Chapter 6: A New Dawn, A Familiar Face

“What a wonderfully refreshing sleep!”

Mona felt exhilarated. With the help of her Magical Girl teacher, she could now accept missions to cleanse the black mud, just like other Magical Girls.

She had enjoyed a truly sound sleep because of it. Today, she had risen early, determined to make a stellar first impression on her new teacher.

Mona changed into the sportswear and athletic pants she had bought with Ila yesterday. These were her brother Moyue’s favorites, even down to the white and black color scheme he loved most.

‘Come to think of it,’ she mused, ‘Sister Ila’s fashion sense is quite similar to my brother’s. They both prefer white and black.’

Everyone claimed that Magical Girl: White Rose had perished in the battle against the Dark Demon Princess. Yet, Mona firmly believed her brother, Moyue, was still alive, still fighting evil forces as a hero!

As for why he hadn’t returned to her, she was certain it was due to something profoundly important.

It had to be an exceptionally, extraordinarily crucial mission.

Mona gazed at her slightly crestfallen reflection in the mirror, then used two fingers to lift the corners of her mouth into a smile. Skillfully, she tied her twin ponytails, hung her headphones around her neck, and shook her head to ensure they wouldn’t come loose. Then, with a confident pump of her fist, she cheered herself on.

‘Before my brother returns, I must become the most formidable Magical Girl! I will surpass even him. And when he finally comes back, I’ll punch that scoundrel brother right in the face!’

“Go, go, Magical Girl!”

“Go, go, fly higher!”

After her daily pep talk, Mona called to her two white parrots, preparing to head downstairs.

“Good morning? Huh? Why aren’t the lights on?”

“Where’s Sister Ila?”

Mona excitedly leapt down the stairs, only to find the convenience store shrouded in dimness. Not only were the lights off, but the rolling shutter hadn’t even been pulled up.

Usually, at this hour, Sister Ila would be arranging new products on the shelves. Her room, too, was empty.

[The farewell letter was destroyed by Yaya under Leila’s coercion.]

‘Could Sister Ila have gone out for something?’

‘Now that I think about it, Sister Ila’s expression seemed off last night when she saw Teacher Bele’s photo.’

Mona pulled up the rolling shutter, and the dazzling sunlight streamed in, causing her to instinctively raise the two parrots to shield her face.

‘Has the morning sun always been this intense? Well, it’s summer, so it’s probably normal for it to be strong.’

Cold sweat trickled down Mona’s back; her self-deceiving thoughts simply couldn’t hold up.

‘What time is it right now?’

Mona felt a bit bewildered. She had a habit of never checking her phone for the time right after waking up, only doing so when she realized she might be late.

The phone starkly displayed 8:10.

‘Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!’

She was five minutes away from being late!

“Dumpling, Milk, let’s go, let’s go!”

Upon hearing their names, the two parrots immediately fluttered over, obediently burrowing into Mona’s backpack pocket.

Mona didn’t dwell on Ila’s whereabouts. She hastily grabbed a loaf of bread from the shelf, tossed a ten-yuan bill onto the counter, and then cycled furiously towards the Magical Girl training grounds.

A single green leaf, carried by the wind, landed on her head, then vanished in an instant.

“I’m sorry! I’m late!”

Mona cycled relentlessly. Adhering to the principle that urgent matters always seem to encounter red lights, it took her a full ten minutes to reach the Qingling Town Magical Girl training area.

‘Hopefully, the teacher was also delayed by traffic lights…’

Mona cautiously peeked out. Her two other companions were already sitting primly on the lawn, looking curiously at Leila, who stood before them.

‘Oh no!’

She was late on the very first day of class!

“Oh, it seems our Mona has finally arrived. Didn’t I tell you so?”

Leila, now dressed in a teacher’s uniform and wearing glasses, smiled warmly at Mona, who was hiding behind a tree not far away.

Realizing her name had been called, Mona scratched her chin and awkwardly stepped out from the shade of the tree.

“Teacher! I’m so sorr—wait, Sister Ila! Why are you here?”

Mona was about to bow ninety degrees with her two parrots to apologize when she discovered Ila, who should have been working at the store, standing beside Teacher Bele.

‘Why is Sister Ila here too? And she seems quite familiar with Teacher Bele.’

‘Also, why are Sister Ila’s legs trembling?’

As the two women stood together, Mona was astonished to find that Ila and Leila bore a seventy percent resemblance to each other.

Ila offered Mona a small smile and a nod, though beneath the facade, she was gritting her teeth in pain.

‘That damned Leila! Was trying to assassinate her in her sleep really enough reason to keep her legs spread apart by black mud all night? If not for Dark Demon Princess’s rapid recovery ability, Ila wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed for three or four days. I’ll remember this debt!’

Fortunately, Leila simply smiled faintly and waved her hand, signaling Mona to join the group, thereby forgiving her tardiness.

“Alright, everyone’s here. It’s time for roll call. Each of you, please come up and introduce yourselves, and tell us your greatest strength.”

Ila discreetly retreated to the base of a tree, slowly lowering herself to a squat, leaning against the trunk. She watched Leila, who genuinely seemed like a teacher, earnestly getting to know the three Magical Girls.

‘If I didn’t know her true nature, I would actually be fooled by her.’

Ila couldn’t help but recall their final conversation from last night.

“Since you, Lei—Sister, have achieved your goal with me, please stop bothering Little Nai.”

“Having me, the strongest in this world, teach your human juniors is far better than those mere ants.”

“You are the Dark Demon Princess of the Abyss, coming to teach Magical Girls?”

“What, is there a problem?”

“Don’t joke around like that! How could I possibly allow the Dark Demon Princess to interact with my sister? Ah! You aren’t trying to turn Little Nai and them into what I am, are you?!”

“I’m afraid I have no such intention, Sister. Only you, Ila, truly interest me. It’s simply too boring in the Abyss, so I decided to cultivate some interesting opponents for the black muds.”

“You!”

“Wah-wah-wah, Ila doesn’t trust her sister anymore. Sister is so sad. So, you must stay and closely monitor your sister, okay? That way, if an accident happens, you can properly protect your family.”

“With the power of the Dark Demon Princess~”

The memory concluded as Leila once again whispered into her ear.

This demon was clearly using Little Nai and the other two junior Magical Girls to threaten her. ‘Truly worthy of being the ugly, evil Dark Demon Princess of the Abyss. I will definitely find a way to defeat you and transform back into a Magical Girl!’

However, watching Leila’s smiling face as she guided the three girls in getting to know each other made Ila recall her own first time as a Magical Girl—the scene where she was forced to cross-dress to go out, so her three teammates wouldn’t discover she was a boy.

Ila was not unfamiliar with Mona’s other two companions as Magical Girls; after all, the three of them had essentially grown up together since elementary school. She had met them as their brother, and as Ila, these two youngsters had also come to her store to buy food.

Yet, Ila was naturally extremely cold towards strangers, and after transforming into the Dark Demon Princess, this negative trait had been magnified many times over.