Manjusaka’s approach was founded on trust, earning the support of many new magical girls.
One factor was that there were relatively few ‘Xingyue Fans’ among the new magical girls, but more importantly, many of them had lost close friends or relatives during the last Tidal Surge at the Boundary Sea.
It was precisely because of that pain that they chose to become magical girls.
Jellyfish was one of them.
She pouted and said, “What I said isn’t wrong, is it? I understand how you feel, Huahua—after all, Elder Sister and Younger Sister are a whole. But objectively speaking, your reaction was a bit too much.”
“Well, well… let’s all calm down. We can talk about this, right?”
Luo Zining, caught in the middle, let out an awkward laugh.
“Then… Little Red Riding Hood, do you have an elder sister?”
Huahua asked.
“Eh?”
“Even if you don’t, you’re pretty close with Senior Feiyu, right?”
“Our relationship… is indeed pretty good?”
“That’s good then. I can see it—Senior Feiyu has been going to the government offices much more often recently. She’s under a lot of pressure. And even though Senior Feiyu is an incredibly rare top-tier combatant, she can’t focus on fighting Dimensional Beasts because of this, but has to waste time arguing with the higher-ups and getting glared at by others. How could you not care about that?”
“Th-this…”
The fire suddenly turned on her, and Luo Zining instantly went from mediator to the one on the spot.
All the stares felt like burning flames.
Luo Zining stammered for over ten seconds.
“Uh, well… ma-maybe~~ there’s some truth to that…?”
“You can’t use your own situation to hold others hostage, Huahua.”
Jellyfish stood up, puffed up, and said, “If you put it that way, then let me ask you: If the disaster from four years ago happened again, and Senior Feiyu got hurt because of it, would you regret it?”
Didn’t you just say you can’t use your own situation to bind others?!
Luo Zining’s eyes went wide.
But she still had to answer honestly: “Well, I would definitely regret it…”
“See?”
Jellyfish shrugged and turned to Huahua.
“If it were you, Huahua, if you got hurt in something like that, your elder sister would be even more heartbroken than she is now.”
“No, that’s not—this kind of thing…”
Huahua’s almond-shaped eyes widened.
“If that’s how it is, is there even a point to the ideals of magical girls? To break the bottom line in the name of saving others—doesn’t that mean we’re just moving from one extreme to another?”
“Do you really think Lord Manjusaka’s methods haven’t already gone past what everyone else can accept? Isn’t the answer clear enough?”
Jellyfish furrowed her brows, and after a moment, spread her hands and said,
“I also think Lord Manjusaka’s methods are too extreme, but if we don’t do this, the disasters of the past will just happen again. And when that happens, it won’t just be magical girls making sacrifices—countless civilians will suffer too.”
Huahua lifted her head to meet Jellyfish’s gaze, asking calmly, “But isn’t this clearly violating our ideals? Don’t you think so?”
“There are many ideals for magical girls, and some are more important than others. Among them, protecting the lives and property of the people is the highest and most fundamental ideal.”
“Even if, by upholding that top priority, the future for magical girls becomes bleak and hopeless?”
***
Jellyfish had been struck right in her deepest worries.
There was no doubt: If Manjusaka’s ideas were fully carried out, there would be no place for magical girls in the future.
No country would ever see magical girls as their own again.
Trust would be completely destroyed, with a high wall dividing the two sides.
At the most extreme, magical girls might even become the targets of extermination.
“You, you… That’s enough!”
Luo Zining finally managed to butt in, speaking loudly but with a tone that sounded anything but strong:
“You both make sense, b-but, we can only trust the judgment of the Ten Seats. After all, only the seniors of the Ten Seats can guide magical girls forward…”
“I believe there are definitely different opinions within the Ten Seats. Even if there’s conflict, let’s not have it happen here between us. Our job is just to do our own duties well. The seniors of the Ten Seats will handle this.”
“…Is that alright?”
Luo Zining looked at her two friends with a pleading gaze.
Jellyfish and Huahua cooled off a little, and seeing their friend in such distress, both nodded quietly and decided to let the matter rest for now.
But—
The issue hadn’t been resolved.
If this knot in their hearts wasn’t completely untied, this powder keg would eventually explode, and with even greater force.
***
Luo Zining understood this deeply.
She dragged herself home, utterly exhausted.
“Why… does it have to be like this… It shouldn’t be this way…”
Luo Zining let out a long sigh.
Shouldn’t all this be far, far away from me???
But in the end, it wasn’t far away at all—it was right at her doorstep.
Luo Zining felt she should be grateful that, for now, only Manjusaka was leading the charge.
In this situation, whatever Manjusaka said was absolute.
Even if some magical girls couldn’t accept it, they could only grit their teeth and endure.
They knew they couldn’t shoulder this banner themselves.
If, at this very moment, there were a member of the Ten Seats with enough weight and deep enough prestige to openly oppose Manjusaka—
That would be like someone rallying the masses.
The magical girls who couldn’t stand the status quo wouldn’t just quietly endure anymore.
Two ideologies would start to swell within the Magic Alliance.
Heavens, isn’t this…!?
Luo Zining was terrified just thinking about it.
But as far as she knew, that “heavyweight, deeply respected” person had already returned.
【What Senior Xingyue does will determine the future fate of the Magic Alliance..!】
If it were Xingyue, how would she resolve this?
As she was thinking this—
All branches of the Magic Alliance: the top three magical girls at each branch received a transmission.
“Choose one of the three to immediately proceed to the designated location. There will be a remote discussion of recent events. All Ten Seats members are required to attend.”
No matter what the message said, as soon as everyone saw who sent it, the Magic Alliance was thrown into an uproar.
“Lord Xingyue?!”
“Thank goodness—Lord Xingyue has finally shown up!”
“What is she thinking?”
The attention on this inside the Magic Alliance was so intense that even the divisions that usually had less than a tenth of their members present were now packed full of magical girls.
Zhizhi, Xingyu, Liyun, Zheyihu Die—they all had different expressions as they read the sender’s name, deep in thought.
It wasn’t just inside the Magic Alliance; even the outside world got wind of the news.
National governments and major powers all shifted their focus to Xingyue’s return.
And, of course, a certain scatterbrain.
“What the heck?”
Just as she’d laid down, Luo You was jolted awake by the message.
One eye wide, the other narrow, she stared at the information.
“Why am I getting this?”
“Eh, wait, does this mean I’m already ranked top three in Huahai City branch?”