Chapter 45: After Staying Overnight

In the early morning, waking from bed, Senior Cuique instinctively reached toward the pillow, then suddenly realized something and stopped her movement.

Because she remembered, this was not her own room, and someone was beside her: Xia Liang.

Bathed in morning light, Xia Liang lay on the bed breathing evenly, clearly still in deep sleep.

Memories from last night resurfaced; recalling her previous experiences, Senior Cuique couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

From now on, she never wanted to sleep with Xia Liang again.

Setting aside the fact that she had been held tightly the entire time before falling asleep, even after Xia Liang fell asleep, it took considerable effort for her to shift out of his embrace. To avoid waking the sleeping Xia Liang, Senior Cuique tried to slowly peel the other's hands backward, but several times the half-awake Xia Liang suddenly hugged her tightly again, rendering all previous efforts futile.

Not until the time approached dawn did she finally struggle free, at last escaping that stifling feeling of being imprisoned, allowing her to sleep properly.

Thus arriving at early morning, the awakened Senior Cuique jumped lightly off the bed. Shedding her pajamas, streams of blue magic threads surged up from beneath her feet; these threads coiled around her body in rings, then the light dispersed, reconstructing her usual dark blue dress.

After neatly covering the quilt on the bed, Senior Cuique glanced once more at the sleeping Xia Liang, confirmed her actions had not affected him, and then walked confidently toward the house's balcony.

—It was not that she left without saying goodbye of her own volition, but because she still had to go to work next.

For a junior high school student like Xia Liang, it was already summer vacation; having entered the holiday, one could sleep in to one's heart's content without worrying about being late. But Senior Cuique could not, because adults do not have summer vacations.

Rather, because she had stayed overnight outside last night, before going to work today she still had to sneak back home to fetch her briefcase and other office supplies.

Reaching the balcony of Xia Liang's home, Senior Cuique leaned on the railing, leaped lightly, and jumped directly into the air; afterward, with the surge of magic, she flew upward, soaring into heights beyond ordinary human sight.

To avoid having her flight noticed by others, Senior Cuique always controlled the presence of her magic, choosing high-altitude routes whenever possible, allowing her to avoid drawing attention to the greatest extent.

Choosing such a route was manageable during other seasons, but now it was summer. The sun rose earlier, and daylight hours were longer, so that in the morning, flying at high altitude forced her to face the somewhat scorching fierce sun directly.

Along the way, she squinted her eyes to adapt to the piercing morning sunlight of summer, occasionally lowering her head to survey the ground and confirm her flight path. Moments later, Senior Cuique found her own home and then rapidly descended. The windows of the high-rise apartment had limited opening angles, so she attempted to repeat her old trick, slipping back in through her own balcony.

Only this plan encountered an obstacle.

When she tried to pull open the balcony's glass door, she found the sliding door would not budge. Enduring the sunlight reflected off the glass, she looked inward through the door and saw that the internal latch was locked.

Very good security awareness, except it was locking out one of their own.

Senior Cuique made this evaluation in her heart.

After all, with her father away on business, it was certainly correct for a minor alone at home to lock the doors and windows.

Of course, such simple measures could only stop robbers or thieves; they were useless against a magical girl. Senior Cuique extended her hand and released magic, letting the magic in her hand seep through the gap in the balcony door; then, using her magical armor, she guided the magic threads from inside the door to move the security latch, finally unlocking it.

Standing still and hesitating for a moment whether to revert to her original form, Senior Cuique quickly reached a conclusion: enter first to check the situation.

Putting away her magical armor, she pushed open the balcony door, tried to keep her footsteps as light as possible, and walked toward her bedroom. But before she could even exit the living room, she heard a voice that made her heart skip a beat.

—"Inspector my lord?"

Turning her head, she discovered it was Moko, who was now lying prone on the sofa, lifting its head and looking at her with some astonishment.

Its wings lay flat against its back, its expression hazy, eyes sleepy, clearly just awakened from slumber.

Because Moko usually slept in Lin Xiaolu's room, and the spell previously cast on it could only roughly indicate its location within the house, Senior Cuique had never considered the possibility that it would be in the living room at this hour, resulting in her entire process of entering the house being completely witnessed.

A sense of post-fear inevitably rose within her; calming her heartbeat, which was far faster than normal, Senior Cuique felt somewhat fortunate that she had not chosen to transform back on the balcony just now.

And given the current situation, little reaction time was left for her, so she suppressed that nervousness in her heart and, pretending nothing was amiss, asked in return:

"You are here?"

"Hmm, yes?" Just awakened from a dream, Moko clearly had not yet grasped the situation.

"Then it is perfect; I came here specifically to find you."

Nodding, Senior Cuique said with grave seriousness: "I should have said last night that I would conduct special holiday training for Bai Mei and Xiao Jin."

"Special training... oh, for the certification test, right?" Realizing what Senior Cuique had said, Moko flapped its wings and sat up. "I know; what are your orders, Inspector my lord?"

Moko was usually a very mischievous and self-centered fairy, but only when facing Senior Cuique, or rather, when facing the title of "Inspector," did it display obedience and respect beyond all reason.

This was actually something that puzzled Senior Cuique greatly, but now was not the time to ask.

"I hope you will be responsible for supervising their training during the day."

With her arms crossed before her chest, she looked calmly at Moko: "Is that acceptable?"

Actually, in the original plan, she had not intended to have Moko take charge of this task; after all, no matter how one thought about it, this foolish Sower would find it very difficult to constrain two Newcomer magic girls.

She had originally planned to edit her training plan directly into text and send it to Lin Xiaolu via message, having her and Xia Liang follow it, while she herself would only be responsible for checking the results every evening.

However, at present, she had to think of a reason to bluff Moko, so she could only say this.

"Eh? Supervising Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang's training?"

Upon hearing this, Moko's ears immediately perked up, its expression clearly showing some interest, but it still demurred verbally: "If they are to participate in the test next year, wouldn't it be more secure for you to come yourself? Is it really appropriate to entrust such an important task to me now?"

"I have my own work during the day, so I cannot come personally."

Senior Cuique explained lightly: "Moreover, what is the problem? You are originally their Sower; taking charge of such matters is your job, isn't it?"

"But..." Moko still wanted to decline.

"I believe in your abilities." Senior Cuique stared at it seriously. "No one is born perfect; although you became the Sower by accident, having been selected, I believe you possess potential unique to yourself."

"Inspector my lord!"

Moko looked utterly overwhelmed: "You actually hold me in such high regard!"

"I do indeed hold you in high regard, but whether that potential can become actual strength depends on your performance." Senior Cuique pressed the advantage, speaking as if implying something more.

"Since you have said so..."

With an excited expression, Moko flapped its wings, leaped from the sofa, and shouted loudly: "Yes, leave it to me! I will definitely complete the mission!"

The conversation between the two sides ended amidst Moko's excited oath.

Next, Senior Cuique told Moko the training matters already prepared, using about ten minutes to make it understand its responsibilities.

With reasonable reasons and thorough evidence, Moko completely believed Senior Cuique's explanation and began to treat this task with full focus.

Although she had successfully bluffed her way through the situation, Senior Cuique also wanted to use this momentum to head to her own room, but seeing the expression of deep reverence on Moko's face, she knew doing so would only create new doubts in the other's mind.

If Moko developed doubts, Lin Xiaolu would inevitably develop doubts as well; this was something she did not wish to see.

Ultimately, unable to think of any other excuse, Senior Cuique could only maintain a cold attitude befitting a superior, and, amidst Moko's respectful gaze, left her own home with an air of arrogance, though inwardly sighing.

On this day, Lin Yun, who had gone to work without his bag, made three additional apology calls for this reason.