Chapter 730 - 277: Bat and Mouse_5

Chapter 730: Chapter 277: Bat and Mouse_5

Long before Black Ash Dawn, she already knew she had the talent to become a Magical Girl. And Tian Niu arranged this task, naturally because he was certain of this.

As a local of Yue Wang City, Mint easily caught the Seeder’s attention and received the Heart’s Gem, becoming a Magical Girl. But when she heard her seniors say things like "All those who become Magical Girls are kind children," she really couldn’t help but want to point at herself and ask:

"Who? Me?"

Could a Black Ash Dawn even be considered kind? What on earth are the Magic Kingdom’s standards for recognizing people?

However, as time passed, the wounds Black Ash Dawn left seemed to have scabbed over. For Mint, she felt as if she had become two people.

When there weren’t any Black Ash Dawn tasks and she didn’t need to think about extra matters, she seemed to really be just a Magical Girl from Yue Wang City. She had good companions, trustworthy seniors, and adorable juniors. Although everyone would compete for fame and merit, overall, there wasn’t much that was too unsightly.

In fact, every time they repelled the Remnant Beasts and saved others, and then she posted online to enjoy others’ praises, Mint would feel that being a Magical Girl was much happier than being a Beast Child.

But, as a Beast Child, she still had tasks she must complete.

Though she wasn’t directly asked to betray, occasionally she would need to grant some green light for Black Ash Dawn’s activities and businesses in the city under her identity as a Yue Wang City Magical Girl. Aside from this, annually, she had to return to headquarters to participate in a Food Sacrifice.

For Mint, who had become both a Beast Child and a Magical Girl, as long as Black Ash Dawn didn’t throw two Molts into the Food Sacrifice, one could say that the sacrifice no longer posed any life-threatening risk to her.

The most profound effect was only disgust.

If there was anything that made her uneasy, or even a bit grudgingly concerned, it was only the matter with her sister.

Of course, at this period, "sister" was no longer her sister, but Arrowroot.

Both had become Magical Girls, yet they were not in the same team, nor in the same city. Except for occasionally meeting at headquarters, there were no more commonalities.

Mint knew she had broken her promise.

She hadn’t been able to take her home with her.

But every time she wanted to bring up the topic with her, every time she wanted to explain something more, Arrowroot seemed to show no interest in the matter.

Actually, Arrowroot’s only remaining interest in her seemed to be to "defeat Mint."

Every time, Arrowroot would engage her in combat, every time, she would fight her without holding back.

If, at the beginning, Mint was merely passively taking the blows out of guilt, over time she realized especially that Arrowroot’s magic power and abilities were becoming increasingly strange, increasingly imbued with a sense of bloodlust. She also came to a harsh realization.

—The sister as she knew her seemed no longer to exist.

Though she didn’t know what had happened to Arrowroot after being taken by another Ash Envoy, just by her use of abilities, it was clear that her hands likely had been stained with the blood of many innocent victims.

For Mint, who was also Black Ash Dawn, and even a Beast Child, this statement might not be appropriate, but she felt that the Arrowroot of today was already a villain.

After realizing this, Mint’s heart split into completely opposing thoughts.

One thought was resentment, was hatred, was annoyance—after all, it was just a broken promise, she, too, had been engulfed in the quagmire to bring her back, and it was just a matter of insufficient capacity that she couldn’t bring her home. Why did she deserve the hatred? Why so targeted?

The other thought, however, was regret.

Eventually, she couldn’t bring her home, and because of this, both had ventured onto different life paths.

For Mint, after returning to Yue Wang, she almost enjoyed all the advantages of being a Beast Child. This not only provided her connections both as a Magical Girl and Black Ash, making her very well-informed, but also gave her formidable combat power and secured her respect and trust from both sides.

Her parents still doted on her, she was always surrounded by companions, and her future could even be described as incredibly bright—as long as the identity of a Beast Child wasn’t exposed, she could ascend to high positions on both sides.

Perhaps it was precisely due to this unique status that when she applied to participate in this year’s certification assessment, even knowing that Black Ash intended to carry out some action in the Kingdom, Tian Niu still didn’t force her to partake.

Perhaps, for them, a spy embedded in Central City was also of great value, not to be easily exposed.

Apart from those few grim moments, Mint often felt that her life compared to other Beast Children was perhaps too smooth, too bright.

So bright that she even began to have a particular thought.

—She was different from other Beast Children; she more closely resembled a righteous Magical Girl.

She hadn’t stained her hands with the blood of innocents, hadn’t killed any comrades, hadn’t truly committed any wrongdoing. She was just more uniquely born and was no different from those pure Magical Girls.

This thought was so arrogant, so selfish, so insensitive that every time Mint entertained it, she couldn’t help but slap herself.

Yet, even so, this thought was still hard to extinguish.