Chapter 19: Intelligence

Su Bai shouted, “Woohoo! Finally free! Military training is finally over!”

On the playground, the long-prepared military parade had just ended. Banners and pennants were everywhere. Crowds of students poured off the stands and the field like a migrating swarm of ants.

Still dressed in her military training uniform and camouflage cap, Su Bai was thoroughly baked by the sun. Sweat kept beading on her cheeks and sliding down her neck to drip onto the ground.

Without even stopping to fix her appearance, she waved toward Jiang Yuelan, who was resting on the viewing platform.

Then she jogged all the way over, ready to head back to the dorm together and finally relax.

Only to find Jiang Yuelan chatting with someone else on the stands.

A pair of golden twin braids bounced restlessly up and down with every movement of the girl’s head.

It was the classmate they had met a few days ago—Yu Xiaoyan.

“Xiaoyan, hello. Why are you up on the stands too?” Su Bai asked with some confusion.

Jiang Yuelan was on the stands because she had suffered heatstroke earlier. The instructor had been worried about her condition and had not dared let her take part in the parade.

“Hehe, I had the runs yesterday. My body was too weak, so I sat it out.” Yu Xiaoyan scratched her head, then seemed to realize something. “Besides, we were in the same formation. You didn’t even notice I was gone…”

“Ah, well…”

Su Bai really wanted to say: she was simply too short to see whether Yu Xiaoyan was in the front row or not.

But how could she possibly say something that embarrassing out loud… Even though she had originally been a big guy, right now she looked more like a delicate little sister than anyone else.

“So what were you two talking about just now? It looked pretty interesting.”

Yu Xiaoyan answered, “Nothing much. Just that military training is over, and there are still a few days before classes officially start. I was thinking we could head off campus for a bit.

I heard there’s an amazing magical girl merch store on C City’s commercial street, so I wanted to drag Jiang Yuelan along.”

Su Bai looked at the two of them chatting and laughing, while she herself stood a little apart… A stuffy feeling rose in her chest for no reason.

“Is Sister Xiaolan going?” Her eyes blinked as she looked at Jiang Yuelan with a strange kind of expectation.

“I haven’t decided yet. If I do go, I’ll bring you along too, Xiao Bai.”

“Okay, okay, okay. Last time we didn’t get to play enough. This time I definitely have to hang out properly with you.” Su Bai nodded hard, as if afraid Jiang Yuelan might refuse to take her.

Jiang Yuelan could tell that Su Bai cared a lot about her relationship with Yu Xiaoyan. Even her tone when speaking to Su Bai was noticeably softer than when she spoke to Yu Xiaoyan.

Ever since the heatstroke incident last time, she and Su Bai had talked about a great many things.

After that, Su Bai no longer seemed afraid of her witch identity. On the contrary, she had grown much closer.

Although she still kept a certain distance on those inconvenient girl-related matters, the earlier sense of alienation had clearly faded a lot.

Facing this version of Su Bai now, Jiang Yuelan did not know when a strange emotion had begun welling up from the bottom of her heart.

Yu Xiaoyan, standing to the side, of course had no idea what had happened. She only felt that the two of them seemed to have grown noticeably closer.

Looking at it now, Su Bai’s reaction just now… could it be…

Was she jealous?

At that thought, a knowing auntie smile involuntarily appeared on her face.

“Hey, what’s with that creepy smile of yours?”

Su Bai had also noticed Yu Xiaoyan’s expression and could not help shuddering.

“Nothing, nothing. When the time comes I’ll just shop on my own. You two can pretend I don’t exist.” Yu Xiaoyan put on an “I understand everything” expression.

Jiang Yuelan covered her forehead. These two always got so fired up the moment they met. She really did not know why.

“How about this—we meet at nine in the morning tomorrow at the plaza on the commercial street. Sound good?” Yu Xiaoyan proposed.

“Alright.” Su Bai and Jiang Yuelan nodded at the same time.

“It’s settled then.”

After discussing it, the three of them returned to the dormitory building together.

Yu Xiaoyan’s room was not far from Su Bai and Jiang Yuelan’s—only a few doors away. After saying goodbye in the hallway, each of them went back to their own dorm.

“Sister Xiaolan, I’m going to shower first.” Su Bai was covered in sweat and felt sticky all over. All she wanted was to wash up right away.

“Okay.” Jiang Yuelan answered, but her attention was focused on a message on her phone.

Senior: 『Please report the recent situation.』

Jiang Yuelan’s slender fingers tapped on the keyboard: 『I found a flyer. It felt strange.』 Then she pulled the flyer she had picked up from the restroom that day out of the drawer.

She took a photo of it with her phone and sent it to “Senior.”

Senior: 『Another non-Association magical girl thing? Heh. There are tons of similar scam messages. This one is pretty much the same. Where do you think it was strange?』

Jiang Yuelan: 『I can’t quite put my finger on it. At the time there was a special fragrance on this flyer.』

She leaned in and sniffed it again. The scent was already gone. Only the smell of the paper itself and the printing ink remained.

There was a short pause on “Senior’s” end before a few words came back: 『Keep a closer eye on it. Lately an evil cult organization has been smuggling magic power in your area. They’re quite active. I suspect it might be connected to them.』

Jiang Yuelan’s brow furrowed. She had heard of this kind of incident before. Certain illegal organizations had mastered methods of storing magical energy. They would draw magic from places with high magical density and supply it to various madmen and cultists.

These people believed that by absorbing magic they could gain power. Although the Association had always strictly forbidden such extremely dangerous behavior, human nature was what it was—there were still people willing to risk death to try.

As for the results, without exception, all of them had failed. Some died, some were crippled, and some were left wishing they were dead.

……

『One more thing. You know Green Vine, right? The magical girl assigned to monitor you and your “roommate.”

She’s been restless lately, frequently appearing in various underground venues around C City.

Her movements are clean and efficient. We can’t figure out what she’s actually doing, or whether this is an Association mission or her own personal action.

Be extra careful.』

“Senior” also informed Jiang Yuelan of the intelligence the Tea Party had gathered.

『OK』

Jiang Yuelan replied, then put down her phone and glanced toward the bathroom. The trickling sound of water drifted out from inside.

Green Vine was Su Bai’s handler. Jiang Yuelan was very clear on that point. People from the Tea Party’s side had also been keeping an eye on Green Vine’s movements the whole time.

From the fact that her transformation that night had not been discovered, all the way to the intelligence the Tea Party had just sent her.

It was obvious that Green Vine did not care at all about what was happening on Su Bai’s end.

Under normal circumstances the Association would never tolerate a situation like this, yet the various probes and attacks she had expected never came.

It was as if their only purpose had been to deliver Su Bai to her side under a reasonable pretext?

Jiang Yuelan was also confused. The amount of intelligence “Senior” could obtain from the Association’s side was limited. There was simply no way to deduce anything concrete.

Better stop thinking about it for now. Take it one step at a time. Right now it feels like the breakthrough still lies with Su Bai. I need to find a way to get more information.

Jiang Yuelan rubbed her slightly aching temples and stopped thinking.