Chapter 9: After the Fierce Battle

After the great battle, the frenzied roars of the remnant beast and the crackling of clashing magic finally vanished.

The wetland park in the dead of night returned to the tranquility it should have possessed.

As the residual magic fluctuations and gunpowder smoke dispersed, only the beast's remains remained in the forest.

The mysterious girl in deep blue retracted the magic threads spread everywhere, and the small scissors in her hand transformed back into a wand. With a few agile leaps, she arrived beside the skeleton, retrieved a brooch-like item from its neck, and the remnant beast's body erupted with points of starlight, gathering toward it.

Lin Xiaolu, not far away, identified what the girl was doing after a brief observation.

She was collecting the remnant beast's "Echo".

And the so-called "Echo" is the collective term for the residual magic and soul fragments left after a remnant beast is defeated.

A magical girl defeats a remnant beast, obtains the Echo from its body, and hands it over to the Sower. The Sower then sends the Echo back to the Magic Kingdom, which judges the magical girl's contribution based on the Echo's intensity and issues corresponding rewards.

This is the remuneration mechanism between magical girls and the Magic Kingdom.

And right now, although Lin Xiaolu was the one who first discovered the remnant beast and initiated the battle, the mysterious magical girl who suddenly appeared undoubtedly delivered the final blow to defeat the remnant beast, so it is only natural for her to collect the Echo.

Lin Xiaolu struggled to approach and walked to the mysterious girl's side.

She did not care about matters like the Echo; she had other things she wanted to say in her heart.

However, before she could speak, the mysterious girl asked first: "You are a newcomer, right?"

"Ah? Uh, yes."

Caught off guard by the other's question, Lin Xiaolu instinctively responded, then remembered she also had something to say: "Um, thank you very much for lending a hand..."

"Where is your Sower? Didn't it tell you not to challenge remnant beasts beyond your own ability alone?"

Yet the mysterious girl's words came like a barrage of bullets, giving Lin Xiaolu no chance to continue: "And what about your companions? Didn't you notify them before you set out?"

Hearing the other's questions, Lin Xiaolu felt dizzy: "Sower is? Companions? I am alone..."

"Hah?"

Upon hearing this, the mysterious girl lowered her eyelids to look, her face full of disbelief: "You are alone? No, aren't you a magical girl from Fang Ting City?"

Lin Xiaolu stammered: "Um... that's right, is there a problem?"

The mysterious girl did not answer her.

Rather, her gaze was no longer on Lin Xiaolu, but on the fairy—Moko—who had been trying to diminish her presence beside them just now.

"Hey, fairy over there, are this child's Sower?"

Moko, who had been called, had been hiding behind Lin Xiaolu, constantly dodging the mysterious girl's gaze, but only reluctantly emerged when called out: "Um, hello?"

"It's not a greeting as casual as 'hello', is it?"

The mysterious girl put her hands on her hips and said somewhat aggressively: "I have a belly full of questions waiting for you to answer: why is this city, Fang Ting City, in this state?"

She pointed at the bewildered Lin Xiaolu beside her: "Such a big city, with only a novice magical girl who can't even use a magic armor?"

"This child has probably participated in fewer than five battles; in other cities, such novices require a Leaf-rank or higher magical girl to lead them into battle. You just left her alone to fight the remnant beast single-handedly; do you want to kill her?"

Moko shook its head hurriedly: "No, I never thought of harming Xiaolu!"

Lin Xiaolu on the side also explained: "It has nothing to do with Moko! I insisted on continuing the operation tonight myself!"

"Then why?"

The mysterious girl clasped her hands, looking determined to get to the bottom of things: "Where are the other magical girls of Fang Ting City?"

"I don't know..."

"Hm?"

Moko's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, looking guilty: "It's just, I mean, I don't know..."

"What are you saying? I don't understand."

The mysterious girl was expressionless: "The Sower doesn't know where the magical girls of the city they are responsible for are?"

"Um."

"Even though they are magical girls you personally signed contracts with?"

"Um..."

"Even though everyone must file records with the Magic Kingdom?"

"Uh... no, there's no reason to tell you, right?"

Moko showed very obvious hesitation on its face, but still stubbornly said: "Although I am a Sower, but, but I have no obligation to casually tell an outsider magical girl about the local personnel distribution, okay?"

Upon hearing this, the mysterious girl nodded in deep agreement: "Indeed, what you say makes a lot of sense; information confidentiality is a good quality of an excellent Sower."

Upon hearing this, Moko felt the other's stance soften, so it let out a long sigh. However, before it could finish breathing, the girl's next sentence made its expression stiffen again.

— "Then, what if I say I am an Inspector?"

"L-lies, d-don't, don't try to bluff me!"

The pink cat fairy shouted and waved its claws: "Y-y-y-you d-d-don't t-trick m-m-me! I d-d-don't b-b-believe y-y-you h-h-happen to b-b-be..."

Lin Xiaolu squatted nearby, exclaiming in amazement: "Moko, shaking like it's been electrocuted."

The mysterious girl looked at Moko with deep suspicion, but seriously pulled out a badge-shaped brooch from her collar. With a light tap of her finger, the shining magic circuits activated, revealing the pattern on its surface: a deep blue background with flower patterns engraved above; on the left, a name was faintly engraved in Favo runes but blocked by her extended finger; meanwhile, there was a crown-shaped shiny icon, with the number "" written in cursive script beside it.

She flashed the badge, and before Moko and Lin Xiaolu could see the writing on it, she put it away.

"Although you should have heard it just now, I will introduce myself anyway."

She coldly scanned the magical girl and fairy before her, lifted her head, and spoke somewhat reservedly: "I am an Inspector of the Magic Kingdom, a magical girl with Flower Card certification number, Cuique. I am now stationed here to investigate the abnormal situation in Fang Ting City; I hope you can cooperate."

The cat-shaped fairy widened its eyes: "Ah ah?"

"Ah ah ah, ah ah ah ah..."

The huge shock made Moko only able to squeeze out hoarse hissing sounds from its mouth; finally, with a dazed expression, it pulled at its head: "Meow meow meow? Meow meow meow. Meow meow meow meow!"

Lin Xiaolu also widened her eyes: "Moko is starting to talk nonsense!"

"Ah—really!"

After a brief struggle, the cat-shaped fairy couldn't help but grab its ears and shout in despair: "Alright! I admit it! I'm not the original Sower of Fang Ting City, okay? I snuck out on my own!"

"I only arrived in this city last month myself. I came to seek out a senior I knew, but after arriving, I found this city has absolutely nothing!"

"Senior Nini isn't here at all! There isn't a single magical girl in this city; instead, I was attacked by a Remnant Beast the moment I arrived! Then I discovered I had been inexplicably appointed as the Planter here!"

Hearing this, Lin Xiaolu on the side revealed a shocked expression: "Huh? Then could it be? At that time?"

Moke let out a bitter smile: "Yes, that Remnant Beast was coming for me. In my desperation, I saw you seemed to have the talent to become a magical girl, so I chose you!"

"Then why did you tell me I was a once-in-a-century genius destined to become the greatest magical girl?"

"It was all just nonsense I made up on the spot!"

"You also said that Remnant Beast appeared there randomly to attack citizens?"

"That was me making things up too!"

"Ah? Eh? You, you liar!"

"I am a liar! I'm just rotten!"

Seeing the relationship between the human and the spirit on the verge of breaking, the magical girl calling herself Senior Cuique had to speak up to stop their pointless quarrel: "Alright, you two, stop for a moment."

With a heavy expression, she pressed her palms together: "I need to confirm again. That spirit... is called Moke, right? You're saying you only arrived in this city last month, and at that time, you didn't discover the Planter or any magical girls in this city?"

Moke, having completely given up on herself, nodded with a gloomy face: "Yes, that's right."

"But you could still choose this person here..."

Lin Xiaolu raised her hand: "My name is Lin Xiaolu."

Senior Cuique turned back to look at Moke: "You could still choose to contract with Lin Xiaolu and make her a magical girl?"

Moke hung her head: "Mm."

Senior Cuique pressed on: "In other words, you weren't originally the Planter, but after arriving in Fang Ting City, you discovered you had been appointed as the Planter here?"

Moke continued nodding: "Mm."

"Unheard of."

Senior Cuique pinched her chin, pondering: "Transfer orders from the Magic Kingdom shouldn't be something so casual. Didn't you try contacting the Kingdom to understand the specific situation?"

Upon hearing this, Moke, who already had a gloomy face, buried her head even lower.

This caused some bad guesses to arise in Senior Cuique's heart.

"You, could it be..."

She couldn't help but point her finger at the cat-shaped spirit in front of her.

Moke tilted her head to the side, closed her eyes, and said:

"Yes, when I snuck out, I cut off all contact methods on my person."

"This is a disaster. I'm starting to feel a headache."

Upon hearing this, Senior Cuique couldn't help but hold her forehead with one hand: "In other words, all effective information sources are now invalid, what happened in Fang Ting City is completely unknown, and the current magical defense force is close to zero?"

"That's right, that's exactly it, my lord, you must help us!"

And Moke quickly established a connection, using her quite cute appearance as a spirit, with teary eyes and a pitiful expression, she leaned forward and hugged Senior Cuique's shoulder:

"Tonight is already extremely dangerous. If you hadn't suddenly arrived here, Nini and I would have been completely wiped out right here. If this continues, we definitely won't be able to withstand the increasingly strong assaults of the Remnant Beasts!"

"Stop sucking up! Let go first!"

Senior Cuique frowned and slapped it aside: "Need my help? How?"

Moke, having been pushed away, wasn't angry at all; a slightly ingratiating smile formed on her cat face: "Well, you just need to contact the Kingdom, and then request some support combat power first. If it were other Flower Card lords, they would..."

"Flower Cards? That's wishful thinking."

Senior Cuique glanced at it sideways: "And unfortunately, I must tell you, I cannot contact the Kingdom right now either, because I don't have a usable Magic Mirror on hand."

The cat-shaped spirit covered its mouth: "Can't contact? Could it be you also ran away..."

"No way, I was approved by the Wang Ting to act alone outside."

Senior Cuique slightly raised her eyelids, interrupting its groundless speculation: "The contact issue is purely my personal problem; I don't want to explain it for now."

The situation seemed to have reached a deadlock. Learning that reinforcements couldn't be requested, Moke returned to her look of having no will to live, while Senior Cuique was pondering something.

To be honest, she was a bit angry now, even thinking whether she should at least, in the name of "Patrol Officer," punish the spirit in front of her who was the "culprit"? But based on her past understanding of the unreliability of the spirit group, bullying them was the most meaningless thing.

Before she could make a decision, Lin Xiaolu, who had been left aside and forced to listen to gibberish for a while, finally found her chance to speak, hesitantly raising her hand:

"Um, Senior Cuique here... Senior?"

Senior Cuique turned her face to look at her, with a somewhat inexplicable expression: "Just call me Cuique."

"Then... Cuique?" Lin Xiaolu tentatively called out once.

"Why are you so hesitant?"

Senior Cuique raised her eyebrows slightly, clearly not very satisfied with Lin Xiaolu's reaction, but didn't pursue it further, bringing the topic back on track: "If you have any questions, ask quickly; no need for so much etiquette."

"Ah, then..."

Lin Xiaolu took a deep breath with some hesitation, her eyes wandering for a moment, then closed them, clasping her hands in front of her chest:

"I, I think it's great!"

"Huh?" Senior Cuique was stunned.

"I mean, you said let me see your battle, and now I feel great, my mood is very excited! No, I'm very moved!"

After shouting out what was in her heart, Lin Xiaolu seemed to completely give up on restraint, her speech speed getting faster and faster: "Until now, the throbbing in my heart won't stop, my heartbeat has always been very fast!"

"Since I was very young, I have always loved magical girl animations, thinking the magical girls in the animations were both cute and powerful, able to do many things I wanted to do but couldn't achieve, very shining!"

"Wanting to change myself, wanting to forget unpleasant things, wanting to fly out of a life that made it hard to breathe, so when I knew I could become a magical girl, I was very happy, feeling that my long-held dream could finally be realized!"

Speaking to this point, she finally paused for a moment, her speech speed slowing down: "It's just, after becoming a magical girl, I discovered that besides having to frequently fight disgusting monsters, nothing changed; I still hated everything around me, even hated myself."

"But, just now, when I was about to be killed by that Remnant Beast, feeling that I was about to say goodbye to this hateful world, Cuique, you appeared!"

"Your battle was very cool! Very beautiful! Just like a magical girl from an animation appeared before my eyes, just like a character from fantasy became real, so really, really moved!"

Lin Xiaolu's series of heartfelt shouts made Senior Cuique somewhat moved.

Because she never knew that her daughter actually thought this way.

Yes, her own daughter.

Senior Cuique was Lin Yun.

Lin Yun, who had driven dozens of kilometers from home to the park to save her daughter from a remnant beast, transforming into a magical girl again after nineteen years.

She did not reveal her identity to her daughter immediately; instead, she put on airs, brandishing her status as an "Inspector," deliberately speaking in an aggressive manner just to intimidate the planter named "Moke" and coax information from it.

She hadn't expected that while she did intimidate it, she got not a single bit of information.

Besides learning that Moke was a fraud and that the current situation in Fang Ting City was not optimistic, there was no new information at all.

On the contrary, it was her daughter Lin Xiaolu whose words caught Lin Yun completely off guard.

"And besides fighting, your weapons have great taste!"

During Senior Cuique's silence, she kept talking endlessly, her eyes shining as if stars were twinkling within them: "So imposing, it makes one feel steady and reliable!"

"Your face is cute, and your small stature is very cute!"

"Your clothes are also very beautiful!"

"Your way of speaking is so cool!"

This barrage of flattery, bordering on sickeningly sweet, left Senior Cuique increasingly at a loss; although she maintained a cold expression on her face, the corners of her mouth could not help but twitch.

Lin Xiaolu fired off a series of praises like a machine gun, and only at the very end did she bow deeply:

"So, I want to become a magical girl like you, to become the ideal version of myself. Could you please teach me!"

This sentence struck Senior Cuique with overwhelming force.

She could not help but begin to wonder how things had come to this.

Since Lin Xiaolu's birth, the father-daughter relationship between the two had been maintained for fourteen years, yet in all those fourteen years combined, she had never heard her daughter offer so many praises. Especially the phrase "I want to become someone like you"; even during the period when their father-daughter relationship was most harmonious, Lin Xiaolu had never said such words to her.

But it was precisely this sentence, which moved her deeply, that now placed her in an impossible position.

Her daughter had such recognition and longing for the "Senior Cuique" she was portraying; could she possibly reveal the truth to her at such a moment?

If her daughter learned that this "Senior Cuique," who had descended from the heavens and whom she admired so much, was actually that annoying old father, she might be very disappointed, right?

She might even hate him even more, making communication between them even harder in the future.

As these thoughts sprang into her mind, she felt a blur before her eyes; she saw Moke approaching again with teary eyes, saying with a sorrowful and affectionate expression: "Inspector my lord—"

"Senior Cuique!"

Lin Xiaolu also looked over, her eyes sparkling with stars.

Both the human and the fairy looked at her with imploring expressions; with two pitiful faces right before her eyes, Senior Cuique felt her thoughts gradually becoming confused.

Coupled with Lin Xiaolu's earlier praises, which made her, who had long suffered from a cold relationship with her daughter, feel a long-lost emotion, the less rational thoughts in her mind began to gain the upper hand.

"Fine, fine?"

Senior Cuique, in this situation, made a promise that her former self would absolutely never have agreed to.