The scorching sun hung high in a cloudless sky, baking the earth without even a single breath of wind.
On the playground of Chengjiang University, one formation after another was practicing drills.
Everyone here wore the same dark-green camouflage military uniform. Sweat dripped down their cheeks as they endured the blazing sun.
Su Bai was in one of the girls’ formations.
Her stamina was still holding up, but her expression was vacant and her mind was elsewhere.
“Left face.” The instructor’s command rang out, and the entire formation moved as one.
“Uwah!”
Su Bai turned the wrong way and ended up face-to-face with the classmate beside her. The sudden sight of the other girl’s face startled her out of her distraction.
She had turned in the wrong direction.
“What’s going on with this student? Can’t tell left from right? This is already several times.”
“Reporting, Instructor. I zoned out.” Su Bai explained the reason.
“Focus. Otherwise you’ll be doing extra practice while everyone else rests.” The female instructor’s tone was firm as she criticized Su Bai.
From the rear of the formation, Jiang Yuelan watched Su Bai and sighed inwardly.
After the exhibition that day, Su Bai had barely stayed long once she left the restroom before asking to return to the dorm to rest.
Ever since that day, Su Bai had been like this—suddenly spaced out for no reason, always distracted, weighed down by something.
Today was already the third day of military training, and she was still the same.
Jiang Yuelan had naturally noticed the change.
Every time she tried to probe Su Bai’s situation from the side.
Yet Su Bai always seemed a little afraid of talking with her, stammering and unwilling to share, while still forcing herself to look calm.
Jiang Yuelan was troubled as well. Of course she did not blame Su Bai. After all, the other girl was wary of her identity as a witch. If their positions were reversed, she would probably be the same.
It seemed she needed to create a proper opportunity for a good talk.
Jiang Yuelan’s eyes turned as if she had thought of a good idea, then she called out:
“Reporting, Instructor. I’m not feeling well. I’d like to rest for a bit.”
The female instructor walked over to Jiang Yuelan and began asking about her condition.
Since this was a girls’ formation, the instructor did not dare push the students too hard.
“Your head feels a little hot. It might be heatstroke. Don’t rest here. Better go to the school clinic first.”
The instructor touched her forehead to confirm Jiang Yuelan was not lying.
Of course Jiang Yuelan could not possibly have heatstroke. This was a little “trick” she had pulled.
Releasing magic outward risked being noticed by Su Bai, but making small adjustments inside her own body was well within her ability.
Moreover, with her control over magic, there would absolutely be no overflow of magical fluctuations, nor any chance of anyone detecting anything unusual.
Seeing that Jiang Yuelan’s complexion looked rather poor, the instructor thought for a moment and said, “How about I go with you? In your condition you need someone looking after you.”
Jiang Yuelan shook her head. She was just about to tell the instructor that Su Bai could go with her when—
From the front row, Su Bai volunteered on her own. “Reporting, Instructor. I’m her roommate. Let me go with her.”
“Alright. I agree. No need to hurry back. Get Jiang settled first.”
The instructor nodded and approved Su Bai’s request. The formation could spare two people, but if the instructor herself left, it would easily cause chaos.
Jiang Yuelan was a little surprised. She had not expected Su Bai to step forward on her own. Could it be that she was concerned about her?
Su Bai jogged over to Jiang Yuelan’s side and supported her as they walked step by step toward the clinic.
The school clinic was not too far from the playground. The two of them walked in silence and soon entered the clinic.
“Xiao Bai, thank you.” Jiang Yuelan lay on the bed. Her complexion already looked less poor.
The school doctor came over and examined Jiang Yuelan.
“It should be heatstroke. I’ll prescribe some medicine and put her on an IV. She’ll be fine.
After you get back, eat something light and get more rest.”
Su Bai held several medicine boxes in her arms, her little head nodding the whole time as she carefully memorized every word the doctor said.
“Thank you, Doctor.” Su Bai expressed her thanks.
“No need. I still have other patients to see. Just call me when the IV is done.” With that, the doctor left.
Only Su Bai and Jiang Yuelan remained in the small ward.
After a stretch of silence—
Jiang Yuelan was the first to break it. “Xiao Bai, you didn’t have much fun at the magical girl exhibition that day, did you?”
Su Bai froze. She had not expected Jiang Yuelan to bring this up right now.
“Not really. I just wasn’t particularly interested. Later I might have felt a little unwell…”
“……” Jiang Yuelan knew it was a lie, but she did not call it out.
“What about you? I left early that day, so you missed the evening performance. Didn’t that feel like a letdown?” Su Bai asked in return.
Jiang Yuelan shook her head. “There weren’t any magical girls I liked in that show anyway. Missing it was fine.”
“Then, Sister Xiaolan, what kind of magical girl do you like?”
Su Bai asked casually and received an answer that left her startled.
“I like White Iris.”
You too?
Su Bai looked at Jiang Yuelan with a strange expression.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not as… fanatical as Xiaoyan.”
“That’s not what I meant. I just… don’t really understand. Um… why do you like White Iris?” Su Bai still asked.
“Me? I think the reasons everyone likes White Iris are pretty much the same.”
“Powerful, just, kind, brave, and so on.”
Su Bai’s little face flushed slightly. It was the first time she had heard someone praise her to her face, and it left her a bit shy.
“Other magical girls have those qualities too, right?”
“That’s true. But there’s one more thing, and it’s the part that stands out most about White Iris—that pure ‘purity’ that belongs uniquely to a magical girl.”
Su Bai looked a little dazed, as if still trying to understand Jiang Yuelan’s words.
Jiang Yuelan continued, her voice unhurried. “That summer is the one White Iris fans still love to talk about the most.”
Both of their thoughts drifted along with Jiang Yuelan’s words to that time.
“Back then, in just one short month, White Iris single-handedly handled sixty-eight demonic beast threat incidents, closed twenty-eight rifts of various sizes, and rescued so many civilians that the number couldn’t even be counted.”
Su Bai’s own memories of that time were already a little blurry, yet Jiang Yuelan remembered every detail clearly.
That summer had also been the period when Su Bai’s growth had been the fastest. Abnormal incidents of all scales had erupted across many regions, and the Association had even briefly considered abandoning L City.
White Iris had turned the tide at that critical moment, giving the Association a chance to catch its breath and finally suppress the outbreak.
“And in the interviews afterward, other magical girls would usually boast about themselves a little.
White Iris only ever said one sentence—‘As long as everyone is safe, that’s enough’—and then set off for the next mission site.
Without complaint, without seeking reward, simply to protect everyone.
That is probably the purest part of White Iris as a magical girl.”
It wasn’t that exaggerated. She had only done what she was supposed to do.
Su Bai grumbled inwardly, her mind turning to the magical girl who had saved her back then.
The reason she had fought so hard at the time was also because she wanted that magical girl’s wish to continue living on in another form.
“And now? You’ve heard about all those things online, right? What do you think?” Su Bai continued to press.