“Luo, help me fill out this form.” Li Zhiqiang sent Luo Zhizhou a Word document.
Following the data, Luo Zhizhou filled the form out line by line.
No one here really paid attention to Luo Zhizhou, the newcomer, except Li Zhiqiang, who knew him.
But knowing him wasn’t without its perks—Li Zhiqiang was sometimes lazy and handed over trivial files for him to organize.
The girl at the desk next to him, Yu Feiyu, hadn’t once turned her head toward Luo Zhizhou all day.
“Such patience,” Luo Zhizhou thought to himself.
“Luo Zhizhou, come to the warehouse, there’s a task for you.”
Lin Shen, the department head, often assigned Luo Zhizhou some physical work—perhaps because he had seen his resume and knew he was once a soldier.
He thought it would be an easy job, but he had trusted Ma Xinyin too much…
Dragging batch after batch of supplies from the Magic Administration Bureau building’s underground warehouse, Luo Zhizhou boarded the freight elevator and loaded the materials onto the transport vehicle.
Had there been another Magic Disaster recently? Luo Zhizhou wondered.
He soon got the answer.
“Special report: multiple locations in Zhonghe Province have been invaded by aberrant beasts. Residents in dangerous areas are advised to reduce outdoor activities. Those in high-risk zones should evacuate to the nearest shelter immediately…………”
Fortunately, He Ping County was safe; Xinping’an Village was still relatively secure. Luo Zhizhou swiped through the news feed, watching various short videos.
Slacking off at work was a joy. Though the Logistics Department occasionally pulled him, a statistics clerk, to help with labor, most of the time he just sat here doing nothing but checking forms.
Then came the classic overtime. Finishing work at five was a joke—due to the recent surge in incidents, he usually didn’t get off until eight or nine. Luo Zhizhou wished he could leave early.
“Brother Luo, I heard you found a good job in Jing’an City with a monthly salary over ten thousand. Introduce me, will you?” Liu Haochuan messaged him.
“This job is a formal post in the Magic Administration Bureau. You can’t get in.”
“Damn, Brother Luo, you’ve really made it. Got yourself a secure position. When can you invite me to Jing’an City? I want to see the big city.”
“When I’m on vacation. Also, be careful lately—more and more aberrant beasts are reviving. Don’t run into one like I did the other day.”
“Got it, bro.”
After work, Luo Zhizhou arranged with Li Zhiqiang to eat at a famous local restaurant.
***
As soon as he stepped out of the Magic Administration Bureau building, his phone rang.
Seeing it was Ma Xinyin, Luo Zhizhou quickly excused himself from Li Zhiqiang, claiming an emergency, and hurried away.
“Old witch, why are you calling me again? Don’t you know I’m off work?”
“There’s a meeting you have to attend about the newly established Special Instruction Class. You’re the instructor; don’t forget your promise.”
“Sister Luo Xi can handle it, right? I’m hungry now, no mood for this.”
“How can you slack off and still have the nerve to say that!? Luo Xi goes on missions every day, and you’re the most free. Transform and get to the 128th-floor conference room now!”
She hung up.
Luo Zhizhou had no choice but to postpone his appointment with Li Zhiqiang again.
“Did Bai Lingluo ask you out?” Li Zhiqiang teased with a smirk.
“We’re not at that stage yet…”
Reentering the building, Luo Zhizhou recognized a few familiar Magical Girls.
“Ying Xian, I heard you’ve met the legendary Porcelain Moon. Can you tell me about her?” Kong Ling asked Ying Xian as they held hands.
Girls holding hands—is that normal? Luo Zhizhou wondered. He often saw close female friends doing such intimate gestures, almost like couples.
Hearing Kong Ling mention Porcelain Moon, Ying Xian suddenly brightened and, abandoning her usual aloof demeanor, began to gush:
“Porcelain Moon senpai is the coolest and strongest Magical Girl I’ve ever seen! Her power is unique—she can conjure crystals out of thin air and instantly kill Duke-class aberrant beasts.”
“Plus, she can directly block the magical cannon of Kingdom-class beasts. She’s not even human…”
“So S-Class Magical Girls are that strong? I’ve only ever seen Sister Luo Xi fight. Looks like she hasn’t shown her true strength,” Kong Ling said.
“However, after that, she seemed badly injured. Maybe when we see her later, we should go visit her. Hehe…” Ying Xian stroked her hair with her other hand, a habit that signaled a mischievous thought.
At that moment, Kong Ling noticed Miao Ke’er behind them looking a bit downcast and said, “Miao Ke’er, why the long face?”
Miao Ke’er looked down and whispered, “Gan Qi and Meijia from Bai Lingluo’s squad died. She must be very sad. And Yi Na, who often played with me, died too…”
Kong Ling hugged Miao Ke’er comfortingly, “It’s okay……”
“Bai Lingluo… I remember she’s also part of this training program. If I’m not mistaken, the trainees are mostly promising rookie A-class Magical Girls. Bai Lingluo has lots of practical experience, unlike us three newbies. It’s a bit strange,” Ying Xian said.
She noticed Luo Zhizhou trailing behind them. If it was a coincidence, it was a very big one. “By the way, do you think there’s a pervert following us…?”
The three kept walking and happened to bump into Bai Lingluo.
“Big Sister Bai! You’re here too.” Kong Ling greeted her.
“You’re here too—Kong Ling, Ying Xian, and Miao Ke’er. I’ve been waiting for you,” Bai Lingluo smiled at the three as they approached.
Luo Zhizhou quickly hid, but none of this escaped Bai Lingluo’s eyes—after all, she was an A-class Magical Girl.
“Eh? Mr. Luo, why are you hiding? Are you afraid of me…?”
Damn, he was found out. Luo Zhizhou awkwardly came out from the corner.
“Well, I just felt a bit embarrassed passing by while you were chatting…” he explained nervously.
“If you didn’t say it, I’d have thought you were a pervert,” Ying Xian remarked.
“So you’ve known for a while…” Luo Zhizhou wished he could crawl into a hole.
“Mr. Luo, it should be off work now. Why are you still heading back inside the bureau?” Bai Lingluo asked.
“My boss suddenly gave me an urgent task… I need to get back to it. I’m going ahead.” Luo Zhizhou hurriedly passed by them, tail between his legs.
Zhizhou.
Bai Lingluo smiled. “So Mr. Luo Zhizhou can be shy too. Also, Mr. Luo Zhizhou!”
She called after him.
“Could you come over to my place in a couple of days?” Bai Lingluo asked.
“Well…” Luo Zhizhou looked at Bai Lingluo’s hopeful expression and couldn’t refuse.
“All right, I’ll take you up on that. But now I have to finish my task. See you.” Luo Zhizhou slipped away without looking back.
“Who’s that? Big Sister Bai seems pretty familiar with him,” Kong Ling asked, watching Luo Zhizhou’s retreating figure.
“That looked like a pervert caught stalking a girl,” Ying Xian joked.
“Don’t say that about him! Mr. Luo is an upright man who encouraged me when I was at my lowest. He’s no scoundrel,” Bai Lingluo said, hands on hips defending him.
“Okay, okay. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Let’s go to the conference room,” Kong Ling said.
They arrived at the conference room, a large circular chamber with a huge round table in the center.
Other Magical Girls were already seated.
“Eh, Chen Lisi, Lin Xing, what are you two doing here?”
“This meeting is about the training plan. Strictly speaking, they’re not rookies, especially Chen Lisi, who has two years of combat experience. But this training is special,” Ma Xinyin explained.
“Bai Lingluo! Sit here with me!” Chen Lisi called out loudly.
“Hey, where’s Porcelain Moon? She better not ditch us,” said a purple-haired girl sitting to the left, clearly impatient. “We’ve been sitting here half an hour already.”
Actually, they were mainly waiting for Luo Zhizhou to finish work…
“I heard she was badly injured fighting a Kingdom-class aberrant beast. She’s an S-Class Magical Girl—surely she can’t only be that strong?”
The girl next to the purple-haired one, dressed in a maid outfit, sneered.
“You two better not badmouth S-Class Magical Girls. That’s against the law,” Ma Xinyin warned.
“Pfft.” The purple-haired girl, code name Lei Mang, was a Special Instruction Class A-Class Magical Girl. The maid-clad girl was Lan Xi, also a Special Instruction Class A-Class Magical Girl.
Both had been transferred from Tianfu Province to support Zhonghe Province, which was currently short on A-Class Magical Girls.
It was already rare to gather this many for a meeting; most others were out on extermination operations.
“Enough. Porcelain Moon senpai can even tank a magical cannon from a Kingdom-class aberrant beast! She was just in bad shape then…” Ying Xian tried to defend Porcelain Moon.
“Haha, usually an S-Class Magical Girl can easily handle a magical cannon and still have time to finish off a Kingdom-class beast. An S-Class who can’t handle one shot? She’s not impressive at all.”
Lei Mang toyed with a red sphere of lightning as she spoke.
“Hey, don’t play with such dangerous stuff in the conference room…” Chen Lisi sighed; this foreign Magical Girl was way too casual.
Lan Xi recognized Ying Xian and said, “Ying Xian, that name sounds familiar. Aren’t you the runner-up in the nationwide Magical Girl Championship’s close combat A-Class category? Heh, didn’t expect to see you here.”
Hearing that, Kong Ling asked curiously, “Ying Xian, you participated in that competition? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“That was on a whim…” Ying Xian replied. “Wait, you’re that person!?”
“Heh, that’s me.” Lan Xi smiled.
“That champion, damn, I didn’t expect to meet you here.” Ying Xian clenched her fists.
Looks like those two didn’t get along well.
Knock knock…
The door opened.
“Porcelain Moon is here, come in.” Ma Xinyin announced over the speaker.
A beautiful white-haired girl entered the room.
“Impossible…………”
“What’s going on like this…………”
Bai Lingluo’s eyes widened.