But in any case, Erald Sparrow's most fundantal purpose for this trip was achieved. Although the mbers of the investigation team had been seriously injured, they were at least all rescued, and she had thus fulfilled the task assigned by the Investigation Bureau.
However, after completing this task, more doubts followed.
Firstly, as Miu had ntioned, there were several other cities experiencing unusual phenona similar to those in Bai'an City: a large number of unexplained disappearances, various attacks by Remnant Beasts that defied logic, strange rumors... All these clues had reliable sources: mostly from the investigation team's field research results, or from the reports of local Magical Girls.
Secondly, it was what Erald Sparrow discovered after the battle, under the spider's web, there was an altar covered with flesh and blood.
This altar she had seen before — in the sewers beneath Fangting City. It was also within the den of the Remnant Beasts, at the central location after being defeated, she saw altars that looked very similar.
What exactly was the connection between the two? This plunged Erald Sparrow into deep thought.
Last of all, during the battle, the spider herself ntioned that he knew the na "Cornflower".
This was also the most puzzling thing for Erald Sparrow during the trip.
When she was younger and active as a Magical Girl, she indeed made a na for herself using the codena Cornflower, but was such a reputation really rembered by people outside of Fangting City after twenty years?
She didn't know, but she felt it was not normal.
And since she felt it was not normal, the solution was simple: investigate.
A thorough investigation required manpower, which Bai'an City just happened to have. After all, there was now a group of Magical Girls with nothing to do.
These Magical Girls from the Investigation Bureau were eager to take action because they had arrived late and missed the entire event. After learning that several other cities were experiencing phenona similar to Bai'an City, they enthusiastically signed up to go to the scenes to find out for themselves.
During this period, there was a minor incident. That was the local Magical Girl of Bai'an City, the blonde who went by the codena "Wood Lily" insisted that she had found the "real culprit".
She mistakenly identified Lin Yun as the bad guy in a misunderstanding, firmly believing she had found the malicious mastermind, but as the event was resolved, her claims beca empty words.
After the case was solved, as the culprit, the spider's photo had been circulated among the magic side, and naturally reached the hands of Bai'an City's Magical Girl team — obviously, the spider's appearance had nothing to do with the person described by the blonde girl.
Wood Lily might not be the brightest, but her eyesight should be fine. Even she could tell from the photo that she seed to have apprehended the wrong person.
Even as she kept declaring "there are accomplices" and "I didn't make an error", her claims were taken as a joke by her teammates and the visitors from the Investigation Bureau. In the end, to prove herself, she wanted to sign up to join the investigation in other cities, claiming she would go to another city "to find the one who had humiliated her and restore her honor".
The outco was that she received a serious and heartfelt lecture from Lamp, and sheepishly chose to give up.
With that, the little farce ca to an end.
As for Lamp, after several days of recovery and recuperation, she had basically healed and was no longer in any serious trouble.
And as the second hero of this incident — though most of her rit was for leading Erald Sparrow — she too received respect and gratitude from the Magical Girls of the Investigation Bureau.
The result of this respect and gratitude was that Lamp's small piano shop, nad "Mingyin", beca overwhelmingly crowded for a few days.
Regular custors who often visited Mingyin Piano Shop during those days might have noticed that a group of beautiful female staff had suddenly appeared in the shop.
A considerable number of these female staff had little to no understanding of musical instrunts, but their enthusiasm and initiative made the atmosphere in the shop sufficiently lively, which led to a significant improvent in business.
So, after about a week's ti, with the Abnormal Strategy Bureau having completed the reconstruction of the disaster areas and the consoling of the victims; and the Magical Girls having completed the capture of the involved parties and the extermination of the remaining Remnant Beasts, the major event that had shaken the entire magic side of Bai'an City finally began to simr down.
In this atmosphere, the follow-up work regarding the Bai'an City incident was drawing to a close.
After the incident settled, the Magical Girls from the Investigation Bureau had no reason to stay any longer.
The next step was to leave Bai'an City and head to the cities that Miu had ntioned previously, continuing to look for possible clues to unravel the larger mystery.
However, due to the harmonious ti spent together, and to bid farewell to the Magical Girls from the Investigation Bureau, Lamp and the others planned a special event:
— A farewell concert.
A band ford by the four mbers of Bai'an City's Magical Girl team would perform a music concert to bid farewell to the Magical Girls from the Investigation Bureau, with the venue located in the small concert hall next to the piano shop.
Having rented the venue of the adjacent concert hall and only inviting a very small number of regular custors as the audience, the concert took place as scheduled in a joyous and lively mood.
This was also the first ti Erald Sparrow realized that Bai'an City's Magical Girl team could also double as a band.
Of course, in Bai'an City, this was not unusual; here, n and won, young and old, had mastery over one or two musical instrunts, and the average musical literacy was much higher than in the outside world.
On the day of the event, Erald Sparrow was also invited to attend. She stood alone at the back of the performance hall, seated away from the crowd, quietly listening to the performances of the girls on stage.
"Why are you staying here alone?"
Amidst the music, the sound of Lamp approached her ear, "Senior, aren't you the hero of this occasion? Shouldn't you be standing in the front row?"
"I'm old and not used to noisy environnts."
Erald Sparrow calmly replied, "What about you? Why did the band's keyboardist suddenly run off the stage to chat with the audience?"
"The upcoming piece will be fine without ; their skill level is high enough now."
Lamp explained confidently, "Even Wood Lily, though she seems a bit silly at tis, has been the most enthusiastic about rehearsals since learning about this concert."
"Children always have great potential."
Erald Sparrow comnted lightly, "So, how to guide them is the most important issue."
"I think these kids will be alright."
Lamp leaned back slightly, her tone upbeat, "Seeing them grow up makes confident that they'll all be good kids and pillars of the next generation."
"I won't deny that."
Erald Sparrow looked toward the stage not far away, "Especially Bai Ji, who can muster the courage to hold the fort even when you're not around. She keeps her cool when handling things; I have high hopes for her."
"Hmm?"
Lamp turned her head, "Senior Erald Sparrow, are you interested in Bai Ji?"
"I look forward to her growth." Erald Sparrow nodded faintly.
"Then please look forward to it, Bai Ji has been designated by the old generation of Bai'an City as the next team leader."
Lamp also said proudly, "Even if you're interested, you won't be able to snatch her from our Bai'an City team."
"You shouldn't be over 20 years old, and even if you claim to be from the older generation, you're still just a child in my eyes."
Erald Sparrow's eyes narrowed slightly, "And I never said I wanted to poach anyone. The new Magical Girls under are troubleso enough."
"You have a new team under you too, senior?"
Lamp automatically ignored the first part of Erald Sparrow's sentence, clearly more interested in the latter half, "Do enforcers like you also ntor newcors? Is it an internal team from the institution?"
"It's not what you think." Erald Sparrow obviously didn't want to dwell on the topic and skated over it lightly.
"Is that so?"
Seeing that she didn't want to continue, Lamp didn't ask further but naturally changed the subject, "In that case, senior, you'll be leaving in a few days?"
Erald Sparrow looked up, turning her face, "Why would you think that?"
"Because the Full Moon Festival is coming soon."
Lamp, looking toward the distant stage with a smile, said, "It's a day for reunion with loved ones, so you should go back to your own ho, right?"
"Full Moon Festival..."
The word made Erald Sparrow pause slightly, and then, as if rembering sothing, she looked sowhat distant.
And as if to confirm Lamp's words, her phone vibrated at that mont.
It was Lin Yun's phone.
Erald Sparrow ca back to her senses and subconsciously checked before taking out the phone, unlocking the screen, tapping into the ssage notification, and saw a familiar number had sent a ssage:
[Lin Xiaolu: Will you co back for the Full Moon Festival?]
Reviews
All reviews (0)