Chapter 50: There’s a Guess

In order to keep the movements of this training exercise as secret as possible, the Special Investigation Bureau rented several buses under the name of a shell company it controlled. Even the drivers were bureau personnel.

This was also why everyone felt free to speak once they were on the bus.

Ke Xuan liked sitting by the window, so she could observe the scenery outside whenever she got bored, noticing even the slightest changes.

After everyone had taken their seats, Agent Guan once again counted heads. Once she confirmed the number was correct, she gave the driver a thumbs-up. The driver immediately understood and slowly started reversing the vehicle from its current parking spot.

Agent Guan then sat near Ke Xuan, since this was the rearmost row that had seats available.

Ke Xuan’s gaze toward Agent Guan was tinged with curiosity.

Once seated, Agent Guan immediately returned to working on her tablet. As the liaison for all these magical girls—or, in practical terms, their manager—she also had to handle tasks similar to those of a talent agent, such as scheduling for everyone.

Ke Xuan thought briefly about some works where magical girls were also idols, performing singing and dancing on stage, though basketball probably wasn’t part of it. Considering that, Agent Guan’s schedule must be extremely busy—especially since she also served as homeroom teacher at Crescent Moon Academy. Even if she didn’t need to go to the office daily, she still had to show up for classes.

While Ke Xuan pondered these things, Agent Guan suddenly spoke: “What, you don’t welcome me?”

There was no one else nearby, so Ke Xuan immediately understood that this was directed at her. She hurriedly denied it: “No, no, of course I welcome you. I just didn’t expect…”

“Didn’t expect what? Were you hoping someone else would sit next to you?”

As she spoke, Agent Guan lifted her head and scanned the passengers, finally locking onto a glimpse of blue hair peeking over a seatback.

Ke Xuan couldn’t see what Agent Guan was looking at from her position.

At this point, she understood exactly whom Agent Guan was referring to, since the agent was one of the few who knew her real past.

Still, Ke Xuan felt that Agent Guan was slightly mistaken—she was merely curious about that person. At her age, having special feelings toward someone wasn’t unusual, but…

“It’s nothing,” she said, denying the guess outright. However, this didn’t matter much—Ke Xuan already had her own judgment regarding Agent Guan, so she continued talking.

“Let me guess—”

“Ah! No—”

Seeing that Agent Guan seemed about to say a name, Ke Xuan panicked. If anyone else heard it, even if they didn’t believe her, it could have unpredictable consequences later. She even considered covering the agent’s mouth, but as soon as she moved, her seatbelt tightened automatically, restricting her movement completely.

Then Agent Guan laughed: “Hahaha, why so flustered? I wouldn’t break confidentiality rules.”

This left Ke Xuan stunned. In the brief moment before, she had been wishing she could just disappear. Fortunately, it was only a joke.

“What the heck…”

Snapping out of it, Ke Xuan felt her cheeks burning—definitely not a normal look.

“But there is something to remind you: that person’s past isn’t ordinary. Keep an eye out.”

With that, Agent Guan put away her tablet and got up, leaving Ke Xuan feeling that the agent had merely come over to tease her.

Am I really that easy to mess with? Ke Xuan thought, somewhat indignant.

Taking a deep breath, Ke Xuan called out to Agent Guan: “Um, I noticed that Senior Gu and her partner were on the training list. Why haven’t I seen them?”

“Oh, them? They were originally supposed to leave today too, but they ran into some strange cases while returning from Chifeng City. They stayed there to handle those missions. The bureau sent another vehicle to pick them up.”

Hearing a serious question, Agent Guan sat back down, seemingly ready to explain.

“What kind of strange cases?”

As magical girls officially serve as special agents under the bureau, Ke Xuan had the right to know about missions. Though she was still a newcomer mainly focused on combat, her investigative involvement would increase with experience.

So Agent Guan didn’t hesitate to share details—after all, the more information one has, the more precise and safer their actions can be.

The agent seemed lost in thought for a few seconds before answering.

Ke Xuan kept her eyes on her, noticing subtle changes in her expression—anyone could tell she had thought of something concerning.

“What happened?” Ke Xuan wondered, completely clueless.

“Some animals underwent abnormal transformations and attacked people. But these were only beta-level threats at most. Their task was to locate the source of the transformations.”

“Did they find it?”

“Unfortunately, no. They searched several small towns but couldn’t find any potential abnormal points or other clues. For now, the bureau can only assume the incidents were caused by wandering anomalies.”

Agent Guan described the cases in a calm tone, as if it were no big deal. Over years of practice, the bureau had learned one fact: ordinary living creatures exposed to high concentrations of magic over long periods are very likely to become anomalous—humans included.

Anomalies rely on magic to exist, so whenever a high-level anomaly appears, the bureau must evacuate nearby civilians. If uncontrolled magical energy spreads, the consequences are severe.

Wandering anomalies behave similarly. If an anomaly stays in one place too long, it’s likely to be observed, prompting magical girls to intervene. To survive, intelligent anomalies move periodically. Many cases the bureau recorded were simply due to unlucky encounters with wandering anomalies.

Even though the bureau expanded its branch offices and increased the number of magical girls nationwide, it’s still impossible to cover everything completely.

Ke Xuan, however, focused on the small towns mentioned.

“Agent Guan, do you have a map showing where these incidents occurred?”

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

Agent Guan tapped a few times on her tablet and brought up a satellite map. At first glance, Ke Xuan immediately understood. Though there were fewer marked points than the map Prisi showed earlier, the locations corresponded.

To determine whether the same anomaly caused them, they’d check the frequency and signature of residual magic—a task the bureau handled expertly, though Ke Xuan didn’t understand the details.

“It’s not a huge problem, but I have a hypothesis: the anomalies that appeared here are now moving toward Muzu City.”

Agent Guan looked at Ke Xuan, puzzled, as if she couldn’t follow.

“Just like this, and then connect these points…”

Ke Xuan zoomed the map and linked the dots.

The area around Chifeng City is mainly hilly and mountainous, so anomalies could move quietly. According to reports, the transformed animals appeared near the edges of these mountainous regions.

Agent Guan furrowed her brows at Ke Xuan’s actions, then smiled softly: “Heh, I see. You really notice things—this aspect, you’re better than Prisi.”

“Ah?”

Ke Xuan hadn’t even mentioned Prisi, so she was caught off guard.

“Because what Prisi knows, I actually told her myself. But she hasn’t figured it out yet.”

“I see…”

So Prisi’s understanding came from outside assistance. The bureau had indeed noticed the anomaly and implemented measures, though whether Ke Xuan was included in the plan remained uncertain.

“So, what about you? What’s your idea?”

“Me?” Ke Xuan paused, then glanced out the window at the trees flying past. After a moment, she finally spoke her guess slowly: “Has the Corpse Mother appeared again?”

Agent Guan neither nodded nor denied it, only looking grave, then decisively got up, leaving Ke Xuan alone with her back.

Looks like I guessed right…

Ke Xuan didn’t know whether that was good news or bad. If it really was the Corpse Mother, it was going to be a huge problem.