Hoshino Hikari blinked, “Eh?”
Ye Qingqing nearly dropped her phone, catching it in a frantic scramble before jumping up excitedly.
“Really, really, really?! Senior Yuki is joining us?!”
“Yes, I’ve made up my mind.” Lin Lu’s expression was as solemn as if she were joining a holy order, “I believe protecting this city is a duty every citizen should fulfill. Since the heavens gave me this power, I should use it to protect others, dedicate myself, burn through my youth, and achieve greatness for the collective—”
Ye Qingqing and Hoshino Hikari were moved to tears.
“Wuwu, Senior is so great!”
Minazuki watched her two teammates, who were currently a sobbing mess, and her lip couldn’t help but twitch.
She felt as though the future of this team was nothing but darkness…
Lin Lu walked straight up to Hoshino Hikari and extended her right hand.
“When do we register? Are we leaving now? What materials do I need to prepare? Do you need my ID card? Uh…”
She suddenly remembered that the gender on her ID card was still a 178-centimeter-tall male.
‘Crap.’
She had been too excited just now and completely forgot about that.
“That…” Lin Lu withdrew her hand and said sheepishly, “I suddenly remembered that I didn’t bring my ID.”
Hoshino Hikari waved her hand and said, “It’s fine! Magical Girl registration doesn’t require an ID. If we used those, wouldn’t our secret identities be exposed? We use Mana Imprints! Every Magical Girl’s mana is unique—it’s even more accurate than an ID!”
“That’s good, then. That’s good.” Lin Lu breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then let’s go, Senior!” Hoshino Hikari suddenly scooped Lin Lu up in a princess carry.
“I’ll take you to headquarters!”
“Wait, wait, wait, what is this posture?!”
“Senior, aren’t you out of mana? I’ll fly you there; it’ll be faster. Let’s go!”
Before Lin Lu could react, Hoshino Hikari had already soared into the sky while holding her.
“Aaaaaah—!”
A pair of white light wings were forced to deploy, following the orange glow as they streaked across the sky.
On the ground, someone held up a phone and captured the scene.
[Shocking! Starlight Magical Girl Group kidnaps mysterious beauty?]
[I, who wiped out a Shadow Beast with one punch, was actually snatched away by Magical Girls?]
[Asking for this white Magical Girl’s Twitter account!]
“The Captain is an idiot…” Minazuki was clearly used to Hoshino Hikari’s airheadedness.
“Qingqing, keep up. Let’s go…”
When she turned her head, she saw Ye Qingqing staring blankly in the direction Lin Lu and Hoshino Hikari had disappeared, a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth as she giggled.
“Heh heh… The Captain and Senior Yuki… such a good ship… heh heh…”
Minazuki: “….?”
‘Child, shipping everything will only hurt you!’
***
Ten minutes later, Lin Lu was brought into a skyscraper.
Magical Girls wearing various uniforms hurried past.
Some held documents, some carried staves, and some were talking on the phone while flying.
In the distance, a massive screen displayed surveillance footage from various parts of the city, with people busy at control consoles.
“Welcome to—” Hoshino Hikari spread her arms wide, “—the Beijiang City Magical Girl Headquarters!”
Lin Lu stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded.
The scale, the grandeur… just how many people were on the payroll here?
However…
“Isn’t having the Magical Girl Headquarters in a skyscraper like this… a bit too conspicuous?” Lin Lu voiced her confusion.
“Ah, no. This building has a perception-blocking magic cast on it for ordinary people. To outsiders, the presence of this building is extremely low—like a single blade of grass in a vast prairie. No one will pay it any attention.”
“Alright! Come, come, come! I’ll take you to the registration desk!” Hoshino Hikari pulled her inside.
Along the way, people kept greeting Hoshino Hikari.
“Hello, Captain Hoshino!”
“Yo! Captain Hoshino is back!”
“Is this… a newcomer?”
Hoshino Hikari nodded in response as she walked, never stopping her pace.
Finally, they stopped in front of an office door.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
“Come in.”
“Sister Shimotsuki!” Hoshino Hikari pushed the door open and pulled Lin Lu inside.
“A newcomer is here. Help her register!”
A woman in professional attire sat behind the desk, typing on a computer.
She looked up and raised an eyebrow when she saw Hoshino Hikari’s group.
“A newcomer?”
Hoshino Hikari excitedly replied, “Yes, yes! A senior we just met today! She took down an A-rank Shadow Beast all by herself!”
Shimotsuki raised her eyebrow further, “Alone? An A-rank?”
“Yes!” Hoshino Hikari nodded vigorously.
Shimotsuki sized Lin Lu up for a moment, then signaled for everyone to sit down.
“Alright, then. Let’s register your basic information first before we assess your rank and power level.”
Shimotsuki didn’t ask Lin Lu about her specific background.
After all, Magical Girls had their privacy, and asking too many questions about their identity was against regulations.
Besides, as long as someone was a Magical Girl, why would anyone fear them being a threat to society?
“Name… of course, this can be your code name as a Magical Girl. You’ll be referred to by this new name from now on.”
“Chiyoyuki.”
“Age?”
“20.”
Shimotsuki nodded.
After filling out the information form, she took out a camera and told Lin Lu to sit straight.
“Look here. Yes, smile—good!”
“Click.”
Lin Lu’s Magical Girl ID photo was born.
Next was fingerprinting.
“Yuki, put your hand on this. Yes, press down a bit—good. Now the other one—done!”
Then came the Mana Imprint collection.
“This will be a bit itchy, Yuki. Bear with it.” Shimotsuki took out a crystal rod and lightly swiped it across Lin Lu’s wrist.
Lin Lu felt a warmth on the back of her hand as a silver pattern emerged before fading back into her skin.
“All set!” Shimotsuki recorded the shape of the pattern.
“This is your unique Mana Imprint. In the future, you just need to manifest the pattern on the back of your hand to prove your identity!”
The final item—
“Mana rank test,” Shimotsuki explained.
“All Magical Girls must take this to evaluate their strength and benefits. Please follow me.”
Lin Lu and the others followed Shimotsuki to the room next door.
Shimotsuki pointed to a device in the center of the room.
“Just place your hand on the device. It will automatically probe the mana intensity in your body to determine your rank. You don’t need to do anything; just relax.”
Lin Lu nodded.
“I’m really curious what rank Senior Yuki is!” Hoshino Hikari said expectantly.
“Heh heh… Anyway, she’s definitely stronger than us. We’ll be able to rely on her from now on.” Ye Qingqing held up her phone, ready to take a photo.
Lin Lu took a deep breath, stepped forward, and pressed her hand against the device.
The surface of the device was cold and smooth, seemingly made of some special metal.
As soon as she placed her hand on it, she felt a gentle force seep into her palm, as if it were investigating something.
Lin Lu looked at the many indicator lights on the device and was clearly a bit nervous.
“Uh…” She looked back at the three girls and asked, “This thing won’t explode, will it?”
Hoshino Hikari: “…Senior, what are you thinking about?”
Ye Qingqing: “Hahahaha, Senior Yuki is so cute!”
Shimotsuki’s lip twitched slightly, “Don’t worry. This device can withstand Solar Sun Rank mana. It’s not that fragile.”
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
A faint light suddenly lit up on the display—it was a dull gray.
“Dusty Void Rank,” Shimotsuki announced casually.
Before the words had even faded, the light changed.
The dull gray turned into a pale white, becoming brighter and brighter—
“It’s at Star Rank now!” Ye Qingqing cried out.
Hoshino Hikari’s mouth dropped open, “So fast?!”
The light was still changing.
The pale white began to be dyed with a faint layer of gold, like the first light of dawn.
Shimotsuki’s eyes narrowed.
“Radiant Moon Rank…” she murmured.
“These are the signs of the Radiant Moon Rank.”
The golden light grew more intense, and the device began to vibrate slightly.
Finally, the light settled into a soft, pale gold.
The golden halo wasn’t intense, but it certainly existed.
“Radiant Moon Rank,” Shimotsuki announced with a nod.
“Initial stage.”
The room fell silent for two seconds.
Then—
“Radiant Moon?!” Hoshino Hikari practically jumped into the air.
“Senior Yuki is Radiant Moon Rank?!”
Ye Qingqing nearly dropped her phone again, this time because her hands were shaking from the shock.
“R-Radiant Moon Rank?! As expected of Senior Yuki!”
Minazuki adjusted her glasses, a sharp glint flashed behind the lenses as she said, “No wonder she could kill an A-rank Shadow Beast in one hit.”
Shimotsuki gave Lin Lu a deep look before writing the assessment result on the registration form.
[Mana Level: Radiant Moon Rank (Initial Stage)]
Lin Lu withdrew her hand and looked at Hoshino Hikari.
“Um… what level of skill is Radiant Moon Rank?”
Hoshino Hikari scratched her head and explained, “Senior, Magical Girl ranks are divided into six levels—Dusty Void, Star, Radiant Moon, Solar Sun, Rising Dawn, and Eternal. Newly born Magical Girls are basically Dusty Void Rank. To reach Star Rank requires a long period of tempering. The three of us are at the late stage of the Star Rank. As for the Radiant Moon Rank…”
Hoshino Hikari thought about it carefully.
“There are no more than three Radiant Moon Rank girls in all of Beijiang City, and they’re all about to retire. Usually, Magical Girls of this level are high-end combatants. A Radiant Moon Rank as young as you, Senior… you could easily rival the headquarters’ Seven Sword-Bearing Chiefs.”
Hoshino Hikari clapped her hands suddenly, “Oh, right! Radiant Moon Rank Magical Girls get an extra allowance of 10,000 per month!”
“!!!” Lin Lu was profoundly shaken.
She cleared her throat and asked in a low voice, “Ahem… Where’s the contract? I’m joining right now!”