Chapter 2246: I'm Just a Cute Little Bai (This Cat Is Just an Orange Tabby Too)

Early the next morning, the protagonists set off again to… save the world.

This time, however, they were accompanied by a small white wolf.

No need to ask; these three girls were the protagonists of “Magic Knight,” Shidou Hikaru, Ryuuzaki Kai, and Fushimi Kazakiri.

Unlike the later “tank-damage-healer” iron triangle of magical girls, the magical girls of this era were basically all-rounders, able to defend, attack, and heal. In fact, the earliest magical girls were all like this. While they all had their strengths, it wasn’t the case that they were useless without someone else.

For example, Little Sakura is like this. She alone could rival an entire army of magical girls from later generations.

However, those like Akemi Homura are not like this. Each person has only one special ability, and it’s completely random at the time of contract. As for combat abilities, they’re okay; but non-combat abilities are a real disadvantage.

And unlike the later magical girls who were originally average and only became overpowered after transformation, the earlier magical girls possessed remarkably outstanding talents from the start.

For instance, Little Sakura has great physical capabilities. In the first episode, when she captured the “Fly” card, she dared to glide sideways off a cement wall on rollerblades — a high-difficulty move that not even many skilled adult skaters would dare to try.

Likewise, the three in front of us are the same. Shidou Hikaru’s family runs a dojo, while Ryuuzaki Kai participates in the school’s fencing club and has some expertise in Western swordsmanship, and Fushimi Kazakiri is a member of the archery club, skilled with bows and arrows…

So, when you think about those time travelers to other worlds later on, what sort of useless people are they? Even fourteen-year-old girls can easily defeat them.

Like when Fang Zheng encountered them in the Shield Hero World… what kind of nonsense was that?

Although everything they’ve experienced since being summoned has been baffling, the spirits of these three girls remain high. They do worry about those places that have been merged, and indeed, the three of them once debated whether they should first acquire weapons or check on the cities from their world. Ultimately, Little Wind convinced the other two.

Her argument was sound: only they could defeat the enemies maintaining world peace right now, so their first step must be to obtain weapons. Only by having powerful weapons can they protect those they wish to protect. Otherwise, returning empty-handed would be pointless.

The other two agreed that Little Wind made sense, so they followed Precia’s guidance to search for a mineral called Escudo, because only through this mineral could the Magic Knight’s weapons be forged to awaken the Demon God—that is, only by crafting the key can the mecha be activated.

However…

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng looked at the three girls ahead, his eyes glinting with excitement.

Awesome! Just awesome!

Three girls in mini-skirt uniforms, and with each step, their mini-skirts swayed with their movements. Though normally you wouldn’t see much, from Fang Zheng’s current height, he could clearly see the fabric peeking out from beneath their skirts… Yes, this is what I wanted to see!

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng clenched his fists in excitement.

Animation is rated for all ages, so of course, it wouldn’t show such things. Comics are the same. But now, in this world where I have time-traveled, I can naturally see whatever I wish! Hahaha, let those from my era envy! The underside of your childhood goddess’s skirt is in full view before me!

Becoming a beast means I can’t hit on girls, but that doesn’t mean I can’t satisfy my pure and upright desires!

Besides, just looking shouldn’t be a problem.

“I advise you to be careful.”

After silently recording precious image data with his personal terminal, Fang Zheng finally reminded them.

“The path to Escudo is not easy. Just this forest alone has thousands of Demon Beasts.”

“What?!”

“Thousands?!”

“Are we really going through such a place?”

Hearing this, the three girls were immediately stunned.

“Of course, so you must learn how to fight.”

Now that his personal hobby was satisfied, Fang Zheng was ready to get down to business. According to the original work, this was when Shagatu’s brother was supposed to accompany them for protection, but for some unknown reason, Fang Zheng hadn’t sensed his presence—probably due to a shift in the plot, he’s somewhere untraceable. Therefore, Fang Zheng opted to take matters into his own hands.

Saying that, Fang Zheng stepped forward before the three girls, let out a low growl, and in the next moment, a Pitch Black Greatsword appeared in his mouth. Seeing this, the three girls widened their eyes in astonishment.

“Battling a Demon Creature is not as simple as fighting humans… are you ready?”

“What? Fight with you?”

Seeing the white wolf in front of her, Shidou Hikaru hesitated.

“But if we accidentally hurt you…”

“You won’t be able to hurt me, but if you don’t train hard, it will be a dead end for you.”

Fang Zheng understood why this young girl, who seemed to be of primary school age, had such concerns. If he remembered correctly, the animation mentioned that Shidou Hikaru kept a dog named Flash at home and was very close to it. In fact, when the three faced their trials in the animation, Little Light faced this dog, and she nearly got killed because she couldn’t bear to hurt Flash.

So Fang Zheng seized this opportunity to train them, getting them accustomed to battle. After all, this current world is much more dangerous than originally; although these three girls have protagonist auras, Fang Zheng wouldn’t wager on it. He’d rather personally ensure they improved combat skills rather than rely on those protagonist auras.

“Mr. Little Bai, how should victory be determined?”

At this point, Little Wind also looked at Fang Zheng and asked.

Little Bai… fine, Little Bai it is, at least it’s not Shinnosuke Nohara.

Fang Zheng sighed, then squinted his eyes.

“Simple, just land a hit on me, any part will do. Be it the tail, ears, or anywhere else—as long as you can hit me, it’s a win. Best two out of three, how about that?”

“No problem, leave it to me!”

At this, the blue-haired Little Hai jumped up first.

“I’ve won national competitions in Western swordsmanship!”

“Real life-and-death battles aren’t as simple as competitions.”

Fang Zheng said, shaking his head.

“You three come at me together.”

“Okay.”

Little Wind was evidently the most obedient, maybe understanding Fang Zheng’s intentions. She nodded vigorously, taking out the bow and arrow Precia loaned her. Meanwhile, Little Light hesitated. After a moment of staring at the white wolf, she summoned her Longsword.

At this, Fang Zheng’s eyes lit up.

The three had different weapons: Little Wind had a bow and arrow, Little Hai a Rapier, and Little Light a Greatsword. The moment Fang Zheng saw the Greatsword, his first thought was…

Young lady, we are fated. I have a copy of the Farron Sword Art here; would you like to learn it?

However, words hold no proof… better to teach you with action!

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng squinted his eyes, glancing at the three girls, then clenching the Greatsword, he charged straight at them!

Regardless of taking advantage, Fang Zheng wasn’t going easy on them when it came down to battle training. He locked onto the archer Fushimi Kazakiri first. It’s well known that if you take the archer out first, you’re halfway to winning any fight!

So Fang Zheng turned into a gust of wind and charged directly at the farthest Fushimi Kazakiri. The opponent didn’t have time to react and was hit squarely in the chest, sent flying and landing on the ground unconscious.

“Little Wind!!”

Seeing their companion being knocked away, Little Guang and Little Hai were shocked, quickly changing direction to charge at Fang Zheng. However, Fang Zheng’s Farron Greatsword isn’t famous for nothing. Facing the two of them, Fang Zheng swept horizontally, and in response to Fang Zheng’s attack, both instinctively tried to block, but Little Hai was wielding a rapier and was instantly defeated, flying away instead. Little Guang, holding her sword with both hands, managed to block the strike.

Oh? Not bad, indeed she has some foundation.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng nodded again. Farron Swordsmanship emphasizes speed, accuracy, and lethality, requiring high strength. This means the opponent needs to master significant power-deflection skills; otherwise, they’ll end up like Ryuuzaki Kai, knocked away on the first encounter, which is normal. Ryuuzaki Kai uses a rapier focusing on speed and agility rather than defense, so meeting force with force is practically suicidal.

Shidou Hikaru, on the other hand, is clearly very used to this combat style and thus managed to take half a hit.

No wonder she’s the first to show combat prowess among the three.

But it’s just half a hit.

In the next moment, Fang Zheng pressed and pulled, once again sending her flying without mercy.

After a while, the three slowly regained consciousness.

“You’re kidding me. I couldn’t even take one hit?”

Ryuuzaki Kai woke up and recalled the previous battle, stunned. She was quite confident in her swordsmanship, so how did she crumble in one strike?

“One more time!”

At this moment, Shidou Hikaru became excited. She was already somewhat obsessed with martial arts, and naturally understood she had encountered a very powerful opponent. This made her even more excited, as did the other two, who exchanged glances and nodded firmly. They weren’t fools and understood that this white wolf was training them. If they couldn’t pass this trial, how could they become Magic Knights who save the world?

So, the three of them resumed training, having learned from the first encounter. With Shidou Hikaru and Ryuuzaki Kai as the vanguard, Fushimi Kazakiri would seize opportunities from behind. After all, Fang Zheng’s requirement was that hitting him once meant victory. In their view, as long as the two of them could entangle Fang Zheng and give Little Wind a chance to hit the target, they would win!

Yet it was all in vain. Facing their interception, Fang Zheng simply leaped over their heads, first knocking the bowman away, then used a Farron Triple Strike to send the remaining two flying.

Thus, the three of them tussled around Fang Zheng for a whole day. By the time night fell, they were lying on the ground, unable to get up.

“This is just too… too… incredible,”

Ryuuzaki Kai sat on the ground, panting heavily, while Shidou Hikaru lay flat on the ground beside her.

“It seems our ideas were indeed a bit naïve…”

At this point, Fushimi Kazakiri started to seriously think as the strategist among the trio, being sharp-minded and intelligent.

“Yeah, we thought being Magic Knights wasn’t that hard, but to think we can’t even beat a little white wolf…”

“………..”

Hearing Ryuuzaki Kai’s complaint, Fang Zheng rolled his eyes wordlessly.

Are your eyes blind? I’m not a dog, I’m a wolf! A wolf!!

“Ah—————!!”

At this moment, Ryuuzaki Kai seemed to suddenly remember something, screamed, and jumped up.

“How are we going to sleep tonight!!”

“Ah……”

Hearing this, Shidou Hikaru and Fushimi Kazakiri also realized, yesterday they stayed at Precia’s place, and when they left today, nothing was said, nor did they ask. Now thinking back…

“Speaking of which, we also have no dinner lined up.”

At this moment, Fushimi Kazakiri looked around, muttering quietly.

“Maybe we should hunt?”

“Here?”

Hearing Fushimi Kazakiri’s words, Ryuuzaki Kai made a bitter face. During training, they had battled some Demon Creatures under Fang Zheng’s guidance. But those beasts all looked terrifying, fighting them was nauseating. Were they supposed to eat those creatures?

That’s enough.

Hearing this, Fang Zheng nodded, then opened his mouth and spat out a bracelet. Stretching out a paw, he tapped it lightly. Soon, a magical radiance flashed, and a door appeared before the group. Then Fang Zheng pushed open the door and walked in.

“Little Bai?”

Seeing this, the three girls quickly followed, and upon entering, they found themselves before a blazing fireplace, a dining table filled with steaming hot food, and—comfortable sofas and beds.

Yes, this was the Mage’s Mansion!

Knowing how to handle unexpected situations in various dimensions, Fang Zheng had always kept a variety of emergency items, and this bracelet allowing a daily “Mage’s Mansion” use was one of them. Although not as good as Fang Zheng’s personal Mage’s Mansion, it was quite sufficient for rest.

“Wow, it’s so pretty, like a Five Stars hotel!”

Ryuuzaki Kai spun around, then plopped down on the sofa, stretching comfortably.

“It feels so nice, like all the day’s fatigue has vanished…”

“Little Hai, Little Wind!!”

At this time, Shidou Hikaru came running out excitedly from exploring inside, gesturing to the other two.

“There’s a hot spring in here!”

“What?”

“Really?”

Japanese people’s obsession with hot springs is indeed unimaginable. Upon hearing there was a hot spring, the two immediately got up and walked inside. Meanwhile, Little Guang smiled at Fang Zheng.

“Little Bai, come join us too, we’re all dirty after today, let’s take a bath together!”

“………..”

Hearing Shidou Hikaru’s invitation, Fang Zheng was silent for a moment.

Logically, if one were a gentleman, sneaking in to bathe with girls would be disgraceful behavior.

But… what does this have to do with me?

After all, I’m just a cute little white wolf.

Thinking this, Fang Zheng stood up and followed Shidou Hikaru inside.