NOVEL NEXT Chapter 75 - Unease
Nighttime, atop a towering building in the city.
The black-and-white figure, Ouja—none other than YouYu—stood on the rooftop, gazing down at everything below.
His sharp gaze swept over the shops at street level, eventually settling on a store marked “Cake Shop.”
Using his superhuman vision, he peered inside, locking onto the girl standing at the front counter, a blonde with twin tails, busily ringing up a customer.
“…”
After observing her for a while, YouYu withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and pulled out his phone, comparing the information displayed on the screen.
“Liu Meng, age 20, a graduate of Rainbow University. After graduating at 18, she worked as a pastry chef. However, after some time, she seemingly vanished without a trace, cutting off contact with her family and leaving a gap in her life story…
“Yet, two years later, she suddenly reappeared, taking up work at this cake shop.”
“So, what exactly was she doing during those two missing years?”
“She became a magical girl!”
“Yes, exactly.”
Nodding in agreement with Mamba’s conclusion, YouYu’s eyes returned to the cake shop as he said:
“The investigation was a bit troublesome, but at least now we have some clarity about the background of the magical girl Petra.”
“She appeared even earlier than WuYue and Bai Yu, active as a magical girl for two full years.”
“…No wonder that when I first encountered her, her strength was already so overwhelming.”
With a tinge of admiration, YouYu voiced his thoughts, prompting Mamba to continue:
“By your account, this magical girl Petra is a senior, active for two years before WuYue and Bai Yu. Moreover, she’s stronger than Blue Night. Are you sure you want to approach her now? You still haven’t dealt with the situations involving WuYue and Bai Yu.”
Hearing Mamba’s concerns, YouYu shook his head.
“Not exactly. It’s not as if I have anything else pressing to do right now. Negative emotions are flowing in steadily without me needing to take action.”
“So, this is the only thing left to focus on for now.”
A blonde, twin-tailed magical girl, and a senior one at that—such a combination intrigued YouYu deeply.
If she also happened to wield dual pistols, that would make it even better.
“I see,” Mamba said after a moment of thought.
“Then what about WuYue and Bai Yu? Eventually, you’ll have to face them. When are you planning to deal with that? Are you just going to leave them hanging?”
“For the time being, yes,” YouYu replied with a nod.
“I need to observe their reactions… see how their emotions and behavior evolve.”
“Once I have a clear picture, I’ll give them the opportunity to face me in battle.”
This could also serve as a chance for WuYue and Bai Yu to talk things through, resolve their past misunderstandings, and improve their relationship.
After all, some issues are best resolved by the individuals themselves. If YouYu always intervened personally, they’d never grow—especially when it came to interpersonal matters.
“After the battle, I’ll decide whether to return to them immediately… or…”
Glancing again at Liu Meng inside the cake shop, YouYu murmured:
“Take a new path entirely.”
…
At the usual training grounds for the magical girls.
It had been three days since YouYu was taken away by Ouja. Despite his absence, WuYue and Bai Yu still transformed into their magical girl forms and carried out their routine combat training.
This time, however, their training was even more intense than before.
“Bang!”
“Ugh!”
“Ah! Are you okay, Bai Yu?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine…”
Biting her lip and supporting herself on the ground, Bai Yu stood up after taking a powerful blow from WuYue. She paused briefly before speaking.
“Sorry, WuYue. I got distracted for a moment. Let’s go again. This time I won’t let it happen.”
Seeing Bai Yu forcing herself, WuYue sighed.
“You don’t have to push yourself like this, Bai Yu. What’s wrong? Lately, during training, you’ve seemed so distracted… We’re going to fight Ouja soon and rescue YouYu. If something’s on your mind, it’s better to talk about it now.”
“Actually, that’s exactly what I’m worried about.”
Bai Yu hesitated for a moment, then sighed and continued.
“After all, Ouja has already informed us… He said he’ll give us a chance to fight in the next few days.”
“That means we have only a short time to figure out how to deal with him.”
“The plan is simple: defeat him and rescue YouYu.”
“But… I keep worrying. What if, before we can save him, something happens to YouYu because of Ouja’s actions?”
“I can’t shake the fear that all our efforts might be for nothing.”
“That’s why I haven’t been able to focus.”
“WuYue, how are you managing to stay so composed?”
After listening to Bai Yu, WuYue fell silent for a moment before replying.
“…Because, as long as there’s even a sliver of hope, we have to give it everything we’ve got! No matter the cost!”
“And—”
She lowered her head, looking at the red gem hanging around her neck.
Staring at the glowing gem, WuYue let out a small breath of relief and explained:
“When I became a magical girl, my wish was to protect YouYu.”
“If something terrible had truly happened to him, this gem would have dimmed. That’s how I’d know my wish was invalidated.”
“But right now… it hasn’t darkened.”
“So, there’s still a chance! Sure, this is just my theory, and I can’t say for sure it means YouYu is okay… but at least there’s hope, right?”
Hearing her explanation, Bai Yu stared at her for a moment before responding.
“…I see. So you’ve been relying on the mechanism behind the magical girl’s power to gauge YouYu’s life or death? No wonder you haven’t been nervous these past few days.”
“Yes! I’m sorry, Bai Yu. I should’ve told you about this sooner so you wouldn’t have been worrying so much…”
WuYue apologized, looking embarrassed.
“It’s fine. As long as YouYu is okay, that’s all that matters.”
Letting out a breath of relief, Bai Yu shook her head and added:
“Let’s take a break, then continue training afterwards. Next time, I’ll be able to perform better.”
“Okay!”
Nodding, WuYue agreed. She deactivated her transformation and walked over to the bench.
Sitting down, she pulled out her phone and looked at an old photo of herself and YouYu. The same silly smile she always had spread across her face.
“…”
Glancing at WuYue, Bai Yu turned her head and looked off into the distance.
The sky was filled with dark clouds, an ominous sign of impending rain.
“It’s going to rain…”
As she stared at the darkening sky, Bai Yu couldn’t shake the feeling that their first full-scale confrontation with Ouja wouldn’t be as straightforward as they hoped.
A sense of unease settled over her.