The Trail Went Cold

(Ceruno)

Why do these two both like to be riddle solvers?

Before his death, Pawa said that he was the "Star Guardian" in some Prophecy.

Because of that Prophecy, "The Other Side" kept sending Monster to attack me.

This faceless magical girl before me says I am the key to the survival of this world...

It's not that I don't believe it!

I truly don't understand what makes me worthy of such attention, just because I can make objects travel between two worlds? I admit that this magic is indeed very useful, but that doesn't make me a savior!

I sat cross-legged on the flower-covered bed.

This thing is like a high-end waterbed; it's quite bouncy.

Since she didn't intend to kill me, and I had no way to deal with her for the time being, I simply sat on the flower bed and asked:

"So, what is your purpose?"

The cloaked magical girl rubbed her fingers together and chuckled softly:

"Delaying won't work on me, Ceruno- chan. I have no reason to chat with you here. If you insist on saying something..."

She took a few steps back, preparing to leave.

"Your father's plan is an open scheme, and he's not afraid of you finding out. In order for him to become a formal member of the Association, we need to achieve some results."

"Your grades?"

"The rising Corruption Rate is what makes the 'Supreme Council' exist."

She essentially admitted that she was her father's inside man.

Although she was wearing a cloak, I could vaguely make out the outline of the lower half of her face. If I see her on the street later without the cloak, I might be able to recognize her...

After all, the user of the Contaminated Crystal cannot undo the transformation; otherwise, she wouldn't need to hide it.

Is this really worth it?

"Of course it's worth it, otherwise even more people would have been sacrificed."

"Peace achieved at the cost of innocent lives is not justice."

"What we did was not justice, but what was right—the right thing to do that would allow more people to survive."

Her tone was full of determination.

This magical girl is like that, and so is Sister Extinction... Is this kind of stubbornness really the right thing to do?

"Well."

Without magic, I couldn't keep her; I could only watch her leave and disappear.

Then I climbed down from this "flower bed" and tried to retrieve the magic wand that was buried in the ground...

"Ceruno!"

Quanyin called out very loudly.

She must have used what she called echolocation, because she quickly emerged from the dense forest behind me.

Are you alright?

"I'm fine... but you... did you get hurt falling from the sky?"

She bent her arms, striking a strong pose.

"I'm perfectly healthy! Besides, I have your magic!"

He pulled his wand from under the flower bed and wiped the mud off it.

"The trail has gone cold. Let's head back and report to the Association later... Her magic isn't particularly offensive."

Create flowers and soft shields out of thin air, as elastic as silicone.

"Hmph! If she hadn't been so focused on escaping, she wouldn't have been a match for us."

Quanyin was still unconvinced, so I opened a teleportation channel.

He urged, "It's time to go back!"

Returning to the courtyard house of the Dantai Society through the back door, Xiaoling and Dantai Xue were still hiding in the living room.

Looking at the time, we had been gone for about an hour, and Dantai Zhengchu had been chatting with Tiger Cub for an hour as well.

"Sister Ceruno, how are things over there?"

"We found remnants of teleportation magic in Tiger Cub's room, and then encountered the criminals scattering Crystal in the forest... but we lost them."

I'm really embarrassed to say that I lost a two-on-one fight.

What about you guys?

Peeking through the bedroom screen window at the steps in front of the main house, Dantai Zhengchu was patting Tiger Cub's back, while Tiger Cub... the tiger-striped catgirl who had turned out to be a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man, was sobbing uncontrollably in Dantai Zhengchu's arms.

"..."

Having seen Tiger Cub's real body and bedroom at the martial arts school, I was somewhat speechless, while Quanyin seemed to have something to say about it.

"Ceruno, sometimes all it takes for a middle-aged man to break down is a single sentence."

"Snow Sis, what did your father say to her?"

I turned to look at Dantai Xue, and she shrugged.

"How should I know? I can't hear anything here."

It seems that Dantai Zhengchu's talk therapy truly deserves to be called magic.

"Tiger Cub didn't mention it beforehand, so what do we do now?"

Dantai Xue took a cigarette from the pack on the bedroom table, then pulled out a lighter, but couldn't get it to light after striking it for a long time.

He then gave up, saying, "The other side already knows you're investigating this matter, so they'll definitely be more restrained during this time. Therefore, my father's plan to monitor their potential targets is also not going to work, right?"

I nodded.

"Yes, they'll definitely be hiding or moving to other areas during this time."

Xiaoling asked, "So there's no other way?"

The clue in Tiger Cub's room has gone cold.

"Wait a minute, Magical Girl Detective, don't forget we still have a question we haven't answered."

I pointed in the direction of the adjacent side room.

"Just like we analyzed before, the other party would observe the target for a period of time before sending out the Crystal. That's why she was able to appear when your father went to the side room for rehabilitation. Your father was undoubtedly being monitored, Tiger Cub was probably the same."

Mentioning Tiger Cub, Quanyin- nee chimed in:

"Yeah! We went to Tiger Cub's martial arts gym. There were many surveillance locations across from her bedroom window. She herself wasn't on guard, probably not expecting anyone to be monitoring a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man."

Normal people wouldn't be interested in the life of a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man.

I continued, "The scene at Dantai Society's place is rather unique. Because the eaves of the courtyard house are very wide and there are no buildings of suitable height around, it's impossible to confirm Uncle Dantai Zhengchu's condition without coming in in person."

The lighter running out of oil annoyed Dantai Xue. She asked, a cigarette dangling from her lips:

"We've discussed this topic before. My father hasn't seen many people since he got sick, and I'm handling all the external affairs. Do you think Dantai Society?"

"He's my dad's inside man, and that doesn't conflict with his being a member of the Dantai Society."

Upon hearing what I said, Dantai Xue raised her delicate eyebrows.

"You've heard the story my father told you. The Dantai Society irreconcilably opposed to 'the Other Side.' No matter the reason, we cannot help 'the Other Side' increase the Corruption Rate in this world."

She spoke with a hint of anger, as if she had been insulted.

"Don't get so worked up."

I reassured them, "What if the purpose of this inside line isn't to increase the Corruption Rate?"

"What's the meaning?"

I paced around the room for a while.

"For example, he originally intended to use the Crystal to save your father, but you took it and used it first."

Dantai Xue was somewhat stunned.

"Huh? Using Crystal to save my dad?"

"Think about it carefully. Compared to Tiger Cub, who is unhappy with his life, your dad doesn't have obvious antisocial impulses. Even if he gets the Crystal, he won't go out and cause trouble."

Dantai Zhengchu was a refined and easy-going man.

Does someone like him really meet the requirements for an inside player?

Thank you to "Until Dawn" for the generous donation!

Unfortunately, I was banned from commenting after eating a pineapple bun, so please allow me to express my gratitude in this little note. Thank you!

A donation of 5 chapters will fill this chapter; I currently owe 7 chapters!

This month, in order to get a small recommendation and achieve the full attendance bonus, I'll be updating twice a month as usual. I'll postpone the extra updates until next month!