Chương 177: The Lonely Shadow Caught in the Middle is Also in Despair Today

Liuli raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of displeasure flashing in her eyes: "So what? After saying all that, are you just trying to start a fight again?"

Seeing Liuli's unyielding stance, Jiying feared that the tense scene from before would repeat itself, and couldn't help but cast a worried glance at Xingxian beside her.

However, this time, the other party appeared much calmer than she had imagined.

Xingxian shook her head slightly, calmly gazing at Liuli, her tone revealing neither joy nor anger: "Don't misunderstand, I'm not belittling the 'Senior Xingshuang' you mentioned, I'm simply stating a fact."

"Whether it's strength or experience as a magical girl, she can't even compare to me, let alone—comparable to the real Seisou-senpai."

"I understand that she has a very special meaning to both of you, but in the kingdom's internal ranking system, she is just an ordinary Crescent-level magical girl."

"This is a fact you must accept."

Both Liuli and Yinxue fell silent because of this blunt, even harsh, evaluation.

Although they wanted to refute it, they couldn't find any arguments, because they knew that what Xingxian said was indeed true.

Seeing that the two of them had fallen silent because of her words, Xingxian shook her head slightly and continued, "Moreover, as the only Crescent-level being in this city, she has an undeniable dereliction of duty."

"Neglect of duty?" Liuli frowned immediately, retorting defiantly, "What do you mean by negligence of duty?"

"Hasn't Senior Xingshuang been protecting this city all along? Without her, Yinxue and I would have collapsed long ago."

"I don't deny that," Xingxian said calmly.

"But a magical girl's duty isn't just about protecting her own city, is it?"

"Although Xiaoying may not have told you about this, the reason I came here is because the Magic Kingdom hasn't received regular contact from our local companions for far too long."

"Regular contact?" Liuli and Yinxue exchanged a blank look, both seeing the same confusion in each other's eyes.

Xingxian nodded slightly and explained, "Yes, regular communication. Every magical girl needs to report the situation in her area and her own safety to the kingdom regularly through the magic network."

"This is one of the most basic responsibilities, and it is also an important basis for the kingdom to judge whether each region is safe and whether support needs to be sent."

"You are all newcomers and don't understand these rules. I don't want to be too harsh on you for not fulfilling your responsibilities."

"However, as someone with considerable experience and currently the only Crescent-level [person/entity] in this city—"

"That Starfrost" also failed to maintain regular contact with the kingdom through the magical network, let alone proactively seek help from the kingdom after discovering that her companions were disappearing one after another.

Xingxian's gaze sharpened, and her voice grew heavier: "How are you going to explain this?"

"In my view, this is an undeniable and serious dereliction of duty!"

"This is because..." Liuli was speechless for a moment.

Of course, she had no idea that magical girls also had the responsibility of regularly sending news of their safety to the kingdom through some kind of "magic network".

Although she wanted to refute it, reason told her that as an inspector, Xingxian had no need to fabricate a reason to argue with herself on such a matter.

Even so, Liuli still couldn't bear to see her most respected senior being criticized in this way.

She bit her lip, still unwilling to give up, and defended Xing Shuang, saying, "But—but Senior's strength is enough! She can not only easily deal with the Corrosion-level Void Beast, but also successfully defeat that bastard's mirror image clone called Mirror Lord!"

"—Is it powerful?"

Upon hearing this, Xingxian instinctively wanted to directly state the fact that "Xingshuang" had suffered damage to her Star Tears due to the battle with the Independent Mirror and had not yet regained her transformation ability.

But then she immediately remembered that Xiaoying had just told her last night that this matter was currently being kept secret from the two girls in front of her.

So after a brief hesitation, Xingxian did not reveal the truth.

She shook her head slightly and said in a different way, "Even if she is considered one of the best among the Crescent Moon level, she is absolutely no match for the real Starfrost senior."

"Between the crescent moon and the blazing sun, there exists an insurmountable gap in strength; you should understand that as well."

Liuli pouted, somewhat unconvinced, and said stubbornly, "No matter what, there will always only be one Xingshuang-senpai in my heart. The others are all newcomers."

Upon hearing this somewhat childish declaration, Xingxian was not angry at all. Instead, she nodded slightly, agreeing with her statement: "I am the same as you in this respect, which is why I insist on my position."

Liuli snorted, crossed her arms, and turned her face to the side, looking as if she didn't want to continue communicating with Xingxian.

Xingxian looked at the stubborn girl in front of her, and a thought quietly emerged in her heart.

She turned her scrutinizing gaze to Liuli and asked, "I have a question for you. Once your senior recovers and returns to this city, we will definitely need to formulate a new battle plan against Jingjue."

"At that time, whose orders will you—or rather, all of you—take?"

"Of course I'll listen to Senior Xing Shuang!" Liu Li answered matter-of-factly without the slightest hesitation.

"If—she's willing to let you take charge, then I'll listen to you."

Upon hearing this answer, Xingxian immediately frowned, her beautiful eyebrows furrowing, and a hint of obvious anger flashed in her silver-gray eyes.

In her view, who should be in charge of commanding the operation was a question that didn't even need to be considered.

Whether considering her status as an inspector or her strength and experience, she should rightfully lead all subsequent actions.

And this newcomer actually said he wanted to take orders from an ordinary Crescent-level officer who couldn't even fulfill a basic duty like "timely communication"?!

The argument about codenames that we just had was actually harmless in her opinion, but when it came to the extremely serious matter of fighting against enemies from the Void Realm, disagreements could directly cost her companions their lives, and there was absolutely no room for jokes.

She didn't think the other party was capable of commanding an enemy of Jingjue's caliber. Even if Liuli wanted to protect her respected senior, she absolutely shouldn't have such a major disagreement with her on this matter.

"you----" Just as Xingxian was about to speak and, in his capacity as an inspector, sternly reprimand the reckless junior before him, he suddenly noticed the gaze from Jiying beside him.

From Xingxian's perspective, the petite girl who had been silent and like an outsider was now looking at him with a slightly sad and pleading expression.

Seeing Jiying shake her head almost imperceptibly at her, she swallowed back the words that were already on the tip of her tongue.

"Xingxian, there's no point in arguing about this now; it will only worsen your relationship.""

"Let's ask Xingshuang for her opinion after she returns. Didn't Liuli just say that if Xingshuang is willing to follow your orders, then she'll listen to you too, right?"

"Perhaps—that's exactly what Xing Shuang will do?"

Xingxian instantly understood Jiying's meaning and realized that she had once again lost her composure due to emotional excitement. Looking at Jiying's delicate face, which was filled with difficulty and helplessness, the anger in her heart vanished in an instant, replaced by an indescribable feeling of heartache.

Yeah, what was I doing just now?

During her argument with Liuli, Xiaoying was caught in the middle and was in a difficult position. On one side was her new friend with whom she had just established a friendship, and on the other side were the two juniors of her important business partner.

She probably kept quiet just now because she was considering the feelings of both of them. And her way of looking like she wanted to scold Liuli must have made Liuli feel very sad.

How could I let Xiaoying be in such a difficult position?

Xingxian took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

Then, she stepped forward and reached out her hand, gently touching Ji Ying's smooth, long black hair under the astonished gazes of Liu Li and Yin Xue.

In an unprecedentedly gentle voice, she softly promised, "—I understand, Xiaoying. I won't make things difficult for you."

"Let's discuss this matter after your business partner returns."

After saying that, Xingxian glanced at Liuli not far away with some dissatisfaction, as if blaming her for her "lack of manners" just now.

Then, she did something that surprised everyone—she grabbed Ji Ying's slender wrist, seemingly trying to take her away from Liu Li and Yin Xue.

"It's too noisy here, Xiaoying, let's find somewhere else to talk."

"stop!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Liuli immediately realized what was happening when she saw Xingxian's possessive gesture.

Without hesitation, she stepped forward and grabbed Ji Ying's free hand from the other side, her icy blue eyes filled with vigilance and displeasure.

"You may leave if you wish, but please release Xiaoying first!"

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the classroom became tense again.

This time, however, the focus of their struggle seems to have shifted from the previous issue of command to the struggle for the "ownership" of Ji Ying.

"Eh?"

Grabbed tightly by two magical girls on either side, unable to move, Jiying stared wide-eyed at them, her face filled with confusion and innocence.

Why?

Why did it suddenly turn out like this?

What did I do wrong?

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