Get off work and become a magical girl

Chapter 367 Observation
None of the larks made a decision.

It wasn't that she couldn't make the decision on this matter, but rather that she felt it would be better to discuss such matters with the "allies" of the Magic Affairs Institute and the Research Institute, so as to avoid any friction in their cooperative relationship.

The information provided by Mint was undoubtedly valuable, and its request that the research institute not immediately take action to close the net was entirely acceptable.

Rather, even if she hadn't made this request, the people from the research institute and the magic affairs institute didn't intend to take immediate action.

After all, if we remove the Black Dawn's hidden agents now, who will cause trouble next? Are we just going to rely on those few claw marks that have yet to be found? If no one causes trouble, where is the Research Institute's credit? And how will the Demon Affairs Institute reclaim their jeweled scepter?
Previously, the enemy was in the shadows while we were in the open, so the research institute naturally had to do everything possible to uncover any potential spies. But with Mint's defection, the positions have reversed; the enemy is now in the open while we are in the shadows, allowing us to take the initiative and control the pace of the game.

A list identifying the Black Dawn beastmen is enough to greatly improve the stability of the upcoming security plan, and the research institute has gained a starting point to trace back the personnel of Black Dawn.

If the authenticity of this list and the reliability of the defection of Mint can be verified, then keeping the people on the list alive is far more valuable than arresting them immediately.

As for what will happen to Mint herself, that will depend on the results of the investigation.

If a subsequent investigation reveals that the other party committed heinous acts or harmed innocent people in their collusion with Black Dawn, the Demon Affairs Institute will likely show no leniency and send them directly to the Investigation Institute. At most, they might be given a relatively lenient sentence if they voluntarily surrender and redeem themselves.

But if what she said is true, and she hasn't really done anything wrong, then Larkspur and Emerald naturally wouldn't make things difficult for a child. Providing a guarantee to allow her to continue her magical girl activities; providing security for her family in the material world; or even giving her a reward are all promises that can be kept.

Of course, these are things to be considered after the assessment is over. At present, the research institute will not take any action against Mint.

She can and should continue with the certification process; in fact, if things go smoothly, her exam results could be retained. All she has to do is pretend nothing's happened, take the exam normally, and avoid alerting the other party.

It can be said that after Mint made contact with Lark, although many things changed in secret, on the surface, Mint just went out for a meal with her teammates and nothing happened.

Besides getting the Magic Mirror's contact information from the larkspur, she also got an autograph.

Cui Que didn't pursue the matter of the strange screaming on the phone. Although she inwardly wondered why she couldn't understand young people these days, she outwardly maintained the magnanimity of a senior. Instead of criticizing the person, she chose to praise them first, commending their spirit of "abandoning darkness for light."

So much so that when Mint asked her for an autograph, she thought about it and gave it to her.

However, for safety reasons, even when signing her name, she actively eliminated any residual magical fluctuations when transferring magic power through the magic mirror. Also, she signed with the name "Delphinus," not "Cornflower."

The former is to prevent special spells that can locate enemies simply by their names and magical fluctuations, while the latter is to prevent the name "Cornflower" from being misused.

As for how to verify the authenticity of the list and what adjustments to make to the plan with Emerald, those are things that don't need to be discussed with the children.

……

……

After a short day's rest, the second part of the practical assessment began as usual.

The Magic Armor Test does not require teams; candidates must enter the examination hall in batches according to their examination numbers. Therefore, those with later examination numbers, such as Lark, can arrive at the examination hall a little later without any problems.

But the larkspur arrived quite early.

Upon arriving at the examination hall, Celeste did not immediately join up with Foxtail Grass, Tu Dinggui, and the others. Instead, she pretended to be strolling around the Silver Corridor, blending into the crowd and secretly observing a few magical girls.

Arrowroot, Buddleja officinalis, Rhododendron simsii, and Lithops. These are the code names of the four beastmen participating in the assessment, besides Mint. Interestingly, including Mint, all five beastmen are ranked on the so-called "Big Thigh List".

To some extent, when Mint compiled this list, it was indeed completely unconcerned about appearances.

In addition, according to Mint, there may be some sacrificial children among the magical girls present, but the sacrificial children of Black Dawn change very quickly. After entering Black Dawn, the sacrificial children only have a short training period of one or two years. After that, they either survive the food sacrifice and become beast children, or they die prematurely for various reasons, so she does not recognize them all.

However, the larkspur doesn't need to search for those so-called sacrificial children.

High-risk missions like infiltrating the realm to cause trouble during assessments are not something Black Dawn would entrust to inexperienced priests. In the end, these few beastmen will likely be in charge, and the priests will only need to follow their lead and do minor things. Therefore, keeping a close eye on these beastmen is enough to follow the clues and get closer to the whole story.

These beast children, judging from their appearance alone, did not show any signs of possessing any remnant beast magic.

In this respect, they, like Mint and even Bai Jingxuan, appear to be just ordinary magical girls unless they use the magic of the crippled beasts. Unlike the people with claw marks, whose magical fluctuations from the crippled beasts are impossible to conceal once they use their magic.

It is probably precisely because of these qualities that Black Ember Dawn dared to send him as a spy to infiltrate the examination hall.

However, although they could conceal their identities through magical fluctuations, these beast-children's personalities, or rather their behavior, were indeed quite different from those of ordinary magical girls. Although they mingled among the many examinees, one could still sense their distinct aura upon prolonged observation.

Not to mention the Arrowroot, who stood out from the crowd, exuding confidence and acting as if he were the best in the world; or the Drunken Fish Grass, who was like a wolf among sheep, making other candidates give way even when sitting alone; even the seemingly less unusual Rhododendron and Snake Whip Chrysanthemum had a faint, invisible distance between them and the candidates next to them.

Specifically, although they were standing in the crowd, they seemed to have no desire to integrate into the group or communicate with them.

To be honest, this reminded Cuique of what Lin Xiaolu told her yesterday, about Bohe saying that Lin Xiaolu was also a "sacrifice child".

If everyone in the world can take this as a joke, then Lark is the only one who cannot laugh it off.

Because she remembered that last summer, during the attack on the Fangting City Welfare Home by the Black Ember Dawn, one of the Ember Soldiers who had escaped from the welfare home had said something similar.

Although the man was only talking to himself, Lark, who was not far away and was constantly approaching him, actually heard what he said—"two sacrificial children."

Lark did not tell a third person about this.

At that time, she didn't actually know what the "sacrifice child" meant to these madmen, and she always thought that the so-called sacrifice child was just a name similar to "deviant." However, she now knows that the so-called sacrifice child actually refers to people who are "naturally more compatible with the magic of the broken beasts."

Cui Que never considered that Lin Xiaolu was involved in this matter.

Rather, although she always remembered the phrase "two sacrificial children," and even considered whether it referred to Xiao Tian, ​​a subordinate of her Bureau of Extraordinary Strategies, she never imagined that the second "sacrificial child" would refer to Lin Xiaolu.

So, as her own daughter, is it really possible that Lin Xiaolu is a so-called "sacrifice for her son"?

Although she was reluctant to think about it too deeply, deep down, Lark knew that it was actually possible.

It is not surprising that her child, or rather her and Anya's child, possesses any extraordinary talent in the magical realm.

But she didn't tell Lin Xiaolu about it; rather, she chose to play dumb.

(End of this chapter)