Defense Plan
Also for the sake of secrecy, after Larkspur successfully infiltrated this branch under the cover of the main staff, the next thing everyone did was not to start a meeting immediately, but to let the main staff go out and socialize with the branch staff, and exchange ideas. As for Larkspur, she continued to hide in this office.
Once both sides were completely settled and it was ensured that no one would easily disturb them again, everyone returned to the office, drew the curtains, and turned on the chandelier. Larkspur stood at the head of the table and began the discussion on the defense arrangements for the assessment site.
The assessment was divided into two parts: a written test and a practical test. The written test consisted of four subjects, and the practical test also had four stages. The written test was held inside the Silver Gallery in the Academy District, using the classrooms and auditorium as examination venues. Security for this part was relatively easy: the entrances and exits of the Silver Gallery were relatively fixed and easy to guard. It was only necessary to block its entrances and exits in advance, conduct a thorough search of the school to eliminate all security risks, and then strictly screen external entrants to ensure that all candidates matched their admission ticket information, thus minimizing the possibility of outsiders infiltrating.
Of course, just in case, the examiners at the exam site were almost all highly experienced veteran magical girls. These included not only the original faculty and staff of the Silver Gallery, but also practical magical girls from the Magic Affairs Institute's Examination Institute, and even external support dispatched by the Investigation Institute. Some of these examiners would be responsible for supervising the internal candidates, while also guarding against any possible external attacks.
And this is just one of the security measures that should be included in the assessment.
After receiving news that Black Ash Dawn and Claw Mark had Luen Nore, according to the information reported by Zhe Helan to Larkspur, at least seven Flower Cards had been identified as available security personnel at the scene.
The seven Flower Cards are played by two Education Selection Office from the Magic Affairs Institute, three researchers from the Research Institute, one Inspector from the Investigation Institute, and Larkspur himself.
To be honest, in Larkspur's memory, even during the Garden Defense War, the Flower Card present seemed to be around this level.
Looking across the entire Magic Kingdom, even after thousands of years of accumulation, only a little over a hundred Flower Card are still alive and recorded today. Although many Flower Cards were lost due to the Interrealm War, the Kingdom, in order to ensure the number of Flower Card in combat, unusually rewarded more Flower Card after the war. Therefore, the current number of Flower Card is already quite large in history.
Among magical girls, only a very small minority can reach the Flower Rank. And among those Flower Rank, only a very small minority can awaken the Grand Flourishing Blossoming, becoming what everyone calls a "Strong Flower." After that, only the best among the "Strong Flower," magical girls who have made enough contributions to the Kingdom, will become one in a million Flower Card.
Flower Rank, Strong Flower, Flower Card. Under these three levels of selection, even if the final selected Flower Card magical girl can obtain a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary people, she is destined not to accumulate too much.
The 100 Flower Card are responsible for the security of this vast Magic Kingdom. They also serve as field agents, providing support to the Material Realm and even the Interrealm to a certain extent, and maintaining the power operation of the Kingdom's Five Institutes. Each Flower Card is an invaluable pillar to the Magic Kingdom, and it is not common practice to assign multiple Flower Card to the same task, as this would be an absolute waste of resources.
And now, there are seven Flower Card gathered in Luen Nore, just to ensure the safe operation of the "qualification" process.
It's no exaggeration to say that even Aberrant Beast at the King Molt- level remnant would not survive more than five minutes if it dared to show its face in Luen Nore.
And this is merely the "standard" combat strength. During the assessment, there's also the Gem Scepter Emerald in the city, other Gem Scepter accompanying the Queen, and even the palace guards and Garden accompanying the Queen to the ceremony...
And then there is the Queen of the Magic Kingdom, the ruler whom countless high-ranking magical girls shun and only dare to call "Your Majesty," who has sat firmly on the throne for thousands of years.
In conclusion, considering only the safety of the assessment site, the Larkspur doesn't actually need to worry too much about the enemy causing any losses.
Rather, if any enemy were truly capable of inflicting damage under such defensive power, it would be a crisis for the entire Magic Kingdom, not just a matter of an exam. If an enemy couldn't even be stopped by the Queen and the Gem Scepter... let's not even discuss whether such a person exists in this world; even if they did, Larkspur would probably have no way to deal with them.
Since that's the case, we might as well be more pragmatic and consider more practical issues.
Larkspur had no doubt that if his defense plan went wrong, the most serious consequence would not be the potential losses caused by the enemy, but rather the Queen's Thunderclap rage, which she would unleash on everyone present after discovering that her ceremony had been disrupted.
Under the Queen's wrath, the enemy might not even have a chance to carry out their plan before being captured on the spot. Then, the head of security would be left alone to face the questioning from the Royal Court...
Once that happens, the entire interest group comprised of Emerald, the Magic Affairs Institute, and Larkspur will likely be unable to escape unscathed.
Therefore, the security task facing Larkspur was not merely "stopping the enemy," but "stopping the enemy before the Queen even noticed." This was far more difficult than a typical defense mission.
Because none of the interest groups could accept the possibility of "the matter reaching the Queen's attention." What they had to do was extinguish all the flames before the Queen found out, and then later use the relevant evidence to curry favor with the Royal Court.
Achieving this goal is relatively easy during the written test phase, but the difficulty increases exponentially once you enter the actual exam phase.
The reason is simple: the practical exam has four stages, each with its own exam venue. Two are in the Academy District, one in the Emerald Zone, and the other is located in the forest outside Luen Nore.
While the practical testing grounds in the Academy District and Emerald Zone might be fenced off and managed militarized, the forest outside the city, originally planned as a testing ground for "Simulated Great Beast Calamity" assessments, has become a real hot potato.
The reason is simple: the area is too vast to be contained, the magical fluctuations are too complex, and there are even a large number of remnant Aberrant Beast, making it difficult to clear the area beforehand. Even if the research Research Institute uses its latest technology to set up a super-large area of defense and alarm Spell Formula of this size would hardly have sufficient precision. It might be possible to stop some mindless Aberrant Beast, but when faced with Black Ash Dawn, high-level Mage, and magical girls with Claw Mark, and their potential methods of breaking through, it would be like a skilled cook without ingredients.
As for Larkspur, she even needs to impose further restrictions on this requirement: in addition to promptly detecting intruders, she must also verify their identities. If the intruders are Ink Lotus, Tulip, or others, then she will handle the situation personally...
"To be honest, Lady Cornflower."
After hearing Larkspur's idea, Zhe Helan blinked blankly. "I think your request might be a bit far-fetched."
"... I know."
Halfway through the discussion, Larkspur realized just how unreasonable her previous ideas had been, to the point that she unusually lacked confidence in her voice. "That's why I wanted to discuss this issue with you."
"I understand your feelings, sir. Although I no longer feel as deeply attached to the identity of 'comrade-in-arms of the City Defense Army,' there is still some camaraderie among us. If possible, I would not want to kill him without understanding the situation."
Zhe Helan nodded. "However, if showing mercy to others would lead to my own demise, then I find it difficult to be so selfless. In my opinion, the best way to give these old comrades a way out is not to leave them an opening at the scene, but to find them now and tell them not to come."
"I've already tried."
Larkspur sighed, "But they've completely disappeared now, we can't find them at all, and even the informant you mentioned has lost track of them."
"We should not give up on this effort."
Zhe Helan looked thoughtful. "Perhaps it would be better to intensify the search now and find them before then."
"I don't have any objections; in fact, I've wanted to do this for a long time... but what about your mission to claim credit?"
Larkspur looked at her with some suspicion. "You were the ones who first threw out the bait to lure them in, and now I'm asking you to find them and persuade them to give up. Isn't that just making you work for nothing?"
"That's certainly not a problem, because your will is the direction we are heading. If we had known about your kindness towards your former comrades beforehand, we wouldn't have had this plan in the first place."
Zhe Helan smiled, made a gesture, and then bowed in unison with the staff behind her. "Now, if we can gain your trust through this matter, it will be more beneficial to us than achieving our original goal."
"... Thank you, consider it a debt I owe you."
Larkspur let out a long sigh of relief, "If we can find them in advance, that would be ideal, but I think we should also be prepared for the worst, since they may not be willing to follow our wishes."
"No need to thank me, it's what we should do."
Zhe Helan's smile became even more sincere as she continued, "As for the defense plan... I think if you really insist on implementing it this way, then I'm afraid the next few days, until the exam, will be quite arduous for you. Because such a plan is useless if it's just theoretical; we need to contact the Research Institute to conduct on-site customized modifications of the Spell Formula, and then work with the Examination Institute and the Investigation Institute to thoroughly investigate the distribution of sentry posts. Finally, as the ultimate executor, you will also need to cooperate in many drills to ensure absolute success... You know, we cannot allow the plan to fail."
"I understand. After all, this is my personal request, and I can't let my personal needs hold the team back."
Larkspur also showed a serious expression. "So this is actually my request. Please help me achieve it. As for myself, I don't mind rehearsing it as many times as I want, please keep going until I can complete the mission. If I can't meet the requirements, or if forcibly opening this back door might cause the defense plan to go wrong, please let me know, and I will abandon it."
Thank you for your understanding.
Zhe Helan smiled, straightened up, and gestured to those around her. A moment later, she took a large stack of documents from an employee behind her and placed them on the table in front of Larkspur: "Well then, without further ado, here are floor plans of several examination rooms, a personnel list, and a list of hardware equipment... Let's start by gradually refining our plan from these."
What she didn't say, and didn't need to say, was that this was destined to be a very complex project.
The Larkspur was well aware of this and had made thorough preparations.
However, when Zhe Helan laid out the stack of documents and announced the start of this work, she realized a fact that had been previously overlooked, which led her to think about something else:
If this job continues until the exam starts, then for the next two weeks, it seems like I'll have to crawl into that suitcase every single day?