A Girl Who Doesn’t Believe in Humans

Chapter 19: Choices

White’s declaration might have caused a great uproar in the magical girl world, prompting various powerful entities to eagerly emerge. However, its impact on the lives of ordinary people was minimal. Today’s campus remained as calm as ever, and the cafeteria was just as deserted as before.

Qing Yue had already prepared her meal, and since a certain tomboy seemed to be absent, she could quietly enjoy this tasteless food.

She took a somewhat disdainful bite of the flavorless food and then thought about the magical girl Lian from yesterday.

What was in front of her couldn’t compare to Lian’s “delicious”—

More accurately, Lian’s spirit was delicious.

Yesterday, Qing Yue had feasted on Lian’s fear.

Initially, she did consider dealing a lethal blow to Lian because the process of corruption is difficult to stop. “Kill them all to avoid mistakes” might have been the most efficient approach. However, after giving it some thought, Qing Yue decided to abandon that plan.

Firstly, Lian, being in only the first stage, still had a chance of salvation. Directly taking action felt a bit unjustifiable, especially for Qing Yue. According to the logic of “kill them all to avoid mistakes,” wouldn’t she have to take her own life? That clearly didn’t make sense, and Qing Yue didn’t want to be too hypocritical.

Moreover, compared to potentially corrupted magical girls, demons were the true enemies of humanity, and all magical girls had strategic value—as long as they hadn’t completely fallen.

Finally, Qing Yue was a bit worried that resorting to violence might affect her own mental state. Although she had killed many demons, she had never killed a person, let alone a magical girl. This was somewhat akin to Weinblues’ “no-killing principle,” and she was afraid that embracing violence might further degrade her mental state, especially given her current condition.

So, in the end, Qing Yue let Lian go, but not without leaving some kind of mark on her. This way, Qing Yue might be able to use Lian to find the headquarters of that mysterious Eden—an example of the technique known as “marked recapture.”

After all, compared to Lian, that secretive Eden was more worthy of Qing Yue’s vigilance.

By the way, before leaving, Qing Yue kindly buried the unconscious Lian in the trash pile to prevent her from being picked up by passing delinquents. She noticed that, after reverting from her transformation, Lian was wearing the school uniform of Sakura, the same school as Cherry and the others. It was truly a coincidence.

With a spoon, Qing Yue scooped up a spoonful of fried rice and brought it to her mouth.

She fantasized about the food in her mouth, imagining it as the delicious “fear” of Lian. Saliva began to flow in her mouth, even the waxy texture of the tasteless food seemed much better.

Alright, the time for fantasy is over. Now, Qing Yue needed to address the issue of her affiliation as an underground magical girl.

White’s declaration was clear, and the future Federation would not leave any space for the survival of underground magical girls. This decision might be related to the appearance of Eden, as this organization’s timing was too timely, beginning contact with her on the day of the declaration. Qing Yue suspected that the Federation’s attitude toward underground magical girls might ultimately be aimed at the Eden organization.

Furthermore, Qing Yue even suspected that White’s visit that night might have been to test whether she was already involved with Eden.

Although Qing Yue considered herself strong, directly opposing the Federation was clearly unrealistic. She was also sure that ordinary underground magical girls couldn’t do it either, especially since they didn’t even have a barrier.

By the way, Qing Yue did have a barrier, but using it would expose her due to the nature of her metamorphosis, so she had never used it.

The reason the Federation’s military was difficult to deal with for demons was because of the barriers magical girls had. However, when they wanted to deal with magical girls, this problem no longer existed.

In a sense, the Federation’s military was the kind that excelled in “internal affairs but was mediocre in external affairs.”

Qing Yue needed to carefully consider her options.

There were three choices in front of her now—Eden, the Bureau, and the Company.

Firstly, joining Eden—Qing Yue would absolutely not make this choice.

Because Qing Yue’s ultimate goal was to protect the world from demons and corrupted magical girls. This organization, which seemed to tempt magical girls into corruption, was something she wanted to eliminate.

However, she could consider the option of joining as a spy. After all, her identity as an underground magical girl and her demonic body were the best cover.

But—

How could Qing Yue, who was essentially playing the role of an undercover investigator, do such a thing?!

This kind of “infiltration investigation” was obviously challenging her weak point, and then giving her head away to the other side. Only the protagonist of a story would do such a brainless thing!

“[Once corruption begins, there is no way to stop it.]”

So the best way to deal with corruption is to cut it off at the source.

Therefore, the option of joining Eden was ruled out first. Next was the Bureau.

Joining the Bureau also had many hidden dangers. After all, Qing Yue had no knowledge of the internal workings of the Federation. Even if the Federation wasn’t really conducting human experiments, there would probably still be advanced laboratories researching magical girls. Qing Yue didn’t know to what extent they had reached, but if they had means of seeing through her disguise, it would be troublesome.

So the option of joining the Bureau had to be approached cautiously.

Now, the last option was to join the Company.

Honestly, Qing Yue disliked entertainment companies very much. They treated magical girls as nothing more than commodities, and joining them would be a pure self-abuse.

So, if possible, Qing Yue didn’t want to associate with these people.

Alright, all in all—

Qing Yue had no good choices.

“Sigh…”

Qing Yue couldn’t help but sigh.

Just when she was caught in a dilemma—

“Why are you almost finished eating?”

A familiar voice appeared.

Slap.

The dining tray was unceremoniously placed on the opposite side.

“This seat is already taken,” Qing Yue said with half-closed eyes.

But this time, Han Quan didn’t bother with her and instead brought up a topic.

“Du Zhi actually took another day off today.”

“If you’re concerned about her, you can go visit her.”

Qing Yue was almost finished with her meal, idly propping her cheek on the back of her hand.

“How could I? I’m just sharing some news with you…”

Han Quan lacked confidence in his words.

“Ah, right, please continue.”

“And, do you know that guy White has jumped to the fifth position on the rankings! It’s outrageous!”

Han Quan exaggeratedly recounted and then pulled out his phone, pointing to it.

“White…”

The image of that white figure appeared in Qing Yue’s mind.

“The one who made the declaration on TV. I didn’t expect him to rise so high all of a sudden! Could it be that everyone has a thing for military-style magical girls?”

Han Quan thought Qing Yue might have forgotten who White was.

White’s ranking was probably the result of the Federation’s publicity. It was not an easy task to lift a newcomer directly into the top 10. This showed their determination for this plan.

“Besides White, a new star has also emerged from Dongdu Entertainment recently.”

“A new star?”

“Yeah, just check the rankings, the person is called… Magical Girl Lapis Lazuli? Or something like that. She rose to the top 100 shortly after her debut. I’m envious. When will I ever reach the top 100…”

Han Quan started to fantasize.

“What’s special about this new star Lapis?”

“If you have to say something special…”

Han Quan rubbed his chin and began to think.

“It’s more of a boyish feeling? She looks laid-back.”

Stare—

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Han Quan was very dissatisfied with Qing Yue’s disdainful look.

“I call this vibrant. As for Lapis, it’s perhaps more accurately described as a lack of the typical female wariness—this description might be more appropriate.”

“Heh…”

Later, Han Quan chattered on and on. When he came to a certain topic:

“When I met Cherry and the others yesterday, I found something…”

Han Quan’s expression became very complicated, as if he was struggling with whether to reveal the matter—or rather, how to approach it.

“What is it?”

“Cherry…”

“?”

“Cherry seems to have…”

“…”

“Gotten a boyfriend.”

“Oh, is that it? Isn’t it normal to have a boyfriend?”

Qing Yue responded indifferently.

“It’s not about that!”

Han Quan seemed to realize that his attitude just now was strange. In theory, she should be happy for her good friend for getting a boyfriend.

“So, what’s the problem?”

“That guy is definitely a scumbag!”

Han Quan looked very sure of himself.

“Why?”

“Why? There’s no ‘why.’ This is intuition! Women’s intuition!”

(I think you’re just biased, right?)

Qing Yue didn’t say what she thought.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to monitor him and find evidence of his wrongdoing!”

Han Quan clenched his small fist.

How did she unilaterally conclude that the guy was guilty?

Qing Yue sighed.

Then, Han Quan excitedly asked Qing Yue to help her plan her “scumbag surveillance plan.”

As Han Quan got more and more excited, Qing Yue finished her meal, and quietly slipped away as Han Quan continued to perfect her plan.

Finally, Qing Yue had finished eating, but Han Quan was still passionately refining her plan. So, Qing Yue sneaked away.

However, when Qing Yue was in class in the afternoon—

Smack!

The classroom door was opened from the outside.

Han Quan stood nonchalantly at the classroom door, facing the entire class of students who were in the middle of class.

“Teacher, report, Xu Qing Yue is sick, I’m taking her to the infirmary.”

(How did I get sick? Why don’t I know?)

While Qing Yue was still confused, the class teacher actually nodded. In his eyes, Qing Yue seemed to be such a frail and sickly student, and he didn’t even bother to ask why a student from the neighboring class was asking for her leave.

Han Quan hurriedly pulled Qing Yue out of the classroom, quickly walking through the quiet corridor.

“What are you doing?”

Qing Yue asked helplessly as she let herself be manipulated.

“There are demons around; I need to help!”

Han Quan answered while running.

“Why is that my concern?”

Qing Yue raised an eyebrow with a black question mark.

“Because if I say I’m sick, the teacher will definitely not believe it. So, I just need to say you’re sick.”

Han Quan looked like he was saying, ‘I’m so clever, praise me.’

“Sigh…”

Qing Yue really couldn’t stand her.

So, having the “weak and sickly” herself become an excuse for the other to skip class.

Although Qing Yue didn’t really care, she usually didn’t pay much attention in class either.

The two of them arrived at the infirmary, and the teacher on duty seemed to be absent. Han Quan put down the “sick” Qing Yue and was about to leave. At this moment, her phone vibrated, it was a call from the Hou family entertainment.

Clovers were all registered with the Hou family for their semi-debut as magical girls.

“Hello, hello.”

Han Quan answered the phone.

The person on the other side seemed to say something, and Han Quan’s expression changed instantly.

“What happened?”

“Bao Xiang is being attacked by demons! And she can’t hold on much longer! I have to go save her right away!”