Lily collapsed onto the floor, her legs splayed outward in a clumsy V-shape, both hands braced against the tiled ground, listening as the talking black cat enthusiastically described the perks of becoming a magical girl.
She had already seen the cat talk so many tis that the shock of having her worldview shattered had gradually dulled.
Her expression was still as cold and aloof as an iceberg’s, but there was now a hint of curiosity in her eyes. Strength finally returned to her legs, and she stood up expressionlessly, using the wall for support.
“A magical girl?”
Only now did she begin to show so interest in the “contract” the black cat kept talking about.
“That’s right! A magical girl!” the cat exclaid. “Don’t you have any wishes? As long as you beco a magical girl, I can help you fulfill one wish!”
“Haven’t you gotten tired of the daily two-point routine of studying and school? Seeing people you can’t stand but being powerless to do anything about it—doesn’t that feel suffocating? You—”
Ning Chu slamd a hand down on the black cat’s head, forcibly cutting off its sales pitch.
“Don’t listen to it! If sothing this good really existed, how could it possibly fall into your lap?”
She absolutely did not want Lily to beco a future breeding ground for tentacle monsters—even if it was only a possibility.
“The price is just eliminating the evil being lurking in your school,” the black cat said.
Not knowing whether Lily had been tempted, Ning Chu grabbed Lily by the wrist and pulled her into a corner.
After sneaking a glance at the black cat and Xi Xi, Ning Chu leaned close to Lily’s ear and whispered, “The ‘evil being’ it’s talking about is a really scary tentacle monster!”
Lily froze, turning her head to look at Ning Chu’s serious, solemn face.
“There really is… a tentacle monster?”
“Yes! It’s terrifying! Just like in hentai doujins—one-on-one you definitely wouldn’t stand a chance, and if you lose, you might end up being—” Ning Chu abruptly stopped. She wasn’t sure whether this would scare Lily or actually entice her.
After all, this succubus had so pretty extre tastes…
“Anyway, you absolutely can’t let the black cat trick you! Why would I lie to you about sothing like this?”
Lily nodded blankly.
Having only just accepted the fact that a black cat could talk, her brain was still a bit muddled.
“Hey, hey, hey! She’s the most suitable girl in this entire school!” the black cat suddenly leapt over. “As long as she chooses the contract, so re evil being wouldn’t stand a chance! And how do you know all this? I never told you!”
When explaining the evil being to Ning Chu before, the cat had deliberately left out the fact that it was an enemy specifically of won.
Ning Chu couldn’t explain herself and instinctively looked toward Xi Xi. After a brief hesitation, Xi Xi covered for her. “I told her.”
“No wonder she rejected !” the black cat cried, jumping up and down furiously on the balcony.
Ning Chu couldn’t be bothered with the cat. She turned back to Lily, about to continue persuading her, only to see the succubus nod in understanding.
“I get it now.”
“Good,” Ning Chu finally let out a sigh of relief. “Then after the black cat signs a contract with so other magical girl, have her co take a look at that little octopus you’re keeping. Though I’d personally recomnd just sprinkling so salt and pepper on it and making it into teppanyaki.”
“No.”
In front of outsiders, Lily spoke very little, her expression stiff and unyielding. Anyone who saw her would inevitably think she was a cold, aloof ice-queen goddess.
This actually made Xi Xi like Lily quite a bit. She grabbed the black cat by the scruff of its neck, completely ignoring its frantic kicking and struggling, and cheerfully leaned in.
“I’m a transfer student starting next week—thought I’d get to know you in advance~”
“My na’s Xi Xi~ I’ve been a magical girl for over half a year now! But I still haven’t seen any evil beings… I think?”
This magical girl was quite the chatterbox, chirping away like a little sparrow.
“Before I started working part-ti as a magical girl, I was actually a second-year high school student. No idea what kind of magic Xiao Hei used to transfer here…”
“Lily.”
Lily tugged at the corner of her mouth, trying to put on a gentle, graceful smile as a self-introduction, but in the end she only managed a nervous nod.
“Big sis is so cold and aloof~”
“That’s just how she is,” Ning Chu said. She was actually quite curious what kind of spectacular reaction Xi Xi would have once she discovered the smut-filled ss inside Lily’s head. “Let’s head back. It’s almost ten—buses will stop running soon.”
“Okay! See you Monday, Sister Lily!”
With that, Xi Xi carried the still-struggling black cat and followed behind Ning Chu as they left the girls’ dormitory.
Only then did Yan Xinya and Lin Li, who had been fast asleep, groggily open their eyes.
“Why did we suddenly fall asleep? Where’s Ning Chu?”
The wolf girl shook her wolf ears and looked up at Lily, who was holding a water cup and staring blankly at the dormitory door.
She trotted over to Lily, her tail spinning like an electric fan. “Lily! What’s wrong? Why are you spacing out?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Where did Ning Chu and that girl go?”
“They just left.”
“They didn’t even say goodbye…”
Outside the girls’ dormitory, Wen Yang was already waiting. Even though a light drizzle was falling, several enthusiastic girls had still gathered around him.
With his hands stuffed into his pockets, he maintained an icy, aloof deanor, completely ignoring the girls pestering him for his contact information. His gaze never left the dormitory entrance.
The mont he saw Ning Chu walk out, the forced coldness on his face instantly lted into a gentle smile. He casually brushed aside the girls around him and walked straight toward Ning Chu.
“How did it go?”
“Didn’t find it.”
Ning Chu glanced at the girls trailing behind Wen Yang. Puffing out her chest, she leaned in affectionately, hooking her arm around his, and proudly declared his “ownership” to the other girls.
“So he really does have a girlfriend~ And she’s so pretty.”
“She even has horns. Is she a sheep?”
“Could be a succubus.”
Hearing their whispered chatter, Ning Chu’s expression stiffened.
There are so many horned races out there—how did they guess succubus right away? Did my tail accidentally show?
The tail coiled around her upper thigh unconsciously tightened.
“One more year. Don’t rush,” Wen Yang said softly, sensing her body tense up as he gently reassured her.
“Mmm… oh right, Lily picked up an octopus tonight.”
“Tonight?”
No matter how slow on the uptake he was, he instinctively connected the octopus with the tentacle monster that had just descended.
Ning Chu nodded vigorously. “I really suspect it is the tentacle monster! But it’s way too cute-looking. Even Xi Xi and the black cat couldn’t tell just by looking whether it really was.”
“Cute?”
Wen Yang honestly couldn’t imagine how an octopus could be described as cute.
“Oh! I have photos!” Ning Chu took out her phone and showed him the picture. “It looks a lot like a Dumbo octopus, just with longer tentacles. See? It’s really cute~ I almost want to raise one myself~”
Chatting as they left the school grounds, they stopped in front of the bus stop. Ning Chu turned around, only to see Xi Xi following behind them with empty hands.
She looked around but couldn’t find the black cat anywhere. “Where’s the cat?”
“It said it had sothing to take care of. Maybe it found another suitable magical girl?”
“…Well, I guess that’s fine.”
< >
Link for character illustration:
sdrive.google/drive/folders/1IxOucqi87ss3bmqfO9zI2gYiM1Gy8Hz2
User Comments
0 comments from readers