Raising magical girls, and leave them with eternal regret?!

After YouYu finished explaining his story and the reasons behind his actions, the atmosphere between them fell into silence once again. No one spoke a word.

The silence lingered for about ten minutes before Bai Yu’s sigh finally broke it—

“Now, I think I understand, YouYu, why you made those choices… why you had to do what you did…”

“Even though I still don’t fully support your decision, since you’ve already done it, I don’t have much to say.”

To her, YouYu’s current mindset was no different from the adults in her family.

Even though YouYu had just recently become an “adult,” he already had thoughts like these, leaving her at a loss for words.

But precisely because of this, she could understand the conflicting and complicated feelings he was going through.

After clearing her throat, Bai Yu looked at him and said:

“So, YouYu, let me help you.”

“Let me help you… make up with WuYue.”

“…”

Hearing her offer, YouYu was momentarily stunned and blurted out, “So, you came here to help me?”

“? What else did you think?”

“Uh, nothing.”

Seeing Bai Yu’s puzzled expression, YouYu shook his head.

He had just spaced out for a moment.

Mainly, he had assumed that Bai Yu was about to continue lecturing him… He had even started mentally preparing his responses to her expected arguments.

He hadn’t thought that such a simple approach—using a slightly altered version of his story—would convince her.

In any case, as long as it worked, that was good enough. He didn’t want to continue the conversation on this topic.

“Anyway… thank you.”

With that, YouYu nodded deeply to express his gratitude.

“Ever since that incident, WuYue and I have been in a ‘cold war’ phase, and it’s become a bit difficult for me to even speak to her.”

“So… I’m counting on you. There are some things that I can’t explain to her directly, so I need you to pass them along.”

“I understand that.”

Nodding, Bai Yu said:

“But if you want your relationship with WuYue to truly go back to how it was, a large part of the effort has to come from you, YouYu.”

“After this… I’ll find a way to create opportunities for you two—a chance for you both to sit down and talk properly.”

“I’ll also talk to WuYue… try to get her to change her perspective a bit.”

“Ok, thank you.”

After saying that, YouYu let out a sigh of relief, glanced at the time on his phone, and felt it was about time. He then said to her:

“I should get going now. WuYue is waiting at home for me to have dinner. If I’m late… she might get a little upset.”

“…Hearing you say that, it doesn’t sound like things are all that bad between you two…”

Bai Yu couldn’t help but be taken aback by YouYu’s words and spoke with a hint of curiosity in her tone.

“Well, the whole situation was just a misunderstanding that caused some conflict… It’s a hassle, but not something irreparable.”

YouYu shook his head and replied.

It was merely an issue of “jealousy,” after all. Similar incidents might happen in the future, but as long as he took precautions, it wouldn’t become a big problem—it wasn’t like it involved betrayal or anything.

Besides, the current situation wasn’t so dire, as long as everything remained within his control.

With these thoughts in mind, YouYu stood up and walked over to where his motorcycle was parked.

“We’ll talk more over the phone later about WuYue.”

“Alright then, take care, and stay safe on your way home.”

“……”

“Ok.”

As YouYu left, Bai Yu stood there, hesitating for some reason, without moving.

After a moment, she sighed, got on her bicycle, and rode back toward her home.

…

…

After riding back home, to YouYu’s surprise, WuYue no longer showed any signs of anxiety. Instead, she had returned to her usual calm demeanor.

Moreover, during dinner, she gradually began to initiate conversations, though most of them were about trivial matters.

“……This feels a little weird.”

He had no idea what might have happened while he was out that made WuYue revert to a more normal state, even if just slightly.

But in any case, it was a good thing. It wasn’t good for her to remain in that withdrawn state for too long; being able to self-adjust was definitely for the better.

And so, the evening passed in a quiet, peaceful atmosphere.

—

…

The “Dark Spire.”

The tower where the evil cadres resided.

Lightning struck incessantly, and the sky was perpetually shrouded in darkness.

Today… Night Demon returned to this place, ready to perform its duty again, reporting to the Tower Master.

It was time to explain the reasons for its failure in the previous mission.

“So… so, Night Demon…”

The Tower Master, whose eyes seemed to exist only in the void, gazed down at Night Demon, who kept its head bowed and spoke slowly:

“Why did you fail… again this time?”

“Why… did you fail again? Was it… Ouja?”

“Please, allow me to explain, Tower Master.”

Without paying much attention to the Tower Master’s question, Night Demon simply pulled out a scroll capable of recording images and said:

“Watch this, Tower Master.”

With that, the scroll suddenly flew into the air, unfurling into a large screen.

“……”

The recorded scene was brief, so the projection ended quickly.

After watching the display, the Tower Master, clearly displeased, said:

“……This is just an ordinary human… he escaped with a magical girl…”

“Why? Why did you not stop him then?”

“Because that human is a ‘sorcerer,’ Tower Master,” Night Demon replied plainly.

“I intend to make use of him.”

“……Make use of him? Why? ……He’s just an ordinary human… who has only a grasp of negative power… What use could he possibly have?”

The Tower Master fell silent for a moment before asking again.

“Because last time, the appearance of Ouja gave me an idea,” Night Demon replied.

Ever since his first encounter with the Ouja, he had tirelessly pored over books, never ceasing his search for its identity.

Finally… after a lengthy investigation…

He formulated a hypothesis.

That is, Ouja might possess a part of a human soul; it could be… a magical girl who has undergone a reversal.

Through his research, he found a few cases in the history of battles between his kind—beings born of negative energy—and the magical girls:

Some magical girls, upon being defeated, had their wishes shattered, releasing immense negative emotions that served as food for creatures like him.

Others… when defeated, succumbed to despair, their wishes reversed, and the negative emotions corroded them, transforming them into “Witches.” These witches would then wreak havoc until they were eventually defeated by new magical girls.

While much of this history came from old, starving creatures who had written down their “unofficial histories,” it still led him to a plausible theory—

That  “Ouja” might be a “Witch” born from a reversed magical girl.

After all, “Witches” have no defined physical form. They can appear as a magical girl herself, or as a strange plant, a doll, or even warships and robots.

So… if  “Ouja” was really a “Witch” formed from a reversed magical girl, it wouldn’t be all that surprising. To have retained a human-like soul in such a form could only mean a magical girl who had turned into a “Witch.”

As for why it carried the aura of Mamba… that likely meant it had fought with Mamba.

And won.

“…So, how does this have to do with you… letting that human go?”

“Please, hear me out, Tower Master.”

Without reacting to the Tower Master’s irritated tone, Night Demon continued in a calm voice:

“Before they reverse, those magical girls are not so different from ordinary humans—except that they possess a power that is still beyond our grasp.”

“And… after they reverse, their powers become tainted with negative emotions, thus transforming them into Witches.”

“Then… we all know that on this planet, there exists a certain type of individual—those who can slightly control the power of negative emotions. A millennium ago, ignorant humans referred to them as ‘sorcerers.'”

“Within their bodies, there often lies a small amount of controllable negative emotion. Theoretically, if we could actively manipulate it, we could trigger those emotions and transform them into a negative beast.”

“But since no one has ever tried it, no one knows whether it would actually work.”

“So… I wanted to run a little experiment on that human.”

“If he dies, it’s a predictable, acceptable outcome.”

“But if he survives and transforms into a negative beast, then that would be an ideal result for us.”

Because if that human survives, it would mean…

The magical girls would be forced to kill their own—

friend.

And It would prolong that moment, amplifying it.

And used it to achieve its purpose.