Chapter 41: The Price of Magic

Sunlight, filtering through the glass, cast intricate shadows across Su Qianyu’s face.

Professor Yu pushed open the adjacent cabinet door, revealing a freezer hidden behind it, and from within, he retrieved a familiar ‘man-series’ beverage.

“A whole bottle?”

“I prepared it especially for you.”

Su Qianyu felt a flicker of surprise, yet she accepted the drink, offering a soft word of thanks.

‘Was this truly her first time being offered such a drink by a professor so impeccably dressed?’

“Um, thank you?”

“There’s no need for formalities.”

“Remembering someone’s preferences occasionally can earn you quite a few points, wouldn’t you agree?”

Yuwen Zhibai chuckled softly, observing the bashful Little Fox Girl.

As the cool liquid spread through her mouth, Su Qianyu hummed in agreement, nodding gently.

Sensing vaguely that he might have something important to discuss, Su Qianyu shifted her gaze towards the view outside the window.

Sipping the sweet drink, enjoying the cool breeze, and admiring the scenery—it was truly a moment of pure contentment.

“So, what are your thoughts on becoming a Magical Girl?”

Yuwen Zhibai spoke, his eyes tracing Su Qianyu’s form before ultimately settling on the Demon Fox reflected in the mirror.

“As for Magical Girls… I’m not entirely fond of them.”

“Oh? Did Illo leave you with a rather poor impression?”

Su Qianyu shook her head, a clear indication that wasn’t the reason.

While Illo had certainly left a profound impact on her in some ways, it wasn’t enough to make her despise the entire collective of Magical Girls.

“In that case, would you mind elaborating on the specific reason?”

Yuwen Zhibai moved to sit beside Su Qianyu, his tone laced with genuine curiosity regarding her stance.

Turning to face him, Su Qianyu paused, a slight hesitation in her demeanor.

“You won’t hit me if I tell you, will you?”

To disparage an endeavor someone had personally founded, especially directly to their face, seemed rather audacious, no matter how one viewed it.

Moreover, her own voice often carried a sharp edge, which could easily cause offense.

Yuwen Zhibai simply shook his head, gesturing for Su Qianyu to continue her explanation.

After a moment of careful consideration, Su Qianyu finally ventured to speak.

“Don’t you think this is… incredibly unfair to Magical Girls?”

“What makes you say that?”

Observing that he appeared to be genuinely seeking an answer, Su Qianyu felt emboldened to continue.

“It’s just that… this kind of responsibility shouldn’t inherently fall upon their shoulders, should it?”

“These are young girls, in the prime of their youth, yet they prematurely sacrifice everything for the sake of so-called peace.”

“Sometimes, they can’t even preserve their most fundamental innocence.”

As she spoke, Su Qianyu’s mind drifted back to the anime series she had watched during her time on Earth.

In those shows, it wasn’t uncommon for ordinary students, in their pursuit of becoming Magical Girls, to even transform into antagonists.

Su Qianyu’s most vivid memory was of the character wielding a black whip.

In their desperate desire to join the Magical Girls, they would even distort themselves, going so far as to turn a certain blue, ice-elemental Magical Girl into an M (TL Note: A Japanese slang term, ‘masochist’, referring to someone who enjoys receiving pain or humiliation.).

It was truly a lamentable sight.

Fortunately, she wasn’t one of those characters.

Yet, upon hearing this, Yuwen Zhibai’s face betrayed no disappointment; instead, a hint of admiration for Su Qianyu’s perspective emerged.

“As expected, you’re quite different from what she described.”

“Different in what way?”

Catching the underlying implication in his words, a silent question mark seemed to appear above Su Qianyu’s head.

Yuwen Zhibai, however, did not elaborate, choosing instead to commend her perspective.

“Indeed, your point is well-founded.”

“This is precisely the reason we established the Magical Girl Headquarters.”

At this juncture, Yuwen Zhibai produced his technological wristband and began to swipe across its surface.

In an instant, a series of holographic screens descended over the glass, effectively blocking the sunlight that had been streaming in from outside.

“You… you likely aren’t aware of the origins of Magical Girl abilities, are you?”

Upon hearing this, Su Qianyu nodded vigorously, confirming her ignorance of the matter.

Yuwen Zhibai tapped his wristband a few more times, and the holographic screen before them immediately began to play a pre-prepared animation.

Yet, after viewing the demonstration animation, Su Qianyu found herself only more bewildered.

“What exactly does it mean that ‘girls are natural storage containers for magic’?”

As she stared at him, a faint, unsettling premonition began to creep into Su Qianyu’s mind.

“Precisely as you understand it—the purely literal meaning.”

“A so-called Magical Girl is simply a vessel capable of freely inputting and outputting magical energy.”

“It’s just that, in this particular instance… that vessel happens to be a human.”

Yuwen Zhibai chuckled softly, then promptly initiated the next segment of the animation.

“Therefore, in our endeavor to protect them, we concentrated our research on developing items capable of containing magical energy.”

“Magic Cubes and Magic Explosives are all products of our endeavors.”

“These not only serve practical purposes in daily life but also inflict substantial damage upon ‘monsters’.”

As he proudly introduced the products, Su Qianyu gave a slow nod.

If magical energy were indeed a newly emerging power source, it would undeniably be quite fascinating.

During her previous infiltration of this facility, she had, in fact, observed numerous related technological products.

‘But what connection did this have to their protection?’

Noticing the bewildered expression on Su Qianyu’s face, Yuwen Zhibai proceeded to elaborate.

“Didn’t you yourself state that those young girls were pitiable, burdened with such a mission at such a tender age?”

“Therefore, I believe it is imperative that more individuals master this power.”

Upon hearing this, even Su Qianyu conceded that his logic held merit.

Ensuring that combatants were not confined to a single demographic would indeed offer a form of protection to those involved.

Observing Su Qianyu’s nod of understanding, Yuwen Zhibai promptly resumed his explanation.

“Initially, we believed that magical energy, as a power source, could only be channeled through Magical Girls.”

“However, our investigations revealed that, in fact, every individual—myself included—serves as a magical energy vessel, albeit one capable of storing only a minuscule amount of power.”

As if something had suddenly struck her as amiss, Su Qianyu hastily interrupted him.

“Is your… is this research of yours truly… normal?”

Glancing around, Su Qianyu suddenly felt a peculiar chill pervading the air.

As she regarded him, an unsettling sensation crept over her; she couldn’t shake the feeling that his demeanor was beginning to eerily overlap with that of certain individuals from her past.

“Are you afraid?”

Yuwen Zhibai adjusted his spectacles, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.

“Not exactly…”

“It just strikes me as rather odd that you’re divulging so much…”

Su Qianyu found it hard to believe he would confide such extensive information to a demon, or even a ‘monster’ like herself.

‘The more one knew, the greater the danger.’

At the very least, Su Qianyu felt her current identity hardly warranted access to such sensitive information.

Noticing Su Qianyu’s unexpected wariness, Yuwen Zhibai let out another laugh.

“You are indeed very intelligent.”

“So, shall we cooperate?”

‘Wait, cooperate?’

Staring at his face, Su Qianyu found herself momentarily dumbfounded.

‘Had the conversation taken too abrupt a turn?’

‘And what exactly about her made her a valuable partner for cooperation?’

Perceiving Su Qianyu’s lingering confusion, Yuwen Zhibai proceeded to elaborate further.

“Did you know that, all this time, we’ve consistently believed that a Magical Girl’s physique would progressively weaken with an increase in magical energy?”

“To put it more plainly, their bodies would have no residual capacity left for the growth of their physical constitution or strength.”

At this point, the implication within Yuwen Zhibai’s words became unmistakably clear.

“And Illo… she is an exception.”