CHAPTER 1192: CHAPTER 1191: SOMETHING’S NOT QUITE RIGHT

"So you just brought her back here?"

Fang Zheng sighed as he looked at the red-haired, single ponytail girl lying unconscious on the ground, bound by a binding spell. Illya and Little Hei behind him also looked speechless.

"Well... after all, it’s Nanoha... it’s quite normal for her to do this."

By the way, Illya and Little Hei’s group didn’t find any Magical Girl or Witch, they just saw Familiar Spirits and got rid of them easily. On the other side, Fate and Little Sakura also successfully eliminated the Familiar Spirits, then returned to the warehouse with Nanoha, carrying the unconscious red-haired girl.

"Ugh... ugh..."

As everyone was talking, the unconscious red-haired girl let out a few low moans, then suddenly opened her eyes, jumping up as if waking up from a nightmare.

"Whoa ah ah ah ah!!"

The sudden scream startled everyone, but the red-haired girl didn’t immediately pay attention to her surroundings. Instead, she leaped around, looking at her own body.

"I’m still alive? Great, I’m still alive..."

After confirming that she hadn’t lost any parts of her body, the red-haired girl sighed in relief, then looked around, and when she saw Nanoha, her body trembled and she shouted loudly.

"Hey, little girl, even if you’re fighting, you should do it moderately! I thought you were going to kill me!"

"Eh?"

Hearing the red-haired girl’s complaint, Nanoha was shocked.

"It was just a Celestial Explosion; it shouldn’t cause any harm..."

"How would I know what that thing is! At the time, I thought I was going to be completely melted..."

Responding to Nanoha, the red-haired girl began to complain, glanced around, then sat on the ground dejectedly.

"I never thought I’d lose to a little girl... So, what do you want from me?"

The red-haired girl seemed resigned to her fate, but the girls were not surprised. Instead, they gathered together and started whispering.

"As expected, I’ve always suspected that Nanoha’s bombardments have some mind-control attribute or something; one blast and they behave. Look, even Fate confessed everything after getting blasted by Nanoha..."

"No way, it must be a coincidence..."

"Two consecutive coincidences? If it happens again, I’ll have to avoid her from now on!"

"Ahem."

Hearing his girls getting more and more off-track, Fang Zheng coughed, interrupting their whispering. He then stepped forward to the red-haired girl. Seeing his arrival, the red-haired girl looked somewhat surprised and puzzled.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Fang Zheng."

Fang Zheng quickly answered and then pulled up a chair to sit down.

"So, can you tell me your name?"

"...Sakurazawa Kyoko, that’s my name."

"Then, Miss Sakurazawa, can you talk to us about the situation with the Magical Girls?"

"Sure, it’s nothing too big anyway..."

Facing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Sakurazawa Kyoko seemed indifferent. Soon, she shared everything she knew about the Magical Girls.

"So, after forming a contract with that QB character, Magical Girls can obtain great power and a Soul Gem. During battles, the Soul Gem gradually becomes tainted and needs Seeds of Lament to purify and restore magic power. Seeds of Lament only appear after defeating a Witch, is that correct?"

After listening to Sakurazawa Kyoko’s account, Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes, thought carefully, then inquired, to which Sakurazawa Kyoko nodded.

"That’s right, can you release me now?"

"Of course... Nanoha."

"Yes, teacher."

Following Fang Zheng’s command, Nanoha quickly raised her magic wand, aiming at Sakurazawa Kyoko.

"Heart of the Rising Sun, release binding."

At Nanoha’s call, the ruby at the tip of her magic wand began to glow, displaying lines of text.

"All right, master."

The next moment, the magical bind on Sakurazawa Kyoko disappeared, and she leaped up from the ground, curiously examining Nanoha’s magic wand.

"This is really different from ours... are you really magical girls from another world?"

"Ah, uh..."

"Miss Sakurazawa."

At this moment, Fang Zheng spoke again, and Kyoko waved her hand.

"Just call me Kyoko. Calling me Miss Sakurazawa gives me goosebumps."

"Alright then, Kyoko, I have a few more questions."

Fang Zheng looked at Kyoko, inquiring once more.

"Do you know how Witches are formed?"

"Hmm... I asked QB about this, and it said, ’If a Magical Girl is born from a wish, then a Witch is born from a curse’..."

"No, I’m not asking about such an abstract concept, Kyoko."

Fang Zheng shook his head.

"What I’m asking is, how exactly are Witches formed? Do you know? Just like how you became a Magical Girl by forming a contract with that entity called QB, right? Before that, you were just an ordinary girl, not some strange entity, right? So, what about Witches? Are Witches born out of thin air?"

"They’re born from Familiar Spirits. I explained to that little girl before; a Familiar Spirit becomes a Witch after consuming five or six people."

"And how are Familiar Spirits born? Is there a mother body somewhere birthing Familiar Spirits?"

"Now that you mention it..."

Hearing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Kyoko frowned and started thinking.

"Come to think of it, I never really pondered that question..."

"Then let me ask another question."

Seeing Kyoko’s reaction, Fang Zheng realized he might not get an answer from her, so he quickly changed the question.

"You mentioned that, after battle, the Soul Gem of a Magical Girl becomes tainted and needs Seeds of Lament to absorb the dirt and recover magic power, right?"

"That’s correct."

"Then, do you know what happens if there’s no replenishment?"

"Ugh... I’m not really sure, but I guess they might die."

"I see."

After hearing Kyoko’s response, Fang Zheng paused, looking at Kyoko.

"Kyoko, could you show me your Soul Gem?"

"Well... alright."

Faced with Fang Zheng’s request, Kyoko reluctantly took out her Soul Gem and handed it to Fang Zheng. Fang Zheng examined the Soul Gem closely, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Hmm? This is..."

Muttering to himself, Fang Zheng looked back at Kyoko, who appeared uneasy upon noticing his gaze.

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that? It feels uncomfortable."

"Kyoko, just stand here and don’t move."

Saying this, Fang Zheng handed the Soul Gem to Fate.

"Fate, take this Soul Gem and leave here for now."

"Okay."

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Seeing Fate leave with her Soul Gem, Kyoko became more agitated, while Fang Zheng shook his head.

"I’m just running an experiment, sorry, please wait for a bit."

"I mean, what exactly are you doing..."

However, before Kyoko could finish her sentence, suddenly, she collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.