“Xia Che! Xia Che~”
The next day during the long break, Ye Xiao Chi tugged on Xia Che’s arm, shaking it while blinking her big eyes, and said pitifully:
“Why did you become Senior Ash’s agent? Didn’t we agree to work hard together?”
Xia Che stopped writing, placed her hand on the girl’s head, and gently rubbed it.
“Director Jiang gave me this job. I want to do it well, and becoming Ash’s agent is also to better protect you. Besides, even if I’m not your agent, we’re both in the Magical Girls Division, right? Even during work, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet.”
“To protect me… hehe…”
Ye Xiao Chi’s face reddened slightly.
She shyly twisted a strand of hair falling from her temple with her fingers, but soon leaned in like a puppy:
“But but… I really want to work with you. Can’t one agent be in charge of two magical girls?”
“If it were possible, I’d want to, but it’s not allowed, right?”
Xia Che said softly.
“Mmph!”
The girl puffed out her cheeks, looking like an angry pufferfish.
Just then, her phone vibrated.
She took it out and saw it was a text from the Task Force Bureau.
There were two types of messages from the Task Force Bureau:
If it was a work text, it would vibrate twice with a short, unique alert tone.
If it was a summoning text for a monster attack, it would vibrate continuously while a pop-up window appeared.
Inside the window would be the monster’s info, location, possible number of refugees, and the number and distance of nearby heroes.
Ye Xiao Chi had clearly received the second type.
Having worked at the Task Force Bureau for a while, she was already familiar with this pattern.
She tapped into the window and entered full-screen mode.
Her eyes lit up.
“It’s Senior Ash! She’s heading over… Let’s go too!”
With that, Ye Xiao Chi stood up and, without explanation, dashed out of the classroom under the gaze of her classmates.
Xia Che had no choice but to follow behind her.
Ever since that attack incident, she had completely become a hardcore fan of Ash…
Meanwhile, Ye Qianqiu had just come out of the company, holding a small box containing his belongings from work.
They weren’t valuable, but losing them would have been a bit of a shame.
Thinking of the furious glare his boss gave him, he felt in a very good mood.
So this is how it feels not to work for someone else?
So refreshing.
Why didn’t I become a magical girl sooner?
Ah, what am I thinking?
He weighed the small box in his hand.
It was quite light.
After all these years at this company, he had brought many things in but was taking very little out.
“This is… completely over.”
Although quitting gave him a sense of relief, suddenly shedding that burden also left him a bit dazed.
From now on, his job would be something he used to avoid:
Becoming the magical girl Ash to fight monsters…
Dudulu!
Just then, his phone’s message alert rang.
A monster attack had occurred nearby.
Ye Qianqiu tightened his grip on the box.
He had already promised Xiao Chi that he would stay by her side.
Although he didn’t know how to be a good father, he could at least do the simple task of protecting his daughter.
Take more missions, do more training, become stronger.
“Just in time…”
Ye Qianqiu stored the box at a nearby convenience store and dashed into the alley he knew best.
He had transformed here many times before.
“It’s been a while since I fought. Time to stretch my muscles.”
“Transform.”
With a ding! sound, the man gripped the ignited golden lighter.
Amidst the deep red flames, the petite girl shot into the sky.
She looked at her palm and made a grasping motion.
‘It feels like… my power has become a bit stronger than before.’
Ash attempted to channel her magic.
Soon, a small flame sprang from her fingertip.
‘The magic gathering speed seems faster too?’
‘Why… is it because I walked through death’s door, so the bond between body and soul is tighter?’
‘Or is it because of that…’
The girl thought of the strange reactions her body had made when she was unconscious, and the odd noises in her ears.
Her small face instantly turned red.
‘No way, no way… It shouldn’t be. Definitely not!’
She took a deep breath, letting the cold air rush through her nasal cavity, and barely managed to clear her head.
She moved swiftly through the sky and soon arrived at the location specified in the message.
According to the intelligence from the Task Force Bureau, this particular monster was a “vampire.”
Although its strength wasn’t very high, given the nature of vampires, the appearance of one meant there might be many more lurking in the city.
But that wasn’t Ash’s problem to worry about.
“The monster is around D-rank. Its location is a multi-story parking garage. Nearby is a large commercial center. No trapped civilians.”
After confirming the information, Ash arrived at the designated floor.
Just then, Feizuan flew over from the other side, carrying Xia Che on her back.
“Senior Ash!” The magical girl with fiery red hair waved at her excitedly.
“Mm.”
Ash nodded indifferently.
“What are you two doing here? Shouldn’t you be in class?”
“It’s fine, it’s the long break. If we handle this quickly, we might even make it back before class starts~!”
Feizuan playfully stuck out her tongue.
“Haa…”
Ash sighed.
With a flick of her small hand, the broken sword appeared in her palm.
“In that case, let’s finish this quickly.”
“He’s hiding behind the white car in Zone B.”
As the agent, Xia Che could view the nearby drone footage through her phone.
She scrolled through it while speaking.
“Miss Ash, if you could make it look a bit more flashy? The live stream currently has around 200,000 concurrent viewers…”
“No way.”
The girl said coldly, already charging forward.
“I only hunt monsters. The rest has nothing to do with me. Feizuan, follow me.”
“Yes!”
Just as Ash had said, the battle ended quite quickly.
The monster was a balding, bespectacled office worker in a plaid shirt.
The only difference from a young programmer was the fangs in his mouth.
The two magical girls easily pinned the vampire programmer to the ground and beat him up.
“Stop! Stop! I was wrong, okay?!”
The programmer knelt on the ground, begging incessantly.
“Who turned you?”
Ash pressed the broken sword against his neck, her voice cold.
“I-I don’t know! I was just slacking off at the company… just playing on the computer for a bit. Then suddenly I felt a rush of heat, and next thing I knew, I was here!”
Seeing that the man didn’t seem to be lying, Ash lowered her sword and said to Xia Che:
“The target has lost combat capability. Call the Task Force Bureau to handle the cleanup.”
With that, she turned and left, clean and decisive.
Xia Che had no choice but to contact the Task Force Bureau, watching the girl’s cool retreating figure with helplessness.
A battle style that was utterly unspectacular, efficient, and clean was really not suitable for streaming.
After all, the viewers hadn’t even gotten excited before the fight ended.
Though there were some who became Ash’s fans precisely because of this…
When the Task Force Bureau arrived, Xia Che finally left the parking garage and saw the two girls standing in front of a self-serve ice cream cart, buying ice cream.
Feizuan ordered strawberry flavor, while Ash ordered vanilla.
“Here, yours.”
Ye Xiao Chi handed her the matcha-flavored one.
“Thanks, but it’s winter, you know? Aren’t you afraid of getting a stomachache?”
Xia Che took it.
“What do you know? Only in winter can you eat ice cream that doesn’t melt!”
Feizuan laughed, took a big bite, and shivered from the cold.
“Ouch, it’s freezing… My head hurts…”
“That’s why you should eat slowly…”
Next to her, Ash was licking her ice cream quietly like a little gray cat, taking small bites.
“Alright, you’ve got your ice cream. You two should get back to class.”
“Yeah, we’re going!”
Feizuan grabbed Xia Che’s hand, ready to take off with her, but then remembered something.
“Oh, right, Xia Che, can I stay at your place tonight?”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Both of them looked at Feizuan.
Feizuan smiled and said, “Well, it’s like this. I’m planning to run away from home for a while!”
Ash was stunned, with a tiny smear of white ice cream at the corner of her pink lips.
“Huh?”