CHAPTER 1201: CHAPTER 1200: PREPARE THIS MONTH’S FIREWOOD LIST

Looking at the white-haired girl lying on the bed, asleep, the young girls found themselves speechless for a moment.

Although they had long guessed that witches were transformed from magical girls, when a real witch transformed back into a magical girl before their eyes, they still couldn’t hide their shock.

"Damn it, what on earth is going on! Bastard!"

Sakurazawa Kyoko slammed her fist onto the nearby table, growling in anger, while Akemi Homura remained silent, quietly staring at Mami Tomoe, whose eyes were void as if she were a doll.

"Alright, let’s discuss and sort this out next."

The now-recovered Fang Zheng walked in, clapping his hands. Hearing his voice, everyone involuntarily turned their attention to Fang Zheng, who then casually pulled over a blackboard and gestured to them.

"Okay, everyone sit down, we’re having a class."

"Yes."

The magical girls finally came to their senses, obediently sitting in their seats, even Mami Tomoe was pulled to sit by Sakurazawa Kyoko. Fang Zheng then reached out and began to write and draw on the blackboard beside him.

"Up to now, we have a basic understanding of this world, and it’s clear that there are witches and magical girls. Magical girls are created when QB forms contracts with human girls, and once magical girls fall into distortion and despair, they transform into witches... Given this, we can roughly determine the source of the hostility from those shadow creatures towards magical girls in our world."

"Teacher, do you mean...?"

Upon hearing this, Little Sakura hurriedly asked, and Fang Zheng nodded.

"Previously, Precia mentioned that shadow creatures are formed from emotional residue that gets tainted by magic power from another world. Those shadow creatures only react to magical girls, and it seems these shadow creatures are clearly the emotional residue left from magical girls in this world transforming into witches, which for some unknown reason, ended up in our world. The anger towards magical girls, hatred towards witches, despair towards everything... that’s about it."

Saying this, Fang Zheng made a few strokes on the blackboard and then opened up an entirely new topic.

"So next, since we’ve confirmed the relationship between this world and the shadow creatures, the next step is to eradicate the shadow creatures’ existence and determine who exactly our enemy is... What do you all think?"

Hearing this, Akemi Homura wanted to speak but was stopped by Fang Zheng’s gaze. Facing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, the young girls pondered for a moment, then Little Hei was the first to speak.

"It’s that QB fellow, right? That guy looks suspicious no matter how you see it. Moreover, it clearly knows everything but doesn’t say a word; it’s obviously on purpose. If those magical girls were informed they might eventually transform into witches, maybe they’d be more cautious and wouldn’t transform into witches so quickly."

"But... QB did fulfill their wishes."

Fate, however, raised a different point of view.

"Although there were magical girls who felt pain and despair after their wishes were granted, QB... at least legitimately fulfilled their wishes, right?"

Hearing this, Sakurazawa Kyoko and Mami Tomoe had complex expressions, unsure of what to say.

"But I still feel... it’s unfair."

Little Sakura also joined the discussion.

"Like the child we came across earlier, her wish was just for a piece of cheese for her sick mother, but the price is to become a magical girl to fight witches—isn’t that too unfair? And why didn’t QB simply tell her she could wish for her mother’s illness to be cured?"

"I think..."

Soon after, Nanoha and Illya joined the debate too, with Nanoha’s views similar to Fate’s, while Illya sided with Little Sakura, their arguments focusing on...

Still just kids...

Watching the scene unfold, Fang Zheng shook his head. He chose not to have Akemi Homura speak directly but instead let his little ones discuss, aiming for them to deeply think and learn about the rules of action at the Heavenly Dao Palace. However, apart from Little Hei being somewhat reliable, the other little girls were still too naive.

Luckily, they had a teammate with a sharp mind.

"Teacher, may I say something?"

"Of course, Shisei."

Hearing Shisei speak, Fang Zheng also let out a sigh of relief, nodding his head. Shisei then stood up, thought for a moment, and spoke.

"I believe... QB’s method is wrong."

"But didn’t QB indeed fulfill the girls’ wishes?"

"But the wishes QB fulfills are not proportional to their sacrifices, Illya."

Shisei calmly explained to everyone.

"In our world, Little Sakura and Nanoha both became magical girls voluntarily, as volunteers. If QB had a way to make the girls in this world volunteer to become magical girls, that’d be fine, but in reality, QB lures the girls into signing contracts by ’fulfilling wishes,’ which changes the nature of things. The relationship between parties is no longer mutual assistance but more of a transaction. From this perspective, QB concealed unfavorable terms in the contract, and duties and remunerations are not symmetrical... It looks wrong from any angle."

"Um... Saying it like that..."

"If it were voluntary, like Little Sakura helping Little Ke, and Nanoha helping Lord Yuno, these would be voluntary actions, right? Little Sakura, you remember Mr. Yue saying during the final judgment, if you failed, all those associated with the Clow Cards would lose their feelings for ’the ones they love the most’..."

"Mm..."

Hearing Shisei’s inquiry, Little Sakura nodded.

"Would you regret it, Little Sakura? Or, from the start, if Little Ke told you about becoming a magical girl, you’ll face judgment, and failing would mean losing these feelings, would you still accept?"

".........."

This time, Little Sakura remained silent for quite a while before opening her eyes again.

"I would, because I lost the Clow Cards, I must retrieve them all, no matter what difficulties I face, I will not give up!"

"That’s the Little Sakura I know."

Hearing Little Sakura’s response, Shisei showed a gentle smile.

"Shisei’s indeed right."

Hearing this, Fang Zheng clapped his hands.

"That’s one aspect, and another... You must learn to view problems from this angle, Illya. What is the mission of the Heavenly Dao Palace?"

"Huh?"

Hearing Fang Zheng suddenly ask this, Illya was taken aback before hastily answering.

"Um... to protect Earth and human civilization...?"

"Correct, our goal is to protect Earth and human civilization from harm."

Fang Zheng tapped the blackboard again.

"This involves issues of domicile and applicability, just as Shisei mentioned, transactions and contracts among humans require transparency, fairness, and knowability. This aligns with human rules. QB violated this rule by concealing risks in transactions, deceiving girls into becoming magical girls. Although the purpose is still unknown, it’s clearly a harmful behavior."

"But QB is an alien life form."

However, at this moment, Akemi Homura suddenly spoke up.

"Do you think it would adhere to human rules, Mr. Fang Zheng?"

"Since its transaction subjects are humans, they must abide by human rules."

Upon hearing Akemi Homura’s question, Fang Zheng glanced at her.

"Of course, I understand every species has its traits; for instance, in the Mind Flayer’s society, consuming brains and mind control as slaves is part of their social system. If humans venture into Mind Flayer territory, becoming slaves or having their brains consumed is natural. Similarly, if we humans went to QB’s habitat, no matter how unreasonable their rules are, we would have to accept them. However, conversely, since QB came to Earth, stepping into the human civilization ecosystem, they must act in accordance with human societal rules and systems."

Saying this, Fang Zheng paused for a moment, once again eyeing the girls before him.

"But QB hasn’t adhered to these; instead, it uses deception, manipulation, and fraud to lure others into becoming magical girls, bringing harm to Earth and the human civilization zone. In line with the Heavenly Dao Palace’s mission of protecting Earth and human civilization, I announce... from now on, our enemies are defined as QB and its kin."

While speaking, Fang Zheng slightly curled his lips.

"In other words, this month’s firewood list is decided."