Farewell Performance

Spider died so suddenly that no one could react in time.

Previously, in order to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of the Cat-Tail Squad, the Investigation Institute not only dispatched Inspector Larkspur to the scene, but also sent two additional investigation teams.

These two new investigation teams set off from the Magic Kingdom, traveling day and night due to the urgency of their mission. Although these magical girls had done their best to reach Bai'an City as quickly as possible, they had not expected that the Inspector, Larkspur, would act so swiftly.

The day before, they had just arrived in Bai'an City, and the next morning they found the location of the enemy's lair. That same night, they wiped out both the enemy and the Nest, and also rescued the target of this mission— the Cat-Tail Squad.

This left the magical girls with mixed feelings of admiration and disappointment: admiration because Larkspur's actions were efficient and cool, and finding out the truth and defeating the enemy in the fastest time was always what the magical girls of the Investigation Institute aspired to; disappointment because the matter was resolved before they even arrived, which was equivalent to making a wasted trip.

This sense of loss, combined with hatred for the enemy, eventually turned into displaced anger.

These later magical girls from the Investigation Institute carried out a carpet-bombing and devastating attack on the remaining Black Ash Dawn forces in Bai'an City.

With the death of the spider, the Black Ash Dawn of Bai'an City became a leaderless mess. Having lost its sole leader and lacking sufficient power to fight against the magical girls, it naturally crumbled at the first touch and suffered a complete defeat.

At first, some of the cultists who had mastered the ability to transform put up a stubborn resistance, attempting to escape using the power of the remnants of the Aberrant Beast. However, they were ultimately doomed to die in the face of the magical girls' encirclement. After learning of the deaths of Spider and the others, the remaining members obediently chose to surrender—they had no means of resistance against a group of angry magical girls.

This conspiracy, which had been planned for years in Bai'an City, was finally exposed, causing a shockwave throughout the Magic Side of Bai'an City.

Ordinary Mage had no way of knowing what the people of the Black Ash Dawn had done, but that didn't stop them from knowing that an extremely dangerous Aberrant Beast was secretly slaughtering so many lives. The reason the incident spread so widely was simply because so many people were implicated.

According to incomplete statistics from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, as many as 400 civilians died directly or indirectly in their Nest due to the schemes of Spider and others.

This became the most serious large-scale Aberrant Beast attack in Bai'an City in nearly ten years. Even though the incident occurred quietly and subtly, its impact was far worse than any overt Aberrant Beast attack.

The reason no one noticed anything amiss was that these cases were all hidden among the daily attacks by Aberrant Beast, both large and small. Many civilians who were attacked at the scene and fled in panic were bewitched by the spider's abilities and unknowingly escaped into the traps he had prepared, thus becoming the missing "victims".

No one knew that these people could have lived; they were still struggling in the Nest of the Aberrant Beast when the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau marked them as "victims."

Such a large-scale and far-reaching event naturally made everyone in the Magic Side of Bai'an City feel uneasy. For a time, most capable Mage chose to move to other places, simply because the events that happened there were too horrifying.

As the spiders were defeated and their Nest collapsed, a very small number of survivors managed to escape.

Among these survivors are a magical girl directly rescued by Larkspur, employees of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau who stumbled upon the place, and a handful of civilians. The civilians will receive appropriate comfort and compensation, while the surviving employees who experienced the incident will receive a long paid leave and comprehensive psychological treatment after completing the relevant evidence collection work.

As for the magical girls in the investigation team led by Cat Tail, that's outside the jurisdiction of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

They will be sent back to their Kingdom, Kingdom will begin efforts to treat and rehabilitate them.

Furthermore, due to being trapped in the Nest for too long and suffering severe magic depletion, their True Form forms have been damaged... It remains to be seen whether these magical girls can return to the front lines and participate in battle.

However, before being taken back to the Magic Kingdom by the Investigation Institute who arrived later, Cat Tail, who had been in a coma, briefly woke up once.

After learning that the people who saved her were Lantern and Larkspur, she dragged her very weak body to express her gratitude to the two, and at the same time conveyed another message to Larkspur:

"Your Inspector... the events in Bai'an City are just a small microcosm. Perhaps their plans here have been thwarted, but please be careful. According to our previous investigations, at least four other cities are experiencing very unusual events."

This became the last thing she said to Larkspur before returning to her Kingdom.

She conveyed the findings of her investigation before being trapped in Bai'an City to Larkspur in the most concise language, without mentioning any handover procedures. The subtext was that she was giving all the credit to Larkspur as a way of expressing her gratitude.

Larkspur wanted to say that she didn't need the other person to do that, but after saying that, Cat Tail fainted again. It was unclear whether it was because he was really exhausted or simply because he didn't give Larkspur a chance to refute.

In any case, Larkspur achieved her ultimate goal. Although the members of the investigation team were seriously injured, at least they were all rescued, and she could be considered to have completed the mission assigned by the Investigation Institute.

However, after completing this task, even more doubts arose.

First, as Cat Tail mentioned, several other cities also have similar strange phenomena to Bai'an City: a large number of people mysteriously disappearing, various cases of attacks by abnormal Aberrant Beast, strange rumors... These clues all have reliable sources: most of them are the results of on-site investigations by investigation teams, or reports from local magical girls.

Secondly, what Larkspur discovered after the battle was an altar covered in flesh and blood, located beneath the Spiderweb after the spider's death.

She had seen this altar before—in the sewers beneath Fangting City. In the same Nest of Aberrant Beast, in the same central area after the beast had been defeated, she saw an altar that looked very similar.

What exactly is the connection between the two? This made Larkspur ponder.

Finally, as Spider himself mentioned during the battle, he knew the name "Cornflower".

This was also the most puzzling thing about Larkspur's trip.

When she was young and active as a magical girl, she did make a name for herself under the codename Cornflower, but is that name really worth being remembered by people outside of Fangting City twenty years later?

She didn't know, but she felt this wasn't normal.

Since something seems amiss, the solution is simple: investigate.

A thorough investigation requires manpower, and Bai'an City happens to have the necessary resources. After all, there's currently a group of idle magical girls around.

These magical girls from the Investigation Institute were eager to investigate because they had arrived late and missed the entire incident. After learning that several other cities were experiencing similar phenomena to those in Bai'an City, they all volunteered to go and find out what was going on.

A minor incident occurred during this time. It involved the "real culprit" that the blonde magical girl from Bai'an City, codenamed Wood Lily, kept referring to.

In a misunderstanding, she mistook Lin Yun for a bad guy and firmly believed that she had found the mastermind. However, as the case was solved, her claims became empty words.

After the case was solved, the image of Spider, the culprit behind the incident, had already spread throughout the Magic Side, and naturally reached the hands of the Bai'an City Magical Girl Squad —clearly, Spider's appearance had no connection to the person described by the blonde girl.

Although Wood Lily isn't very bright, her eyesight should be fine; even she could tell from the photo that she seemed to have grabbed the wrong person.

Even though she kept shouting "There are accomplices" and "I didn't make a mistake," her teammates and the Investigation Institute had already treated it as a joke. In the end, in order to prove herself, she even wanted to sign up to participate in investigations in other cities, claiming that she would go to other cities to "find the person who humiliated her and avenge herself."

In the end, she was given a long lecture by Lantern and dejectedly chose to give up.

This little farce has thus come to an end.

As for Lantern himself, after several days of recovery and rest, he has basically recovered and is no longer in serious condition.

As the second most important contributor to this incident—although her contribution mainly involved Larkspur —she also earned the respect and gratitude of the magical girls from the Investigation Institute.

As a result of this respect and gratitude, the small music shop called "Bright Note," run by Lantern, became packed with people during those few days.

During those days, some regular customers of Bright Note Music Store noticed that a group of beautiful female employees had appeared in the store for some reason.

Many of these female shop assistants didn't know much about musical instruments, but their enthusiasm and initiative made them very active and lively in the music store, which actually boosted the store's business.

And so, after about a week, the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau completed the reconstruction of the disaster-stricken area and comforted the victims; the magical girls completed the arrest of those involved and the extermination of the remaining Aberrant Beast. This major event that caused a shockwave throughout the Magic Side of Bai'an City finally gradually subsided.

In this atmosphere, the aftermath of the Bai'an City incident finally came to an end.

After the incident subsided, the magical girls from the Investigation Institute had no reason to stay there.

Next, they need to leave Bai'an City and head to the cities Cat Tail had mentioned earlier to continue searching for possible clues in order to unravel an even bigger mystery.

However, having spent some time getting along well, Lantern and the others planned a special event to bid farewell to the magical girls of the Investigation Institute:

--A farewell performance.

A four-member band from the Bai'an City Magical Girl Squad will perform a farewell concert for the magical girls of the Investigation Institute in a small performance hall next to the music store.

The performance took place as scheduled in a joyful and enthusiastic atmosphere, with only a very small number of regulars invited to the venue, which was rented from the adjacent performance hall.

This was also the first time that Larkspur had known that the Magical Girl Squad in Bai'an City could also be a band.

Of course, this is not unusual in Bai'an City. People of all ages here have mastered one or two musical instruments, and their average musical literacy is much higher than that of people outside the city.

On the day of the event, Larkspur was also invited to attend. She stood alone in the back row of the performance hall, away from the crowd, and quietly listened to the girls' performance on stage.

Why are you here all alone?

As the music played, the Lantern whispered in her ear, "Senior, you're a major contributor this time, wouldn't it be more appropriate for you to stand in the front row?"

"I'm getting older, and I'm not used to noisy environments."

Larkspur calmly asked, "And you? Why did the band's keyboardist suddenly run off the stage to talk to the audience?"

"It's fine if I'm not in the next piece; their playing is good enough."

Lantern explained confidently, "Even Wood Lily is someone I can trust on stage. Although she seems a bit silly usually, she's been the most enthusiastic person in rehearsals since she found out about this performance."

Children are always highly malleable.

Larkspur commented calmly, "Therefore, how to guide them is the most important issue."

"I think these kids are fine."

The Lantern leaned back slightly, its tone light and cheerful. "Because I've watched them grow up, I know they will all be good children and pillars of the next generation."

"I don't deny that."

Larkspur gazed at the stage not far away. "Especially White Thistle, even when you're not around, she can muster the courage to hold the fort and handle things very calmly. I have high hopes for her."

"Um?"

The Lantern turned its head to the side. "Senior Larkspur, are you interested in White Thistle?"

"I look forward to her growth." Larkspur nodded slightly.

"Then please look forward to it. White Thistle is the next generation captain handpicked by the older generation of our Bai'an City."

The Lantern also said with a hint of pride, "Even if you're interested, you can't poach him from our Bai'an City Squad."

"You're probably not even 20 years old yet. Even if you call yourself an elder, in my eyes you're still just a child."

Larkspur narrowed her eyes slightly. "Besides, I never said I was going to poach anyone. My own rookie magical girls are already troublesome enough."

"Senior, you also lead teams of newbies?"

The Lantern automatically ignored the first half of the Larkspur's sentence; clearly, she was more interested in the second half. "Does a position like Inspector also involve mentoring newcomers? Is it a small team within the Investigation Institute?"

"It's not what you think." Larkspur clearly didn't want to bring up the topic and glossed over it lightly.

"Yeah?"

Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, Lantern didn't press the matter further, but naturally changed the subject. "In that case, are you leaving in a few days, senior?"

Larkspur looked up and turned her head to the side. "Why would you think that?"

"Because the Full Moon Festival is just around the corner."

Looking at the stage in the distance, Lantern smiled and said, "When it comes to reuniting with family, you always have to go back to your own home, right?"

"Full Moon Festival..."

The word startled the Larkspur slightly, and then, as if remembering something, her expression became somewhat dazed.

As if to confirm Lantern's words, her phone also vibrated slightly at that moment.

It's Lin Yun's phone.

Larkspur snapped out of her daze, subconsciously sorted through the information, then took out her phone, unlocked it, and entered the message interface. She saw a message from a familiar number:

[Lin Xiaolu: Will you come back for the Full Moon Festival?]