Recaps

Larkspur investigated a sewer fitting found inside an Aberrant Beast and suspected a Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast was hiding in Fangting City’s sewers. She taught Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang about True Forms and Magic Armaments, then resolved to make their surroundings safer.

• Larkspur concluded that the Cavity-Melting Aberrant Beast may have lived in Fangting City’s sewers and continued searching for a Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast.
• Larkspur began an advanced lesson for Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang about how a magical girl’s True Form formed and manifested as a Magic Armament.
• Xia Liang teased Larkspur about her young appearance, and Larkspur clarified that she had become a magical girl at about the same age as her students.
• Larkspur explained that Magic Armaments could grow stronger through improvements to magic power, soul, and mastery, then demonstrated her own.
• After teaching the two girls, Larkspur decided she needed to give them a safer environment in which to grow.

Larkspur searched Fangting City's sewers for the source of the Sewer Song and discovered a spatial maze that marked the nest of a Pupa Stage aberrant beast. After fighting her way through waves of lesser beasts, she reached a vast cavern and faced the singing creature, which welcomed the Magical Girl.

• Lin Yun handled a late-night customer complaint before transforming into Larkspur and flying to another rumored Sewer Song location.
• Larkspur searched the sewers but realized she had flown for half an hour without finding an exit.
• Larkspur detected faint magical residue and a nested spatial maze, identifying the area as a Pupa Stage aberrant beast's nest.
• Larkspur prepared defensive and detection spells, then killed an Egg Rank aberrant beast and fought off waves of Egg Rank and Looper Stage beasts.
• Larkspur reached a huge cavern where a flesh-covered aberrant beast sang a grand chorus that welcomed the Magical Girl.

Larkspur fought a fish-shaped Aberrant Beast in an underground cavern and discovered it had a Pupa Shell, forcing her to rely on her Magic Construct. As the beast stopped singing and launched a devastating sound-wave attack, Larkspur prepared a counter through the threads filling the cavern.

• Larkspur's Mana Beams failed to harm the fish-shaped Aberrant Beast because its Pupa Shell dispersed pure mana attacks.
• Larkspur extruded her Magic Construct, filling the cavern with mana threads that severed the beast's tentacles and flesh limbs.
• The beast changed its song and summoned heads of Cavity-Melting Aberrant Beasts from the pool, which fired water cannons at Larkspur.
• Larkspur dodged the water cannons and tentacles while advancing toward the fish-shaped Aberrant Beast at the center.
• The beast abruptly stopped singing, opened mouths throughout the cavern, and unleashed explosive sound waves as Larkspur gestured toward her threads.

Larkspur unleashed the full power of her Magic Construct, Masterpiece, and destroyed the Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast and its Nest. After escaping through a sewer, she called the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and demanded to know what else it had concealed from her.

• Larkspur shaped her magical threads into a protective cube that stopped the fish-shaped Aberrant Beast's sonic attack.
• Larkspur bound the Aberrant Beast and formed a sea of sharp thread blades throughout the cavern.
• Larkspur unleashed Masterpiece, cutting the fish-shaped Aberrant Beast, the Egg Rank beasts, and the tentacles into fragments.
• Larkspur gathered the Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast's Echo and noticed an altar near its remains before fleeing the collapsing Nest.
• Larkspur escaped the sewer, regained phone service, and called the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to demand an explanation.

After missing his usual wake-up time, Lin Yun hurried to get ready while recalling how he had decided to approach the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau as himself to learn what it knew about Fangting City’s hidden threat. He ran into Lin Xiaolu in the hallway, and the two awkwardly questioned why the other was leaving so late.

• Lin Yun overslept after spending the night teaching magical girls, killing a Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast, and discussing the situation with Hong Siyu.
• Lin Yun suspected the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was concealing information about the hidden force in Fangting City and decided to seek a meeting as a family member of former magical girl Cherry Blossom.
• Lin Yun rejected using Larkspur’s identity or asking Lin Xiaolu to contact the bureau, and settled on approaching it as Lin Yun.
• Lin Yun finished getting ready and encountered Lin Xiaolu outside their bedrooms as she prepared to leave.
• Lin Xiaolu briefly retreated into her room, then came out again and asked why Lin Yun had not left; Lin Yun asked why she was leaving so late.

Lin Yun tried to get Lin Xiaolu ready for school and make her breakfast after she overslept from studying until dawn. While she combed her hair, she argued with Moko about Xia Liang, magical-girl training, and Moko’s past behavior, leaving Lin Yun puzzled by the noise from the bathroom.

• Lin Yun asked Lin Xiaolu why she was late, then offered to make her breakfast and drive her to school.
• Moko whispered to Lin Xiaolu, and she agreed to fix her hair while Lin Yun boiled eggs.
• Lin Xiaolu recalled staying up late to study after Xia Liang repeatedly tried to distract her with games.
• Moko teased Lin Xiaolu for not learning Mana Breakfall and praised Xia Liang, prompting Lin Xiaolu to question their closeness.
• Lin Xiaolu and Moko traded insults about Moko’s incompetence and deception while Lin Yun prepared breakfast and wondered what was happening.

Lin Yun drove Lin Xiaolu to school and apologized for how he had handled her birthday and her mother’s death, promising to tell her the truth about the past. Lin Xiaolu cautiously gave him a chance to make things right by inviting him to her parent-teacher conference, and Lin Yun promised he would attend.

• Lin Xiaolu refused Lin Yun’s offer to drive her, then came back to get her schoolbag and asked him to wait.
• Stuck in traffic, Lin Yun asked Lin Xiaolu about her upcoming final exams, and she reminded him that he had already bought her a birthday gift.
• Lin Yun apologized for leaving Lin Xiaolu alone on her birthday and explained that he had once hoped she would forget the pain of her mother’s death.
• Lin Xiaolu confronted Lin Yun about telling her to forget her mother, and he offered to discuss her mother’s death and his own past honestly.
• Lin Xiaolu invited Lin Yun to her parent-teacher conference after the finals and warned him not to stand her up.
• Lin Yun promised he would attend, and the car continued toward school as traffic cleared.

Lin Yun and Hong Siyu went to the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau to discuss the lack of reinforcements and the blank record of the Seeder named Moko. Lin Yun entered the bureau chief’s office for their scheduled meeting, where the elderly chief greeted him.

• Hong Siyu told Lin Yun that the Magic Kingdom had confirmed Moko was registered as a Seeder but had no record of her, and that it would send no reinforcements.
• Lin Yun explained that his Lifetime Magical Girl record remained with the Kingdom and Investigation Institute despite his retirement, and said he did not want others to know he had returned to activity.
• Lin Yun and Hong Siyu arrived at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, where Hong Siyu explained that the bureau chief had supported her and was an ordinary person trying to handle many challenges.
• Lin Yun went alone into the bureau chief’s office, and the elderly woman stood to greet him.

Lin Yun met with Director Moss to ask who killed his wife, Cherry Blossom, and whether the Bureau could protect his daughter. Moss suspected that Cherry Blossom’s death was connected to a dangerous group of defected magical girls called Claw Mark, then revealed that her own daughter had also been a magical girl.

• Lin Yun told Moss that Cherry Blossom had been a magical girl and asked who killed her and whether his daughter could be protected.
• Moss explained that some magical girls defected from the Magic Kingdom and used their powers to harm others.
• Moss said the defectors had formed a group called Claw Mark, which opposed the Kingdom and could travel alongside Aberrant Beasts.
• Moss suspected Claw Mark was connected to Cherry Blossom’s death, since Cherry Blossom had been strong enough to defeat ordinary Aberrant Beasts.
• Moss told Lin Yun that she saw something of her former self in him and that her daughter had also been a magical girl.

Lin Yun rushed to attend Lin Xiaolu’s parent-teacher conference when an Aberrant Beast attacked his tram, forcing him to transform into Larkspur. He caught up with the beast and stopped it from tearing a passenger away, while Lin Xiaolu stayed at school.

• Lin Yun remembered Moss’s warning about the Bureau’s limits and her advice to tell Lin Xiaolu the truth about her mother.
• Lin Xiaolu reminded Lin Yun to come to her parent-teacher conference, and he boarded the tram after clearing his work schedule.
• An Aberrant Beast attacked the tram, and Lin Yun smashed a window and jumped out so he could transform without revealing himself to the passengers.
• Larkspur called Lin Xiaolu, told her not to come because the beast was a Looper, and continued toward the attack alone.
• Larkspur caught up with the tram and immobilized the beast as it tried to pull a young man from the carriage.

Lin Xiaolu reflected on Larkspur’s decision to face the Aberrant Beast alone and felt disappointed that she and Xia Liang could not help. She waited at the school gate for Lin Yun before the parent-teacher conference, unsure whether he would come.

• After Larkspur told Lin Xiaolu not to come, Lin Xiaolu wondered why being protected left her disappointed.
• Moko asked Lin Xiaolu if she was okay, but Lin Xiaolu returned to the classroom to get her umbrella.
• Lin Xiaolu met Xia Liang, who asked about the Aberrant Beast on the light rail, and Lin Xiaolu said Larkspur had gone alone.
• Xia Liang told Lin Xiaolu to focus on the parent-teacher conference, and the two went their separate ways.
• Lin Xiaolu waited by the school gate where Lin Yun could spot her, though she did not know if he would come.

Lin Xiaolu waited in the rain for Lin Yun to attend her parent-teacher conference, and he arrived ten minutes late after fighting an Aberrant Beast on the light rail. Father and daughter made up enough to walk to the classroom together, while Xia Liang watched them and admitted she envied their relationship.

• Lin Xiaolu waited at Sunset Middle School for Lin Yun, remembering how Anya used to attend conferences and trying to convince herself she did not care whether he came.
• Lin Yun defeated a Looper aboard the light rail, dealt with the aftermath, and ran through the rain to the school after the conference had begun.
• Lin Yun found the gate area empty and felt guilty, but Lin Xiaolu revealed she had waited for him and pointed out that he was ten minutes late.
• Lin Xiaolu called out Lin Yun’s clumsy excuse for his injuries, then offered him her umbrella and walked with him toward the classroom.
• Xia Liang watched Lin Xiaolu and Lin Yun leave together, rescued a snail from a puddle, and reflected that she envied them.

Larkspur taught Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang to control their mana and assessed their training progress. After they passed, Lin Xiaolu asked how strong she needed to become to fight alongside Larkspur in a crisis.

• Larkspur held an indoor lesson at Lin Xiaolu's home and explained techniques for conserving mana and controlling their basic abilities.
• Larkspur described Force Tempering and Soul Meditation as the two methods magical girls used to grow their mana and souls.
• Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang transformed and released mana into Larkspur's rune array for an assessment.
• Larkspur found that both newcomers had improved and told them they passed.
• Lin Xiaolu asked Larkspur how strong she needed to become before she could fight alongside her during a crisis.

Larkspur explained magical-girl Certification Cards to Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, using the ranks as a goal for their training. She planned an intense summer program to prepare them for White Card exams and improve their school grades.

• Lin Xiaolu told Larkspur she wanted to grow stronger and fight beside her, and Larkspur agreed to take her along while keeping her away from Looper Tier and stronger Aberrant Beasts.
• Larkspur explained that magical girls advanced through White Card, Letter Card, and Flower Card ranks, and said the girls could take the White Card exam next March.
• Larkspur announced that she would train Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang intensely over summer, aiming to get them to Bud Rank and teach them to master their Magic Constructs within two months.
• Larkspur asked about their final exam grades and recalled that Lin Xiaolu's results were poor while Xia Liang had failed every subject, including scoring single digits in math.
• Larkspur added nightly studying to the girls' devilish summer training plan.

Larkspur tutored Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang through a late-night study session, then followed Xia Liang after she left. Xia Liang reflected on the growing emptiness she felt, and Larkspur said she wanted to run away from home too.

• Larkspur patiently helped Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang study, explaining their middle-school lessons until after ten o'clock.
• Larkspur ended the session when Lin Xiaolu grew sleepy, and Xia Liang left the apartment building alone.
• Xia Liang walked through the night, wondering why she still felt empty despite becoming a Magical Girl and finding companions and a supportive senior.
• Xia Liang noticed Larkspur following her and asked why she had not gone home.
• Larkspur told Xia Liang she wanted to run away from home too.

Larkspur visited Xia Liang’s home to learn about her strained family circumstances. Xia Liang revealed that she lived alone because her father was dead and her mother was in prison for killing him.

• Larkspur noticed Xia Liang’s lonely expression at the parent-teacher meeting and decided to learn more about her circumstances.
• Larkspur followed Xia Liang to her old apartment in Sunset District, where she found the home neat but nearly empty of appliances and people.
• Larkspur asked Xia Liang whether anyone else lived there, and Xia Liang said her family would never return.
• Xia Liang told Larkspur that her father had died and her mother was in prison for killing him.

Xia Liang’s childhood need to be a good, lovable child collapsed after her parents’ marriage and family fell apart, leaving her orphaned and rejected. After she became entangled with delinquent friends, someone pulled her from danger and asked whether she wanted to become a magical girl.

• Xia Liang tried to keep her troubled parents happy by being obedient, but their arguments and financial problems worsened.
• Her mother stabbed Xia Liang after killing her father, and the police took them both away.
• After losing her parents, Xia Liang lived alone, endured classmates’ bullying, and failed to find acceptance among her peers.
• Xia Liang changed her appearance and behavior to gain the approval of gyarus and delinquents, but they drew her toward a mire she wanted to escape.
• A girl with clear, azure eyes pulled Xia Liang from the darkness and asked whether she wanted to become a magical girl.

Xia Liang told Larkspur about her loneliness and unresolved feelings toward her mother, and Larkspur encouraged her to express her wants instead of trying to be perfectly obedient. Xia Liang finally voiced her desire for a closer, more affectionate bond with Larkspur and Lin Xiaolu, ending by asking Larkspur to sleep with her that night.

• Xia Liang explained that becoming a Magical Girl had given her a sense of purpose, but she still felt empty and lonely.
• Larkspur told Xia Liang that obedience did not earn love and that children had the privilege to be willful.
• Larkspur encouraged Xia Liang to share her true feelings with her teammates and offered herself as someone who could accept her requests.
• Xia Liang complained that Larkspur and Lin Xiaolu seemed biased toward each other and listed ways she wanted Larkspur to treat her differently.
• Xia Liang said she wanted a warmer, closer relationship with Larkspur and Lin Xiaolu, then asked Larkspur to sleep with her that night.

Larkspur and Xia Liang shared a bed after discussing Xia Liang’s family, and Xia Liang opened up about wanting to be friends without being pitied. Xia Liang resolved to grow stronger, while Larkspur agreed to hold their future study sessions at Xia Liang’s house.

• Larkspur and Xia Liang prepared the master bedroom and agreed to sleep in the same bed.
• Xia Liang hugged Larkspur despite her protests, and Larkspur let her stay close.
• Xia Liang said she did not want to tell White Rose about her parents because she feared White Rose would pity her.
• Xia Liang cried quietly as Larkspur listened and reassured her that sharing or keeping family matters private was her choice.
• Xia Liang promised to work hard for the Certification Card assessment and become stronger so she could stand by Larkspur.
• Larkspur proposed holding future study sessions at Xia Liang’s house, and Xia Liang happily accepted.

Larkspur woke beside Xia Liang and flew home to get ready for work, where Moko caught her entering through the balcony. She used the encounter to assign him supervision of White Rose and Little Brocade’s vacation training, then left without retrieving her work bag.

• Larkspur escaped Xia Liang’s embrace, changed into her usual dress, and flew home before work.
• Larkspur unlocked her balcony door with magical threads and encountered Moko waking on the living-room sofa.
• Larkspur told Moko to supervise White Rose and Little Brocade’s training for their certification test.
• Moko accepted the assignment after Larkspur praised his potential, and she explained the training plan to him.
• Larkspur left without going to her room, and Lin Yun went to work without her bag and made three apology calls.

Lin Yun considered leaving his job to hunt Aberrant Beasts full-time, but his reluctance to return to the Magic Kingdom brought back memories of his father and the choice he had made years ago. Hong Siyu revealed that other Seeders refused to aid Fangting City because of Lin Yun’s past, then offered to help train the newcomers herself.

• Lin Yun weighed relying on Aberrant Beast hunting for income but decided he did not want to resume life as a magical girl.
• Hong Siyu told Lin Yun that Seeders in Central City could not spare anyone to reinforce Fangting City.
• Hong Siyu quoted Pikali and Little Youyou refusing to help because of Fangting City and the approaching twentieth year.
• Hong Siyu connected the Seeders’ responses to Lin Yun’s summons to Rose Palace after the Garden defense battle, and Lin Yun confirmed she had guessed part of the truth.
• Hong Siyu asked whether she could visit and help with the newcomers’ special training.

Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang continued Larkspur’s intensive summer training while discussing reports of an evil magical girl near Fangting City. Their conversation ended when someone rang Lin Xiaolu’s doorbell.

• Lin Xiaolu finished Soul Meditation, and Larkspur praised her improved ability to maintain it.
• Xia Liang complained about the cold air conditioning and relaxed at Lin Xiaolu’s home, where daytime training was being held.
• Lin Xiaolu reflected that Xia Liang’s rapid progress could let her form her True Form and reach Bud Rank before the summer ended.
• Xia Liang asked Lin Xiaolu about reports of an evil magical girl near Fangting City, and Lin Xiaolu recalled Larkspur’s warning to report any unfamiliar magical girls.
• The doorbell rang as Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang discussed Larkspur’s work as an Inspector.

Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang met Hong Siyu, a liaison from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and a former magical girl from Fangting City. Hong Siyu entered their home and continued trying to draw the wary Lin Xiaolu closer.

• Lin Xiaolu answered the door while Xia Liang watched from the couch with her wand ready.
• Hong Siyu greeted Lin Xiaolu with exuberant familiarity, leaving Lin Xiaolu confused and Xia Liang wary.
• Hong Siyu introduced herself as Larkspur's liaison and said she had been a resident magical girl in Fangting City ten years earlier.
• Lin Xiaolu reluctantly gave Hong Siyu shoe covers and let her into the apartment while Xia Liang went to make tea.
• Hong Siyu reminisced as she looked around the home, then teased Lin Xiaolu and invited her to sit beside her, but Lin Xiaolu stayed frozen.

Hong Siyu visited Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, showed them her retired magical-girl Certification Card, and explained how Flower Cards and the Royal Court’s institutions worked. The girls learned that Larkspur was an important person in the Magic Kingdom, while Hong Siyu’s visit left their plans for next year’s certification test under discussion.

• Hong Siyu introduced herself to Lin Xiaolu as both Larkspur’s contact and a former magical girl, then said she had come to check on the girls’ progress.
• Lin Xiaolu argued with Moko about its role as their Seeder, while Moko teased her about remaining Larkspur’s junior forever.
• Xia Liang returned with tea, and Hong Siyu asked about the girls’ plan to take next year’s certification test.
• Hong Siyu showed Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang her canceled Certification Card and explained that Flower Cards were elite or especially recognized magical girls, not simply everyone who reached Flower Rank.
• Hong Siyu revealed that Larkspur was a Flower Card Inspector and that many Flower Card magical girls held nominal posts in the Royal Court’s five institutes.

Hong Siyu explained the Magic Kingdom’s administration and the Investigation Institute’s role, including why Larkspur’s Inspector position made her a powerful and unusual mentor. She warned Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang that their sheltered life under Larkspur’s protection would not last, and Xia Liang ended by asking who assigned magical girls in the Investigation Institute.

• Hong Siyu explained that the Seeder and Heart Seed selected magical girls for magical talent and wishes, but their character could change over time, allowing bad magical girls to exist.
• Hong Siyu described how the Investigation Institute investigated and arrested magical girls and other Magic Side criminals, and said Inspectors handled the most serious cases.
• Xia Liang inferred that Inspectors were Hong Siyu’s direct superiors, and Hong Siyu clarified that Inspectors investigated cases but did not manage the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.
• Hong Siyu told Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang that Larkspur’s protection let them avoid dangerous matters for now, but their sheltered life would not last long.
• Xia Liang asked who in the Investigation Institute was responsible for assigning magical girls.