Chapter 91: Guests from the Kingdom

A few days later, at the Special Containment Facility of the Fang Ting City Anomaly Strategy Bureau.

At the main entrance of the building, Senior Cuique stood with her arms crossed, waiting silently alongside Hong Siyu.

Today was the day previously agreed upon with the Kingdom's faction; investigators from the Investigation Bureau would arrive to investigate the recent attack in Fang Ting City and return the rebellious magical girl involved, Sparrow, to the Kingdom.

After noon, the sun was still scorching, so the two had specifically sought out a shady spot. Yet even so, they felt intensely hot.

Fortunately, not long after, accompanied by several streaks of golden light mixed with the blinding sunlight, several figures slowly descended from the sky and landed steadily before the two of them.

These were three magical girls.

Unlike ordinary city guard squads, they wore uniform golden-yellow robes over their regular attire, topped with golden hard-topped hats that shimmered in the afternoon sun, appearing remarkably uniform and orderly.

The leading magical girl possessed a figure that would leave a deep impression on the opposite sex, with shoulder-length light red hair, yet she appeared quite serious and dignified.

Upon seeing Senior Cuique standing at the gate, she identified her, stepped forward proactively, performed a somewhat unusual salute, and said: "Nameplate authentication, Squad Leader Cat Tail, subordinate to the Investigation Bureau."

Her voice was full of energy, giving a steady impression.

"Flower card authentication, Inspector Cuique." Releasing her crossed arms, Senior Cuique returned the salute in kind.

"Cuique?"

Feeling somewhat puzzled by this codename, the magical girl who called herself Cat Tail asked: "Please allow me to confirm; if my memory serves, your codename should be Cornflower?"

"Changed." Maintaining the dignity befitting her status as an Inspector, Senior Cuique answered concisely.

"Very well then, my lord Cuique."

Possessing excellent professional competence, Cat Tail quickly overlooked these unimportant details and turned to the main topic: "We are a special investigation squad dispatched by the Investigation Bureau. The purpose of this visit is to receive the magical girl you arrested in this city, related to 'Claw Marks'. May I ask, is the one imprisoned here the former nameplate-verified magical girl, Jin Ling, who now calls herself 'Sparrow'?"

"Yes."

"Very well, then please tell us the specific location of her imprisonment."

Cat Tail saluted again.

The two team members behind her seemed to follow her lead, or perhaps felt awe at Inspector Cuique's status; they did not interject but immediately followed suit with a salute.

Senior Cuique did not reply; instead, she lifted her chin and glanced at Hong Siyu. The latter immediately understood, took over the conversation, offered a greeting to the investigation team, and then led the group into the Special Containment Facility.

The Special Containment Facility of Fang Ting City is essentially a prison targeting the magical side, mostly used to imprison magic users who violate regulations locally.

Using it to imprison a magical girl is actually a first for this facility. Setting aside whether such an institution has the capability to detain a magical girl, the Anomaly Strategy Bureau itself lacks the qualification to imprison and investigate magical girls.

Only in cases like Sparrow, a rebellious magical girl from the Kingdom, combined with the Investigation Bureau's approval, did Fang Ting City dare to imprison Sparrow here.

Even so, they only dared to place her in a single-person cell, with someone assigned specifically to guard her, fearing any unexpected incidents might occur midway.

The group followed Hong Siyu to the very top floor of the building, passing through a series of tightly closed metal doors. Not only the investigation squad, but even Senior Cuique scanned the surroundings with her gaze.

For her, this was also her first time entering this building since her return; upon closer inspection, she found that the scene inside had changed significantly compared to back then.

Perhaps due to technological advancement, or perhaps due to increased investment; in any case, within the Special Containment Facility, both the hardware facilities and the decorative embellishments were far more advanced than nineteen years ago.

"That magical girl named Sparrow has been quite energetic these past few days."

Leading the way ahead, Hong Siyu casually introduced to the investigation squad behind: "To be honest, if she hadn't been wearing that anti-magic formula around her neck, I wouldn't have dared to get close to her."

"Just a grasshopper in late autumn; of course, she'll have to kick around a bit."

Cat Tail commented expressionlessly: "Once she is taken back to the Kingdom, she probably won't have the chance to make any more noise."

"Are there rebellious magical girls like this in other cities too?" Hong Siyu asked in return.

"Yes, we are the squad specifically investigating Claw Marks." Cat Tail answered in a rigid, matter-of-fact manner.

This sparked a bit of interest in Senior Cuique, who was following alongside, so she asked:

"What exactly is the origin of these magical girls called Claw Marks?"

"Reporting to my lord, to be honest, we actually don't know clearly either."

Seeing that it was the "Inspector" asking, Cat Tail looked at Senior Cuique and answered seriously: "To be precise, it should be since the Great Calamity and Great Celebration nineteen years ago; from that time on, the number of rebellious magical girls began to increase, and within just a few years, they rapidly formed a living force resisting the Kingdom, constantly evading our capture."

"Nineteen years ago... You mean..." Senior Cuique frowned.

"Yes, not only the Great Calamity and Great Celebration, but also after your activities ceased, my lord."

Cat Tail said without hesitation: "So it is quite normal that you don't know about them."

While talking, the group had already reached the end of the corridor, standing before a specially made cell door.

Hong Siyu opened the door; Senior Cuique looked inside and found a young woman sitting calmly on a bed behind a transparent barrier.

Seeing the cell door open and several magical girls' faces appear behind it, Sparrow's calm expression gradually changed: if seeing Senior Cuique made her expression merely shrink back, then after the golden-robed investigation squad walked in, that expression turned into panic.

"Good afternoon, Sparrow! I've brought people again today!"

Clearly not concerned with Sparrow's thoughts, Hong Siyu greeted the transparent barrier quite familiarly and gestured to the investigation squad beside: "How about it? About to return to the Kingdom; do you feel the warmth of home?"

When did these two become so familiar?

Senior Cuique felt puzzled in her heart and couldn't help but glance at Hong Siyu, but she did not ask this question aloud.

Hong Siyu seemed to have sensed her confusion and grinned, saying: "This guy, while locked up here, was probably bored, so she chatted with me a few times."

Of course, regardless of how things were before, Sparrow clearly had no interest in chatting now.

Seeing several investigation team members approach, she retreated but couldn't retreat further; soon, two team members handcuffed her and dragged her out of the cell with a gloomy and desolate look.

"What will happen to her after she is taken back to the Kingdom?" Having witnessed the entire process, Senior Cuique asked from the side.

"Reporting to my lord, she will likely be interrogated; after a series of evidence collection, her sentence will be determined based on her crimes."

Cat Tail looked at Sparrow's retreating figure and said calmly: "If she did not commit any outrageous acts during her defection, she will only have her magic power abolished and return to being an ordinary person; if she has previously killed many innocents or participated in actions endangering the Kingdom, she will be imprisoned; if she has committed crimes of killing colleagues, she will be sentenced to death."

"Of course, if she can provide sufficient information about Claw Marks, the Kingdom will correspondingly exempt her from part of her crimes based on the usefulness of this information."

"Even if she has killed other magical girls?" Senior Cuique pressed.

"... Even if she has killed other magical girls." Cat Tail stated with certainty.

"Is that rebellious organization called Claw Marks that serious to the Kingdom?" Senior Cuique furrowed her brows.

"To be precise, it is very serious." Cat Tail shook her head, pulled something from inside her robe, and placed it before Senior Cuique, "But this is not something I should tell you; someone else wants to talk with you."

"Who?"

Senior Cuique looked at her hand with some confusion, but once she saw what had been taken out, her doubts quickly vanished.

For what the cat-tail had taken out was a mirror, more specifically, a communication magic mirror. And at the top of the magic mirror was set a small gemstone.

The gemstone's color was bright yellow, yet it carried a touch of deep green; upon touching the light, this deep green gradually faded, giving one the impression of a golden yellow.

Without a doubt, that was a chrysoberyl.

(End of this chapter)