Chapter 31: Late for Work, Meow?

Afternoon in Miss L’s Office

Around five in the afternoon, inside Miss L’s office.

“You’re saying your teammates are a bit scared of you?”

“Yeah,” Mu Xingge sighed, “L, I think I’m pretty approachable, right? I mean, I’m an idol, for goodness’ sake. Am I really that intimidating?”

Miss L couldn’t help but want to laugh. It made sense that Little Red Riding Hood, the newbie, was a bit wary of Mu Xingge. But what was there to be afraid of? Xingge hadn’t done anything to wrong her.

Probably just acting cautious after my reminder, Miss L thought. Who knew Xingge had such acting talent? If I’d known, I might’ve sent her to debut back then.

Mysterious Sirius

Meanwhile, at the association’s gym, Xiao Keke, still training hard, heard a notification ping and picked up her phone. It was a friend request from Sirius.

Sirius had mentioned forgetting her account password in the morning and said she’d add Xiao Keke and Senior Mu Xingge later. Yet, it took her until now to send the request.

Curious, Xiao Keke browsed Sirius’s profile, only to find it completely empty.

Of course, Xiao Keke had no idea this account was one Xiao Xi had hurriedly bought after getting home. She’d specifically chosen a high-level QQ account to avoid suspicion.

Speaking of which, this teammate called Sirius was quite mysterious. Xiao Keke had never even seen what Sirius looked like without her transformation.

The association allowed magical girls to hide their identities from non-essential personnel, a form of protection. Not everyone was like Mu Xingge, who went online with her real name.

Xiao Keke wasn’t too keen on revealing her identity either, mostly because she feared her older sister and mom finding out one day.

Oh, and another thing…

Xiao Keke suddenly recalled their morning chat about spicy fanfiction. Sirius had seemed just as guilty as she did.

She felt guilty because of her sister, but why did Sirius look so nervous?

As Xiao Keke pondered, her phone pinged again with a message from Miss L.

Minister L: “[To all members, daily patrols will shift from two teams to three. It’s a special period, so thank you for your hard work.]”

Increasing patrol forces? Xiao Keke paused, then realized it was likely due to the Mang Wolf Gang incident. This was probably to prevent another similar monster attack.

Battle on West Street

Three days later, on West Street in Xia Hai City.

The long street was in chaos. A massive scorpion-like monster charged straight at Little Red Riding Hood, who stood in its path.

This time, Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t as panicked as her first encounter with a monster. Her standard-issue magic wand glowed, creating a barrier that blocked the impact of the monster’s two giant pincers.

But she overlooked the scorpion-like monster’s twitching tail. While she maintained the barrier, unable to move, the tail sneaked toward her unprotected back!

“Watch your back!”

At the critical moment, Xiao Xi, who had been escorting civilians to safety, rushed back. Like an arrow, she darted forward, barely blocking the attack for Little Red Riding Hood and quickly pulling her out of the monster’s range.

The next second, a beam of magical light shaped like musical notes rained down, piercing the monster. Mu Xingge descended slowly from the air, confirmed the monster’s defeat, and sent a message to Miss L.

“All monsters at the five locations have been eliminated. The crisis is resolved.”

Aftermath and Urgency

Miss L’s prediction was correct. Even after the association dismantled the Mang Wolf Gang, monster attacks happened again.

Unlike last time, there were only five attack points this time, but they were spread far apart, and the monsters were high-level!

Last time, the eight monsters were just D-grade or barely C-grade grunts. This time, three of the five locations had B-grade monsters, and the other two had C-grade monsters at C+ level.

That’s why Mu Xingge didn’t act with her two teammates this time. As Xia Hai City’s only S-grade magical girl, she had rushed to three locations to swiftly eliminate the monsters, preventing the situation from spiraling out of control.

Spreading five high-level monsters across such distant locations felt like a deliberate test of Xia Hai City’s defensive limits.

Xiao Xi frowned. She knew Mu Xingge was strong enough to handle all of today’s monsters alone, but if they appeared in different places simultaneously, it became troublesome. Even if every magical girl in Xia Hai City was deployed, there was a limit to how many locations they could cover at once.

“You two okay?”

As Xiao Xi thought, Mu Xingge walked over. Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, still shaken.

“I’m fine, thanks to Sirius saving me… Oh, your arm’s hurt!”

Little Red Riding Hood let out a small gasp. Only then did Xiao Xi notice her arm had been scratched by the scorpion monster’s tail.

“Let me take you to get it treated. I’m so sorry, it’s because you protected me…”

Little Red Riding Hood felt guilty. Both she and Sirius were D-grade newbie magical girls, yet Sirius always ended up protecting her in battles.

“It’s fine, just a small scratch,” Xiao Xi forced a smile. “I’ve got to go…”

“Injuries from monster battles aren’t trivial,” Mu Xingge said seriously. “If it gets infected with magic, you could develop Magic Syndrome.”

“I understand, Senior. I’ll… take care of it properly when I get back! But I really have something urgent and need to go now.”

Xiao Xi was indeed in a rush… because she was about to be late for work.

Dmn these fcking monsters, attacking right before her shift! Xiao Xi was also worried about Xiao Keke, so she had to push down her anxiety and rush to deal with the monster.

West Street, where the monster appeared, was frustratingly far from her workplace. If she delayed any longer, being late was a done deal.

“I’m off! Please handle the rest, sorry!”

Xiao Xi didn’t give Little Red Riding Hood a chance to stop her. She threw out the words and bolted. As for the injury? She didn’t care about such a minor scratch.

She’d been injured plenty in past battles. This scratch was nothing to her—less serious than the wounds she’d get from sparring with the Blood Moon Witch.

Normally, Xiao Xi wouldn’t get hurt fighting a monster of this level, but to hide her identity, she had to limit herself to a D-grade magical girl’s strength against a C-grade monster, which led to the injury while protecting Little Red Riding Hood.

Magic infection? That was even more ridiculous.

If she, the Eternal Star, could get infected by a C-grade monster, she might as well retire. Besides, she already had Magic Syndrome!

And if it weren’t for Magic Syndrome, Xiao Xi doubted she’d have landed a job as a maid waitress, a role only open to girls.