Night Talk (Part 1)

After studying the uses of the Magic Armament with Xia Liang, it was nearly midnight. The three parted ways in an open space, each embarking on their journey home.

The Larkspur slowly left the open space and looked around for a while. Just as she found a relatively secluded spot and was preparing to take off from there to fly back home, she discovered that there was someone following her.

It's Lin Xiaolu.

Lin Xiaolu stood beside her with her head down, looking hesitant and unsure of what to say, clearly wanting to say something.

"What's wrong?" Larkspur asked directly.

Lin Xiaolu glanced up at her, then lowered her gaze again. "Larkspur."

When she called her by her code name, the Larkspur turned around and looked at her intently to show that she was listening.

"I heard about it a few days ago, it's about my mother."

Lin Xiaolu didn't meet Larkspur's gaze, but whispered, "She's actually a magical girl too, right?"

"Um."

"And we used to be teammates."

"Yes."

Cui Que didn't hide anything from Larkspur regarding these questions. She knew that Lin Xiaolu's doubts stemmed from the old photo she had shown her a few days prior.

Whether or not to tell Lin Xiaolu that "Larkspur" knows Anya was something he had seriously considered. After all, there was no doubt that this would create a connection between Larkspur's identity and Lin Yun in Lin Xiaolu's mind.

Although she had no reason to realize that the two were the same person, the risk had still increased.

But Larkspur knew that she couldn't deceive Lin Xiaolu with two identities forever. As she spent more and more time with her daughter, one day Lin Xiaolu would realize that "Lin Yun" and "Larkspur" had never appeared together.

She didn't actually like deceiving her daughter, but given their past and present father-daughter relationship, the identity of "Larkspur" was still necessary.

There are many issues that she couldn't elaborate on when she was Lin Yun, but as Larkspur, she doesn't mind saying a little more.

Seeing that her daughter genuinely had questions about the photos, she felt obligated to answer them properly.

After receiving an affirmative answer from Larkspur, Lin Xiaolu continued, "Then, what kind of magical girl is my mother...?"

"Your mother..."

What kind of magical girl was Anya? Even Larkspur couldn't help but start reminiscing about it.

From her perspective, powerful, upright, radiant... all these wonderful words can be used to describe Anya, because she is indeed an excellent magical girl with a kind heart.

However, if one were to choose the most prominent quality, none of these words would be comprehensive enough.

There is a more suitable word to describe Anya.

"Perhaps it's optimism," Larkspur whispered, reflecting on this.

"Optimistic?" Lin Xiaolu asked, somewhat puzzled.

This wasn't the answer she expected; after all, the word sounded too ordinary, and didn't even seem like it was meant to describe a magical girl.

"She never despairs no matter how strong the enemy, never gives up no matter what difficulties she faces, and never succumbs to any blow. That's probably the kind of person she is."

In response to Lin Xiaolu's doubts, Larkspur explained, "Although she may not be the strongest or the most intelligent person, and sometimes you might even think she's just a silly fool who only knows how to laugh, her emotions always infect you, making you feel that things haven't reached the end of the road, that there's still a chance for things to turn around, that as long as she's still here, hope still exists."

This answer made Lin Xiaolu feel somewhat fascinated.

But what followed was a lingering sense of inferiority within me:

"In that case, my mother must be a very beloved magical girl, right?"

"That's the truth," Larkspur said without hesitation, nodding readily.

"So, are you a little disappointed now?" Lin Xiaolu suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" The change of topic made Larkspur feel a little uncomfortable.

"I've been thinking about this for the past few days. Because, Larkspur, you actually came to Fangting because of my mother, right?"

Lin Xiaolu unconsciously clutched the hem of her clothes. "Well then, compared to Mom, I must have disappointed you."

"Is that what you think?" Her thought made Larkspur frown as well.

"I don't really want to think about it... but I also feel that there are no other possibilities."

Lin Xiaolu's voice was a little hoarse. "I know what kind of person my mother is. Actually, I can imagine that if she were a magical girl, her enthusiastic personality would definitely be very popular."

"In comparison, I'm not very talented, and my personality is terrible. Unlike Xia Liang, I don't know how to be charming, and I always make difficult requests. Isn't that annoying?"

"Then, seeing how different I am from my mother, don't you feel a great sense of loss? Ultimately, if it weren't for this relationship, what advantages do I have that would make your attention stay on me?"

The Larkspur moved a little closer to Lin Xiaolu.

She tried to see the expression on her daughter's face as she said these words, but Lin Xiaolu turned her head away and continued speaking as if to herself:

"I heard from that woman named Hong Siyu that, Larkspur, you're Inspector, so you must be a big shot in the Magic Kingdom, right? And it seems you only came to Fangting City to investigate the disappearance of that senior, Moko. In the end, you've been wasting your energy on me every day because you discovered my incompetence. That's so unfair to you."

The Larkspur's cool voice carried a hint of doubt. "You mean, you want me to just leave you like this?"

"No, that's not how it is!"

Lin Xiaolu quickly looked up, somewhat flustered, and explained, "I wasn't trying to get rid of you, how could I think that! I really want you to stay here, but right now..."

"Do you feel you don't have that value now?" Larkspur asked, summarizing as she pondered.

"Yes, you could say that," Lin Xiaolu replied somewhat haltingly.

"If I tell you now that it's not like that, you'll think I'm just trying to comfort you, right?"

"... Um."

Lin Xiaolu's soft reply blended into the night sky.

Upon hearing her answer, Larkspur knew that her daughter indeed had a lack of self-identity and even felt inferior, which was why she was in a low mood.

This low mood was actually quite evident these past few days, after all, Lin Xiaolu isn't someone who's good at hiding her emotions.

Larkspur had been wanting to find an opportunity to talk to her, and now it seemed this was the moment she had been waiting for, so she seized the opportunity to suggest:

"Would you like to take a walk together?"

"Taking a walk at this time? What are you going to do?" Lin Xiaolu asked, somewhat bewildered.

"Let's walk around and chat about other things."

Larkspur turned to the side and pointed to the road ahead, gesturing for Lin Xiaolu to come along. "For example, now that you know your mother's identity, what other thoughts do you have?"