Chapter 349: Mint's Conditions

Mint indeed demonstrated sufficient "sincerity."

In her subsequent conversation with Lin Xiaolu, she stated that although she was not a direct participant in this Black Ember Dawn operation, she could provide the list of the "Beast Children" in this assessment. In other words, as long as the people from the Research Institute and the Demon Affairs Institute kept a close watch on the actions of these few Beast Children during the assessment, they would inevitably see something.

However, as a condition of the exchange, Mint hoped that the people from the Kingdom would not startle the snake.

— "I do not wish for my organization to learn of this act of 'betrayal' of mine."

She expressed her thoughts to Lin Xiaolu very bluntly: "If the Kingdom closes the net too quickly, they will easily know that I leaked the list. Even though I am a Beast Child, I would face severe retribution."

"After you wipe out these guys who infiltrated the Kingdom, you can just stay in the Kingdom, right? The people of Black Ember Dawn wouldn't come to the Kingdom specifically to take revenge on you, would they?" Lin Xiaolu countered.

"The last thing Black Ember Dawn lacks is madmen, especially those from the Descent Faction and the Restoration Faction. If they truly believe I ruined their good deed, then I'm afraid I'll never have a single day of peace in my life."

Mint finished the drink in front of her and, somewhat bored, stirred the ice cubes with a straw: "Moreover, my parents are still in the Material Realm."

"... Ah." Lin Xiaolu immediately fell silent.

No further explanation was needed; as a Magical Girl, she could very well understand the problem Mint was worried about.

"Undoubtedly, I am a very selfish person."

Seeing that Lin Xiaolu did not respond, Mint continued: "I hope my family can remain safe, and I hope my future life will be sufficiently fulfilling. Although I was born into Black Ember Dawn, I consider that I have never done anything evil. I want to continue being a Magical Girl, obtain the White Card certification, and even in the future obtain the Character Card certification, the Flower Card certification, and become an extraordinary great figure."

"But now, the premise for all of this is that my identity cannot be exposed, whether on the Kingdom's side or on Black Ember Dawn's side."

Speaking to this point, she closed her eyes: "So I hope you will leave me a way out; otherwise, my days ahead will be a bit too difficult."

Lin Xiaolu fell into thought.

Although not skilled at such matters, she also knew that she must give a corresponding response here; otherwise, it would be equivalent to snapping off the olive branch Mint had extended.

"... You said you haven't done anything bad?"

After thinking for a moment, she felt that based on the current information, she still could not make a definitive conclusion, so she opened her mouth to ask again: "But you are already a Beast Child, aren't you?"

"The thing I sacrificed was a Wretched Beast, not a human."

Mint smiled helplessly: "I don't want to tell you about those experiences that aren't suitable for children to hear, so

you just need to know the general idea. We in Black Ember Dawn are not a monolithic block; with so many people, there will inevitably be different ideas. I, along with my guardian and my mentor, belong to the relatively progressive faction. We pursue using the power of Wretched Beasts for humanity, rather than wanting to start some kind of cult like those madmen."

"But you still lock children together with Wretched Beasts, letting them fight the Wretched Beasts?"

Lin Xiaolu stared at her: "And hearing this come from the mouth of someone from Black Ember Dawn, how can I possibly believe it?"

"You don't need to believe it right now; time will verify everything I say." Mint sighed: "So? I've said so many things; shouldn't you at least give me an attitude?"

Lin Xiaolu did not respond immediately but analyzed the situation in her mind.

The current situation was that people from Black Ember Dawn and Claw Mark had infiltrated Rune Noire, and even special existences like "Beast Children" had mixed into the examination venue as candidates. These people were inevitably plotting something detrimental to the Kingdom and also detrimental to the Magical Girls.

In response, the price Mint offered was: she could provide the list of these Beast Children.

And the corresponding requirement was that she hoped Lin Xiaolu and others would not reveal her identity as the information source to the Kingdom, while the Kingdom side would not startle the snake, but first observe the situation, waiting for a suitable moment to strike, thereby ensuring that she, this "mole," would not be dragged out by the internal forces of Black Ember Dawn.

In other words, she, this "mole," wished to remain anonymous.

Undoubtedly, if Mint had not told lies—that is, if she herself indeed had not done anything bad and did not intend to in the future—then letting her off the hook in exchange for the infiltration list of Black Ember Dawn was indeed a good deal.

But a person from Black Ember Dawn claiming she is not a bad person; what credibility does such a statement have?

Lin Xiaolu felt her head heating up.

"... I cannot make this decision myself, but I can help you ask my Captain."

After deep consideration, she chose to spare her brain.

"Cornflower?" Mint blinked her eyes.

"Mm." Lin Xiaolu naturally knew that the Cornflower in the other party's mouth was Senior Cuique; in fact, ever since arriving in the Magical Kingdom, she had heard this codename more and more often. However, even after hearing it many times, this name still made her feel a subtle sense of strangeness and alienation, as if every time Senior Cuique was called "Cornflower," the distance between her and herself grew a little further.

Initially, she would feel a secret joy upon learning of Senior Cuique's past, but as time passed, the current her even did not want her own mouth to utter this name, so she merely vaguely agreed to Mint's question.

She did not notice that after she confirmed she could contact Cornflower, Mint's face of

boredom instantly became bright.

"If looking for Cornflower... mm, oh well, it should be possible after all."

She pondered as if talking to herself: "No, rather, Cornflower is actually a more suitable arbiter? After all, rumors say she has a significant conflict with the Kingdom's Wang Ting..."

"Hey, you, don't slander other people's captains in front of others."

Lin Xiaolu narrowed her eyes with some dissatisfaction: "Or do you just want to fight?"

"Understood, understood, my mistake."

Mint raised both hands: "I think contacting Cornflower is a good idea, mm, rather, it's a very great idea!"

Her mental state, as if she had suddenly taken some stimulant, made Lin Xiaolu look suspicious.

"What the heck?"

She couldn't help but scrutinize Mint: "Could it be that you have some sinister plot?"

"What sinister plot could there be in making a phone call?"

Mint rubbed her hands together, her eyes flashing: "Come, let me communicate with Lord Cornflower... no, let me report the situation!"

Lin Xiaolu suddenly felt that her decision to suggest calling Senior Cuique seemed to be a wrong one.

"You will report?"

"Yes, otherwise what?" Mint countered.

"Why?" Lin Xiaolu protected her phone.

"Because the situation I know is the most specific, and the information I convey is more accurate."

Mint spoke with righteous indignation: "If you convey it for me, wouldn't the information become distorted?"

It had to be said that the reasoning in her mouth indeed held a bit of sense. So much so that after a brief struggle, Lin Xiaolu no longer questioned it and instead dialed Senior Cuique's number.

— "Hello? Bai Mei?"

In less than three seconds, the call was answered.

"Uh, um, Senior Cuique?" Lin Xiaolu organized her words.

"You speak."

"I arranged a meeting with that Magical Girl who took the assessment with us. Our guess was right; she says she's from the Black Ember Dawn and can provide a list of Black Ember Dawn infiltrators in the exam hall, but she has some conditions she needs to discuss with you..."

"Is she beside you?"

"Mm."

"Fine, let her take it."

Lin Xiaolu hesitated before handing the phone to Bohe.

For some reason, though everything seemed perfectly normal at the moment, her intuition told her that something... ominous might happen next? Yet this intuition had no factual basis, so she chose to suppress that strange feeling.

Thus, it was Bohe's turn to speak.

She smiled and greeted with her rather refreshing voice:

"Ah

?? Hello, Your Excellency Cornflower?"

"I am. What are your conditions?" The voice on the other end of the phone was cold and rational.

Yet, Bohe seemed completely unconcerned by this attitude.

In fact, upon hearing just that single sentence, under the gaze of Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, she suddenly closed her eyes.

She cupped her face with one hand, tilted her head back, and took a deep breath:

— "Yaaaaaah! It's the real person! Oh my god, I can stop breathing right now!"

Then, she let out a strange scream that sounded utterly inhuman.