Chapter 60: Lingering Rain and Stolen Light

Though the rain had ceased days ago, for certain individuals, it continued its relentless descent, trapping them within its ceaseless downpour.

“Have you made up your mind?”

Liang Sicheng watched the young woman opposite her pick up the pen from the table, preparing to sign the agreement before them. Given the profound implications, Liang Sicheng, as the other signatory, hoped the young woman would consider her decision once more.

” ‘Decided? Yes, I decided long ago. From that moment, I was left with no other choice.’ “

With her head bowed, Ji Lanxin swiftly signed her name across the final pages. Ever since she woke up, she had been remarkably calm, so calm that it made others even more concerned about her state. She swiftly accepted everything she was told, accepting all current circumstances and arrangements like a piece of driftwood adrift on the current.

She had grown more taciturn than ever. When alone in the temporary quarters provided by the Magic Supervision Department , she often huddled in a corner, silently lost in thought for hours. While conversing with the doctors providing her psychological treatment, her speech and logic, while seemingly normal, invariably conveyed an impression of profound distraction.

Her silence was a shattered shell, painstakingly stitched back together.

“This should do it.” Ji Lanxin gathered the documents from the table, tapping them neatly into a stack. As she did so, the long black gloves covering her hands slipped slightly. She quickly tugged the dark fabric lower, endeavoring to conceal every inch of her exposed arm.

Ji Lanxin’s condition upon arrival at the hospital had been dire. Having forcefully maintained a prolonged link with Liu Tianze and bearing witness to his consumption, she had plummeted into a perilous state of mental and physical collapse. Fortunately, String Moon’s timely arrival, coupled with the presence of a magical girl in Jingping City renowned for her mental healing abilities, whose magical attire (TL Note: A magical weapon or artifact unique to each magical girl, often tied to their powers.) helped stabilize Ji Lanxin’s mind, averted the worst.

Nevertheless, this tragedy left an indelible scar on Ji Lanxin: her arms, grotesquely corrupted and eroded by Liu Tianze’s magic. Though treatment restored sensation and normal function, the skin below her elbows had taken on a ghastly, bloodless pallor, a condition that defied conventional treatment. Hence, Ji Lanxin now constantly wore these long gloves.

Regarding the proper arrangements for her and Wen Qiusheng, their respective solutions differed slightly. Ji Lanxin’s mother, after a psychological evaluation, was deemed unfit to continue as Ji Lanxin’s guardian in her current mental state. Ji Lanxin herself harbored little expectation of returning home; perhaps she understood that for the mother and daughter as they were, maintaining distance might be necessary for both to regain calm and reason, thereby avoiding further mutual harm.

The agreement Ji Lanxin had just signed charted the course of her future. Bearing the incurable Corrupted Entity (TL Note: A parasitic entity that corrupts the host’s body and/or mind, granting them unique abilities while gradually consuming them.) ability, she had become a rare and invaluable research sample. Unable to return to a normal life like ordinary people, she reached an agreement with the Magic Supervision Department. She would continue her studies and life under their arrangements, and in return, she would provide her body for certain experimental procedures to assist the Magic Supervision Department in finding a way to completely cleanse her of the Corrupted Entity ability.

During her few days residing there, she had seen Wen Qiusheng once. She wondered what he had endured in those brief days; he seemed to have lost a bit of weight, and his hair, long neglected since he ran away from home, had been cut. He looked considerably more spirited.

He had ultimately decided to return to his family, a path also fraught with hardship. He would be required to suspend his studies for a period, remaining under the Magic Supervision Department’s vigilant observation to ensure his ability to control his powers. Furthermore, wherever he might be in the future, he would be required to report frequently to the local Magic Supervision Department, and his personal and family life would be under semi-surveillance.

Even so, Ji Lanxin was happy for Wen Qiusheng’s decision, understanding that no truly insurmountable conflicts existed between him and his family. They merely lacked effective communication and understanding. He still had a home, and family members who could accept and support him.

During this time, she and Wen Qiusheng had also visited Liu Tianze once. Their familiar friend was now merely a flickering frequency on a cold instrument, proving that he was “alive” in some sense. The Magic Supervision Department promised to do its utmost to save him, but the responsible doctors had stated that his chances of regaining consciousness were minuscule.

His death had cast a wider net, implicating not only his former family and his true family, but also the others from the notebook she had glimpsed within his memories. She had only heard fragments of the aftermath of these events, and she was grateful to know only the tip of the iceberg.

If the pursuit of truth meant inflicting harm upon oneself, upon those dearest, and even upon countless others beyond imagination, ushering in greater misfortune, then was such an endeavor truly worth advocating and upholding? The one who had pursued it had fallen silent, leaving Ji Lanxin to bear the reverberations of the incident in his stead.

She had tried to use her ability on him, only to be met with emptiness. There was no gut-wrenching pain, no bewilderment, no self-pity, no hatred—nothing at all. His interior was utterly void. On this point alone, she had lied to Wen Qiusheng, telling him that Liu Tianze still had a faint response. She felt he needed that false hope.

Even without employing her ability, she discerned that Wen Qiusheng harbored the belief that he had caused Liu Tianze’s demise. Both of them, linked to him at the time, knew clearly that Wen Qiusheng’s inquiry into the nature of becoming a Corrupted Entity had instantly assailed Liu Tianze’s mind, as if triggering some malevolent trap. That was one of the reasons Liu Tianze became as he was now.

But this was clearly not his fault. No matter who found him, that question was an unavoidable key. Liu Tianze also realized this; he sensed that the secret hidden in his heart might cost him his life, yet he still wanted to tell them the answer.

He failed, and ultimately no one heard any useful clues.

Yet his life-risking endeavor had not been entirely in vain.

From that day on, Ji Lanxin often dreamed about it. She returned countless times to the moment she witnessed Liu Tianze’s “death.” And in the process, moving from grief to evasion, from near numbness to acceptance, she discovered that in his final moments, Liu Tianze had silently mouthed a few words to her.

That was his final message.

That was part of the truth.

As for this discovery, she had not told anyone yet.

It was an entirely natural occurrence for victims of the same tragedy to harbor divergent feelings.

” ‘Hoo—’ Ji Lanxin handed the accumulated documents, and with them, her future, over to Liang Sicheng and the Magic Supervision Department. Having completed this momentous task, she exhaled a profound sigh of relief, as if a monumental weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her gaze then drifted towards the window, where a vast, cloudless sky greeted her, bright with the promise of a clear day.

****

Also gazing at the selfsame sun was Polaris, presently within the confines of the Magic Supervision Department. Faced with a probing question from a colleague, she found herself at a loss for a response.

The magical girl who, in this city, had once met any formidable foe with her shield raised in direct confrontation, had, at some indeterminate point, grown accustomed to averting her gaze.

” ‘So, you’re tacitly agreeing, Polaris?’ ” Zhuohua, who was with her on the rooftop, wasn’t surprised by Polaris’s reaction, though she was somewhat disappointed. Silence, after all, did not guarantee the concealment of truth, a fact Polaris undoubtedly understood.

” ‘Your magical attire wasn’t ‘polluted’ or ‘destroyed,’ it was ‘taken.’ “

” ‘I believe the shield Black Mirror used, which she christened ‘Beichen,’ must be your original ‘Xiguang,’ wouldn’t you say?’ “

Zhuohua speculated with an air of certainty, her gaze fixed on Polaris, awaiting a reaction.

With matters having undeniably reached this point, the red-haired girl offered a slight nod. The moment she had seen Zhuohua’s team dispatched to Black Mirror’s location, she had already surmised that events might unfold in precisely this manner.

Her shoulders remained immobile, her breathing as steady and serene as ever. Only the faint, slow grinding of the brick beneath her shoe subtly betrayed the turmoil within her.

Perhaps it wasn’t that she didn’t wish to speak, but rather that she found herself utterly bereft of words.

” ‘So, you saw it?’ ”

” ‘Yes, of course. Though, aside from its similar dimensions, it bore no resemblance to its original form, it had to be Xiguang. Any magical girl who has witnessed your combat prowess would undoubtedly recognize it.’ ”

” ‘Besides, Black Mirror herself refers to her method as ‘plunder,’ and she named that shield ‘Beichen.’ Does that not signify an absolute lack of any desire for concealment?’ ”

Beichen, Polaris—the connection was undeniable. When Black Mirror wielded it, the shield exuded both raw aggression and profound symbolic meaning: she had not merely seized the power that embodied Magical Girl Polaris’s conviction, but had also fundamentally reshaped and utterly dominated it.

” ‘I thought her ability to freely traverse mirrors was formidable enough; I never anticipated she also possessed the power to seize magical attire. Consequently, her threat level demands a complete re-evaluation. Truly, not a single one of these three plague-level Corrupted Entities within the city is to be underestimated.’ ”

“…”

” ‘Alright, Polaris, I’m not here to interrogate you. Ease up a little; I’m merely feeling a touch sentimental.’ ”

The stifling heat of mid-July enveloped them, the sun’s glare blinding.

” ‘Though we often found ourselves at odds, and I consistently viewed you as a rival, I must concede that whenever you appeared in battle, the situation invariably took a turn for the better. With you present, others were seldom harmed.’ ”

” ‘It wasn’t just my belief; others, too, were convinced that the safest place in the world was right by your side.’ ”

” ‘Thus, I never once imagined that I would one day witness Xiguang standing in opposition to me, shielding a Corrupted Entity, deflecting my attacks with absolute impunity.’ ”

” ‘…Are you hurt?’ ”

” ‘I’m unharmed. Only the others in the team were a little startled. Black Mirror showed no interest in me; she swiftly made her escape amidst the confusion wrought by the counter-attack.’ ”

While Polaris’s attention was elsewhere, Zhuohua reached out and playfully ruffled Polaris’s head. From the moment they had met, Polaris had always possessed a remarkably amiable disposition, and it was a universally acknowledged truth that only one action could reliably provoke her ire: treating her like a child by patting her head.

When underage females became magical girls, their physical appearance typically transformed to reflect a body of a similar age. Adult females, conversely, would have their visage and physique permanently fixed around seventeen or eighteen years old. Consequently, Polaris’s situation, where her body appeared to have only developed to an elementary school age, was extraordinarily rare. Upon first becoming a magical girl, she was indeed frequently mistaken by many for a young girl who hadn’t even begun middle school.

As for her true age, most magical girls now recognized Polaris as an adult, yet her precise age, appearance, and identity remained a secret known only to a mere handful within the entirety of the Magic Supervision Department.

” ‘Honestly, give me some reaction, our little bread roll. Ugh, the old you was far more entertaining. If you continue to wallow in such despondency, even I, the current number one, find it rather dull.’ ”

” ‘Gloomy, huh…’ Polaris intended to rest her arm upon the rooftop railing, but alas, her current stature made even standing on tiptoes a stretch. Instead, she turned, leaning her back against it. ‘I suppose I still haven’t fully prepared myself, for resuming my role as a magical girl, and for taking on the mantle of a team captain.’ ”

” ‘Mhm, your personality isn’t exactly suited for a team captain, but what does that matter? Didn’t people often say the same about me? Yet, as long as I deliver results, those doubts naturally dissipate.’ ”

” ‘In the past, we might have relied on passion, conviction, and ideals as our pillars. But after witnessing so many disheartening events in recent years, many people’s perspectives have shifted. It’s no longer uncommon for individuals to treat being a magical girl as a mere job, and I see no inherent flaw in that.’ ”

” ‘However… this is merely my personal opinion, Polaris, but you truly shouldn’t force yourself to imitate Moshue’s personality. It simply doesn’t suit you.’ ”

Polaris blinked, then a wry smile touched her lips.

” ‘You noticed?’ ”

” ‘It would be a problem if I didn’t, wouldn’t it? Moshue has a softer personality, which actually makes her an excellent adhesive in your bizarre Rainbow Team, and quite suitable as a captain. But that doesn’t mean you have to become her, Polaris. Leadership and cohesion are distinct. You don’t need to become someone else… though, the prerequisite is that you first need to reclaim yourself.’ ”

” ‘…Hm, thank you, Zhuohua.’ ”

Zhuohua responded by once again reaching out and playfully ruffling the short girl’s head beside her. This time, Polaris finally pouted and took half a step back.

” ‘Don’t misunderstand me! I just don’t want to see my former rival looking like such a pathetic, delicate little wife. Don’t worry, if you really can’t do it, I’ll defeat Black Mirror, get your magical attire back, and become the new hero in the process. While I’m not interested in the title, the year-end bonuses and allowances are quite real, you know.’ ”

Zhuohua waved a hand at Polaris and began walking towards the stairs. After a few steps, she seemed to remember something, turning her face halfway back.

” ‘Oh, I almost forgot. I ran into Moshue by chance recently. Her daughter is quite cute, and her first birthday should be coming up soon. Want to go see her together?’ “