“Oh, that’s simple then. We just hold a public election, and I’ll immediately be crowned the leader of the Magical Girls with an overwhelming majority. My rival, the Evil Witch Tang Nai, will get zero votes —”
Su Mu was jubilant, gesturing a big zero in the air toward Tang Nai.
However, Tang Nai didn’t show any dissatisfaction this time, only countering with equally sharp words.
“If only it were that easy; I’d even vote for you then. By the way, if I didn’t want you to be elected, I would only need to cast a single veto —”
“That’s defying the will of the Magical Girls.”
“My will is the will of the Magical Girls.” Tang Nai slammed her hammer onto the table, and Su Mu went silent.
“So? What else needs to be done?” Su Mu asked gloomily.
“You need to obtain the recognition of Ye Qing’s and Su Ya’s Authority.”
“So you’re just going to give me the answer?” Su Mu’s almond-shaped eyes widened slightly, a bit dissatisfied.
“We’re halfway through the guessing game, and you suddenly say you don’t want to play?”
“I don’t mind if you want to keep playing.” Tang Nai wore a playful smile, appearing as if she were starting to think of some trickier questions.
Seeing this, Su Mu quickly shook her head, “Never mind then.”
“What a boring girl —” Tang Nai hummed in a dull tone.
Before Tang Nai could finish, a bolt of electricity flashed through Su Mu’s mind after hearing those words, and she instantly understood the answer.
“Ordinary?”
“It’s become that way, hasn’t it?” Tang Nai nodded.
Su Mu was speechless, unsure of what to feel.
In her current self-perception, Su Ya wasn’t a so-called Magical Girl, but a widow struggling to raise a daughter by working as a hostess…
“This has already surpassed the category of ‘ordinary’ and become ‘unfortunate,’ hasn’t it?” Su Mu interrupted suddenly.
“Being ordinary was never a lucky thing to begin with, not to mention that Ye Qing is indeed no longer here,” Tang Nai replied calmly.
“Su Ya was simply stripped of her extraordinary perception and abilities. To make sense of her current situation, her imagination filled in the missing background —”
“Then what do I need to do to make her snap out of it?” Su Mu interrupted again.
Her brows were furrowed, and she was becoming anxious and losing patience.
“Go and inherit her Authority. Of course, this also means that one day, you might encounter the same misfortune.”
“What if I also obtain the Surpass Authority?”
Tang Nai’s expression turned serious, “That is exactly what I am talking about.”
Su Mu’s face darkened slightly, her gaze lingering on Su Ya.
She sat down on the edge of the sofa and embraced Su Ya’s warm yet slender, graceful body from behind.
“I’ll do it.”
Suddenly, she felt someone pressing against her own back as well.
That person’s skin was cold and delicate, like melting snow.
“Then why don’t you take a look behind you?”
Three people were squeezed onto the narrow sofa, but for some reason, Tang Nai was sitting back-to-back with Su Mu.
“This isn’t something you can just say. Do you know who holds the Surpass Authority?”
“I don’t know. Anyone is fine; it makes no difference to me.”
“It’s with Lemon.”
‘Who was Lemon again?’ A certain Magical Girl who hadn’t appeared in a long time was almost forgotten in a corner.
“She is currently in S City, supervised by the Combat Division. In fact, she was a Magical Girl trained by the Combat Division from the very beginning, specifically so they could trigger the Surpass Authority within her.”
“Did they succeed?”
“Close enough, but it didn’t have much to do with them. Even without their interference, that girl Lemon would have obtained the Surpass Authority sooner or later. I just don’t think that power suits her.”
Tang Nai sighed, as if reminiscing about Ye Qing, “I wonder if you are satisfied with the successor to your Authority?”
“Is she not doing well?”
“No, she’s just too naive. She can’t handle the power that guides everyone forward.”
Su Mu’s eyes gradually grew hazy, “Then… can I?”
“You should try to believe in yourself — you are a child born to uphold both the Ordinary and the Surpass.”
“Bullshit, why don’t I feel it?” Su Mu curled her lip, “I awakened my abilities as a Strange Person, and it was a bratty girl ability at that.”
“That was the result of Su Ya’s intentional suppression. In fact, your true abilities are innate. This power from the Strange Saint is actually an accidental byproduct.”
Tang Nai explained in detail, no longer maintaining her usual sense of mystery.
It seemed she wanted to reveal everything in just a few sentences.
“I don’t know which Witch’s Authority fragment it came from, but your condition seems fine. Your strength is greater than I imagined. If you were to cause trouble as a Strange Person now, what level of disaster do you think you could cause?”
“World-Ending Level!” Su Mu answered without a second thought.
“Screw you. World-ending? Believe it or not, I can use a single Mowan to make ‘Miss World-Ender’ perfectly obedient, cold on the outside and warm on the inside, in a single night.”
Tang Nai complained disdainfully.
“Country-Ending Level!”
“Having ideals is good, and it’s best to have a goal. According to my estimation of your abilities, the most likely way to achieve that is to break the backbone of this country — its productivity. Use your bratty girl potential and drain them all. I have high hopes for you.”
Su Mu couldn’t help but curl her lip.
‘What a vicious tongue. Was this woman really a leader of the Magical Girls?’
“City-Level?”
“Close enough,” Tang Nai affirmed calmly.
Su Mu was slightly startled to hear this.
“Wait, really? How come I didn’t know? Conservatively, I thought I was House-Level at best.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself. Even if you only use the physical properties of your Magic Power weapon, you could easily slice through buildings and cut reinforced concrete. Back then, on the stairs of Naraku Tower, I was amazed when I cut your thread.”
Su Mu’s face flushed red, and her cheeks puffed out, “So it was you who cut it! Do you have any idea how much that fall hurt?!”
“Then how long did you plan on climbing? You wouldn’t have seen the end even if you walked for another day. Just deal with it.” Tang Nai shrugged, tucking her cold little feet into the crook of Su Mu’s knees, wantonly stealing the latter’s body heat.
“You were the one who told me to do that!” Su Mu was shocked.
‘How could this woman be so shameless?’
“Oh, then I am truly sorry.”
“You don’t sound sincere at all… fine, just tell me how I’m supposed to be City-Level.”
“Heh, don’t you have any idea yourself?” Tang Nai gave a light snort, seemingly dissatisfied with Su Mu playing dumb.
“First, use your ability related to electronic items to connect to the city’s network. Then, spread that terrifying face of yours on a large scale to paralyze the entire city. After that, take control of ten or more D Rank combat-specialized Strange People to strike the city’s vital infrastructure — for example, blowing up a nuclear power plant…”
“Stop. Why is a Magical Girl leader spending every day thinking about how to destroy the world? Hurry up and retire to a nursing home already. You’ve become senile. No, you’ve always been crazy. Just let me overthrow your tyrannical rule.”
Tang Nai’s eerie voice drifted over, interrupting Su Mu, “Oh my, you’ve certainly got guts, Little Su Mu. You wouldn’t want the predecessor to hear you crying out when she wakes up, would you?”