I'm a magical girl in the future

Chapter 9 Conversation

As night deepened, the number of pedestrians on the streets gradually decreased.

Shen Zixin and Noah walked side by side. The former had already reverted to his usual masculine college student demeanor. Noah, on the other hand, had changed back into the loose sailor uniform that seemed to suit her better.

After registering with the Human Disaster Prevention and Response Bureau and preparing a cell phone for Noah, it was already past nine o'clock.

The five magical girls exchanged contact information through the Civil Defense Bureau's official app. When everyone dispersed to go home, Shen Zixin, or rather "Lingbo," chose to leave in the opposite direction from her sister Qin Xiaoling to avoid the awkwardness of both of them going home in the same direction.

He thought the matter was over for the day, but less than a minute after he left, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

A message from Noah—she wants to talk to him.

So the two of them wandered aimlessly along the sidewalk, blending into the city night.

"I'm saying..."

Noah spoke first, "Why don't you just tell your sister your real identity? You don't really have any reason to hide it from her anyway."

Shen Zixin frowned. "I don't want to."

He answered almost without hesitation. He pictured his sister's gloating expression when she found out.

"What a joke. If she knew that I not only became a magical girl, but also looked like a ten-year-old girl..."

He paused, as if the word itself carried a certain unspeakable shame. "Then, for the next ten years—no, probably for the rest of my life, I'll never be able to escape her teasing and sarcasm."

The thought of being utterly looked down upon and having no chance to fight back filled Shen Zixin with sorrow.

If my younger sister finds out that I've turned into a loli magical girl, my authority as an older brother will be over (sad).

Noah didn't seem surprised by his reaction. "Well, I don't really care. But if you don't want to tell her, I'll keep it a secret for you."

Shen Zixin didn't reply, and walked on in silence for a while longer. Unknown pop music played from the shops along the street, and young couples laughed and joked as they passed by. Everything seemed so peaceful and ordinary.

Shen Zixin also had many questions she wanted to ask Noah.

"Well then, it's my turn to ask questions." Shen Zixin stopped and looked directly at Noah. "You went to the Civil Defense Bureau to register, did you... just to get a cell phone?"

"Otherwise what?"

Noah's matter-of-fact attitude made it seem like Shen Zixin had asked a pointless question.

"You guys are still using... um, the iPhone 16? Or was it the 17? I can't just pull out an iPhone 27 Pro Max that's more than ten years ahead of yours, can I? Besides, phones from my era are incompatible with the network protocols and base stations of this era, so even if I took it out, it would just be a brick that can't connect to the internet."

"Then just tell me, and I'll buy you a phone, okay?"

"cut."

Noah looked at Shen Zixin with a hint of disdain, her eyes subtly sweeping over her.

"Anyway, you'll only buy me a low-end model that's barely usable, or maybe a refurbished one from the second-hand market."

She smiled meaningfully. "Well, after all, it's me, 'myself.' I know very well what I'm going to do."

Shen Zixin was speechless in the face of what she said.

Indeed, given his family values, he adheres to the principle of "as long as it works" when buying a phone for himself, let alone for this suddenly appearing "future self".

He needs to carefully plan every expense in the household, and investing too much money in non-essential items is clearly not in line with his style.

Noah seemed quite pleased with his speechless expression—

"Well, establishing some kind of connection with the Civil Defense Bureau was a necessary part of my plan. Going there to register would also solve the communication problem, so what's wrong with that? Besides, they've already provided me with a mobile phone in the future; this is just asking them to get an advance payment."

"According to the original timeline, 'I'—that is, you—should have gone to the Civil Defense Bureau to register shortly after awakening. In general, there's not much difference."

"Then..." Shen Zixin still had other doubts in her mind, "Then... is the Civil Defense Bureau really that good? Or rather, can they be trusted?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Noah's carefree and relaxed demeanor, along with the smile on her face, vanished without a trace.

"Not good at all."

Her voice lowered.

"If I had to describe it in my own words... it would be a nest made up of countless insects, a dark entity filled with lies, betrayals and conspiracies, a filthy organization that is nauseating."

Her expression, the hidden disgust and pain in her heart, was real and intense, making Shen Zixin feel somewhat uneasy.

"Then why did you make us register?!" Shen Zixin was speechless. "Since you knew that place was so terrible, why did you still take us there?"

At this point, a new and even more perplexing question popped into Shen Zixin's mind.

"Furthermore, logically speaking, isn't the Civil Defense Bureau an organization responsible for protecting human society and fighting against the monsters? No matter how many problems it may have internally, its fundamental purpose shouldn't be considered 'bad,' right? Why is their evaluation so low in your description?"

"...The Civil Defense Bureau is indeed protecting humanity. That's absolutely true."

Her voice regained some composure, but it still carried a hint of helplessness: "However, there is no absolute direct connection between the outcome and the good or evil of the action itself."

"At least for now, going to register won't immediately cause any substantial harm. Dealing with the Civil Defense Bureau normally shouldn't pose any major problems. The rest..."

Her voice lowered, as if she were whispering to herself, "...Leave the rest to me..."

"That's right... I'll bear all of this alone..." Noah murmured to herself, her eyes unfocused, as if lost in some kind of memory.

"Hey, are you... alright?" Shen Zixin asked, worried when she saw that Noah seemed a little off.

"...?!" Noah snapped back to reality, regaining her usual composure, and looked at Shen Zixin with her usual smile, "I'm fine."

Shen Zixin could see that there was a deeper weariness hidden in her heart.

Silence descended once more.

Pedestrians on the street continued to hurry by, and no one noticed the two people who had stopped by the roadside to talk.

Shen Zixin pondered Noah's words and her unusual emotional fluctuations.

He realized that the secrets and pain hidden in Noah's heart might be far greater than he had imagined.

"Well then, I have one more question," Shen Zixin said again.

This question had been there since I first met Noah, and now I finally couldn't help but ask it.

"What?"

"Why don't you revert to your 'original form' and instead keep appearing before me in this magical girl form?"

"I mean, it's been like this ever since you first showed up at my house. You've said before that you're actually 35 years old, haven't you?"

"If you appeared before me as a 35-year-old man, and I saw someone who looked remarkably like me, I'd probably be more inclined to believe you're from the future, right?"

Noah simply gazed at him. After a long while, she slowly spoke, her voice calm yet carrying a heavy sense of helplessness.

"The reason is simple. Because of how I am now—"

She lowered her eyes slightly, her gaze revealing an indescribable emotion.

"—It is the 'original body'."