Chapter 169: Disguise

“Wait a minute, you little thief, who gave you permission to lay your hands on me?”

Just as Su Mu was about to help Ye Wanqing clear away her negative status, Ye Wanqing suddenly protested, causing Su Mu’s poking finger to freeze in front of the screen.

“Is that so? Then does our little Ye plan to deal with all that glass stuck to her own butt?”

“I told you, it’s nothing important.”

Ye Wanqing pretended not to care and pulled her pants back up. 

Although her long lashes trembled like butterfly wings, betraying her inner struggle, Su Mu simply acted like she didn’t see anything, letting Ye Wanqing fuss on her own.

Kids need to learn some lessons themselves.

Who told her to be so stubborn? 

But come to think of it, how did Ye Wanqing change from a Loli little loli to a cheeky big sister?

Not much difference, honestly—just a bit more mature, with a tad more sense of shame.

Su Mu studied Ye Wanqing’s awkward attempt to endure the pain, unable to hold back a sly smile.

“What are you laughing at? Is it really that funny? How could a trivial thing like glass hurt me? T-this is just because I’m trapped in this mortal body, otherwise I… I’d deal with all this easily.”

Ye Wanqing’s tone, laced with the threat of tears, instantly cut off Su Mu’s laughter. 

When Su Mu snapped out of it and met Ye Wanqing’s gaze, those clear scarlet eyes were already glistening with moisture.

“If… If it weren’t for the curse on this body, I wouldn’t…”

Though the reason had oddly shifted from a mortal body to a body curse, it didn’t matter anymore.

Su Mu felt a pang of guilt. 

She should have realized this stubborn girl was just being tough—she really couldn’t bear the pain. 

If Su Mu kept standing by, something serious could happen.

For example —

Ending One (bad end): Karamiti, Wandering the Streets

Without the care of Little Mouse, Karamiti, unable to take care of herself, spends all her money, is thrown out by her landlord, and ends up wandering the streets, finally dying in hunger and cold.

Ending Two (bad end): Karamiti on the Wrong Path

With no proper guidance and under the pressure of life, Karamiti finally lets go of her pride and decides to sell her charms to the wealthy Little Mu in exchange for money. 

She goes further and further down this road, ending up as Little Mouse Mu’s pet.

Ending Three…

Stop coming up with such bizarre stuff, will you!

Su Mu shook her head, banishing those wild thoughts, and opened the handheld console again, decisively resetting Ye Wanqing’s status.

‘If possible, it’d be best to fix her amnesia as well.’

After a flash of white light, the weeping Ye Wanqing suddenly felt her butt stop hurting, her body relaxed, and she couldn’t squeeze out even a single tear. 

She was left dazed for a moment, but quickly recovered and darted behind the sofa.

“You little thief, what did you do? Did you cast some weird curse on me again?”

Looking at the still childish Ye Wanqing, Su Mu sighed and decided to play along, letting her keep up the Demon King act.

“Ahem, quite sharp of you, Demon King Karamiti. I am the hero here to defeat you! Though you haven’t committed many crimes, in order to prevent you from harming the world in the future, I’ve decided to place a Command Spell on you. From now on, if you disobey me, you’ll be punished accordingly!”

Seeing Su Mu so quick to get into character, Ye Wanqing swallowed with difficulty, then shot her a look that clearly said ‘Are you an idiot?’, making veins pop on Su Mu’s forehead.

“Hey, you don’t believe me? Fine, let’s try it—Rabbit transformation!”

Su Mu pretended to chant some nonsense spell she didn’t understand, then poked Ye Wanqing with a finger, activating the magic she had accidentally used the first time she tapped into her power. 

In the next second, a pair of fluffy rabbit ears sprouted from the top of Ye Wanqing’s head.

First, Ye Wanqing looked incredulous, then protectively covered her (human) ears with a wronged expression, as if afraid they’d disappear.

“I believe you, I believe you, okay? Turn me back, quickly.”

Su Mu raised a slender finger and wagged it in front of Ye Wanqing.

“No can do. The punishment spell will only disappear after a day. So for the next day, you have to wear those ears.”

As she spoke, even Su Mu couldn’t keep a straight face and had to turn away, hiding the smile that threatened to split her cheeks.

‘Really, teasing kids is pretty fun—especially this kind of Loli girl. 

It’s a special sort of joy.’

“Darn it, I thought you were just making stuff up too.”

Ye Wanqing muttered, sitting down on the sofa and fiddling with her new ears. 

The nerves inside the rabbit ears were especially sensitive; just a touch made her shiver, nearly knocking her off balance.

‘So, you knew you were being ridiculous all along?’

Su Mu twitched her lips but didn’t comment, while Ye Wanqing kept mumbling quietly.

“I know I’m not some Demon King… A lot of people called me a Witch, so I just went along with it. But I thought ‘Witch’ sounded too lame, so I called myself the Demon King instead. Once I did that, people got scared and started avoiding me. Not one of them talked to me anymore.”

‘If your classmate suddenly started spouting lines like a hard-core Loli, anyone would keep their distance… Wait, did you say someone called you a Witch?’

“Witch? Who called you that?”

Countless clues wove together, and a clear idea formed in Su Mu’s mind.

She seemed to understand why Ye Wanqing was acting so mature, but Witch… wasn’t that a bit much?

Su Mu was especially sensitive to the word ‘Witch’ now, especially after learning what it really meant.

Tang Nai had already confessed a lot, the most important of which was about Witches.

“The so-called Magical Girl is really just someone who will eventually become a Witch…”

“Shut up! That’s clearly a line from an anime. Stop stealing someone else’s script.”

Though the conversation was as casual as ever, the content was actually quite serious.

According to Tang Nai, the reason there were so many Strange Persons in B City was to keep the Magical Girls fighting and let them build up a near-perfect public image, maintaining their stability and preventing them from falling into Witchhood.

So, the Combat Division lured almost all Strange Persons from the area to B City using various methods, and tried to reduce any B-level or above threats as much as possible. 

Edma was an exception, since she wasn’t considered a big threat (though this later proved wrong), thus creating a paradise, a greenhouse, just for Magical Girls.

In return, they also gathered the Magical Girls here.

Su Mu couldn’t help but wonder if her own arrival was part of someone’s scheme, but Tang Nai just shook her head and stayed silent.