Chapter 129 Clues (8k)_4
Any further change could easily destroy this connection, make it deteriorate, and ultimately turn into something no one wanted to see.
At first, he didn't care and had even tried to express his refusal to Hong Siyu outright, but since the other party was unwilling to be clear and acknowledge it, he also tactfully dropped the matter.
They were no longer children after all, and relationships between adults always required such careful nurturing of each other's distance. Everyone has true feelings hidden in their hearts that they never articulate, and there's no need to delve too deeply. Insisting on having everything completely transparent is impossible.
At the end of the day, between two adults, as long as they can maintain their personas till the end, the true feelings hardly matter. Preemptively bringing up the topic of going further would only spoil the delicate balance they had achieved.
So, the way things were now was sufficient.
This was the unspoken consensus that Hong Siyu and Lin Yun had reached.
After watching the elevator's floor indicator reach the first floor, Lin Yun turned quietly and walked back to his home.
Hong Siyu was not willing to stay, but he needed to return quickly. The warning from the unclear call earlier still rang in his ears; he had to stay vigilant and make sure that the newcomers at home were under his protection.
Fortunately, nothing untoward or dangerous had occurred afterward.
The three new Magical Girls and their Fairy were comfortably staying at home, gathering together for idle chatter and play; the full moon hung high outside the window, pure, bright, and casting silver light throughout the entire city; occasional bursts of brilliant fireworks added warmth to the family reunion festival, and everything seemed peaceful.
It was just like any ordinary Full Moon Festival, with nothing out of the ordinary.
Time passed moment by moment until it was nearly ten o'clock. The girls were still gathered in the living room, watching a movie found from who knows where, even Moca was enthusiastically sitting with them.
Just as Lin Yun thought about when to send them to bed amidst the bustling noises not far away, he carried the washed fruits from the kitchen to the living room. However, the conversation happening in the living room suddenly caught his attention.
— "Don't think about shirking it! You're the one throwing out the trash tomorrow!"
"No way, I won't do it! I've done it for three days in a row, I'm on strike, meow, on strike! Making a Fairy do this kind of work is simply abuse!"
Those were Lin Xiaolu and Moca's voices.
"That was the punishment you accepted yourself when you snuck a bite last time! You said you'd take out the trash for a whole week."
"I now feel that your demand is excessive! I want to renege!"
Continue your saga on empire
The two continued their elementary school-level quarrel, uttering entirely insubstantial words, but upon hearing their conversation, Lin Yun's hands loosened abruptly.
Thud.
He quickly reached to save the fruit platter, managing to catch most of the fruits, but some of the oranges and pears still scattered onto the floor.
The fruits that had fallen to the ground rolled everywhere as if out of control, yet Lin Yun remained still, without the slightest intention to chase them immediately.
"The fruits are spilled!"
Moca was the first to shift her attention from the argument and noticed the scene. Several girls immediately came over, wanting to help with the fallen fruits on the floor.
"It's okay, I can take them to wash again..."
After a dry explanation, Lin Yun casually picked up a few oranges from the floor and looked toward the several girls: "What you were just talking about, throwing out the trash... what was that about?"
"Throwing out the trash?"
Lin Xiaolu paused slightly, then responded: "It's nothing big. We just have a chore schedule among ourselves, and the order is usually decided by playing rock-paper-scissors."
This was the first time Lin Yun had heard of this, a sign that since he had left Fangting City, the little trio had stirred up quite the commotion in their secret base.
"Rock-paper-scissors for taking out the trash?"
Lin Yun looked bafflingly at Lin Xiaolu: "So, who were you talking to just now?"
"...When you say that, it's with it, oh."
Lin Xiaolu pointed at Moca floating at a side: "It's the Fairy that made us into Magical Girls, generally called the Seeder."
"There's nothing over there." Lin Yun ignored the teasing smile of Xia Liang nearby, continuing to maintain his persona as an ordinary person.
"Hmm, because ordinary people can't see Fairies."
Without any doubts, Lin Xiaolu earnestly explained: "But they really do exist, and you can feel them if you reach out."
"Invisible yet tangible?"
Carrying the act through, Lin Yun reached out to touch Moca, and after expressing his amazement, he opened his mouth to ask again:
"So, you're saying that you just had the fairy... take out the trash?"
"Mhm." Lin Xiaolu nodded, "It's actually not a problem, it just went out and took out the trash a moment ago."
"Is, is that so..."
Lin Yun felt that he was nearly at a loss for words and could only mechanically open his mouth to speak.
Since his return as a Magical Girl, except for the night of Lin Xiaolu's peril, he had never felt as icy cold in his heart as he did now.
His brain was as if it had been struck by a heavy blow, leaving only a buzzing sound that made his thoughts sluggish.
The saying "ordinary people cannot see fairies" is actually a relatively broad description.
This description is not absolute; in fact, the reason ordinary people cannot see fairies is that they lack sufficient Magic Power.
Generally, to see a fairy, one must at least be a Magician who has just begun to understand the craft, as only then do they possess the Magic Power needed to see fairies.
As for Magical Girls, even uncontracted reserve Magical Girls usually had a level of Magic Power close to that of a Magician while still being mortals, so it was easy for them to see fairies.
However, retired Magical Girls would not have this ability.
To ensure that retired Magical Girls do not misuse their powers after leaving the kingdom, the kingdom would reclaim and seal their Magic Power, reducing it to the level of an ordinary person.
In other words, a retired Magical Girl's internal Magic Power would not be much stronger than that of an ordinary person. In such cases, they naturally would not be able to see fairies.
As a Magical Girl who retired through the regular procedure, Hong Siyu was no exception. In fact, according to her own words, and her previous behavior, she had lost her Magic Power and could no longer see fairies.
But just now, through Lin Xiaolu and Moco's conversation, he finally realized what Hong Siyu had been looking at by the door.
Hong Siyu was looking behind him, at the trash bin behind him, at the garbage bag beside it, and at... at that time, the one who was strenuously carrying a bag of trash flying over...
...Moco.
Impossible.
This was Lin Yun's immediate judgment.
His reason told him it was impossible because the matter was inexplicable and incomprehensible.
Sealed Magic Power was not supposed to supply Magical Girls with magic again, like a car without a fuel tank. Without the source of energy, a Magical Girl's Magic Power would not be much better than that of an ordinary person.
And this change was almost irreversible, because he had never heard of a Magical Girl who had retired and managed to regain the qualification to use their powers from the kingdom.
So, if that's the case, why did Hong Siyu see Moco?
Lin Yun mechanically picked up the fruit from the ground and brought it back to the kitchen, standing by the sink, appearing utterly calm on the surface, but his thoughts were roiling ceaselessly.
It was at this moment that he suddenly heard his phone ringing again.
He took his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. The number made him focus: it was the same unfamiliar number that had contacted him that afternoon.
Almost instantly, he pressed his finger to answer the call and put the phone to his ear. Lin Yun regulated his breathing, trying to sound as calm as possible, and asked, "Hello?"
"...Ssss."
The noise of the signal came through from the other end once more.
"Quick... go..."
Following that, came a voice even weaker than the previous instances.
"What?"
"...Quickly go find her."
"Who?"
"Go find... go find..."
The chaotic noise grew stronger, even drowning out the already faint human voice, making it even weaker. Just as Lin Yun thought this call might end up unresolved like the previous ones, the jumbled signal suddenly cleared.
Almost simultaneously, a voice clear yet feeble came through from the other side of the call to Lin Yun's ear.
——"Cornflower, hurry and find Chaoyan, it's going to be too late!"