Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Right now, Kohin is especially glad she didn’t bring Red Ponytail along when she went out. She can imagine that once Red Ponytail hears this sentence, her first reaction would be to start a fight.

”Protection fee, 1,000 yuan. As long as you pay, I’ll let you go.”

”This......”

Looking at the hand of the blonde girl stretched out, Kohin showed a troubled expression and opened her wallet to take a look.

”Um... can I treat you to ice cream?”

”Hmm?”

Hearing this, the blonde girl unhappily pouted.

”Are you very poor?”

”Yeah... I’ve already used up most of my pocket money...”

Looking at the pocket money left in her wallet, Kohin also gave a helpless bitter smile. After all, she now has to prepare the meals and round-trip tickets for herself and Red Ponytail. Red Ponytail doesn’t have money, so Kohin is completely supporting her. Her parents went overseas and won’t be back for a while, so Kohin doesn’t have much money on hand.

”There’s no choice; we’ll make do this time.”

Upon hearing Kohin say this, the blonde girl also chuckled and nodded.

”Alright, let’s go!”

While Kohin was being dragged by the blonde girl to eat ice cream, Red Ponytail sat cross-legged on the sofa, watching the personal terminal in front of her, lost in thought.

Now, Red Ponytail is certain that the bizarre Rumor Witch is connected to the events occurring in this world. The evidence is that after the Rumor Witch was killed yesterday, the energy signal connected to Red Ponytail by Fang Zheng became stronger. This allows her to directly activate Red Ponytail’s personal terminal and start doing the things she wants.

Currently, Red Ponytail’s investigation focuses on two areas, one of which is the Rumor Witches. These witches are distinctly different from ordinary witches. First, the intensity of a Rumor Witch is generally higher. Secondly, Rumor Witches do not drop the Seed of Sorrow—this is a fatal negative effect for Magical Girls. Since Rumor Witches are very strong, Magical Girls need to expend more magic power to eliminate them. Without the drop of the Seed of Sorrow, Magical Girls cannot restore magic power...

Yes, speaking of this leads to the second focus.

And that is Tamaki Iroha.

Tamaki Iroha’s transformation into a witch indeed surprised Red Ponytail, but it’s not just this; more importantly, her transformation into a witch is actually reversible!

However, even so, Red Ponytail wouldn’t shout ”Why didn’t I think of that” because, through her observation, this method is also risky. Indeed, this half-witch transformation can release the contamination from the Soul Gem, but it’s not completely problem-free. This is equivalent to letting the Magical Girl’s body act as a filter, akin to a purification filter net.

But as everyone knows, purification filters need replacing over time, but where could you replace a Magical Girl’s body?

The ultimate result is still bodily distortion and transformation into a witch, just extending the time somewhat.

However, it’s considered a solution.

Even though this solution is still not too reliable.

Who created this anyway? It couldn’t be QB, and Red Ponytail observed carefully; it seems there’s no QB presence in this city. The used Seeds of Sorrow were sent to the Adjustment House for recycling... but the owner called Yakumo doesn’t seem like QB’s embodiment.

Nonetheless, Kohin is a good kid.

Recalling the scenes from last night, Red Ponytail couldn’t help playing with her ponytail. How to put it, Kohin is that type of very shy, obedient, gentle, and well-behaved girl, and even on the bed, she appears very bashful, which somehow makes her more enticing. Even among the girls Fang Zheng slept with, there was no one of this type. I have to say, it’s quite fresh.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Fang Zheng personally; he’s just sighing because, after all, it was Red Ponytail who slept with Kohin, not him, Fang Zheng.

They’re not the same person, right?

Besides, the relationship is purely about magical replenishment; no need to overthink it.

But indeed, being soft and tender is very pleasant...

If Fang Zheng were to compare, similar personalities exist in Illya and Yoshino and Fate Nanoha... Hmm, but these are good kids without any advance.

Little Hei is a troublemaker, Eiriri is a veteran, Black Cat has now let loose, and even learned to play role-playing from the start, like the Witch or Valkyrie Princess about to be captured and interrogated... Asuna, you could say, is more traditional royalty.

While girls like Kato Megumi and Chiyo are obedient, they aren’t as weak and submissive under someone’s whim like Kohin.

Hmm, it is quite fresh.

Again, these are Red Ponytail’s thoughts and have no relation to Fang Zheng.

After all, ”not the same person.”

This is the key point.

That’s all for now.

Red Ponytail shook her head, closed her personal terminal, and glanced at the clock. She’s not worried about Kohin being in trouble because, to be cautious, Red Ponytail installed a transmitter on Kohin. If anything happens, she’ll definitely know. Since there’s nothing to do now... she decided to promote cultural traditions!

Thinking of this, Red Ponytail turned and left Kohin’s home, then in a few swift strides arrived at the entrance of Chinese Restaurant Wanwansui. Red Ponytail swung open the door.

”Ah, Master Red Ponytail, you’re here!”

Tsuruno, who was idle in the shop, saw Red Ponytail appear and happily jumped up.

”Are you here to teach me cuisine today too?”

Hearing Tsuruno’s words, Red Ponytail nodded, then headed to the kitchen, with Tsuruno cheerfully following her in.

That’s right, ever since Tsuruno apprenticed under Red Ponytail, Red Ponytail decided to teach Tsuruno some authentic Chinese cuisine, rather than those dishes Japanese people think are Chinese cuisine. Red Ponytail simply couldn’t tolerate such things that tarnish the reputation of Chinese cuisine under the banner of a Chinese restaurant. Many items on the menu left her speechless – what’s with this ”5000 years of Chinese history fried rice”? What on earth is that?!

Oh, and don’t forget the Tianjin rice – even people from Tianjin probably don’t know what that is.

Red Ponytail still remembers when a girl named Chun Meiyu came here to order food, and after eating, she directly complained, ”What kind of Chinese cuisine is this?!”

If the other party weren’t a Chinese person and a Magical Girl, they might have ended up fighting with Tsuruno.

And it was precisely because of that conflict that Tsuruno made up her mind to create Chinese cuisine that would truly impress Chun Meiyu, so she carved out time every day to practice with Red Ponytail.

However, this kind of practice was quite challenging for Tsuruno. As she previously mentioned, the flavor of Wanwansui’s Chinese cuisine was overwhelmingly strong, making all dishes taste the same. Red Ponytail understood the situation – Tsuruno loved to use the same heavy spices in her cooking, like Doubanjiang. Whether it’s fried rice or twice-cooked pork, everything had Doubanjiang in it, resulting in all dishes tasting just like Doubanjiang. Where’s the variety in flavor?!

So the training started with adjusting the amount of spices, but Tsuruno found it a bit tricky, like today’s...

”Wow, looks like I added too much pepper...”

After taking a bite of the mapo tofu, Tsuruno felt the heat all over her and quickly grabbed a bottle of water to drink.

”Next time, I should add less...”

”Ring ring ring...”

However, before Tsuruno could finish her sentence, a sudden phone ring interrupted her, and she picked up her phone to take a look.

”Ah, it’s Yachiyo!”

With an excited smile, Tsuruno picked up the phone.

”Hey, Yachiyo, what’s up? Huh? Yeah... yeah, I understand. Oh, Red Ponytail is here with me as well. Okay, I get it! We’re coming now!”

With that, Tsuruno hung up the phone and looked at Red Ponytail.

”Master Red Ponytail, Yachiyo said she found a clue to the next rumor, and it’s related to Kohin, too. Let’s go quickly!”

Soon, when Tsuruno and Red Ponytail arrived at the station, they saw Yachiyo already waiting there, and on the other side, Kohin was approaching with a blonde-haired girl.

”Ah, Kohin!”

Seeing Kohin, Tsuruno waved excitedly, then cried out as she noticed the blonde-haired girl next to her.

”Huh? Is that Fumitsuki Felicia?!”

”Oh, it’s just Yachiyo...”

The girl named Felicia looked at Yachiyo with a bored expression. Then she slightly examined Tsuruno and Red Ponytail.

”But I don’t know these two.”

”What did you say?”

Hearing Felicia’s words, Tsuruno suddenly jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

”I am the strongest Magical Girl, Yubi Kurono!”

”Never heard of you.”

While Tsuruno and Felicia were squabbling, Kohin walked over to Yachiyo and Red Ponytail. Yachiyo glanced at Felicia and then withdrew her gaze.

”You’d better not get involved with that child... Never mind, we’ll talk about that later. Did you really drink that Owl Luck Water?”

”Yes, I did, together with Felicia.”

Kohin nodded somewhat uneasily.

”Please... Is there a problem?”

”Of course.”

Yachiyo nodded, then took out her notebook again.

”This is a rumor from the Artisan District, saying that after drinking Owl Luck Water, you’ll receive twenty-four pieces of luck, but once the luck runs out, unfortunate events await you. To avoid misfortune, you must keep drinking it. Although no one knows what happens after the twenty-four pieces of luck are depleted, according to my investigation, several Magical Girls have disappeared because of this.”

”I can’t believe such a thing exists. Oh, come to think of it...”

At this point, Kohin seemed to have remembered something.

”What’s the matter?”

”Thinking back, Felicia and I seemed to have incredible luck today – not only did we win a prize with a popsicle, but we also found a large amount of money, continually won at the arcade, and even won the grand prize at the shopping district...”

”It seems that’s the effect of Owl Luck Water.”

Hearing Kohin’s words, Yachiyo took on a serious expression.

”Anyway, let’s first go to the place where you drank the Owl Luck Water and see if we can find any clues.”