The Thief

There are only two staircases leading from the underground training grounds to the first floor of the stronghold.

An adult walking at a slow pace could cross the stairs in no more than ten seconds, and even with the relatively short strides of girls, it wouldn't take much longer. But for Larkspur, it felt like she had been walking on the stairs for hours.

Adhering to the principle of "not favoring either side and not neglecting either side," she tried her best to maintain a balance between Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan. Surrounded by the two juniors, she spent a lot of effort to squeeze out of the stairwell with great difficulty.

Standing at the top of the stairs, a slight glance to the side reveals the restaurant not far away.

The dining table was unusually lively today.

It wasn't just because everyone was there, crowding the entire table; it was also because the Bai'an City Squad seemed to be having a heated discussion, their voices carrying from the restaurant, clearly audible even from the stairs leading down to the first floor.

Judging from the voices, the two sides arguing seem to be White Thistle and Wood Lily.

"No, a team is a unified entity. Even if we need to split up, it shouldn't be for such a childish reason. I cannot agree to your request!"

"Why? Well, Bai'an City certainly doesn't need another fighter like me, right?"

"That's not how it works! This isn't about combat strength either. You should understand, you're also a very valuable member of our team..."

"Yes, yes, yes, the team member who's always causing trouble and holding the team back, isn't that what you said when you were reporting to Yuan Xiang before?"

"How could you... no, I... I did say that, but it wasn't what you think..."

"What does that mean?"

"I... just wanted her to keep a closer eye on you..."

"So, in the end, you still dislike me? What did I misunderstand about you?"

The argument gradually escalated into a full-blown fight, and the conflict between White Thistle and Wood Lily seemed to be intensifying. Some of the bystanders tried to mediate, while others stood by with their arms crossed, seemingly watching a show, but none of their actions could extinguish the anger between the two.

In this atmosphere, the three of them, Larkspur, entered the restaurant.

"What happens?"

Caught completely off guard by the current situation, Larkspur immediately approached Asō Madoka: "What's all this commotion about? Aren't you going to try and stop it?"

It wasn't that she wanted to be nosy, but Asō Madoka was just watching the show. Even though both sides arguing were members of her own team, she acted as if it were none of her business.

"Ah, arguments, you know, it's inevitable in small groups of young people."

Asō Madoka leaned back in her chair, saying casually, "Anyway, it's not a matter of principle. Friction in ordinary times is always better than discord on the battlefield."

"Is this your reason for sitting here like a spectator, as a senior?"

Larkspur lowered her eyelids. "Even if friction and conflict are inevitable, wouldn't it be better if you at least went up and acted as a lubricant?"

"There's no need for that. After all, trying to smooth things over and mediate only delays the inevitable outbreak of conflict."

Asō Madoka simply shook her head. "Don't always treat the younger generation like children. Teenagers already have their own opinions. We third parties are not capable of making all the decisions about what they like and dislike. Letting go appropriately is actually beneficial for everyone to solve problems."

She spoke with a hint of sarcasm, her gaze intentionally or unintentionally sweeping between Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, before finally turning back without a trace and smiling twice as if nothing had happened.

"You're only good at spouting fallacies."

Larkspur sighed helplessly, "Then let me, the host, mediate. We can't let our guests make a scene. Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"You too, you're only really diligent when it comes to being a nice guy."

Asō Madoka glanced at her, but didn't refuse. Instead, she clapped her hands and said, "Hey, White Thistle, why don't you explain this to this senior Inspector? We're going to talk about this today anyway, so we might as well take this opportunity to clarify things."

"Yes, mentor."

Upon hearing Asō Madoka's words, White Thistle immediately stopped arguing with Wood Lily, glared at her fiercely, then turned around, composed herself, and said seriously, "I am very sorry, Inspector- senpai, for making you witness such an unpleasant scene. I apologize. According to our original plan, we intended to bid you farewell in a more dignified manner today."

"Farewell?" Larkspur keenly grasped the key word in the sentence.

"Yes, goodbye."

White Thistle nodded. "Because the holiday is almost over, and the middle schools in our Bai'an City will be starting soon, although the studies of magical girls are relatively less important, we are all still attending school for the time being, so we plan to return to Bai'an City soon. As for our mentor, she said she will continue to support the defense of Fangting City here, but that's not something we juniors have the right to decide."

"Oh, yes, indeed. If it's about studies, then there's really nothing I can do. While I personally welcome you to continue staying here, I won't force you to stay."

Influenced by White Thistle's methodical manner, Larkspur also exchanged a few polite words before asking, "And then, what exactly was the disagreement about?"

"That's because I don't want to go back!"

A voice interrupted from the side, picking up where White Thistle left off. Wood Lily slammed her hand on the table and stormed over, saying aggressively, "I already told you, you're just here in Fangting City for a vacation. I have my own business to attend to! Now that you've had your vacation, you want to drag me along? I haven't finished my business yet, why should I go back with you?"

"Then tell me, what exactly do you want to do?"

Wood Lily's tone was unfriendly, and White Thistle was immediately ignited by her. "You're always acting mysterious, like a riddle teller. When asked, you always say you have something to say, but when asked again, you refuse to tell me. You train half-heartedly, and you're nowhere to be found for activities. You even said we're here on vacation? You're the most undisciplined person in the whole team!"

"I already said it's my private matter. I'll tell you when I've actually succeeded," Wood Lily said angrily.

"If you won't tell me, then come back with me." White Thistle wouldn't budge an inch.

"I don't want to, I won't go back!" Wood Lily continued to resist.

"Well, then it turned out like you see it."

Asō Madoka, standing to the side, looked at Larkspur and spread her hands. "After all, it's an argument. Once people get angry, they bring up both old and new grudges. They'll bring up every little thing from the past. There's nothing I can do to advise them."

"This..."

As a mature adult, Larkspur could only think of the word "childish" when it came to the argument between White Thistle and Wood Lily. However, her position did not allow her to simply dismiss the issue and leave. Instead, she had to think about how to resolve this conflict that had already been brought to the forefront.

Although she could decide to let Wood Lily stay as the host, as White Thistle had said before, the members of the Bai'an City Squad were, after all, a unified whole.

The other two people didn't want Wood Lily to leave with them out of malice, and Wood Lily herself couldn't come up with a convincing reason to stay. Under these circumstances, her forceful intervention seemed rather meddlesome.

This is probably why Asō Madoka didn't want to mediate the argument at all, and just waited for the two of them to reach a conclusion on their own.

After much thought, Larkspur couldn't come up with a proposal that was fair enough and respectful of both sides. Hearing Lin Xiaolu's stomach rumbling with hunger, she finally sat down in her seat and abruptly changed the subject.

"This matter needs further discussion; let's talk about it after dinner."

This finally shut White Thistle and Wood Lily up.

At the dinner table, Larkspur pondered how to mediate the conflict between White Thistle and Wood Lily while dealing with Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan constantly serving her food, feeling utterly bewildered. She never imagined that she truly couldn't come up with a good solution to such a trivial matter.

The turning point in this matter finally came the following morning.

Although the students were still on holiday, the adults had already returned to work, especially those in special organizations like the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. As the director, Lin Yun still had to go to work as usual the next day, and still had to face countless field and internal affairs issues.

Just as he was busy with documents and phone calls as usual, there was a sudden knock on the door of the director's office.

As if by muscle reflex, Lin Yun raised his left hand, ran a few fingers over the silk thread to sense it, and after confirming there was nothing amiss, replied, "Please come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the director's office was pushed open, and a male employee from the intelligence department walked in with a serious expression. "Excuse me, Director, I apologize for disturbing you. There has just been a Magic Side attack at the bureau, and I need to report it to you."

"Attack?"

Lin Yun looked up upon hearing this, raising an eyebrow. "Who is it? A folk Mage? Or is another Gray Magic Organization causing trouble?"

He didn't even think the other party would be Black Ash Dawn, because Black Ash Dawn would definitely not be so blind as to come to the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau in broad daylight and cause trouble.

Since he took office a few months ago, his vigorous crackdown on Black Ash Dawn has yielded remarkable results. Not only has he eradicated all of Black Ash Dawn's forces, both overt and covert, but he has also basically eliminated all the remaining forces belonging to "Moth" within Fangting City.

Only a few Black Ash Dawn agents remained in Fangting City, all of whom he used for entrapment and law enforcement. Those left behind were weak and insignificant Courtfront Ash Soldiers Ash Guard, and none of the higher-ranking members were spared.

Therefore, when he heard that someone had come to the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to cause trouble, his first reaction was that the folk Mage arrogant and ignorant.

"No, it wasn't Mage, nor was it such a vicious attack... or rather, calling it an attack isn't quite accurate, since the target was, strictly speaking, theft."

The male employee replied, "However, because this thief tried to tamper with the scene and escape after being discovered, and his identity is somewhat unusual, we felt we had to report this to you."

Hearing this, Lin Yun's expression turned strange. He felt as if he had encountered a similar situation not long ago, and in such a situation, the other party's next words did not seem so difficult to predict.

"Let me guess."

He put down his pen and tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "You're not going to say that the person who came to steal this time was a magical girl, are you?"

Then he saw the employee in front of him widen his eyes and nod with admiration:

"... Yes, Director is wise."

Lin Yun saw the "thief" who came to steal in the surveillance footage from the interrogation room.

This time, when he finally saw the thief's face clearly, it was as if his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.

Sitting in the interrogation room now, dejected and looking as if he had lost his parents, was one of the people who had dined with him at the same table the night before— Wood Lily.

What's going on now?

Lin Yun frowned deeply in front of the monitor, completely baffled.

"We have already questioned this... magical girl, hoping she can explain her origins and purpose, so that we can uncover the truth and eliminate misunderstandings and conflicts as much as possible, but she is unwilling to answer anything."

The intelligence officer standing beside him explained, "We tried to contact the magical girl from the Fangting City Squad to see if there was a way to resolve the issue peacefully, but the lady in the interrogation room is very resistant. She says that if we contact other magical girls, she'll go out and accuse us of indecent assault, which is giving our colleagues a real headache..."

Indeed, if Asō Madoka found out about this, that girl would probably have a string of candied hawthorns growing on her head tonight.

Lin Yun pondered to herself, but on the surface, she maintained a businesslike demeanor. "Did she propose any settlement plan?"

"Yes, there are..."

The employee looked troubled. "But her request is for us to grant her access to the bureau's archives, including the most confidential documents, and then release her as soon as possible."

It's no wonder he looked troubled; after all, it sounded unbelievable to anyone: a caught thief not only refused to admit his mistake but also threatened and bossed people around, which was truly unacceptable.

"... I see."

Lin Yun nodded, turned her head and said, "Okay, take me there, I'll talk to her."

"Yes!"

The employee had expected the director to be angry after reporting this, but after waiting a while and seeing that Lin Yun didn't seem to be blaming him, he felt as if he had been granted a pardon. Upon hearing Lin Yun's words, he immediately straightened his back and said, "I'll take you there right away!"

Soon, Lin Yun went to the interrogation room where Wood Lily was being held.

The employee who had led the way pushed open the door, briefly explained to Wood Lily inside that "our director wants to see you," and then stepped back and stood aside.

Lin Yun patted him on the shoulder, said nothing, and strode into the interrogation room.

As soon as he entered, his gaze met that of the girl inside.

Today, Wood Lily was dressed in a more formal outfit than usual: a light blue, waistless dress, a gray-blue down jacket, and white round-toed shoes. Paired with her long, light yellow hair, she had a rather exotic look, making one wonder if she was from Xiluo Prefecture.

However, Lin Yun was already quite familiar with the girl in front of him, and some changes in appearance could not shake his judgment of her. So he simply glanced at her and his expression remained unchanged.

On the contrary, Wood Lily's already unpleasant expression darkened even more after seeing Lin Yun walk in.

"How could it be you?" she exclaimed.

"Why can't it be me?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow.

"So this is your territory... No, does that mean what happened in Bai'an City was also your conspiracy? No, could even the rumors online be part of your scheme? Was everything arranged by you?"

She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, asking, "What exactly do you want?"

"... Although I don't know what you were imagining in that brief moment, I feel it's necessary for me to explain your situation to you, young man."

Lin Yun took two steps forward, pulled out a chair opposite the interrogation table, and sat down. "You are currently under house arrest for stealing important secrets from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. Many people in the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau are quite uneasy about your purpose, and I am the director of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau."

"Director?" Wood Lily blinked.

"Yes, if I remember correctly, we met briefly last year when I was on a business trip in Bai'an City."

Lin Yun remained expressionless to make her statement appear more impartial. "Although some unpleasant misunderstandings may have occurred during the process, because of that experience, I have no reason to doubt your identity as a magical girl."

"Ah, that's right!"

Hearing Lin Yun say that, Wood Lily immediately stood up excitedly. "Although the process wasn't great, Uncle, you know I really am a magical girl from Bai'an City, right? That should let me go..."

"I'm sorry, that won't work."

Lin Yun interrupted her, "We are the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau of Fangting City. We do not have the authority to cross city boundaries to contact the magical girl from Bai'an City. Even if we can confirm your identity, we still need to go through a reasonable and compliant process to reach a settlement and release you."

"Process?"

Wood Lily was somewhat confused. "What exactly does it mean?"

"We need to explain this matter to the Bai'an City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau first. Then, your Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau will contact your teammates, and we in Fangting City will contact the local magical girls. Representatives from all parties will be sent to negotiate. After that, the relevant issues will be filed and reported to the Royal Court of the Magic Kingdom. Only then will the matter be completely resolved."

Lin Yun said matter-of-factly, completely ignoring Wood Lily's increasingly pale face. "Of course, as long as you can contact your teammates, you can leave the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and don't need to stay in this interrogation room any longer."

By the time he finished explaining these measures, Wood Lily's face had lost all color.

"Do we... do we have to notify so many people?" she stammered.

"Yes, that's the rule." Lin Yun nodded.

What he didn't say was that while this is the rule, it's often not the case in practice.

For most city Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, since magical girls are the most important safety guarantee for the entire city, even if a magical girl commits a crime or gets into trouble, the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau will tend to downplay the incident and let it go. With layers of protection, no city Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau would ever take such a serious matter to heart and deal with a magical girl.

After all, escalating the issue is a minor matter, but damaging relations with the local magical girls is a major one. If it eventually escalates to the Kingdom level, even if the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau is in the right, it will become unreasonable, and it will be difficult to gain any advantage from it.

Over time, the "rules" that Lin Yun mentioned earlier became just rules. The so-called "it should be so according to the rules" gradually evolved into "it cannot be so in reality." It was only because he was familiar with the two Magical Girl Squad and was the captain of one of the teams that he had the confidence to say such a thing.

Of course, Lin Yun's intention in saying all this was merely to intimidate Wood Lily; she wouldn't actually do something like that to her. After all, if she really did that, Wood Lily's reputation in the magical girl community would be ruined. Even if "stealing things from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau" didn't cause any serious consequences, it would very likely become a lifelong joke for her, something any magical girl she knew could bring up and make fun of.

Furthermore, Wood Lily's actions were clearly unauthorized, and yesterday she showed an attitude of absolutely refusing to tell anyone the truth. If Lin Yun were to expose this, she would not only be held accountable by the team, but might even be forced to reveal her "secrets," an outcome she probably wouldn't want to accept.

Taking all these factors into consideration, Lin Yun decided to emphasize the consequences of the matter to see if he could intimidate the other party. And as it turned out, the effect was excellent.

"Can we... can we not do this?"

Previously unyielding to both soft and hard tactics, Wood Lily suddenly panicked. "I just wanted to check something in your database. No damage was caused. Is it really necessary to take this so seriously?"

"I heard that when you left, you almost blew up the filing cabinet next to you to avoid being caught," Lin Yun said, feigning a recollection.

"That was an accident! Just an accident! I didn't mean to cause trouble!"

Wood Lily loosely clenched her fists and forcefully swung her arms twice. "It's all your people's fault for shouting things like 'Hands up, don't move,' which startled me. My first instinct was to use my Magic Armament to escape, but that's Magic Armament armor! Magic Armament! I couldn't control it if I exerted too much force!"

"So?" Lin Yun looked at her.

"Therefore, I don't think I deserve this crime!"

Wood Lily stood up. "Something like reporting it to the Bai'an City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, or even to the Kingdom..."

"It's part of the rules," Lin Yun blinked.

"I'm saying, can we make an exception?" Wood Lily shouted, as if she had given up all hope.

"An exception? You mean you don't want me to tell the Bai'an City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau about this?"

Lin Yun continued to feign confusion, "But as far as I remember, when we were on a business trip in Bai'an City, you said, 'The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau has no jurisdiction over me.'"

"The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau has no jurisdiction over me. I'm not talking about the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau; I'm afraid of you..."

Wood Lily stopped mid-sentence, realizing she couldn't reveal her secrets here. Instead, she took two steps forward, approached Lin Yun, and smiled, "Um, Uncle?"

"What's wrong?" Lin Yun subtly moved back to avoid getting too close to the other person's face.

"So, I was wrong before in Bai'an City. I was too anxious and misunderstood you as a bad person."

However, Wood Lily pressed on relentlessly until she grabbed Lin Yun's suit jacket by the waist. She looked up, tears glistening in her eyes, and said, "I know I was wrong to sneak into the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to look at the data this time. Please give me another chance, forgive me, and I promise I'll never do it again."

"It's good that you can admit your mistakes frankly; I'm glad."

Lin Yun silently grabbed the hem of her clothes and pulled them down forcefully, ripping them out of Wood Lily's grasp. "However, this isn't a follow-up to the incident in Bai'an City, so I think we should handle this officially."

"No, please, please!"

Seeing that she couldn't continue grabbing Lin Yun's clothes, Wood Lily ran to the side, grabbed Lin Yun's hand, and said with tears in her eyes, "I'm begging you, please spare me. To tell you the truth, if you tell our captain about this, I'm really finished. My life will be very, very miserable from now on. Please spare me, uncle."

Even if you say that...

"I'll do something for you, anything is fine as long as it's within my capabilities, is that alright?"

Wood Lily gave me a "I'll kneel down if you don't agree" look. "One isn't enough? Two? Three? I'm a magical girl, you know! I can handle a lot of enemies that your Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau can't handle! I'm very useful. If you hand me over, we're all doomed!"

"... Forget it."

Lin Yun seemed to reluctantly give in. "I don't need so many things. Just promise me one thing, and I can pretend that today's events never happened."

"Real?"

"Real."

"Then, how about we add one more thing: let's wipe the slate clean of what happened in Bai'an City..."

"Don't even think about it, this is bribery."

"Tch, so stingy."

"I advise you to be a little nicer, kid. As you said, if I were an adult with a worse temper, your behavior just now would have been enough for me to report you to the police."

"I was wrong, I'm sorry." Wood Lily stood at attention and saluted.

"Sigh, what a mess this is."

Lin Yun sighed for real this time. Thinking of the chaotic scene at the Fangting City outpost yesterday, he had to pull himself together and said seriously, "Alright, let's talk about the thing you need to promise me."

"Okay, sure."

Wood Lily nodded obediently, but then, as if she had thought of something, she blushed and shrank back. "Um, it can only be legal things, you know. I won't do anything really outrageous."

"... what's on your mind."

Lin Yun resisted the urge to flick the little head in front of him, and organized his thoughts slightly. "It's definitely a legal and moral thing to do, but for you, it might be a bit out of line."

"Huh?" Wood Lily was stunned when she heard this, and almost instantly she covered her shoulders with her hands.

"I already told you what you're thinking, at such a young age."

Lin Yun finally couldn't resist giving her a light tap on the head. "Don't think about those things."

"Then, what could it be?" Wood Lily's voice trembled slightly. "I, let me make this clear, I'm only twelve years old, so no, the scope of what's illegal is quite broad... but if it's really legal, it's not like I'm completely out of the question..."

Lin Yun was too lazy to explain to her anymore.

He waved at the interrogation room's camera, and suddenly, the employee who had led the way earlier walked in carrying a stack of documents.

"These are the documents you tried to access when you hacked into the Bureau of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau' archives."

Lin Yun took the documents and slammed them on the table. Then, he gestured to Wood Lily and said, "Although we can deduce your purpose by analyzing the contents, I'd rather get the answer from you yourself."

"Could you please tell me what you're looking for by 'reading through' these documents?"