Early the next morning.
After a night of construction, the damage in the eastern outskirts had almost been restored to its original state.
Yinluo wore her black office outfit and glasses, speaking gently with the construction workers as she handled the final cleanup.
That included settling payments and offering the appropriate words of support.
Susan, meanwhile, leaned against a book on the other side, one foot braced against a tree trunk, watching Yinluo expressionlessly.
Yinluo had forcibly dragged her here.
After receiving intelligence yesterday that Jiang Si might be exposed, Susan had wanted to notify Lord Winter Lord right away.
Although she did not know exactly what position Jiang Si held in the Azure Cloud Sect, she figured he was probably just an outside affiliate.
After all, the Azure Cloud Sect only accepted magical girls. As a man, no matter how capable he was, he could never become a regular disciple.
But even if he was an outside affiliate, the Azure Cloud Sect would never let the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau investigate and arrest him at will.
So when Susan heard Yinlian and Peony suspecting Jiang Si, she had wanted to lend a hand by passing the news along, allowing Lord Winter Lord and Jiang Si to prepare early rather than suffer at the bureau's hands.
Yet Yinluo seemed to have seen right through her intentions. She had kept watching Susan since last night, and when the bureau assigned her to handle the cleanup this morning, she had insisted on dragging Susan along again.
Still, Susan did not think it was because her identity had been exposed.
If it really had been exposed, given Yinluo's loathing for the Azure Cloud Sect and dissatisfaction with her, Yinluo certainly would not have concealed it instead of reporting it.
It was probably revenge. Her methods had been so excessive when dealing with Jiang Si before that she had made an enemy of Yinluo.
Susan found herself rather at a loss for words over that.
Jiang Si belongs to our Azure Cloud Sect. You're a member of the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, yet you're so eager to protect him, and even hold a grudge over it. You really don't know what's good for you!
Despite her inward complaints, her expression remained cold, as still as the water in an ancient well.
Yinluo finally finished her conversation over there and walked over while writing on some documents. "Thank you for your hard work, Captain Susan. Without you accompanying us, everyone might have been in danger if the Witch Association's people had doubled back."
"It's just work."
Yinluo brushed back the hair at her temple and smiled slightly. "On behalf of all the workers, thank you. They said they were happy to see you, too. After all, back when you fought as a magical girl, everyone on the construction team saw you fighting so valiantly."
"...Cut the nonsense. If there's nothing else, we're leaving."
Actually, Susan did not want to leave.
She had finally managed to get out of the bureau. If she went back without passing on the information, finding another opportunity would be even harder.
But she could not act too suspicious at a time like this. Although Yinluo might not have discovered her identity, she probably had suspicions-or simply malice. If Susan revealed the slightest opening, Yinluo would definitely seize on it and pursue her relentlessly.
Otherwise, she would not have been watching Susan so closely lately, even monitoring her phone and other means of communication.
Yinluo adjusted her glasses, seemingly hesitating for a moment, too.
Something stirred in Susan's heart.
She doesn't want to leave either?
But before she could react, she saw Yinluo suddenly look toward somewhere nearby. Her brow relaxed, and a rather subtle smile appeared. Susan followed her gaze.
She spotted Jiang Si jogging over and immediately covered her forehead.
Coming here on a morning run at a time like this?
You're really something, Jiang Si. Extorting half my salary wasn't enough, and now you have to come and cause trouble at a time like this. Give me a break...
"What a coincidence. Isn't that Keke's brother?" Yinluo said softly. "I'll go say hello. Why don't you head back first, Miss Susan?"
Susan smiled. "It's fine. I'll wait for you."
What perfect timing! Jiang Si, I knew you were useful!
Watching Yinluo finally shift her attention away from her, Susan let out a small breath of relief.
She finally had a chance to get the information out. Although the bureau had suspicions about Jiang Si, the sisters Yinluo and Yinlian trusted him deeply, so she was not worried about him being given a hard time.
Yesterday, when the bureau discussed how to investigate Jiang Si, those sisters had defended him in every possible way. Anyone who did not know better would have thought they had a secret crush on him.
The rest was up to him.
I've finally found a chance to act alone.
Feeling relieved, Yinluo looked toward Jiang Si and found him searching around on the ground for something.
As she approached, he even sighed softly, looking very disappointed.
With her hands behind her back, she stood quietly nearby and watched for a while. Realizing Jiang Si had not even noticed her behind him, she lightly tapped his shoulder. "Jiang Si."
The boy visibly froze for a moment, then turned to glance at her before relaxing. "Oh, Yinluo."
"What are you doing here instead of going to school?"
"It's Sunday. I'm on my morning run."
Yinluo bent down and leaned closer, her face almost touching his. "It looks to me like you're searching for something?"
Jiang Si's expression did not change. "Nothing, really. I was just curious why you suddenly came here to do construction, so I thought I'd see if you'd left anything valuable behind."
Nodding, the older office lady straightened up and smiled. "Don't worry. We wouldn't leave anything valuable behind. There was a battle here yesterday. This is the official cleanup after dealing with a Calamity Beast."
Jiang Si seemed a little surprised. "You've repaired everything already? Impressive."
"Of course. Most of the funding the bureau receives from Jianghai City goes toward maintaining the construction teams," Yinluo said with a smile. "Dealing with Calamity Beasts is certainly important, but maintaining the city's order and infrastructure is important, too. Otherwise, before the Calamity Beasts even destroy it, a city will already have lost its vitality, and all the magical girls' work will have been for nothing."
The boy nodded. "True. Just staying alive isn't enough."
Hearing that, Yinluo went distracted for a moment. Only after a long while did she press her lips together and show a somewhat complicated smile. "Yes, just staying alive certainly isn't enough. Jianghai City is a major city with a good economy. We not only have to ensure that Calamity Beasts don't threaten the citizens' safety, but also that Beihai's economy isn't affected."
"But your bureau doesn't look all that wealthy to me. Regional bureaus get their funding from the city government, right? If they have money, why don't they give you a bigger budget?"
Yinluo immediately gave a wry smile. "I didn't expect even you to know about that."
No kidding. Bingtang celebrated BH City's annual reductions in funding for the bureau in his ear every day. He could not have avoided knowing even if he wanted to.
"When the bureau first came here, the funding was quite substantial."
As she spoke, Yinluo sighed and pointed toward the eastern outskirts. "Even construction over there stopped. Apparently, Jianghai City originally planned to build a stadium there, but the subsequent funding was all allocated to the bureau, leaving the project unfinished. The payments never came through, either. During that period, the workers and contractors went to blockade the city government building every day."
That was news he had never heard. Three years ago, he and Bingtang had only just started out. They had been busy fighting Calamity Beasts and had not paid much attention to the specific process of establishing the bureau.
"But assembling the Magical Girl Combat Team never went smoothly. All the departments meant to support it were established, yet by the second year, the team still only had three members. Most of the funding went to waste. With such poor results from their funding, of course the city government wasn't willing to keep spending money."
As Yinluo spoke, a rare trace of displeasure entered her eyes. "It was all because of the Azure Cloud Sect."
That did not count as shifting blame. There were actually quite a few magical girls in BH City, but the Azure Cloud Sect had swallowed them all up. The bureau's inability to recruit really was because the Azure Cloud Sect had moved too quickly.
Rounding things off, it was perfectly reasonable to blame the Azure Cloud Sect for the bureau's reduced funding.
Jiang Si kept walking and searching as he listened, moving slowly. Yinluo followed behind him, speaking at a leisurely pace. "We've made a lot of efforts, too, but there's nothing we can do if we can't produce results. Still, headquarters' Magical Girl Idol Project has taken the world by storm over the past few years, so we're not exactly short on money. The magical girls' salaries are very high, too. There's just no overtime pay..."
"You'll understand when payday comes next month. For you two, that salary can relieve a lot of the pressure of living expenses, as long as you don't spend recklessly."
Since Jiang Si was Keke's brother, Yinluo did not hold anything back. None of this was secret anyway, and she knew about the two children's situation at home, so naturally she offered some reassurance.
"Mainly because there aren't many magical girls, right?" Jiang Si cut straight to the heart of it. "If there were more, you couldn't afford to pay them."
Yinluo rolled her eyes at him with mild reproach. "Don't make it sound so bad. If there were more magical girls, there would be more funding. It would be the same. It's not as though the bureau doesn't want to improve their compensation."
"Really?" Jiang Si crouched down and turned over some soil at the spot where Du Juan had knocked him down yesterday. "I keep hearing people say the bureau is bloated internally now, and a lot of decisions aren't that easy to implement."
"A common ailment of large departments."
At this, Yinluo looked rather wistful. "Actually, a long time ago, the bureau's predecessor was just a certain magical girl's high school club, made up of a four-person magical girl squad. But later it grew bigger and bigger, and more magical girls joined. Because of the public all along, quite a few companies and civilian organizations volunteered funding to help, and that formed the beginnings of the bureau."
Jiang Si paused. "So it wasn't established by the government?"
"I heard the government did plan to establish one itself at the time, but for various reasons, nothing came of it. Later, once the bureau grew and became what the people wanted, the authorities officially recognized it, making it the only official magical girl organization."
Adjusting her glasses, Yinluo sighed again. "Later, government personnel came in to provide guidance and standardize things. By today, it's become this bloated thing with all kinds of tangled connections, making a lot of things harder to get done instead."
Seeing Jiang Si stop and dust off his hands, Yinluo stopped as well, then stared at him with a flickering gaze.
Yesterday, Yinlian had returned and said Jiang Si possessed an ability that concealed him from Peony's Heavenly Eye investigation. Naturally, Yinluo knew he was suspicious.
Everyone thought Jiang Si was very likely involved with the Witch Association.
After all, the Azure Cloud Sect did not recruit men, only magical girls.
Only Yinluo knew that Jiang Si was innocent and definitely had nothing to do with the Witch Association. As for the Azure Cloud Sect, they really had never recruited men, so Jiang Si could not possibly have joined.
She glanced back at Susan. The girl was far away and was not paying attention to them.
The bureau had been conducting strict internal investigations lately. The reason she had kept such a relentless grip on Susan was actually to have Susan prove her innocence.
With Susan there, knowing her every move, she could prove she had no connection whatsoever to outside organizations.
Susan would not come over to eavesdrop now, either.
As far as Yinluo was concerned, she did not dislike Susan in the slightest. There was no better helper to be found in the entire Azure Cloud Sect.
"Are you looking for corrupted magic? Or a Grief Seed?"
Only after confirming Susan was not paying attention did Yinluo ask her question, staring at Jiang Si.
Jiang Si visibly hesitated after hearing her words.
Yinluo smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I understand. You're just like me. When your little sister becomes a magical girl, it's inevitable that you feel a little anxious. You don't want to be left behind by her. And just because of a single Miracle Seed, you go from being above her to below her. Your strength, your salary, even your standing in other people's eyes, all fall short of your little sister's. It's really hard to bear. We know exactly how each other feels, Jiang Si."
Jiang Si nodded without saying anything.
"You must have known long ago that your little sister had a Miracle Seed, right? That's why you've been training so desperately these past few years. You failed the cloud-layer test at the bureau before. Although I did think you were innocent at the time, I was wondering whether you might have gone down the wrong path in an effort to catch up with your sister, using corrupted magic to strengthen your body."
That would perfectly explain both his six-meter leap and his victory over Limp.
Immersed in her own truth until she knew neither heaven nor earth, Yinluo paid no attention to Jiang Si's reaction. "Of course, you don't have to admit it. I won't pursue the matter. Let's just call it a secret between us."
Then Yinluo thought for a moment. "But you need to be careful. Too much exposure to corrupted magic is very harmful to your body, and it can easily turn you into a Calamity Beast. You might already have developed some kind of mutation."
Hence his inability to be observed.
Everything made sense now. Looking at the silent Jiang Si, Yinluo gently stroked his head. "But don't worry. If one day you really can't withstand the harm caused by corrupted magic anymore, come find me. I'll help you."
Jiang Si looked at her, his thoughts unknown. Only after a long while did he say, "Okay."
Yinluo waved a hand. "Let's leave it at that, then. If we keep talking and Yinlian finds out, that girl will probably get jealous. She's been talking to me about you all the time lately. I can tell she really cares about you. Ah, she's a high schooler now, after all. I hope it doesn't affect her studies..."
Only after finishing her advice did Yinluo leave.
Susan stood up over there as well, dusting off her hands. "Finished chatting?"
"Yes. Thank you for waiting here so long, Miss Susan."
"No trouble," Susan said with a faint smile. "As long as I can ensure you aren't involved with the Witch Association or the Azure Cloud Sect, it's no trouble. You're the one who's worked hard, chatting with a suspect all this time. Don't beat the grass and startle the snake."
You found me a chance to pass the intelligence along. Of course it was no trouble, you idiot.
For all your scheming, you never expected Jiang Si to be one of us, did you? He deliberately appeared here to draw your attention.
This is our Azure Cloud Sect's hot-blooded teamwork!
Yinluo smiled as well. "Of course not. I've completely confirmed that Jiang Si definitely isn't a member of any illegal organization."
You fool, you never saw this coming, did you? Jiang Si has actually just been steeped rather deeply in corrupted magic. Sooner or later, he'll become a member of the Witch Association.
You not only found me a chance to investigate Jiang Si alone and develop our relationship a little, but also proved my innocence. Of course it was no trouble, you idiot.
I'd really love to see your face when you learn the truth, you smug little brat!
The two girls, each immersed in her own victory, looked at one another and exchanged mysterious smiles.
"Let's keep helping each other in the future, Captain Susan."
"The same goes for you. Remember to work with me more in the future, Miss Yinluo."