dead. I was wondering why Qi Xin had been urging the Seven Stars to appear on the moon lately; it turns out one of them was lost."

After saying that, Yubi sighed again: "Alas, the chances of Tsuki are slim too. I really liked her. Fighting for her deceased best friend, that's what the magical girls I admire are like!"

"Come on, how many magical girls like Qi Xin could you find if you asked a hundred?"

Tao Zhuo picked up Youbi from the table and started kneading her. It felt so good! She wondered if it felt the same way her teacher did; no wonder she was somewhat addicted…

"Don't seek knowledge externally, don't seek truth internally." Yubi's view on quasi-magical girls seems similar to Qixin's: "So most of them are stuck at five stars, just pretending to be magical girls."

But as they talked, Gu Bai suddenly realized that there was no need to ask the Seven Star Magical Girl about his doubts from a few days ago; he could probably get the answers from this guy in front of him:

"Yubi, who sets the rules about magical girls?"

"The magical girl who creates magical girls!" Yubi seemed to be reciting a tongue twister.

Tao Zhuo was also very interested in this topic, and placed Youbiqu on the table, asking, "Is that so?"

It clasped its tiny arms around itself, offering its information without reservation: "My first magical girl, who was also my first master, died a long time ago!"

"Alright then." Tao Zhu felt that this Youbi was a strange thing. Would a normal contracted beast talk like that? Anyway, she thought it probably wouldn't in the dramas.

After the initial probing question, Gu Bai immediately raised the crucial question:

"Advancing to Seven Stars requires your help? But I remember you also said that you gave Qi Xin the ability to awaken girls into magical girls. What would happen if you disagreed?"

"How stupid! Of course, there won't be any more magical girls!"

"But not necessarily. There is actually a contracted beast roaming the continent, but it has no interest in creating a magical girl, and I am not too clear about its whereabouts."

Yubi flapped its wings and floated up. It looked at Gu Bai, then at Tao Zhuo. Could these two be a secret couple? Why are they asking each other questions so coincidentally?

"And then, are you two going to ask how to defeat the witch? If you beg me, I might tell you!"

"Oh, is that so? I'm going to tell Dong-chan that you don't want to be her contracted beast anymore." Tao Zhu brought up Dong Chun as a tool to suppress Youbi.

"Ahem, that won't do." Yubi was a little embarrassed; how did she manage to catch her out on such a glaring mistake? "Anyway, since you're acting in the best interests of humanity, telling you won't hurt!"

In fact, Gu Bai didn't really need it. After all, according to what the magical girl Wei Zhi said, Qi Xin Academy should have a complete contingency plan for the appearance of witches.

But there's no need to stop Yubi's desire to express herself now.

Then, Tao Zhuo brought out the blackboard in the counseling room again, indicating that Youbi could draw on it with a marker.

Yubi looked at the large marker that was almost as long as her hand and wondered how she could possibly use it. So she silently held a grudge against this magical girl!

Witches are the greatest evil!

They create strange beasts and generate monsters, then use teleportation magic to send these things into the calamity zone; their very existence seems to be aimed at wiping out humanity.

At this moment, Tao Zhuo vigorously rubbed Youbi's head, indicating that they could quickly skip over these tedious background stories, since they had already heard them countless times in the courses at Qixin Academy.

After humming twice, Yubi looked at Gu Bai: "Uh, anyway, if it were you, I recommend trying to break the witch!"

"Isn't the witch immortal? Is she trying to destroy that alien core?"

"That statement is indeed correct, but it's impossible."

To answer Gu Bai's question, Youbi continued, "A witch's core is external. Even if it comes to the human world, it can be left in the witch world. There's only one feasible way: to break the witch down through some means, and she will lose all her magic power, right?"

At this point, Tao Zhuo, who had already opened the midday news, complained, "Reliable or not? The concept of 'collapse' is too broad!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, I'm a magical girl's super contract beast, how could my words be unreliable!"

After saying that, Yubi turned and flew towards the door of the consultation room: "Don't believe me? Come ask my master. If I say I can use time-stop magic, then I can!"

—Bang.

At the same time, the door to the consultation room was pushed open.

With an indifferent expression, Fuyutsubaki strode into the room. She no longer showed obvious disgust towards Yubi who came to greet her, but she also ignored her.

Tao Zhuo looked at Dong Chun, and something gradually changed within her. She immediately pounced on her: "Whoosh, Dong Chun, your cool face is so cute! I became a magical girl just to see things like this!"

Dong Chun's red eyes flashed, and she instantly appeared in front of Gu Bai, past Tao Zhuo. The six star marks on her right wrist, exposed by the power of her magic, began to glow:

"Hello, teacher. Magical Girl Fuyutsubaki has reached six stars and learned the [Time Stop Magic]."

"Give it a try..."

Before Gu Bai could finish speaking, Dong Chun, who had instantly moved from his sight to his back, gently patted his shoulder in acknowledgment.

His own ability to "adapt" seemed to have no effect on this time stop; in fact, he didn't feel it at all.

"That's it, I'm still figuring out the specifics." When she spoke again, Fuyutsubaki's breathing was noticeably heavier, clearly indicating that this spell required a very high level of magical power from her.

"That's great. If we're talking about seeking immortality, if time stop could have a lasting effect on me, perhaps..."

"I will try."

The conversation between the two was relaxed and natural.

It's quite strange, really. Gradually, whether it's Dong Chun and Gu Bai, or Gu Bai and Dong Chun, although they don't communicate much, a sense of harmony, tacit understanding, and trust is subtly developing between them.

In Tao Zhuo's words, this "fake couple" ganged up on her every day to bully her.

"Wow, Winter Sister is so amazing!"

The consultation room wasn't very big, and Tao Zhuo eventually managed to stick to Dong's side, gradually regaining her composure: "Time-stop magic... the one Qi Xin recorded was mastered by a witch named Time. I never thought we magical girls could learn it too!"

"With love, nothing is impossible!" Yubi started talking nonsense: "Magical girls, isn't that amazing!"

Gu Bai's opinion remained unchanged: "It is indeed amazing, but the former should not be abundant, at least not within the Qixin Academy."

"Have you ever been a magical girl? What nonsense! No matter where you are, being a magical girl is a profession filled with love and hope!"

After saying that, Yubi changed her tone again: "Guber, how about we become magical girls together? I can arrange special treatment for you, like interval transformation, free transformation, or even permanent transformation packages!"

Seeing Yubi's appearance, Gu Bai thought of a contracted beast from a certain magical girl anime: "Can it grant my wish?"

Yubi's answer surprised him: "I can do it within my capabilities!"

"Then let the magical girl I'm looking for come back immediately?" Gu Bai asked first, but quickly changed his mind: "Or perhaps world peace?"

"Ah, that won't do. My only wish is for you to rub my soft, perfect body after I've groomed it. How about that? It's still quite tempting, isn't it?" Yubi said shyly.

"..." Gu Bai was speechless, and then refused, "Fine, put away your wishful thinking. I won't become a magical girl unless you give me the ability to use magic directly."

But Yubi waved her hands repeatedly: "Yeah, that's impossible! Men can use magic or something, just thinking about it is disgusting!"

Tao Zhu, who was holding Dong Chun, looked like a primary school student and said seriously, "Yubi, isn't this sexism?"

"Hey, don't throw your weight around in front of me. If you say another word, I'll... forbid you from reaching Seven Stars! Hmph, anyway, as long as I'm alive, only girls in this world can use magic!"

"Ha ha."

Tao Zhuo laughed at the little guy's expression.

Seeing how fierce Youbi became, Gu Bai understood that Guanlan had been helpless with it the previous times. It was truly a little guy who believed in biased reasoning.

But now the grand magical girl system's order is built on this little guy? How to put it, it's kind of funny.

Tao Zhuo wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes, and for some reason, she thought of something: "Youbi, are you an immortal being?"

"Yes, as His contracted beast, I am not only immortal, but I am an ageless and immortal being!" Yubi said proudly.

But Tao Zhuo immediately added a crucial question: "Why did the first magical girl die?"

"She killed herself, spreading magic throughout the world, thus creating magical girls—that is, you. Thank her, and of course, you should also thank me!"

Yubi shook her head, or perhaps her emotions had changed, because she slowed down her flapping of wings and her body slowly fell down.

The consultation room was quiet for a moment.

Tao Zhuo didn't ask any further questions. She lowered her head, rubbed the star marks on her fingers, and seemed to be lost in thought.

"grateful?"

If this is the origin story, then the destruction of magical girls is...

Gu Bai watched the little creature flying lower and lower and began to consider other possibilities.

The afternoon sunlight streaming in through the window was just right, falling precisely on the area of ​​the witch's world on the map on the table.