Birthday Party

Rewind a few hours, before Larkspur and Xia Liang returned, in the afternoon, Bai Jingxuan and Lin Xiaolu, having finished lunch, began decorating the living room.

They only learned about Xia Liang's birthday from Larkspur. Larkspur's task for them was to prepare a surprise for Xia Liang before the two of them returned.

After a short lunch break, Lin Xiaolu took the initiative to take charge of decorating the living room, while Bai Jingxuan went to the entrance hall, took out the colorful flags and lights she had prepared, and hung them on the ceiling.

Because of their short stature, both of them chose a very clever method: they transformed into magical girls and used their flying abilities to Hover in the air, making it easier to complete the necessary arrangements.

Bai Jingxuan carefully arranged the ornaments at the same intervals, and while slightly relieved, she glanced towards the living room and saw Lin Xiaolu's equally meticulous work from behind, which made her fall into thought.

She had been in the Fangting City Squad for over a month, but she still didn't understand the relationship between the three senior members.

Her teacher, Senior Larkspur, was the team leader and truly lived up to her responsibilities as a senior, guiding each magical girl in the team. She was someone Bai Jingxuan found very respectable.

However, while the relationship between myself and my teacher was indeed just that of teacher and student, the relationship between my teacher and the other two senior colleagues seemed to be more complex, with a side that I had not yet seen.

As for the other two seniors, the relationship between Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang was even more perplexing to her.

Lin Xiaolu always seemed to be angry with Xia Liang, while Xia Liang always deliberately provoked Lin Xiaolu. The two were always at odds on the surface, and whenever they were together, they would always argue about trivial things. This situation even made Bai Jingxuan want to mediate between them.

But after she investigated a little more, she discovered that things seemed to be a little different from what she had imagined.

The mutual hostility between these two doesn't seem to stem from simple animosity. Rather, although Bai Jingxuan isn't entirely clear on the situation, their relationship doesn't seem as bad as it appears on the surface.

After all, if Lin Xiaolu really disliked Xia Liang, she wouldn't be preparing for his birthday with such joy, would she?

"After all, she's just not a very honest person."

A voice suddenly rang in her ear.

Turning her head to the side, Bai Jingxuan saw a pink cat floating beside her, yawning.

"Ah, Moko, you're back!"

Having just finished her work, Bai Jingxuan descended from the sky, a faint smile on her face, and looked at Moko, asking, "How was today? Did you find a new magical girl?"

"No, no, there's absolutely no progress."

Flapping its wings, Moko hugged its paws with a helpless expression. "It's strange. Since that incident, there are fewer Aberrant Beast, and the prospective magical girls have disappeared. Doesn't that mean I'm completely useless?"

"Isn't it better to be peaceful like this? Moko, you don't really like fighting, do you?"

"No way! I am your Seeder. Without the Aberrant Beast and new people, what difference is there between me and a pet living in a human's home?"

"... Can it talk?"

"Xiao Xuan! How could such a good child like you say such vicious things!"

"Huh? But Moko really talk, right? It's different from ordinary pets, isn't it?"

"I'm not a pet! Don't judge me by pet standards!" Moko cried out indignantly.

"You two, stop chatting idly and come lend a hand!"

Lin Xiaolu, in the living room, snapped irritably, "The work isn't finished yet, how can you two have time to chat?"

"Sorry, Sister Xiao Lu, I'm coming right now."

Bai Jingxuan hurriedly ran to the living room with the ornaments she hadn't finished using, then looked up at Lin Xiaolu in the air and asked, "Which side should I deal with?"

"The side closer to the balcony."

Lin Xiaolu casually pointed and continued with her work.

Bai Jingxuan didn't ask any more questions. She floated back into the air and followed Lin Xiaolu to finish the remaining decorations.

Because they saved the time of climbing and moving around using ladders like most people would, the two of them were actually very efficient. They completed the task in no time and decorated the entire first floor of the villa to their desired appearance.

Gathering up the remaining wrapping paper and decorative debris on the floor, I looked around the living room.

"Sister Xia Liang will be very happy to see all this when she comes back, right?"

"How dare she be unhappy?"

Lin Xiaolu said irritably, "I've put in so much effort to please her, if she's unhappy, I might just turn on her."

"How could that be?" Bai Jingxuan shook her head. "Although I'm not Sister Xia Liang, if it were me..."

"Are you a little envious?" Lin Xiaolu asked, turning her head to the side.

"Ah? No, that's not what I meant. I didn't mean to trouble you..." Bai Jingxuan waved her hands, trying to cover up her misunderstanding after her little scheme was exposed.

"It's no trouble at all; you'll have it too, on your birthday."

Lin Xiaolu glanced at Bai Jingxuan: "You can start thinking about what kind of cake you want for your birthday now."

"This is way too early! My birthday is still a long way off!"

Bai Jingxuan instinctively wanted to deny it, but she couldn't help but feel a little longing. "But, a birthday cake..."

"There's nothing too early, is there? What could possibly be a problem?"

Lin Xiaolu scoffed, "We'll see. Everyone has their birthday, and next year on my birthday, I'll be sitting on the sofa ordering Xia Liang around doing chores for me!"

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Jingxuan blinked and couldn't help but ask bluntly, "Sister Xiao Lu, you always talk badly about Sister Xia Liang, but actually you seem to have a pretty good relationship with her?"

"Who's on good terms with that guy?"

Lin Xiaolu said in a muffled voice, looking displeased, "It was only because Larkspur told me to do this, otherwise I wouldn't do such a thankless thing."

"She meant that if the Inspector hadn't given instructions on how to arrange things, she probably would have just had a regular birthday celebration for Xia Liang."

Moko, standing nearby, chuckled mischievously and said, "It's probably something like buying a cake and having them sing 'Happy Birthday'? If we knew earlier, there would even be a handmade gift?"

"Don't get me wrong!" Lin Xiaolu glared at Moko, annoyed. "I mean, I'm not going to celebrate that guy's birthday!"

"So you secretly bought a gift yesterday and hid it under your bed?"

"Huh? How did you know... No, what nonsense are you talking about!"

"I saw it all! You even brought it back secretly, hiding from Xia Liang!" Moko pointed at Lin Xiaolu and shouted.

"No way! I just bought it on the street!" Lin Xiaolu retorted loudly.

So you still bought it!

"How annoying! You're so irritating, you stupid Moko!"

"I'm an idiot? Then what are you, who can't even hide from an idiot? You big idiot, Xiao Lu!"

"Idiot Moko!"

"You big idiot, Xiao Lu!"

This pointless argument went on for a long time. Even when Bai Jingxuan intervened, she could only stop the two from their open verbal battle and sit on one side, sulking.

Even after Xia Liang and Larkspur returned from outside, Lin Xiaolu and Moko were still exchanging witty banter.

Of course, unpleasant emotions will not be carried over into the birthday celebration.

Accompanied by the clear sound of hand-held celebratory cannons and Xia Liang wishes from his companions, the birthday party that came to a close that day, as the final and most lively ending, left unforgettable memories for everyone.

That night, in the dark living room, everyone gathered around the birthday cake with candles, singing "Happy Birthday" to Xia Liang waiting for her to blow out the candles.

That night, in the brightly lit restaurant, the girl and the Fairy cut the cake together, savoring the sweetness and celebrating that the birthday person was one step closer to adulthood.

That night, in the connecting corridor at the stairwell, everyone took out the birthday gifts they had prepared and handed them to Xia Liang.

The gift that Larkspur prepared was a brand new plush toy, because Xia Liang seemed to really like to sleep with such a toy, so she specially prepared one that she didn't have in her room.

Bai Jingxuan prepared a handmade greeting card as a gift. She made it herself at the orphanage using cardboard and craft paper, and all the parts were handmade.

The last gift to be presented among the three, prepared by Lin Xiaolu, was a pair of earrings.

"Because I told you that wearing something like that was frivolous, you took off your old pair and threw them away, right?"

She turned her head to the side, averting her gaze, and placed the small box in Xia Liang's hands. "So... I'm not going to apologize anyway, but I don't like owing people, so I bought it when I saw it. Take it or leave it."

Xia Liang first covered her mouth, speechless for a moment, then suddenly lunged forward and hugged Lin Xiaolu tightly in her arms.

"What are you doing? That's so cheesy! Let go of me!"

Held in Xia Liang's arms, Lin Xiaolu struggled to pry her hands away. "I already said it was just a random purchase, what are you so self-satisfied about?"

"... Thanks."

Xia Liang, unusually, refrained from any further provocation and instead expressed his feelings to Lin Xiaolu in the simplest and most genuine language.

Her words were so straightforward that Lin Xiaolu couldn't find any excuse to refuse her gratitude, and could only turn to the other two people beside her for help.

However, neither Larkspur nor Bai Jingxuan showed any intention of interfering. Instead, they both looked at the two embracing each other with a sense of relief.

Xia Liang's birthday party came to a close in such a peaceful atmosphere.

Naturally, Moko didn't prepare any gifts, but it ate the most cake.

The celebrations had to come to an end, and the banquet had to come to a close. After the magical girls celebrated their birthdays together, they had to take away the decorations on the first floor, and then Larkspur had to throw the trash into the designated place.

Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu had to go to school the next day, so they went to wash up, said goodnight to each other, and went back to their rooms to sleep.

Bai Jingxuan went to the basement alone again. Since she didn't need to go to school for the time being, she devoted most of her energy to training. Her diligence was so great that Larkspur had to watch over her to prevent her from injuring herself due to overtraining.

And so, the two stayed in the basement until nearly eleven o'clock before stopping because Bai Jingxuan was tired. Larkspur stopped the girl, who was yawning and still wanted to continue, and told her to go to sleep and rest.

Bai Jingxuan was a sensible and obedient child, so she complied with Larkspur's request and obediently went back to her room to sleep.

After closing the underground training room, Larkspur was the last person to return to his bedroom.

Exhausted from a busy day, she sighed softly, took off her coat, and prepared to wash up and go to bed. But just as she was about to unbutton her collar, she noticed the mirror on the bedside table was shimmering slightly.

That wasn't an ordinary mirror; it was the Magic Mirror that the Investigation Institute had given her to communicate with the Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye.

The flashing words on the mirror reminded Larkspur that she had a missed call request.

Frowning, Larkspur took two steps toward the head of the bed, picked up the Magic Mirror, and gently tapped the screen to see the source of the call—as expected, it was the Investigation Institute.

Does the Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye want to talk to me?

With this thought in mind, and adhering to the principle that a short pain is better than a long one, and that work should not be delayed, Larkspur reached out, and several Fawo Runes fell from her fingertips, striking the surface of the Magic Mirror.

She chose to ask now.

The Fairy dance on the screen didn't last long. The image flickered, and soon a girl wearing a golden hard-top hat appeared on the screen, looking at the mirror with a serious expression.

Larkspur recognized her because this was the magical girl who had been responsible for connecting the phone to her last time, relaying the call to the Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye.

"Hello, Inspector, thank you for taking the time to connect with us."

The girl on the other side of the Magic Mirror bowed slightly, then raised her head and said solemnly, "Please forgive us for disturbing you at this time. However, something that no one wanted to see has happened in the southern part of Eastern Hua Prefecture, in your area."

What is it?

Larkspur stared blankly at the Magic Mirror: "Don't tell me it's just another one of our Dean's boring platitudes?"

"I'm sorry, but this time there was indeed a rather serious incident."

The magical girl on the other side of the Magic Mirror bowed again, then continued, "According to our Investigation Institute's communication channels, and information provided by the magical girls of Bai'an City near your city: the Cat-Tail Squad, the team that was previously dispatched to the Eastern Hua Prefecture and made contact with you, they..."

"Disappeared in the southern Eastern Hua Prefecture."