Confession

After passing several intersections along one side of Electronics Street, the crowds gradually thinned out. Having kept silent for around ten minutes, the girl finally seemed unable to suppress her curiosity and struck up a conversation with Lin Xiaolu:

"Hey, who's that kid up ahead?"

She leaned in behind Lin Xiaolu and deliberately lowered her voice. "She talks like she's a big deal. Is she someone important?"

Lin Xiaolu glanced at her without answering.

"Or is she your little sister?" the girl continued.

"...No."

Unable to hold back, Lin Xiaolu replied with some irritation, "That's Senior Larkspur. You should show her more respect."

"Why do you call her Senior?"

The girl blinked. "And you say I should respect her... so she really is somebody important? Some kind of rich young lady?"

This time, Lin Xiaolu did not answer.

After all, Larkspur had said they would talk after changing locations. She did not want to disrupt Larkspur's plans.

Seeing that Lin Xiaolu stopped reacting after being needled a couple of times, the girl could only retreat half a step in embarrassment, clasp her hands behind her back, and turn her attention to the streetscape around them.

Having left the busiest district, the shops on both sides of the road here were mostly older establishments. Unlike the prime real estate in the city center, the rents here allowed independent shopkeepers to keep their small businesses running for years.

Still, it was a commercial street. Aside from the various storefronts and passing pedestrians, there was little else to see. The girl quickly lost interest and spoke again:

"Come to think of it, I still don't know your name, do I?"

"..."

"Don't be so hostile. Tell me."

"...Lin Xiaolu."

"Lin Xiaolu? It sounds like 'little deer' when you say it. That's nice. It even sounds kind of cute. As for me, my name is..."

"—We're here."

Larkspur's voice came from up ahead, interrupting their conversation.

She turned and swept her gaze over the two of them, still carrying herself with that proud air. Pointing at an alley beside them, she said flatly, "Go in through here."

No one responded to the suggestion, but Larkspur did not care. She continued leading the way into the somewhat dark passage, with Lin Xiaolu and Moko following beside her.

The girl at the rear watched the two of them enter such a place as though it were perfectly natural, and for the first time, a hint of nervousness appeared on her face.

Why an alley?

Were they going to rob her? Threaten her? Or kill her to silence her?

Several words fitting such a scene immediately flashed through her mind. The girl bared her teeth slightly, suddenly unsure whether she should keep following them.

But Larkspur's earlier words echoed in her ears, and she was indeed intensely curious about these two girls' identities. She had already come this far; there was no reason to back down now.

So the girl pressed her lips together, concealing her faint unease. Keeping her posture relaxed, she moved forward again.

Once she turned into the alley, she saw that Larkspur and Lin Xiaolu were already waiting there. Further ahead stood a tall wall: it was a dead end.

Larkspur looked up at the sky. Hearing footsteps at the alley entrance, she turned to look at the girl. She took her Flower of the Heart from the pocket of her dress and silently walked toward her.

Why was she coming over here? What was she going to do?

The girl tried hard to keep the smile on her face and not let her nervousness show. But there was only so much she could control, and the other girl's next action left her frozen on the spot:

Larkspur transformed into a Magical Girl.

To the girl, the process looked like a burst of bright light from Larkspur's body. Her long blue hair drifted without wind, and her pale yellow puff-sleeved dress turned into a dark navy Lolita dress with long sleeves. A bonnet appeared on her head from nowhere, and the splendor of her decorations made her look like a princess from a fairy tale. In her hand was a... magic wand carved with unfamiliar patterns?

The girl did not know Larkspur's identity, so naturally she did not know this was a Magical Girl transformation. But the sight before her still exceeded the limits of her understanding.

In the brief moment she stood stunned, Larkspur held out her hand to her.

"Grab my wrist."

"Ah, okay?" The girl instinctively reached out.

Larkspur seized her wrist in turn and stared seriously into her eyes. "Hold on tight."

Holding each other's wrists—what was this supposed to be? Some ritual? A signal?

Her wandering thoughts gave rise to all kinds of speculation. Without understanding Larkspur's words, she merely nodded mechanically.

Then, she felt her feet leave the ground.

A powerful sense of weightlessness unlike anything she had ever experienced engulfed her whole body. The scenery around her swept out of view in a completely unnatural way. The girl widened her eyes and turned her head to the side, finally realizing her situation:

She was flying?

Then came a scream she could no longer hold back:

"Eeeeeek!"

Larkspur pulled the girl along the route she had chosen, avoiding angles from which they might be seen, and flew into the air along the wall of the building beside the dead end.

After avoiding the last few windows, she stepped through the air several times as though there really were something beneath her feet to push off from. She traveled forward a short distance, then brought the girl onto a rooftop.

A stream of pale blue magical particles surged up from below. Lin Xiaolu, who had also transformed into a Magical Girl, flew up after them.

"Ha... ha... I thought I was going to die..." Only after Larkspur let go did the girl, whose legs had gone weak, realize she was back on solid ground. She sank to her knees, her face full of lingering fear.

"Hehe, you got scared after flying such a short distance?"

Lin Xiaolu landed lightly beside her and looked over with some pride. "I got used to it right away back then."

But her little boast failed to earn the reaction she wanted. The girl seemed to have completely ignored her words, making Lin Xiaolu, who had been gloating moments ago, puff out her cheeks in annoyance.

"We can transform directly here, so it'll be more convenient to explain a lot of things."

Larkspur spoke as though no one else had said anything. "Let's introduce ourselves first. What's your name?"

"Huh... me?"

Having finally recovered a little, the girl raised her head. "My name is Xia Liang."

"Then, Xia Liang."

Larkspur nodded, then abruptly asked, "Have you heard of Magical Girls?"

She had no intention of beating around the bush with this topic and went straight to the point.

In truth, before coming here, she had still hesitated over whether to recruit this new Magical Girl and had only intended to take a look. But after meeting this girl named Xia Liang, she understood that Xia Liang's potential was extraordinary.

Before becoming a Magical Girl, while still an ordinary person, Xia Liang had been able to sense Moko from a great distance and had even tracked Moko in return. And after seeing Larkspur, the wariness Xia Liang had not shown also proved that she could sense Larkspur's magical power far surpassing her own.

Such a performance was enough to call her an unpolished gem.

For children without talent, becoming a Magical Girl was fraught with danger. But for true geniuses, it was an opportunity—an opportunity to gain magical power far beyond the ordinary.

Just as she might worry about Lin Xiaolu's safety as a Magical Girl but would respect her daughter's choice after discovering that she had made up her mind, she should also give the girl before her the right to choose.

Then let her choose for herself, Larkspur thought.

"Magical Girls?"

The term seemed to connect something in Xia Liang's mind, making her eyes widen slightly. The string of strange events from before also gave rise to several guesses. "I know about them, but don't tell me..."

"My name is Larkspur."

Larkspur nodded expressionlessly, then raised a hand and pointed at Lin Xiaolu beside her. "She is White Rose."

"We eliminate Aberrant Beasts and protect the city and its residents. We are the Magical Girls of this city, Fangting City."