The Missing Magical Girl

"This guy, he kept bragging that he could do it all, but he made a complete mess of it."

High above Bai'an City, a girl's voice suddenly rang out. "Ugh, it stinks! What did you do to become like this?"

"Wood Lily said she saw a suspicious person," another female voice whispered.

"I know, that's why I'm curious why she turned out this way."

The girl who spoke first was full of doubt, "Whether you won or lost, you shouldn't be lying unconscious in an alley, completely unharmed, right?"

As the blonde girl flew through the air, the blue-haired magical girl frowned, trying to think, but the constant stench emanating from her made her features contort and her thoughts remain unfocused.

"White, White Thistle." A weak female voice rang out again.

"What's wrong?" The White Thistle raised her eyebrows.

There seems to be someone ahead.

These words startled the blue-haired girl, who focused her attention on looking ahead—there was indeed someone there. To be precise, with a magical girl's eyesight, she could clearly see that it was a girl.

A girl wearing a navy blue dress with a golden robe draped over her back.

The Larkspur was waiting for them there.

After watching the group of magical girls take off from the crowd, she made a brief decision and then followed them.

Although her original intention in coming here was to go to the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, the purpose of this trip was related to the missing investigation team of the Investigation Institute. The magical girl was obviously a more valuable target to question than the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

Her original plan was to first contact the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to obtain information, and then use the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to contact the local magical girls and Seeder. Now it seems that she has saved herself that trouble.

So she caught up with the group of magical girls once again, secretly overtook them, and waited ahead of them.

Hello, may I ask who you are?

Upon seeing Larkspur blue-haired magical girl named White Thistle, the girl could roughly guess the identity of the magical girl, but she still maintained a degree of vigilance and politely inquired from a Larkspur.

"Flower Card certification number 41076, Magical Girl Larkspur"

Larkspur nodded slightly in greeting. "From the Investigation Institute, I've been assigned by the highest levels. I may need to ask you about some things."

"Flower Card?"

This introduction clearly caught White Thistle's attention. Upon hearing the term "Investigation Institute," she visibly lowered her guard somewhat, carefully examining Larkspur's golden robes before hesitatingly asking, "Could you perhaps be...?"

"I am the Inspector."

Larkspur stated bluntly, "Our investigation team has gone missing in your city, and I'm in charge of resolving this."

"Patrol, Inspector?"

The magical girl in the pale red dress behind her was startled by the words, her previously soft voice rising considerably. "Isn't that a very powerful figure? I remember even my sister was just..."

"Mimosa!"

White Thistle gave the magical girl in the pale red dress a reproachful look. "Don't say anything unnecessary."

"Oh, okay..." The pale pink magical girl immediately realized her slip of the tongue and shrank back a little nervously.

"Hello, Inspector Senior. I apologize for my teammate's rude remarks."

White Thistle gave a simple bow to Larkspur, maintaining his distance, and asked earnestly, "However, Bai'an City is currently in a very special situation. Please don't blame me for being suspicious, but could you please show me something to prove your identity?"

Her request was actually somewhat impolite, and she seemed to know it herself, which is why when she made the request, Larkspur could clearly see that her body was a little stiff.

However, Larkspur herself didn't care about such Ornate Script. For her, resolving the matter smoothly was the most important thing. Therefore, she didn't say much, but simply took off her Certification Card and showed it to White Thistle: "This is my Certification Card."

Upon hearing this, White Thistle relaxed and then carefully examined the contents of the plaque in Larkspur's hand.

"41076, Flower Card, and it even has the insignia of the Inspector... Cornflower?" White Thistle was clearly stunned when he saw the code on the plaque.

"Personal privacy." Larkspur didn't intend to elaborate on the code name issue and simply put away her Certification Card. "That should be enough to prove my identity. Now, can we discuss what I want to ask?"

"No, I just... okay."

White Thistle paused for a moment, then continued, "You're asking about Senior Cat Tail and the others, right? They arrived in Bai'an City about ten days ago, and immediately..."

"Waaaaaah!"

She was interrupted halfway through her sentence.

The blonde girl, who had been slumped on Bai Ji's shoulder, suddenly began to struggle violently. She first screamed for no reason, then broke free from White Thistle's shoulder and fell directly from the air.

Fortunately, the blonde girl reacted quickly enough. Realizing she was falling, she used her ability to float in the air. Then she suddenly opened her eyes, looking terrified, and exclaimed, "I don't want to be caught by that weird old man!"

Her series of performances had captured everyone's attention. Only after she calmed down a bit did Larkspur turn to White Thistle and ask, "What's going on?"

"Hoo, hoo, eh? White Thistle? Mimosa? Why are you here?"

The blonde girl was still clearly dazed. She first stared blankly around, then spotted the Larkspur not far away. After staring at it for a moment, she suddenly pointed at the Larkspur and shouted, "Ah! The person who saved me!"

Her over-the-top style was actually a bit annoying, but Larkspur inexplicably saw a somewhat familiar shadow in her, so she didn't show any disgust.

"What? Saved you? Senior Inspector?" On the other side, after hearing the blonde girl's words, White Thistle looked at the two of them with some surprise.

"Yes! Let me tell you! I mentioned sensing suspicious magic before, and then I encountered a super weird, obviously not a good guy uncle. He didn't even lift a finger, but he inexplicably ambushed me and knocked me down! Sister Lantern might have been ambushed by him in the same way!"

The blonde girl leaped up and flew to the Larkspur's side, grabbing the Larkspur and saying, "But he didn't have a chance to do anything to me before he was chased away, because a while later, this senior suddenly appeared! And then I fainted!"

She was very emotional, but her description was so incoherent that it was completely incomprehensible.

Even though Larkspur knew the truth, she didn't really want to talk to her. Ignoring the blonde girl's words, she turned to White Thistle in front of her and asked, "First, make things clear. Who is the Lantern?"

Upon hearing the Larkspur's question, White Thistle first glared at the blonde girl beside him, and then, seeing her confused look, began to explain:

"Actually, this is why we are on guard now. Our Magical Girl Squad in Bai'an City consists of 5 people in total, with 4 people on duty. Among our 4 members on duty, the most experienced is one of our seniors, whose code name is Lantern."

She paused after speaking, then said hesitantly, "But just yesterday, Lantern... disappeared."

This news immediately turned Larkspur's expression serious. "Missing?"

It's no wonder she reacted strongly; at this stage, the meaning of this word has become particularly special.

From the Seeder who disappeared in Fangting City two years ago, to the Cat-Tail Squad of the Investigation Institute who disappeared not long ago, to the current Bai'an City Squad, this is the third time she has heard the term "disappeared".

Given the magical girls' strength and the power of the Magic Empire, it would be incredibly difficult to make a magical girl disappear without a trace. Yet now, this kind of thing is happening one after another?

"Yes, just like Cat Tail- senpai and the others, they disappeared without a trace."

Seeing that Larkspur was serious, White Thistle replied earnestly, "Moreover, she left us a message before she disappeared."

"What news?"

She said she had discovered a "somewhat suspicious man" and decided to follow him.

These words startled the Larkspur.

"It's obviously the same middle-aged man I met!"

The blonde girl excitedly exclaimed from the side, "Using magic sneakily at the scene of the Aberrant Beast, and even managing to knock me unconscious for no reason! It was really dangerous! So scary! You almost didn't see me!"

She seemed to recall her emotions from that time, becoming visibly frightened. She grew increasingly agitated as she spoke, finally burying her face in Larkspur's shoulder, clutching his robe, and sobbing uncontrollably. "I thought I was going to disappear like Sister Lantern! If this senior hadn't saved me, I might have been taken away by that strange old man!"

Bang!

Unable to bear it any longer, the Larkspur punched her hard on the forehead.

The blonde girl was clearly stunned by the blow, clutching her head and looking at Larkspur: "Huh? Why did you hit me?"

"Miss, please don't wipe your snot on my cloak."

Larkspur pushed her aside with a hint of disdain, saying rather coldly, "And don't curse your companions so casually."

"Snotty nose! Do I have a runny nose?"

The blonde girl hurriedly touched her nose in a bit of a panic, but found no snot, which puzzled her.

"The Inspector is right," White Thistle nodded in agreement. "Although Senior Lantern has disappeared, we should firmly believe that she is still alive, which is why we are searching for her whereabouts today."

"That's why she..." Larkspur gestured to the blonde girl beside him.

"Yes, that's why she was so agitated." White Thistle said helplessly, "Wood Lily has a very good relationship with Senior Lantern, and now she's a bit desperate and grasping at straws. Senior Inspector, if you really rescued her, may I ask if you really saw the 'suspicious man' she mentioned?"

"I asked him, and he was just a magician passing by." Larkspur said calmly, blatantly lying. "He said he just happened to be passing by and wanted to contact the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to control the situation, and it had nothing to do with the Aberrant Beast attack."

"He's lying to you, Inspector!"

The blonde girl interrupted their conversation again, saying confidently, "That's what he lied to me from the beginning, saying he was just an ordinary person who knew nothing about magic, but in reality, he could easily dodge my attacks and even sneak up on me!"

"You attacked an ordinary person?" White Thistle noticed the oversight in her words and frowned, saying, "I should have told you many times that, for whatever reason, magical girls cannot harm ordinary people."

"But what if he is the 'Black Ash Dawn' that Sister Lantern mentioned?"

The blonde girl said somewhat aggrievedly, "You know, those people are very likely the culprits behind Sister Lantern's disappearance, and they can even command the Aberrant Beast!"

"This..." White Thistle hesitated.

"In the end, this whole thing looks like it was orchestrated by Black Ash Dawn!"

Feeling that her words held some merit, the blonde girl immediately pressed her advantage. "You've seen the wanted posters for some of them, haven't you? Regardless of gender, they all look like well-educated, scumbags, just like that middle-aged man I saw!"

"Inspector, who knows what wicked scheme he was plotting when he lied to you! If you weren't so strong, he would have ambushed you and taken you away for all sorts of things..."

Bang!

Larkspur punched her on the forehead again.

"Why did you hit me again!" the blonde girl said, covering her forehead in grievance.

"It's noisy."

Larkspur withdrew her hand, her expression still indifferent. "Besides, you shouldn't question my judgment. If he is the Black Ash Dawn you speak of, I couldn't possibly be wrong."

"Eh..." The blonde girl wanted to argue, but White Thistle kept gesturing to her with his eyes, finally making her reluctantly nod, "Okay."

"So, one of your team members is currently missing."

After ending this boring topic, Larkspur crossed her arms and asked White Thistle again to confirm her summary, "Just like the Cat-Tail Squad that came to Bai'an City, they all suddenly disappeared, and left a message before they disappeared saying that they had found a 'suspicious man'?"

Yes, that's right.

White Thistle nodded, his expression somewhat worried. "We are still investigating further information ourselves, so I'm sorry we can't provide you with any valuable information."

"And what about the Cat-Tail Squad?"

Larkspur pressed further, "Did they say anything to you when they came here?"

"In that case, it was mainly Senior Lantern who was talking to them at the time."

White Thistle looked around with some difficulty. "Because they came during the day... and the three of us still have to go to school."

"So, if we can't find the Lantern you mentioned, we also won't know the Cat-Tail Squad's original purpose?" Larkspur pondered and asked.

"Well, actually, there should be one more person who knows..." Just then, the girl in the pale red dress, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke cautiously.

"Who?" Larkspur immediately turned his gaze to her.

When the magical girl in the pale red dress was asked this question by the Larkspur, she immediately stammered and couldn't say a word.

She seemed timid and had been hiding to the side without making a sound. Now, being questioned so seriously by Larkspur, she dared not answer.

She must be referring to Polly.

Knowing her teammate's personality, White Thistle picked up where she left off and smoothed things over. She quickly realized she had been too vague and hadn't explained things clearly, so she added:

"It is our Seeder, a Fairy."