Luo Zining immediately called Luo You.
Of course, no one picked up.
Well, that made sense! Maybe she was having a great time with Lord Xingyue right now!
“Damn it!! This isn’t how things are supposed to go, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
In her frustration, Luo Zining slammed her phone down on the desk.
Even if the call had connected, how would she ask? No matter how she phrased it, Old Deng would definitely get suspicious.
She absolutely didn’t want Old Deng to know that everything had already been exposed—otherwise… Luo Zining really couldn’t guarantee what Old Deng might do.
Would he turn completely hostile and start hunting magical girls like mad?
Or maybe he’d just give up on everything, even go so far as to drug his own daughter, sever her limbs, and lock her up in the basement to keep her quiet for good?
The very, very worst possibility was that Old Deng would abandon his family and daughter, change his identity, and go into hiding to keep hunting magical girls under a new name.
“In any case, I should go home first!”
Back in Huahai City, as expected, there was no sign of Luo You. Judging by the traces at home, it looked like nobody had been there for days.
Luo Zining slumped to the ground, her face vacant.
“It’s… all over….”
The First Seat of the Magical Alliance, Xingyue, was officially defeated.
She curled up under the window.
Old Deng, ever since his comeback, had already slept with more than one magical girl. Was it really worth getting this upset over him sleeping with one more, even if it was Xingyue?
Or was it just that, because the latest victim was Xingyue, she got so riled up?
There had been plenty of magical girls before Xingyue who’d suffered, but she’d never worried about them. Why was it so hard to accept Xingyue’s capture now?
In the end, it was just one more magical girl being defiled….
Even though she understood this, Luo Zining still sat there in a daze, desperately running through every possible way to make herself seem less idle, less powerless in this moment that could change the fate of the world.
She just sat at home like that until afternoon. Her mind had grown so muddled that she began to hallucinate, thinking she heard female—no, beastly—cries of pleasure from Old Deng’s room!
But every time she opened the door, there was nothing but neatly arranged bedding. The room was empty.
After a while, Qiu Yu got in touch.
“Red Riding Hood, Lord Jinlin contacted us just now. She said the command of the Stability Squad is yours now—she wants you to make the decisions as you see fit.”
“Where is she?!”
Luo Zining grumbled quietly, a little dissatisfied.
At a time like this, shouldn’t her rival be standing shoulder to shoulder with her, fighting through the crisis together and forging bonds?
“Lord Jinlin said she had urgent matters to deal with and won’t be back for now.” “…Oh, I see.”
“Red Riding Hood, what should we do next?” “You all stay there and await orders. I’ll be back soon.” “Okay!”
One way or another, she was now the leader of the Stability Squad. With the former First Seat, Xingyue, and Second Seat, Jinlin, both gone, she had to set an example.
Luo Zining was deeply unwilling.
[In the end, when it comes to something this big, I still can’t do anything but these basic, unnoticed chores…. Even though I’m the one closest to the heart of the matter!]
Herrera was her own father, and as Herrera’s daughter and a magical girl herself, she ought to be on the front lines.
She was the most likely one to solve this, but all she could do was hide in the background and leave things to the senior members of the Ten Seats.
It all came down to the fact that she lacked the courage to stand face-to-face with Old Deng.
“Jinlin… Right! Jinlin left the squad not long after Lord Xingyue did, and then she went off to handle some urgent business… She might know something!”
A sudden light flickered in Luo Zining’s eyes—the deadlock suddenly had a way out.
If she couldn’t find any leads on her end, then at least… she could help her rival break through instead.
She’d learn everything she could from Jinlin!
With this thought, Luo Zining began to prepare for what came next.
Meanwhile—
Ji Yue, having checked the related news, had basically confirmed the rumors were true and more or less understood the situation.
“Even Xingyue got—!”
In her subconscious, she always thought Xingyue and Herrera were on the same level. After all, seven years ago, Xingyue had forced Herrera into retirement.
But now, fate had turned. Xingyue tried to force Herrera out during this crisis to prevent her from stirring up trouble, but ended up failing and getting taken down herself.
“Maybe I should call UU? She probably won’t pick up.”
As a magical girl who’d been slept with by Herrera oh~~ so many times, Ji Yue wasn’t worried at all.
This was Xingyue. Even if Herrera slept with her once, it wouldn’t shatter her mental state or anything that dramatic.
What Ji Yue was really concerned about was whether Xingyue would become a competitor—no, wait, what she was most concerned about was the Magical Alliance’s reputation taking a hit.
Maybe after this, the untainted Manjusaka would have to step up and do her best to balance out the negative press.
“Oh well, I’ll call anyway.” Ji Yue dialed, just to see.
Surprisingly… someone picked up!!
“Hello? Auntie?”
Ji Yue was stunned. She only came back to herself when the other side said “hello” again, and then asked, “Mm, yeah, I’m here. Yoyo, what are you doing?”
“I’m eating. What’s up?”
“…Eating? Mind if I drop by for a bite?”
“Oh, oh, you want to mooch? Totally fine! Absolutely! Come to this address, hurry up, or there won’t be anything left for you!”
After hanging up, Ji Yue felt a shiver run down her spine.
The call went through, and she could even go see Herrera face to face—but she felt absolutely no joy.
“Does she want me to have a threesome with Xingyue?!”
No, to exaggerate, maybe it wouldn’t be just her and Xingyue—maybe other magical girls would be there too.
It could even be Liyun or Xingyu, her two nieces… In short, it’d be a silver party.
Given what happened last time with that little imp, the odds weren’t low at all.
“Should I go?”
Ji Yue hesitated.
If she went to crash this meal, chances were she’d be crashing a lot more than just dinner.
“Sorry, Xingyue, you… hang in there on your own.”
Ji Yue chose to sit this one out.
No matter what, she absolutely could not get physically involved with her two nieces again.
Better check what those two girls are doing first…
“Hello? Mengmeng, are you busy?”
“Auntie, I’m eating. What’s up?” Ji Meng replied sweetly.
…Such an unsettling answer. Ji Yue glanced at the clock—it was only four in the afternoon. Who eats dinner now?
Was it really a proper meal?
“Auntie? Are you coming to mooch dinner? It’s fine! Actually, I wanted Liyun to see you, too.” “Ah… Okay, is it at your house?” “Yep.”
“Alright, I’m coming over now.” (hangs up) Ji Yue frowned.
Now she had two dinner invites. If she ditched Herrera, would she be angry?
Whatever!
Bracing herself, Ji Yue put aside her worries about the little imp and headed over to Ji Meng’s house.