Under normal circumstances, Lin Yun kept a very regular schedule.
He got up at six-thirty in the morning and went to bed at eleven-thirty at night, day after day, ensuring he had enough mental energy to handle his work.
His biological clock was just as precise. Unless he was excessively exhausted, he would inevitably open his eyes at around six every morning.
But there were always exceptions. The previous night, after getting off work, he had first taught two magical girls; then rushed nonstop into the sewers, slaughtering his way through an entire Nest of Pupa Stage Aberrant Beasts; and finally made a long phone call to Hong Siyu to verify the situation. By the time the back of his head touched the pillow, it was already five in the morning.
The result was that he overslept.
When Lin Yun opened his eyes through his drowsiness, it was already 7:05.
He glanced to his side, then picked up the phone from his bedside table. Seeing the time on the lock screen, his eyes slowly widened. Throwing off the covers and slipping into his slippers, he hurried toward the wardrobe.
He washed up at lightning speed in the bathroom, brushing his hair with a toothbrush in his mouth, rinsing as he buttoned his shirt. In the midst of his frantic preparations, he could not help recalling the phone call that had kept him up so late:
That call last night had ultimately yielded no useful information. According to Hong Siyu, during the two years since she had returned to Fangting City to take up her post, appearances of Aberrant Beasts had been few and far between. Even the only sighting of a Looper had come from the time Lin Xiaolu was attacked, let alone a Pupa.
If Lin Yun had not personally gone into the sewers and killed that Pupa, it might have remained undiscovered until it developed into a "Molt." By then, Fangting City might have faced total destruction.
Lin Yun did not entirely believe her.
Setting aside whether he trusted Hong Siyu—if possible, he did not want to suspect a former junior—even if the information she had provided was the limit of what she could investigate, the information in the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau database might not have been complete.
Rather, Lin Yun's suspicions were directed straight at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. He always felt that they were still concealing something. The hidden force in Fangting City was simply too conspicuous; the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau should not have been completely unaware of it.
He knew the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was helpless against Magic Side forces involving Aberrant Beasts, but they should not have had absolutely no information.
There were now only two possibilities. The first was that everyone in the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was a useless bunch of incompetents, which would be one thing; the second was that the bureau did know something, but that information was held by only a very few people and had not even been entered into the database.
Lin Yun would rather it be the latter, so he had to meet the local Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau's higher-ups.
Even if the enemy had only one name, he had to get that name out of them.
However, asking to meet the higher-ups of a special organization like the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau as an ordinary citizen was nothing but a pipe dream. He needed to reveal an identity they could not refuse to receive.
He had such an identity—he even had two—but choosing between them was difficult. He was not sure whether to approach them as Lin Yun or as the magical girl Larkspur.
As Lin Yun, he was the family member of both the deceased former magical girl "Cherry Blossom" and the current magical girl "White Rose."
The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau handled magical girls' identities through "two-way confidentiality." Other than designated higher-ups and liaison officers who worked directly with magical girls, they would neither reveal magical girls' true identities to others nor disclose information about magical girls and the Magic Side to their families.
They had actually done this very well. Even when they attended Anya's funeral, they had not revealed where they came from or exchanged any information with Lin Yun. After all, nineteen years had passed. Lin Yun's liaison officer had long since been promoted to headquarters, and the higher-ups from back then had all retired. The end result of the two-way confidentiality was that even the local Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau did not know Lin Yun's true identity. The true identity of the magical girl "Larkspur" had long since been filed away as classified information and tossed into the headquarters database.
But if Lin Yun stated that he already knew the true identities of his wife and daughter and had some understanding of the Magic Side, then the nature of the matter would be entirely different. As the family member of a fallen magical girl, he had every reason to demand a meeting with the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau's higher-ups and be told the relevant truth. At that point, aside from requiring him to sign an agreement not to disclose the Magic Side to the public, the bureau would have no way to restrain him.
The advantage of this plan was that it was safe. He could contact the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau's higher-ups without alerting the snake or disturbing anyone within the bureau whose motives might be unclear. The disadvantage was that the information he received might still be incomplete, as they might be unwilling to tell him everything because he was a civilian.
Using Larkspur's identity, on the other hand, would be much simpler. They would not dare conceal anything and would certainly tell her everything they knew.
But doing so would have far-reaching consequences. First, Larkspur's liaison with the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was Hong Siyu, and information about her had been processed. The bureau knew her only as "White Rose's partner." If she revealed her original background, it would likely alert the mysterious force hiding in Fangting City. Second, she had not formally returned yet and was merely active on a small scale within Fangting City. If word of her return reached the Magic Kingdom, it might cause some unnecessary trouble.
Hong Siyu had also suggested having Larkspur persuade Lin Xiaolu to contact the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau herself. But Lin Yun felt that if his daughter handled it, she might easily be talked in circles and fobbed off, so he ultimately rejected the idea. Besides, he did not want to use Larkspur's identity to deceive his daughter again.
After weighing both options, Lin Yun chose the safer course: meeting the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau as "Lin Yun."
After further discussions over countless details and some back-and-forth over how to divide the work between them, Lin Yun and Hong Siyu continued talking until dawn was near. Only after every matter had been arranged did they finally end that long call.
What a hassle.
Letting out a long yawn, Lin Yun stood before the mirror and mocked himself as he looked himself over. Aside from the heavy dark circles beneath his eyes, he had at least managed to make himself look presentable. He did not spend any more time on it, instead grabbing the suit jacket draped over the back of a chair and striding toward the door.
Opening the master bedroom door, he habitually glanced to the left. Just then, the door to the adjacent room also opened, and Lin Xiaolu emerged with sleepy eyes and disheveled hair. She held a hair tie in one hand, trying to tie up the hair behind her head. Her gaze happened to shift, meeting his.
Father and daughter stood in the hallway outside their rooms, falling into an odd silence.
In the end, Lin Xiaolu broke the deadlock. Pretending she had seen nothing, she took several steps backward into her room and shut the door with a click.
About two minutes later, she opened the door again as though nothing had happened, poking her head out and preparing to leave—only to find Lin Yun still standing at the doorway.
"Why haven't you left yet?"
After a brief moment of awkwardness, she glared at Lin Yun.
Lin Yun had already put on his jacket and was tying his tie. Seeing her come out in a mood, he could not help sighing. "I was about to ask you the same thing. You're only leaving at this hour? You're going to be late, aren't you?"
Happy New Year's Eve, everyone. I hope we can all improve together in the new year.
Also: thanks to Little M Who's Always Slacking Off, Gufeng Heavenly Tone, and reader 20171008075657338 for the tips.
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