Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

The mist in the bathroom was thick, swirling with steam under the heat lamp. Lin Xiaolu scooped up a handful of water to splash on her face, leaning back in the tub, her expression gradually shifting from blank to relaxed.

After spacing out for a while, her unfocused pupils regained their sparkle. She slowly submerged her face into the hot water, and the bubbles she exhaled "burbled" up to the surface, making a "plop and splash" sound.

It was still the afternoon, but nearing the end of it, and Lin Xiaolu was washing away the dirt from battle in the bathroom of her own home.

She lathered up with shower gel several times, followed by numerous rinses, and only after washing and combing her hair through several more cycles did she finally settle into the bathtub, allowing her nerves to thoroughly unwind.

Without a doubt, today's clash with the Remnant Beasts, although fraught with issues and surprises, also yielded significant gains.

Beyond acquiring combat experience and cooperation, she also gained some insight into the rarely-seen Acidity Remnant Beasts. At least after such a battle, Lin Xiaolu felt she indeed learned something.

The teaching methods of Emerald Sparrow were successful.

With increasing reverence for Emerald Sparrow in her heart, Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but close her eyes, fantasizing about the day she would become the ideal Magical Girl under Emerald Sparrow's guidance.

By then, she'd surely be mature, aloof, powerful, beautiful…

The daydreams in her head unwittingly brought a smile to Lin Xiaolu's face, her lips slightly upturned, brows raised, clearly in a very good mood.

——"Are you done soaking?"

"Wah!" The sudden voice by her ear startled Lin Xiaolu.

Turning her head, she saw Xia Liang, wrapped in a bath towel, standing beside the tub, smiling at her.

Her wet black hair still had some steam rising from it, clearly just out of the shower area next to her.

"Not yet, not yet."

Lifting her face from the water, Lin Xiaolu complained, "It is already quite generous of me to let you shower while I'm bathing. Once you're done, just go out and wait. This is my home, and I'm not going to give up the bathtub for you."

"Eh—but I got drenched in dirty water too and want to soak in the bath quickly."

While she spoke, Xia Liang inched closer to the rim of the tub, "How about I squeeze in? I don't mind."

"I mind, okay! You'd squash me to death! Yuck, how disgusting!"

Blocking with her hand on the edge of the tub, Lin Xiaolu outright rejected three times, "Do you even know the difference between host and guest? Don't push your luck!"

"Then may I please ask your permission?" Xia Liang pleaded with hands joined and eyes squeezed.

"Lowering your attitude won't work! Out, now!"

"I'm reaching."

"Don't come over, and don't let yourself in! I told you, don't—"

The quarreling noises in the bathroom grew louder. Even though it was difficult to discern the specifics, the blustering voice of Lin Xiaolu could be heard even in the living room.

Emerald Sparrow was perched side-saddle, sitting on the sofa in the living room, staring thoughtfully at the object in her hand.

It was a half-destroyed green disc-shaped metal piece, corroded so badly it was pocked and uneven, unrecognizable from its original form.

She found this object among the remnants of the beasts as she was about to leave the previous battlefield. Feeling it was somewhat unusual, she took it with her on a whim.

Staring at the disc, she couldn't shake the feeling that it resembled a... valve?

Why would there be such a thing inside a Remnant Beast?

Feeling as though she might have caught onto a clue, memories that were dormant in her mind started to stir. Emerald Sparrow simply leaned back, settled against the back of the sofa, and looked up thoughtfully.

——Click.

The bathroom door not far away suddenly swung open, and the previously muffled noise became clear.

"Hurry up—get out!" Lin Xiaolu's angry voice followed.

"Yikes! Don't pull so hard, my bath towel is coming off!"

Then, came Xia Liang's voice.

Lin Xiaolu paid no heed to her, firmly pushing Xia Liang out of the door: "You're so annoying!"

Bang!

And then, the bathroom door was slammed shut.

Left outside, Xia Liang could only wrap herself in a bath towel and walk out of the bathroom, passing through the living room where she came eye to eye with Emerald Sparrow, looking up.

Unlike when they first met a few days ago, Xia Liang now looked quite different.

The dyed highlights that once adorned her bangs had somehow been washed away, and her wavy hair ends had been straightened out. Without the embellishment of light makeup, her youthful features were fully exposed, clearly revealing her to be just a middle school student.

If the Xia Liang seen in the electronics district was a fancy and fashionable girl, now the gently smiling Xia Liang seemed like nothing more than a well-behaved, quiet good child.

Emerald Sparrow, whose gaze was initially scattered, gradually focused as she looked at Xia Liang dressed only in a bath towel, and after a moment's pause, she suggested:

"Why don't you find a bathrobe to wear?"

"Hmm? That might work."

Xia Liang happily accepted but soon encountered a new problem: "But do we have a bathrobe here?"

"Clean bathrobes are in..."

Emerald Sparrow instinctively started to answer but then remembered she was not Lin Yun. Even though she was in her own home, she couldn't reveal her status as the homeowner; on the surface, she was just a guest like Xia Liang.

So without giving anything away, she changed her words: "If there's a storage cabinet by the bathroom door, maybe it'll be in the cabinet? You could also ask Bai Mei."

"Bai Mei? Oh, hmph, then I'll go ask her."

Xia Liang seemed oddly zealous about provoking Lin Xiaolu, and upon realizing she had another reason to bother her, she immediately chuckled and headed back to the bathroom.

Maybe it's because just a little poke will make her explode like a startled animal? Seems fun?

Based on the personalities of the two, Emerald Sparrow could come up with such an answer.

She didn't mind Xia Liang's clearly harmless provocations; as long as they didn't breed hatred, they were just youthful jokes and roughhousing.

Yet, watching Xia Liang's retreating figure, her development noticeably more advanced than that of her peers, Emerald Sparrow felt a parental concern Lin Xiaolu's growth.

My daughter is not going to be short, is she?

Although at 14 there's still hope, with many years ahead for Lin Xiaolu to catch up and turn things around, there's currently no sign of it.

Logically speaking, as Lin Xiaolu's parents, Lin Yun and An Ya are not exceptionally tall but certainly above average. Lin Yun, the father, is over one meter eighty, and An Ya, the mother, is close to one meter seventy. There was no reason Lin Xiaolu should be shorter than her peers, yet her current height was far below the average at one meter forty-three.

What could be the reason?

Emerald Sparrow set the broken disc aside, stood up silently, and walked towards the kitchen.

She tiptoed to the sink to rinse her hands, then opened the sterilizer cabinet and took out a few tea cups.

Expertly arranging the tea cups in a row, adding tea leaves, she pushed up on the balls of her feet, her face expressionless as she stretched a little higher and then lifted the hot water pot, pouring the boiling water in.

Considering Lin Xiaolu's personality, she wouldn't think to brew tea for the guests. That task inevitably fell to her.