Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity

At the very least, she couldn’t let Teacher Shion go back…

Actually, that’s what Keke was thinking.

Because, who knew what would happen if Teacher Shion went back and slept in the same room as my big brother? So if she could keep the teacher here to sleep over, that would be best.

Of course, if she couldn’t stay there was nothing to be done. Drag things out a little—after all, dawn was coming soon—and once morning arrived they probably wouldn’t be able to do anything… right?

That’s what she thought.

Then Teacher Shion simply nodded and agreed.

Keke was a little taken aback.

She had never expected Teacher Shion to be willing to sleep with her!

Back in the room, Shion showed no hesitation at all.

She went in, picked a comfortable spot on the floor, and lay down.

Since the inn’s style was floor-sleeping, there was no bed to worry about.

If Keke had still felt bothered by the lack of beds before—thinking it primitive, like sleeping on the floor in her big brother’s room—and complaining about the expensive fees aimed at tourists, now she was relieved.

If there had been a bed, she would have had to worry about whether sharing it was appropriate, whether the bed would be too small, whether Teacher Shion would think it cramped and push her to sleep on the floor. Even though Shion was tiny and three people could probably fit on a single bed, for some reason Keke felt that if there had been a bed, Shion might treat her like her brother and push her off…

But none of that mattered now.

No beds in the inn!

So, sleeping next to Teacher Shion was fine.

She lay beside Shion, stiff as a board, staring at the ceiling.

“Take the beds home and dismantle them…” she thought.

After who knew how long—her neck a little sore—Keke carefully tilted her head.

She discovered those crystalline purple eyes quietly watching her.

Her heart missed a beat.

“Wh-why aren’t you sleeping…”

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

For Shion, she had planned to wait until Keke fell asleep before leaving; she didn’t want to remain in transformation state any longer than necessary. When Shion herself had previously slept in her room, she fell asleep very fast—so fast that Shion admired her ability to doze off. Talking and then three seconds later asleep—most people couldn’t manage that. This kid might be useful for cultivating the Great Dream Sutra…

After all, the Great Dream Sutra was a top-tier technique comparable to the Divine Elephant Prison Suppressing Strength, the foundation of an emperor’s path to ascension beyond the Origin Star. Sleeping to advance—what a perfect technique for Keke!

Keke’s sleep quality was solid; even if she got up at night to take care of things, she rarely got woken. That was part of why Shion agreed to sleep beside her. It would only take a minute or two before she could slip away.

But she hadn’t expected Keke to stay awake today.

How could she possibly become an emperor like this!

Mistake. She decided to get up and physically drill the Great Dream Sutra into her…

“I—I can’t sleep.” Keke stammered. “Teacher Shion is the one who should be asleep. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I’m waiting for you to fall asleep.”

“I—I’m waiting too.”

Keke heard Shion sigh softly.

“I can’t sleep when someone’s watching me.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie; although that wasn’t the full reason she couldn’t sleep now.

Shion closed her eyes.

“Sleep.”

Seeing Shion close her eyes, Keke shut hers as well.

In the dark, she felt herself being watched. That searing gaze felt like feathers stroking at her heart, and the warm, gentle scent drifting over made it impossible to calm down. She didn’t dare open her eyes, afraid she’d catch Shion staring at her. Then she wouldn’t even have an excuse.

Why had she been staring at the teacher so long? Because she was pretty?

Yes, Shion was definitely pretty, but Keke wasn’t so shallow as to stare just for beauty’s sake…

Fine—she admitted it. That was part of it. Mostly it was that being so close, she really wanted to study Teacher Shion’s face carefully—something she’d never had the chance to do before.

“Teacher, can I, can I hold your clothes?”

“Mm.”

Keke cautiously touched the sleeve of Shion’s magical outfit.

Shion’s magical outfit felt cold to the touch.

Unlike Shion’s mana—always fierce and blazing—the outfit itself was completely cool. Keke was a bit surprised. Her own mana nature was similar to Shion’s; perhaps because Shion’s mana had once invaded her seed during her initial transformation, Keke’s magic burned hot like fire. It took her a long time to fully control it. Violent mana was difficult to manage; gentle mana was easiest to refine precisely, while violent mana required many times the effort to achieve fine control. In the end, it was just grind—if you worked hard enough, the ceiling would be similar. But going beyond a certain threshold yielded diminishing returns; time was better spent elsewhere. The level of precision Shion or Dandelion exhibited was likely a rare innate talent. Most magical girls couldn’t reach that level, so it wasn’t worth overinvesting—Dandelion had told her as much during their duel.

No matter how formidable Shion’s mana control might be, when Keke felt the magical outfit it was shockingly like cool water—gentle, sleek, and smooth. The texture made Keke reluctant to let go; both hands reached out.

“Teacher, can I touch your hand?”

She opened one eye a sliver and peered at Shion.

Shion seemed asleep and said nothing.

After a moment, thinking Shion truly was sleeping, Keke gently hooked her finger into the teacher’s pinky.

She had held hands with Yiyi before; when they slept together she sometimes hugged Yiyi like a pillow. Friends didn’t mean much—holding Yiyi didn’t stir any real feeling. Yiyi was small and soft. But just lightly touching Shion’s finger made Keke nervous, like opening a display case and touching an expensive artwork—tingly and thrilling.

She carefully looked up, confirming Shion didn’t respond, then pushed her pinky into the space between Shion’s fingers. She tried to find another gap for the ring finger, and in the process accidentally brushed Shion’s palm.

Shion’s right hand suddenly clenched and grabbed hers.

Keke jumped and looked up, meeting Shion’s cold eyes threaded with impatience and displeasure; she shrank back.

“S-sorry…”

“Are you going to sleep or not?”

Feeling what had been a cool little hand turn warm, Keke realized Shion was changing the nature of her mana—she must be a little annoyed.

“I-I just wanted to hold your hand and sleep…”

Keke watched Shion’s pupils soften, the emotion fading, and then Shion held her hand and said only, “Sleep.”

Shion stayed holding her hand. Keke felt a mixture of relief and secret joy.

She obediently closed her eyes, savoring the warmth of the teacher’s palm and the small sweetness that rippled up from her fingertips.

In a hazy daze she dreamed of childhood.

It was raining hard. The thunder was extremely loud. Hiding under her blanket, Keke could not escape the sound; each strike made her want to crawl under the bed. She cried and ran to her parents’ room, but they weren’t home; sometimes when they worked late they wouldn’t return. That night they were on the night shift. She stayed on their bed for a while, but it felt worse—the bedroom was large and corners felt like they hid strange things. So she wrapped herself in a blanket, climbed the stairs, and found her big brother to sleep with.

She was small then, and her brother didn’t mind having her on his bed—unlike now, when he would kick her off. Back then he would scoot over to make room under her tears. He didn’t cuddle her or soothe her like a parent—he simply lay there with her on his back, quietly asleep, sometimes barely noticeable. On the second floor the thunder felt even closer; rain pounded the window and lightning flashed. The curtains and stray items flew about like floating ghosts. Sometimes she felt someone standing at the window watching her. She kept crying, whispering that she was afraid. Jiang Si, as if asleep, didn’t respond, making her feel as though she were sleeping alone, without any sense of safety.

She whispered for her parents for a long time until the thunder subsided and her brother finally turned over and took her hand—just like Teacher Shion had. “Don’t cry—sleep,” he seemed to say. She didn’t know why, but even without a parent’s embrace, just having her hand held made her feel reassured, and she fell asleep.

Past memories blurred with the present until Keke sensed a strange, familiar affection. In the dream, Shion’s small body suddenly swelled into a two-meter giant, and when she turned her head it was Jiang Si!

Keke jolted awake and blinked.

Seeing the adorable, pretty Shion in front of her, she breathed a long sigh of relief and felt slightly embarrassed with herself. There was no way Teacher Shion could be her brother. If she told Yiyi and the others, they’d laugh themselves silly.

Shion still held her right hand; it felt tingly and light. Keke did not dare press harder, fearing Shion would let go.

Although dawn was already breaking, Keke didn’t want to get up; she lay down again and stared at Shion’s flawless face. Bathed in soft morning light, it looked like warm jade touched by dew, a glow emitting beneath smooth, fair skin. Her eyelashes shivered now and then, stirring gentle halos of light. Keke couldn’t count how many lashes—every flutter made her flustered and lose track.

Light kept falling on that remarkable face. Her lips had no noticeable curve, coated in a faint, discreet glaze; a slight press of the mouth sent tender ripples across the sunshine.

Keke unconsciously reached out—her fingertip almost touching that pale pink glaze—when Shion’s purple eyes opened again and she froze.

“What are you doing?”

“Teacher, there’s…something on your lips…”

A blatant lie.

Shion didn’t scold her; she released her hand.

Keke felt a pang of disappointment and regret.

After holding hands so long, Shion’s palm still showed no sweat—just cool freshness and a faint scent.

Shion sat up. “Once you’re awake, wash up and eat breakfast properly. If you’re free, practice. Don’t forget to try integrating the Dream Core I gave you with your Personal Reality.”

“Mm, mm…”

The way she reminded Keke about magical girl matters felt like being fussed over by a mother. No—more like her brother. Her brother nagged like this too.

“Last night I saw magical girls in South China using mana resonance. You should ask Silver Lotus about it…”

Shion was intrigued. Multiple magical girls resonating together could produce power far beyond their individual stages—crossing two whole realms. It reminded her of Yunlan Sect’s Cloud Smoke Sun-Obscuring Array, though it wasn’t suitable for Azure Cloud Sect. Azure Cloud Sect’s protective arrays were mostly one- or two-person systems. Large-scale mana resonance arrays required many participants and practiced coordination, with magical girls themselves driving the resonance. Mobile, flexible resonance—wasn’t that the kind of formation centered on celestial troops and generals? Three thousand lower-level troops turning the tide against a higher realm: the more soldiers, the better the quality and the greater the cross-level effect.

For Azure Cloud Sect, it was like gristle—some use but little interest. Shion had no taste for summoning-style, crowd-dependent tactics. But it was good for Keke to learn; the Bureau had many magical girls and in future dangers Keke could borrow other girls’ power.

“Ah, Teacher Shion, about the Dream Core…”

“Keke! Why are you still sleeping!”

Before she could ask more about the Dream Core’s effects, the door burst open and Silver Lotus rushed in.

“The Central Bureau people are here…”

Her words halted mid-sentence.

Silver Lotus’s smile faded as she looked at Keke, still buttoning her clothes, and at Shion, who had just got up and tidied the bedding. The room fell utterly silent.

Before Silver Lotus could find her voice, someone shoved her from behind. “What’s the matter, Yiyi? Come in, don’t stand in the doorway.”

“Wait!”

Silver Lotus tried to say something, but it was too late.

A crowd spilled into the room in a rush. Susan and Peony even stumbled and fell, lying on the floor and looking up. An Shiyu poked her head in from behind. “Can’t you let Keke sleep a little longer…?” she started, then froze, eyes wide as she took in Shion in Keke’s room and Keke hurriedly dressing.

“Shion is in Keke’s room…?” Peony was the only one daring to speak. Holding Susan who had fallen on top of her, Peony didn’t bother to get up—just lay on the floor and looked up at the Azure Cloud Sect leader. She wasn’t very close to Shion but had met her before. If this had been earlier, she might have wet herself in fear. But now Azure Cloud Sect had an official cooperation with the Bureau—what was there to fear? After so many years in Beihai as a magical girl, she knew the sect’s character. They talked big but rarely indiscriminately killed; they might get beaten, but with so many people in the room, she wasn’t likely to be the one.

“Why are you two sleeping together? You didn’t do anything shameful, did you?”

Keke’s face flushed deep red. She blurted, flustered, “Don’t say such things, Senior Peony! Teacher will be mad!”

“Oh, it’s not a boy and a girl—no scandal to spread, right?”

Peony noticed the odd expressions on her friends and Silver Lotus. Her mood sank and she lowered her voice. “Could there actually be something?”

“There isn’t!” Susan, who had been about to joke, hauled her up and ordered, “Get out.”

“Hey, hey, Keke didn’t do anything—”

“Out, out!”

Peony was shoved outside.

From outside came grumbling. Silver Lotus cleared her throat and looked at the still-composed Shion, taking a deep breath. She couldn’t be overly excited, but she couldn’t be too familiar either. “Why are you here?” she asked stiffly.

“Came to see Keke,” Shion didn’t hide it. “And to give her a champion’s gift.”

The three girls’ expressions shifted in various ways. An Shiyu quietly asked, “Are you leaving together today?”

“No, I have matters to attend to.”

Everyone but Keke relaxed.

Shion nudged Keke toward her friends. “Keke’s Personal Reality trial—please watch over her.”

That parental, entrusted tone made everyone awkward. Keke whispered, “I—I can handle it, Teacher!”

“Not at all. We’re the ones who should say that. Please take care of her in the future.”

Susan immediately answered. She was the security chief of the Bureau; she wouldn’t shirk such responsibility. After a brief exchange, Shion offered a few casual words and then left through the window. The opening wasn’t large, but Shion’s frame fit through.

Only after she departed did the intense tension in the room ease.

While Susan still searched the window for a glimpse of their leader, Yiyi moved to hug Keke and turned from the window.

“Why did you secretly meet Azure Cloud Sect’s leader without telling anyone!” she teased.

“I didn’t know, Teacher knocked on my door. Everyone else was asleep,” Keke said, glancing once more toward the window—Shion’s figure had vanished.

Before she could speak further, An Shiyu came over and leaned close. “If you meet Miss Shion again, tell us, Keke.”

Susan wanted to appear helpful but didn’t push; the two girls were already close. She said coolly, “At least tell me beforehand. I’m the Bureau’s security captain. If Keke has difficulties, tell me. I like taking care of juniors.”

Keke and Silver Lotus looked at her like she was lying. Susan disliked dealing with strangers and had barely paid attention to Keke when she first came to the Bureau.

“I’m serious,” Susan protested feebly. “I really like helping juniors.”

Silver Lotus ignored her. She pulled Keke. “Let’s go to the front desk and register. The Central Bureau people are waiting.”

“Wait, I haven’t washed up…”

“We’ll do it on the way!”

As the two girls tugged Keke along, An Shiyu followed. From the hallway they heard Mùjǐn’s voice.

“Ah, it looks like we won’t get a chance with the sister route. Silver Lotus is protecting her too tightly, giving us no opening.”

“It’s fine,” An Shiyu said softly. “We’re not true enemies. Be patient; relationships can improve.”

“Be patient and you become the third wheel, you fool!” Mùjǐn scolded. “Also, doesn’t Keke’s attitude toward Shion seem off?”

“What are you implying?”

When Susan came out, she went downstairs with Peony to eat, leaving An Shiyu alone to return to the room. Though Mùjǐn accompanied her, sharing one body made her seem like the only lonely figure at the Beihai Bureau.

“Listen, Little An, based on past experience, the less threatening an opponent appears, the more dangerous they are.”

“Oh.” An Shiyu stared blankly. “You mean Keke is dangerous?”

“Exactly!”

Mùjǐn cried. “She’s a little sister, she’s her teacher’s pupil, she’s been in close contact and they live together—most importantly, their parents are gone! Too dangerous, extremely dangerous!”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“I’m not talking nonsense. There’s no one to restrain them. They live together—who knows what’ll happen? Right?”

An Shiyu remembered Keke once saying she slept on the floor in her brother’s room. Did they sleep together…?

“The more forbidden the relationship, the more attractive it becomes to some people. Look at Jiang Si. He acts all abstinent, but we know young men—we know this type: the more they pretend indifference, the more they binge in secret! Repression turns them bestial!”

Images flooded her head and she slapped it. “Stop that, senior! That’s indecent!”

“Hmph. You wait—when something happens, we’ll laugh at you!”

“It won’t.”

Thinking it over, An Shiyu pressed her lips in the mirror. Mùjǐn loved to overthink. There was no way Keke and Jiang Si had anything going on. Still, if she could move into Jiang Si’s house, she’d make sure to keep an eye on Keke.