Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Book 2: Chapter 110: Day Warm-up

Vol 2 Chapter 110 Day Warm-up

In the old days of the Magic Kingdom, the process of holding a memorial for the deceased was incredibly elaborate.

The tradition of state funerals originated from the royal family. Legend had it that it all began because the Queen couldn’t bear the departure of a certain fairy companion, so she organized a grand funeral that lasted seven days and seven nights. The speeches and flower offerings were just the appetizers—there were also performances by the soul-soothing choir and the mourning band, and that was merely the beginning. After that came carving the tombstone by hand, weaving flower wreaths together, playing memories through magic projections, and even altering the star constellations… an endless list of extravagant rituals. It was said that by the seventh day, the Queen was still crying nonstop and even wanted to extend the ceremony by another seven days. In the end, it took the persuasion of many nobles from the royal court and even the Gem Staff to convince her to finally wrap things up.

All these ceremonial steps were later documented in detail and became the reference model for funerals throughout the Magic Kingdom. The complexity of a funeral or memorial depended on the deceased’s status, family background, and how deeply loved they were by their relatives. Some particularly over-the-top cases would even replicate the Queen’s seven-day, seven-night funeral entirely, just to express the depth of their grief.

As time went on, however, with the Kingdom’s population steadily growing and the pace of life quickening, these ancient customs could no longer keep up with modern life and had to be adapted. After several rounds of simplification and cuts, the widely recognized and Ministry of Civil Affairs-approved memorial process was reduced to just three steps.

The first step was cleaning the grave. Regardless of whether the grave was neglected or not, the person paying respects was expected to clean the area around it beforehand, using a combination of wind-cleansing and moisture techniques to clear away dust. In public memorial gardens, this task would usually be handled by fairies, who would carefully maintain each gravestone—so this step could be skipped in such places.

The second step was writing a letter. Those paying respects would write down their thoughts and feelings for the deceased on prepared stationery, seal the letter in an envelope, and imprint it with a flower-shaped wax seal. The letter would then be placed beneath the offerings they brought, all of which would be placed inside a box in front of the grave. Both the letter and offerings would gradually decompose over the next half month, thanks to the erosion magic inscribed within the box, dissolving into raw magic particles and returning to the source of the world.

The third and final step was to sing the soul-soothing hymn, to bring peace to the spirit of the deceased. This step had to be performed by someone capable of using magic, with Magical Girls having the strongest effect, followed by fairies, and then mages.

This was exactly what Veronica was doing at that moment.

She broke off a piece of the cloud cake she’d brought, placed it into the box in front of her, and while softly chanting the soul-soothing hymn, stole a glance at the girl beside her—Mohe.

To be honest, compared to the Nina Krugios in her memory, the Mohe before her now was quite different.

It wasn’t so much her appearance that had changed—aside from her clothes and aura, the Magical Girl standing in front of Veronica wasn’t all that different from the Mohe in her memory: a thin, fragile figure that looked like she’d snap if bent too hard, and a face that, apart from her cheeks (the only part of her body with a bit of flesh, making people want to pinch it), had very little meat on it. Her black hair, a bit messy from neglect, was tied into a simple ponytail. Beneath her dark bangs were a pair of slightly drooping, timid-looking amber eyes. Her lips were pale with a hint of pink, completely bare of makeup, giving her a somewhat tragic air.

Everything was exactly as Veronica remembered Mohe—except that back then, Mohe had long hair and wore a witch-like black dress as her Magical Girl uniform. Now, her hair wasn’t so long anymore, and her outfit had changed to a black school uniform accented with red.

But here was the thing—Veronica’s memory of Mohe was of a fourteen-year-old girl. Normally, Magical Girls would undergo a magical body adjustment when they reached adulthood, typically around eighteen (or after serving their ten-year term in the material world), to make their appearance more like that of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old, reflecting a "young woman" rather than a "girl."

This wasn’t just for aesthetic reasons—most Magical Girls wanted to preserve their youthful looks without looking like a child forever. It also helped ensure that their physical form in daily life matched their combat form, reducing the need for adaptation during transformations, and improving their combat readiness.

Veronica's own childlike appearance was purely an accident, not something to be taken as the norm for Magical Girls. But what about Mohe? Why was she still stuck in her old form? Had she not gone through the post-growth adjustment?

Except for a rare few who refused to grow up and preferred fighting in a childlike form, almost all Magical Girls would opt for the adjustment—it was all upside, with no real downsides. So why hadn’t Mohe done it? Was it just personal preference?

And that wasn’t the only mystery Mohe’s presence raised for Veronica. It wasn’t just her looks—her aura had changed, too.

The old Mohe, while a bit introverted and perhaps even considered gloomy, still had a normal enough mental state that no one would have found her particularly strange. But now? Now, her entire vibe had shifted from “gloomy” to straight-up “depressed.” The dark circles under her eyes gave her a deeply melancholic look, and combined with the almost unchanged blank expression, she came across as… well, a bit of a weirdo.

Even with all these negative traits, Mohe’s appearance could still be described as “cute”—in fact, her fragility and melancholy gave her a certain pitiful charm. Still, there was no denying it: she was far from “okay.”

Perhaps it was because Veronica had been staring too long, or maybe Mohe was just especially perceptive—but whatever the reason, while Veronica was quietly observing and thinking, Mohe had already finished her hymn. She turned to Veronica.

“Captain.”

Only after Veronica finished her own hymn did Mohe reach up to brush her bangs aside and say, “You… seem to have been watching me for a while?”

It was this motion that finally let Veronica see what had been hidden in Mohe’s sleeve all along—her right hand.

Or rather, her right paw.

Back in the Garden Defense Battle, Mohe had been injured in her true form and had her right hand cut off. This kind of soul-level injury wasn’t like a typical magic body wound that could heal over time. By all accounts, Mohe should have lost that hand forever.

At least, that was how Veronica remembered it.

Yet now, poking out from Mohe’s sleeve, was something covered in black fur—something that looked like it belonged to a creature, or more specifically, like a cat’s paw.

The short fingers, the slightly extended claws, the paw pads and little toe beans—it was unmistakably a cat’s paw.

“Ah, no… um, yeah, you caught me.”

Veronica hadn’t expected Mohe to call her out so directly—or maybe it was just that she’d been distracted by Mohe’s hand. After a brief pause, she decided to own up to it and asked, “What’s up with your hand?”

“It’s a prosthetic.”

Mohe blinked, then brought the cat-like paw up to her cheek and gave it a little squeeze. “It just looks like a fairy’s paw because I used some fairy tech in it.”

A fairy? Really?

Honestly, Veronica felt like it didn’t quite match what she remembered of fairy paws, but she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly was different.

“If you’re curious, Captain, you can touch it if you want.”

Seeing Veronica stay silent, Mohe extended her right hand. “To me, it feels no different from a regular hand. It’s really handy.”

“No, thanks.” Veronica’s eyelid twitched twice. She didn’t actually reach out and touch it, choosing to decline instead.

“Hmm, I see…”

Mohe retracted her hand with no change in expression, though the natural downturn of her eyes made her look a bit… disappointed. “I thought you might like it.”

“It was just curiosity, nothing more. I didn’t mean to offend.”

Veronica cleared her throat awkwardly and looked away. “Honestly, you’ve changed a lot compared to before.”

“You’re right. I’m definitely not the same as I was back then.”

With that, the conversation shifted. Mohe didn’t press the topic further, turning her gaze back to the gravestone in front of them. “But you, Captain… you don’t seem to have changed much.”

“...No, I’ve changed too.”

Veronica looked at the cloud cake in the offering box. It was slowly breaking down, little particles of magic drifting off its surface like dust in the wind. “It’s been a long time, Mohe.”

“I know.”

Mohe nodded, but her eyes remained on the gravestone. “Back when you left, you told me you wanted to go find a life and happiness of your own. Did you… find it?”

Veronica didn’t respond right away.

She couldn’t remember whether she’d actually said those exact words before she left, but she did remember the feelings she’d had back then. And yes, they were probably along the lines of what Mohe had just described.

If she had been asked this same question a few years ago, Veronica probably would have answered without hesitation: “Yes.” After all, back then, Lin Yun had completely walked away from the past and had no intention of returning as a Magical Girl. But now, when she opened her mouth to respond, she found she couldn’t come up with a clear answer.

“…I did.”

After a long pause, that was all she could say: “I found what I wanted, and I have my happiness.”

It was, perhaps, only half the truth. But Veronica didn’t explain further, nor did she feel the need to.

She could sense that Mohe wasn’t in a great mental state. Rather than go into too much detail and risk passing on any negative emotions, it was better to keep things vague. After all, they were just two old acquaintances who’d run into each other by chance. Mohe had no reason or obligation to listen to her life story.

Even though Mohe still called her “Captain,” and somehow managed to see through the disguise Emerald had created—recognizing her as Gentian beneath the makeup—that didn’t mean she could just resume her old role and start dumping her thoughts on Mohe as if they were still in the same squad.

It had been twenty years since the Garden Defense Battle. Neither she nor Mohe were teenagers anymore. That “Captain” title was probably just a way to smooth over the distance, the same way old classmates might still call each other “class rep” or “study monitor” after a decade apart, just to recreate a sense of familiarity.

Yes, back in the day, she and Mohe had been close—not just comrades, but maybe even good friends. But after all these years, that bond had faded. Veronica couldn’t treat Mohe as a stranger, but she couldn’t exactly act like they were still best friends, either.

So, best to leave it at that.

The two fell silent. Mohe didn’t press the matter further, and they lingered at the grave for a while longer before moving on to the next.

Veronica didn’t have too many people she wanted to visit—just a few comrades who’d fallen in battle. Mohe seemed to be on the same page, so they walked the route together. During the process, Veronica noticed how practiced Mohe was—writing the letters, singing the hymns—it was all second nature to her now. It was clear she’d done this a lot over the years.

Given what had happened twenty years ago, that wasn’t surprising.

The whole process took over an hour. By the time Veronica had finished offering all the cloud cakes she’d brought, it was already late afternoon, almost evening.

As they left the cemetery, Veronica started considering how to get back to the hotel. This place wasn’t exactly close to the Rainbow Wetlands. Even finding a random lift-off point outside the non-magic zone and flying would take a long time.

Should she call a rideshare? Catch a city airship? Or just use a teleportation spell?

While she was mulling it over, Mohe suddenly veered into a nearby alley. Moments later, a tiny car came slowly rolling out.

Calling it a “car” was being generous. It was barely half the size of a typical car in the material world, had no roof, and was a two-seater at best. And it didn’t even have the basic structure of a real car—no engine, no ignition. From the outside, it looked like one of those kiddie rides at an amusement park.

Mohe pulled up in front of her, sitting in what could only be described as a toy go-kart. Veronica even spotted a cartoon cat face where a normal car logo should have been.

“Where are you staying, Captain? I’ll give you a ride back.”

Mohe spoke without any expression on her face, as if the thing she was driving wasn’t a go-kart, but some kind of luxury convertible. Yet somehow, Veronica could see a faint hint of pride on her usually emotionless face.

Ride this back?

Veronica couldn’t help but hesitate.

It wasn’t so much a matter of whether or not to get in—it was more about figuring out a good excuse to turn her down without hurting her feelings.

Unfortunately, before she could come up with a reason, Mohe had already pulled up beside her, the little car’s door swinging open to reveal the other seat.

Oh... she really looked like she was looking forward to this.

Veronica realized that fact.

In the end, under Mohe’s gaze—eyes that, though usually blank, now seemed to be glowing faintly—Veronica quietly took her place in the tiny go-kart’s “passenger seat.”

She told herself that it didn’t matter. After all, she was Magical Girl Gentian now. Even if someone saw her riding in what looked like a kid’s toy car, it had nothing to do with Magical Girl Veronica…

Mohe, either unaware of Veronica’s reluctance or simply unfazed by it, seemed to think there was nothing strange about her “convertible.” She gripped the steering wheel, tapped the clutch with a confident air, and fired up the little car like she was the coolest person in the world.

Veronica could even see the cartoon cat face light up on the front of the car when it started, which made her already stiff expression freeze up even more.

So, two expressionless Magical Girls zoomed through the streets of Luenolai in a go-kart, each thinking very different things.

It was in this odd little atmosphere that Mohe suddenly spoke:

“Hey, Captain… are you free tomorrow afternoon?”

“Hmm?”

The sound of Mohe’s voice snapped Veronica out of her thoughts, and she responded a bit belatedly, “As of now, I’m free. Why?”

“There’s this famous dessert restaurant in the southern part of the city. I made a reservation there for tomorrow. Originally, it was just going to be me… but since I ran into you today…”

Mohe gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white, yet her voice stayed calm and casual:

“So, if you’re up for it… wanna go there with me? For a meal?”

In the cultural gap between the Magic Kingdom and the material world, what struck newcomers from the material world the most was, of course, the existence of magic. But after that initial shock, anyone with a bit of social experience would eventually come to a deeper realization—this place was fundamentally different from the material world.

Thanks to the widespread use of magic tools and basic spells, the amount of labor required to sustain society in the Kingdom had been reduced to an absurdly low level. As long as a person knew how to use magic tools—or simply became a mage—they could use standardized basic spells to handle the essentials of survival. Whether it was food, clothing, shelter, or transportation, everything from producing ingredients to making building materials could be accomplished with magic assistance. This decentralized production model was nothing like the specialized division of labor in the material world, and as a result, over 70% of citizens preferred to work as independent entrepreneurs.

In this system, the most valuable thing was the spell itself. Next came the skill of packaging and embedding spells into items—what people called magic tools. After that came the ability to manufacture magic tools. Only then did the so-called second and third industries from the material world’s perspective come into play.

Creating or improving a spell was incredibly difficult, something only the most gifted mages could do. Inventing or integrating a magic tool was also no easy task—it required an experienced, highly skilled team of magical artisans. But manufacturing magic tools? That was the easiest part. As long as a mage’s rank was at least at the Initiate level, they could produce them independently. That’s why there was never a shortage of magic tool shops lining the streets of Luenolai.

Most citizens leaned toward creative or experiential professions. Family workshops were the norm, and the flexible work model made time management a very personal matter—when just a few people with magic could handle all production needs, the lines between workdays and holidays naturally blurred.

As a result, no matter what day it was, it always felt like someone in the Kingdom was working—and at the same time, it always felt like a festival was going on. This vibe was amplified even more during the Queen’s Year.

Lin Xiaolu was starting to understand this, as she was now completely dazed from eating so much chocolate.

Ever since they’d left the Examination Bureau reception and started wandering the non-magic zone, they’d been nonstop in their eating, drinking, and playing. They kept stopping to check out interesting magic tool shops, pet shops, toy stores, and even fairy service boutiques. And at every stop, the dessert shops along the way kept giving them samples.

For some reason, all the stores seemed to be selling chocolate today.

As mentioned earlier, thanks to magic tools, food production was incredibly simple in the Magic Kingdom—so much so that even basic, rough food could be made with just a tool. That meant that running a successful dessert shop or restaurant in Luenolai was extremely competitive.

In other words, dessert shops here were seriously “cutthroat.”

Simply learning the craft, developing flavors, and creating secret recipes wasn’t enough. Almost every dessert shop that could survive in Luenolai had its own signature specialty. And to make their business stand out, owners weren’t shy about offering free samples, making sure their service was impeccable, and creating a sense of warm, personal care.

So, when every shop was promoting chocolate, Lin Xiaolu—an innocent passerby—naturally ended up eating so much chocolate that she became numb to the taste.

Every shop’s chocolate was delicious. Every shop had its own unique flair. Every shop made her want to place an order… but Xia Liang always stepped in at that point, acting like a parent dragging a child away, and forcibly pulled Lin Xiaolu along.

This cycle repeated over and over until, finally, it broke—right in front of one particular dessert restaurant.

Why? Because this time, even Xia Liang had been conquered by the chocolate.

The sweetness was perfectly balanced. The texture melted in the mouth. It was rich but not sticky, with hints of nuts and fruits woven in, creating a complex yet harmonious flavor… From the very first bite, it was clear: the three girls were going to buy some.

“How is it? Do you like this flavor? If not, we have five other options to choose from—two of which are brand-new this year.”

Seeing the girls’ faces light up, the store clerk smoothly launched into her pitch: “And if you’re looking for a festive vibe, you can even make it yourself! We’ve got prepackaged magic tool kits and ingredient packs—guaranteed to help you recreate the exact same flavor as in the shop, and you can even shape it however you like!”

“Festive? What festival?” That was Xia Liang’s question.

“Magic tool kits?” That was Lin Xiaolu’s question.

“What flavor options?” That was Bai Jingxuan’s question.

“Hmm… the one you’re eating now is our Fruity Blend flavor. We also have Classic Royal, Fairy’s Secret, Vintage Style… The magic tool kits are custom dessert tools that we offer here. All you have to do is pour in the corresponding ingredient pack, and it will follow the preset steps to help you make the exact same dessert. It’s like you made it by hand!”

The clerk didn’t even blink as she rattled off her answers in order, despite being bombarded by three questions at once. “And as for the festival—of course, it’s Valentine’s Day.”

“Valentine’s Day? What’s that?”

That caught all three girls’ attention. Lin Xiaolu was the first to voice the question out loud.

“Huh, you don’t know? Oh… well, I guess you are still young.”

After a brief moment of surprise, the clerk quickly adjusted her expression and switched into full professional mode:

“It’s a traditional holiday here in the Magic Kingdom—though I’m sure the material world has it too. It’s happening tomorrow! On that day, girls can give chocolate as a gift to the person they like, as a subtle way of expressing their feelings. Or, you can also give chocolate to friends to show your appreciation for their support over the past year—both are totally fine!”

“Giving chocolate…” Bai Jingxuan murmured.

“To someone you like…” Xia Liang touched her lips thoughtfully.

“Expressing feelings…” Lin Xiaolu blinked.

They all fell silent at the same time.

Lin Xiaolu, still an innocent girl, had never thought about something like Valentine’s Day before. Bai Jingxuan had vaguely heard of it in passing from Lin Yun but only remembered that “Valentine’s Day means chocolate.” As for Xia Liang, though more mature and somewhat familiar with the concept, she had never been in a romantic relationship, and none of her old friends had ever discussed it with her. So despite her earlier knowledge, she had never really considered what kind of holiday it was.

Now, for the first time, the three girls were seriously wondering whether this holiday… might have something to do with them.

Just as the clerk figured they probably needed some time to think it over and turned to tidy up the sample trays, she realized she was suddenly surrounded.

“Excuse me, could you please explain everything about this Valentine’s Day thing in detail?”

Xia Liang, the group’s designated spokesperson, stood in front of the clerk with a smile as she asked. The other two girls flanked her on either side, nodding in agreement with determined looks on their faces.