On the morning of November 8, Yuan Qing attended the tea party wearing the deep gray suit Mizuho had picked out for him. Under Raven’s manipulation, he looked almost indistinguishable from Mizuho, and his voice followed suit.
To be honest, the moment he stood before the entrance of the high-end club listed on the invitation, he felt a sudden urge to turn back.
The club’s exterior was low-profile yet luxurious, featuring off-white stone walls and simple geometric lines. There were no signs at the entrance, only a seemingly ordinary wooden door.
However, Yuan Qing could sense that there were many people behind that door.
“Don’t just stand there,” Raven said, peeking his head down from Yuan Qing’s shoulder and rubbing his beak against Yuan Qing’s cheek. “Go in, go in.”
“Alright, I know.”
Yuan Qing practiced a smile, and once he found the right feeling, he pushed the door open.
Behind the door lay a spacious hall. Sunlight poured in through floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating a long table covered in white cloth.
The table was adorned with exquisite tea snacks and fresh flowers. Inside several glass teapots, tea leaves slowly unfurled in the hot water.
And within the hall, more than twenty people had already gathered—all of them Magical Girls.
They stood in groups of two or three; some wore everyday casual clothes, while others wore private outfits with Magical Girl elements. Upon hearing the door open, everyone’s gaze shifted toward him in unison.
“Ah, Miss Raven is here!” Sakuma Seidai squeezed through the crowd and hurried forward. She was still wearing her pink and white dress. “Thank you so much for coming today!”
After speaking, Sundae gave a deep bow.
Yuan Qing nodded. “No need to be so polite.”
“Yes!” Sundae was clearly overexcited. “Um… please come this way. I’ll introduce you to everyone!”
Yuan Qing followed her into the hall.
The Magical Girls’ eyes followed him constantly. Some were curious, some were scrutinizing, and some held clear admiration. The crowd swarmed over, surrounding Yuan Qing as if they were observing a rare species.
“Hello! Miss Mine!”
“She’s even prettier in person than in the videos!”
“The familiar is so cool too!”
“Wait, wait, wait?” Sundae was pushed aside by the sudden surge of the crowd. “Miss Mine! This person’s name is…”
Sundae waved her hand, trying to reclaim the conversation, but she was clearly ignored by the crowd.
Meanwhile, Raven remained perched on Yuan Qing’s shoulder, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded.
“Hello, Miss Mine,” one of the Magical Girls said, thrusting her phone camera forward. “What is your usual process for subjugating monsters?”
Yuan Qing gave a dignified smile and replied, “First, like everyone else, my familiar senses an abnormal fluctuation from a monster nearby. Then he informs me of the location, after which I use my transformed strength to reach the battlefield as quickly as possible. Generally speaking, I am not like the Magical Girls who patrol and protect a specific area.”
“Miss Mine!” another Magical Girl called out, holding up another phone camera. “We already know Miss Raven’s abilities include the Falcon, Eagle, and Crane. May I ask how many types of abilities Miss Raven has in total?”
Mizuho replied calmly, “Generally speaking, Miss Raven only has one type of ability, which is the manipulation of raven feathers. Everything else is just specializing those feathers into a certain ‘form.’ Therefore, one could say that an infinite number of abilities exist.”
Questions flooded in one after another. Yuan Qing tried his best to maintain that cold, world-weary face while giving short but serious answers to every question.
Sundae waved her hand in the air. “Miss Mine…”
But just as Sundae finally managed to squeeze back in to ask a question, the door opened.
The crowd suddenly fell silent.
It was a subtle kind of silence. Everyone’s attention was instantly drawn in one direction, and even their breathing became audible.
Yuan Qing followed their gaze.
A woman wearing a simple white dress was walking in from the entrance. Her long black hair reached her waist, and her features were as delicate as a doll’s, but her gaze was so sharp that people didn’t dare look her in the eye.
She walked slowly, every step looking as if she were measuring the ground.
“That is…” Raven’s voice sounded in Yuan Qing’s ear, carrying a rare hint of tension. “Kazama Hifumi.”
Kazama Hifumi walked up to him and stopped.
Her gaze lingered on Yuan Qing’s face for a moment.
“Miss Raven,” Hifumi said with a slight bow. “Forgive my unannounced visit. I hope I am not being rude.”
Soft gasps erupted from the surroundings.
“Why is Miss Kazama here?”
“Doesn’t she rarely attend these kinds of tea parties?”
“Is it because of Miss Raven?”
Yuan Qing maintained his composure and returned the bow slightly. “It is an honor to have you here, Miss Kazama.”
Hifumi straightened up, her gaze sweeping over the surprised Magical Girls before settling back on Yuan Qing’s face.
“May I observe?” she asked.
The Magical Girls instantly broke into a commotion. Some didn’t even turn off their flashes while taking photos, but no one had time to care about that.
Yuan Qing nodded. “Of course. It would be my honor.”
Hifumi gave a small nod and walked over to the lounge area in the corner, taking a seat on a single-person sofa.
She crossed her hands over her knees and fixed her gaze on Yuan Qing, appearing to expect something.
The commotion in the crowd lasted for quite a while. Kazama Hifumi simply sat there quietly, neither looking at anyone else nor speaking, yet her presence was impossible to ignore.
“Miss Mine!”
Sundae’s voice rang out again. She had finally squeezed back in from the edge of the crowd once more, her small face flushed red.
Yuan Qing looked at her and nodded. “Please, go ahead.”
Sundae took a deep breath and asked seriously, “Miss Mine, how do you balance your two identities as an idol and a Magical Girl?”
The Magical Girls quieted down a bit, and Hifumi also seemed intent on hearing how ‘Mizuho’ would answer.
Raven took flight from Yuan Qing’s shoulder and landed on the table, tucking his wings behind his back. “I shall answer this question. After all, I am the familiar who knows Miss Raven best.”
Sundae blinked, a bit surprised. “Do familiars answer questions too?”
“Of course,” Raven said, tilting his head proudly. “An idol’s job is to appear before the public and show their best self. A Magical Girl’s job is the same, just in the form of combat. Both are essentially professions meant to be ‘seen,’ so they are naturally interconnected. Besides, haven’t you noticed that Miss Raven’s movements were much smoother in her second battle than her first? That was all thanks to her usual idol rehearsals!”
Hearing this, Yuan Qing internally stuck his tongue out.
‘Thanks to rehearsals? That was clearly just the result of me moving however I wanted during the fight.’
However, the surrounding Magical Girls nodded one after another, expressions of realization dawning on their faces.
“That’s amazing…”
“Is this the professionalism of a top idol?”
“Maybe I should become an idol after I retire.”
Raven grew more enthusiastic as he spoke. “Furthermore, idol fans and Magical Girl fans can actually be converted into one another. Miss Raven’s fans start following Magical Girls because they like her, and Magical Girl fans start following her idol activities because they admire her combat. It’s a mutual connection!”
Sundae’s eyes lit up as she listened. “I see! So that’s why Miss Mine’s popularity is rising so quickly!”
“Exactly,” Raven nodded. “Human potential is infinite. A Magical Girl’s potential is that infinity times two!”
—
At the same time, Mizuho was keeping track of the situation on-site through a real-time broadcast from her clone.
“How embarrassing… don’t say that next time,” Mizuho muttered, grimacing. “Miss Raven’s image is becoming too edgy.”
Raven: “…”