Chapter 182: Queen's Year

— "A special assessment to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the disaster?"

While the atmosphere among the girls in the secret base was tense and fraught, Cuique, driving on the return highway, asked Asano Enka with a hint of confusion, "Why commemorate such a thing?"

Having concluded the memorial for Anya and left the Fang Ting City cemetery, considering the need to return to the secret base, Lin Yun on the car had once again transformed into Cuique's appearance.

At this moment, she was driving while discussing the certification assessment with Asano Enka.

Regarding Asano Enka's previous proposal, that "the Fang Ting City team must defeat the Bai An City team before participating in the assessment," she also felt very puzzled.

"Hmm... if there really is a reason, it can only be that next year is another twenty-year cycle, right?"

Leaning against the passenger window, Asano Enka gazed at the street scenes flashing by outside the car: "You know, every twenty years, the doors of the Rose Palace open."

Great Disaster, Great Celebration.

This is a phrase etched into the life journey of every Magical Girl, corresponding to a very special year nineteen years ago.

The so-called Great Disaster refers to the "Great Beast Catastrophe" that erupted in the Material Realm; its scope of influence, the intensity of the battles, and the severity of the damage were unprecedented in a century. Therefore, after surviving such a calamity that could be called a natural disaster, Magical Girls without exception engraved this phrase in their hearts.

And Great Disaster is merely the first half of this phrase. Its second half is "Great Celebration." This Great Celebration refers to another matter, generally called "Queen's Year" by the citizens of the Magical Kingdom.

For the Kingdom, this is a year occurring once every twenty years when the Queen leaves the Rose Palace to conduct activities within the Kingdom.

As the pinnacle of power in the entire Magical Kingdom, the Kingdom Queen does not constantly appear before people; rather, in the minds of most citizens, the Queen is far more mysterious than anyone else, because almost no one has personally met the Queen.

Most of the time, the Queen stays deep within the Rose Palace, and at most only goes out to the "Garden" on the outskirts of the Rose Palace; only the high-ranking members of the Wang Ting, the Queen's confidants, and Magical Girls of Flower Card rank or above have the qualification to enter the palace for an audience.

But everything always has exceptions, and this exception is the "Queen's Year."

In this year, the Queen will actively travel throughout the Kingdom to inspect public sentiment, examine the work of the Five Academies, and even personally lead Magical Girls to resist enemies.

Therefore, the Great Beast Catastrophe of nineteen years ago was not only a once-in-a-century calamity; more importantly, it coincided with the special year of the "Queen's Year."

For this reason, the Kingdom Queen personally descended to participate in the command of this battle; the victory of this disaster was described as "a glorious battle under the Queen's wise command," and ultimately a once-in-a-century grand celebration was held.

Great Beast Catastrophe, Great Celebration; combined, the name such a year ultimately left in the Kingdom's history was "Great Disaster, Great Celebration."

Currently, the Great Disaster, Great Celebration has passed nineteen years; next year, the twentieth anniversary. This not only signifies the arrival of another "Queen's Year," but also means the victory of the Great Beast Catastrophe has reached its twentieth-anniversary commemoration.

"Rose Palace..." Cuique recited the word, pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and said, "I understand. So whose idle idea is this again, and what do they plan to do? Just to suck up?"

"The information our Investigation Bureau received is that Your Majesty will personally observe this assessment next year."

Asano Enka said, "And to commemorate this special day occurring once every twenty years, the Treasury, the Research Institute, and the Magical Affairs Bureau, working together, will add a new assessment outside the traditional qualification certification. Magical Girls who pass the new assessment can also receive various special benefits."

"A new assessment..."

Hearing this, Cuique's heart was already full of ominous foreboding, but to verify this feeling, she could only grit her teeth and continue asking, "What idea have they come up with?"

"Simulating the Great Beast Catastrophe."

Asano Enka sighed: "Reproducing the situation of the Great Beast Catastrophe of that year to a certain proportion, letting candidates experience the scenes of that time firsthand, while honing their ability to survive and fight in crises... at least that is what they said when promoting this project."

"... Crazy." Cuique could only give such an evaluation.

As a survivor of the Great Beast Catastrophe, no one knows the scene of that year better than she and Asano Enka; those ruins and broken walls everywhere, the wailing everywhere, and the residual beasts that seemed impossible to kill no matter how much they fought—picking any one of them out was enough to make one shiver all over. Even now, they could not forget the powerlessness and despair of that time; let alone this batch of new-generation Magical Girls?

You must know that as the most important assessment system of the entire Magical Kingdom, the annual qualification certification, despite full security, still cannot avoid sporadic casualties; there will always be Magical Girls encountering accidents of various sizes due to non-compliant operations or opponents in the assessment not pulling their punches.

For an exam that already carried a certain risk, adding a new assessment with no actual verification would undoubtedly further amplify the safety risks.

"Too reckless."

Probably because thinking about it more made the matter seem even more unreasonable, Cuique added, "Is it a physical simulation or a consciousness simulation? Who specifically is in charge of this? Can it be stopped now?"

"It's too late; the venue and the spells have already been set up. Although the details are unclear, it is said that a large amount of manpower and financial resources have already been invested in relevant construction work. If we stop this now, I'm afraid we can only go find the current Purple Diamond or the Wang Ting nobles."

Asano Enka shook her head: "To be honest, I simply cannot guess what those guys are thinking. But this is also why I proposed this match—two members of our team are Magical Girls who obtained White Cards early this year. Only if the children you taught can defeat them can a certain degree of their own safety be guaranteed. If they cannot win, even participating in the assessment might be dangerous. Do you want to see that situation?"

"... How is that possible?"

Cuique took a long breath: "Putting juniors in such a dangerous place, would you be willing to do that?"

"I definitely am not willing, so I am bringing this matter up to you clearly."

Asano Enka said softly, "Our Bai An team does not plan to participate in the qualification certification next year. Bai Ji and Mimosa have not yet reached the standard of the Character Card for the time being, and that child, Wood Lily... I really have no confidence in her at all."

The two fell silent for a moment, quite in agreement on this matter.

Cuique was thinking.

If previously hoping the girls would participate in the assessment was simply because she did not know the specific situation, then now, knowing that next year's assessment might be more dangerous than previous years, should she still encourage them to participate?

She herself knew that being a "Magical Girl" was an identity accompanied by battle throughout one's entire career; she could not forever isolate her juniors from danger. But was it really necessary to add a risk that originally did not exist just for an assessment?

This made her feel somewhat lost.

However, this confusion was quickly suppressed to the bottom of her heart. As the SUV drove back to the secret base, she had to maintain her mental state; at the very least, she could not let her worries affect those children.

After a brief welcome party, eight Magical Girls and one fairy gathered around the dining table to share dinner.

At the dining table, Cuique and Asano Enka together revealed this matter to the juniors.

— "I must tell you very seriously that the danger level of the 'Great Beast Catastrophe' far exceeds the scope you can currently handle. Even if the assessment at that time will not be one hundred percent reproduced, or even weakened to a certain extent due to your strength, it is still a very dangerous project."

Looking at the juniors across the dining table, Cuique said very seriously, "I did not know this news before, but now it seems this assessment will not be as simple as expected. I hope you can think carefully before making a decision."

"And the person making the decision—I and this senior Margaret have discussed it. You need to have a battle against the Magical Girls of Bai An City; only after winning can you participate in the Kingdom's assessment."

As these words fell, the expressions of the Magical Girls across the dining table varied.

On the Bai An City side, because they originally did not plan to participate in next year's assessment, the expressions of the several Magical Girls were relatively relaxed; the taciturn girl with the codename Mimosa drank soup in small mouthfuls with a blank expression; the blonde girl with the codename Wood Lily looked at the Fang Ting City group with pride; as for Bai Ji, probably because she already knew about this matter, she only nodded to the two seniors to indicate she understood.

The situation on the Fang Ting City side was quite different.

Xia Liang should be considered the most calm of the three, but even she, upon hearing that the assessment had added such an unreasonable item, was somewhat stunned, and a few traces of difficulty inevitably hung on her smiling face.

Bai Jingxuan looked half-understanding; she probably could understand the fact that "the assessment has become harder," but it seemed she did not feel there was any problem with this matter.

As for Lin Xiaolu, she had not touched her chopsticks much before; the food in her bowl was almost untouched. After listening to Cuique's words, she remained silent for a long while, put down the bowl in her hand, and quietly dropped a sentence, "I'm full," before leaving the dining table in everyone's sight.

She did not even give a single explanation.

This left Cuique, who was originally considering other problems, stunned.

"... Anyway, you don't need to give me an answer immediately now. You can digest this matter well first, think about it for a few more days, and then we will discuss and make a decision together."

After a long while, she slowly opened her mouth: "And, does anyone know what is wrong with Bai Mei?"

No one replied.

Not only were the three from Bai'an City silent, but even the two companions from Fang Ting City seemed equally confused by this matter.

Only Ma Sheng Yuanxiang, after scanning everyone, gave Bai Ji a meaningful glance—but said nothing more.

With no answer to her question, Senior Cuique did not press further. Though she felt some confusion and concern over Lin Xiaolu's behavior, she said nothing more, merely continuing to host the dinner until it ended.

Because the Bai'an City group had just arrived that day and were guests, Senior Cuique had no choice but to spend extra time entertaining them. This delay stretched on until nearly nine at night, when she finally had time to go to Lin Xiaolu's room and ask what had happened.

In the quiet, dark corridor, she stood outside the door and tapped lightly—"dong dong"—the sound echoing down the hall.

"Bai Mei?" Senior Cuique called.

After her call ended, a rustling of fabric came from inside, followed by hurried footsteps. Senior Cuique faintly heard the thud of a body striking wood, and the turning of the doorknob—but the turning sound did not continue. It ceased abruptly after only the scrape of a lock.

The door did not open.

Soon, Lin Xiaolu's muffled voice came from behind the door.

"Sorry."

She said: "Senior Cuique, may I have a moment alone? I'll sort myself out."

"I only wanted to ask if you're facing any difficulty," Senior Cuique said calmly. "We can solve it together."

"... Sorry."

But Lin Xiaolu offered only that one phrase, then fell silent.

Through the moonlight from outside the corridor, Senior Cuique could see the doorknob had been pressed slightly downward again—but for some reason, Lin Xiaolu ultimately did not open the door.

Not even the sound of footsteps—was the child still standing there behind the door?

Senior Cuique thought with slight worry, realizing she could now step forward and enter the room. But she did not. Considering her daughter's stubborn nature, barging in would likely worsen things.

In the end, she asked no more. She left quietly.

She left the corridor where Lin Xiaolu's room lay, walked all the way to the staircase connecting the floors, and had just descended when she suddenly noticed a figure standing in the stairwell.

It was Bai Ji.

The girl, who had always maintained a calm and composed demeanor, now had faintly red eyes, one hand gripping her own forearm, as if wanting to speak but holding back.

"What's wrong?" Senior Cuique asked, puzzled.

"... I'm very sorry, my lord. This whole matter is my fault."

But Bai Ji offered only that vague apology, then covered her mouth and ran up to the fourth floor.

This strange behavior left Senior Cuique even more confused. She could only watch helplessly as the girl vanished around the stairwell corner, too hesitant to chase after her.

Carrying a mind full of questions, she did not receive any useful information until she returned to the first-floor parlor, where Ma Sheng Yuanxiang finally gave her a clue.

"Sorry, our little one caused trouble with yours."

Ma Sheng Yuanxiang, leaning back on the sofa watching TV, smiled apologetically. "I already gave her a good scolding. I told her to go apologize to you—did she go find you?"

So that was it.

After hearing the explanation, Senior Cuique finally understood what had happened:

—Lin Xiaolu and Bai Ji had argued.

(End of Chapter)