Chapter 33: The Special Strategy Bureau

"The Special Strategy Bureau in Nanyun City replied yesterday, stating that their Sower has submitted a report to the Magic Realm and confirmed the existence of a Sower registered under the name 'Moko', although the relevant resume is entirely blank."

Several days have passed since Senior Cuique killed the pupa-stage residual beast, and Lin Yun and Hong Siyu are driving together to the Special Strategy Bureau.

Flipping through documents with a "rustle-rustle" sound, Hong Siyu sat in the car and said in a flat voice, "As for the disappearance of the previous Sower 'Nini' in Fang Ting City, the Realm's response was 'A record exists; please contact the Newly appointed magic girl to continue the previous verification'? Strange, was this matter reported to the Realm before? By the way, do they really have no intention of sending reinforcements?"

"... I expected it long ago; it's probably related to me."

Hearing Hong Siyu's words, Lin Yun, who was originally driving, suddenly spoke up and sighed, "When I retired back then, I should have had my name directly erased from the Investigation Bureau's records."

His identity as a magic girl was a hidden card for the local Special Strategy Bureau, but it was not one for the Magic Realm.

Magic girls in the Material Realm who obtain power will face a retirement period after completing ten years of service. At this stage, they have two choices before them: first, join the Magic Realm, which is full of mana, become a native of the Realm, thereby solving problems like mana decline, and continue serving as magic girls; second, remain in the Material Realm but retire from the identity of a magic girl, become an ordinary person, and simultaneously receive a very generous financial subsidy from the Realm side, sufficient to ensure financial freedom for the rest of their lives, living a peaceful and happy life.

Most magic girls who have fought fiercely for ten years, or are even weary of combat, will choose to retire. There are also magic girls who are unwilling to give up their mana, or unwilling to give up their youthful appearance, who will settle in the Magic Realm from then on. But regardless of the choice made, a record will be left on the Magic Realm's side.

And besides the aforementioned rules, there is actually an exception known as the 'Lifetime Magic Girl'.

When a magic girl establishes sufficient merit on an important occasion, the Wang Ting will preside over awarding this title to that magic girl. From then on, whether aging or injury will cause her to lose the power of a magic girl, and whether she stays in the Realm or the Material Realm, it is entirely her choice.

Lin Yun and Anya actually both belong to this exception.

This leads to the situation today where, even though Lin Yun has long since registered to cease activity, his codename remains on the lists of the Wang Ting and the Investigation Bureau, and even his retirement location in Fang Ting City is recorded.

More detailed information will not be left there, but it is already enough for people to know that there is an 'old senior' in Fang Ting City.

"Senior, are you very familiar with the Investigation Bureau?" Having retired through the normal process, and thus understanding these twists and turns, the former magic girl Hong Siyu tilted her head and asked with some confusion.

"I at least held the title of Patrol Inspector, and I dealt with them a bit in the past."

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Lin Yun clicked his tongue in thought: "I can even guess who made the decision."

"So, does that mean there are no reinforcements?" Hong Siyu leaned back against the chair, holding the documents.

"It means we can now only consider finding new people." Lin Yun was equally helpless.

But it's good that no one is being sent, he thought. Anyway, he didn't want to restore contact with certain 'old acquaintances'.

"Finding new people... there are only three people now, right?" Hong Siyu counted on her fingers, "Would it be better if a few more people joined?"

"I don't know, and, don't count me when tallying the numbers."

Lin Yun corrected with a displeased expression: "I do not wish for others to know about my return."

"Fine, fine—I'm about to grow calluses on my ears from hearing this."

Hong Siyu pretended to cover her ears and mumbled to dodge the issue: "But if you continue to be active, it will eventually get out, right?"

"Then we'll deal with it when it gets out."

Lin Yun set the tone for this conversation with a single sentence, and for the rest of the journey, the two never discussed this topic again.

And as the car gradually drove towards the destination, the building where the Special Strategy Bureau was located gradually came into view before the two of them.

The existence of the Special Strategy Bureau itself is not a secret, but the mode of operation varies depending on the city where it is located.

In Fang Ting City, the Special Strategy Bureau acts openly as an official agency, and even its office location is established squarely within the city district.

The car passed the gate post, Hong Siyu showed her work certificate to the guard, and after a round of verification by the other party, she was allowed to pass, formally entering the office area of the Special Strategy Bureau.

Lin Yun adjusted the steering wheel while looking at the building not far away through the car window, his mind filled with myriad thoughts.

The meeting request he submitted earlier was accepted by the Special Strategy Bureau several days later; moreover, this meeting was arranged within the Special Strategy Bureau, and the person receiving him would be the current Director.

Undoubtedly, the Director personally coming out to speak with him must mean she attached a considerable degree of attention to this matter, but whether this attention is well-intentioned or has ulterior motives is not yet known at present.

"Relax, don't wear an expression as if facing a great enemy; our Director isn't a very serious person."

Walking into the building beside Lin Yun, Hong Siyu said somewhat lightly, "She is quite talkative; feel free to ask whatever you want to ask."

"Your evaluation of her seems very good?"

Scanning a few key points of his own attire, Lin Yun said with some surprise, "Usually on the phone you complain about a pile of colleagues from the Special Strategy Bureau; I thought there were few people you could look up to."

"Shh! Don't say such things at the workplace!"

Hong Siyu immediately signaled him to be silent, and only after confirming no one was around left or right did she pat him: "That's scary; if colleagues heard it, wouldn't they misunderstand that I was slandering them behind their backs?"

"I think the word used here should be 'see through', not 'misunderstand'."

Walking to the elevator lobby and pressing the button to go up, Lin Yun looked at Hong Siyu: "Which floor?"

"The eleventh floor." Hong Siyu answered, then added, "In the early days of my work here, I received a lot of care from this Director; you can see she is a person with a lot of ideas. As an ordinary person who does not possess mana and cannot touch the extraordinary, she actually does her best in many things."

"Is that so?" Lin Yun's expression did not change, but in his heart he felt a bit more interest in the upcoming meeting.

The elevator rose quickly amidst a mechanical hum, the floor numbers on the display screen jumping constantly; before long, it arrived at the scheduled eleventh floor.

The two walked out of the elevator, Lin Yun followed Hong Siyu towards the interior of the floor, and after passing a corner, saw a pair of quite imposing wooden swing doors opened by the wall.

Hong Siyu stepped forward and knocked lightly on the door; after a "Come in" came from inside the door, she looked at Lin Yun beside her, then made a "please" gesture. So Lin Yun straightened his collar and walked alone into the office behind the swing doors.

What met the eyes was a floor-to-ceiling window, bookcases standing solemnly on both sides of the walls, and a huge desk in the center.

And an elderly lady standing up behind the desk, offering him a formal bow.

— "Hello, Mr. Lin Yun."