A Promise Kept

The Aberrant Beast that attacked the shopping mall was large in size, but not particularly strong.

According to the Larkspur's observation, this Aberrant Beast is of a fairly common Ruptured Skin Type, and the larkspur has taught it many techniques for dealing with such Aberrant Beast; as for its individual abilities, it is only relatively powerful among the Egg Rank creatures.

While this Aberrant Beast was more than capable of destroying a shopping mall, it was still wishful thinking to think it could withstand the combined attack of two magical girls.

Moreover, Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu are no longer the rookies they were two months ago.

Not to mention Xia Liang, who has been on the verge of reaching the Bud Rank in recent days, Lin Xiaolu is also making rapid progress through diligent study and cultivation. In addition, the cooperation between the two has been initially formed, and at least they will no longer hinder each other. This battle was never in doubt from the beginning.

As Xia Liang unleashed Mana Beam from the tip of her wand, the pierced Aberrant Beast collapsed heavily to the ground.

Hiding alone in the shadows, Larkspur quietly watched the entire battle unfold, a hint of satisfaction showing on his face.

I am happy for the growth of the two newcomers, and I am also relieved that their relationship is gradually maturing.

After confirming that the Aberrant Beast had been defeated and the Echo had been collected, she secretly left again and returned to where she had parked her car.

She couldn't show up for this trip because she had already asked Hong Siyu tell the two newcomers that she had something to do and couldn't come. If she suddenly appeared at this time and met with Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, the misunderstandings that hadn't been fully resolved before would be even more difficult to clear up, which was something she didn't want to see.

So, after taking the shortest route back to the parking lot, she immediately got into the car and transformed back into Lin Yun.

He drove out of the garage, parked the car on the side of the road, and first contacted Hong Siyu to ask the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to send people to the scene to handle the aftermath. Then he used Lin Yun's phone to open the map and shared his location with Lin Xiaolu. After doing all this, he stood by the car and waited.

About ten minutes later, he saw the two girls walk out of the shopping mall unharmed.

He smirked and waved to them. Lin Xiaolu nodded somewhat awkwardly, while Xia Liang returned the gesture with a sweet smile.

"Well done, I'm proud of you."

After offering simple encouragement and praise, he continued, "The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau will be here soon. Get in the car, I'll take you home."

This had been agreed upon beforehand, so the two girls got into the car without hesitation. The three of them didn't linger and the car slowly drove away from the shopping center.

The car drove for a distance, but no one spoke during that time.

Lin Yun and Lin Xiaolu remained silent, and Xia Liang simply watched the strange atmosphere between them with a smile, without offering any words of mediation.

"So, when exactly did you find out that I became a magical girl?"

Finally, Lin Xiaolu, sitting in the back row, couldn't contain her curiosity and asked first, "Was it the day that woman named Hong Siyu came? Or earlier?"

"The day you were on TV." Lin Yun looked straight ahead and spoke the truth.

"Huh? I went on TV... didn't I get discovered within days?"

Lin Xiaolu was a little stunned, then suddenly realized. "Wait a minute, so that's why you suddenly said some strange things that night?"

"You think I'm having a drunken tantrum?" Lin Yun raised an eyebrow.

Isn't that so?

"... That night at dinner, Hong Siyu came directly to me and told me that you had become a magical girl."

Without dwelling on the topic, Lin Yun glanced at the rearview mirror and explained casually, "However, that's only part of the reason. What I said the other day, 'I wanted to see you,' was also the truth."

"Look at my daughter now that she's a magical girl, hasn't she turned into an alien?" Lin Xiaolu said irritably.

"I want to see if my daughter, now a magical girl, is still as cute."

Lin Yun made a casual joke, "Besides, even if you become an alien, you'll still be my daughter, and that won't change."

Leaning back, Lin Xiaolu slumped into her chair and gave a soft hum. "Let's just say you're telling the truth."

She chose to let it go, and that was the end of the matter.

The cars traveled a distance in silence.

"But Lulu, I was actually very angry that night."

A short while later, Lin Yun suddenly spoke again, "When I saw you become a magical girl, I really felt worried, and even a little sad."

"Why?" Staring at the driver's seat in front of her, as if she could see the man with his back to her, Lin Xiaolu frowned.

"Because I'm so afraid of losing you because of it."

Lin Yun gazed out the windshield, recalling her emotions that day, her tone inadvertently tinged with melancholy. "That night I actually wanted to tell you that being a magical girl is a very dangerous identity, but at that time... I couldn't bring myself to say it."

"You think I won't listen?"

"Probably." Lin Yun did not deny it.

"... Never mind, it's all in the past anyway."

"Um, I'm sorry, perhaps I should have trusted you a little more."

As Lin Yun said this, he couldn't help but give a wry smile.

After all, the consequences of not telling the truth back then far exceeded his expectations. In order to protect his daughter and communicate with her, he disguised his identity and took a huge detour, telling countless lies, to the point that he now has no idea how to reveal the truth.

"It doesn't really matter, does it?"

Not knowing what Lin Yun was thinking when he said that, Lin Xiaolu blinked, relaxed her brows, and said somewhat puzzledly, "Aren't you being too pessimistic? I remember that the actual number of magical girls who sacrificed themselves wasn't that many; most of them retired normally."

At this point, she became somewhat proud. "And not to brag, but I'm actually quite safe right now, after all, I have some very capable seniors protecting me."

Her behavior left Lin Yun both amused and exasperated, unsure whether to continue the conversation.

But some things had to be said eventually, so he composed himself and asked lightly, "... Is it called Larkspur?"

This question caused Lin Xiaolu, sitting in the back seat, to freeze in shock.

"So, you actually knew?"

She murmured to herself, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, she suddenly sat up straight. Without any attempt to hide it, she grabbed the back of the seat in front of her, pressed her face close to Lin Yun's ear, and her tone suddenly became fervent, even somewhat excited. "You know her? What's your relationship? Did she come to Fangting City because of you?"

Lin Yun did not give direct answers to these questions.

He didn't really want to talk to his daughter about "Larkspur" as a father, because if he wanted to hide his identity, every word he said could be a lie.

Right now, however, explaining the origins of the Larkspur, or at least part of its origins, to his daughter is imperative.

Therefore, he knew that it was time to fulfill the promise he had made to his daughter.

"Lulu."

Looking straight ahead, Lin Yun brought up the agreement from a month ago. "Do you remember what I told you before, that I would tell you some of the truth?"

"Ah, you said that in the car that morning, didn't you?"

Hearing him bring this up, Lin Xiaolu calmed down a bit and released her grip on the front seat. "Does this have anything to do with what you're about to say?"

"There is a connection, or rather, this is the answer you're looking for."

Releasing one hand from the steering wheel, Lin Yun picked up his phone with one hand, swiped a few times, and found the message interface between him and Lin Xiaolu.

His thumb paused for a moment at the top of the screen, and then finally tapped send on the message he had already edited.

Immediately afterwards, a picture was sent to Lin Xiaolu's phone via message.

He put his phone down again, a sigh of relief in his voice, and said, "Take a look. If you see this photo clearly, many of your questions should be answered."

This was the best explanation he could give.

Lin Xiaolu picked up her phone with a lot of questions, and Xia Liang also peeked out with interest. But when they opened the photos and actually saw what was in them, their eyes widened in surprise.

Because the content of the photos was far beyond their comprehension.

They were four elegantly dressed young girls, of varying heights and with beautiful appearances, but it was clear that they were all only in their early teens.

The background in the photo is also quite exaggerated; it's immediately apparent that it's set against the backdrop of the setting sun, atop a massive object that resembles the remains of Aberrant Beast.

From this alone, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang could deduce that they were actually magical girls.

The four girls have vastly different demeanors and bearings. Standing on the far left is an elegant purple-haired girl wearing a white silk dress, a dark purple outer robe, and a round hat. She looks directly at the camera with a serene and intellectual smile. On the far right is an orange-haired girl wearing a gorgeous golden dance dress, holding her chin high with a proud and smug smile on her face.

Lin Xiaolu didn't recognize the two magical girls, so when she saw them, she only paused for a moment before passing by.

But when her attention shifted to the center of the photo, the pair of figures, one tall and one short, dressed in pink and navy blue, standing right in the middle, made her eyes widen.

She was all too familiar with the figure in dark blue, for the person in the photograph was no different from who she was now; only the pink figure, though so unfamiliar, still made her realize the identity of the person in the photograph from the vaguely discernible features:

"This is... Larkspur and... Mother?"

Chapters fourteen and fifteen have been revised and expanded, with some additions made to improve the plot's logic without altering the overall storyline.

So, I've revised chapters nine through sixteen completely. The things I wrote during my post-coronavirus brain fog were indeed unreliable.