Chapter 18: Unexpected Gratitude

To the public, magical girls typically embodied love and magic.

Thus, as Illo transformed, the thug sprawled on the ground actually let out a sigh of relief.

Yet, despite this, under Su Qianyu’s watchful gaze, the man was thoroughly pummeled, his face swelling grotesquely.

Pulling out her phone, Su Qianyu silently began to record.

Witnessing Illo’s fists connect with brutal efficiency, Su Qianyu shivered, even knowing the magical girl had already tempered her blows.

‘How utterly terrifying.’

‘Could this truly be another way for a magical girl to operate?’

Observing the people nearby standing like lifeless puppets, Su Qianyu became even more convinced that her path lay solely in online subterfuge.

Frankly, she had no idea how she could possibly win against such power.

After an indeterminate stretch of time, Illo finally straightened up.

The man beneath her was a pulpy mess, his face so disfigured that even his own mother would struggle to recognize him.

Had Su Qianyu not noticed the faint rise and fall of his chest, she would have been certain he was beyond saving.

Gazing at her handiwork, Illo exhaled a long breath.

Her anger sufficiently discharged, it was now time to mend him.

Drawing her magic wand, Illo, under Su Qianyu’s bewildered stare, once again brought it down upon the man’s face.

Strangely, with each successive blow, the man on the ground seemed to recover a fraction more.

In short order, his face was entirely devoid of any marks from the beating.

“Next time, should you dare to cause trouble again, I wouldn’t mind giving you another taste of this, alright?”

A faint smile playing on her lips, Illo dispelled her transformation.

“G-ghost… a ghost!!!”

The instant he scrambled to his feet, the man bolted.

Yet, just a breath before he could exit the classroom, he abruptly, like everyone else, succumbed to a vacant-eyed slumber.

As for Su Qianyu, it was inconvenient for her to alter her memories through thought-writing (TL Note: A psychic ability to alter memories or write thoughts into someone’s mind).

However, for such a low-life thug, Illo was quite generous indeed.

Though Su Qianyu was merely a plaything to her, Illo would never tolerate others meddling with her possessions.

Consequently, any ‘skills’ Su Qianyu couldn’t partake in, others were welcome to.

Having imprinted the memory of fear, Illo snapped her fingers, releasing her control over the surrounding people.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, that fellow would likely never dare to stir up trouble again.

Illo had imposed a restriction upon him: should he ever contemplate a similar transgression, the vivid memories of his beating would resurface instantly.

The instant the snap echoed, sounds once again filled the classroom.

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.

Yet, within moments, someone noticed that the thug, who had been present just moments ago, was now standing at the doorway.

“Hey, what just happened?”

“Why did he run off like that?”

Before any discussion could truly begin, the thug leader himself scrambled out, tripping and stumbling in his haste.

“Hey! Boss… wait for us!”

Discreetly tucking her phone away, Su Qianyu watched as the group fled the scene.

With the protagonist of the farce now gone, the other onlookers naturally began to disperse.

Though unsure of what exactly had transpired, Qincai, observing Illo and Su Qianyu, harbored a subtle suspicion that the incident was somehow connected to them both.

“Do you know what just happened?”

Leaning closer to Su Qianyu, Qincai gently nudged her.

Yet, how could Su Qianyu possibly reveal anything? She could only mimic Qincai’s shrug, claiming ignorance.

‘Indeed, I genuinely don’t know.’

‘I’d advise you, young one, some things are best left unasked.’

With that silent resolve, Su Qianyu gazed at Qincai with utmost sincerity.

Failing to elicit the desired answer, Qincai could only sigh, redirecting her gaze towards Illo on the other side.

‘Strange, nothing seemed to have happened at all just now, did it?’

Shaking her head, the girl decided to rest her head on her desk.

‘Perhaps I’ve just been too tired lately?’

Meanwhile, Illo let out a wide yawn.

Beating people, after all, was quite the physical exertion.

Even as a magical girl, she still required her rest.

It was fortunate that no strange individuals had appeared in the vicinity recently.

Gazing out the window, Illo exhaled a long, measured breath.

Indeed, at this very point in her previous life, the frequency of anomalous beings appearing could only be described as pitifully low.

This held true not only for her own jurisdiction but for everyone else’s as well.

It was only after this quiet period that monsters began to proliferate like mushrooms after rain, and her closest confidante ultimately betrayed her.

Despite being a pillar among magical girls, she had been inexplicably framed, then hunted mercilessly.

And speaking of that confidante…

Illo’s gaze slowly drifted to a bright white avatar named Jasmine.

Like Illo, Jasmine used a selfie taken in her transformed state as her profile picture.

She, too, was a magical girl.

However, while Illo excelled in physical combat, Jasmine specialized in saving all beings through compassion.

Why they had become such close friends, Illo could no longer clearly recall.

Yet, she could never forget the day Jasmine plunged a knife into her.

Despite the passage of so much time, Jasmine had never once sought her out.

Rubbing her head, Illo felt a pang of bewilderment.

Before she could delve deeper into her suspicions, a flurry of messages from Su Qianyu abruptly burst forth.

‘What on earth is this girl up to now?’

Frowning, Illo leaned back in her chair and tapped open the messages.

Yet, as she saw a video of herself appear in the chat log, Illo’s lips twitched.

‘You little rascal, you certainly know how to pick your moments, don’t you?’

‘And to think I hadn’t even noticed being secretly filmed.’

Watching the “typing…” indicator beneath Illo’s contact, Su Qianyu smiled.

With such undeniable evidence, she was eager to see how this ‘little magical girl’ would contend with her impending public relations assault!

Moments later, Su Qianyu saw Illo’s reply.

– You’ve worked hard!

– Capturing footage like this is an enormous help!

Reading the praise, Su Qianyu swelled with smug satisfaction.

Even her fluffy white tail began to sway involuntarily.

In that moment, Su Qianyu even found Illo considerably more palatable.

Covering her phone, she anticipated that, without a doubt, it wouldn’t be long before Illo was utterly distraught.

Magical girls, after all, were supposed to be paragons of virtue; exposing something like this, Su Qianyu refused to believe Illo wouldn’t panic!

Yet, as she read the subsequent messages on her phone, Su Qianyu’s smile abruptly froze.

– So, would it be convenient for you to disclose your identity?

– To capture such footage, you must be someone quite close to a magical girl, wouldn’t you say?

– Our team would like to arrange a proper offline meeting, which would facilitate our planning for different content paces in the future!

– Of course, we’ve also prepared some offline gifts for you, please accept them!

Reading the final line of Illo’s message, even an imbecile would have sensed that something was amiss.

‘Hiss…?’

‘Why does something feel so off?’

Staring at her phone, she saw what appeared to be a perfectly normal thank-you, yet no matter how she scrutinized it, a palpable sense of danger permeated every line.

Her intuition, sharpened by years of navigating the internet, screamed that Illo’s identity was far from simple.

Before Su Qianyu could even formulate a reply, Qincai, who was seated beside her, interrupted her.

“Um, are you… free sometime?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I’d like to invite you and Qincai to my birthday. Would that be alright?”