Claw Mark

The elderly female director looked to be around sixty. Her features were pronounced, her gaze sharp, with a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and across her cheeks. Her appearance was stern yet not lacking in warmth.

She wore a dark brown wool coat, her graying blonde hair neatly combed back. She looked quite capable as she smiled at Lin Yun.

A Westerner?

Lin Yun formed a few guesses in his mind but did not voice them. Instead, he calmly nodded in greeting. "Hello, Director. How should I address you?"

"Just call me Moss. Titles are merely empty formalities."

The woman spoke evenly. "Please, have a seat. I believe we will have much in common to discuss."

Following her lead, Lin Yun sat in the chair before the desk. He exhaled, looked up, and said, "I didn't come here today for anything else. I need the truth."

"The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau has many truths the public does not know. Which one do you need?"

Moss swept one hand to the side in an inviting gesture. "Perhaps we could first discuss your circumstances?"

"The Bureau should already have investigated my circumstances, so I will not go into excessive detail about certain matters."

Lin Yun nodded, making his tone sound appropriately tense before getting straight to the point. "At the funeral two years ago, I met a young woman. She told me that my wife had actually been a magical girl."

"After that, I began sorting through my wife's belongings and found a secret diary. It did indeed record her life as a magical girl. Moreover, according to what was written in that diary, she had already noticed certain hidden dangers before her death."

Three parts of that statement were true, and seven were false. Only the information he had learned was real; the means by which he had obtained it were entirely fabricated. To keep the other party from doubting him, Lin Yun made his words and actions align as much as possible, maintaining eye contact with Moss to lend sincerity to his claims.

"I am only an ordinary person. I could do nothing against supernatural beings like that and could only treat it as an unforeseen disaster. Even knowing there was another reason behind her death, I had no power to investigate it. The only thing I could do in the end was follow her wishes and raise our child well."

He stared intently into Moss's eyes. "But... you already know that I happened to notice it. Even my child has become a magical girl."

"My wife died because she became a magical girl. What about my child? I cannot predict what awaits her. If something were to happen to her too... I'm sorry, but just thinking of such a future makes it hard for me to breathe."

"So I have to ask you. I believe I have the right to know: who exactly was the murderer? And can you protect my daughter?"

After saying all that in one breath, he let out a long sigh and lowered his eyes. "Sorry. I may have become a little emotional."

He did not expect to deceive her entirely with lies, so most of what he had said reflected his true feelings. The only difference was that the real him did not believe the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau could protect his daughter. He had long since chosen to act personally.

"...I'm sorry to make you revisit such painful memories."

After hearing him out, Moss closed her eyes. She pondered for a moment before speaking. "As for the murderer who killed your wife, that is precisely why I wished to meet with you alone, Mr. Lin Yun, husband of Miss Cherry Blossom."

"Why?" Lin Yun sensed the special implication in her words.

Moss still had her eyes closed, her expression somewhat grave. "Because this is only my personal speculation, and it would be inappropriate to say it outside a private setting. To the outside world, especially within the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, what I am about to say runs deeply contrary to our purpose and ideals."

"What do you mean?" Lin Yun narrowed his gaze.

Opening her eyes, Moss clasped her hands atop the desk, fingers interlocked. "...Mr. Lin Yun, do you believe that all magical girls in this world represent justice and fight to protect people?"

"...Isn't that the case?"

Her words caught Lin Yun off guard, and a trace of wariness rose within him. "If magical girls did not step forward, ordinary people could never live such easy lives."

Though he refuted her aloud, he had another answer in his heart. It was simply not something "Lin Yun" had any reason to know.

"I dearly wish that were true. The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was established for precisely that reason. But clearly, the facts are not so."

Moss did not suspect anything. Sitting upright, she looked at Lin Yun. "Magical girls fight to protect others mainly because of emotional inclinations born from their real-world social relationships. More importantly, they are managed and restrained by the Kingdom. In truth, if a magical girl abandons morality and conscience and dares to oppose the Kingdom, then it is entirely possible for her to inflict that power of harm upon humans, even upon her own companions."

"...Unbelievable," Lin Yun echoed.

"Yes, unbelievable, but reasonable."

Moss nodded. "And for that very reason, there are rebels among magical girls, even defectors."

"Magical girls who break free of the Magic Kingdom's restraints, use their power to commit evil, harm others, seize power, and commit wicked acts without restraint—such magical girls do exist."

"In recent years, a group of such magical girls has gathered together. While secretly opposing the Kingdom, they have also been plotting toward certain goals. For some reason, they can even travel alongside Aberrant Beasts. They are like Aberrant Beasts... no, they are even more dangerous. They are beings who must be avoided."

"Based on some of their traits and what they call themselves, this group of defected magical girls is known as 'Claw Mark.'"

Those words were what truly surprised Lin Yun.

He already knew what Moss had said before. It was indeed true that the Magic Kingdom had defected magical girls, but as far as he knew, such magical girls would be marked as wanted by the Kingdom. Most were pursued and arrested by investigation teams, and few successfully escaped.

As for there being enough of them to form an organization, much less travel alongside Aberrant Beasts, that was unheard of. "Claw Mark" was a name he had never heard before. He had never known such a group existed.

So he appropriately revealed his confusion and pressed the matter. "My wife's diary never mentioned that name."

Moss shook her head. "Because they have only emerged in recent years. Even I only learned of them through certain coincidences. It is perfectly normal that Miss Cherry Blossom's earlier diaries did not mention them."

"You mean my wife's death was very likely..." Lin Yun frowned.

"I believe Miss Cherry Blossom's death was related to Claw Mark. According to her contact, Miss Cherry Blossom was a magical girl who had fought for many years and possessed tremendous strength. Theoretically, if an Aberrant Beast appeared that even she could not defeat, then such an Aberrant Beast would have already destroyed Fangting City."

Lin Yun understood Moss's words all too well.

As a magical girl, Anya was powerful enough to deal with ordinary Aberrant Beasts effortlessly. She often went into battle alone; otherwise, she could not have so casually guarded Fangting City for more than twenty years.

And if the current strange state of Fangting City was truly the work of this magical girl group called "Claw Mark," then everything would have a fitting explanation.

There were still things he did not understand, however. Such as this.

"Then why are you telling me this?"

Looking at Moss, Lin Yun slowly asked, "If saying these things truly carries risks, why tell an ordinary person like me?"

"...I told you, we would have much in common to discuss. Because when I see you, I cannot help but think of who I once was."

Moss's expression remained gentle, yet her words carried an indescribable loneliness:

"My daughter, when she was still alive, was also a magical girl."