A Little Visitor

"This is truly amazing, Chief! Where did this high-end armor called 'Magic Armament' come from?"

The next day, at 10:00 AM.

In high spirits, Li Yingwei was tightly holding onto Tian Sheng beside him, praising the several sets of equipment placed to the side with endless, effusive compliments that sounded somewhat nauseating to listen to.

"I just passed the qualification review and went to the battle room to try it out. It felt like my own magic had undergone a fundamental change!"

He waved his hand excitedly. "It feels like even if I encounter Aberrant Beast, I can fight it head-on!"

The distribution and allocation of Magic Armament has gradually begun within the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. Due to Lin Yun's unilateral requirement, every employee who receives Magic Armament must report to the director's office, where he will personally oversee the process.

And now, it was time for the Third Squad of the Special Operations Department to report.

The Third Squad had three employees who received the quota for Magic Armament: Captain Li Yingwei, Vice Captain Mu Bensheng, and, according to them, the rising star Tian Sheng who was shining brightly. The three of them were gathered in the director's office, waiting for Lin Yun's personal review.

This so-called personal vetting is actually a further measure to prevent internal spies.

Although Lin Yun had identified a significant number of spies during his inaugural speech yesterday, he couldn't confirm that they were all. Furthermore, the fact that even a single piece of Magic Armament, which could drastically enhance the combat capabilities of its users, would fall into the hands of the Black Ash Dawn would be a devastating blow to the ordinary employees of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

And so, in the end, it evolved into the scene we see now.

Although he didn't know how much of Li Yingwei's praise and flattery was genuine, none of that would affect Lin Yun's decision. As the three of them gathered around his desk, he secretly grasped his Heart Gem and began to discreetly sense the magical fluctuations of the three people, trying to discern whether they contained any beastly elements.

Li Yingwei Mu Bensheng both had no problems; they were both pure human Mage.

But Tian Sheng is different.

Lin Yun could sense an extremely familiar, chilling beastly magic emanating from it. Having vanquished countless Aberrant Beast as a magical girl, his perception of this magic was undoubtedly accurate.

This was also what made him hesitate—even though he knew that the changes in Tian Sheng were related to the magic of the Aberrant Beast, and that the other party had never hidden his relevant experiences, it was hard to say what secrets lay behind it.

Should we agree first, or should we postpone it for now?

Just as Lin Yun was deep in thought, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the director's office.

"Stop! This isn't allowed, young lady! You can't go in this way!"

The receptionist's anxious calls could also be faintly heard.

The comrades who had been gathered in the director's office were immediately drawn to the commotion and stopped talking; Lin Yun, who was behind the desk, also paused his thoughts and looked at the office door with some doubt.

Shortly after, the wooden swing door to the director's office was pushed open.

A girl with heterochromatic eyes, dressed in a white stage gown and green skirt, burst through the door. She looked incredibly cute and pretty, like a child star who had just escaped from a performance. She stormed in, but upon seeing four adult men behind the door, her imposing manner subtly softened, and she stood still and bowed slightly.

"Hello, uncles! Is the director of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau here?"

The contrast before and after is astonishing.

The receptionist, panting wearily, explained with a hint of helplessness, "I'm sorry, Chief, I've tried to dissuade her, but she insists she's a magical girl..."

Lin Yun knew, of course, that the girl who barged into the bureau chief's office was a magical girl. In fact, the girl was Bai Jingxuan, a junior he knew very well.

Last night, Larkspur was planning to talk to the child at the Secret Base, but Bai Jingxuan wasn't there at the time, so she took the initiative to barge into the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau the next day.

So, what is she doing here?

With this question in mind, Lin Yun calmly replied, "Hello, this is me. Were you looking for me?"

"Yes, I'm looking for the director of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau... Wait, aren't you Sister Xiao Lu's..."

Bai Jingxuan instinctively opened her mouth to answer, but after seeing the middle-aged man behind the desk, she froze, then covered her mouth. "Ah no, I've mistaken him for someone else!"

Clearly, she recognized Lin Yun and knew he was Lin Xiaolu's father. However, considering there were other strangers present, she shouldn't reveal Lin Xiaolu's identity, so she chose to remain silent.

Before she could say anything further, Tian Sheng, after observing the girl for a moment, also became somewhat dazed, muttering as if recalling something, "Xiao Xuan?"

"Yes! Excuse me... Oh, Uncle Tian!"

Bai Jingxuan was once again taken aback by the identities of those present. After recognizing that one of them had been a caregiver at the orphanage, she was thrown into a brief state of confusion. When she first rushed in, she seemed quite determined, but this attitude softened as she realized that everyone present was someone she knew.

After hesitating for a while, Bai Jingxuan finally bowed to everyone again. "I'm sorry! I've caused you all trouble!"

"No, you haven't said anything yet..." Li Yingwei, who was standing to the side, felt confused and couldn't help but say something, but he was nudged by the vice captain with his elbow and immediately fell silent.

The receptionist at the door sensed that the atmosphere was a bit off. She wanted to open her mouth to explain something, but in the end, she remained silent, closing her lips without saying a word.

Seeing everyone fall into an awkward silence, Lin Yun looked around and finally sighed helplessly, "Tian Sheng, please stay. This magical girl, please stay as well. The rest of you, please wait outside."

Upon receiving his instructions, everyone present immediately sprang into action. The receptionist was the first to exit through the door, and Li Yingwei was also pulled away from the director's office by the deputy captain. In the end, only Tian Sheng and Bai Jingxuan remained in front of Lin Yun.

Looking at Bai Jingxuan, Lin Yun hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Then, please don't rush, calm down and let's talk properly. You are a magical girl, I've read your file, your code name should be Bo Xue, right?"

"Yes."

Bai Jingxuan nodded obediently. "I am Bo Xue."

"So, what is the purpose of your visit?"

Lin Yun tried to keep her expression calm to avoid putting pressure on Bai Jingxuan: "Is there anything the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau can help you with?"

"Ah, yes!"

Upon hearing the word "purpose," Bai Jingxuan, who had been somewhat hesitant, immediately perked up, as if she had regained her composure. Her eyes shone, and her expression even carried a subtle hint of anticipation.

"I want to participate in the massacre of the Black Ash Dawn!"

No one spoke.

Lin Yun maintained his upright posture, looking at Bai Jingxuan expressionlessly. After a brief silence, he spoke again, "Excuse me, I didn't hear you clearly just now. What did you say?"

"I want to participate in the massacre of the Black Ash Dawn!"

Bai Jingxuan clenched her fist with one hand, her feigned serious expression looking rather cute.

"To be precise, I want to torture and kill them!"

"... Why did you come looking for us?" Lin Yun asked blankly.

"I saw it while I was on patrol! The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was fighting with Black Ash Dawn!"

Bai Jingxuan said crisply, "I asked the uncles there, and they said it was the chief's order! The chief ordered them to kill all the Black Ash Dawn in the city!"

"...That's what she said." Tian Sheng repeated Bai Jingxuan's words and looked at Lin Yun.

"I know, no need for you to repeat it."

Lin Yun felt a sudden headache coming on, and he subconsciously rubbed his forehead. "Um, Bo Xue, right? You just said you wanted to go and wipe out and capture the remaining Black Ash Dawn..."

"It was torture and murder!" Bai Jingxuan corrected earnestly.

The more adorable she looked, the more terrifying her words were.

"This isn't a word you can just say casually, especially when you're a magical girl."

Lin Yun sighed subconsciously, trying to steer the conversation back onto a path she could control. "You look quite young, so you might not fully understand the meaning of the word 'torture.' Let me explain. This kind of behavior is not permitted by morality or law, it doesn't conform to mainstream social values, and..."

"So you mean beat them to a pulp before killing them?" Bai Jingxuan tilted her head in confusion.

"... Yes, but we're not discussing the definition of this word. Rather, we're saying that this practice, and even this way of speaking, is not allowed."

Lin Yun tried her best to explain, "Especially since you are a magical girl, representing the light and hope of this city. The main duty of a magical girl is to exterminate Aberrant Beast, and under normal circumstances, she should not actively harm ordinary humans or relatively weak Mage. Moreover, the word you used is 'torture,' which is a word that a magical girl should never say, and something she should never do."

"But that's exactly what my teacher did!"

Bai Jingxuan is quite young, and it's clear that her vocabulary isn't very extensive; she seems to be racking her brains to think before she speaks.

"My teacher, she incredibly and coolly slaughtered the leader of the Black Ash Dawn! And everyone is praising her! I admire her actions very much!"

Lin Yun fell silent once again.

All he wanted to do right now was pick up the heavy reference book on the table and give himself a couple of hard whacks on the forehead.

"Your teacher? She is..." Tian Sheng, who was standing to the side, seemed to realize something and asked hesitantly.

"My teacher is the magical girl Larkspur! The magical girl who saved everyone last month!"

Bai Jingxuan blurted out, "She beat that bad guy up so badly he turned his face into a pig's head, and then she killed him by cutting him into a thousand pieces!"

"Well done!"

Tian Sheng slapped his thigh and exclaimed in approval, "I support your teacher! That's how you should deal with those bastards! You should learn from her!"

"Tian Sheng."

Lin Yun lowered his voice to remind him.

"...Oh, I'm sorry, Chief."

Tian Sheng immediately said sheepishly, "I got excited for a moment..."

"You're an adult now, don't be so easily swayed by children."

Lin Yun tapped the table and spoke calmly, but the occasional trembling of his heels beneath the table betrayed his unease. "Regardless of the reason, or who they might be imitating, encouraging such young children to 'torture' the enemy is inappropriate."

"But she meant to deal with those scumbags from Black Ash Dawn, right?"

Tian Sheng argued softly, "I think dealing with them is the same as dealing with Aberrant Beast; there's no need to consider human morality or ethics."

"... You're right, the scum of Black Ash Dawn deserves to die."

Lin Yun nodded. "But we need to understand what our significance is here as adults, and what the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was established for. 'Magical girls deal with the Aberrant Beast, the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau deals with traitors to humanity.' We exist here precisely to keep these children away from killing their own kind, and to prevent them from bearing the burden of killing humans before they even understand."

"Perhaps when they are children, they feel nothing killing these evil humans; but no one can guarantee that it won't become a lifelong shadow for them when they grow up."

"Her teacher is indeed a magical girl, but you should know that she's been active for 20 years and is now an adult; her teacher has a well-established set of values, and her ruthless killing of enemies is a decision she made after making up her mind, not a meaningless imitation..."

"I'm not imitating!"

Bai Jingxuan interrupted Lin Yun somewhat impatiently.

She raised her hand like a primary school student asking a question in class, but spoke without waiting for permission, "I'm not imitating the teacher! It's true that I admire the teacher's actions, but I want to go and torture those bad guys myself!"

"Why?"

Lin Yun asked, puzzled.

"Because I want revenge!"

Bai Jingxuan placed one hand on her heart and declared loudly, "They let the Aberrant Beast kill my parents, they also killed that magical girl... killed Senior Sakura! I hate them! I will make them suffer a terrible death! I will make them regret everything they have done!"

Lin Yun had never seen Bai Jingxuan so excited.

In his memory, Bai Jingxuan had always been that well-behaved and sensible child, very quiet and calm. She would not express her emotions intensely in front of others, nor would she make others feel embarrassed. She left too much space for others, so much so that others often did not even notice her presence.

Perhaps, in her daily battles against the Aberrant Beast, her fighting style was a bit too brutal and cruel. But under Larkspur's tireless correction, such dangerous fighting methods have been reduced considerably. Now, Bai Jingxuan acts like a normal magical girl.

If it weren't for today, Lin Yun might never have heard the word "revenge" from Bai Jingxuan's mouth.

But compared to the child's experience, this word is so heavy, so taken for granted, that he didn't know what else he could say.

When she uttered words like "torture" and "revenge," her expression was so innocent and earnest, and the incongruity between them made one uneasy.

"... I will not agree to that. I would never let a child like you do such a thing."

In the end, Lin Yun could only speak somewhat bitterly. He stopped trying to persuade Bai Jingxuan and instead looked at Tian Sheng, pointing to the office door:

"Tian Sheng, take her out of here."