Exchange

Kissing the back of the hand is an ancient custom, whether in the Material Realm or the Magic Kingdom.

This etiquette, known in the Material Realm as the "kissing of the hand," is often used in very formal occasions, either to express respect to a highly respected lady or as a subordinate to show loyalty to a superior. However, with the changing times and the overall technological advancement of the Material Realm, this etiquette has faded from people's lives over time.

Nowadays, the gesture of kissing hands mostly appears in various films and literary works, becoming a rather romantic act. Therefore, in the minds of young people, it is a relatively intimate and romantic practice. Regardless of what Asō Madoka herself thinks, the young magical girls from Fangting City and Bai'an City were all in an uproar when this gesture was used as a greeting, and they all let out gasps of surprise in unison.

While the gossip in Bai'an City might be the only reason for the situation, in Fangting City, especially Lin Xiaolu, the look in her eyes as if she wanted to Asō Madoka was murderous. She rushed out almost immediately, demanding a serious "What are you doing?"

"It's just a friendly greeting, Xiao Lu." That was Asō Madoka's reply at the time.

"Expressing intimacy is simply a handshake or a hug, not like you... like you..."

Lin Xiaolu stammered for a long time, unable to figure out how to summarize the other person's behavior. But as she gradually digested what the other person had said, she quickly discovered another problem. "Wait, why do you know my name?"

"I was once the magical girl of this city, and naturally, I'm also a friend of your mother."

Asō Madoka remained expressionless, glanced at the Larkspur beside her, and seeing that it had no reaction, said quite casually, "Although you may not remember, I even held you in my arms when you were not long after you were born."

"Huh? Personally? What...?" This statement, almost a direct declaration of "I'm your elder," immediately dampened Lin Xiaolu's momentum. Although she was still quite dissatisfied, the confidence in her voice weakened considerably. "Are you lying? I had no idea..."

"You can confirm with Larkspur, or go back and ask your father."

With a gentle smile, Asō Madoka looked at Lin Xiaolu with great interest. "Although neither they nor your mother have ever mentioned me to you, we were very close back then, and even the name 'Xiao Lu' was decided with my witness."

Lin Xiaolu opened her mouth speechlessly. The other person's words sounded true, but she still couldn't believe it and could only look at Larkspur beside her.

Larkspur, who had been silent for a moment because of the abrupt hand-kiss, came to her senses. She first glanced at Asō Madoka with a complicated expression, then sighed, looked at her daughter directly, and nodded. "That's right. Apart from Hong Siyu, when you were born, all the magical girls in Fangting City, your mother's teammates, were actually there. From that perspective, you're a child who has been under scrutiny since birth."

"See?" Asō Madoka smiled and shrugged.

"Hmm... since Larkspur has admitted it, then... let's take it as true."

Reluctantly accepting the fact that she had suddenly gained several "aunties," Lin Xiaolu pursed her lips and nodded, but quickly widened her eyes and continued, "But what do you mean by kissing Larkspur's hand! Kissing her hand in front of so many people!"

"Between adults, kissing hands is no big deal."

Asō Madoka continued gently, "It's just a kiss on the hand, not a kiss on the lips, but you kids shouldn't imitate it."

Upon hearing the word "kiss," Xia Liang, Bai Jingxuan, and the blonde girl all lit up with interest in the gossip, while Lin Xiaolu's ears burned, and she couldn't help but point at the other person. "How could you say such a word here? It's practically indecent!"

Upon hearing this, Asō Madoka first stood there in silence, staring at Lin Xiaolu for a while, before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"Haha, this is so funny!"

She exclaimed slightly loudly, then bent down slightly to the side and whispered in Larkspur's ear, "Your daughter is so cute. Did you really not teach her anything before?"

"Is that strange? She's only 14."

Larkspur glared at her. "Don't you dare teach her anything inappropriate. Be serious."

"Okay, okay, I know what I'm doing."

Waving her hand to indicate that she understood, and ignoring Lin Xiaolu's angry snort filled with dissatisfaction, Asō Madoka straightened up, walked directly to Lin Xiaolu, and then gracefully extended her hand to her, saying, "I'm sorry, if what I said made you uncomfortable, then I take it back. I hope you can accept my apology, Xiao Lu."

"I just saw how big my teammate's child has grown, so I couldn't help but tease you a little. I hope you don't mind."

Seeing that Lin Xiaolu not only didn't shake her hand but also seemed a little wary and shrank back, Asō Madoka's smile widened, and then she withdrew her hand without any embarrassment. "Anyway, I hope we can get along well for a while."

"Next?" Xia Liang, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, keenly caught the key words in her words and repeated them.

"Yes, we may stay in Fangting City for a while."

Asō Madoka nodded. "Let me introduce myself again. I am Margaret, the Magical Girl Squad from Fangting City Bai'an City and a candidate Inspector for the Investigation Institute. Due to the recent suspected high-frequency activity area of Claw Mark and Black Ash Dawn City, and the poor security situation, after consultation with the director of the Investigation Institute, we will be temporarily stationed in Fangting City to provide military support."

"At the same time, considering that the new year's Qualification Certification Exam will be held in less than six months, our new magical girls from the Bai'an City Squad have come to Fangting City to apply for inter-city learning exchange."

"Learning... exchanging ideas?"

Sensing something from the other person's words, Lin Xiaolu raised her head slightly, first looking at Asō Madoka, and then looking at the magical girls from Bai'an City with some confusion.

Without a doubt, the Bai'an City Squad was also watching her, or rather, watching the girls from Fangting City.

"As our mentor said, our purpose in coming to Fangting City is to learn and exchange ideas."

The girl codenamed White Thistle stepped forward, picking up where Asō Madoka, and continued, "In other words, we're here to both help and challenge them. Our mentor wants to see just how strong the magical girls of Fangting City are now, and she hopes we can use this to test our own learning and see if we can surpass her and even outshine the new magical girls from her hometown."

"Challenge the establishment..."

Lin Xiaolu blinked, gradually realizing what the other person was trying to say, "What do you mean by studying? Aren't you here to pick a fight?"

"Hmph, scared now?" The blonde girl standing slightly behind laughed. "I saw it before, you can't even beat Looper Tier Aberrant Beast?"

"What do you mean you can't even beat a caterpillar? You're the one who forcibly stole my kill!" Lin Xiaolu immediately became unhappy.

"How is this stealing kills? I didn't even get the Echo, did I?"

"Wasn't that because you were covered in the slime of an Aberrant Beast and ran away without having time to grab it?"

I told you not to mention this again!

Upon hearing Lin Xiaolu mention the Aberrant Beast slime, the blonde girl's face turned ashen, and she half-covered her mouth. "You, are you deliberately provoking me?"

"Heh, it's not certain who provoked whom first!" Lin Xiaolu retorted, hands on her hips.

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing before they could even exchange two words, Xia Liang quickly acted as a peacemaker, pulling Lin Xiaolu back and turning to White Thistle: "Anyway, you came here to exchange ideas... or rather, to spar with us, right?"

"That's what my mentor meant."

White Thistle nodded. "Of course, it's just a friendly spar. We have no real hostility. Wood Lily was just being a bit harsh with her words, but she didn't mean to make things difficult for anyone."

"Who is Wood Lily?" Xia Liang looked at the blonde girl and the taciturn girl behind her.

"It's me, it's me."

After exchanging a glare with Lin Xiaolu, the blonde girl crossed her arms and said with a hint of arrogance, "My code name is Wood Lily. Although I don't know your strength yet, and that guy over there who couldn't even beat Looper Tier opponent disappointed me somewhat, since you were trained by the Inspector, don't make me feel... cough cough!"

She spoke in a rather arrogant tone, but before she could finish, Asō Madoka suddenly slapped her on the back.

Nearly suffocating from the slap, the girl codenamed Wood Lily coughed several times, gave the other person a somewhat aggrieved look, and reluctantly spoke again, continuing, "I hope you can let me see the strength of Fangting City... In short, please take care of me."

After she finished speaking, she turned her gaze to the taciturn girl beside her.

The girl, who hadn't uttered more than five words since everyone had met, shrugged immediately when gazes swept over her. She lowered her head, letting her bangs obscure her eyes, and said in an incredibly soft voice, "... I am Mimosa."

Then, she couldn't help but take a few steps back, hiding half of her body behind White Thistle.

"... His name suits him perfectly." Xia Liang commented upon seeing this.

"Indeed, he lives up to his name." Wood Lily nodded seriously as well.

After the magical girls from Bai'an City introduced their code names, the girls from Fangting City also introduced themselves, as if to get to know each other. Then, White Thistle turned to look at Asō Madoka beside her, indicating that she had finished speaking.

"--Very good, White Thistle. That's pretty much what I wanted to express."

Asō Madoka nodded, her gaze sweeping over the newlyweds before finally settling on Larkspur: "What do you think of my suggestion?"

"A friendly exchange..."

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Larkspur did not give an answer immediately, not because she had any reservations, but because she was still weighing and judging.

Upon hearing the words "learning exchange," she already knew what the other party was up to. So, she first estimated the strength of the magical girls from Bai'an City that she remembered, and then looked at Lin Xiaolu and the others, secretly comparing the differences in their strength.

After comparing the options and based on her previous impressions, she had to come to a somewhat pessimistic conclusion—she might not be able to win.

She knew the strength of the girls in her team all too well: Lin Xiaolu, without using her peculiar White Magic Power, was probably only strong enough to defeat Looper Tier Aberrant Beast on her own; Xia Liang was progressing faster, having already advanced to the Leaf Rank, but she hadn't even started learning Spell Formula yet, so she was basically only slightly stronger than the Bud Rank; Bai Jingxuan's strength was improving rapidly, and she even had the ability to defeat Pupa Stage beast on her own when she revealed her Aberrant Beast magic... But to be honest, this power was completely unusable for sparring.

In other words, whether it's Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, or Bai Jingxuan, under normal circumstances they are only at the Bud Rank, or slightly stronger than the Bud Rank.

And what about the three magical girls from Bai'an City?

First, there's White Thistle, who is undoubtedly a Leaf Rank. Larkspur had already confirmed this during her stay in Bai'an City, because White Thistle had used the Spell Formula more than once and had clearly developed considerable proficiency.

Secondly, there's Wood Lily. Regardless of whether this child has Blossoming the Leaf Rank, she at least possesses considerable talent in Mana Perception. In terms of perception range alone, she can even be compared to herself in Bai'an City back then.

Finally, there's the Mimosa. Although it never revealed any of its strength and was always vaguely under the protection of the White Thistle, both the occasional display of its magic and Asō Madoka's attitude suggest that things are not so simple.

Although it sounds pessimistic, if a match were to actually start right now, the Fangting City Squad's chances of winning wouldn't be higher than 20%—and that's assuming Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan both perform exceptionally well; otherwise, Xia Liang alone wouldn't be able to carry the team.

Is it necessary to agree to a match that is a sure loss at this stage? Will doing so ignite the children's competitive spirit or dampen their enthusiasm?

This is what the Larkspur needs to weigh.

However, before she could come to a concrete conclusion, Asō Madoka, who was not far away, spoke up once again.

"Oh, right, Larkspur, actually, just sparring isn't very meaningful. I have another proposal."

She clapped her hands as if she had suddenly remembered something, then looked at Larkspur, her smile fading slightly, and she seemed to have become quite serious.

"If you lose this sparring match, I hope the Fangting City Squad will not participate in this year's Qualification Certification Exam."

I've delayed it for several more days, and I apologize again. I promise I won't make promises I can't keep next time; it feels like I'm lying, and I feel incredibly guilty. Next time, I'll honestly admit I can't write it. Sorry, meow.