Reminder

After finishing his phone calls with three younger colleagues, Lin Yun lingered in the bar for a while longer.

The bartender's recommendation did indeed meet his needs. Not only did it not make him feel drunk, but its refreshing taste actually made him more sober. The slight cloying feeling from eating desserts all day also dissipated after the drink. Lin Yun leaned back in his chair, scrolled through his phone, replied to the last few work-related messages of the day, and then stood up to leave.

Before leaving, for some reason, two girls who looked young, but who might be magical girls, came up to him and started talking to him. Their words were quite sentimental, but Lin Yun only gave them a few polite replies and left.

He knew that hitting on women in bars was not uncommon, but he himself had no interest in it, nor should he.

Returning to the alley where he had previously parked, Lin Yun entered the alley and transformed himself in the shadows.

When she arrived, Larkspur had already recorded the Ink Lotus had given her into the "Everyday Wear Mode" of the Gentian Gem, so activating the gem now directly restored her to the clothes she had worn when she arrived. However, after doing all this, she did not return the way she came, but instead walked out from the other end of the alley and took a detour back to where she had parked her car.

She knew there weren't many security cameras around, but to avoid being seen by someone with malicious intent, it was best to be cautious.

And so, having finally managed to smooth over the identity conflict crisis Larkspur got into the car, entered the magic information she had already recorded, and drove back to Rainbow Cloud Wetlands.

The first thing she did after returning home was to find Ink Lotus, return her coat, and tell her where she parked her car so that Ink Lotus wouldn't have trouble finding it.

"Anyway, thank you so much, you've done me a huge favor."

Seeing that Ink Lotus had accepted the coat, Larkspur decided not to bother her any longer and waved her hand, saying, "Then I'll head back now."

"... Um, just a moment."

But before leaving, Ink Lotus hesitated and called out to Larkspur.

"Is there anything else?" Larkspur stopped in his tracks.

"Well, it's not that I need to talk to you about something, but I feel like there's something I need to tell you."

Ink Lotus tightened her grip on the coat slightly. "That's right, the assessment this year is in half a month."

"Indeed." Larkspur nodded.

"However, this year's assessment is different from previous years, and there's a possibility that some rather dangerous things might happen."

Ink Lotus spoke haltingly, each word seemingly expending a great deal of energy. "So, if you know someone who's planning to take the exam... then it's best not to go, or be careful."

"Dangerous?" Larkspur frowned.

However, before she could ask any further questions, Ink Lotus hurriedly bowed to her, then turned around and ran back to the hut.

Judging from this situation, she has already reached her limit in saying this much, and probably doesn't intend to explain any further.

Looking at the small house in front of her, Partition Spell Formula had been raised again and the interior was no longer visible, Larkspur pondered for a moment and finally chose to turn around and leave.

Since the other party wasn't going to say anything more, there was no need for me to ask any more questions. And since it was related to the assessment, I could just talk to Emerald about it in a few days.

Asō Madoka had previously told her that this year's assessment would include a practical exercise Simulated Great Beast Calamity, making it much more dangerous than in previous years. Ink Lotus planning to tell her about this "Simulated Great Beast Calamity" as well?

For some reason, Larkspur felt that wasn't the case.

Judging from the tone of their words, the "danger" they mentioned seemed to refer to some unexpected interference, rather than how terrible the assessment itself was.

If Ink Lotus wasn't lying, and Asō Madoka's previous leaked information was also true, coupled with the fact that this year is Queen Year, both the number and quality of test takers will be the highest in 20 years...

It is likely that this year's test takers will be participating in a gathering fraught with danger and fierce competition.

Is it necessary to persuade the younger generation to give up and wait until next year?

The thought flashed through Larkspur's mind again. Since Asō Madoka had given her the extra information, this was the umpteenth time she'd had this thought. But when she'd previously raised this issue with her three junior colleagues, they all seemed to have chosen to face the challenge head-on, and now they'd even completed the registration process. Now, if she asked them this question again, would they really give up?

Moreover, all I've got so far is hearsay, and even the information revealed by Asō Madoka hasn't been verified yet. Should I really give up on the assessment based on such information? Wouldn't that be overreacting?

As she walked back, pondering the question, Larkspur still couldn't come up with an answer and had to put it aside for the time being.

With only half a month left until the assessment, she decided to wait a bit longer, gather more relevant information, and then draw a conclusion after comprehensive consideration.

Right now, she is facing another problem.

Although Lin Xiaolu probably didn't pay much attention when she bought it, there's probably a candle that burns according to birthdays currently sitting in the observation cabin where the Fangting City Squad lives.

Yes, Larkspur did not ignore the candle, even though it was behind the screen and therefore unresponsive.

She could actually ignore the candle, since it might not even light up. Based on her father's behavior as a child, she knew her real birthdate wasn't February 14th. If the candle was simply imbued with Astrology symbol to determine the user's birthday, then she would most likely be able to pass safely.

But the question is, what if it's not just about Astrology?

Larkspur knew exactly how many bizarre functions the Spell Formula contained, such as mind reading, memory retrieval, and history rewind. Although these Spell Formulas were all very complex and high- Spell Formula, and theoretically could not be used to make a candle, it still made people a little uneasy.

Or maybe we should just ignore it, let the candles burn, and let the younger generations know our birthdays. That might not immediately cause any conflict over our identities?

After a moment's thought, the Larkspur immediately rejected the plan, because a small leak can sink a great ship; if one keeps slipping up in the details, one day the lie will become impossible to cover up.

She decided to give it her all for that candle.

So when she returned to the cabin and saw the half-cake placed in the center of the table, and the younger generation chatting around it, she was already on high alert.

"Ah, Larkspur, you're finally back! You've been so slow!"

This time, it was Lin Xiaolu who first noticed the Larkspur's return, and unsurprisingly, her first words mentioned the cake:

"We've already celebrated my dad's birthday, cut the cake, but unfortunately you weren't here."

"Teacher!"

As always, whenever Larkspur returned, Bai Jingxuan would rush over to cuddle with her, like a tireless puppy.

"There's still cake left, I saved it especially for you, little senior," Xia Liang said casually while playing on her phone.

Clearly, in her view, the point where things were most likely to go wrong has passed, and now it's time to relax.

But Larkspur knew that there was one last hurdle to overcome.

The table with the cake was on her way home, and whether she ate it or not, she had to pass by it. The candle that represented "37" was currently stuck on top of the cake.

Although Larkspur wasn't skilled in Spell Formula, she still took multiple precautions for herself. First, she Sensory Weakening to reduce the sound of her breathing and even her footsteps; then, she used Magic Concealment Spell Formula to cover her True Form, preventing anyone from reading her information from her Magic Base Color; finally, she cleared her mind, only thinking about useless, fragmented words, before taking a step forward.

One step, two steps.

As the cake drew closer, Larkspur casually took Bai Jingxuan's arm while taking a deep breath.

Three steps, four steps.

She could feel herself getting nervous, and with that nervousness came an increase in her magical activity. Fortunately, these were all internal changes and wouldn't be noticeable.

Five steps, six steps, seven steps, eight steps.

As Larkspur passed by the cake, he felt a magical force sweep over him. It did contain some kind of Spell Formula structure, but it was very simple and unadorned.

Because the Spell Formula's structure was so simple, even the key points it scanned and investigated were enough for Larkspur to determine: this Spell Formula was detecting the heart rate and magical activity of nearby objects.

Undoubtedly, an ordinary person would have a heart rate. But for a magical girl, who is purely a magical being, the most important indicator in her body is her magical energy activity. Simply scanning this indicator is indeed extremely basic, much simpler than Astrology.

But the problem lies precisely in this "scanning magic activity level".

Previously, all the Spell Formula that Larkspur had been so vigilant about were theoretically capable of revealing information like "birthdays." She had emptied her mind and concealed her True Form. Theoretically, her real birthday wasn't February 14th. If this candle was indeed some kind of high-tech device, then she would most likely be able to pass the test.

However, this candle, which claims to be "high-tech," utilizes "Astrology," and even has other additional functions...

In the end, it turned out to be nothing more than a cheap, low-quality item that could scan magical activity levels.

And so, under everyone's watchful eyes, the candle was lit.