“It’s getting late, and you’ve just withdrawn from the front lines. Go take a shower and get some good rest first.”
“Got it.”
Xingyue was the authority in this stability-maintenance squad, and no one would oppose her words. Luo Zining and the others dispersed to two other rooms.
During this, Luo You noticed the rebel girl’s gloomy mood, but didn’t bother to pay any attention.
Most likely, her mental state had been shattered by those two elbow strikes from the Ashen Witch.
If it’s broken, so be it. Maybe now she’ll recognize reality and withdraw from the front lines, saving Luo You the trouble.
“Little Red Riding Hood’s acting a bit off, isn’t she?” Xingyue glanced at Luo You meaningfully.
“Don’t look at me, I don’t know anything.”
Luo You was about to enter the bathroom for a shower, and before closing the door, she added, “She doesn’t know I’ve become a Magical Girl, right?”
“At least I haven’t told anyone,” Xingyue replied.
“Not a single word to her,” Luo You said as she went in for her shower.
Afterwards, it was just the usual routine—lights off and sleep.
The next morning, as soon as they woke up, they got ready to head to the next stop.
“Morning.”
When Luo You stepped out, she bumped into Haizhe, Huahua, and Hailing, who had just finished some team-building. They were in one room, while Luo Zining shared with Qiuyu Mushui.
“Lord Jinlin, good morning.”
“Lord Jinlin, would you like to have breakfast with us?” “Let’s go.”
“What about Lord Xingyue?”
“She was already gone when I woke up.”
Everyone understood.
Although Xingyue had joined the stability squad, there was no way she’d always be available. Sometimes it was normal for her to have to leave.
Haizhe and the others still wanted to go next door and invite Luo Zining and her group too, but Luo You seized the chance and said, “Let them sleep a bit longer.”
“Ha, then…”
Hailing noticed Lord Jinlin seemed to want to discuss something with them, so she agreed.
Actually, she was overthinking. Luo You just didn’t want to sit at the same table as the rebel girl.
Besides, girls were creatures who liked to do everything together, even going to the bathroom in groups. Luo You didn’t like that, not even when traveling. There was no need to wait until there were eight people to go have breakfast. That would just be boring.
Ten minutes later, at the breakfast area.
They each carried a tray of simple but delicate breakfast and sat down.
“By the way, was the last video taken by you, Lord Jinlin?” Haizhe asked.
“What video?”
“The one where Little Red Riding Hood was following you.”
“Oh, that one? No, it wasn’t me, it was Zhizhi. I was totally out of the loop.” Luo You casually made Zhizhi take the blame.
She was worried Haizhe might not understand, so she emphasized, “It’s that brat in the Fourth Seat.”
“Heh, looks like the Ten Seat members are really paying attention to Little Red Riding Hood’s performance,” Hailing said emotionally, though her eyes betrayed feelings that had nothing to do with sentimentality.
It didn’t take long to finish breakfast. Luo You and her group were just about to head back when Luo Zining and her group came down.
“Morning.”
“Morning…”
“Oh-ha!”
Honestly, Luo You was not used to these group activities.
Whenever something like this happened, just exchanging greetings had to be done several times over. They were about to head back to their room, but Hailing and the others, seeing Luo Zining’s group come down, decided to stay for a longer breakfast.
But there was no way Luo You would indulge this kind of behavior.
“I’ll head back first,” she said forcefully, breaking the atmosphere of wanting to bond and chat, and headed back to her room alone.
“Mhm.”
“Lord Jinlin is really busy, huh? It’s fine, go ahead! If anything comes up, we’ll handle it!”
Even though the itinerary specifically said “must act as a group,” the benefit of Luo You’s high prestige showed at this moment.
A free-spirited scholar debates for me!
In the end, after giving a glance to the clearly distracted Luo Zining, Luo You went back.
There was nothing much to do, just scrolling through her phone.
After breakfast, they’d have to rush to the next city. Xingyue hurried back before that.
“Where did you go?” Luo You asked habitually.
(з)
Xingyue turned and looked at her. “You’re interested in what I’ve been doing?”
“Sorry, just asking offhand.”
…
“You’ve misunderstood. Normally, no one asks me about my business. Are you trying to take on more responsibility?” she replied.
“You’ve misunderstood too. I really was just asking,” Luo You answered. There it was—the classic ‘ambition trap!’
Do a good job and you’ll get better treatment?
…
No, you’ll just get heavier workloads.
Even if she did somehow join the Ten Seats with her outstanding performance, Luo You didn’t think it would benefit her that much. It just wasn’t the right time.
If it were peacetime, Luo You would actually want to play around in the Ten Seats, so when a new and interesting Magical Girl appeared, she could be the first to sleep with her—what’s not to like?
But now, forget it. Joining the Ten Seats would just mean asking for trouble, and she still had plenty to do.
“Time to head to the next place.”
“Oh.”
The next destination had a pretty good economy—upper mid-tier among second-tier cities, about the same level as Huahai City, with quite a few fun things to do.
“How about a hot spring?” Haizhe suggested, pointing at her phone screen.
“You live in Jiuming Sea and you’re not sick of hot springs yet?”
Luo You retorted, “Stick to the itinerary, we’re going to karaoke.”
“Eh—”
“Nope, let’s just go as planned.”
Hot springs—Luo You already had enough of those during her time in Jiuming Sea, so she wasn’t interested.
“What about you, Lord Xingyue?” Haizhe asked, still not giving up.
“It’s best to just follow the itinerary.” “Even Lord Xingyue…”
In the end, they went to a local karaoke place, sang a bit, had lunch at the hotel, took a nap, woke up for dinner, and that was the day.
The whole time, Luo You didn’t say a single word to Luo Zining.
Anyone with a bit of emotional intelligence could see there was a problem. Hailing pulled her aside and whispered, “Little Red Riding Hood, you and Lord Jinlin hardly talk at all—are you sure that’s okay?”
Luo Zining awkwardly scratched her cheek. “Uh, i-it’s just that my relationship with her… isn’t that good.” For a Magical Girl who once told her to “eat shit” over the phone, Luo Zining really didn’t know how to strike up a conversation.
Besides, she didn’t think now was the right time to be immersed in this happy, peaceful atmosphere.
Just last night, even in her sleep, she dreamed of the Ashen Witch giving her a double elbow, jolting her awake from the nightmare. The incident had left her deeply traumatized!
She needed to overcome it!
“Did something happen to you, Little Red Riding Hood?” Hailing asked worriedly.
Then she scooted closer and took Luo Zining’s hand.
“Uh!” Luo Zining stiffened for a moment, but didn’t pull away.
When she first arrived at Jiuming Sea, she’d made a reckless mistake that got Hailing badly injured. Hailing had only recently been discharged from the hospital, so Luo Zining always felt guilty towards her.
“I… it’s nothing. Hailing, could you come spar with me on the hotel rooftop?”
“Spar?”
“Mhm, just use your elbow. Hit me with your elbow as hard as you can.”
“Eh?! That’s scary! Little Red Riding Hood, do you have some weird fetish?!”
…
Their entire exchange was seen by Luo You, who was walking behind them.
[Maybe it’d be better if Zining just got together with her?] Luo You thought.
Her worry was simply that the rebel girl’s combat power wasn’t enough to survive on the front lines. That’s why she wanted her to retreat to a secondary position. But if this rebel girl got her first taste of forbidden fruit, maybe her power would leap forward.
How can you get stronger if you don’t taste the forbidden fruit?
Luo You still remembered how, after she slept with her first Magical Girl, her combat power shot up a notch. Her mental state became established, and everything since then had gone smoothly.
That’s the difference in mindset!
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