Get off work and become a magical girl

Chapter 365 Sacrificing the Son
As the saying goes, one wrong step leads to another. For Mint, when the arrowroot in the maze found her, many things had already gradually spiraled out of control.

This loss of control ultimately led her to choose to "confront" her two teammates in the way she is doing now, and then, in an unexpected way, things went wrong.

Looking at the two people in front of her who were already showing signs of wariness, Mint stared blankly, as if she was thinking about something. After a moment, she gradually lowered her hand from rubbing her hair, closed her eyes, and muttered to herself, "Well, there's still room for negotiation. It's not like we've reached a dead end."

"You two, feel free to ask any more questions."

She took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm herself down: "I don't deny that if you really are unincorporated sacrificial children, true magical girls, then in your eyes I am the enemy. But before things really turn sour, you probably still have some questions for me, right?"

This strange, self-directed performance left Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan completely bewildered. After exchanging glances, they realized that neither of them understood what the mint was up to.

"Dragging out time?" Lin Xiaolu guessed.

"Is there a trap?" Bai Jingxuan also had her own thoughts.

They made no attempt to hide their relationship from Mint; after all, given how things had developed, there was no need for either side to conceal it anymore.

"Neither." So Mint gave a straightforward answer.

Not only that, she also took a block-shaped object out of her hoodie pocket, placed it on the coffee table, and gently pushed it directly in front of Lin Xiaolu.

This startled Lin Xiaolu so much that she almost instinctively grabbed the Heart Sprout and transformed, trying to defend against the possible attack. But she soon realized that the situation was not as she had thought.

Mint really just threw something at her.

Lin Xiaolu looked closely and finally saw what Mint had pushed over—it was actually a Heart Leaf shimmering with magical light. Judging from the magical fluctuations within it, this was Mint's own Heart Gem.

"...What does this mean?" Lin Xiaolu asked in confusion.

"To show my sincerity, I don't want to fight you. Rather, I hope we can have a proper talk."

Having regained her senses, Mint picked up her drink again and took a sip, her expression calm: "You can check it out. This is my Heart Gem, it's genuine. If I'm going to fight you later, you can just attack my gem and cripple me."

"What? What is this... Huh? You people from Black Dawn really are all a bit off their minds." Lin Xiaolu held the Heart Gem of Mint, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"If I didn't do this, you guys would probably call the sheriff, or even notify the other magical girls, right?"

Mint chuckled: "Little Snow over there, although you hid your movements very well, my ears are very sharp. I heard the sound of you pressing your phone, you know?"

Bai Jingxuan looked at her with an innocent expression.

"Stop it, don't do this stupid thing."

Mint rolled her eyes: "So, can we continue talking now? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Let the researchers arrest you; they can still get the so-called secrets out of you, right?" Lin Xiaolu held the Heart Gem of Mint, but still didn't agree immediately.

"Well, probably. They'll find out, but you definitely won't."

Mint remained calm, clearly having already considered what Lin Xiaolu was saying: "And they will also know that I met two other magical girls with remnant beast magic in the Emerald District today."

Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan were slightly out of breath.

"...I'll say it again, I have no idea I have any residual beast magic power. Don't try to pin strange accusations on me."

Lin Xiaolu's expression was unfriendly: "As for Bo Xue, her situation is special. Members of Black Ash Dawn like you have no right to drag her into this."

"I understand, I understand. Your captain is Cornflower, so she still has some influence in the country."

Mint, seemingly unfazed, said, "But are you sure you want things to escalate to the point where she has to do favors for you? Let me say a few more words; perhaps there's a better way? After all, look, my gem is still in your hands, right?"

Lin Xiaolu remained silent.

After thinking for a while and exchanging glances with Bai Jingxuan again, she finally made a decision and looked at Bohe once more:
"My first question is, what is your purpose in coming to this city?"

"My own goal is to pass the exam and get my white card."

Without hesitation, Mint said, "As for the purpose of Black Dawn, all I know is that some of the beastmen who came with us this time are tasked with carrying out something during the fourth assessment."

"Don't you have any tasks?" Lin Xiaolu frowned.

“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I said ‘no,’” Mint shrugged. “But I can tell you the truth: Black Dawn is actually a very large organization. Just like a group of magical girls often have different purposes, we are the same.”

"Are you trying to say that although you are a member of the Black Dawn, you are not actually participating in any operations in the Kingdom this time, and are just a passerby who came to take the exam?" Lin Xiaolu looked unconvinced.

"If I were really involved in the mission, would I not even know who my teammates are? Would I mistake you two for each other?"

Mint looked annoyed: "I thought you guys were here on some kind of mission. I was actually hoping to get some melon seeds."

This answer left Lin Xiaolu and her companion speechless.

If Mint really knew more inside information, she seemed to have no reason to make such a basic mistake. Rather, the fact that she was in this standoff in the coffee shop was itself a sign of "unprofessionalism."

"...Then let's change the subject. What do you mean by saying that I have the magic of a crippled beast?" Fortunately, Lin Xiaolu quickly adjusted her mindset and continued to ask questions.

“It exists, so what could it mean?” Mint continued drinking her beverage: “Didn’t I say that in the eyes of a beast like me, the magical fluctuations of a crippled beast are like a light bulb, impossible to mistake?”

"But how come I didn't know that?"

"Then you're asking me? Isn't it because you're too useless?"

Mint smiled mockingly: "But that's true. From a sensory perspective, if Little Sister Bo Xue's residual beast magic is like a 100-watt household light bulb, then your residual beast magic is probably just a nearly burned-out match. Although it's stronger than an ordinary person, it's so weak that it should be the weakest among the sacrificial children."

"Huh? Who are you calling weak?"

Lin Xiaolu was immediately displeased, but quickly realized that she had no reason to compete in this matter: "What good is having more Broken Beast Magic? Less is better!"

"When the royal court comes to take people, they don't care how strong the residual beast magic is on your body; if you have it, you have it." Mint said ambiguously.

"So you're saying I really do possess the magic of the crippled beast?" Lin Xiaolu persisted, unwilling to give up.

“Yes, or rather, if you let Little Sister Bo Xue carefully sense it, the answer should also be ‘yes’,” Mint said with certainty.

Lin Xiaolu then looked at Bai Jingxuan.

Bai Jingxuan hesitated for a moment, glancing at Lin Xiaolu, then at Bohe, before finally moving closer to Lin Xiaolu and closing her eyes. After a long while, she slowly raised her eyelids:

"...I can't quite explain it either, it's just too vague."

"What does 'vague' mean?" Lin Xiaolu's lips twitched.

"...It seems so, but it's so faint it feels like an illusion," Bai Jingxuan said softly.

"Hahahaha!"

Mint burst out laughing: "As a sacrificial child, you're a complete loser!"

"So what are these sacrificial offspring and beast offspring you mentioned?"

Lin Xiaolu glared at her fiercely: "What reason do I have to be happy about my talent for being a bad guy?"

"Wrong, wrong, the priest doesn't have the talent to be a 'bad guy'."

Mint gave him a "you don't understand" look: "I should say that although the name isn't very nice, being a sacrificial child is actually a talent that is one in a hundred for humans."

"What do you mean?"

"The so-called 'sacrifice child' is actually the talent of 'being able to use the magic power of the remnant beast as their own magic power source without affecting their mind and body'."

Mint said proudly, "In other words, only the sacrificial child can wield the power of a beast while in human form."

"...How is this any different from so-called claw marks?" Lin Xiaolu frowned. "Don't they also maintain their human form after transforming?"

"They may look similar on the surface, but they are completely different in reality. Claw Mark simply uses the power of a remnant beast to replace the magical girl's magic source. In essence, there is only one kind of magic in the body, but it uses the magic of the remnant beast to simulate the power of a magical girl."

Mint shook her head: "Their abilities as magical girls are incomplete, and they haven't mastered much of the abilities of the Beasts. Their efficiency in using Beast magic is extremely low."

"What about the sacrificial child?"

"Just like magical girls, just as magical girls can obtain the power of seed, bud, leaf, flower in sequence through opening."

Mint put down her cup: "Sacrifice children can maintain their human form and, through food sacrifices, gradually improve from egg, caterpillar, pupa, molt... until they finally possess abilities completely equivalent to the entire life cycle of a remnant beast."

"Furthermore, if a girl becomes a priestess and has the opportunity to sign a contract to become a magical girl, what kind of path do you think she will take?"

She placed her hands on either side of the cup, revealing a rather refreshing smile: "The answer is, it will become something like us."

"Don't use the word 'we.' Even if I have this disgusting potential, I have never received any beastly magic."

Lin Xiaolu asked with displeasure, "What about the beast child? What's the difference between a beast child and a sacrificial child?"

This time, Mint did not answer immediately.

She looked at Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan with an eerily calm gaze, but Lin Xiaolu met her gaze with a rather defiant air. It wasn't until much later that Bohe spoke again.

"The essence of a beast child is also a sacrificial child. However, a beast child is a sacrificial child who has completed round after round of food sacrifices, transcending the selection process, and has been chosen as a sacrificial child."

She lowered her voice and said in a tone as if recalling something, "Mix hundreds of crippled beasts with a priest of the same rank and lock them in a cage. This cage will remain closed for the next month."

"A month later, the last few surviving beasts will become materials for the Ember Guards and even the Ember Servants to make Beast Organs."

"But what if the sacrificial child survives..."

"Then she will become a beast child."

(End of this chapter)