"Hmm, your guesses aren't wrong."
The next midday, after a night had passed, in a café in the Erald District, Mint propped up one cheek with her hand while holding a colorful exotic drink with the other, biting the straw, her words mumbled.
Previously, she and Lin Xiaolu had arranged the "treat," which Lin Xiaolu naturally had to fulfill, so on the rest day before the second assessnt, she found a highly recomnded café according to online reviews. At this mont, the three of them were having lunch in a corner of the café.
"Although I could find many excuses if I nitpicked with word gas, at the core of our relationship, I am indeed one of the 'Black Ash Dawn' that you ntioned."
Lin Xiaolu originally thought the other party might not be willing to speak much truth, but she didn't expect that halfway through the al, Mint candidly revealed her background to the two: "Why do you even need to ask this question? Aren't you two as well?"
"Huh? ? Black Ash Dawn? What nonsense are you talking about?"
Lin Xiaolu felt baffled, her voice unconsciously raised by half an octave, but considering the café was a public place, even though there were no other custors around, she still tried to lower her voice and said sowhat cautiously, "When I just beca a magical girl, there were several tis I almost got killed by you guys, right? What on earth are you thinking to consider one of you? Actually, I'm thinking of calling the sheriff now. What are you Black Ash Dawn doing running into the Magic Kingdom?"
"Stop pretending. I've already laid it all out as a Beast Child, why are you two Sacrificial Children still pretending?"
Mint sucked on her drink nonchalantly: "Just like you can sense , any random Ash Army can feel the Residual Beast Magic fluctuations on you two, let alone from a Beast Child's perspective, you guys are practically walking human-shaped light bulbs. There's no way to mistake it."
"Isn't the reason you sought out to inquire about Beast Child matters and whether the higher-ups have any plans?"
She spread her hands: "There was surveillance in the labyrinth, so I didn't want to say much. Now that we're out of the labyrinth, what else is there to hide? If you're not even willing to admit this, there's no way to continue the conversation."
Lin Xiaolu was montarily speechless.
It wasn't that she couldn't argue with Mint, but because the information revealed by Mint's few words was simply overwhelming.
The terms "Beast Child" and "Sacrificial Child" weren't new to either Lin Xiaolu or Bai Jingxuan. Early last year, during the incident when Fangting City's welfare institution was attacked by Black Ash Dawn, a soldier nad "Soldier Touch Three" from the Ash Army had used these terms to refer to Bai Jingxuan.
And by now, Lin Xiaolu and her team were no longer completely ignorant regarding the so-called "Holy Son Plan," naturally understanding that this series of nas was an extension of that plan. However, she hadn't expected that by participating in an assessnt in the Magic Kingdom, she would actually encounter soone directly involved.
"You're saying... you're that Beast Child?"
Trying to sort out her sowhat confused thoughts, Lin Xiaolu decided to start with the more important questions: "Then can you first explain what exactly these so-called Sacrificial Child and Beast Child are?"
"You really don't know?"
Lin Xiaolu's puzzled expression seed genuine, and Bai Jingxuan beside her also looked bewildered, clearly lacking understanding of these concepts. This finally made Mint believe it: "Wait a minute, are you two unassimilated?"
"What is unassimilated?"
This question from Bai Jingxuan finally defeated Mint.
She showed an expression of "this is troubleso," her face changing colors, even stopping her drink. After a good while, she finally spoke again: "Unassimilated, literally ans not returning to the embrace of the Beast Master... or in other words, Sacrificial Children who haven't joined Black Ash Dawn, wandering outside."
"But generally speaking, unassimilated Sacrificial Children are usually ordinary people. The Ash Army quickly finds those suitable to beco Sacrificial Children, brings them into Black Ash Dawn, and lets them learn and adapt to the powers they should possess."
"Which ans, like you two..."
She pointed at Bai Jingxuan and Lin Xiaolu, hesitating: "Not only were you not found by the organization, but you even beca magical girl Sacrificial Children, which theoretically shouldn't exist."
"Aren't you a magical girl too?" Lin Xiaolu asked, puzzled.
"No, we're not the sa as you..."
Mint's expression was sowhat strange: "Wait, you two are serious? You really don't know anything? I—uh—well... I thought I just happened to et two Sacrificial Children left behind by the Moth, and was quite happy about it, but turns out this is a problem."
Apparently, for so reason, she mistakenly identified Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan's identities, realizing the error only now and feeling particularly upset.
However, Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan obviously couldn't relate to her plight, so they could only look at each other, perplexed by Mint's reaction.
Mint's dilemma continued, not only muttering to herself but even beginning to lant, frantically scratching her head:
"No, so can you two first answer , what's your situation? Isn't the Moth in your city? Why did you really beco magical girls? Didn't anyone manage you?"
"Even if you say so..."
Lin Xiaolu blinked: "You can't say no one ca looking?"
"There were indeed, and not just once," Bai Jingxuan also chid in.
"That makes sense, there must be people looking, right? Then why didn't you go with them? Or should I say, why did they let you go?" Mint looked confused.
"Because they were taken down by Erald Sparrow."
"Because I took them down."
Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan continued their coordinated answers.
"Ha... haa? Taken down?"
Mint looked like she was hearing fairy tales: "Is that even possible to take down? Wait, your city has magical girls capable of taking down the Moth, so it's normal if the other Ash Army and Ash Guard can't handle it, but this ans..."
She clapped her hands sharply: "You two aren't Moth's Sacrificial Children? You were chosen as magical girls from the start? Damn... I said, since when did the Moth have the ability to hide a couple Sacrificial Children right under Cornflower's watch, and turns out she really didn't accomplish anything in Fangting!"
Now she realized, she had outsmarted herself.
As for why she was so frantic, it all started before the labyrinth assessnt began.
When she was initially assigned to team 629, she noticed the Residual Beast Magic fluctuations on her two teammates, thinking she had uncovered the hidden truth: that the Moth didn't die in vain. Although she was taken down by Cornflower, she successfully hid two Sacrificial Children.
Upon perceiving this "truth," Mint's thoughts beca active. She desperately wanted to reveal her identity to the two Sacrificial Children, but given the testing ground, it was inevitable that there might be eavesdroppers. So she concocted a narrative, fooling them with the excuse of "I'm from Central City and heard about Fangting's matters."
However, as a Beast Child, her mastery of Residual Beast Magic far surpassed that of the Sacrificial Children, and she could, if she wished, subtly demonstrate her magical power fluctuations in a small scope to her two teammates. In Mint's mind, since these two were Sacrificial Children, as soon as they sensed her Residual Beast Magic, they'd naturally know her identity.
But things didn't go as smoothly as she had imagined.
Among her two teammates, the one with the codena Bo Xue did sense her magical power fluctuations, but their reaction was completely opposite to what Mint expected. Instead of showing close affinity after discovering her magical power fluctuations, Bo Xue beca even more hostile.
As for the one called Bai i, she was even more clueless, seemingly entirely oblivious to Mint's magical power fluctuations. No matter how Mint attempted to hint with words, Bai i showed no response whatsoever.
Mint spent the entire exam period trying subtly to communicate but felt like she was flirting with a blind person. By the mid-to-late stages of the assessnt, she began getting anxious, intentionally amplifying her magical power fluctuation's influence range.
In doing so, while her two teammates weren't particularly responsive, it attracted an Arrowroot.
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