It was all the same magic

Jiang Si was not particularly surprised that his little sister had ultimately decided to go to the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau.

Although their relationship had grown increasingly strained since their parents passed away, over the past three years, he would occasionally come home to find Jiang Keke watching magical girl programs on the living room TV.

Some were news updates about which Calamity Beasts the magical girls had cleared out and how many people they had saved; others were variety shows.

Magical girls needed to earn money too. More importantly, the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau needed operating funds, so making money by turning magical girls into idols was commonplace.

Quite a few variety shows, games, TV shows, and movies invited magical girls to appear in person.

The one Jiang Keke cared about most was the blue magical girl from back then, Larkspur, the benefactor who had once saved them.

Although she had never said so herself, Jiang Si had raised her for all these years and could tell that she still felt guilty about thoughtlessly blaming Larkspur for not coming sooner to save their parents.

She often searched for ways to contact Larkspur, and had even written letters she wanted to send to her.

Unfortunately, they had sunk like stones into the sea.

To Jiang Keke, Larkspur was probably both her idol and her goal.

And Larkspur was the magical girl captain of the neighboring city's Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, so it made perfect sense for Jiang Keke to join the Bureau. She would also have a chance to meet her idol in the future.

It would have been strange not to agree. She had absolutely no reason to refuse the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau's invitation.

To make sure he would not embarrass himself too badly, he got up early and changed into a set of clothes his father had left behind. He had more or less been able to wear them since his first year of high school.

Partly because Jiang Si had grown quickly, and partly because their dad really had not been very tall.

With the cuffs and trouser legs folded up a little, they fit him quite well.

He tidied his hair and gave his eyes a more world-weary look, like someone left half-dead after a day at work.

He looked exactly like a working adult.

As for his face, demeanor could cover up a lot.

At the very least, Yinlian's reaction when she looked over as he came downstairs proved that he had done a pretty good job.

"Your brother looks so much like your dad."

Hearing the magical girl beside her exclaim this, Jiang Keke could not help feeling a little speechless. "He's deliberately dressed like Dad."

"I just meant he dressed very maturely..."

"Heh, maybe he's a thousand-year-old monster inside." Jiang Keke had no intention of saying anything nice. "Heartless."

In fact, he wore this outfit every time he attended a parent-teacher meeting, so Jiang Keke was already used to it.

Jiang Si only had two outfits: his school uniform and the suit his father had left behind. He rarely wore his father's suit.

But whenever he did, he really did look like their father.

The first time he went to a parent-teacher meeting, even her homeroom teacher had simply assumed her dad was that young.

But the moment he spoke, the disguise would fall apart. His voice was still a little too youthful, after all.

"Have you eaten?"

Jiang Si asked calmly, and Jiang Keke gave her usual "Mm," unwilling to say anything more.

Yinlian, meanwhile, said sweetly beside her, "We saved you some. Would you like to eat, Jiang Si? The food in the kitchen probably hasn't gone cold yet."

"No need. I ate last night."

He walked to the door and changed into leather shoes-also his father's; he only wore sneakers himself, since they were convenient for working out. "Let's go if you're ready. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll be back. I have to go to school this afternoon."

Hearing Jiang Si say he was going to school, Keke looked distinctly amused.

School? What was he going to school for? To skip class?

But she could not even be bothered to mock him, and simply changed her shoes behind him.

Even Yinlian could not help sighing at the stiff, awkward atmosphere.

A magical girl having such serious family problems was hardly a good thing...

Although it seemed that magical girls all had some family problems, more or less.

When they opened the door, the sunshine outside was lovely. It was already late August, and Beihai's weather was turning autumnal. It was not that hot, especially this early in the morning; when a breeze brushed past, there was even a hint of chill.

But standing in direct sunlight would soon leave them feeling hot.

Once outside, Yinlian sheltered in the shade along the roadside, enjoying the coolness. Jiang Keke followed close behind her, but because Keke was a little taller, the shadows cast by the roadside buildings could not quite cover her completely. The sun still reached her face, so she could only raise a hand now and then to shield herself.

Partway along, Yinlian noticed Jiang Keke raising her hand to block the sun behind her and immediately copied her, edging outward to deliberately let the sunlight fall on her as she said, "It is a little hot today, huh..."

"Do you like going out of your way to suffer, senior?"

"I really am hot," Yinlian muttered, then glanced behind her again. Jiang Si was bringing up the rear. He had not even considered hiding in the shade and simply strode forward in direct sunlight. "Isn't your brother bothered by the heat?"

"His whole body stays below freezing."

"What kind of superpower is that?"

"He's just a frozen corpse."

"..."

Although it was a little rude, Yinlian really did nearly laugh. She touched her face to hide her inappropriate smile and asked, "Why do you hate your brother so much?"

After a moment of silence, Jiang Keke tugged at her shoulder bag. "Because he isn't human."

Yinlian had not intended to press further. It was someone else's family business, after all, and asking why out of curiosity had already been overstepping a little.

To her surprise, Jiang Keke continued, "When our parents died, he didn't attend their funeral. He went off to work out."

Taken aback, Yinlian turned to glance at Jiang Si following at the very back, and frowned too. "There must have been... some reason, right?"

"No. He just wanted to work out." Jiang Keke spoke expressionlessly. "There wasn't any reason. Even though our parents raised him, even though they'd lived together for over a decade, whether they lived or died mattered less to him than that day's workout."

"Maybe he was just using exercise to numb himself, to hide his grief and pain..."

Yinlian watched a somewhat strange smile appear on Keke's face. "You're a little out of touch with reality, senior. The truth is, when our relatives dragged him to the funeral, impatience was written all over his face. He felt no grief or sadness over our parents' deaths, much less pain. To him, it was like two dogs had died. Ask around and you'll find out."

Yinlian had not expected Jiang Keke to tell her so much all at once. The impact left her at a loss for words, and even her steps slowed.

"I thought you seemed to have some unrealistic fantasies about him, Yinlian, so I'm giving you a warning in advance, in case you end up disappointed. That feeling really isn't pleasant."

Yinlian took a deep breath. "Thank you, Keke. I understand. But I still think there must be some misunderstanding."

"Let's hope so."

Jiang Keke remained noncommittal. If Yinlian had not also been a magical girl, and had not shown her enough care that Jiang Keke could not help treating her as a friend, she would not actually have wanted to discuss these family matters.

After all, she had never told anyone about them in all these years.

But whether Yinlian listened was her own business. Jiang Keke wanted absolutely nothing to do with Jiang Si's affairs. If Yinlian really insisted on taking Jiang Si's side later and wanted her to make up with him...

Then Jiang Keke would absolutely refuse to join the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, and would have nothing more to do with Yinlian either.

She had cut ties with quite a few relatives that way before.

"But I do understand. If your own brother is someone like that, it really would be hard to accept. I'm really sorry for saying I hoped you could get along with him earlier. I made too many assumptions."

"It's not really..." Jiang Keke sniffed and turned her head away. "You didn't know any of this, senior. It isn't your fault."

Yinlian took her hand and swung it. "Just call me Yinlian from now on. Enough of this 'senior' business."

"Little Anemone."

"I never said you could add 'little'!"

Watching the two girls fooling around ahead of him, Jiang Si frowned, unsure what they were doing.

They had been wandering aimlessly for almost twenty minutes, with no sign whatsoever of heading toward the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau.

Was this girl here to make fools of him and Keke?

He could get the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau's location by messaging Bingtang.

But that would expose him too easily. Who knew whether this girl called Yinlian was monitoring him?

Magical girls always had some strange abilities, especially since she was a pink magical girl, who were usually skilled in mental magic. Combined with the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau's far-reaching hand, if they had their eyes on him, contacting Bingtang could easily expose him.

Better to be cautious. That was why he had not contacted Bingtang again since last night, and had even kept his phone in airplane mode until now.

But wasting time like this was no solution either. Jiang Si stopped and asked, "How much longer, exactly? Should we get a ride?"

Up ahead, Yinlian let go of Keke's hand and replied with a smile, "We're almost there. Don't rush."

Her tone no longer held its earlier respect.

After walking a little longer, the three entered a secluded street, and Jiang Si spotted a somewhat familiar building in the distance.

The sanatorium where he and his sister had been sent for treatment three years ago.

So the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau was somewhere like this? This close?

He found it a little strange. If it was this close, why had Bingtang never told him?

Then Yinlian turned again, leaving the alley and heading into another small lane.

They had not necessarily gone very far, but after enough left and right turns to nearly make them dizzy, Yinlian brought them somewhere neither sibling had ever seen before.

They were probably near the outskirts. A small grove blocked the view, and the three stopped at the foot of a wall. The wall must have fallen into disrepair over the years, exposing the red bricks beneath. Quite a few ants and other insects could be seen crawling over it, and branches from an old poplar beside it drooped down, obscuring the top of the wall.

Jiang Si felt there had been something strange about their direction along the way. He suspected Yinlian might have used her magical girl powers to distort their sense of direction, but he could not be sure.

"The Disaster Countermeasures Bureau is actually somewhere like this?" Panting, Jiang Keke tugged at her collar. All that winding back and forth had exhausted her.

Because of Jiang Si, Keke hated exercise, and by extension, she hated PE too, so she was not particularly fit.

Walking this far had naturally been rather strenuous.

"Of course not." Yinlian took out a key and pressed it against the wall.

Jiang Si raised an eyebrow, certain now that she did not consider him suspicious.

Because a Miracle Seed hung from the key, and she made no attempt to hide it.

The entire wall rippled after the key slid into it. When the key turned, the whole wall opened to either side like a pair of doors.

Yinlian put away the key and hopped lightly inside, then poked her head back out and beckoned to them. "Come in."

Jiang Si walked ahead of Keke. As he stepped through the doorway, he discovered a station on the other side.

There were ten boarding points in total, with a small brass bell at the end of each.

They had entered through the wall between numbers nine and ten.

"Welcome to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters."

Although this world's entertainment was completely different from his original world's, its development had followed a similar course.

Harry Potter had taken the world by storm a year ago, and Jiang Si did know about it.

In his previous life, he had been a webnovel fan and had no interest in stories set in low-magic worlds like that. He had even more contempt for the magic its characters used.

What was so interesting about a few brats saving the world? With no detailed advancement path or power rankings, it was leagues behind webnovels. He had no idea how it had become popular. All he could say was that capital's mighty hand had been hard at work.

He had not expected the mighty Disaster Countermeasures Bureau to imitate it here at the station.

They had taken childishness to its limits.

Beside him, Jiang Keke stepped cautiously inside and craned her neck to look around for a while. When she heard the name Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, she immediately quipped, "Is the copyright situation okay?"

"It's fine. They're working with the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau too. All their actors are magical girls from our side."

Harry Potter with an Eastern cast? Jiang Si found that a little hard to imagine.

"The old station was too antiquated and scared quite a few newcomers. Back then, it looked like a horror movie set. Later, the higher-ups said we had to keep up with the times, and at least make it look like something children would like. That's how we got Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The other Disaster Countermeasures Bureaus are following suit too."

"Has it worked?"

"...You're the first newcomer since the station renovation."

Yinlian scratched her head awkwardly, then said indignantly, "It's all the Azure Cloud Sect's fault! Because of them, the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau can't find any magical girls anymore."

Oh, yes, yes, yes. It's all Bingtang's fault.

Jiang Si sneered inwardly. If the Bureau's recruitment process had not been so full of holes, Bingtang would never have had anything to do with it.

Jiang Keke did not join Yinlian in criticizing the Azure Cloud Sect, but instead peered curiously into the distance. "So is it a train too?"

"Of course not."

Yinlian walked over to the bell and tapped it lightly with a bent finger.

The melodious ringing carried far into the distance. More than how far the bell's sound traveled, what Jiang Si found strange was that its echoes sounded as though they were in the mountains.

Soon, two broomsticks arrived, dragging a tiny carriage behind them.

They were fast enough that sparks flew from the friction as they stopped at the platform.

"The carriage only seats two people at a time."

Yinlian explained, "Originally, there were just broomsticks. Later, to match the station, we attached a carriage for them to pull. Newcomers won't be scared riding in this, either."

As she spoke, she pulled Jiang Keke into the carriage first.

The tiny carriage really did only have room for two.

"Wait a moment, Jiang Si. I'll come back for you..."

As Yinlian spoke and the broomsticks pulled the carriage up into the air, she saw Jiang Si crouch slightly below.

Then, like a spring, he suddenly shot upward!

He leaped nearly six meters high and grabbed the handle of a broomstick as it took off.

"This one will do."

Yinlian stared, dumbstruck, at Jiang Si gripping the broom handle tightly, showing no sign of falling even as the broom flew at high speed.

She put away her Miracle Seed and turned to Keke, her mouth a little dry. "What exactly is your brother?"

Jiang Keke snorted, looking completely unsurprised. "Didn't I tell you? He isn't human."