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

Chapter 441 Deeply Buried Memories

The heroes defeated the city lord who colluded with the Lich King, bringing peace back to Graywood City.

In this grand adventure, the heroes have finally taken their first step, and a magnificent story is about to unfold.

And this is the second chapter of our story—

The video camera zooms out, revealing a continuous mountain range connected to a brilliant golden forest, stretching all the way to the horizon. Countless birds are startled and take flight, fluttering into the clouds.

The rabbit girl gazed at the promotional PV on her phone screen, her cherry lips parted slightly, and her crimson rabbit eyes sparkled with longing.

Heart Moon Fox, Su Tianqing.

Sunny and cheerful classmate, and the quirky and clever Miss Heart Moon Fox.

This was the first time she had learned that a villainous magical girl like her existed in the world, and through the countless events she orchestrated, she came to understand her true feelings.

They even came to understand their truest pursuit.

The fun that Tianqing brings is the kind of fun I want to pursue.

and so……

"Ding-dong~"

The pleasant sound of the doorbell interrupted Xia Taotao's thoughts.

Rabbit Girl shuddered and instinctively jumped up from the bed, causing the white Lily doll on the bedside table to fall onto the pillow.

"Coming, coming!"

Rabbit Girl quickly answered, glancing at the clock that read 9:30 in the morning, and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

Who would come looking for me so early?

Are Tianqing and Jiayu classmates deliverymen? Or are they people coming to check water meters?

After racking her brains for a while without figuring it out, Xia Taotao carefully dragged over a stool from the doorway to elevate herself and looked out through the peephole.

The gray wolf ears were clearly visible.

Fei Yelan stood at the doorway, yawning, and glanced through the peephole as if she had heard the sound of a stool being dragged.

"It's me, stop looking."

"Ah... wait a minute!"

The rabbit girl quickly jumped off the stool, unlocked the door, and let the gray wolf girl outside into the house.

"Have you had breakfast?" Fei Yelan walked to the dining table, put down the two bowls of noodles in her hand, and asked Xia Taotao.

"Not yet, you're here as soon as I woke up... Waaah—"

Rabbit Girl yawned deeply, her rabbit ears drooping on her head, walked to the dining table, sat down, and opened the takeout box.

"Hmm... I'm going to brush my teeth first—"

The gray wolf girl continued slurping noodles into her mouth, paying little attention to Xia Taotao's movements.

Since he received the favor of the Greedy Wolf Star, occasionally one or two stargazers would come to him to discuss the issue of the star system.

Their rhetoric was remarkably consistent—

The Hero Association provides a base salary, pays based on attendance, offers S-class hero benefits, six types of insurance and two types of housing funds, and priority for astral flight.

But the thought that having a permanent position would mean she wouldn't be able to go around causing trouble with Xin Yuehu and the others... made Fei Yelan pretend that this had never happened.

Watching the rabbit girl walk to the dining table and carefully pick at her noodles, the gray wolf girl swallowed the noodles in her mouth and asked casually:

"Don't you need to ship the goods today?"

"Um?"

The rabbit's ears perked up, but quickly fell back down onto its head, and it shook its head.

"I only took two orders last night, how could it be that fast?"

"And... a few customers have asked me if I could make a set of items in a fantasy/otherworld style..."

"Is it the one from last night?"

"yes."

"It seems quite difficult to do."

"But it's not that difficult."

The two chatted idly, and after breakfast and tidying up the table, Rabbit Girl was already sitting at her own worktable.

"There's jelly in the fridge and snacks on the coffee table. Help yourself."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony."

Fei Yelan skillfully opened the refrigerator, took out a cold bowl of jelly, and leisurely scooped it out in small bites, while turning on the TV to watch today's Chengdu news.

Aside from the sound of the television program, the only sounds in the living room were the soft snip of scissors cutting through plastic stickers and the slight buzzing of the magic printing process.

Peace and tranquility, just like every morning without classes.

.

Xia Taotao diligently made a journal.

Every piece of tape was cut with meticulous care, and every scene was built with the utmost precision and accuracy.

The loose-leaf notebook gradually thickened under her nimble fingers, giving it a unique vitality.

Fei Yelan stopped watching the uninteresting news programs on TV and instead looked at the busy figure of the pink-haired bunny at the workbench.

She still remembered the thing Tianqing had asked her to do last night.

She wanted to prepare a "surprise" for Xia Taotao so that she could subtly inquire about the origins of her fondness for magical girl merchandise.

Fei Yelan had no idea how Xia Taotao viewed her.

In her heart, Xia Taotao was a trustworthy friend and a good partner, and she wanted to give her some unexpected and interesting surprises.

"...How long have you been doing this?" Suppressing her thoughts, the gray wolf girl asked.

Don't ask directly; first, use a subtle, ambiguous approach to enhance the surprise and delight of the gift.

Xia Taotao paused for a moment, then steadily placed the sticker in her hand onto the loose-leaf notebook and stuck it firmly before answering:

"It's been several years, probably... I started trying to make it when I first moved here."

"That's quite a long time. So that means you've been collecting these kinds of merchandise since you were a child?" Fei Yelan asked, leaning back on the sofa.

Xia Taotao thought for a moment and nodded gently.

"Yes. When I was very young, I was still living in my hometown... when..."

When the topic of "hometown" came up, Rabbit Girl hesitated for a moment.

Xia Taotao didn't know why she was so hesitant, nor did she understand what was causing this inexplicable flutter in her heart.

Why do I feel an almost subconscious resistance when this word is mentioned?

"It seems you don't really like your hometown." Fei Yelan also keenly noticed Xia Taotao's hesitation. After hesitating for a while, she finally spoke up.

"Yeah... I don't think I like that place."

"Even you can't explain the reason?"

“…………”

A long silence followed.

Xia Taotao's blank gaze swept over the notes on the wall of the worktable, but she seemed to ignore them, simply sitting there in a daze.

Rabbit's mind seemed to be blank, as if she wasn't thinking about anything, yet something important was churning deep within her.

"I'm sorry, I reminded you of bad memories—" Fei Yelan opened her mouth slightly and lowered her head to apologize.

But before her apology could even be uttered, Xia Taotao's murmured words reached her ears:

"I don't blame you, Ye Lan."

"I just... seem to have forgotten about that time."

What kind of place is my hometown? What exactly happened to me when I was a child?

"...I don't remember."

……

"forget?"

"Yes, Tao Tao told me herself."

Hearing Fei Yelan's account on the phone, Su Tianqing scratched her fox ears, completely baffled.

Forgotten? Why would I forget?

Forgetting itself is not a very strange thing. Everyone forgets countless things every day, so why did Xia Taotao forget her hometown?

There are only two possibilities—

First, Xia Taotao was too young to remember things at that time, so she didn't remember where her hometown was.

But she had clearly told me last time that she had collected Chi Xue and Zi Ding Xiang merchandise when she was a child, so why would she suddenly forget her hometown?

That leaves only the second possibility.

"...TaoTao may have some unknown experiences. These things caused her deep psychological trauma when she was a child, and her subconscious is reflexively avoiding these memories."

"Oh, okay? Should I ask her a little more? But I'm afraid I'm not very good at talking, and if I upset Tao Tao..."

"Sigh... We were planning to give Tao Tao a surprise, but who knew she would ask something like this..." Fei Yelan sighed helplessly.

"It's alright, thank you for your hard work, Ye Lan. Leave the rest to me." Su Tianqing smiled and reassured the gray wolf girl before hanging up the phone after a brief exchange.

As she watched the phone screen gradually go dark, Su Tianqing sensed a distant and profound aura.

[Task Chain 9: A New Look]

The familiar has sent information about a new quest to refresh the secret manual.

However, the content of this mission made Su Tianqing frown deeply.

Investigate Xia Taotao's past and formulate a meticulous plan.

Even the secret manual offered such a cautious proposal; it seems I also need to plan things out carefully.

Tao Tao, where did you come from?

What exactly did you go through?