Chapter 3: The Price of a Hero

Qin Lan nodded, her gaze sweeping over the deserted overpass.

“Were there any witnesses?”

“Report, no. This is the old district; hardly anyone passes through at this hour.”

Qin Lan’s brows furrowed slightly.

“Are there any dispatch records in the headquarters system?”

“No, Team Leader Qin. None of the officially registered magical girls in Linhai City have any attendance records for tonight.”

This was peculiar.

Qin Lan walked to the railing of the overpass, where a massive gap had been violently torn open, concrete shards scattered across the ground.

She knelt, her gloved fingers delicately picking up a pinch of dust.

“Star power (TL Note: A magical energy source) reactions have been detected at the scene,” another team member responsible for the survey reported.

“Are you certain?” Qin Lan’s expression grew serious.

“Yes, although it’s very faint, it definitely belongs to a magical girl’s star power.”

Qin Lan rose to her feet, two possibilities flashing through her mind.

First, a registered magical girl had acted privately in violation of regulations and failed to report it.

Second, a new magical girl, not yet registered with the GSA, had appeared in Linhai City.

Either scenario spelled trouble.

“Collect all residual star power samples,” Qin Lan commanded.

“Bring them back to headquarters for analysis, and immediately run a database identity match. I want to know who was operating here tonight.”

“Yes!”

****

The old residential building’s hallway light had been broken for half a month, yet no one had bothered to fix it.

Gu Qing navigated the darkness, carrying the girl up to the fifth floor.

Opening the door, the scent of alcohol assailed him.

The living room was small, cluttered with various items piled everywhere.

He kicked aside the empty wine bottles blocking his path, creating a clattering noise.

The girl in his arms let out a soft hum, seemingly disturbed by the noise.

Gu Qing glanced down; her eyes remained tightly shut.

Without further thought, he walked directly to the sofa, sweeping yesterday’s unwashed T-shirt and magazines onto the floor, allowing the girl to lie down on her side.

Having done all this, he stood rooted, gazing at the girl on the sofa with a hint of bewilderment.

‘What foolishness am I engaging in?’

He was no longer a magical girl; he had no responsibility to save anyone.

The brief skirmish tonight had already left him tormented by phantom pains, pushing him to the brink.

Annoyed, Gu Qing ran a hand through his hair before turning and entering his bedroom.

A moment later, he emerged with a blanket and draped it over the girl’s slender form.

The girl’s spirit was merely over-exhausted by the Void Abyss (TL Note: A dimension of monstrous creatures), and a good night’s sleep should see her recover; there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Gu Qing didn’t spare another glance for the girl, turning instead to retrieve a bottle of whiskey from the refrigerator.

Too lazy to even bother with a glass, he simply took a large swig directly from the bottle.

The fiery liquid burned his throat, finally calming his restless heart somewhat.

He simply wished to numb himself with alcohol, to swiftly forget everything that had transpired tonight.

****

The next morning.

Gu Qing was jolted awake by the sound of the door opening.

His head, still hazy from a hangover, struggled to lift him from the floor.

He couldn’t recall how much he had drunk last night, eventually passing out against the wall.

A girl with a single ponytail burst in like a whirlwind, her dark hair gleaming like satin in the morning light.

It was his daughter, Gu Qianqian.

Gu Qianqian’s eyes immediately landed on the girl on the sofa, her wine-red pupils widening in an instant.

The all-too-familiar school uniform ignited an indescribable fury and sense of betrayal within her.

“Gu Qing!”

“How can you do this to Mom?!”

In her heart, her father could be decadent, utterly drunk, a complete waste, but the one thing he absolutely could not do was betray her mother.

Gu Qing, already irritable from his hangover and still harboring resentment towards his daughter, felt a surge of anger at her barrage of questions.

He swayed as he rose, rubbing his throbbing temples.

“Gu Qianqian, you should mind your own business first,” his voice rasped.

“Did you rush back first thing in the morning just to condemn me?”

“I…” Gu Qianqian’s chest heaved with indignation.

She pointed at the girl on the sofa.

“And you think you’re in the right? Look at who you brought home! She’s even from our school! Have you no shame?!”

“Shame?” Gu Qing suddenly chuckled, closing in on Gu Qianqian.

“First, tell me about the magical girl ‘Blaze Rose’!”

Gu Qianqian’s face filled with astonishment.

‘He… how could he know?’

“Blaze Rose” was the codename she had registered with the GSA; she hadn’t told anyone about it.

Seeing his daughter’s panicked expression, Gu Qing’s anger intensified.

‘This foolish girl.’

‘Did she truly believe that her father wouldn’t notice the residual energy left after she secretly snuck out to fight Void Beasts (TL Note: Monstrous creatures from the Void Abyss) these past few nights?’

‘To think that after only a week, she had already registered as an official magical girl!’

Gu Qianqian’s stubbornness surged.

“That’s right, I am ‘Blaze Rose’, and I will become a hero just like Mom!”

She glared at Gu Qing, the disdain in her eyes undisguised.

“Not like you, a good-for-nothing who only knows how to drink all day and escape reality!”

The shackles in Gu Qing’s heart shattered, and years of accumulated pain and fear gushed forth.

The sea of fire seventeen years ago, his wife’s body gradually losing warmth in his arms, and the incessant roar of the S-rank Void Beast (TL Note: Monstrous creatures from the Void Abyss) “Heavenly Fire.”

These nightmares, suppressed for so long, finally breached the dam he had built within his heart.

“Heroes?”

Gu Qing’s eyes turned bloodshot as he roared at Gu Qianqian.

“Do you know what fate awaits heroes?!”

He gripped his daughter’s slender shoulders tightly, causing her to gasp in pain.

“It’s to die without even a complete corpse!”

The despair in her father’s voice was something Gu Qianqian had never witnessed.

Her eyes reddened; she wanted to retort but couldn’t utter a single word.

Just as tears threatened to fall, she stubbornly forced them back.

Gu Qianqian wrenched free from Gu Qing’s grip, pulled the house keys from her pocket, and forcefully threw them to the ground.

“I can’t stay in this house anymore,” her voice choked with tears.

“Starting today, I’m moving into the dorms, and I’m never coming back!”

With that, she turned without a backward glance and slammed the door shut.

The world instantly fell silent.

Gu Qing, as if all his strength had been drained, collapsed weakly to the floor.

He clutched his head, his body trembling uncontrollably.

‘He had wanted to protect his daughter, yet he had pushed her further away in the most hurtful manner possible.’

Just then, a clear, cool female voice resonated.

“It’s all my fault.”

The girl was awake.

She sat quietly on the sofa, the blanket that had covered her now neatly folded and placed beside her.

She had heard every word of the father and daughter’s argument.

She stood and walked towards Gu Qing.

He was unshaven, reeked of alcohol, and his eyes held an unshakeable weariness.

It was difficult to reconcile the image of this dilapidated man with the ruthless individual who, just last night, had defeated a Void Beast (TL Note: Monstrous creatures from the Void Abyss) with a mortal body.

“I apologize; all of this started because of me,” her voice was clear and cool.

“The secret that your daughter, Gu Qianqian, is the magical girl Blaze Rose, I will not reveal.”