Go to work, and then educate magical girls.

Chapter 12 Hibiscus Orange

(Because the previous chapter was deleted by the censors, it was cut back and forth by several hundred words before it was released. So please don't mind if you feel that the passage is not smooth. It is a necessary sacrifice made to pass the censorship. TnT)

(Update after more than half a month: He was reported and detained. New readers, please don't worry, the application for unblocking is underway.)

The person who came was An Jinju's older sister, An Jincheng.

Because of the loss of the Heart Gem, the usually gentle girl has been a little troubled lately.

Yesterday she ran into her sister on the street; she was disheveled and seemed distracted.

She asked repeatedly, but An Jinju kept crying and stammered, refusing to explain what had happened.

But she could sense that her Heart Gem was no longer with her sister.

Seeing her younger sister crying her heart out, she couldn't bear to criticize or interrogate her anymore, so she could only try to find a solution on her own.

She felt a pang of regret.

She had always been too indulgent and doting on her younger sister, which caused Jinju to develop a somewhat willful personality and countless little quirks.

She knew that Jinju had always longed to become a magical girl, perhaps influenced by her, or perhaps simply because she liked it.

But she knew very well that being a magical girl was a dangerous profession, requiring frequent battles with monsters and monsters, and she didn't want Jinju to get involved.

So when Jinju asked to experience what it's like to be a magical girl with the Heart Gem, after considering it, she lent her sister the Heart Gem, which is the most important thing for a magical girl.

Perhaps once Jinju's wish to become a magical girl is fulfilled, she will no longer insist on being a magical girl.

But she didn't expect that just one day later, Jinju would lose the Heart Gem.

An Jincheng sighed softly.

She analyzed the matter carefully.

Jinju possesses near-C-rank strength amplified by her Heart Gem. While she may not even be as good as a newly promoted magical girl, she is far superior to ordinary mages who don't even qualify for the rankings.

Only three types of people have the power to snatch the Heart Gem from Jinju: monsters, freaks, and magical girls.

The calamity beasts lack intelligence and do not specifically target gems. Furthermore, their large size makes them easy to spot, so they are eliminated.

Magical girls have no motive or reason to steal the Heart Gem; they are comrades in a united front, so they are excluded.

There's only one possibility left: he's a weirdo.

A strange creature appeared in Binhai City. It attacked Jinju and stole the Heart Gem.

But she knew nothing about the specific details.

For example, why didn't the strange man kill Jinju to silence her, but only stole the gem? Why was Jinju unwilling to explain the specifics to her? And why was Jinju only wearing a coat and crying the whole time when she saw her yesterday?

She had a vague sense of unease, but she wasn't sure.

After making an initial deduction, she contacted the Magical Girl Association and notified the city of the possible appearance of an unknown monster.

The response she received was that the Magical Girl Association would increase vigilance and detection, and she could go to investigate and take any actions she deemed appropriate. If she discovered any traces of the strange person, she should report it immediately.

It was a very reasonable arrangement, and An Jincheng couldn't find any fault with it, but she always felt that something was missing.

She knew that magical girl associations in various regions were always short-staffed and it was impossible for them to send reinforcements just because of uncertain news.

But she had a bad feeling.

This was an intuition she had developed from dealing with danger all her life; she was quite sensitive to it.

She had planned to have a good talk with her sister today and find out the specifics.

But Jinju didn't go home until sunset.

She happened to see the news on TV about the appearance of a disaster beast beyond the warning level, and the disaster level was still a relatively weak B-level.

Despite losing the Heart Gem, she remains a powerful magic user, but she cannot transform into a magical girl and is not qualified to fight B-rank monsters.

An Jincheng sighed and prepared to turn off the TV.

But the girl who suddenly appeared on the television screen made her pupils dilate sharply.

Jinju, why is she there?!

And it looks like they even killed that calamity beast?

An Jincheng watched the girl giving her victory speech on TV, and without delay, she got up and left the room.

She knew there was a big problem here.

Even with the power of her Heart Gem, Jinju could not defeat a B-class monster, let alone with the Heart Gem stolen by a monster.

Now, all sorts of strange phenomena and clues have become a tangled mess, and she needs to unravel the threads to find the truth behind the problem.

The most crucial thing right now is to find the golden orange.

Based on her past experience, she judged that Jinju was now in a very dangerous situation.

The coastal city defeated the monster without any other magical girls intervening. Who was behind it?

An Jincheng's mind was exceptionally clear.

It can't be a tangerine.

So, there's only one truth...

There's a weirdo of B-rank or higher at the crime scene!

Whether its target is Jinju is unknown, and whether it is the one who stole the Heart Gem is also uncertain, but what is clear is that Jinju is already within the other party's scope of attention!

After notifying the Magical Girl Association, she rushed to the scene of the crime.

With her current strength, she can't fight a B-class monster; she needs help.

The Binhai City Magical Girl Association was initially unwilling to cooperate because she did not have the Heart Gem or the Identity Tag.

An Jincheng had no choice but to contact the Magical Girl Association in her previous city. After some explanation and communication, she received help from two people.

At this moment, the three girls had arrived at the outskirts of the city, searching together for Jinju's whereabouts.

It was already dark, and the dim streetlights cast a chilling atmosphere over the sparsely populated suburbs.

"Sorry, the user you are trying to reach is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later..."

The mechanical voice came again. An Jincheng put down her phone and continued to shout, "Jinju, are you over here?"

Her gaze also went unanswered. She looked up at the two magical girls in the air. "Have you discovered anything?"

The two girls shook their heads.

"Why don't we split up and search? That would be more efficient," An Jincheng suggested.

The two girls nodded in agreement.

"I'll go over there." With that, An Jinju turned and walked towards...

We took another road.

Seeing An Jincheng leave, the two magical girls landed on the roof of a bungalow.

"I mean, did the association send us here just to do something as boring as 'finding a lost little girl'?" a girl with red pigtails asked.

Another girl with medium-length hair and blue hair was more cautious, saying, "I heard there might be strange people here."

"Who knows? That's just her side of the story, isn't it?" The red-haired girl shrugged.

"Since she said that, she must be quite confident," the blue-haired girl retorted.

"I think she's just using us as laborers to help her find her dear sister."

"Don't say that. She's a senior, I heard she's an A-rank magical girl."

"Tch." The red-haired girl scoffed. "Are you referring to that A-rank senior who even squandered her own Heart Gem? She can't even transform now. Do you think she's reliable?"

The blue-haired girl couldn't refute this point; someone who could lose even the Heart Gem, the most important gem for a magical girl, certainly didn't seem reliable.

"If you ask me, even though they're both A-rank, Senior Ryuki feels much more reliable than her."

"Actually, Ryuko... isn't very reliable either, but I heard from the association that Ryuko seems to have lost contact recently?"

The red-haired girl shrugged. "Who knows what they've been up to? It's so much better to be an A-rank. We have so much freedom of movement. People like us B-rank and even lower-ranking C-rank can only do backbreaking work like 'finding lost girls.'"

"Don't say that, we also have to fight the monsters." The blue-haired girl spoke up, changing the subject from the other's negative attitude. "By the way, did you find anything in the warning-stricken Sparrow Street this afternoon?"

"It was just a calamity beast egg, not even fully formed, and it was destroyed with two punches."

As the red-haired girl spoke, she struck a fighting pose and threw two punches forward, creating a whooshing sound. "This is so unsatisfying. I should have stayed here; I might have run into a B-rank outside the warning zone."

The blue-haired girl remained silent for a long while. "Crimson Flame, have you ever considered who killed that B-rank calamity beast when none of us went?"

The red-haired girl stopped what she was doing. "Didn't the broadcast say it was a new face?"

"That girl is the one we're looking for."

The two exchanged a glance, and a hint of worry appeared in their eyes simultaneously.

……

"Orange!"

An Jincheng shouted loudly while asking passersby on her phone, "Have you seen the girl in the photo?"

Passerby A: "No."

Passerby B: "No."

Passerby C: "Oh, I know her, I know her! Isn't that the magical girl who defeated the monster this afternoon? She's our local hero!"

"Where did she go after that? Have you seen her again?"

No, not at all.

One by one, passersby shook their heads and left, leaving An Jincheng at a loss.

Just then, a voice came from behind.

"Beautiful lady, what brings you to see An Jinju?"

An Jincheng turned around abruptly and found that standing behind her was a young man in a formal suit, tall and handsome, who looked quite gentlemanly.

With her angular face, deep features, strong lines, gentle smile, and mature demeanor that is hard for a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) teenager to fake, she is undoubtedly a female killer who can easily charm countless girls.

An Jincheng did not lower her guard because of the other person's appearance; on the contrary, she became a little suspicious.

It's too much of a coincidence that someone like that would appear here at this time.

If the coincidences are too great, it means that they are very likely not coincidences.

The other person's demeanor was completely out of place in this old suburb; their presence here seemed somewhat eerie.

"So this is the young lady. I apologize for my abruptness. I take back my use of the title 'madam'."

After An Jincheng turned around, Tang Feng noticed her appearance and bowed slightly in apology.

The girl in front of me looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. Calling her a "lady" was indeed inappropriate; the word "young girl" would be more fitting.

Her flowing long hair, beautiful face, gentle eyebrows and eyes, and soft features give the impression of a gentle and well-educated woman who has never left her secluded home.

Tang Feng's heart began to pound.

It wasn't because the girl was too beautiful and alluring that made his heart flutter, but because she was a magical girl.

Even though the other party didn't transform, he was still certain of that.

Because he involuntarily felt a flutter in his body that he only experienced when facing magical girls.

The transformation of magical girls actually comes with a cognitive shielding effect. Unless the transformation is done in person or by someone extremely familiar with the magical girl, it is normally impossible to connect the transformed magical girl with her original self.

This effectively protects the magical girls' privacy and prevents them from being kidnapped and murdered by monsters as revenge.

But this had no effect on Tang Feng.

Although he couldn't match every unfamiliar magical girl with his own body, he felt a surge of excitement whenever she was a magical girl.

In his eyes, no magical girl could hide.

He suppressed his inner turmoil and spoke to the other person in a calm tone, so no one could tell from his outward appearance that something was wrong with him.

"May I ask who you are?"

An Jincheng did not answer the other party's question, but instead asked a question in return with a wary look.

"I am An Jinju's teacher. I heard you call Jinju's name just now, so I came to check on her," Tang Feng replied politely, his manner impeccable.

An Jincheng's expression became even more wary. "Which school are you talking about?"

She won't willingly or unconsciously reveal any information; the other person's words might just be a trap.

"Of course it's the Magical Girl Academy. I'm a teacher there."

"Will there be male teachers at Magical Girl Academy?"

"This is proof."

Tang Feng pulled out a black card with gold foil stamping from his pocket. This was his teacher's identification document, which he had obtained from the principal after the interview. It was a genuine document.

An Jinju took the card, examined it repeatedly, and then pointed a finger at it.

With a faint wisp of magic injected, soon after, a string of letters lit up in a corner of the black card, emitting a soft golden light.

Tang Feng raised an eyebrow at the sight. He hadn't expected the card to have such an anti-counterfeiting feature. If he had fabricated it, it would likely have been exposed.

"It's actually true..." An Jincheng muttered to herself.

She returned the card to Tang Feng, saying, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood. May I ask how I should address this teacher?"

"It's alright, it's good that a girl is more vigilant when she's out alone." Tang Feng put the card back in his pocket and extended a hand to the girl. "Hello, my name is Tang Feng."

After a slight hesitation, An Jincheng extended a hand as well. "Hello, my name is An Jincheng."

Their handshake was brief and ended almost immediately.

The other party's proper actions and impeccable manners gradually made An Jincheng lower her guard, and with the proof of his identity as a teacher, An Jincheng began to chat with him.

"Teacher Tang Feng, I'm Jinju's older sister. She didn't come home after school today, and I can't get through to her on the phone. Do you know where she might be?"

She still habitually held back a bit in her words, not fully revealing her thoughts.

Tang Feng shook his head. "I don't know. I saw Jinju leave school right after class."

An Jincheng's expression shifted. "Do you live here?"

Tang Feng shook his head again, "No, I came here to do a home visit for a classmate. I just finished and was about to go back when I saw you calling Jinju's name, so I came over to ask."

"I see." An Jincheng looked disappointed.

He thought he might gain something, but it turns out he didn't know where Jinju was either.

"Since you've been searching here, is this the last place Jinju was seen?"

"Yes, I heard from nearby residents that they saw her in the afternoon, but they don't know where she went afterward."

"How about... I help you look for it?" Tang Feng suggested. "After all, it's such a large area, it's hard for one person to search every nook and cranny."

Seeing that An Jincheng did not speak immediately, Tang Feng continued, "Jinju is my student, and I am very worried about her. Even though she has only been here for one day, I must shoulder the responsibility of being a teacher and be responsible for every student to the end."

"Okay, then thank you for your hard work, Teacher Tang Feng."

An Jincheng finally nodded.

(End of this chapter)