Chapter 42: Why is it the dog’s name?

Days passed, and an unbelievable incident swept through Yao Bai’s city and its neighbors.

At the Flower Shop.

The three girls reunited in the quaint, delicate flower shop, sipping milk tea and chatting about recent events.

“It’s so weird. Why’s the Greed Witch hunting pollutants now? Aren’t they supposed to be on the same side?”

Shu Long scratched her head, puzzled.

Lately, the Greed Witch had been showing up a lot.

At least once every two days, always tied to a pollutant incident.

Pollutants first, then the witch.

Shu Long couldn’t wrap her head around why the Greed Witch would eliminate pollutants—her not-so-sharp mind itched.

Thinking too much about complex stuff felt like growing a brain.

No way! No way!

Shu Long shook her head, refusing to dwell on complicated matters.

The smarter you get, the more you think, and the more worries pile up.

She’d rather stay blissfully dumb than deal with smart people’s problems.

Let Ran Huang handle the brainy stuff, heh.

“Witches are witches, pollutants are pollutants—there’s no connection between them.”

“As for why the witch is cleaning up pollutants, I’m not sure. Yao Bai, any thoughts?”

Ran Huang answered Shu Long’s non-question and tossed the topic to Yao Bai.

Yao Bai sipped her sweet, icy milk tea, not expecting the question to land on her.

After all, she was no longer a magical girl.

“I don’t know much about it. It’s been a while since I dealt with pollutants or witches.”

Yao Bai smiled faintly, her expression flawless.

In truth, she was panicking inside—the Greed Witch’s frequent pollutant hunts were directly tied to her!

Yao Bai had sacrificed a kiss to get the Greed Witch to agree to take out pollutants monthly.

Sigh, she might really have to go on a date with the Greed Witch every month.

Could she back out?

Sure, Yao Bai could back out, but whether the Greed Witch would agree was another story.

“Fair enough.” Ran Huang sipped her milk tea, her voice low. “Wonder if Venus has come out of her shadow yet.”

“Venus is such a coward. It’s just running into a witch—what’s the big deal?”

Shu Long spread her hands, raising an eyebrow, acting like meeting witches was old news.

Her seasoned attitude made Ran Huang roll her eyes hard.

As if Shu Long wasn’t the one who got obliterated by a single punch from the Pride Witch the first time.

Ran Huang kept the jab to herself, just grumbling inwardly.

“Venus? The magical girl from the next city who uses a golden spear and kinda looks like Ran Huang?”

Yao Bai knew Venus but played along with the act.

She was just an ordinary girl now, no longer the mighty Iris.

Of course, anyone who thought Yao Bai was a powerless girl was in for a bad time.

“Yeah, Yao Yao.” Shu Long slipped behind Yao Bai, wrapping her arms around her neck and pressing her warm cheek to Yao Bai’s. “Big Yellow and I got suspended from magical girl duties, right? Venus was transferred here, but last battle left her with some trauma. She’s still in therapy.”

Shu Long’s warm face against Yao Bai’s stirred an odd feeling.

Especially when Shu Long spoke, the milk tea-scented breath made Yao Bai’s heart flutter unsteadily.

“Don’t call me Big Yellow!” Ran Huang frowned, hating the nickname.

“What’s the big deal, Big Yellow?” Shu Long stuck out her tongue, carefree. “You can call me Big Red.”

“That’s not the same!”

“How’s it not the same?”

Shu Long let go of Yao Bai, stepping up to face Ran Huang head-on.

“Big Yellow’s a dog’s name!”

“Why’s it a dog’s name? Can’t it just be your name?”

“No way!”

Yao Bai held her forehead—here they go bickering again.

In the past, she might’ve tried to stop them.

Pointless, though.

Now, Yao Bai didn’t want to exhaust herself.

Honestly, sipping milk tea and watching her two friends squabble was kind of fun.

While Yao Bai savored their banter, a soft white ferret scampered from the floor to a chair, then the table, lying down in front of her.

“Yao Bai, what are your plans moving forward?”

“Plans…” Yao Bai bit her straw, thinking. “Nothing concrete yet.”

“Oh? How about becoming a coach for magical girls here?”

“Coach?”

“Yeah, yeah, a coach.”

Little White got excited talking about it, because of Shu Long and Ran Huang’s situation.

The authorities knew it wasn’t their fault, but to calm the panicking public, they had to suspend them.

The authorities had issued statements clearing the magical girls of framed murders, but in the face of precious lives, people trusted their eyes over official notices.

This made the authorities realize three magical girls per city might not be enough.

They needed more for rotation.

One, to handle setups like this; two, to give magical girls time off.

Magical girls weren’t invincible—before becoming one, they were still ordinary people.

“The authorities plan to expand to four magical girls per city. If it’s stable, they’ll keep adding.”

“Yao Bai, you were the team’s backbone before. You’d be perfect to coach us at Flower Shop.”

Little White eagerly shared the authorities’ plans, but Yao Bai wasn’t interested.

The once-pure Iris had wilted; now, a blood-stained Higanbana bloomed.

Yao Bai touched the magic ring on her left ring finger—it wouldn’t come off.

She couldn’t go back to the past.

“Little White, I don’t really want to deal with magical girl stuff anymore. I just want to rest.”

“No worries, it was just a suggestion.”

Little White was a bit disappointed but didn’t push.

Everyone has their own choices, whether magical creatures from the demon realm or humans here.

All are born equal.

Little White wouldn’t force its ideas on anyone—these three girls were its carefully chosen treasures.

No matter where they went, Little White would always remember them