Borrowing a Car

As she ran towards the exit of Rainbow Cloud Wetlands, Larkspur clutched her phone tightly, pondering which direction to take next.

Staying in Rainbow Cloud Wetlands is impossible. As one of the most distinctive hotels in the Luen Nore Emerald Zone, its exterior scenery and the interior decoration of its view rooms are so unique that no one who has been there can mistake it for a real hotel. If I were to take a video call here, I would definitely give myself away.

Not answering the video call was impossible. He had worked so hard to repair his relationship with Lin Xiaolu, and his daughter was even planning to bake him a birthday cake. If he didn't answer the phone at this crucial moment, all his efforts would be in vain.

Therefore, she now needs to find a place where she can disguise herself and stay as Lin Yun without arousing suspicion when she makes phone calls there.

The streets of the Mana-Free District and Emerald Zone are no good; like the Rainbow Cloud Wetlands, the streetscapes in these places are too distinctly Kingdom. Regular shops and restaurants might be okay, but it's almost late at night, and there probably aren't many ordinary shops still open. Bars and nightclubs are theoretically still open, but if I go to such places to answer the phone and Lin Xiaolu recognizes me, it will only escalate into another level of trust crisis...

So what should I do now? Should I go to the Mana-Free District to find a shop I can enter, or should I fly to the Emerald Book Gallery at full speed and hope that Emerald will help me out?

There was no choice but to choose one of these two options, because Lin Xiaolu wouldn't have much time to finish making the cake, and even if Xia Liang might cover for him, she couldn't slow things down too much. He had to figure out where to go as soon as possible.

Should we go to the Research Institute, or to the Mana-Free District?

The advantage of going to the Research Institute is that Emerald can most likely help me solve my current problem. However, setting aside the question of whether bothering them with such a small matter would make me seem like a demanding collaborator, I'm also concerned. Even if I were to swallow my Emerald and go to the Research Institute now, not only would the flight itself take a lot of time, but I'd also have to deal with the Research Institute's administrators and wait for them to report to higher levels... Would I really be able to see Emerald before the cake is finished?

Going to the Mana-Free District has the advantage of being much closer; I can jump directly from the Emerald Zone and land in the area in about five minutes. However, as mentioned before, the problem is that I can't use magic there and can only walk slowly through the streets. I might not be able to find a building that suits my needs in time. Unless I can obtain a vehicle suitable for the Mana-Free District -Mana-Free District, such as a car...

Car?

A sudden inspiration made the Larkspur stop in its tracks.

Yes, she did know a way to get a car: Ink Lotus's car was parked at the parking lot at the entrance of Rainbow Cloud Wetlands, and she herself was currently living there. It seemed she could ask Ink Lotus to borrow her car?

Although this plan also has many uncertainties, such as whether Ink Lotus would be willing to lend him the car, whether Ink Lotus's companions should have already returned to Rainbow Cloud Wetlands and he couldn't be sure if they were easy to approach, and what if Ink Lotus had already fallen asleep... But these uncertainties seem much more reliable than relying on the efficiency of the Research Institute's employees in relaying the message, or hoping that he would have enough good luck when hiking in the Mana-Free District.

Even if I get rejected, it's okay. Compared to rushing out like a headless fly, asking the other person a question before I go out won't take much time.

Thinking this, Larkspur changed her pace and headed directly towards the location where Ink Lotus lived, as she remembered it.

As it turned out, she was quite lucky, because when she saw the room with the view where Ink Lotus lived, the lights inside were still bright, shining through the visual Partition Spell Formula to illuminate the surroundings.

Since the other party hadn't gone to bed yet, the difficulty of communication was already halved. Larkspur stepped forward, raised her hand and wrote several Fawo Runes in the air, then sent the Spell Formula formed by these runes into the receiving device next to her, and stood at the door to wait.

Because she left in such a hurry, she wasn't wearing the coat she'd bought during the day, only a thin shirt. The early spring evening breeze was chilly; she hadn't felt it while running, but now she noticed the cold and instinctively tightened her coat.

Before long, the visual Partition Spell Formula in front of them was lifted, and a figure walked out of the small house and gradually appeared in Larkspur's field of vision.

It was a girl with brown curly hair, who looked about the same age as Lin Xiaolu, or perhaps Ink Lotus. She was wearing a cartoon animal-style plush hooded pajama and looked sleepy.

Who is it?

She walked to the door while rubbing her eyes, a half-drool stain still clinging to one side of her round face, indicating that she had just been sleeping.

Undoubtedly, it's difficult to define a magical girl's age based on her appearance, but they possess a subtle, childlike innocence that only appears in truly young magical girls, which is why they seem like children.

"Sorry to bother you so late, is Ink Lotus here?"

Guessing whether the other person was Ink Lotus's current junior, Larkspur politely bowed and asked, "I am her friend, and I need to speak with her."

"Ink Lotus... who is that?"

The girl with brown curly hair couldn't help but yawn while covering her mouth, and looked at Larkspur with a confused expression. "Are you in the wrong place? I don't know anyone named Ink Lotus."

Don't you recognize me?

This answer surprised Larkspur. She subconsciously wondered if she had really gone to the wrong place, recalling the direction she and Ink Lotus had gone yesterday. But after a moment of recollection, she was certain that the small house she had seen was undoubtedly here.

So what exactly is going on? Did Ink Lotus make a mistake back then? Or did she move out again? Change rooms?

Just as Larkspur was pondering what to say next, another figure appeared behind the girl.

However, this figure was still not Ink Lotus.

It was a girl who looked a little older than the curly-haired girl, with long, light blonde hair that almost reached her knees. Her slanted eyes gave her an unapproachable air. She was wearing a very high-quality lace nightgown and walked indifferently to the curly-haired girl's side, glancing in the direction of the Larkspur.

"Who?" she asked in a slightly hoarse voice.

Almost the instant their eyes met, her pair of chilling golden eyes made Larkspur feel uneasy.

Whether his gaze was comfortable or not was not important. What was more important was Larkspur, although his appearance had changed quite a bit, she recognized this person.

Heidi Abimel, that's the other person's name. As a magical girl, her codename is Tulip.

The reason he knew her codename and real name was because twenty years ago, Larkspur had seen her as a young girl—the magical girl codenamed Lycoris radiata, Marlena Abimel, the commander of the Luen Nore City Defense Force...

Daughter.