Chapter 17: The Full-Time Magical Girl and the Speed of Perception

Magical Girls rarely interact with each other. After all, everyone has their own identity. In this era, few Magical Girls choose to reveal their true selves, as going public often exposes a critical weakness. This is unless one is a full-time Magical Girl. In their Skyclear City, there was only one such Magical Girl.

Magical Girl Carnelian.

Though she was called a Magical Girl, everyone clearly understood that ‘Magical Auntie’ would be a more fitting title for her. After all, Carnelian had been active as a Magical Girl for over fifteen years. Assuming she became a Magical Girl at fifteen, she would now be thirty years old.

Regardless of other Magical Girls’ ages, the sheer length of her tenure in the profession was enough for everyone to respectfully call her a “senior veteran.”

Carnelian was a genuine, full-time Magical Girl. Her identity was reportedly not a secret, though He Yao still didn’t know her specific background. Rumor had it that she also served as a Magical Girl instructor. Any Magical Girl wishing to enhance their abilities could apply to Carnelian through the Magical Girl Domain. If she agreed, they could meet her at a specific location for training.

Consequently, Carnelian had not been actively fighting against villains and monstrous beings on the battlefield for quite some time. Instead, she spent most of her time nurturing new Magical Girls. It was said that Rainbow Jade truly began to shine only after undergoing her rigorous training.

He Yao was currently debating whether to seek Carnelian’s tutelage for a period. However, this was difficult to arrange during school terms, making the winter or summer breaks the only viable options.

Yet, come the holidays, Carnelian’s schedule might be packed. No, Skyclear City and its surrounding areas had no more than twenty Magical Girls in total. Many had already been active for one, two, or even three years, implying they would have already received training.

This meant there should be an opportunity for him, with only a few months left until the winter break.

After dinner, He Yao had originally planned to go on patrol. However, he now found himself compelled to communicate with everyone within the Magical Girl Domain.

This particular operation was quite rare for Skyclear City’s Magical Girls. Such large-scale missions seldom occurred even once every few years in the same city. Nationally, of course, one or two such incidents would typically happen each month.

In reality, not every Magical Girl came from a well-off family like He Yao, free from financial concerns.

To put it simply, for an average Magical Girl: Even if they held a regular job, earning ten thousand yuan a month – which was a decent income in Skyclear City – their Magical Girl salary would add another twenty thousand.

This combined to a seemingly substantial thirty thousand yuan a month. Yet, in a place like Skyclear City, acquiring a decent apartment still required a decade’s worth of savings. With other expenses factored in, many Magical Girls still struggled financially, despite earning more than ordinary people.

Naturally, Magical Girls couldn’t subsist solely on their basic Magical Girl salaries. There were substantial bonuses for defeating villains, unless one caused a “Amethyst Storm” like Amethyst did, resulting in deductions. Otherwise, most Magical Girls wouldn’t be overly strapped for cash.

Generally speaking, however, most Magical Girls tended to be rather extravagant with their spending. Many were still quite young, and upon suddenly acquiring a “fortune,” they naturally spent lavishly. Consequently, a significant number of Magical Girls yearned for wealth.

It was common knowledge that this operation promised substantial rewards. However, it also came with considerable danger. Consider that it took three Magical Girls to finally subdue even an ordinary Regenerator, or rather, an incomplete Regenerator product.

Who knew how many more Regenerators that villainous organization might have created in the interim? More critically, what level of monstrous being was the one held by that organization? It was well known that within the ranks of villains and monstrous beings, the power gap between individuals could be enormous.

One careless mistake in this operation could cost them their lives. The annals of history were not devoid of Magical Girls who had fallen in battle. This was no romantic tale.

Therefore, even though Magical Girls typically communicated little within the Magical Girl Domain, the Skyclear City local network buzzed with activity today. As for why at this particular hour? Everyone had school during the day!

While not all Magical Girls were students, the vast majority certainly were. Of course, some would choose to continue as Magical Girls after growing up, while others would opt for retirement. It was said that by returning their Magical Girl powers to “that entity,” they could revert to ordinary lives.

In truth, very few persevered as Magical Girls, like Carnelian. Many chose to retire after just a few years. This profession was, in fact, much like being a mercenary—and few individuals remained mercenaries their entire lives.

Today’s commotion primarily stemmed from other Magical Girls requesting information about the Regenerators and the ram-headed masked figure from Amethyst, Emerald, and Ink Crystal.

While official channels would provide them with professional analysis results and the day’s combat arrangements, cold data was entirely different from firsthand experience. After all, the data analysts themselves were not Magical Girls. Certain details were far easier to grasp when discussed with Magical Girls who had actually faced these threats.

Amethyst and Emerald’s conclusions were quite similar to He Yao’s. They unanimously believed the opponents lacked high-speed movement, attributing the perception of such to a visual obstruction technique.

[“But what if they truly possess high-speed movement?”]

‘Wasn’t this just asking for trouble?’

Yet, He Yao saw that the message had come from Rainbow Jade. He immediately decided against typing a response. In Skyclear City, even though He Yao was new to the profession, the stories he’d heard over the past two years were all about Rainbow Jade. No one could simply disregard the opinion put forth by Skyclear City’s star Magical Girl.

He noticed that Amethyst and Emerald had also fallen silent. Clearly, their thoughts mirrored his own. Before they could respond, Rainbow Jade continued: [“It’s just a thought, and I have no evidence. I merely wanted to caution everyone to be prepared; there’s no need to dwell on it too much.”]

****

“Teacher Lin, do you think it’s possible for someone to move so fast that the human eye can’t even perceive them?”

Lin Han, hearing He Yao’s question, pondered for a moment. “The human eye primarily captures light. What could possibly move so fast that it’s beyond our perception? Yet, in reality, certain things do exist. Take a bee’s wings, for instance; they can beat two hundred times per second. In such cases, humans simply cannot see the wings themselves.

“Or consider the famous pistol shrimp. I don’t need to elaborate on that, do I? You enjoy novels; many authors love to incorporate the pistol shrimp’s characteristics, like a punch generating temperatures comparable to the sun’s surface. However, if we’re talking purely about speed… it’s about 0.1 seconds.”

Lin Han elaborated on his viewpoint. “That’s the time it takes for the human eye to receive light and for the brain to process it. If something can move out of your field of vision within 0.1 seconds, it can, to some extent, achieve an effect close to invisibility. To determine if an opponent is capable of such a feat…”

He Yao instinctively leaned forward. “To determine it?”

“You need to stand far enough away.”

Lin Han provided the answer. “It’s like an object moving incredibly fast, but because you’re sufficiently far away and your field of vision is wide enough, its speed doesn’t seem as extreme. A car zooming past you at sixty or seventy kilometers per hour might feel like a blur for a split second, yet from a great distance, you can clearly observe a rocket’s entire ascent.

“If something were to seemingly teleport right before you, by maintaining enough distance, you would be able to discern its movement trajectory. Of course, this also heavily tests your eyesight, as objects become blurry at significant ranges.”

“Why the sudden interest in teleportation?”

“I recently read a novel that mentioned teleportation. Teacher, do you think a villain or monstrous being could achieve a teleportation-like effect right before me, vanishing from my sight within 0.1 seconds, as you described?”

Lin Han chuckled, then patted He Yao’s shoulder. “I’m not familiar with villains or monstrous beings, so I can’t say for sure what they’re capable of. However, I suppose it might be possible. If a villain or monstrous being could gather all their energy, burn it intensely, and then explode with it in an instant, achieving such high speed wouldn’t be impossible.

“But, as organic life forms, they would correspondingly require time for ‘metabolism.’ Much like lactic acid builds up after exercise, they would likely fall into a state of temporary paralysis. It would undoubtedly strain their physical bodies, though, being villains and monstrous beings, I truly don’t know the full extent.”

‘That’s it.’

‘Had Rainbow Jade considered this possibility when she suggested, “They might actually possess high-speed movement”?’

‘As expected of Skyclear City’s strongest Magical Girl, perhaps she had previously fought villains with high-speed abilities. After all, not every villain or monstrous being attack was reported; many incidents were rumored to have been secretly resolved.’

He Yao’s mind began to churn with ideas. “Thank you, Teacher Lin, I understand now. This has been a huge help! I was just arguing with someone in a novel’s comment section about this. Now I can win! I have a few other things to attend to, so I’ll be going now.”

“Alright, take care.” Lin Han watched He Yao depart.

‘The ability to suddenly burst forth with high speed?’

‘I had hoped it wasn’t, but it seems they truly are the remnants of Morning Star.’

‘This time, no matter what, I must bring an end to it.’

‘My apologies, He Yao. Allow me to use you slightly this once. I will apologize to you afterward.’