Meeting

As Larkspur selected two outfits in the shopping street and leaned against the counter waiting to pay, the vibration of her cell phone in her handbag caught her attention.

She opened her bag and checked it, finding that the message came from Lin Yun's phone. However, there was no one else who knew her here, so there was no possibility of a conflict of identity. Therefore, Larkspur did not hesitate and simply took out her phone.

When she opened the message page, she saw the message from Lin Xiaolu at the very top:

[Lin Xiaolu: [Image] Today's itinerary: Since I heard it's Valentine’s Day, and you can give chocolates to someone you like, I'm planning to try making chocolates.]

Her hand holding the phone paused for a moment, Larkspur's gaze sharpened, her eyes gleaming. She raised her finger and quickly typed "Who do you plan to send this to?" on the screen. But after that, she stared at the emoji selection screen for a long time before making her final choice:

Who am I planning to give it to? [Laughing]

To avoid sounding interrogative, she decided to add a smiley face. However, she felt that the [smiling] expression might seem a bit forced, so she chose the wide-mouthed laughing expression instead.

It wasn't that she doubted her daughter. In fact, after spending the past six months in this disguised identity, she was certain that Lin Xiaolu didn't have any tendency to fall in love too early. However, they were now in the Magic Kingdom, a society where everything was judged by magical abilities. The identity of a magical girl would only be more attractive to the people of the Kingdom than in the Material Realm, and it was hard to guarantee that no one would try to flirt with the younger generation.

The three younger women, especially Lin Xiaolu, are still just children. Although they are certainly not old enough to be dating, it is hard to say that they will not be deceived by the sweet talk of bad people. Therefore, Larkspur is not only extremely vigilant in this regard, but also extremely cautious.

[For the Larkspur!]

Fortunately, Lin Xiaolu's reply was concise and to the point, immediately dispelling Larkspur's unnecessary thoughts.

Oh, then it's alright.

Relieved, Larkspur Que relaxed her tense demeanor.

After deleting all the extra "advice" that had already been typed into the input field, Larkspur chatted casually with Lin Xiaolu for a few minutes as if nothing had happened, and then encouraged her daughter a couple of times as Lin Yun. This conversation was eventually interrupted by the clothing store clerk, simply because the checkout process that Larkspur had been waiting for had already been completed.

"Miss, your order has been completed!"

As the sales clerk spoke, she handed Larkspur a tote bag containing a small-sized casual outfit that Larkspur had previously selected.

Thanks to the higher number of magical girls in the Magic Kingdom, clothing stores here generally prepare smaller standard sizes than in the Material Realm, so Larkspur can finally choose two proper outfits instead of having to buy children's clothes.

The reason it's described as two outfits is because one of them was already on Larkspur: a beige double-breasted open-front coat, the hem of which reached mid-thigh, and a pair of pure white slim-fit straight-leg trousers, paired with brown platform loafers.

In addition, her hairstyle at this time was not long hair, but rather the style befitting a "Gentian" – tied into a bun at the back of her head. With these two factors combined, Larkspur finally looked like a capable professional, and was no longer mistaken for a child.

After getting herself a decent outfit, Larkspur's next plan was naturally to meet Ink Lotus. However, when she booked a Fairy carriage online and arrived at the meeting place a full hour early, she found that Ink Lotus was already waiting there.

However, unexpectedly, Ink Lotus was surrounded by several sheriffs.

"Excuse me, this is a temporary security check. Here is my identification. Could you please take out all your belongings? I assure you, this check won't take up too much of your time," said the lead officer.

"Huh? Why? Can we not investigate?"

Ink Lotus, on the other hand, showed considerable resistance and confusion.

After all, in her own opinion, she hadn't done anything wrong; she had simply been standing there waiting for someone. She had arrived at the street corner early to keep her appointment, and to avoid blocking pedestrians, she had deliberately shrunk into the alleyway beside her, only peeking out to check if her "captain" had arrived. But for some reason, someone suddenly arrived with a sheriff, pointing at her and saying, "It's her," and then this situation arose.

"I'm sorry, but some nearby residents have reported that you've been acting suspiciously, which is unsettling."

The sheriff, expressionless, refused Ink Lotus and stepped in front of his two tense teammates, saying earnestly, "We don't want to escalate the conflict either, so please cooperate."

"Suspicious?"

Ink Lotus pointed to herself, tilted her head back, and the ribbon behind her head trembled twice. Unfortunately, this action aroused further vigilance from the sheriffs, and one of them even reached behind his back and gripped his baton.

"Please remain standing and cooperate with the inspection. Do not move!" the leading sheriff shouted, raising his voice in a stern warning.

"... I didn't do anything." Ink Lotus had no choice but to raise her hands.

Just as the situation was becoming increasingly tense, almost escalating into conflict, Larkspur finally arrived. Standing at what she considered a sufficient distance, she spoke to the sheriffs in relatively clear language, "Excuse me, may I interrupt? I know this person."

Her voice immediately attracted the attention of several sheriffs, one of whom looked at her and asked, "What?"

"I mean, this person is my friend. We made plans to go shopping together, so she's waiting for me here."

Larkspur stood still and said, "It's just that she's a bit shy and feels uncomfortable in crowded places, so she might do some strange things."

"Are you sure?"

This testimony, coupled with Larkspur's now rather upright and capable appearance, caused the sheriffs to exchange glances and relax somewhat. "Miss, we need to verify the credibility of your words."

"I can show you my identification."

Larkspur remained quite calm. "If you allow me to come closer, I can give you more explanation, but I don't want too many people to hear what I'm about to say."

"Alright." The head sheriff granted her request.

And so, Larkspur stepped forward, showed his identification, and then, in a low voice, spoke something to the sheriffs in a volume that was barely audible to the passersby. His words seemed to have some kind of magic, instantly putting them at ease.

Not only that, their gazes toward Ink Lotus shifted from wariness to respect mixed with sympathy. One of the leading officers even turned back to Ink Lotus and apologized to her.

After that, the sheriffs left.

"Captain, that's amazing!"

No sooner had they left than Ink Lotus exclaimed, "No matter the situation, it seems you can always save me."

"That's because if you had just acted normally, these 'crises' wouldn't have existed..."

Larkspur sighed helplessly, "I thought what happened yesterday was just a coincidence. How come you encounter this kind of thing every day?"

"I don't know either."

Ink Lotus tilted her head, looking equally confused. "But what did the captain just say to them? Why did they apologize to me?"

"You really want to hear this?"

"Hmm, I'm a little curious." Ink Lotus nodded.

"In order to get out of this predicament as quickly as possible, I told them that you are a magical girl and a veteran of the Interrealm War, so your personality was somewhat affected by the war."

Larkspur glanced at her. "Of course, these are things I said to resolve the situation quickly. Although there is some truth to them, they may not reflect your current situation. I'm sorry."

She felt it was wrong to fabricate stories about someone in front of others, so even if it was just to resolve the issue, it was indeed necessary to apologize to the other party afterwards.

"I see, no wonder you're the captain."

However, Ink Lotus seemed completely unconcerned, clearly not finding anything wrong with Larkspur's actions.

Not only that, her usually expressionless face even seemed to have gained a strange radiance, as if her emotions had been slightly lifted:

Even now, you still see right through me.

Since I recently resumed daily updates, not only did many readers vote with Off-Duty Magic tickets at the beginning of the month—something I could never have achieved on my own—but it seems quite a few readers also gave me rewards, with some big spenders even giving very high amounts. Although I'm somewhat flattered, I'm very grateful to everyone for your support.