Chapter 7: The Price of Revenge

Su Qianyu harbored a deep hatred for Illo.

Yet, she loathed her own powerlessness even more.

She had been utterly defeated.

True to her fears, she remained utterly incapable.

With her eyes still tightly shut, Su Qianyu’s mouth contorted into a wavy line, emitting incoherent moans from the bed.

Mmm-hmm, ahhh-ahhh-ahhh.

Her hands flailed aimlessly at the hem of her skirt, much like someone desperately trying to wipe away smudges from a blackboard.

‘Just a dream,’ she told herself, ‘still deeply ‘moved’ upon waking.’

Illo smiled faintly, leisurely beginning to tidy up the aftermath of their encounter.

Gently, she lifted the fox girl from the bed, carried her to an adjacent one, and then dispelled her own transformation.

‘Hmm, it’s always more hygienic to separate the wet from the dry,’ she mused.

Her cascade of red hair receded, transforming into a profound shade of purplish-black.

Even with the change, the girl’s beauty remained undeniable.

Running a hand through her hair, Illo felt a flicker of surprise.

‘Hadn’t her hair been red in her previous life?’ she wondered.

‘Or was she simply mistaken?’

‘No matter,’ she decided, dismissing the thought. ‘It’s hardly important.’

Gazings at the fox girl on the bed, who had metaphorically raised a white flag of surrender, Illo reached for a nearby glass and gulped down two large mouthfuls of water.

She felt immensely satisfied with Su Qianyu, utterly and completely so.

‘Ah, this little creature truly is a temptress,’ she sighed inwardly.

‘Indeed, not killing him that night had proven to be the correct decision.’

Su Qianyu, hearing Illo’s movements, made no attempt to rise.

At that moment, all she desired was to weep, utterly devoid of any other inclination.

‘Not only is there no such thing as a free lunch in this world,’ she thought bitterly, ‘but some meals even demand mugwort (TL Note: A pun on ‘ái cāo’, slang for ‘to get fucked’ or ‘to be punished’) as payment afterwards.’

‘She had only ever heard that cursing incurred punishment for the mouth,’ she fumed, ‘but nobody ever mentioned *which* mouth would be punished!’

‘Huddled under a small blanket in the room, tears streamed silently down her face.’

In the small notebook of her heart, Su Qianyu furiously added another entry against her tormentor.

‘This debt, sooner or later, you will repay twofold!’

Yet, in the very next moment, Illo’s presence enveloped her once more.

This time, however, her opponent initiated no further aggressive moves.

All that awaited her was a gentle embrace.

“Tell me,” Illo’s voice was soft, “if I were to grant you an opportunity for revenge, would you truly cherish it?”

Having uttered the words, Illo fell silent.

Su Qianyu pondered, but offered no reply.

‘Hmm, this must be a test,’ she thought.

‘That trickster is cunning; she’s probably just setting up another game, deliberately offering a false opportunity.’

‘Rather than doing nothing, she refused to risk making a mistake!’

Yet, there was no follow-up.

‘Hmm, she must be trying to gauge my reaction.’

Su Qianyu thoughtfully stroked her chin, nodding to herself.

‘She highly doubted that trickster would sleep so peacefully right beside her.’

‘Perhaps, it was nothing more than a trap!’

Seconds stretched into minutes, and Su Qianyu found herself growing increasingly bewildered as her adversary made no further move.

‘Hmm, this must be her way of insulting me.’

‘Is she mocking my hesitation, my fear of striking back?’

Su Qianyu chuckled grimly to herself, then silently closed her eyes.

‘She had to admit, Illo’s perception was disturbingly accurate.’

‘She truly didn’t dare.’

At least, until she could be certain of overpowering her opponent, Su Qianyu genuinely lacked the courage.

‘It wasn’t that retribution wouldn’t come,’ she vowed, ‘but simply that the time was not yet ripe.’

‘That super-strength magical girl wasn’t just for show; who knew what underhanded tactics she might have prepared, just waiting for her to take the bait?’

‘You dare to provoke me?’

‘Then, then you’ve certainly picked on the wrong soft persimmon!’

Launching a reckless attack when her opponent clearly held a multitude of trump cards was, without a doubt, a terrible idea.

‘If you cross the river, I’ll cross it too.’

‘You sleep? Then I’ll sleep too!’

Su Qianyu resigned herself to the situation, dutifully serving as Illo’s human pillow for the time being.

Feeling the warmth nestled in her arms, Illo’s weary eyes fluttered open to a narrow slit.

‘Indeed, this one hasn’t changed a bit,’ she thought.

‘Still a coward, yet still so playful.’

Stroking her opponent’s form once more, Illo let out a yawn.

She was genuinely exhausted this time.

Before succumbing to sleep, however, she couldn’t resist delivering a proper ‘punishment’ to the little fox cradled in her embrace.

‘The world is full of serendipitous coincidences,’ she mused, ‘such as her having a pair of legs, and I, a mouth.’

And for Illo, this particular coincidence held undeniable truth.

‘Currently, her fingers felt a little cold.’

‘And, quite conveniently, the fox girl’s body offered a perfectly warm spot.’

‘Ah, what a delightful stroke of luck,’ she thought, marveling at the sheer improbability of such a perfect alignment.

****

When she next awoke, the night had already deepened considerably.

Illo’s voice, calling her name, had roused her from slumber.

“Hey, wake up.”

“Stop sleeping; it’s time to get down to business.”

‘Hm?’

Rubbing her bleary, sleep-laden eyes, Su Qianyu let out a yawn.

She had dreamt she was trash-talking online (TL Note: ‘Kou hai’, slang for boasting or making provocative statements online) and had transformed into a fox girl, subsequently ‘eating’ many meals of mugwort (TL Note: A pun on ‘ái cāo’, slang for ‘to get fucked’ or ‘to be punished’). ‘How could she possibly have such a dream?’ she wondered.

She glanced at a mirror, then at her own hand.

A sharp ‘thwack’ suddenly resonated from her head, and Su Qianyu felt as though something had flicked her.

Just as she was about to lash out, her gaze locked squarely with Illo’s.

“What are you spacing out for? Get up.”

‘Oh, so it hadn’t been a dream after all. It was all real.’

Gazings out the window, Su Qianyu still felt a sense of bewilderment.

“It’s so late. Where are we going?”

Illo offered no verbal response, merely raising a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture.

“Don’t ask questions. Just follow me.”

Watching Illo transform, Su Qianyu found herself promptly scooped up and carried to the rooftop, from where they immediately soared into the night sky.

The night wind carried a chill, causing Su Qianyu to instinctively retract her neck.

Before long, Illo had brought her to what used to be the Magical Girl Headquarters.

Only a skeleton crew was currently patrolling the premises, a fact that left Su Qianyu somewhat perplexed.

“Why are we here?”

Illo, however, did not reply, instead motioning for Su Qianyu to keep quiet.

“I told you already: don’t speak.”

“You’ll know when the time is right.”

Illo had come to this place with a specific purpose: to retrieve certain items.

During daylight hours, the building was bustling, making any clandestine actions inconvenient.

Now, however, armed with her intimate knowledge of the building’s layout and Su Qianyu’s unique abilities, the situation was different.

Her goal was to uncover the identity of the person who had betrayed her in her previous life, to find them before they could strike again.

And, while she was at it, to retrieve a few other crucial items.

Navigating through the ventilation ducts, the pair swiftly made their way into the building’s interior.

In stark contrast to its exterior appearance, the interior was brimming with an array of futuristic, sci-fi equipment.

After all, in a world imbued with magic, the technological advancement had naturally diverged somewhat from conventional paths.

Soon, after traversing countless corridors, Su Qianyu found herself led by Illo to a formidable iron door.

To call it an iron door was almost an understatement; it felt more like an impenetrable wall.

A blast of magic against it wouldn’t even leave a mark.

“Go on, use your ability. Take everything out from inside.”

Su Qianyu dared not hesitate, complying instantly.

Closing her eyes, the nearby wall began to gradually turn transparent.

Before long, she could see rows upon rows of filing cabinets within.

And… a collection of oddly shaped crystals?

However, just as she prepared to extract the contents, Su Qianyu suddenly discovered that her ability was failing.

More precisely, she could perceive the items but was unable to retrieve them.

After relaying the situation to Illo, the latter fell into deep contemplation.

“Could it be… Mind-Block Alloy?”

Illo couldn’t recall this particular material being used for the door’s construction.

Surely, in her previous life, she had opened it with ease?

Just then, a chill wind swept gently past their backs, causing her to abruptly halt her movements.

She had a premonition.

A deeply unsettling premonition.

“Long time no see. What, bringing your little pet to visit me?”