After get off work, I become a magical girl

These words made Xia Liang's eyes slightly widen.

As if she suddenly realized something, she looked in the direction of Lin Xiaolu, but in the dark room, Lin Xiaolu still had her back to her.

"So I won't ask you why you want to run away from home. I know the only circumstances under which a person would want to run away from home."

Her voice was muffled, that unknown anger having receded at some point, but she didn't know whether it had disappeared or was lurking deeper.

"I stayed at my classmate's house for many days. During that time, I didn't go to school. I just stayed there quietly by myself."

She continued to talk about her past experience: "I don't know which day it was, but it seemed like a classmate's parents contacted the school, and the school told him where I was, and then he came to my house."

"That was probably the first time I saw him so disheveled. His eyes were dark as hell, he hadn't shaved his beard or cut his hair, and he wasn't wearing the formal suit he wore all year. He just wore a shabby jacket."

"He said 'Let's go home', and I thought to myself, we've come to this point, why should I go back with you?"

"But seeing him like that, I don't know why I softened my heart. Sympathy? Or grievance? When I came to my senses, I had already held his hand as if possessed by a ghost."

"It's been like this ever since. I don't really pay attention to him, and he seems to be making up for it by becoming a 'good father', but that's it."

When she said this, she seemed to have finally finished what she wanted to say and had let go of some emotions, so she let out a long sigh and spoke slower.

"No, it ends here."

Lin Xiaolu closed her eyes: "Does this boring story satisfy you?"

Xia Liang did not answer immediately. She loosened her hands holding the quilt at some point, and seemed to remember something, and was a little dazed.

After a while, she lowered her eyelids and replied softly, "Yeah."

"That's good."

Lin Xiaolu pulled the quilt up a bit, half covering her face: "I'm going to sleep."

The room was silent for a long time. Even breathing sounds could be heard from Lin Xiaolu's bed. Only Xia Liang was left lying awake on the mattress on the floor.

She no longer worried about the tight clothes on her body, nor did she care that the bed beneath her was a poorly padded floor mat that she and Lin Xiaolu had used together.

She seemed to say something, but only she could hear it.

Finally, in the dim midnight, Xia Liang slowly fell into a deep sleep.

感谢123ddj、分身躲梅肯、书友33021205981253、血雨萧瑟、呆呆的霜月、sodic、书友20220912135811308、咆哮的凤凰、书友20221220193727270、梦语来来、奥、窥屏怪QMQ、巫匣、书友20181009082714619的打赏，以及感谢各位的投票支持。

Chapter 25 Tumi

2023-04-30

That was on the day of Anya’s funeral.

There were dark clouds in the sky, cold winds were blowing, and misty drizzle was falling.

Lin Yun held a black umbrella, looking straight ahead, and stepped into puddles without noticing. The lonely umbrella fluttered in the wind, like a black mandala.

Water splashed under his leather shoes and all over the ground. He looked forward and saw a woman waiting for him.

She stood in the rain without an umbrella. The continuous rain, accompanied by the slanting wind, hit her body and flowed down her hair.

The woman was probably in her 20s, and because it was a funeral, she was wearing a black women's suit. Her facial features were somewhat tough, making her look quite heroic.

Seeing Lin Yun coming, she raised her head, with a few water marks remaining on her pale face.

"sorry."

She murmured, her voice hoarse: "We are late."

Lin Yun said nothing.

He didn't know what to say, or maybe, "I'm sorry" wasn't what he wanted to hear.

The first thing everyone who knew Anya said when they met her was "I'm sorry". It seemed as if everyone took the blame for Anya's death on themselves. More importantly, their sadness was real.

But if Anya's death was their fault, then who was the murderer who killed her? And who was I, facing nothingness, with no power to apologize?

If he apologized as soon as they met like this, to whom could he confide his emotions that had nowhere to vent?

At 16, he might have cried, at 26, he might have shed tears. But now over 30, as the only remaining owner of the family, he had no room for tears in front of his daughter and all the guests.

All that was left was silence. After all, even saying one more word might cause him to choke. How could he start speaking?

Just because he didn't speak, it didn't mean the woman in front of him wouldn't continue talking.

"We trusted and relied too much on Senior Sakura... or rather, we underestimated the enemy and became lax."

The woman clenched her fists, her face full of regret. "She said as usual that 'one person can handle it' and told us not to get involved. We all thought that a magical girl as powerful as her would not have any accidents, but in the end..."

Stop talking.

Lin Yun really wanted to tell him this. He didn't want to hear how Anya died at all, but he knew that this was impossible.

"When we arrived, Sakura-senpai had already been... and the enemy escaped right in front of us."

Her voice got lower and lower, her emotion sinking: "I'm sorry, we couldn't do anything, it was absolutely useless, and as her companion, I am a sinner."

The sound of rain is still there.

Lin Yun took a step forward and walked towards the woman.

The woman stood still, but she clenched her hands tighter and closed her eyes.

As a comrade-in-arms, he allowed his companion and senior who had taken good care of him to die alone. It would be normal for him to be violently treated by his family for such a despicable act, and she was prepared.

But Lin Yun didn't do that.

He just held the umbrella over her head, hugged her gently and patted her shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself, you have tried your best, Tumi."

He spoke, and although his voice was dry and his expression was indifferent, it was gentle: "Next, just do what you should do."

The woman called Tumi stood under the umbrella. She first opened her eyes wide and was stunned for a moment. Then, tears welled up in her eyes: "Cornflower..."

"Don't say it."

Lin Yun shook his head and interrupted her: "I don't like that code name."

"...Then, Delphinium-senpai."

Tumi tried her best to hold back her sobs, covering her mouth and remaining silent for a while. After a long while, she took a deep breath, looked at Lin Yun, and kept her words steady: "No, Mr. Lin Yun."

"We are planning to leave Fangting City."

Obviously, this is what she really wanted to convey.

Lin Yun moved his fingers, but his face remained expressionless. He just nodded: "When?"

“It should be this week.”

Tears were still falling from Tumi's face, so she reached out to wipe them away: "Although the enemy escaped, we also judged from its appearance and the logic of its actions that it was not the remnant beast that killed Senior Ying, or at least, it was not just the remnant beast."

Not just remnants of beasts.

This sentence attracted Lin Yun's attention.

"This incident should be related to a mysterious organization that the country has been tracking. They seem to have some means of cooperating with the remnant beasts."

Tumi sniffed, and a resolute look gradually appeared in her red eyes: "So we will join the special investigation team organized by the Investigation Institute, follow the murderer's footsteps, and catch them."

"...is it dangerous?" Hearing some hidden meaning in her words, Lin Yun lowered his eyes and asked.

"It seems so. It seems that the investigation team in the Investigation Bureau has suffered the most serious reduction in staff."

Tumi opened her mouth and forced out a somewhat ugly smile: "But if we don't do this, I'm afraid we will never be able to face ourselves again."

"After we leave, new sowers will come to Fangting City and select new magical girls. Newcomers will protect the city. It's time for us old people who have not much time left in our term to give up our positions."

"And Senior Chao Yan... She has been retired for many years. Her real name is Hong Siyu now. As a staff member of the Strategy Bureau, she will also be transferred to Fangting City."

She was a little rambling, listing out one by one, as much as she could know.

Lin Yun listened to her for a long time without expressing his opinion or interrupting her.

"Good luck to you."

Only after she finished speaking did Lin Yun nod and hand the umbrella in his hand to Tumi: "Take it and go."

Tu Mi didn't answer.

She looked at Lin Yun, smiled bitterly, and shook her head.

After looking at each other for a long time, Lin Yun understood what she meant. He silently put away his umbrella, looked at Tumi deeply, and turned to leave.

"...Mr. Lin Yun, you don't need to respond to what I'm going to say next."

However, when he took two steps, Tumi's voice came from behind him again.

This time, there was some hesitation in her voice: "After I applied to join the task force, someone found me and claimed to be an officer of Lord Golden Green Cat Eyes."

When Lin Yun heard the name from Tu Mi's mouth, his pupils shrank slightly.

But Tu Mi said there was no need to respond, so he didn't turn around, but just turned his back to her and listened quietly.

"She told me that this matter is now very far-reaching. In fact, just this week, a karuta-certified adult disappeared during the investigation. So let me convey a message from the golden-green cat-eye master to you:"

——"'Think clearly about what you are carrying now and don't do anything impulsive.'"

After this sentence, there was no more voice behind him.

Realizing that this was a sign of the end, Lin Yun paused for a long time. Finally, he followed Tumi's instructions and still did not react. He just walked forward and left.

After he left, a light yellow stream of magic power burst out from an empty corner, and a faint rainbow light rushed up to the sky under the cover of rain.

A year later, Tumi joined the non-staff investigation team of the Investigation Institute and encountered an unknown enemy during an investigation operation.

After the fierce battle, in order to protect the safe delivery of intelligence, she took the initiative to cover the retreat and died in Binhai City.

After her death, her teammates who were also from Fangting City took over and started a new round of investigation.

But Lin Yun is still unaware of this.

Chapter 26 True Form and Magical Construction