Chapter 66: The Aftermath of a Duel

“A duel? You must be joking, right?”

“I’m naked in a bathtub with you right now. If we were to duel, it certainly wouldn’t be in here…”

“What exactly do you mean?”

Truth be told, Ink Crystal laughed.

It was a laugh born of sheer exasperation.

‘She had never expected to hear such words from her teacher. Was this even a rational thing to say?’

‘Was her Teacher Lin actually speaking sense?’

‘He just opened his mouth and suggested a duel… Had he read too many novels?’

‘She recalled a novel she’d read, titled “Filial Piety,” where the male and female leads expressed their feelings through a duel.’

‘The heroine even feigned weakness, allowing the protagonist to defeat her, only to realize that “the one who falls in love first loses.”‘

‘But was this a romance between her and Teacher Lin?’

‘Clearly not!’

‘So, a duel with Teacher Lin?’

‘Wouldn’t that just be her getting beaten up one-sidedly?’

‘Perhaps her current demand seemed utterly absurd to Teacher Lin, as if her mind had snapped, but her mind hadn’t truly snapped!’

‘She wasn’t so foolish as to, in her weak form as Ink Crystal, duel her Teacher Lin!’

‘This was clearly Teacher Lin insulting her intelligence!’

‘What kind of duel to clarify feelings was this? It was clearly Teacher Lin’s delaying tactic, wanting to give her a good thrashing to “sober” her up.’

‘By then, she would be exhausted, and then the teacher could conveniently display his gentle side, right?’

‘Teacher Lin! Your scheme! I see right through it!’

‘All these pointless theatrics!’

‘You’re utterly disregarding little Ink Crystal!’

‘Who do you take me for?’

‘I know you too well, Teacher Lin!’

“Teacher Lin, that’s a truly interesting thing to say. Am I really to duel you?”

Lin Han looked into Ink Crystal’s eyes, sensing that something felt off.

“Yes, we duel. There are some things, perhaps, that words cannot convey. Through a duel, we can!”

Lin Han’s eyes widened.

If he were to give a reason…

Ink Crystal leaned in and kissed him.

Magical Girl Ink Crystal, at this very moment, without hesitation, kissed him in the middle of his sentence.

The girl’s lips were soft and supple, yet Lin Han had no time to savor the moment, for Ink Crystal had already begun to use her tongue.

Contrary to her youthful appearance, it was a remarkably aggressive kiss.

As for whether it was clumsy or not? Lin Han didn’t know.

He had never kissed anyone before.

He had never kissed anyone before.

But regardless…

The string of his rationality snapped.

Creatures known as Aberrants were lifeforms fused with Aberrant Demons, and Aberrant Demons themselves were the culmination of the world’s negative energy. Lin Han had intended to use his inner self to resist this negative energy, but…

There was a limit.

He was, after all, merely human, and naturally, such thoughts would arise.

The stronger the body became, the more potent primal instincts grew.

At this moment, Ink Crystal was pressed so tightly against him.

And so, at this moment, Lin Han was utterly dominated by instinct!

As the girl’s soft cries echoed through the confined bathroom, a forbidden barrier was abruptly shattered.

It was destined to be a long night.

****

When Lin Han awoke with a start from his dream, he immediately glanced beside him. There was no one there.

“Phew! So last night really was a dream? I’m such a lazy bum, to actually dream that something like that happened between Ink Crystal and me. That’s incredible! What was I even thinking?”

Just as he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the door suddenly swung open.

A girl, wearing only an apron, appeared in the doorway.

“…Ink Crystal?”

The girl’s face was flushed, and she seemed hesitant to meet Lin Han’s gaze. “Um, Teacher, breakfast is ready. Time to get up and eat.”

Having said this, she immediately turned to leave.

Lin Han noticed she was walking with a slight limp.

‘It wasn’t a dream?!’

A long moment later, Lin Han was fully dressed and sitting upright.

“Teacher Lin, w-what are you doing?”

Ink Crystal was indeed wearing only an apron.

She sat opposite Lin Han. “You were so wild last night. Even though I was the one who initiated it, that’s still a problem. But by the end, I was crying and begging for mercy, and you, Teacher Lin, only grew more brutal. If I weren’t a Magical Girl, I feel like I would have died, you know~”

It was true.

Everything that happened last night was real. He had lost his composure and done all sorts of things to Ink Crystal. Now, it all came flooding back to him.

Lin Han’s emotions were incredibly complex. He felt he couldn’t face Ink Crystal’s parents. They had entrusted him with caring for their child, and he had taken that care to bed.

How had he so terribly betrayed their trust?

“Please, Ink Crystal, I’m begging you, change back! Really!”

“Eh~ We’ve already done such intimate things, and Teacher Lin wants me to change back? Even though you craved my body so much…”

Her body pressed against the table, her well-developed form deforming slightly from the pressure.

It made him involuntarily recall the astonishingly soft touch from last night.

He had lost his reason and done excessive things to Ink Crystal.

“You can’t stay in this state forever, can you?”

“That’s true, Teacher. But since you’ve said so, I’ll be frank. This morning, I tried to see if I could change back. I thought I’d experiment by changing back and then back again to see if it would reset my state.”

Ink Crystal spoke with surprising honesty.

Lin Han was a little puzzled. “Reset your state?”

“Teacher Lin, you went so deep, and when I tried to wash, it felt like it wasn’t getting clean. I thought it would be terrible if I got pregnant—and then I realized I couldn’t change back.”

“You can’t change back?!”

Lin Han’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

Ink Crystal spread her hands. “Do you think I’m joking with you?”

She picked up her phone and checked the time. “Ah! Almost time. Teacher, please go to the door. The delivery will be here in one minute.”

“Delivery?”

“Dressed like this, Teacher, do you want me to go get the delivery?”

Lin Han paused, then stood up and went to the door. Just then, the doorbell rang.

He saw the delivery person hand him a small bag.

He took it, noticing a box inside the bag. He picked up the box and looked at it.

“24-hour emergency contraception.”

“…”

He knew Ink Crystal wasn’t joking anymore.

She really couldn’t change back, which was why she bought this medicine. But would such medicine even work on a Magical Girl?

Holding the medicine in a daze, he returned to the dining table.

“Um, Ink Crystal, this medicine, it should have some side effects on your body, right?”

Ink Crystal spread her hands. “I don’t know, but we can’t really have your child, Teacher, can we? Then your teaching license would truly be gone.”

“…Do you know why?”

Ink Crystal poured hot water while preparing to take the medicine. “Let me think. There are probably two possibilities. One is that after a Magical Girl and a human… well, they just can’t change back. For example, Carnelian. I heard she’s been in Magical Girl form for many years. The reason for this conclusion is that Ye Liuyun is her son.

“The other is that a Magical Girl who becomes pregnant can’t change back because a new life is developing inside them, and transforming would alter the state of the new life. However, this theory doesn’t hold much ground, because Carnelian gave birth to Ye Liuyun long ago, yet she still remains in her Magical Girl state.”

After adjusting the water temperature, she swallowed the medicine and then continued, “Of course, the premise of both these deductions is that Carnelian doesn’t *choose* to stay in her Magical Girl state, but rather *can only* remain in it.”

“If it’s not these deductions, then it might be related to you, Teacher. After all, you are essentially an Aberrant.

“You are a collection of negative energy.

“As a Magical Girl, I am a collection of positive energy. The intermingling of positive and negative energies might have caused the Magical Girl transformation mechanism to fail. For now, we can only maintain this state. We’ll observe for a while and see.”

‘She’s too calm.’

This Magical Girl named Ink Crystal was far too calm, despite the enormous event that had occurred yesterday.

“Teacher, you are far too agitated!”

As if she had heard Lin Han’s inner thoughts, Ink Crystal calmly stated, “I already told you that this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was a conclusion reached after careful thought. Why do you think I wouldn’t be calm? Although this situation is indeed somewhat unexpected, in reality, if you seriously understand and analyze it, it’s just about finding a way to solve the problem. There’s nothing to panic about. The sun still rises, the world still turns. Besides, it was just doing *that* kind of thing. Teacher, don’t act like a virgin…”

“Although you are, in fact.”

“Says the one who isn’t.”

“I am too, but I’m calmer than you, Teacher.”

Ink Crystal said with a touch of smugness, “Well, let’s ignore all that for now. Anyway, the sports festival won’t continue today, so it’s like being in the room. Teacher, you should take this time to sort out your feelings better, okay~ And incidentally, I also need to consider things with Liu Xingyue.”

“…”

“What are you going to do?”

“First, I’ll assess the situation. For the next two weeks, I’ll keep it hidden from her. If, after two weeks, I can’t change back, then it will most likely be a permanent transformation into this form. Although it’s somewhat hard to accept, perhaps it could also be a proper new beginning. Then I’ll come clean to her.”

“…”

“Two weeks.”

“…”

After what happened last night, Lin Han had keenly realized that Ink Crystal wasn’t joking.

She was serious.

While they were eating, Ink Crystal’s phone lit up.

“…We were just talking about her! Liu Xingyue said she’s coming over.”

“Ah? What will you do then?”

Ink Crystal looked at Lin Han, a playful smile on her face. “Then I’ll just have to rely on you, Teacher~ I have no other choice, you know~ Please, Teacher, help me~”

“Even if you act cute here, it won’t work!”

But Lin Han had no choice but to do as she asked, especially since… if Liu Xingyue found out about this.

Lin Han couldn’t even imagine.

What kind of scene that would be.

“I’ll help you train later. You’d better be prepared!”

“Oh~ Teacher, you’re bluffing~” Ink Crystal quickly finished her breakfast, then scurried back to her room.

“Then I’ll leave it to you~ Teacher~”