Late Sleeping, Late Rising, and the Result of the Conversation

Usually, Lin Yun's daily routine was very regular.

Waking up at six-thirty in the morning and resting at eleven-and-a-half at night, repeating in an endless cycle to ensure he had enough mental energy to cope with work.

His biological clock was also equally precise; unless he was excessively tired, he would inevitably open his eyes right at six-something.

It was just that there were always exceptions to everything. The previous night, he had first tutored two Magical Girls after getting off work; then rushed without stopping into the sewers, fighting his way through an entire nest of Pupa Stage Aberrant Beasts; and finally made a very long phone call to Hong Siyu to check on the situation. By the time the back of his head touched the pillow, it was already five o'clock in the morning.

The ultimate result was that he had overslept.

When Lin Yun opened his eyes from fatigue, it was already seven-five.

He glanced to his side, then picked up the phone on the nightstand. Seeing the time digits on the lock screen interface, his eyes gradually widened. Lifting the quilt and stepping into his slippers, he hurriedly ran toward the wardrobe.

Washing up rapidly in the bathroom, Lin Yun combed his hair with a toothbrush in his mouth and rinsed while fastening his shirt buttons. Amidst the busywork, he couldn't help but recall the phone call that had caused him to stay up exceptionally late:

Last night's call ultimately failed to elicit any information. According to Hong Siyu's account: during her two years serving back in Fangting City, the number of times Aberrant Beasts appeared could be counted on one hand, and even the single sighting of a Looper was provided during the time Lin Xiaolu was attacked, let alone a Pupa.

If Lin Yun hadn't personally gone to the sewer to kill that Pupa, I'm afraid it would have remained unknown until it matured into a "Molt". By that point, Fangting City would likely have faced an annihilation-level disaster.

Lin Yun didn't believe it entirely.

Leaving aside whether he trusted Hong Siyu—if possible, he didn't want to doubt his former junior—even if the information Hong Siyu provided was the limit of what she could investigate, the information in the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau's database might not be complete either.

Or rather, Lin Yun's suspicion pointed directly at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau; he always felt that the other party was still concealing something. This hidden force in Fangting City was simply too blatant for the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to be completely oblivious.

He knew that the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was helpless against magical-side forces involving Aberrant Beasts, but they shouldn't have zero information.

The current situation left only two possibilities. The first was that the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was entirely a bunch of useless wine-sacks and rice-buckets, which he could let slide; the second was that the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau actually knew something, but this portion of information was grasped by a tiny minority of people and hadn't even been entered into the database.

Lin Yun would rather things be the latter, so he had to go see the higher-ups of the local Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

Even if the enemy had only a name, he had to extract that name.

However, demanding to see the higher-ups of a special institution like the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau with the status of an ordinary citizen was nothing short of a pipe dream; he had to flash an identity that the other party would be forced to receive.

He had this identity, and even had two, but it was hard to choose between them. He had no bottom line in his heart as to whether he should use the identity of Lin Yun or the Magical Girl Larkspur.

Using Lin Yun's identity, he was the common relative of the sacrificed former Magical Girl "Cherry Blossom" and the current Magical Girl "White Rose".

The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau's handling method for a Magical Girl's identity was "two-way confidentiality". Aside from specific higher-ups and the liaison personnel who directly connected with the Magical Girls, they would neither reveal the Magical Girls' true identities to others nor disclose information about Magical Girls and the magical side to the Magical Girls' families.

They actually did a very good job of this point; even when attending Anya's funeral, they hadn't revealed their origins nor exchanged any news with Lin Yun—after all, 19 years had passed, Lin Yun's contact had long since been promoted to headquarters, and the higher-ups of back then had retired one after another. The ultimate result of the two-way confidentiality was that even the local Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau didn't know Lin Yun's true identity. The true form of the Magical Girl "Larkspur" had long since been turned into classified archives and thrown into headquarters' database.

But if Lin Yun stated that he had already learned the true identities of his wife and daughter and possessed a certain understanding of a series of knowledge on the magical side, the nature of things would change completely. As the family member of a sacrificed Magical Girl, he had every reason to demand that the higher-ups of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau receive him and inform him of the relevant truth. At that time, apart from requiring him to sign an agreement not to disclose the magical side to the public, the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau would have no way to restrict him.

The advantage of this plan was that it was steady; while being able to contact the higher-ups of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, it wouldn't startle the snake in the grass or alert any individuals with unknown motives who might exist within the bureau. The disadvantage was that the information obtained might still not be complete, and the other party might be unwilling to tell him everything just because he was a civilian.

As for using the identity of Larkspur, that would be simple. The other party would definitely not dare to conceal anything and would certainly tell him everything they knew.

But the impact of doing this would be extremely far-reaching: first, Larkspur's contact at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was Hong Siyu, and her own information had been processed—the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau's perception of her was merely as "White Rose's partner". Once she blurted out her original background, it would likely alarm the mysterious power lurking in Fangting City; second, she wasn't officially making a comeback right now and was only operating on a small scale in Fangting City. If news of her comeback reached the Magic Kingdom, it might trigger some unnecessary trouble.

Regarding this, Hong Siyu had also proposed a plan where Larkspur would instigate Lin Xiaolu, and Lin Xiaolu would contact the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. However, Lin Yun always felt that if his daughter operated it, it was inevitable that she would be hoodwinked by the other party's slick talk and muddled through, so he ultimately vetoed it. What's more, he didn't want to use Larkspur's identity to deceive his daughter anymore either.

After weighing the two options, Lin Yun chose to play it safe, which was to meet the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau with the identity of "Lin Yun".

After discussing various details and wrangling over the allocation of work content between both sides, Lin Yun had continued discussing with Hong Siyu all the way until dawn was approaching. Only after arranging all kinds of matters completely did he end that long phone call.

What a hassle.

Yawning a long yawn, Lin Yun standing in front of the mirror self-deprecatingly sized himself up: aside from the heavy dark circles under his eyes, he had managed to pull himself together into human shape. He didn't waste any more effort, grabbed the suit jacket draped over the back of his chair, and strode toward the door.

Pulling open the master bedroom door, he habitually glanced to the left, only to see that the adjacent room's door was also opening right at that moment. A disheveled Lin Xiaolu walked out of the room, looking sleep-eyed, holding a hair tie and trying to tie up the hair at the back of her head, when her line of sight shifted and locked directly with his.

Father and daughter stood in the hallway by the door, falling into an eerie silence.

In the end, Lin Xiaolu broke the deadlock. Pretending she hadn't seen anything, she stepped back a few steps into her room and slammed the door shut with a "clack."

About two minutes later, she opened the door again, still pretending as if nothing had happened, peeking her head out and trying to walk out of it, only to find that Lin Yun was still standing at the door.

"Why haven't you left yet?"

After a brief awkwardness, she glared at Lin Yun.

Lin Yun had already put on his jacket and was currently tying his tie. Seeing her acting up the moment she came out, he couldn't help sighing: "I should be asking you that question. Leaving the house at this hour—you, you're going to be late, aren't you?"

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone. I hope we all make progress together in the new year.

Also: thanks to the tips from Always Loafing Around Little M, Gu Feng Tianyin, and Book Friend 20171008075657338.