Chapter 161: Golden Scale

While Luo You was snoring away in Xingyue’s dorm room, the outside world was paying unprecedented attention to the movements of the Magic Alliance.

There was simply no way to keep Xingyue’s conference under wraps, and besides, magical girls themselves are hardly the tight-lipped type.

Just a bit of coaxing and the truth would slip out.

How closely were the Nations watching this matter?

Even if their most hated neighboring country made a military move involving tens of thousands, it would not compare to the attention they were giving the Magic Alliance at this very moment.

The instant the conference ended, various powers mobilized all their spies to probe the magical girls in every Headquarters.

The simplest method was to urge the newbie magical girls to ask their Seniors about what was discussed at the conference, and then slowly dig for more details.

However, the magical girls who could attend the meeting were all quite sharp.

They knew what could and couldn’t be said.

No one repeated Manjusaka’s exact words—otherwise, the whole world would be in an uproar.

For a dignified national institution to be called worthless by Manjusaka…

The Magic Alliance would instantly become the target of all.

Still, the gist of the situation quickly spread.

—Xingyue and Manjusaka have fallen out!

After rounds of verification by all sides, it became clear that the argument between these two was even fiercer than anyone imagined.

In fact, judging by the magical girls who returned from the meeting, the news was absolutely true.

Before Xingyue returned, the Magic Alliance had been struggling forward, and even if the magical girls had their own thoughts, they kept them buried in their hearts.

But with Xingyue back, the problem that had been hidden below the surface emerged at once, plunging the Magic Alliance into crisis.

So, who should they listen to now?

Xingyue was the idol of all magical girls, her record nothing short of glorious. Though she didn’t directly take part in the Alliance’s daily affairs, her influence was truly terrifying.

But during her seven-year absence, Manjusaka had made up for this disadvantage and wielded even greater actual control.

It was under her management that the Magic Alliance held its current position.

Now that these two were at odds, the future of the Magic Alliance had become a big question mark.

***

The second day after Luo You became a magical girl—

“Yoyo! Hurry up and go practice magic! You have to become one of the Ten Seats as soon as possible, so that Lord Zhizhi can look good!”

The third day—

“Whoa~ You’ve already mastered a third-tier spell so fast? Your talent is second only to mine!”

The fifth day

“What!? Even the second-tier spell too…! Hmph…hmph! For a little Yoyo, you’re pretty competent. Your talent’s already close to mine, but I’m still a bit better!”

The seventh day—

“You want to learn a first-tier spell? Impossible, impossible. You’re just too impatient! Just because your talent is second only to Lord Zhizhi, you’re getting cocky? Learn more basic spells first!”

Then came the tenth day.

“Yoyo, I’m here to check your progress! Get ready! Lord Zhizhi is not going to go easy on you!”

Duang!

Then, Zhizhi was knocked flat to the ground by Luo You in a flash.

Luo You shook her head, put away her magic wand-mallet, and said, “That won’t do, Zhizhi. If I were the enemy, you’d already be dead.”

“Y-you—! (Pounce)”

“Oh my? Are you pinning mommy to the floor? That’s not allowed, you know. Doing that to mommy is strictly~ forbidden~!”

Zhizhi’s little face flickered from red to white to blue and back again.

Though she was unwilling in a hundred ways, she still chose to obey her “mom.”

[Calm down… A rebellious daughter is not acceptable, and I can’t let Yoyo notice my little quirks… She’d run away in fright!]

Zhizhi barely suppressed her urge for revenge.

“Ara.”

Luo You was a little surprised.

She had thought Zhizhi would definitely strike back, leading to a thrilling showdown.

After ten days, she had become increasingly familiar with her identity as a magical girl.

She had even defeated a dimensional beast using just a third-tier spell.

Zhizhi had also been dropping by often these days.

Who knew how this girl could be so free, even when things were urgent.

She could truly be called the most free-spirited magical girl on earth!

“Yoyo, have you thought about fighting a dimensional beast?”

Zhizhi asked seriously.

“Anytime. I’ve pretty much learned all the spells.”

Zhizhi looked at the chart posted on the wall.

On it were over twenty spells, from basic to second-tier, and each one learned was crossed off with a line.

Even Zhizhi herself had taken two and a half months to finish learning all these. But now—

Every single spell on that sheet had already been crossed out.

The standard for measuring a magical girl’s strength was still her innate magic, but the amount of mana was also extremely important. Luo You…

[This is terrifying… Does she have endless mana?]

Zhizhi thought.

Learning magic naturally consumed mana.

Back then, it was mana that had limited how quickly Zhizhi could learn spells.

[If I’d had as much mana as she does… Seven days… no! Just three days and I’d have finished them all!]

Zhizhi’s competitive streak flared up even stronger.

If she didn’t get serious, maybe it would be just as Yoyo said, and as a superior, she’d get a big smooch…

Luo You canceled her transformation and changed back into her casual tracksuit.

Relaxed, she asked, “So? When’s my real combat test?”

“Right now.”

“Eh?”

“There’s a Ghost-class dimensional beast currently lurking in Huahai City. I’m leaving it to you.”

So—

The debut battle of Magical Girl Golden Scale began.

It took Golden Scale only two minutes to defeat a Ghost-class dimensional beast.

“Amazing!?”

Zhizhi’s wide eyes were full of disbelief.

Her movements, awareness, timing—flawless in every way.

Was this person really just a fitness coach before!?

“Honestly, Yoyo, are you secretly a retired magical girl Senior? Did I recall a veteran without realizing it?”

Zhizhi muttered.

On the other side.

Luo You disposed of the dimensional beast’s corpse and looked at her shield.

Well, that was that.

On a normal day, if a dimensional beast was defeated so easily, the magical girls of Huahai City would have thrown a celebration. But now, things were strangely quiet.

“Golden Scale, you really are amazing….”

Qiushui gave a feeble, bitter smile.

“If not for you, in our current state…”

“…It will get better,” Luo You replied in a low, firm voice.

Then she silently led the team away.

Watching the backs of Qiushui and the other magical girls as they left in gloom, Luo You knew the situation was dire.

Since the last conference ended, up to now—

On the surface, the Magic Alliance was still operating normally: rescuing people when needed, defeating dimensional beasts when needed.

But this was only because these were the only things they could—and knew how to—do.

It had been a long time since they had received a clear directive from the Ten Seats.

Xingyue was right: The orders from the Ten Seats were not inherently binding for magical girls.

But the reality was—most magical girls relied on the Ten Seats’ commands to guide their way.

Suddenly, there were no orders from above at all, leaving them all in a mild state of panic.