Chapter 225: "I Smell the Scent of a Witch on You"

September 13, 7:30 AM, Old Jingmai District, inside an abandoned elementary school.

The sky was still dim, though a sliver of pale morning light lingered at the horizon, spilling over solitary utility poles and vending machines. Students in uniform began to trickle down the long street, chatting and laughing.

When the first rays of sunlight pierced the branches of the old trees and shone into the living room of the Xia-Ke home, Ke Mingqing changed into his blue-and-white school uniform. He slid his feet into his sneakers, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked out of the old apartment building.

He pulled the door shut behind him, shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, and hunched his shoulders as he set off up the maple-leaf-strewn incline, his figure gradually fading into the distance.

Xia Zili stood at the doorway and paused, tilting her head slightly as she watched him leave from the corner of her eye.

What struck her as odd was that, instead of heading straight for the bus stop after leaving the house, Ke Mingqing walked toward a secluded corner of the neighborhood.

An Youlu came out from the entryway. The quirky girl liked to wear her backpack across her chest, making it look like she had a protruding belly.

"Let's go, Senior. We're going to be late if we don't hurry," she urged, pushing Xia Zili from behind toward the station.

Xia Zili didn't say a word. She kept her head slightly bowed as they crunched over the fallen maple leaves. From start to finish, she never asked a single question about Ke Mingqing; they only talked about school on the way.

Ke Mingqing yawned as he walked through another corner of the Old Jingmai District.

The autumn wind was brisk and refreshing. To him, an autumn morning was the most comfortable time of the entire year. The air lacked the dampness of spring, the stifling heat of summer, and the biting chill of winter. Everything was just right, making him think that if he had to die, it would be nice to die in autumn. Unfortunately, the deadline for the Extinction task was set in winter.

This will be the coldest winter this world has ever seen, he thought.

By the time he got back from seeing Kiyono Sakura, he'd probably have missed the school bus.

But Ke Mingqing had no intention of asking his homeroom teacher for time off in advance. Superheroes didn't have a concept of running late for school. Half an hour was enough for him to run several laps around downtown Leijing City. Missing the bus didn't matter; he could just run.

Not to mention, the first class today was history, covered by Commander Lin.

Even if Ke Mingqing showed up thirty-nine minutes late and strolled into the classroom right before the first period ended, Lin Yin would just silently place a checkmark next to his name on the attendance sheet. He wouldn't let the homeroom teacher give him a hard time.

[Ke Mingqing: Old man, I might be a little late for school today. Time for you to prove your worth.]

[Lin Yin: Go on, go on. If your homeroom teacher tries to punish you, I'll invite him over for tea.]

After walking a short distance, Ke Mingqing pocketed his phone and looked up at the security fence at the entrance of the elementary school.

"Back again. Seems like I have a lot of history with this school lately," he muttered.

He leapt up, planting his feet on top of the fence. Then he raised his eyes, gazing out at the empty academic building. Right now, a warm light was on in the classroom at the far end of the fifth floor, standing out brightly in the dim autumn morning.

Would a Magical Girl Like Jiahao from the Next Class? For some reason, the title of that Japanese light novel suddenly flashed through Ke Mingqing's mind.

Rumor had it that in this world, the book had taken first place in Japan's This Light Novel is Amazing! rankings for three consecutive years.

Ke Mingqing decided to replicate a move from the novel. He leaned forward on the fence, dark blue lightning coiling around his legs, and slightly bent his knees.

The next instant, he shot off like a coiled spring, crossing over two hundred meters in a single bound. His body soared diagonally upward before finally drifting down onto the classroom windowsill like a leaf caught in a gale.

Ke Mingqing half-crouched on the windowsill, hands shoved in his pockets, and slowly, expressionlessly took a seat on the ledge.

Having pulled off a perfect Jiahao-style entrance—which could also be called a "superhero-style entrance"—he reached up to pull his hood over his head. Unfortunately, the Lijing No. 3 High School uniform didn't come with a hood. His perfect replication of the light novel had failed.

Ke Mingqing curled his lip and looked up, silently taking in the scene inside the classroom.

At that moment, several orange lanterns hung from the ceiling, casting a warm glow downward. Several wooden desks had been pushed together to form a massive conference table.

The overall layout wasn't much different from the top floor of the Empire State Building, though its scale and prestige felt more like a "youth edition" Roundtable.

Kiyono Sakura sat on the edge of the wooden table. Today, she was still wearing a pure white miko outfit dotted with faint red accents. She tilted her head slightly, blinking in surprise as she stared at the boy who had just dropped in from the sky.

Setting aside Kiyono Sakura in her miko attire, there were two other people in the classroom.

One was the albino boy he had seen before. Today, he was wearing casual overalls and using a brush to paint on an easel in the corner of the classroom.

The other was a girl with wheat-colored skin and light, short hair. Wearing a pleated skirt and a four-leaf clover hair accessory, she stood quietly by the window, her silhouette drifting in and out of view behind the fluttering curtains.

Oh? They called over those two magical girl transfer students as well? What's with the massive lineup? Do they seriously suspect me of colluding with witches and want to drag me back to the Great Japanese Empire for interrogation?

At this thought, Ke Mingqing slightly raised an eyebrow and looked up at the super-human species panels floating above their heads.

[Code Name: Magical Girl Winter Hunter (Threat Rating: A Rank)]

[Description: A magical girl from Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Due to her pure appearance and snow-white hair, locals praise her as the "Pure Flower of Reykjavik." Yet very few know that her true identity is actually a frail albino boy.

Magical Girl Winter Hunter's magic weapon is a bow capable of using "moonlight" as its arrows. When night falls, her power significantly increases with the appearance of the moon.]

[Code Name: Magical Girl Deep Space (Threat Rating: A Rank)]

[Description: A magical girl from Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. She is known as the "Strongest Shield among magical girls" and is also called the "Four-Leaf Clover of Copenhagen."

Magical Girl Deep Space's magic weapon is a "four-leaf clover" shield that can be disassembled at will.]

[Weakness: 1. When Magical Girl Deep Space disassembles her shield into four blades, her offensive power increases, but as a trade-off, her defensive power drops significantly.]

Unfortunately, the two magical girls were entirely unmoved by his Jiahao-style entrance, dismissing him completely. The white-haired boy painted quietly, while the Danish girl kept her head down, silently flipping through a light novel.

From start to finish, neither of them spared him a glance.

Ke Mingqing stared at the Danish girl's figure, thinking to himself:

Magical Girl Deep Space... is this the final magical girl foreign aid hired by the Chinese Magical Girl Company? It seems the strongest magical girls from Iceland and Denmark both possess A Rank strength, just a step away from the Three Giants. Meanwhile, the one from Japan is slacking.

At this thought, Ke Mingqing shifted his gaze to the girl in the miko outfit sitting on the edge of the wooden table. Right now, Kiyono Sakura was the only one in the classroom looking at him, her mouth slightly parted in curious surprise.

She didn't look away for a long time. After a moment, the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile as she spoke:

"If it isn't Mr. Blue Pigeon. Every one of your entrances is so memorable. Aren't you afraid of being filmed by a passerby? It would be another short video with hundreds of millions of views on the internet, just like when you defeated the giant monster at school."

Ke Mingqing couldn't be bothered to respond, silently looking at the super-human species panel above Kiyono Sakura's head.

[Code Name: Magical Girl Sakurahime (Threat Rating: A Rank)]

If Little Grey hadn't dragged her back to forcefully upgrade her, Kiyono Sakura's combat rating would probably still be stuck at B Rank, wouldn't it? Ke Mingqing muttered inwardly. She really ought to thank my sister for that one-week A Rank crash course.

"Is there something on my face?" Kiyono Sakura asked, tilting her head.

"No, I just find it quite novel to see you. I thought you'd kicked the bucket. I was even wondering if I should visit your grave, but I guess I can hand the flowers I bought directly to you."

"You speak so beautifully, just like a song."

"I'm more curious about why the other two are completely ignoring me."

"Oh, that." Kiyono Sakura smiled faintly. "That albino boy is a bit of an airhead. He gets incredibly absorbed when he paints, as if he forgets everything around him. That's why he didn't notice you."

Hearing this, Ke Mingqing turned to look at the white-haired boy's eyes.

The boy's gaze was so focused that it seemed covered in a layer of mist, and within that mist was only the contents of his canvas. He was painting Perlan in Reykjavik, set against a backdrop of a bleak, snowy, wind-swept winter.

"And the other one?" Ke Mingqing asked after a moment.

"As for her... she simply has no interest in you."

Saying this, Kiyono Sakura suddenly covered her mouth and turned her head, her tone teasing:

"Oh my, you weren't expecting your super casual, handsome entrance to catch the eyes of us magical girls, were you? You must be quite disappointed."

Ke Mingqing shrugged. "Can you introduce their names first?"

Kiyono Sakura extended the sleeve of her miko outfit, pointing at the albino boy's back. "Magical Girl Winter Hunter. His name is Yuna." She then pointed at the Danish girl. "Magical Girl Deep Space. Her name is Ava."

A moment later, the albino boy finally turned away from his easel and looked over at Ke Mingqing, who was sitting on the windowsill with his backpack.

He slightly raised his snow-white eyebrows. "So you're Blue Pigeon. You were a huge help to me at the school back then. You stepped in and took care of Monster 007 for me."

"You know me?" Ke Mingqing asked curiously.

Yuna nodded. "Mhm, I saw you at the aquarium last time. You went into the wrong restroom and even said you were transgender, right?"

Ke Mingqing's cheek twitched slightly.

"Transgender?" Kiyono Sakura asked. "I thought you only ran into that sort of thing in America. I didn't expect Mr. Blue Pigeon to have those inclinations too. So you and your sister are sisters, rather than brother and sister?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Ke Mingqing replied. "So, what did you want with me?"

"Teacher Xi Ziyue said... you might know the witch who ran off with me for a week, so we wanted to ask you face-to-face to confirm," Kiyono Sakura said quietly. Suddenly, she turned her head and stared unblinkingly at Ke Mingqing:

"What do you think?"

"Hah..." Ke Mingqing blanked for a moment and tilted his head. "Are you joking?"

"Otherwise, how do you explain that right after Teacher Xi Ziyue finished chatting with you, that witch released me? You must have figured something out back then, right?"

"I don't know any witches."

"Is that so..."

"Yes."

"So, you rushing to the aquarium that day was just a coincidence?"

"What else would it be? My sister texted me to come hang out with her at the aquarium. I really didn't expect you to emerge from the water tank."

"I see..."

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out in the classroom:

"Disgusting..."

Ke Mingqing paused slightly, turning his head to follow the voice toward the Danish girl standing in the corner.

Kiyono Sakura suddenly said, "She dislikes you a little."

"Why?"

"She says she can smell the scent of a witch on you." Kiyono Sakura's smile faded. "She's originally from Rjukan, a town in Norway. The Witch of Despair forced every single villager there to commit mass suicide. Because she was still young at the time, just a baby incapable of killing herself, she managed to escape the Witch of Despair's clutches."

Ke Mingqing froze.

Kiyono Sakura paused for a moment, raising her eyes to meet his before continuing:

"Because she survived a witch's indiscriminate slaughter as a child, you could say she practically brushed cheeks with the Witch of Despair. As a result, she is highly sensitive to the scent of witches. The moment a witch disguised as an ordinary person gets close, she can smell the scent on them."

After a while, the Danish girl Ava suddenly spoke. "He has the scent of a witch on him. And it's... very strong."

Ke Mingqing fell silent for a moment.

He looked up, staring right into Ava's eyes, and pointed at himself. "Lady, I'm not even a magical girl, and you're calling me a witch? If you're going to spread rumors, at least have a little common sense, alright?"

"Common sense isn't needed," Ava said coldly. "Don't even try to lie to me."

Ke Mingqing's face darkened, and he let out a soft sigh. "Forget it. I'm done playing with you magical girls. Every single one of you is completely unhinged."

With those words, he slowly leaned backward, plunging from the top of the fifty-meter-tall academic building toward the ground below, vanishing from the three magical girls' sights.

"He's feeling guilty," Ava said.

Kiyono Sakura sighed. "It can't be helped. He is currently the most popular superhero in China. If we just arbitrarily captured and interrogated him or something, it would cause a massive incident."

"You're obviously covering for him," Ava said coldly. "Do you plan on colluding with a witch, too?"

"Think whatever you want." Kiyono Sakura shook her head and extended her right arm, sending thousands of cherry blossom petals fluttering out from the sleeve of her miko outfit. The petals gradually coalesced into a long katana. "Please watch your tone. I know you utterly detest witches, but just because you had a tragic past doesn't mean everyone else has to indulge your rudeness..."

Ava fell silent for a moment, then lowered her head and continued flipping through the light novel in her hands.

...

...

That day at school, Ke Mingqing didn't run into Li Chunchun.

Li Chunchun had taken a few days off. It was probably because he had heard the rumors about the "Red Name Player Jin Chengwu" and was too terrified to leave the house.

After school, Ke Mingqing had just tossed his bag onto the living room sofa when he heard the doorbell ring. He walked through the entryway and opened the door.

The door opened, revealing a tall man in a police uniform. The man kept his head lowered, slightly rolling up his sleeves to reveal sturdy, lean muscles.

"Oh, you're back, Dad?"

But right after he spoke, Ke Mingqing's expression suddenly changed.

Because right now, Ke Mingwei was holding a highly futuristic black metal helmet in his arms. It was something Ke Mingqing would never forget in his entire life:

—The Brain Imaging Helmet.