Larkspur's Decision

The worst-case scenario has come true.

This was Larkspur's first reaction upon hearing Emerald's words.

If Tulip has already defected, then the identity of Ink Lotus, who accompanied her and even repeatedly mentioned joining a certain "team," is self-evident.

The team that Ink Lotus was referring to, the one she had already joined, was Claw Mark.

Larkspur wasn't entirely unprepared for this answer; in fact, she should have known it all along, but she simply refused to believe it.

She couldn't believe that Ink Lotus and even Tulip would become "Claw Mark," joining an organization no different from terrorists.

As comrades who participated in the Interrealm War and even stood on the front line of the Garden Defense War, neither Ink Lotus nor Tulip were just "magical girl colleagues" in Larkspur's eyes.

The Garden Defense War was a life-changing battle for many of the magical girls who participated in it. Most of the magical girls who survived the war had a similar quality engraved in their hearts.

Therefore, to some extent, both the Ink Lotus and the Tulip are people who can "empathize" with the Larkspur and understand a certain kind of sorrow and pain.

Because they can understand the same kind of pain, they naturally have similar attitudes and even feelings towards life; and because they have similar feelings, it is only when their actions deviate from these feelings that it is particularly hard for Larkspur to believe.

It's understandable that Tulip and Larkspur didn't have many opportunities to work together, so they weren't very familiar with each other. However, Ink Lotus, or rather Nina, the magical girl who was once in the same squad as Larkspur, was vivid enough in Larkspur's memory. But whether it was Nina from her memories or Ink Lotus, who seemed to have changed a lot now, Larkspur couldn't reconcile their images with the impression of "Claw Mark".

"What's wrong? Is it hard to accept?"

Emerald, who had already half-sat up, watched Larkspur's reaction with great interest. "Judging from your attitude, you must have seen her, right? And it must have happened in the last few days?"

"... I should be able to accept it, but it's hard to convince myself."

The other party had already guessed the truth, but Larkspur didn't answer the second half of Emerald's question. Instead, he slowly said, "Because I can't understand her reason for doing this."

"It's understandable that we can't figure it out. If everyone could understand what Claw Mark was trying to do, the Magic Kingdom would have been in chaos long ago."

Emerald narrowed her eyes, waved her hand with a hint of helplessness, and laughed, "In fact, judging from the list we've gathered so far, the initial group of Claw Mark who defected, apart from those trusted confidants from the Finance Institute who followed Purple Diamond, consisted mostly of our own Luen Nore's original City Defense Army. I was even investigated by the Royal Court because of this, it was so annoying."

From Emerald's perspective, if these events truly had nothing to do with her, then they could indeed be considered an undeserved misfortune. But rather than sympathizing with the other party, Larkspur was more concerned with the first part of the sentence: "The most magical girls came from the City Defense Army... doesn't that mean..."

"Yes, this suggests that the reason many of the people marked with Claw Mark defected was most likely related to the Garden Defense War, or rather, the aftermath of that war."

Emerald leisurely concluded on Larkspur's hypothesis, but then, as if remembering something, she added, "Ah, although I was a major fighting force back then, don't include me in that count."

"... While it's easy to draw such a conclusion, I cannot agree with it."

After pondering this fact for a moment, Larkspur shook her head and said, "I was also a participant in that war. From my perspective, they have no reason to take such an extreme path because of the lingering issues of that war."

This wasn't her opinion of Ink Lotus and Tulip alone, but rather her defense of the entire Luen Nore City Defense Force and all the magical girls who survived that war.

"Is that so? But even someone like you, young man, chose to leave the Kingdom, not wanting to have any more involvement in these matters?"

Emerald, who had been half-closing her eyes, had now opened them completely. Though a smile remained on her face, it felt as if one were facing a ferocious beast awakening from its slumber, creating an incredibly tense atmosphere. "To be honest, young man, perhaps they've simply gone a little further than you."

"But they are not like me. I am forbidden from entering the Magic Kingdom ..." Larkspur frowned, trying to argue, but was interrupted by Emerald before he could finish speaking.

"Young man, is it really because you were confined, or rather, 'exiled,' that you became like this?"

Emerald's tone remained languid, yet somehow it exuded an undeniable power. "Or are you going to tell me that you had different thoughts the year after the war, and even Great Beast Calamity, than you do now?"

The Larkspur fell silent.

It wasn't that she couldn't answer Emerald's question, nor that she had anything she didn't want to reveal, but rather that she had once again realized something in her heart: there must be some hidden story behind this matter.

Just as she had once told Ink Lotus, twenty years had passed, and so much had happened in that time—enough to change a person, or even a group of people. And now, she still didn't know much about these "former comrades-in-arms."

Is the ideal described by Ink Lotus the one they are all pursuing? And what exactly is the purpose of that so-called stronghold established in the Wasteland of the Material Realm? What is the purpose of the Claw Mark members' frantic and blatant acts of causing trouble everywhere?

These surfacing questions are all the confusions that the Larkspur cannot share with the Emerald.

Asking and discussing these matters would be tantamount to revealing Ink Lotus's whereabouts. If she could be certain that Ink Lotus had strayed onto the evil path and become a villain, Larkspur would naturally be willing to disclose the information without hesitation. However, the problem was that doubts arose in her heart.

She knew perfectly well that the Claw Mark organization was definitely not a good group of people, whether it was the magical girl codenamed Sparrow, who showed utter malice from beginning to end, or the magical girl codenamed Kite, whose thoughts were somewhat unfathomable, but who acted without restraint. Both of them had come to the pavilion with ill intentions.

However, she was also very clear that she shouldn't judge the whole picture from a single instance. What she knew about "Claw Mark" was far too little. Based solely on the few members she had met and the descriptions she had heard from others, it was far from enough for her to piece together the whole truth on her own.

Larkspur's intuition told her that she shouldn't make a judgment before piecing together all the truth.

Therefore, she had no intention of mentioning Ink Lotus.

The only thing she needed to think about was how to convey the information Ink Lotus had given her—that "there would be danger at the assessment site"—to Emerald, gaining his trust without revealing her source of information.

Yes, she had no intention of hiding this.

The Kingdom Assessment will not only be attended by the younger generation from Fangting City, but also by countless magical girls from all over the world. Larkspur would not risk the safety of these people.

If this matter could harm too many colleagues, then even if her actions contradicted Ink Lotus's goals, even if doing so was nominally a "betrayal" of Ink Lotus's trust, she would choose, and must, pass on this message.

This was the decision that Larkspur made after careful consideration: she would conceal the fact that the magical girl "Ink Lotus" had contacted her, but it was necessary to pass on information that she believed would affect the assessment and security.

However, just as she was pondering how to embellish her words, Emerald spoke again:

"Alright, we've strayed too far from the topic, and I don't expect you to give me a direct answer, so let's get back to the original question. The magical girl codenamed 'Tulip' has defected, and she may even be among the first to defect with Purple Diamond, becoming Claw Mark magical girls, and may have already become their core members. Whether you accept it or not, this is a fact that has already happened."

"... Okay, I understand."

Although her train of thought was interrupted, Larkspur did not show any unusual reaction. She simply nodded calmly, indicating that she accepted the information given to her.

"Okay, that's settled then. Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

Emerald's tone unconsciously turned flippant again. "If you have nothing to say, then go back. Then prepare something a little more formal and come see me later."

"Me... what?"

The Larkspur, still pondering how to warn of the danger, was taken aback by the Emerald's sudden declaration. "Come later? Why?"

"I have important business to attend to, so I need to take you with me," Emerald said casually.

"Where to?" Larkspur could only press for an answer.

"Hmm, if I had to call it a party? A banquet? It seems like it's more like a casual dinner."

Emerald pondered before replying:

"Let's put that aside for now, the format isn't important. Just come with me, tonight I'm going to introduce you to a few people."

I've been updating daily for a month now, and tomorrow I'll finally get my first featured spot since resuming updates. Thank you all for your support, whether it's monthly tickets, donations, or comments. I'm very grateful for all of them, but because I have so many donations and monthly ticket notifications I haven't thanked yet, I won't copy the IDs one by one (). Anyway, thank you!