The forr Tulip was considered a well-known figure within Luennolay's City Defense Army.
Not only because her mother was a Commander, but in fact, only a very few people in the army knew Tulip's real na or her familial relationship with the Commander.
The reason she beca renowned in the City Defense Army, even earning the title of "Angel of the Command Headquarters," was primarily due to her work and dedication in the military.
The term "Angel" described not only her bright golden hair and stunning appearance but also her empathetic and gentle nature, as well as her role as a dical logistics officer devoted to saving lives.
She was the most skilled dical officer in the entire logistics and dical departnt and also the most proficient in managing ergency situations and resource allocation. Not only had she personally treated many critically injured soldiers, bringing back lives teetering on the brink of death and ensuring severely wounded soldiers retained their limbs, but she also successfully orchestrated several large-scale post-battle dical operations. In doing so, she managed to sustain the operations of the dical unit, which was nearly overwheld, enabling tily treatnt for more injured soldiers.
Such achievents naturally earned her imnse respect and affection from the troops. Moreover, given Tulip's consistent gentleness toward others, her soft-spoken bedside manner during treatnts was hailed as "the best psychological redy." Many soldiers wounded on the frontlines claid they felt "consoled by an Angel" after receiving her care. This reputation led to widespread admiration for Tulip and propelled the nickna "Angel" into circulation.
However, because of their differing workplaces, Cornflower and Tulip were rely acquaintances, far from being familiar with each other. Their few encounters mostly occurred at the Command Headquarters and the logistics dical departnt. Moreover, as Erald Sparrow herself rarely suffered injuries on the frontlines and had never been treated by Tulip, they remained distant.
Now, Erald Sparrow found herself grateful for that lack of familiarity between them.
Though she identified Tulip at first glance thanks to her sharp instincts and mory, it seed that under her Long Dan guise, Tulip hadn't recognized Erald Sparrow.
"Out this late—were you looking for her?"
The golden-haired magical girl, who should have been identified by the codena "Tulip," rely glanced at Erald Sparrow before withdrawing her gaze. She turned toward the curly-haired girl beside her and asked, "Do you know her?"
"Nope, I don't,"
The curly-haired girl, suppressing a yawn and wiping the tears from her eyes, shook her head. "She says she's here to find 'Mo He.' Maybe she got the wrong place?"
"Mo He…"
The golden-haired girl froze upon hearing the na. Her expression quickly grew serious as she looked back at Erald Sparrow, her previous nonchalance replaced with a more guarded deanor: "Who are you?"
Erald Sparrow noticed that, although Tulip didn't make any overt movents, one of her hands had already moved behind her back. Presumably, this was preparation for transformation.
Coupled with Tulip's evident wariness, Erald Sparrow couldn't help but feel puzzled. Had she said sothing wrong?
Furthermore, in her mory, Tulip was supposed to be an exceedingly gentle and kind magical girl. Why would she display such hostility?
"I'm Mo He's teammate, here to borrow her car."
Unsure about the source of Tulip's inexplicable animosity, Erald Sparrow decided she didn't want to provoke conflict at this mont. Maintaining an air of obliviousness to Tulip's vigilance, she attempted to simplify her words, keeping her explanation concise: "But your companion here says she doesn't know 'Mo He.' Am I at the wrong place?"
"Borrow a car?"
Tulip narrowed her golden eyes, fixing her gaze on Erald Sparrow's face as if determined to uncover sothing: "So why did you co here?"
"Because I was here with her two days ago."
The cold wind swept across Erald Sparrow's back, the sudden chill causing her to shiver. Despite this, she maintained her deanor of ignorant nonchalance: "She told she lives here now, so the location should be correct, shouldn't it? Or has she moved?"
Tulip paused in silence, her gaze continuing to linger on Erald Sparrow's face. She appeared to be contemplating sothing, but the hand she had concealed behind her back had unconsciously returned to her side, suggesting she had abandoned the idea of resorting to violence.
"Your mory is correct. Mo He does live here."
Closing her eyes, Tulip allowed the sharpness in her gaze to fade away before saying: "But she's currently dealing with work matters. I'll go call her."
——"Huh? There really is a Mo He?"
At this, the curly-haired girl seed even more surprised. "Wait—so the 'Mo He' she ntioned is actually Black..."
Her sentence was cut short. Before she could finish uttering the remaining words, Tulip extended a hand from inside the house and dragged her back in, silencing her instantly.
Left alone at the door, Erald Sparrow gazed thoughtfully at the house, now encased again in the Isolation Technique.
Though the reason remained unclear, it appeared she had indeed averted a potential conflict through her concise communication.
Judging from Tulip's reaction, if Erald Sparrow hadn't clarified her purpose and identity within three sentences, Tulip might have engaged her in a fight right there at the Colorful Cloud Wetland.
Although Erald Sparrow was confident she wouldn't lose even if it ca to that, she hadn't forgotten her objective here. A confrontation would only waste more ti, making it entirely unproductive.
She didn't want a battle and had intentionally avoided escalating the tension, yet the interaction raised new questions:
——Was this magical girl in front of her truly Tulip? Why would she be with Mo He and why did she appear this way?
From her appearance, there was no doubt that this golden-haired magical girl was the Tulip Erald Sparrow rembered—the one identified by that codena. However, this cold and hostile attitude made her seem like a completely different person.
Erald Sparrow already knew that Mo He and her "team" were engaged in activities considered "undermining" the Kingdom. Given their fear of being discovered, it wasn't surprising that the team's mbers would be wary of outsiders. Still, even accounting for this caution, would soone once fad for gentleness and kindness truly exhibit such intense hostility?
Erald Sparrow couldn't understand, nor did she have ti to ponder these matters.
Her priority was to borrow the car and resolve her identity-related crisis concerning Lin Xiaolu. She had already spent five minutes at the door—she needed to act swiftly.
So, when Mo He finally erged from the house, Erald Sparrow refrained from questioning anything regarding Tulip. She chose to address her imdiate concerns with Lin Xiaolu before pursuing those inquiries, cautiously saying:
"Sorry, Mo He, for disturbing you so late, but I need to head to the Magic-free Zone on business. Would it be possible for to borrow your car?"
Standing at the door, Mo He was still wearing her pitch-black school uniform and knit cardigan, clearly not resting. Upon confirming Erald Sparrow as the visitor, she stepped out and approached her by two steps.
"You're going to the Magic-free Zone? I'll take you there."
"...Thank you, but it's not necessary,"
Erald Sparrow shook her head. "I'm not certain of the exact location; I'll need to drive around to look for it. If you accompany , it'll take up far too much of your ti."
Mo He glanced back at the house and noticed the curly-haired girl peeking her head out from behind the door, seemingly trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. With a snap of her fingers, the Isolation Technique reactivated, this ti sealing the eavesdropper inside the house.
"I have plenty of ti," she said to Erald Sparrow. "Think of it as taking a nightti drive."
"Your companion told you still have work to deal with,"
Erald Sparrow wasn't buying it. "Besides, I think we both need ti to reflect on the conversation we had earlier. Perhaps so cooling-down ti is best for both of us."
"Cooling-down ti... I see."
Mo He nodded expressionlessly. "If that's what you need."
She didn't ask further or say more. Instead, she took another two steps closer to Erald Sparrow and slowly raised her hands to remove her knit cardigan. After smoothing out its creases, she held it in her hand, then walked around behind Erald Sparrow and draped it over her shoulders.
"It's cold at night, so I'll lend you this, too. Otherwise, it'll be uncomfortable."
Her hand lingered briefly on Erald Sparrow's shoulder before falling away. Then, void of expression, she turned back around.
"Let's go. I'll take you to the car."
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