Chapter 261: Searching

With Mo He's help, Senior Cuique was soon able to drive away from the Rainbow Wetlands.

During this process, what struck Senior Cuique as most strange was that Mo He's small car, which looked like a toy, had not only fingerprint verification but also a mana fluctuation detector as a backup method to start the vehicle.

After Mo He noticed Senior Cuique's feeling of strangeness, she seemed to interpret it as "interest in this car," so while helping Senior Cuique input the startup information, she couldn't help but introduce the car's additional features, such as windshield wipers that could project a cat silhouette onto the window, and a cigarette lighter that could not only ignite and charge but even recharge mana...

She really seemed to think her car was cool.

Senior Cuique fully grasped this fact once again.

However, while the other party had time to talk, Senior Cuique had no time to listen; after bidding farewell to the reluctant Mo He, Senior Cuique drove out of the Emerald District without hesitation.

Following Mo He's earlier introduction, Senior Cuique released a tiny bit of mana while pulling the control lever to switch to flight mode, and this toy-like small car descended toward the ground in a gliding posture.

In the Magic Kingdom, flying vehicles were indeed not rare, but personally piloting a flying car still produced a rather subtle sense of refreshment in Senior Cuique's heart.

If only she had had such a flying car during her previous commutes to work; then her commute wouldn't have been troubled by traffic jams.

While letting her mind wander with random thoughts, Senior Cuique found the nearest takeoff point, landed on the ground, and began driving toward the city district.

The night was deep, so most residential areas along the way had already turned off their lights; although public area lighting was bright enough, there was still an indescribable sense of loneliness. Senior Cuique looked left and right, ensuring she included all buildings on both sides of the road in her line of sight, but for the moment, she still hadn't found a suitable place.

Just as she had estimated earlier, most ordinary shops along the road had already closed; those still open were either magic item shops with strong national characteristics or night venues like bars and nightclubs, none of which met her needs. And Rune Nor seemed to have no custom of eating late-night snacks, so the small restaurants seen along the way were all closed.

It seemed she could only set her target on inns.

Thinking thus, Senior Cuique gradually clarified her objective and continued driving to search. Unfortunately, although she later found a few inns whose decoration styles seemed rather mediocre and didn't look quite like national architecture, most were already fully occupied.

— "Sorry, Young Lady; after all, it's the Queen's Year, and today's exam venue is right here in our district."

The front desk clerk of one inn even apologized while explaining the reason for being full to Senior Cuique: "Especially in our eastern districts, which are closer to the exam venue, it's very hard to find an empty room at this time. Perhaps it would be better to look for accommodation in the western districts."

The other party had spoken clearly enough, and their attitude was fine, so Senior Cuique could only thank them and leave. However, going to the western districts now was unrealistic for her—because time was running out.

As more districts passed by and the remaining time dwindled, she couldn't help but start feeling somewhat anxious. By the twenty-five-minute mark since leaving Lin Xiaolu, immense pressure caused Senior Cuique to entertain many dangerous thoughts; she even began considering whether to find an unopened shop and break the door down directly.

But this thought flashed through her mind and was immediately abandoned, not only because it involved breaking the law, but also because even if she broke in, it would just be a pitch-black shop. And if she turned on the lights inside, what if other passersby really thought it was open for business and walked in too?

Thus, thirty minutes after leaving home, Senior Cuique felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

Heavy-hearted, she took her phone out of her pocket; never before had she been so eager for the caller to be a subordinate of the Yice Bureau, or an official from another government department, or even a harassing call. However, the caller displayed on the screen extinguished all illusions:

【Little Lulu】.

Here it comes.

Not knowing whether she felt happy or distressed at this moment, Senior Cuique slammed on the brakes and sighed.

At this moment, she happened to stop in front of a bar with relatively classical decoration, because she had already known time was short and was considering whether to settle for a second choice: finding a night venue with a more serious atmosphere. And when Lin Xiaolu's call came, this place was destined to be her final choice.

Without answering the call immediately, Senior Cuique first parked the car by the roadside, then, taking advantage of the night, found a nearby alley without surveillance cameras, and in the darkness lightly touched the Flower of the Heart to undo the transformation.

The instant he stepped into the Magic Kingdom as Lin Yun's body, a strong sense of discomfort nearly made him vomit—since the Material Realm and the Kingdom were two completely different worlds, the fundamental laws composing each world naturally differed in many ways; if an ordinary person rashly entered the Kingdom from the Material Realm environment, mere nausea and dizziness would count as mild symptoms, and it would be good enough if their blood vessels didn't burst on the spot.

Fortunately, Lin Yun's entry wasn't entirely rash; previously, he had already passed through the Boundary Bridge using Cuique's identity and had adapted to this world for two days using Cuique's body. Although this was his first time acting with his original body, the adverse reactions weren't that severe.

This was also why magical girls needed to transform when passing through the Boundary Gate, and why ordinary people entering or leaving the Kingdom needed longer recovery periods at the Entry Station: magical girls' bodies adapted better to switching between different worlds, while ordinary people were much weaker; even with the help of the Boundary Bridge, they still experienced discomfort.

In fact, the three junior colleagues who arrived in the Kingdom had already attempted to undo their transformations on the first night; at that time, they too went through a considerable period of adjustment.

But now, there was no time for Lin Yun to adjust.

Leaning against the wall, he walked two steps out of the alley, suppressed the nauseous feeling, tightly gripped his phone, and walked toward the bar door not far away.

Upon entering the bar, one could see its decoration style was quite classical and elegant; dark golden wall lamps cast rippling halos on the oak wall panels, and glass lampshades with grapevine patterns hung from bronze lamp stands. The warm yellow lighting made the atmosphere inside the entire shop relatively cozy.

Behind the bar stood a middle-aged woman cleaning wine glasses; she must be the bartender here. The wall behind her was completely covered by a walnut wood wine cabinet, divided into many diamond-shaped compartments, each holding bottles of liquor from brands Lin Yun didn't recognize at all.

"Welcome."

Noticing Lin Yun's arrival, the bartender set the cleaned glasses aside and looked at Lin Yun: "What would you like to order?"

"It's my first time here; do you have any recommended drinks?"

Squeezing the phone in his hand, which had already become silent, Lin Yun knew he had intentionally missed his Daughter's first call. But undoubtedly, the next call would come very soon, so he spoke concisely: "Preferably not too high in alcohol content; I just want to try something new and don't plan to get drunk."

"First time here, don't want to get drunk? Then I know; you should try Silver Moon Spring Butterfly."

The bartender raised an eyebrow: "That's our specialty here."

"One glass."

With no time to choose, seeing that the other party had heard his request, Lin Yun nodded: "Also, find me a booth with no one around; I like quiet."