Chapter 58: The Daughter's Confession

"Hurry, the Remnant Beasts should have already started moving; there's no time!" Amidst the chaos, Moke urged from the side.

The customers in the restaurant had all crowded toward the entrance, and there was nearly a stampede in the hallway outside. Right in the middle of this clamor, Xia Liang spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Uncle, Xiaolu."

She wore an apologetic expression and smiled with polite formality: "I, perhaps, cannot just run away like this."

"Don't be willful, you are currently..." Lin Yun wanted to persuade her, but the words were forced to a halt on his lips because Xia Liang's next action exceeded his expectations.

Right in front of the two of them, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a circular gemstone without any hesitation.

That gemstone emitted a mallow-purple, misty glow; it was perfectly round and flawless, flickering unsteadily in the gazes of the few of them.

And everyone present knew that this was her Heart Seed.

"Uncle, I am a Magical Girl."

Xia Liang opened her palm, placed the Heart Seed in the center, and looked at him earnestly: "If I leave now, there will be no one to repel the Remnant Beasts."

Lin Xiaolu, standing to the side, looked at her in astonishment. It took her a great deal of effort to realize Xia Liang's intent, and just as she wanted to say something, she saw Xia Liang wink at her.

—It is enough for only me to confess.

She understood that this was what Xia Liang wanted to express.

"Is this a toy? Now is not the time for jokes!"

Lin Yun continued to feign ignorance, wanting to help her cover it up, but Xia Liang did not give him that chance again. Following a flash of light, the Heart Seed in her hand flew up, accompanied by scattered streams of magic power that even ordinary people could see.

She did not transform on the spot, as there were still other civilians around.

"You, you are actually a Magical Girl..."

At this point, even Lin Yun did not know how to react; he could only recite his dull, insipid lines somewhat mechanically.

Given the current situation, Xia Liang's behavior was actually not a problem: one of the three had to strike immediately, and since neither Lin Xiaolu nor Lin Yun wanted to expose their identities, she had to be the one to clarify everything.

She also truly had no need to hide her identity from Lin Yun; after all, Lin Yun was Lin Xiaolu's father and had no deep entanglements with her. In this situation, even revealing her true identity was not a problem.

It was just that while the logic held, the fact that she could make such a swift decision still caught Lin Yun off guard.

In fact, this could also be considered his own cognitive bias.

Based on his own experience, exposing one's true identity was indeed a very serious matter, but he had subconsciously overlooked one point: regarding the matter of true identity, other Magical Girls were different from him.

They hid their identities only to protect their personal privacy, unlike him, who was completely afraid to let strangers know his true identity.

Xia Liang confessed her identity and prevented Lin Xiaolu from speaking out because she intended to resolve the Remnant Beasts herself, thereby providing cover for Lin Xiaolu.

Lin Yun could likewise guess her thoughts and knew there was no need to persuade her further.

So he turned to look at Lin Xiaolu: "Then Lulu, we..."

"Dad."

Without picking up his thread, Lin Xiaolu first glared at Xia Liang, then took a deep breath and suddenly called out.

Since the father and daughter had fallen into conflict two years ago, this was the first time she had properly said this form of address.

For Lin Yun, this was also a long-lost form of address.

If he had heard his daughter call him this on an ordinary day, he would certainly have felt very happy—in fact, he still did—but at this critical juncture, he knew what it meant for his daughter to say this word.

"Thank you for always pretending not to know, but it is no longer necessary now."

She turned her head to look at Lin Yun and said calmly: "I have to go, because I am also a Magical Girl."

Having said that, she also reached out and opened her palm.

A pale blue Heart Seed lay there; except for the color, it was identical in form to Xia Liang's.

Long before this, she had already understood that her identity as a Magical Girl might not be a secret. The reason she had not admitted this to Lin Yun was simply because she felt it was not yet time, and she still needed courage.

And now, at such a moment, she had already made her decision.

Lin Yun sat back down in his chair.

The location of the Remnant Beast's attack was some distance away from here, so there was actually no need to rush to escape. The evacuation notice from the Extraordinary Strategy Bureau was just a precaution, and the panic of the other customers was merely out of fear of the Remnant Beasts.

Two Magical Girls were right before his eyes; even if he were truly just an ordinary person, there was no need to consider "precautions," and acting so terrified would be illogical.

His gaze swept over the two girls in front of him, and the remaining tension on his face faded, turning into helplessness: "...You've decided?"

"Yes." Lin Xiaolu nodded earnestly.

"It has to be us," Xia Liang also repeated.

"...Sigh, you two."

Lin Yun was somewhat between laughter and tears: "Wouldn't it be better to go out with me and pretend to get separated? It clearly hasn't reached a point where there's no other way. You've hidden your identities for so long, is it really okay to give up so easily now?"

"What is it, you really knew all along, didn't you?"

Lin Xiaolu drooped her eyelids and muttered: "You acted so well, you made me perform so hard."

Shaking his head, Lin Yun did not reply.

"Do you need one of us to stay and send you out first?" Xia Liang suddenly suggested, "It's not safe to just walk out like this."

"You are both going to fight monsters, what danger could I possibly be in here?"

Lin Yun waved his hand at her: "It's enough that we adults rely on young girls to fend off the enemy; how could there be any reason to make you go out of your way to protect me?"

"Go, aren't you two in a hurry? We can talk about anything after you return, but I have only one request for you."

He turned his face, looked at Lin Xiaolu earnestly, and exhorted her with deep feeling: "No matter what, stay safe."

It was not through the voice of Cui Que, but for the first time as a father, that he said these words to Lin Xiaolu.

However, compared to when he first learned that Lin Xiaolu had become a Magical Girl, both of their mindsets had changed.

It had been nearly two months since his daughter became a Magical Girl, and he had seen all the effort she had put into becoming stronger during these two months.

Perhaps the identity of a Magical Girl was indeed dangerous, but it was also the only means for an ordinary person to obtain true magical power, and a precious opportunity that countless mages sought but could not attain.

She had already embarked on this path, so his only remaining choice was to help her walk it more steadily and go further.

Lin Xiaolu did not answer again.

She took a deep look at Lin Yun, swept her gaze over Moke and Xia Liang, and then turned to run out of the restaurant.

Moke followed closely behind, while Xia Liang smiled at Lin Yun before catching up with them.

Lin Yun returned a goodbye gesture and sat where he was without moving. Because he planned to wait until they left, then find a corner with no one around to transform into Cui Que, ensuring someone was there to back up the two newcomers.

Just as he was calculating this in his heart, Xia Liang, who was in front of him, suddenly stopped.

—"Ah, come to think of it, I almost forgot."

She stood at the restaurant entrance, as if she had remembered something, took out her phone, and began flipping through her contacts:

"Just in case, I should still call the little senior."

She said these words lightly, but at the same time, Lin Yun, who was still feigning ignorance, remembered a very critical matter that he had been forgetting: Cui Que's phone was on his person, and furthermore...

It was not turned off.

Thinking "this is bad" in his heart, he subconsciously reached for the inner pocket of his coat, but he could no longer catch up to Xia Liang's actions.

Before his hand could touch the outline of the phone, he saw Xia Liang lift her eyelids slightly, clearly having already found Cui Que's phone number.

He wanted to open his mouth to shout, but he understood that even his voice could no longer stop Xia Liang.

She smiled beautifully, while he smiled bitterly and wordlessly. Then, as she pressed the call button on the screen, a few seconds later, Lin Yun looked somewhat stiffly at his own chest.

A pleasant ringtone sounded from that spot, melodious and graceful, echoing through the already empty restaurant.