Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

The person in front of her knew she was from California, which was why they were imitating a West Coast accent. She guessed that they must have overheard her casually mentioning disliking rednecks during her earlier conversation with Xiangzi, which was why they were deliberately mimicking a Southern accent in their next sentence...

After just two sentences, she could tell where I was from, and she knew which people I disliked and could even imitate their accents flawlessly.

Rebecca felt completely transparent, as if she had been seen through from beginning to end, and cold sweat poured down her back.

Such exaggerated judgment ability, completely incomparable to that blue-haired noble lady next to her who looks like she has never experienced workplace politics. Erica felt the shock of how she had just thrown a light punch while testing the waters and then immediately countered with a combo, pinning the opponent to the edge of the board and making a safe jump to force them to continue playing rock-paper-scissors.

"The Soul Gem performs a basic self-check when a magical girl transforms, removing unnecessary impurities to ensure that the magical girl can enter battle in the best possible condition. Electronic components and nanobots are identified as impurities, so magical girls cannot undergo implantation modifications like humans."

Rebecca raised her head, but dared not look at Miaomeng.

She answered Xiangzi's earlier question first, as a roundabout way of addressing it.

"Furthermore, even the weakest magical girl's physical attributes far surpass those of ordinary humans, so there is no need for enhancement or modification."

"But that makes it even harder to control. How did you solve that?"

“My whole family died in gang warfare, where else do you think I could go?” Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “They only want someone like me.”

"Oh~ no wonder, no wonder." Miao Meng pursed her lips and looked at her with a smile.

Rebecca is under a lot of pressure.

Erica knew she had guessed everything when she saw the meaningful look in Miaomeng's eyes and the faint smile on her lips.

The other party knew they had guessed it, because it was a show deliberately put on for her to see.

It's shameless, despicable, and flawless.

The silent battle—no, it should be described as a one-sided thrashing—made Erica lower her head, truly realizing that she had no way to escape from their grasp.

She revised her assessment of the other party as "surprisingly a nobody." This purple-haired magical girl, who looked older than herself, was definitely a tough nut to crack.

She was now covered in sweat, as if she had been cornered and every step she took seemed like a trap.

The Tale of Reincarnation: The Path of Fall, the Road of No Return: Chapter 586 The Interrogation of Language

Just as Rebecca was feeling suffocated by Miaomeng's gaze, Xiangzi shook her head and spoke up to ease the oppressive atmosphere.

"It seems the government has a lot of control over magical girls," Xiangzi remarked, leaning against the side. "No wonder it's a great power."

"Ah, aren't you?"

"No."

Their own country is different. The government only knows of the existence of magical girls but cannot intervene too much—or rather, dares not? These politicians are afraid of magical girls like they are afraid of Godzilla. They try to shift the blame whenever possible, leaving the police department to take the fall. This resulted in the magical girls of Reed Plains ultimately cooperating with the police department and not continuing their political careers.

It seems there's a big difference between America and them. Do magical girls there have scripts?

Miaomeng turned around, glanced at her, and said with her eyes, "Why did you ruin my plans?"

Xiangzi rolled his eyes and replied with a look, "I'm curious."

Meow Dream sighed and flew back with a helpless look, "Okay, okay." Then she turned back and gave Rebecca the instruction to "continue."

“I became a magical girl when I was thirteen, and it’s been five years now,” Rebecca said. “Back then, there was a little accident during the transaction. When everyone was about to be surrounded and die, Kyubey appeared in front of me and asked if I wanted to get out of the predicament.”

Then she shrugged.

"After that, our gang, relying on me, acted arrogantly for a year, until they were finally wiped out by thugs from a larger gang who couldn't stand it anymore. Later I found out that it was actually orchestrated by the FBI, but by then I had lost everything, so it didn't matter."

"After that, you've been serving in the army, just like now?" Xiangzi asked.

"Well, there's nothing I can't say." Rebecca had a nonchalant expression.

"And then what?" Miaomeng finally asked, "About what happened after you joined the company."

"..."

Rebecca didn't want to tell them anything, or she wanted to tell them something insignificant, but when she looked up and saw Miaomeng's eyes, she felt inexplicably scared, and she didn't know why.

"I...give me some time to think back?" Perhaps it was Xiangzi's good attitude that gave her a little bit of hope, and Rebecca chuckled.

"three."

"what?"

"two."

"Hey, wait!"

"one."

"I--"

"You're actually a special forces member in the government, specializing in classified operations. For the past five years, you've focused on cleaning up the mess left by big shots, or doing shady things abroad. This operation is to deal with someone who wasn't handled properly by the CIA or the Pentagon—namely, Ahmed... is that right?"

Miao Meng didn't use any physical interrogation methods, but simply told Rebecca about her experiences after being recruited into the government.

"How did you..."

Rebecca looked shocked.

Having only encountered her own troops before, Miaomeng guessed almost everything correctly. Rebecca opened her mouth wide, showing her shock.

However, only half of that expression was real, because Meow Dream's last sentence mentioned target A, Ahmed, instead of the more important target B, Medine, which gave Rebecca a glimmer of hope.

pity......

Miao Meng slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

“Oh, excuse me, let me correct you.” She squinted, her pinkish-purple eyes seeming to stretch into silk, “The person you really want to ‘deal with’ is actually Medion Hermes.”

Rebecca's pupils shrank several times in an instant.

It was precisely because of that tiny movement of her pupils shrinking instantly that her feigned surprise turned into genuine surprise. She couldn't hide anything from Miao Meng anymore. Even though she knew that the other party was likely making a reasonable guess because they shared the same goal, her behavior undoubtedly gave the other party solid evidence.

Why does Rebecca know so much? Because when she interrogates others, she also uses micro-expressions to judge whether what they say is true or false.

In this game of feigned competition, she had been completely crushed by Miaomeng, leaving her with nothing. It was a complete and utter defeat.

Not only could they not win, but their defenses were also breached in just two or three rounds in the interrogation and counter-interrogation battles.

“You…you already know, so why are you still asking me?” Rebecca forced a smile, a mixture of helplessness and despair in her eyes. “I don’t have anything more to tell you.”

"After all, you're just an employee who does things according to demand, right?" Miaomeng said.

"correct."

“In that case, let me ask you something else,” Miaomeng said. “Based on the information you have, you should know how long ago it was when Medion last appeared here.”

“We were here a day ago, and we intercepted a message that Ahmed wanted to meet her here.” Rebecca shrugged. “But as you know, we missed her and ended up running into someone we shouldn’t have met.”

Miaomeng turned around and gave Xiangzi a look.

This was news they didn't know.

Miao Meng herself only found out that Medine's last destination was Ahmed's government, and knew nothing else. Rebecca's side even learned about her meeting with Ahmed last night.

This is the intelligence gap between official and individual sources.

"Question two: How long have you been investigating Medine? This shouldn't be the first mission related to her."

“The CIA had been investigating her for four or five years, but she was too clean, and we didn’t have a single piece of evidence,” Rebecca said honestly. “Without evidence, we couldn’t even ban her from entering the country.”

"So the CIA got desperate and brought out this group of people."

That's pretty much it.

Xiangzi's eyes widened slightly, and he was somewhat impressed by Miaomeng's abilities.

The first question precisely revealed that the other party had better information channels than they did. The second question directly yielded even more useful information: 1. Medien has been doing this for more than a year; 2. Medien has not left any trace on either the magical girl side or the secular side; 3. Medien has pushed things to the point that even the CIA is getting anxious.

You probably didn't even think of so many problems.

"One last question." Miaomeng paused. "After answering this question, we should be able to reach a conclusion."

"What conclusion?"

"Would you consider cooperating with me—including the CIA or some other secret agency behind you?" Miao Meng grinned, her voice gradually transforming into its usual sweet, cloying tone. "How about it? Maybe we can even help you get back to your employer~"

"You want to cooperate?" Rebecca was stunned. "With the CIA and the Pentagon?"

"Hmm." Miaomeng turned around and asked, "Right, Xiangzi?"

Xiangzi nodded, acknowledging Miaomeng's words.

"But... what do you want to cooperate on?"

“We have a common goal, don’t we? We also want to catch Medine and ask her a few questions.”

"what?"

Rebecca immediately felt that this matter was definitely not going to work out. Where did they get the right to talk about these things with the people behind them?

"Are you all crazy? This is no small matter."

"How big is that?"

“It’s this big.” Rebecca drew a big watermelon with her hands. “They will absolutely, positively treat you like international terrorists.”

“Just like Medine,” Meow Dream said.

“Mm.” Rebecca nodded.

"But you haven't found any evidence against her, so you've had to secretly send you and your small team."

“Uh…” Rebecca tugged at her pigtails.

She found herself unable to refute Miaomeng's questions.

If these people were to actively contact the Pentagon, there's a 100% chance they'd be labeled as international terrorists. But that's just "labeling" them; until there's solid evidence, international law will outwardly protect these magical girls—making it exactly the same situation as Medien. However, Medien can't be captured, and these people can't be defeated unless the strongest armed forces are deployed.

For example, there's a monster in the air force that can fly at speeds exceeding Mach 7 at an altitude of 10,000 meters... Such an existence is no less important to a country than a nuclear bomb, and it cannot be deployed casually.

Given her boss's meticulous and calculating nature, after careful consideration, she might actually feel that doing this wasn't a bad deal.

So, given that they share a common goal, Miaomeng's proposed solution is surprisingly feasible?

“I can’t speak for the big shots behind me; your proposal is only theoretically possible.”

“A theoretical possibility is enough; we are confident that we can turn it into a definite outcome,” Miaomeng said. “You just need to help us make the contact, and in exchange, we can set you free.”

"Is this even considered an exchange...?" A bead of sweat trickled down Rebecca's forehead.

If this really happens, she definitely won't be able to escape it; there's no such thing as freedom anymore.

What would happen if I shook my head?

"Do you think you still have this choice?" Miao Meng pointed with her thumb at Xiangzi, who was leaning against the wall pretending to be a master behind her, and whispered in Rebecca's ear, "The guy behind me looks silly and kind of cute, but he's actually ruthless when it comes to killing people."

“Of course, I often complain that I don’t really want to do it,” Miao Meng added.

“I can hear you, desuwa!” Xiangzi shouted back.

Rebecca glanced in Xiangzi's direction, earning her a glare and a "Hmph!" in return. If they had only met here, they would indeed have the adorable, slightly naive and arrogant vibe that Miaomeng had just described.

But in reality, he didn't even blink before he chopped it off and threw it on the ground like a piece of pork.

"..."

Rebecca's eye twitched a few times.

"So what is the third question you want to ask? Do you have to wait until I nod before you can answer it?"

Miao Meng's eyes darted around a few times, then she gave an awkward laugh:

"I almost forgot."

"Ha ha?!"

The first voice was Rebecca's, and the second voice was Xiangzi's. Xiangzi seemed even more excited than Rebecca.

"Ahem!" Miao Meng raised her hand to block Xiangzi, who rushed in front of her and was about to grab her waist and throw her over the back. "I was just kidding. I will ask this question only after you nod, because it is related to whether you are willing to 'join the team'."

Because Xiangzi's arm span wasn't long enough to reach Miaomeng, his head was being held down, and he barely managed to touch Miaomeng. He looked like a little kid who couldn't get candy from the side.

"Let go of Desuwa!"

"Wait a minute, Xiangzi, I'm here to talk about serious business for you."

"What's the meaning."

"Even if your boss rejects our proposal, you can still continue to work with us if you're willing to help us, right?" Miao Meng raised her finger and shook it, finally getting back to the point. "Alright, if we keep going around in circles, you might not be in a hurry, but the person behind me is going to be. I'll just say it directly: have you ever heard of the name 'Ode to the End', or the Ode to the End Faction?"

"Is this some kind of cult?"