Hey, as long as this girl isn't making fun of her, Madoka will definitely view it as her being encouraging. And she does mean what she said, anyway.. She really thinks she has to step up and do better when there's people younger than her being much braver than she feels like she is.

And even besides that.. This girl does deserve praise for being so brave. Maybe Madoka should focus on that, rather than feeling bad about herself.

"You're really smart, Buttercup. It sounds like there's nothing I could do that you couldn't do yourself to repay you for helping me out with looking, but.." She sounds like she's thinking for a moment. "If we really can't find Kyuubey, and I'm stuck here, then.. um, we could do something fun together in return for you having helped me, if you want?"