Your Monster Hunting Bureau Believes in Anime Too?

"Master..." Kabi whimpered against his back. "Holding it in is killing me."

"Keep holding it in..."

On the surface, Su Bai kept chatting with the two officers.

"This weather's awful. Pretty stuffy, too."

"Team leader, did the detector go off?"

Han Dong glanced down and shook his head at Liang Bing.

"Please state your name, age, and occupation."

"Su Bai. Eighteen. Second-year student at Tianqiong University. Part-time jack-of-all-trades."

"How many people in your family?"

"Two. Me and my sister." Su Bai paused. "Our parents died young."

Han Dong wrote in his notebook without looking up.

"Where were you the night of the West District incident?"

"Making deliveries. The weather was terrible, so the app was offering extra pay." Su Bai opened his delivery app and handed it over. "My activity log's all there. See for yourself."

"And when the Savings Bank incident happened?"

"Sleeping at home. I'd been making deliveries all day and passed out as soon as I got back." Su Bai didn't blink. "Ask my sister if you don't believe me. Actually, don't. She'll say she saw a Magical Girl fly out the window."

Han Dong's pen paused, but he said nothing.

"Have you come into contact with anyone suspicious lately? Or... seen anything that's been making headlines?"

"Sure. I ran into a Magical Girl at the supermarket just now," Su Bai answered promptly.

Han Dong's pen stopped.

"Oh, and my sister..." Su Bai tipped his chin toward the bedroom. "She spends every day at home drawing talismans and chanting spells, saying she's going to summon some Magical Girl. Does that count as suspicious and newsworthy?"

An indignant shout came from behind the door.

"Hajige! You're lying! Lady Ziwei is real!"

"Do your homework!"

The room went quiet.

Liang Bing said nothing. She paced around the living room, her gaze sweeping over the helmet and lunchbox before settling on the corner of the dining table.

A palm-sized acrylic standee stood there.

It depicted a girl with flowing violet-and-gold hair, a Great Scythe in her hand and her skirt billowing around her. Ornate lettering on the base read, "Lady Ziwei, may Starshine shine forever."

Liang Bing picked up the standee between two fingers and held it under the light.

"What's this?"

"My sister's." Su Bai sat down on the sofa. "She's a kid with a fan obsession."

"Obsessed with a Magical Girl." He curled his lip. "She spent thirty yuan printing this little piece of plastic. I said a couple of things about it, and she got mad at me."

"It's a limited-edition crowdfunded release!" came another shout from behind the door. "Don't call it a piece of plastic! It's a sacred image of Lady Ziwei!"

"Su Xiaoxiao!"

"Hmph!"

Holding the standee, Liang Bing lightly rubbed the base with her fingertip. Then she put it back, setting it even straighter than before.

"Has your sister joined any fan clubs?"

"Yeah."

"What's the group's name?"

"Lady Ziwei Fan Support Club." Su Bai thought for a moment. "No, they changed it to the Star Magical Girls Fan Support Club a couple of days ago. They're even planning to submit an application to register it with your bureau."

"Submit an application?"

"Yeah. If you two are headed that way, do me a favor and reject it." Su Bai looked utterly defeated. "My sister's gone crazy wanting to become a Magical Girl lately."

Liang Bing studied him for two seconds, then took a Holographic Terminal from the inside pocket of her trench coat and swiped it.

Light and shadow spread across the center of the living room.

The footage was blurry and badly shaken, an aerial shot taken at night. A mass of violet-and-gold light plunged into a swarm of monsters. A scythe swept through them, and the lightning storm died out.

Su Bai watched the light without feeling a thing, though he had to keep a what the hell is that? look on his face.

"Master, you looked so cool swinging that scythe," Kabi muttered against his back.

Su Bai pretended to scratch his back and pressed the little energy stick back down.

"That night in the West District, the night of the Savings Bank incident, and at the supermarket where you met her, this 'Lady Ziwei' broke through one desperate situation after another." Liang Bing stared at him. "As someone who lives near the Affected Zone, what do you make of it?"

Su Bai rubbed his forehead, looking irritated at having been woken up.

Then he looked at Liang Bing as though she were an idiot.

"What do I make of it? I watched it lying down."

"Officer, I'll admit my sister's got a terminal case of anime-brain. She draws talismans and chants spells at home all day. But you can't just decide to be a Magical Girl. She's eighteen, but her brain's eight."

"But anyone with half a brain knows—"

He enunciated every word.

"There are no such things as rogue Magical Girls in this world!"

"That's not true!!" A desk thumped inside the bedroom. "You're an ignorant idiot, bro! Lady Ziwei will forgive you!"

Su Bai's temples throbbed.

"One more word and I'm cutting next month's allowance in half!"

The room went silent at once.

Liang Bing ignored the commotion behind the door. Her gaze returned to Su Bai's face, and she studied him for a few seconds.

"Mr. Su Bai, you seem to have a strong dislike for Magical Girls."

"I dislike overtime," Su Bai corrected her. "Magical Girls with their spooky theatrics come second."

Liang Bing frowned slightly.

Su Bai suddenly scoffed.

He bent down and reached beneath the coffee table.

One of its legs was a little short, with a glossy magazine wedged beneath it.

Su Bai pinched the magazine between two fingers and yanked it out.

The coffee table wobbled but didn't fall.

"Here. See for yourself."

He slapped the magazine down beside the Holographic Terminal and flipped to a dog-eared page. The holographic layer embedded in the paper lit up, projecting the layout in three dimensions.

Star Sea Technology Frontier Review, this morning's special edition.

The headline was printed in thick black type: "Seventh Research Institute's High-Energy Solid-State Light-and-Shadow Magic Armor Completes First Combat Test Successfully."

The accompanying image showed a violet-and-gold humanoid suit of armor hovering in midair, a halo beneath its feet.

The red seal of the Monster Hunting Bureau's Publicity Department was stamped below it.

"Your own official morning news. Right there in black and white." Su Bai jabbed a finger at the seal. "Seventh Research Institute. High-Energy Solid-State Light-and-Shadow Magic Armor. Combat test."

"Light-and-shadow effects. Holographic projection. That's why it looked so outlandish."

"What, you don't read the announcements your own people put out?"

He leaned back against the sofa, contempt plain on his face.

"And now you're all buying into this anime nonsense?"

"I suggest your bureau hold a meeting and get its story straight. In the morning, it's an armor test; by evening, you're at my door asking me about Magical Girls—"

"Officer, am I the crazy one, or are you?"

Liang Bing looked down at the holographic page.

At the red seal she knew all too well.

She had delivered the Publicity Department's seal herself.

Late last night, the bureau's senior officials had held an emergency meeting. They couldn't admit their defenses had been stretched thin, and they couldn't acknowledge a Magical Girl. All they could do was invent an "armor test" to keep public opinion under control.

She had proofread the article, watched them stamp it, and signed off on its citywide distribution that morning.

Now the false announcement she had helped create lay before her, slapped down by a university student as irrefutable evidence against her.

And he wore an expression that said your entire bureau is beyond saving.

The corner of Liang Bing's mouth twitched.

She let out a long sigh inwardly.

The bureau's senior officials arranged that fake announcement specifically to keep things stable...