The villainous magical girl's daily mission is to find fault.

Chapter 251, First Encounter

Welcome everyone from Gangcheng to Fox's Playground!

【Hmm? Don't you all know yet? The port city has been enveloped by my powerful magic, and it's now my territory!】

The television was showing footage from Xin Yuehu's live stream; she was sitting on a rooftop, smiling happily at the camera.

Last night, I, Fox, unleashed an unprecedented, massive magic at the Hong Kong Grand Theatre!

[Thanks to Inari-san's mask, my magic has increased even further!]

However, on the other hand... if only Fox is playing by herself, everyone might not find it as fun.

[So! I, Fox, have decided to get Miss Hyacinth active too! Ta-da!]

A map of the port city appeared on the screen, with twelve flashing red dots marking the corresponding Inari attractions.

[Fox will be randomly visiting a place in the coming days!]

[Of course, I, Fox, have forbidden Miss Hyacinth and the others from using offensive magic, so please don't worry about large-scale damage around us~]

The video started playing a trailer for the Hong Kong heist, but it was quickly turned off, and the lights in the room came back on.

Nan Xiaofeng—or rather, Hyacinth—sat silently in front of the screen, looking at the person who had turned off the video.

He was a stern-faced middle-aged man wearing a Hero Association uniform. After turning off the video, he sent the documents on the table in front of him to everyone present.

"Everyone, let me introduce myself," the middle-aged man said calmly. "I am a resident S-class hero of the Port City Hero Association, codenamed [Cobra]. Nice to meet you."

Sparse applause followed, as everyone in the conference room was focused on the documents in their hands, and they only gave him the most basic courtesy during his self-introduction.

The hero in front of me is a liaison officer sent by the Port City Association, responsible for contacting the three magical girl teams and providing assistance to the best of his ability.

Especially after hearing that everyone's magical abilities had been blocked by Xin Yuehu, his support became crucial.

"As you can see, the villainous magical girl from Chengdu, [Heart Moon Fox], is preparing to carry out a huge plan in Hong Kong, which we'll call—"

"The 'Great Heist'," Hyacinth chimed in.

"But I still can't figure it out."

The next person to speak was Aquamarine, who looked puzzled.

"Why did Kokoro do this? What does she want Inari-senpai's belongings for?"

"It's better to call it a souvenir. Little Quartz said that Inari-senpai is still alive." Red Zircon accurately noticed the problem in Aquamarine's words and made a sharp retort.

Then he got a beating from his own captain.

"In short, no matter what Xin Yuehu's intentions are, we cannot sit idly by. Moreover, Inari has made outstanding contributions to the port city, and we absolutely cannot tolerate Xin Yuehu trampling on her memorial hall like this."

The speaker was Mai Sui. She seemed to have regained her position as squad leader, but she appeared more cautious than before, and her arrogant sharpness had been greatly diminished.

"Yes, and she even wants to detonate a huge magical barrier in the center of the port city..." Green Ivy shook her head helplessly and sighed.

[Cobra] didn't say much, but silently picked up a document.

"In short, I will provide you with full support on behalf of the Port City Heroes Association. Especially since Heart Moon Fox doesn't intend to use magic, the support we can offer will be quite substantial."

"Abundant support? For example?"

The nightingale asked curiously, tilting its head along with the iris.

……

Later, at an Inari memorial site in the southwest of the port city.

Nan Xiaofeng got out of the car and looked up at the building in front of her.

According to the information I've gathered, this shopping mall is where Inari first transformed to fight monsters. Now, so many years later, the original owner has long since disappeared, and the place has been transformed into a magical girl-themed merchandise mall exclusively for the Hero Association.

Nan Xiaofeng recalled the results of the discussion that everyone had reached at the Hero Association headquarters.

[The Heart Moon Fox will choose these twelve locations to launch her attacks. Our task is to go there discreetly to find possible clues, while simultaneously figuring out how to disarm her bomb traps.]

The bomb disposal teams remained unchanged, with the three teams—Wheat Ear, Hyacinth, and Aquamarine—split up and proceeded to their respective locations to carry out the dismantling plan according to the pre-arranged schedule.

I chose this shopping mall as my first location, which is also the first location shown in the trailer for Heart Moon Fox.

"...It's quite big, this themed shopping mall."

Hua Ling calmly pushed up her glasses and pulled her coat tighter around herself, as if afraid someone would see what was hidden beneath it.

The jet-black straps, extending from the shoulders to the waist, accentuated the girl's figure while also exuding a chilling murderous aura.

—A black tactical chest holster and holster, with a silver-white pistol strapped to his shoulder.

When magic is unavailable, the most efficient way to attack, aside from hand-to-hand combat, is to infuse magic into bullets.

That's right, Xin Yuehu only prohibited the use of magic, but did not restrict everyone's manipulation of magical power. It can be considered the fox's last act of mercy.

"Let's go inside and explore... oh wait, I mean, let's investigate!"

Before Lin Muyao could finish speaking, she quickly changed her mind and shifted the heavy bag from her shoulder onto her body.

All three maintained their transformed appearances, only changing their formal attire into everyday clothes, making them look no different from ordinary people.

This surrounding shopping mall is one of the most famous themed shopping malls in the port city. It features a wide variety of magical girl merchandise from all over the country and even abroad, and it also regularly hosts small themed anime conventions every month.

As soon as he entered the mall, looking at the huge painting cascading down from the dome like a waterfall, Nan Xiaofeng once again thought, "It's so good to be rich."

The painting was of none other than Miss Wheat, a famous magical girl from Sui City.

Nan Xiaofeng couldn't imagine how much money this young lady had spent since becoming obsessed with magical girl merchandise, enough to have such a famous department store dedicate the largest space to displaying her own merchandise...

But seeing the wheat ear tote bags that tourists often carry, Nan Xiaofeng suddenly felt sentimental about the changes in Miss Wheat Ear.

Since Mai Sui emerged from Xin Yuehu's Zoo Ghost Stories, her condition has been improving day by day. In addition, with Sister Tian Qing helping her solve her problems recently, even the relationships within the team have improved a lot.

As expected, Sister Tianqing is someone who can be fully trusted. Nan Xiaofeng thought to himself.

This idea didn't last long. The three of them pretended to be shopping and entered the mall, stopping in front of that very conspicuous object.

It was a dead tree protected by ropes and paper strips. Many tourists stopped to take pictures and watch, while throwing crumpled banknotes or coins into the protective strip, piling them up in a circle.

"It is said that Inari-san received her guardian star under this withered tree and transformed into a magical girl."

Lin Muyao shared what she knew, and casually took a coin out of her pocket and threw it under the dead tree.

"People believe that as long as they throw some money under the dead tree, they can receive Inari's blessing and countless good fortune."

"It's just superstition," Nan Xiaofeng retorted.

"Hehe, this kind of traditional culture is quite interesting. It can be seen as people's way of remembering Inari."

Hua Ling smiled and said, then threw in a coin and respectfully bowed twice under the withered tree.

Just as the three of them tossed their coins and prepared to leave, the sharp-eyed Nan Xiaofeng suddenly spotted a gray figure in a corner of the crowd.

It was a gray wolf girl, exuding a magical aura, clearly a magical girl in a transformed state!

But she wasn't wearing any formal attire, and people didn't know what a magical girl usually looked like, so they treated her like an ordinary tourist!

"Look over there! That person is from last night..."

Perhaps having heard Nan Xiaofeng's voice, the gray wolf girl turned around and glanced around. She immediately spotted Hyacinth and her two companions dressed in casual clothes. Her wolf ears snapped straight up, and she took off running.

"Don't run! Stop!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Nan Xiaofeng strode after him!