Su Bai and Jiang Yuelan walked up to the stall and greeted the vendor.
“Hello, Yu Xiaoyan sent us to find you.” Jiang Yuelan raised her phone and showed the vendor the chat records with Yu Xiaoyan.
The vendor, who had expected yet another troublemaker, relaxed at her words.
“Oh, so Sister Xiaoyan introduced you. Hehe, come take a look at my stuff. I’ll give you a discount.”
While introducing his wares, the vendor kept observing Su Bai and Jiang Yuelan.
He could always sense something extraordinary about their auras, especially Su Bai, who gave him a strange sense of familiarity he could not place.
“Thank you. Could you tell me where the restroom is? I need to go.” Su Bai asked the vendor, and he pointed out a path.
Jiang Yuelan immediately followed up. “Su Bai, I’ll go with you.”
“Sister Xiaolan, you already went when we arrived. It’s not that far. You don’t need to come with me. I’ll be right back.” Su Bai’s lips curved into an easy smile, signaling that she did not need company.
Yet that smile could not fool Jiang Yuelan. It was so forced that it felt like a needle piercing her own heart.
Su Bai said nothing more. The hand Jiang Yuelan held slipped free like a little fish and then she turned and walked straight in the direction the vendor had indicated.
Jiang Yuelan was about to call out and stop her, but in the blink of an eye Su Bai had already vanished into the crowd.
She looked down at her own hand. The cool residual touch still lingered, constantly reminding this nearly omnipotent witch of one fact:
Su Bai had slipped away just like that.
Although she had said she would return, something still felt off.
Jiang Yuelan thought for a moment, then immediately told the vendor, “Sorry, I need to go find my friend. She’s a bit socially anxious. I’m worried she’ll get lost. We’ll visit again when we have the chance.”
The vendor could tell something was wrong as well. He did not point out the holes in Jiang Yuelan’s words and simply nodded in agreement.
Jiang Yuelan then followed the direction the vendor had pointed earlier.
Faced with such a complicated environment, she still wanted to use magic to track her, but there were too many people and eyes around, not to mention several magical girls stationed nearby.
Moreover, Su Bai was highly sensitive to magic. Jiang Yuelan did not yet want to fully expose herself in front of Su Bai.
By then Su Bai, relying on her petite frame, had already slipped through the crowd with ease and quickly reached the restroom.
This restroom was a little out of the way and hardly anyone came to use it.
Su Bai went straight into the last stall and locked the door.
She sat on the toilet lid with both feet planted on it, arms wrapped around her knees, head buried against her thighs. Her entire body curled up like a wounded little beast.
She replayed everything that had just happened. Bitterness kept surging in her heart, and the calm expression from earlier was gone.
Why?
Facing those rumors, slanders, and even insults, she no longer cared.
To her, they had already become commonplace over the past half year.
What truly troubled her was not the people attacking her with words.
On the contrary, it was the supporters, the ones who spoke up for her.
What were they doing it for?
She lifted her head. The mirror inside the stall reflected her pale, helpless, and utterly wretched appearance.
How many traces of the confident magical girl she once was remained?
“They’re doing this… for someone like me???” Su Bai voiced the words in her heart in a trembling voice.
Cloud Begonia’s words from earlier began echoing in her ears again.
“Senior White Iris is a very kind and determined person.”
“I believe Senior would never do something like that.”
“She will definitely come back.”
Heh. How am I supposed to go back? I can’t go back. How am I supposed to answer their expectations in this state?
By becoming the role model of a complete waste who has lost all her magic and abilities?
Or by letting them worship the cross-dressing pervert the internet claims I am?
No. I can’t do it, Su Bai thought in despair.
She had seen everything that happened earlier. She had wanted so badly to step forward and say no to those rumors, to stand up and deny them.
Yet all she could do was watch those people with her own eyes. Even though there was nothing to gain, even though they could have stayed silent and kept out of it, they still spoke up for her.
They probably never imagined that the person herself was right there at the scene, and in the end she only hid away like a coward.
“I… can’t even…”
Su Bai bit down hard on her lip. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes and would not stop.
Suddenly, there came a whoosh. A flyer slid in through the gap under the door. It was from the person who had just entered the restroom.
Without stopping, that person continued pushing another flyer into the next stall.
“What’s this?” Su Bai’s emotions were interrupted by the sudden intrusion.
She wiped her tears and casually picked up the flyer from the floor.
It was an especially finely made promotional poster.
“Want to become a magical girl? Join us. No talent test required. All you need is the heart to become a magical girl.” Su Bai read out the large words on the flyer.
Below them were a few lines of smaller text: Participate in the awakening ceremony and obtain the qualification to experience a transformation device.
It even stated that there was no need to go through Association evaluation, and no need to join the Association to become a magical girl.
“If you’re interested, come to the center of the flowerbed plaza on Street No. 12 at midnight on the night of the full moon and wait!”
That was the final sentence on the poster. No other contact information was left.
When Su Bai saw the words “become a magical girl,” her pupils contracted.
A non-Association magical girl? No Association certification required?
If she could use this to recover her strength as a magical girl…
A wave of dizziness hit her. Su Bai seemed to see herself regaining power, returning to her peak, and clearing her name.
At that moment Su Bai stared fixedly at the poster. Her eyes grew more and more fervent, and the curve of her lips became increasingly exaggerated.
When that time comes.
She would no longer be constrained by the Association. The world would be vast—where couldn’t she go?
Wouldn’t the entire world then be in her hands… all…
Within easy reach
??………
“Knock knock. Xiao Bai, are you in there? You’ve been inside for so long. Did something happen?”
A gentle voice came from outside the stall. It was Jiang Yuelan’s.
Ugh……
The moment Jiang Yuelan’s voice sounded, a sharp pain stabbed through her. Su Bai clutched her head with both hands as her thoughts suddenly broke free from the paste-like confusion.
What had just happened to her? Why had she suddenly thought that way?
Su Bai felt a cold sweat break out down her back. Those thoughts that did not belong to her were swept away, replaced by a wave of lingering fear.
“I’m fine. I’ve just been a bit tired lately. I’ll be right out.”
Her voice trembled slightly as she answered. She looked down at the flyer again. The content was still the same, but those strange thoughts no longer surfaced.
She examined the flyer carefully once more. There was nothing unusual about it.
Had she really just overthought it? Maybe the pressure of the undercover witch mission was too much and had given her those weird ideas.
Su Bai shook her head, still not fully sorting out the situation.
“Overthinking is useless. Better get out first.” She pushed the door open and saw Jiang Yuelan waiting nearby, concern now in her eyes.
“I’ll wash my hands first, ha. Then we can go together.” Su Bai walked to the sink. Not only did she wash her hands, she also washed her face, rinsing away the tear stains and cold sweat from earlier.
Jiang Yuelan, meanwhile, looked toward the stall Su Bai had just left. Suddenly her gaze noticed the flyer that had fallen on the floor.
“There’s a strange smell.”
Jiang Yuelan’s brow furrowed. Besides the restroom’s inherent odor, there was a special scent in the air. She even felt she had smelled this scent somewhere before.
She walked into the stall. While Su Bai was not looking, Jiang Yuelan quickly picked up the flyer and put it away.