Chapter 224: The Thief

If an adult walks slowly at a leisurely pace, it takes no more than ten seconds to cross this staircase; even with the shorter strides of girls, it wouldn't take much longer, yet Senior Cuique felt as though she had been walking on the stairs for hours.

Adhering to the principle of "favoring neither side, neglecting neither side," she strove to maintain her balance between Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan; thus, surrounded by the two juniors, she expended considerable effort before finally squeezing her way out of the stairwell with great difficulty.

Standing at the stairwell exit here, a glance to the side reveals the restaurant not far away.

The dining table today was exceptionally lively.

This was not only because everyone was present, cramming the entire table to capacity, but also because the members of the Bai'an City squad seemed to be engaged in a heated discussion, with the sound of their argument emanating from the restaurant, clear enough to hear even while standing on the underground stairs leading to the first floor.

Judging by the voices, the two sides of the dispute appeared to be Bai Ji and Mu Baihe.

— "No, the existence of the squad itself is a single entity; even if we must act separately, it should not be for such a childish reason. I cannot agree to your request!"

"Why? After all, Bai'an City doesn't lack my combat power anyway, does it?"

"That's not how it works! This isn't a matter of combat power; you should understand that you are also a very valuable member of our squad..."

"Right, right, right, the member who always causes trouble for the squad and constantly holds us back—that's what you said yourself when reporting to Sister Yuanxiang before, wasn't it?"

"How did you... No, I... I did say that, but it wasn't the meaning you think..."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I... I just wanted her to urge you a bit more..."

"So in the end, you still look down on me, right? Where exactly did I misunderstand you?"

The voices gradually escalated from a dispute into a quarrel, and the conflict between Bai Ji and Mu Baihe seemed to be intensifying. Several onlookers tried to mediate in a gentle tone, while others crossed their arms as if watching a show, but neither behavior managed to extinguish the anger between the two.

Amidst this atmosphere, the three of Senior Cuique entered the restaurant.

"What's happening?"

Unaware of the current situation, Senior Cuique immediately approached Asano Yuuka: "What are they arguing about? Won't you try to mediate?"

It wasn't that she wanted to be meddlesome; it was simply that Asano Yuuka was currently one of those watching the show, and although the two quarreling parties were both members of her own squad, she acted as if it had nothing to do with her.

"Ah, a quarrel. For a small group formed by young people, such things are inevitable."

Asano Yuuka still leaned back in her chair, speaking carelessly: "Anyway, it's not a matter of principle; friction in daily life is better than disunity on the battlefield."

"So that's your reason for sitting here like you're watching a show?"

Senior Cuique lowered her eyelids: "Even if friction and conflict are inevitable, shouldn't you at least go up and act as a lubricant?"

"There's no need for that. After all, acting as a lubricant or mediating peace is nothing more than delaying the time until the conflict erupts."

Asano Yuuka merely shook her head: "Don't always treat the juniors like children. Teenagers already have some of their own opinions; what they like and what they dislike, we third parties have no ability to make a full decision on. Letting go appropriately is actually beneficial for everyone to solve the problem."

She spoke with a hint of meaning, her gaze intentionally or unintentionally sweeping between Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, before finally turning back without a trace, smiling twice as if nothing had happened.

"You're only articulate when it comes to twisting logic."

Senior Cuique sighed helplessly: "Then let me, the host, mediate. We can't let the guests make a scene that's too embarrassing. Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"You too; you're only particularly diligent when it comes to being a do-gooder."

Asano Yuuka glanced at her, but instead of refusing, she clapped her hands: "Hey, Bai Ji, you come and explain this to the Senior Inspector. Anyway, we were going to talk about this today, so it's a good chance to clarify everything."

"... Yes, Instructor."

Hearing Asano Yuuka's words, Bai Ji, who was standing nearby, immediately stopped arguing with Mu Baihe, glared fiercely at the other person's face, then turned back, composed her emotions, and said solemnly: "I apologize, Senior Inspector, for letting you witness such an unpleasant scene. I apologize to you. According to our original plan, we intended to bid you farewell in a more dignified manner today."

"Farewell?" Senior Cuique keenly grasped the key word in this sentence.

"Yes, farewell."

Bai Ji nodded: "Because the holiday is about to end and our middle school in Bai'an City is about to start, although the academics of a Magical Girl are relatively less important, we are still attending school, so we plan to return to Bai'an City soon. As for the Instructor, she said she will continue to support the defense work of Fang Ting City here, but this is not something us juniors have the right to decide."

"Oh, yes, indeed, if it's about academics, there's nothing we can do. Although I personally welcome you to continue staying here, I won't forcibly detain you."

Influenced by Bai Ji's rigid words and actions, Senior Cuique also offered a slight polite remark, then asked: "And then? What exactly is the point of disagreement?"

— "Of course it's because I don't want to go back!"

A voice cut in from the side, taking over Bai Ji's line of speech. Mu Baihe was seen slapping the table and marching over with great momentum: "I've already said it, you're just here in Fang Ting City for a vacation, but I have my own business! Now that you've had enough of your vacation, you want to drag me along with you. I haven't finished my business yet; why should I go back with you?"

"Then tell me, what exactly is this business of yours?"

Mu Baihe's tone was unfriendly, and Bai Ji was instantly provoked by her: "Acting mysterious like a riddle person all day long, saying you have business when asked once, and refusing to tell you when asked again. Training with three days of fishing and two days of drying nets, and when activities come up, you can't be found. And you say we're here on vacation? You're the least disciplined in the whole squad!"

"I've already said it, it's my private business. It's not too late to tell you after I've actually accomplished it," Mu Baihe said, pouting angrily.

"If you won't say it, then come back with me." Bai Ji gave no ground.

"I won't, I'm not going back!" Mu Baihe continued to resist.

— "And then it became what you see now."

Asano Yuuka, standing nearby, looked at Senior Cuique and spread her hands: "After all, it's a quarrel. Once anger is involved, old and new grudges are all counted together; even trivial, long-forgotten nonsense can be brought up. I can't mediate."

"This..."

As a mature adult, regarding the content of the argument between Bai Ji and Mu Baihe, Senior Cuique could only think of the word "childish." However, her position did not allow her to turn and leave with just those two words; instead, she had to think about how to resolve the conflict that was now on the table.

Although she could make the decision, in her capacity as the host, to let Mu Baihe stay, but as Bai Ji had previously stated, the members of the Bai'an City squad are, after all, a single entity.

The other two wanting Mu Baihe to leave was not out of malice, and Mu Baihe herself, wanting to stay, could not produce a sufficiently convincing reason. Under these circumstances, if she forcibly intervened, it would only appear somewhat meddlesome.

This was probably also the reason why Asano Yuuka didn't want to mediate at all, simply waiting for the two to argue out a conclusion on their own.

After thinking it over, Senior Cuique could not immediately come up with a proposal that was both fair enough and respectful enough to both parties. Hearing that Lin Xiaolu nearby was already so hungry her stomach was rumbling, finally, she could only sit down in her own seat and awkwardly change the subject:

"The matter is still under discussion; let's discuss it after dinner first."

This finally made both Bai Ji and Mu Baihe shut their mouths.

At the dining table, while thinking about how to mediate the conflict between Bai Ji and Mu Baihe, Senior Cuique had to deal with Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan passing dishes back and forth beside her, leaving her feeling dizzy. She never expected that for such a trivial matter, she really couldn't think of a good solution.

And the turning point of this matter ultimately fell on the morning of the next day.

Although the students were still on holiday, the adults had already returned to their posts early, and special institutions like the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs were even more so. As the Director, Lin Yun still had to go to work normally the next day, still facing countless field operations and internal affairs issues.

Just as he was busy with documents and phone calls as usual, the door to the Director's office was suddenly knocked upon.

Raising his left hand like a muscle reflex, he placed a few fingers on the silk threads to sense them, and after confirming there were no abnormalities, Lin Yun responded: "Come in."

As the words fell, the door to the Director's office was pushed open, and a male employee from the Intelligence Department walked in with a serious expression: "Sorry to disturb you, Director. An attack on the magical side has just occurred in the Bureau, and I need to report it to you."

"Attack?"

Lin Yun lifted his head upon hearing this, raising an eyebrow: "Who? A civilian magus? Or another gray magic organization causing trouble?"

He didn't even consider it could be Black Ash Dawn—Black Ash Dawn would never be so foolish as to cause a disturbance at the Special Tactics Bureau in broad daylight.

Since his appointment these past few months, his crackdown on Black Ash Dawn had yielded remarkable results: he had uprooted all its overt and covert forces, and even eliminated nearly all residual elements of the "Moth" within Fang Ting City through precise operations.

Only a handful of Black Ash Dawn's hidden agents remained in Fang Ting City—all of them deliberately left by him as bait for law enforcement, and all were low-energy, inconsequential Ash Court remnants; not a single member of Ash Guard rank or higher had been left behind.

So when he heard someone was causing trouble at the Special Tactics Bureau, his first thought was that some overconfident civilian magus had lost his senses.

"No, it's not a magus, nor is it a violent attack... or perhaps calling it an attack isn't quite accurate, since the target was, strictly speaking, theft."

The male employee replied: "But since the thief attempted to destroy the scene and flee after being discovered, and because his identity is somewhat unusual, we felt it necessary to report this to you."

Hearing this, Lin Yun's expression turned peculiar—he had the distinct feeling he'd encountered a similar scenario not long ago, and in such situations, the next words from the speaker were almost predictable.

"Let me guess."

He set down his neutral pen and tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "You're not going to tell me the thief this time is a magical girl, are you?"

Then he saw the employee's eyes widen, followed by a nod of admiration:

"... Yes, Director, you're brilliant."

Lin Yun saw the thief who had come to steal in the surveillance footage of the interrogation room.

And this time, when he clearly recognized the thief's face, the tension in his chest finally died.

Sitting slumped in the interrogation room, head bowed, looking as if she'd just lost a close relative, was none other than one of the people who had shared a meal with him just last night—Mugi Yurii.

What in the world was going on now?

Lin Yun frowned in front of the monitor, utterly baffled.

"We've already questioned this... Magical Girl Young Lady, asking her to explain her origins and purpose so we can reconstruct the truth and minimize misunderstandings and conflicts—but she refuses to answer anything."

The intelligence department employee beside him explained: "We tried contacting the Magical Girl team from Fang Ting City to see if we could resolve this peacefully, but this young lady strongly resists—she says if we contact any other magical girls, she'll sue us for sexual harassment. Now all the other colleagues have a headache..."

Indeed, if Asou Maki found out, this girl would probably wake up tomorrow with candy apples growing on her head.

Lin Yun thought to himself, but kept his expression professionally neutral: "Has she proposed any resolution herself?"

"There is one... "

The employee looked troubled: "But her demand is that we grant her access to the Bureau's archive, including all top-secret materials, and release her immediately."

No wonder he looked troubled—anyone hearing this would find it unbelievable: a thief caught red-handed not only refused to admit guilt, but was now threatening and ordering demands around—truly unacceptable.

"... I understand."

Lin Yun nodded, turning his head: "Alright, take me there. I'll speak with her." "Yes!"

The employee had expected the Director to fly into a rage after hearing this, but after waiting a moment and seeing no sign of anger from Lin Yun, he felt as if he'd been granted amnesty—upon hearing the order, he immediately straightened his posture: "I'll take you there right away!"

Soon, Lin Yun arrived at the interrogation room where Mugi Yurii was held.

The escorting employee opened the door, briefly explained to Mugi Yurii inside, conveying the message "Our Director wishes to see you," then stepped back and stood aside.

Lin Yun patted his shoulder without a word and walked straight into the interrogation room.

As soon as he entered, his gaze met the girl's.

Today, Mugi Yurii had unusually worn a more formal outfit: a light blue, waistless dress, a pale gray down jacket with short sleeves, white round-toed shoes, and her pale yellow long hair—she looked distinctly foreign, almost like someone from West Ro State.

But to Lin Yun, this girl was already very familiar; minor changes in appearance couldn't alter his judgment of her, so he merely glanced at her briefly, his expression utterly calm.

Mugi Yurii, however, upon seeing Lin Yun enter, immediately grew even paler.

"Why is it you?" she blurted out.

"Why not me?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow.

"So this is your territory... Wait, does that mean your scheme was also behind what happened in Bai'an City? No—did even the rumors online come from your planning? Is everything you arranged?"

She hugged her arms, leaning back in her chair: "What do you really want?"

"... Though I have no idea what you just imagined in that brief moment, I feel I must clarify your current situation, young lady."

Lin Yun took two steps forward, pulled out the chair opposite the interrogation table, and sat down: "You are currently under detention for attempting to steal classified secrets from the Special Tactics Bureau. Many within the Bureau are deeply uneasy about your intentions. And I am the Director of the Special Tactics Bureau."

"Director?" Mugi Yurii blinked.

"Yes. If I recall correctly, we met once when I was on a business trip to Bai'an City last year."

Lin Yun kept his expression blank to make his words seem more impartial: "Though some unpleasant misunderstandings may have occurred during that encounter, I have no doubt about your identity as a Magical Girl from Bai'an City."

"Ah, right!"

Hearing this, Mugi Yurii suddenly stood up excitedly: "Even if things went badly, you know I'm really the Magical Girl from Bai'an City, right? Then you should just let me go—"

"Regrettably, that's impossible."

Lin Yun cut her off: "We are the Fang Ting City Special Tactics Bureau. We have no authority to directly liaise with Magical Girls from Bai'an City. Even if we confirm your identity, resolving this and releasing you requires following proper, regulated procedures."

"Procedures?"

Mugi Yurii looked confused: "What exactly does that mean?"

"We must first notify the Bai'an City Special Tactics Bureau. Then, your side's Bureau contacts your teammates; our Fang Ting Bureau contacts our local Magical Girls. Representatives from all parties negotiate, then document and archive the matter, and submit it to the Kingdom of Magic for final approval—only then is the matter fully resolved."

Lin Yun recited this mechanically, completely ignoring Mugi Yurii's increasingly pale face: "Of course, once we successfully contact your teammates, you may leave the Special Tactics Bureau immediately and no longer need to remain in this interrogation room."

By the time he finished listing these procedures, Mugi Yurii's face had lost all color.

"T-to notify that many people?" she stammered.

"Yes. That's the rule," Lin Yun nodded.

What he didn't say was that while the rule stated this, actual practice rarely followed it.

For most city Special Tactics Bureaus, since the Magical Girl is the city's most vital security asset, even if a Magical Girl causes trouble or makes a mess, the Bureau always prefers to downplay and bury the incident. Under layers of protection, no city's Bureau would ever handle a Magical Girl with such rigid formality.

After all, enforcing rules strictly is a minor matter—but damaging relations with the local Magical Girl is a major one. If it eventually escalates to the Kingdom level, even a justified case becomes unjustified, and the Bureau rarely comes out ahead.

Over time, the "rules" Lin Yun had just mentioned became mere rules; what was supposed to be "how things should be on the rules" gradually evolved into "how things actually cannot be." Only because he himself was familiar with the two Magical Girl squads, and was even the captain of one of them, did he have the confidence to say such things.

Of course, Lin Yun's intention in saying these things was merely to intimidate Mu Baihe; he would not really treat her this way. After all, if such a thing were truly carried out, Mu Baihe's reputation in the Magical Girl circle would be ruined. "Running to the Anomaly Bureau to steal things" would, even without causing any adverse effects, very likely become a lifelong joke on her, and any Magical Girl familiar with her in the future could bring this up to mock her.

Moreover, Mu Baihe's actions this time were clearly unauthorized; yesterday, she had even shown an attitude of refusing to explain the truth to anyone no matter what. If Lin Yun exposed this matter, she would not only be held accountable by her team but would even be forced to reveal her "secret." Such an outcome, she probably did not want to accept in any way.

Considering all this, Lin Yun chose to emphasize the consequences of this matter to see if he could intimidate the other party. And judging by the facts, the effect was very good.

"Can you... can you not do this?"

Mu Baihe, who had previously been unyielding to both soft and hard approaches, suddenly panicked: "I just wanted to check some things in your database; I caused no loss at all. Is it necessary to be this serious?"

"I heard that when you left, to avoid being caught, you almost blew up the filing cabinet beside you," Lin Yun pretended to recall.

"That was an accident! Just an accident! I didn't intentionally want to cause destruction!"

Mu Baihe loosely clenched her hands and waved her arms twice: "It's all because your people were shouting things like 'raise your hands, don't move,' which scared me. My subconscious wanted to use my Magic Armor to escape, but that was Magic Armor! Magic Armor! The power output was too great for me to control!"

"So?" Lin Yun looked at her.

"So I think my crime doesn't warrant this!"

Mu Baihe stood up: "Things like reporting this to the Bai'an City Anomaly Bureau, or even reporting it to the Kingdom..."

"That is part of the rules," Lin Yun blinked.

"I'm just saying, can we make an exception!" Mu Baihe shouted as if giving up on everything.

"Make an exception? You mean you don't want me to tell the Bai'an City Anomaly Bureau about this?"

Lin Yun continued to feign confusion: "But as I remember, when you were on a business trip to Bai'an City before, you said, 'The Anomaly Bureau has no jurisdiction over me.'"

"Of course the Anomaly Bureau has no jurisdiction over me; I wasn't talking about the Anomaly Bureau. I'm afraid of you..."

Mu Baihe stopped speaking halfway, realizing she couldn't reveal her true situation here. Instead, she walked forward two steps, approached Lin Yun, and put on a smiling face: "Um, Uncle?"

"What is it?" Lin Yun calmly shifted backward a bit to avoid being too close to the other person's face.

"It's just that, back in Bai'an City, I was wrong. Because I was too anxious, I misunderstood you as a bad guy."

However, Mu Baihe pressed on step by step until she grabbed the sides of Lin Yun's suit jacket. She raised her head, tears glistening in her eyes: "This time, sneaking into the Anomaly Bureau to look at the data was also my fault. I know my mistake now. Please, give me a chance. Forgive me; I will never do it again."

"You can admit your mistake frankly; that is good. I am very happy."

Lin Yun silently grabbed the hem of his clothes, pulled downward with force, and tore the fabric from Mu Baihe's hands: "But, this is not a follow-up to the previous incident in Bai'an City, so I think we should still handle this as an official matter."

"Don't! Please, don't! I beg you."

Seeing she could no longer grab Lin Yun's clothes, Mu Baihe ran to the side and grabbed his hand, eyes brimming with tears: "I really beg you, okay? Spare me. I'll tell you the truth: if you tell this to our captain, I'm truly done for. I will have a very, very miserable time from now on. Spare me, Uncle."

"Even if you say that..."

"I'll do something for you. As long as it's within my ability, anything goes. Is that okay?"

Mu Baihe wore an expression that said, "If you don't agree, I'll kneel before you": "Is one thing not enough? Two? Three? I'm a Magical Girl, you know! I can deal with many enemies your Anomaly Bureau can't handle! I'm very useful. If you hand me over, I'll be completely finished, okay?"

"... Forget it."

Lin Yun acted as if he had helplessly compromised: "You don't need to do that many things. Just promise me one thing, and I can pretend today never happened."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then, then how about adding one more thing? Let's also wipe the slate clean on the Bai'an City incident..."

"Don't even think about it. That counts as bribery."

"Tch, stingy."

"I advise you to have a slightly better attitude, little one. As you said, if I were a my lord with a slightly worse temper, your behavior just now would have been enough for me to report your case."

"I was wrong. I'm sorry." Mu Baihe stood at attention and saluted.

"Sigh, what a mess this is."

Lin Yun sighed genuinely this time. Thinking of the chaotic scene in the Fang Ting City outpost yesterday, he had to pull himself together and said, as if seriously: "Alright, let's talk about that one thing you need to promise me."

"Mm, okay."

Mu Baihe nodded quite obediently. But then, as if remembering something, she shrank her head with a red face: "Um, it has to be something legal, you know. I won't do anything too outrageous."

"... What are you thinking?"

Lin Yun barely restrained the urge to flick his finger on the small head in front of him. He organized his words slightly: "It will definitely be something legal and also moral. It's just that, for you, it might seem a bit outrageous."

"Eh?" Mu Baihe was stunned by his words. Her hands almost instantly moved to protect her shoulders.

"I already said, what are you thinking? At your age."

Lin Yun finally couldn't resist and tapped her head: "Don't think about all that nonsense."

"Then, then what could it be?" Mu Baihe's voice trembled slightly: "I, I'll say it first, okay? I'm only twelve, so the range of things that are illegal is very large... But if it's really legal, I'm not completely unable to do it..."

Lin Yun was too lazy to explain it to her anymore.

He waved at the camera in the interrogation room. Suddenly, the employee who had guided them earlier walked in holding a stack of documents.

"These are the documents you tried to look through when you previously infiltrated the Anomaly Bureau's archive."

Taking those documents, Lin Yun slapped them onto the table and then gestured to Mu Baihe: "Although we could deduce your purpose by analyzing the content, I would prefer to get that answer from your own mouth."

"Could you please tell me, what exactly were you looking for when you came to 'look through' these documents?"