Chapter 259: Borrowing a Car

Running all the way toward the exit of the Rainbow Cloud Wetland, Senior Cuique gripped her mobile phone tightly while pondering which direction to head next.

Staying in the Rainbow Cloud Wetland was impossible; as one of the most distinctive inns in the Emerald District of Runnore, both its exterior scenery and the interior decor of its view rooms were so unique that anyone who had visited would never mistake it. If she took a video call here, she would absolutely be exposed.

Not taking the video call was also impossible; she had worked so hard to repair her relationship with Lin Xiaolu to this point, and even her daughter planned to make a cake specifically to celebrate her birthday. If she didn't take the call at this critical juncture, it would simply render all her efforts futile.

Therefore, she now had to find a place: one where she could transform without drawing attention, yet also allow her to linger as Lin Yun, and where the background in the video call would not arouse suspicion.

The streets of the Non-Magic Zone and the Emerald District wouldn't work; like the Rainbow Cloud Wetland, the street scenes in these places were too characteristic of the nation. Ordinary shops and restaurants might do, but it was already late at night, and probably few ordinary stores were still open. Bars and nightclubs theoretically would be operating, but if she took a call in such a place, being recognized by Lin Xiaolu would only escalate into a trust crisis on another level...

So what should she do now? Go to the Non-Magic Zone to find a shop she could enter, or fly at full speed to the Jade Book Gallery right now, hoping the Emerald would help her?

There was no doubt she could only choose one of these two options, because the time Lin Xiaolu needed to finish the cake would not be long. Even if Xia Liang might be able to cover for her, she couldn't delay the progress too much. She had to decide quickly where to go.

Should she go to the Research Institute, or to the Non-Magic Zone?

The advantage of going to the Research Institute was that the Emerald would likely help her solve her current problem. But at the same time, setting aside whether troubling the other party over such a small matter would make her seem like a partner making too many demands, even if she really went to the Research Institute now, it would take a lot of time just to fly there, and to see the Emerald she would have to deal with the administrators on the institute's perimeter, waiting for them to report up through the layers... Would she really make it in time to see the Emerald before the cake was done?

If she went to the Non-Magic Zone, the advantage was that the distance was much shorter; she could jump down directly from the Emerald District and probably land within the area in five minutes. But the problem, as stated before, was that she couldn't use magic there, and could only walk slowly along the streets of the Non-Magic Zone; she might not find a building that met her requirements in time. Unless she could obtain a vehicle suitable for the Non-Magic Zone, like a car...

A car?

A flash of inspiration in her mind made Senior Cuique stop in her tracks.

Yes, she did know a way to get a car: Mo He's car was currently parked at the docking area at the entrance of the Rainbow Cloud Wetland, and Mo He herself was also living here; it seemed she could go ask Mo He to borrow the car?

Although this plan also had many uncertainties, such as whether Mo He would actually be willing to lend her the car, such as Mo He's companions should have already returned to the Rainbow Cloud Wetland and she couldn't be sure they were people easy to approach, and such as what if Mo He had already fallen asleep... But these uncertainties seemed far more reliable compared to relying on the efficiency of Research Institute staff in passing messages, or relying on having enough good luck while walking on foot in the Non-Magic Zone.

Even if she was rejected, it didn't matter; compared to rushing out now like a headless fly, asking the other party a question before leaving wouldn't waste much time.

Thinking this, Senior Cuique turned her steps and walked directly toward the direction where she remembered Mo He lived.

And as it turned out, her luck was not bad, because when she saw the view room where Mo He lived, the lights inside were still bright, shining on the surroundings through the visual barrier spell.

The other party had not yet gone to bed, so the difficulty of communication was already halved. Senior Cuique walked up, raised her hand to write several Favo runes in the air, then sent the spell formed by these runes into the receiving device nearby, and stood at the door waiting.

Because she had left in such a hurry, she was not wearing the coat she had bought earlier that day; she only had a thin single-layer shirt on. The evening breeze of early spring carried a chill, and although she hadn't felt it while running, now it made her notice a bit of cold, so she couldn't help but tighten her clothes.

Not long after, the visual barrier spell in front of her was dispelled, and a figure walked out of the small house, gradually appearing in Senior Cuique's field of vision.

It was a girl with brown curly hair, whose apparent age was about the same as Lin Xiaolu's, or rather, about the same as Mo He's. She was wearing a cartoon-animal-style plush hooded pajama set, with a sleepy expression on her face.

"Who is it?"

While rubbing her eyes, she walked to the door, a half-dried saliva stain still hanging on one side of her round face, indicating the fact that she had just been sleeping.

Undoubtedly, the age of a Magical Girl is hard to define by appearance, but the other party possessed a very subtle childishness unique only to children; this childishness only appears on those Magical Girls who are truly very young, which is why people feel she is a child.

"I apologize for disturbing you so late. May I ask, is Mo He in?"

Guessing in her heart whether the other party was Mo He's current junior, Senior Cuique bowed very politely on her face and asked the other party: "I am her friend, and I have something to ask her now."

"Mo He... who?"

The girl with brown curly hair couldn't help but cover her mouth and yawn, looking at Senior Cuique with a confused gaze: "Did you get the wrong place? I don't know anyone named Mo He."

"You don't know her?"

This answer surprised Senior Cuique a bit. She instinctively suspected whether she had really found the wrong place, recalling the direction she and Mo He had gone yesterday, but after a moment of recollection, she could confirm that the small house she saw at that time was undoubtedly this one.

So, what exactly is the situation now? Did Mo He make a mistake back then? Or did she move away? Change rooms?

Just as Senior Cuique was pondering what she should say next, another figure appeared behind the girl.

And this figure was also not Mo He.

That was a girl who looked a bit older than the curly-haired girl, with long pale golden hair that almost reached her knees, and a pair of upturned eyes that made her seem unfriendly. She was currently wearing a very high-quality lace nightgown, walked over to the curly-haired girl with a cold expression, and looked in Senior Cuique's direction.

"Who?" she asked in a slightly hoarse voice.

Almost the instant their gazes met, her pair of icy golden eyes made Senior Cuique feel a wave of discomfort.

But whether her gaze was comfortable or not was actually not important; what was more important was that Senior Cuique realized that although her appearance had changed considerably, she knew this person.

Heidi Abimael; that was the other party's name. As a Magical Girl, her codename was Tulip.

The reason she knew the other party's codename and real name was only because twenty years ago, Senior Cuique had seen her when she was still a girl—as the daughter of...

the Magical Girl with the codename Amaryllis, Myeluna Abimael, who was the Legion Commander of the Runnore City Defense Force.