Get off work and become a magical girl

Chapter 247: Lunch at Claw Marks

The material world was once a vibrant world covered by oceans and green grass.

However, due to an accident in ancient times, the topography of the material world has undergone tremendous changes. The oceans have shrunk and the land has drifted. Today, all that remains on the surface of the material world are vast tracts of lifeless wasteland.

There is no ordinary vegetation here, only some plants that have adapted to the extremely water-scarce environment and are struggling to survive here; there is no decent animal community here, only insects that dig the soil for food, and small creatures that survive by hunting these insects, and basically no native large animals are seen.

The worst thing is that even though the environment here is so bad, there are still a large number of beasts, even countless beasts living in this cursed land. They will devour all living things, even dead things, in their sight. Like a harvester, they harvest and lick this barren land over and over again.

No human can survive here, and all those who try to conquer this endless wasteland are regarded as fools, and most of them end up in the mouths of the beasts. In order to survive, people have to gather in cities to keep warm, and eventually they build cities with the help of the country and survive in the cities.

Of course, these things are stories from a long time ago in this vast wasteland.

Somewhere, far away from human cities, on a high slope deep in the heart of the wilderness, a white castle had been erected at some unknown time.

The castle looks like something out of a fairy tale, white, neat and beautiful. Around the castle, there is a huge grassland, and there is even a small human village around the grassland. Some people live on this paradise-like land, farming, grazing, raising livestock, and living and working in peace and contentment.

If someone were to ask these humans where they came from and how they built such a business here, the answers would most likely be the same: they did not build the castle, but they were stranded in the wilderness and were taken in and sheltered by the castle owner.

These humans basically came from different human cities, and left the city for various reasons and entered the wasteland. Some were in debt, committed crimes, offended the powerful; some took small armored vehicles from the black market to try to go to other cities, but encountered natural disasters and man-made disasters on the way; or they could not live in their original cities and wanted to commit suicide... Undoubtedly, most of the humans who entered the wasteland would not be able to see this castle alive, but there would always be some lucky ones who accidentally walked here. When there were more and more such people, villages gradually formed.

Of course, there are also people who leave the city and enter the wilderness simply for the pursuit of excitement and adventure, but these people are also unwilling to live under the protection of this castle. Most of them regard this place as a rest station. After resting and replenishing supplies here, they will leave again, and most of them will never return.

As for why the owner of the castle is so kind as to shelter these humans, the people living here actually don't know very well. However, there is a reason that makes them believe, or convince themselves to believe, and that is - the owner of the castle is a group of magical girls.

That’s right, although it sounds strange, there is a group of magical girls who do not live in human cities or in magical kingdoms. Instead, they go to the wilderness to build a castle and live there.

And since they are magical girls, they must be protecting humans out of kindness and compassion, and taking in these poor people out of compassion for ordinary people... right?

——"Ah, it tastes so bad. No, the milk produced in the village has become thinner and thinner recently. It has no fresh taste and is extremely fishy. This is not milk at all, but cow urine, right?"

In a bright hall like a restaurant in the towering castle, a girl with curly brown hair and slightly yellowed ends slammed the cup in her hand on the table, with a look of reproach on her face: "Are these villagers working hard? Why do I feel that Sammy can do a better job of farming and raising cattle than these lazy people?"

"What do you mean I can do better than them?"

Sitting opposite the long table, the black cat fairy who was originally just licking his fur looked up at the sound, with a strange look on his face: "When did I fall to the point where I have to work like a slave for you?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

Seeing that it seemed a little unhappy, the girl with brown curly hair shook her head and explained: "I just want to say that you, a fairy, do better farm work than them. After all, I have eaten the oranges you planted before, and they tasted pretty good."

"Oh, so you're talking about the fruits I grow."

Sammy nodded when he heard that. "Of course I know. I've lived in the world for so many years, so I must know more about how to grow fruits in such a barren place than they do... Wait, that's not right. I haven't even given you the oranges I grew, have I? How do you know what they taste like?"

"what."

"What does 'ah' mean?"

"I forgot. Didn't you give it to me yourself?" The girl blinked innocently.

"I definitely never gave it to you! It was obviously you who stole it, you fat woman!" Semi screamed.

"Huh? What did you call me? You stinky cat!"

Upon hearing Sammy's insults, the girl immediately became angry: "How am I fat? I've already said that I just like to eat, I'm not fat at all, okay?"

Strictly speaking, the girl's body shape is indeed quite far from being "obese". Although her face is chubby and her exposed arms are relatively fleshy, she can only be described as "plump" rather than "obese".

"Fat woman, fat woman, fat woman, fat woman!"

However, Semiko had no time to argue about such a definition at this moment. Instead, he kept repeating, slapping his paws on the table: "Give me back my oranges, you thief!"

"... Oh, good, very good."

The girl was silent for a long time, then she sneered, "You asked for it."

After saying that, she conjured up a pot from nowhere, snapped her fingers, and the pot was immediately filled with water. Then, she suddenly stretched out her hand and pointed in the direction of Sammi, and a huge magic hand suddenly grabbed Sammi not far away and threw her into the pot full of water.

After doing all this, she pushed up the lid of the pot, lit a fire under the pot, and stood aside to start cutting vegetables that came from nowhere.

"What are you doing! Bastard!" Semi scratched at the locked lid of the pot in horror.

"Make soup." The girl smiled sinisterly, "I've long wanted to know what soup made with goblins tastes like!"

"Stop! You're murdering your companions!"

Sammy called out for a long time, but seeing that the girl still didn't respond, he had to give in a little: "You can't really want to do this, can you? I don't want you to return the oranges, so I'll just spare you this time, okay?"

But the girl still had no intention of giving up.

So Sammy could only slap the pot lid and scream, "Hey, Golden Snake! Stop standing there and watching, come and save me!"

Its scream woke up another girl who was lying on a chair nearby.

The girl called "Golden Snake" was wearing an eye mask and seemed to be sleeping, with her long golden twin ponytails dragging on the ground. After hearing Semi's scream, she reluctantly took off the eye mask and looked at the ceiling of the restaurant with a pair of lifeless dead fish eyes full of fatigue.

"…You guys are so noisy."

She opened her mouth and said in a slightly dry voice: "Can't you let me get some sleep?"

“Is it still time to catch up on some sleep?”

Sammy yelled, "Hurry up and save me! I'm almost being boiled by that idiot Brown Pelican!"

Upon hearing this, Jinshe finally symbolically stood up and looked at the scene not far away with a tired look on his face. After confirming that the "live cooking" in front of him was not his illusion, he rolled his eyes slightly.

“…Good death.”

After she said this, she put the blindfold back on and lay back down.

"Hey! Golden Snake!"

Semi's scream suddenly became even more miserable.

Fortunately, there is always a way out. Just when Semi was about to despair about his situation, the door of a restaurant not far away suddenly opened.

Then, three figures walked in with different rhythms of steps.

Walking in front was a girl who looked very pitiful, wearing a white princess dress, with fluffy lavender hair and a striking kind smile on her face.

Walking beside her was a girl wearing a jet-black school uniform and with her black hair tied into a high ponytail. She looked like a little child, but her face showed a sense of vicissitudes and dejection that did not match her age.

The girl who followed behind the two men, wearing a ragged Taoist robe and with her black hair loose, who looked a little sloppy, was undoubtedly Yuan. However, for some unknown reason, one of her eyes was covered with an eye patch, and her face was a bit sickly pale, and she seemed to be quite weak.

The three girls walked into the restaurant and sat down in their seats. Even though no one spoke, the girl in the black school uniform just glanced at the brown pelican, which made the latter subconsciously loosen the lid of the pot and let Semi out.

——"Xiao He! She bullied me!"

Semi in the pot seemed to have found a savior, and regardless of being soaked in water, it threw itself into the girl's arms with tears in its eyes. The girl did not show any disdain at all, and cooperated with it, catching it and stroking its back gently.

"Don't always quarrel with your friends, Xiao Hei." However, what she said made Semi, who had just been feeling a little proud, suddenly become depressed again.

It wanted to say something with some grievance, but when it felt the hand caressing its back, it just snuggled into the other's arms and made a snoring sound.

"Brown Pelican, are you bullying Semi again?"

The girl in school uniform had no intention of holding the brown-haired girl accountable. Instead, the purple-haired girl sitting at the head of the long table picked up the teacup in front of the table and looked at her position with a bit of blame on her face: "You can't do this, I told you, everyone here is family, we have to get along well."

"But Boss, it was Semi that scolded me first..."

The girl called Brown Pelican seemed to want to make some excuses, but when she saw the purple-haired girl's slightly puffed cheeks, her attitude softened in the end: "Oh, okay, it's my fault."

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"Well, that's right."

So the purple-haired girl clapped her hands and smiled again: "Today is a rare day for everyone to get together for dinner. No matter what conflicts there are, quarreling is absolutely wrong."

——"So, why did you call me and the Brown Pelican back here?"

The purple-haired girl didn't seem to care at all about what she said. The girl who was previously called "Golden Snake" had sat up at some point. She was now holding a pipe with a sleepy look on her face, trying to light the tobacco with both hands: "You know, Chief, I'm different from those idle guys. I really have a lot of work to do."

"Well, of course I know."

The purple-haired girl nodded with a smile: "But, Snake, it is precisely because of your ability that I am most confident in that I would not be able to accomplish this without you, so I specially called you back. Please forgive me."

"……I see."

Jin She lit the pipe in his hand, took a deep puff, and exhaled the smoke: "Since you said so, why should I question it? I am just curious about what kind of thing it is that makes you take it so seriously."

"Of course it's a very important matter, but before we talk about work, I think we should enjoy our lunch first, right?"

The purple-haired girl took a sip of the milk tea in her cup and said, "Call everyone else over. We'll talk after we finish eating."

No one responded to her.

Golden Snake was smoking by himself, Brown Pelican was lying on the table looking at her resentfully, the girl in school uniform was stroking Semi silently, and Kite turned sideways and drank the drink in the cup.

"Well, don't you want to eat first?"

The purple-haired girl tilted her head as if she realized something belatedly, and a hint of confusion appeared on her cute face. "I have discussed the menu for today's lunch with the chefs long in advance. I can guarantee that everyone will enjoy the meal, okay?"

“No, it’s not a question of whether it tastes good or not.”

The golden snake blew out a smoke ring from his mouth: "It's just that, Chief, we came here specially, and we are really curious about what is going to happen, so we don't want to put this topic off until after dinner."

"Uh-huh."

The brown pelican lying on the table nodded and said, "I want to know first, too."

"Eh? Even the Brown Pelican thinks so?"

The purple-haired girl widened her eyes slightly. "This is really unexpected... But if I arrange things now, the food in the kitchen might get cold... Well, forget it, I'll try to explain it briefly."

She stretched out her hand and gestured to Yuan who was standing beside her: "Everyone should remember that last month, Yuan's mission to Fangting City failed. The Beast Origin had been taken away by Emerald in a trade, so she had no way to start."

Facing everyone's gaze, Yuan just scratched his cheek and laughed twice awkwardly.

"I know."

The golden snake's sluggish dead fish eyes regained some of their brilliance: "Not only did he fail to snatch the source of the beast, he also failed to complete any of the secondary goals. I can't help but wonder if this guy has already surrendered to the enemy."

"What? Are you going to criticize the violent old woman?"

The brown pelican lying on the table smiled and raised his hand: "I'll vote in favor first."

"No, I'm not bringing this up here to continue criticizing Yuan."

The purple-haired girl just shook her head, her face calm: "In fact, although her mission failed, she also brought back useful information, which is that the source of the beast has fallen into the hands of that nerd... ahem, into the hands of Emerald."

"And after verification by our informants, we can now confirm that the news is true, and the Source of the Beast has been secretly transported back to the country by Emerald a few days ago. It is now in a secret laboratory in Runore."

She spread her hands, revealing a look as if she was calculating something: "Emerald probably won't have the motivation to move this beast source for a long time, and she won't tell that person about the existence of this thing. In other words, from now on, this beast source should always be kept in Runore."

"I see."

The brown pelican, with half of his face pressed against the table, said, "So we can then report this news to the royal court and expose Emerald's true identity?"

"No, on the contrary, we have to help her cover up and the royal court shouldn't be aware of this."

The purple-haired girl smiled and shook her head, then looked at the girl in school uniform next to her: "Black Cat, the next part will be up to you."

She took the initiative to hand over the right to speak, and everyone's eyes were once again focused on the girl called "Black Cat".

She raised her slightly dejected eyes, and incomprehensible emotions flowed in her golden vertical pupils. Her gaze swept across the faces of everyone present, and then she let go of the hand that was stroking the fairy.

"Brown Pelican, Golden Snake."

When she read out the names of two people, she said seriously, "The three of us will act together and go to Runnore to bring back the Beast Source."

"what?"

This sentence made the originally limp Brown Pelican shudder all over and immediately sat up: "What do you mean?"

"I haven't received any news about any transactions between us and the institute recently. In other words, we should have no vested interests with the institute."

The Golden Snake had already understood something, and just leaned forward slightly, as if to confirm, and asked: "What do you mean by 'bring it back'?"

"This year's qualification exam will be held in Lunnore, so there will be security forces diverted to the exam venue."

The black cat had a blank expression on his face and spoke without any emotion, as if he was just talking about what he was going to eat for lunch:
——"We can make a feint to the east and attack the west, pretending to attack the examination room, forcing them to mobilize more manpower, and then quickly raid the research institute and take back the 'Source of Beasts'."

(End of this chapter)