Questions

The next morning, the Branch sent someone to the hospital for a routine follow-up—to ask Thousand Blades, the newly awakened Magical Girl, about the details of the Liberation Faction kidnapping.

The obvious candidates were the four Magical Girls.

After all, the person being questioned was a new Magical Girl. Sending one of her fellow Magical Girls would surely put her more at ease.

Besides, becoming a Magical Girl didn't mean she hadn't been frightened.

Sending Old Wei over at a time like this, with his square face and fierce expression, would only put pressure on her.

"I'll go!"

Celestial Star raised her hand before anyone else could, without a moment's thought.

Ranger gave her a curious look.

Ever since she'd gotten up that morning, Celestial Star had seemed listless, as though she'd been awake all night.

Normally, Celestial Star wouldn't have wanted to do anything in that state.

"Proper rest is the foundation of efficient work."

That was something Celestial Star often said.

After thinking it over, Ranger decided Celestial Star must be eager to talk with her junior.

"Celestial Star, you look exhausted. Why don't you get some rest?"

Celestial Star glanced at Ranger.

"If I don't go, are you going to? You'd just end up chatting with her... I'm the only one who can focus on the important points and get to the bottom of this quickly."

With Celestial Star putting it that way, no one objected.

She was telling the truth, after all.

Central Hospital, inpatient ward.

The so-called routine follow-up was conducted with remarkably little effort.

The Association already had a fairly clear picture of the Liberation Faction's structure and the like.

What the Association mainly wanted this time was to gauge the kidnappers' strength, use it to estimate the overall strength of the Liberation Faction members hiding in the city, and reconstruct the scene to get a sense of how they operated.

The memory of that night was still vivid for Chen Qianqian, and she answered all of Celestial Star's questions honestly.

Still, something struck her as a little odd.

Why did Celestial Star keep looking into the hospital room?

"All right, no more questions."

"Oh, and you can go to the Association for your ability test now."

"Then why didn't you ask me these questions when I went for the test?"

Chen Qianqian couldn't help asking.

Celestial Star's expression didn't change.

"I have an assignment nearby, so the Association sent me to deliver the message and ask the questions, to make sure everything was communicated accurately."

"Besides, I'm the only one at the Branch who specializes in intelligence analysis."

I see...

Chen Qianqian still had some doubts, but she accepted the explanation.

Figuring nothing was likely to happen in the hospital, Chen Qianqian gave the nurse a few instructions and left.

Once Chen Qianqian was gone, Celestial Star headed straight for the Intensive Care Unit.

The nurse on duty at the entrance looked up to stop her, but she showed her Association credentials. "Association. Routine questioning of a patient connected to the Liberation Faction case."

"But the patient..."

The nurse was clearly hesitant.

Celestial Star softened her tone.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful."

As a Magical Girl, she naturally inspired trust. After a moment's hesitation, the nurse let her through.

Yang Chen was propped up in bed, staring at the ceiling in boredom.

When the hospital room door opened, he assumed Chen Qianqian had come in.

But when he turned his head, he found someone else standing there.

Round glasses, a notebook in her arms, a familiar face.

Celestial Star?

What was she doing here? Had she come to ask about the night of the kidnapping?

"Hello, Yang Chen." The girl closed the door behind her. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Celestial Star, a Magical Girl and a member of the Association headquarters' Support Squad."

"Ah... hello." Alarm bells went off in Yang Chen's mind.

Every instinct he had was sounding the alarm.

"Don't be nervous. I'm just here to ask about a few details of the case." Celestial Star pulled up a chair, sat beside the bed, and opened her notebook. "There are a few details about the Liberation Faction kidnapping that I need to confirm with you."

"How many of them were there when you entered the warehouse?"

"Five."

"Was the Fallen Beast already in the cage, or was it put in later?"

"It was already in there, covered with a black cloth."

"All right."

Celestial Star asked several more questions, nearly all of them fairly important.

At last, she closed her notebook.

"That's all for the routine questions."

She looked up.

"Now I have a few questions of my own."

Here it comes.

Yang Chen sighed inwardly.

"Yang Chen, you had four lacerations across your back and eleven other wounds of varying severity on your arms and torso." Celestial Star spoke at an unhurried pace. "I've read your admission records. Judging by the size of those wounds, they were deep enough to have killed you—three times over."

"Your liver, your spleen, your aorta—if any one of them had been hit, you couldn't have survived until we arrived."

"But they're all intact."

"Twenty minutes of being mauled, and not a single wound to a vital organ." She leaned forward slightly. "Do you know what that's called, statistically?"

Yang Chen blinked. "Being... really lucky?"

"Impossible."

"Maybe that dog's teeth weren't very good?" Yang Chen spread his hands. "Or maybe it was trained to bite places that wouldn't kill me. Their leader did say the Fallen Beast wouldn't kill me easily."

"It was instructed not to kill you easily, not to make sure it couldn't kill you." Celestial Star's face remained expressionless. "A hyena doesn't know anatomy. What it considers a minor wound might not be minor for a human."

"Maybe I have a thick layer of fat..."

Celestial Star said nothing. She merely glanced at Yang Chen's slender waist.

"Heh..."

Even Yang Chen felt embarrassed when he realized how ridiculous that excuse was.

"All right. Let's stop going in circles..."

Celestial Star reached up and adjusted her glasses.

"Magical Girl Love—"

"I have many more questions about you. Will you answer them for me?"

The carefree, devil-may-care look the boy had worn in his hospital bed slowly, little by little, faded from his face.

How had she found out?

The more he thought about it, the more certain he was: it could only have happened on the day of the concert.

The Association's security hadn't stopped the Liberation Faction, but they'd somehow spotted him?

What kind of luck was that?!