Volume 1 Chapter 184: Dust of the Past
There was no huge explosion and no dazzling display.
As the black flames burned around the spider monster, it let out a painful roar. As the fire gradually faded away, its enormous body turned completely black before crumbling into ashes and disappearing from the world.
A wave of hot air gently brushed through Kaguya's hair. The remaining firelight added a warm glow to the girl's fair face.
She lightly clapped her hands, and a strong wind suddenly gathered above the quiet park, completely putting out the remaining flames.
As the black light faded, Kaguya changed back into Bai Muxue. The playful smile on her lips also softened.
"Heh, I really didn't expect to get such an unexpected bonus..."
Bai Muxue turned toward Shen Jingyi, who had also canceled her transformation. Shen Jingyi was standing there with a frown, lost in thought. Bai Muxue let out a light laugh and broke the silence.
"What's wrong, Teacher Shen? Feeling sorry for it?"
Shen Jingyi looked up.
"What did you say?"
"Ah, because you look like you're feeling... a little sorry for it. Do you think I shouldn't have killed it?"
"Of course not."
Shen Jingyi gently shook her head.
"A monster that has already eaten people is not something I could ever let go. So even if you hadn't done it, I would have killed it myself."
She slowly raised her slightly tired face and quietly asked, almost as if speaking to herself,
"Can I ask you a question?"
A breeze blew by, carrying the last bit of ash into the night sky.
"Hmm~ Ask first. I'll decide whether to answer after I hear it~"
With both hands behind her back, Bai Muxue gently swayed from side to side. It was impossible to tell what she was really thinking.
Shen Jingyi let out a soft sigh before looking directly into Bai Muxue's eyes.
"You've been investigating this all along, haven't you? I mean... this laboratory incident."
Just as I thought.
Someone who only cared about doing whatever they wanted without any sense of responsibility could never become a magical girl.
Shen Jingyi felt that the suspicion she had held for a long time had finally been confirmed.
The carefree and unpredictable way Bai Muxue always acted was only a disguise. She also had her own beliefs and goals that she stubbornly pursued.
Thinking about the gentle side Bai Muxue occasionally showed made Shen Jingyi's already wavering heart become even more uncertain.
"Hmm~ Is that really true?"
Bai Muxue still wore the same teasing smile.
As she walked toward the park's exit, she held up a leaf that had been eaten through by insects. The holes in the leaf looked like crescent moons, allowing the moonlight to shine through and fall onto her eyes.
"What if I told you I only found out about this tonight, and I just suddenly felt like investigating it? Would you believe me?"
The gentle moonlight rested on the girl's delicate profile.
Compared to Kaguya's dangerously charming appearance, Bai Muxue now looked younger. She also had the playful cleverness that was unique to a rich young lady.
"I don't."
Shen Jingyi was slightly surprised by the question, but then she shook her head and answered seriously.
She knew Bai Muxue's personality well. Expecting her to honestly tell anyone what she was really thinking was simply impossible.
Since that was the case, she decided not to dwell on the matter any longer. She quietly walked beside Bai Muxue.
After passing through the last patch of bushes, the two of them stepped out of the park.
It was already late at night.
The streets were becoming quieter as fewer people remained outside. Only the colorful neon lights shining from the tall buildings continued to brighten the dark night.
Listening to the endless sound of passing cars, Shen Jingyi, who had not yet completely recovered from the peaceful silence of the park, suddenly felt as though everything around her was slightly unreal.
Seeing that Bai Muxue was still walking toward her apartment, Shen Jingyi snapped out of her thoughts and quickly caught up.
"Um... are you... planning to walk me all the way home...?"
"Mhm."
That short reply interrupted the carefully chosen words Shen Jingyi had been trying to say. A trace of panic flashed across her face as she quickly added,
"M-My home is pretty far from here."
"Then that's even more reason for me to walk you home, Teacher Shen."
Bai Muxue casually spun the leaf she had picked up earlier by its stem. She was still holding onto it.
"It's already this late. What if a monster suddenly comes out and eats little kids?"
Normally, Bai Muxue's usual joking tone would have made people laugh, but Shen Jingyi was too distracted to smile.
She instinctively opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
But in the end, she quietly swallowed the words before they came out.
Because of a certain sense of pride, she had never liked telling other people about the small apartment she lived in.
She especially tried to keep people she knew from finding out where she lived.
If those rich students at school, who loved looking down on others, found out about my home... they'd definitely laugh at me.
They'd probably say something like, ‘So Shen Jingyi acts so proud every day, but she actually lives in a tiny, run-down apartment? What gives her the right to look down on anyone? Hahaha.’
Thinking about it, Bai Muxue perfectly fit the image of someone who would say those kinds of things.
The old Shen Jingyi would never have brought her home. She would have assumed Bai Muxue was exactly that kind of person.
But...
What about the current her?
For some reason, Shen Jingyi suddenly felt that if it were Bai Muxue...
Although she would definitely make some outrageous jokes as usual, and might even shamelessly cling to her or tease her physically...
She would also seriously listen to the secrets that Shen Jingyi had always carried alone.
After all...
Bai Muxue was the first person in this city whom Shen Jingyi considered to be the same as herself.
Shen Jingyi pressed her lips together, still wondering whether she should say something to break the silence.
Just then, Bai Muxue, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned around with a faint smile.
"Oh, I just remembered. Teacher Shen knows Xingwan too."
"Xingwan?"
Shen Jingyi was briefly confused before realizing Bai Muxue was talking about Tang Xingwan. The girl who loved anime and other otakus hobbies. She nodded gently.
"Yes. We met while working a part-time job. She's a very lively and outgoing person."
Shen Jingyi was not particularly surprised that Tang Xingwan and Bai Muxue were friends.
After all, Bai Muxue's behavior at the funeral had been far too unusual. Saying the two of them had no connection at all would have been impossible to believe.
"Haha, lively and outgoing? So that's how other people see her..."
Bai Muxue shook her head with a smile.
After getting her answer, she did not continue the topic. Instead, she quietly shifted her gaze toward a father and daughter walking not far away.
The middle-aged man wore glasses and looked completely ordinary. He was holding the hand of a little girl with two braided pigtails.
The little girl carried a large bag of grilled food and was eating happily, her mouth covered in grease.
The man looked as though he was complaining while wiping the oil from the corner of her mouth, but he was smiling as he talked to her.
Watching the two of them gradually disappear into the distance, gentle ripples suddenly spread through Bai Muxue's heart.
Once upon a time...
She and Tang Xingwan had lived that same kind of simple and happy life.
Back then, they had innocently believed it would last forever.
But in the end, the gears of fate rolled forward without mercy, crashing into their lives and shattering everything they had.
Thinking about it carefully...
She had already spent quite a long time after being reincarnated as the young lady of the Bai family.
The ordinary office worker who had once worked diligently at the Disaster Management Bureau...
Had long since been buried beneath the dust of time.