‘Do you know yourself?’
Yet, Silvia felt ‘alien’ even to himself.
His silent reply, within the insulating fluid, dissolved into soundless bubbles.
The brown-haired woman stared through the observation window at the pale face, her pen scratching softly across the record sheet.
What she wrote, Silvia had no way of knowing.
He only saw her clip the pen to her chest before turning away.
The door locked shut, the emergency light on the ceiling extinguished, and the cell once again plunged into darkness.
Silvia’s eyelashes trembled.
Mechanical tentacles continued to drain his magic, a dull ache radiating from the wound on his lower back with every extraction.
Even blinking tugged at the chains, making them clink.
“My life is utterly ruined…”
Silvia whispered in his heart, his voice distorted into broken sobs by the breathing tube.
Yet, he didn’t even know how to defend himself.
Was he to argue against the deception of his gender?
But would anyone truly be willing to believe or accept him?
****
Just then, a faint ‘hiss’ emanated from the air vents at the top of the magical sealing chamber.
A light green mist, carrying a faint, elusive scent of bitter almonds, surged into his mask through the breathing tube.
Before he could react, the anesthetic gas had already spread throughout his body via his respiratory tract, causing tiny ripples to appear in the insulating fluid.
Immediately after, Silvia’s pupils gradually lost focus. He had no idea what judgment awaited him.
In the final moments before losing consciousness completely, Silvia caught sight of several faint glows flashing outside the observation window.
These were the real-time monitors of the magical sealing chamber.
A red scanning beam swept across his progressively relaxing face, as if confirming the success of his imprisonment.
After a while, he lost all sensation, leaving only the rhythmic hum of the magical sealing chamber echoing through the empty cell.
****
Dahlia City, courtyard.
First-floor hall.
Lina leaned against one side of the sofa, removing the yuri novel from her face.
She had fallen asleep while reading, and the wall clock ticked audibly.
It was almost two in the morning.
“Strange… It’s been two days, why hasn’t she returned yet?”
Lina frowned. She hadn’t had blood in a long time, and she couldn’t stand it much longer.
“If you don’t come back soon… Heh~”
She licked her lips, her gaze sweeping over the falling snow outside the window.
‘Could something have happened to Silvia?’ she wondered.
‘Never mind.’
If Silvia still wasn’t back by morning, she would have to go out and search for a blood source.
‘Hmm, I should inquire about him if I get the chance~ I wouldn’t want to lose such a sweet ‘blood bag’.’
A moment later, Lina rose and stretched, her bare feet cool against the cold marble floor.
Her gaze drifted towards the kitchen, a place she had yet to explore.
****
With a gentle push of her fingertips, the sandalwood cabinet slowly opened, and a recipe book with curled edges slipped out.
The yellowed pages were filled with handwriting:
‘Qiye loves spicy food, the newly developed volcanic stone roasted wings need more chili peppers.’
‘Weizhan prefers sweet tastes, caramel pudding needs two minutes less cooking time than the recipe says…’
‘Xincheng enjoys light flavors…’
Lina’s gaze fell upon the neat notes, the pages also stained with faint oil smudges.
Was there a sticky note tucked inside the recipe book?
On it, a crooked smiley face was drawn, with annotations beside it detailing modifications for failed experimental dishes.
Lina leaned against the kitchen counter, the memory of the figure who always teased her as a ‘demon loli’ now overlapping with the delicate strokes in the recipe book.
In the group photo tucked under a fridge magnet, Silvia wore an apron, holding a spatula.
Qiye held up a chicken wing, smiling to reveal her fangs, Weizhan licked cream from the corner of her lips, and Xincheng, cradling a bowl of light mushroom soup, had crescent-shaped eyes.
It turned out that those meticulously prepared delicacies had, over countless nights spent together, quietly woven a warm web.
“He’s quite the caring fellow…”
A rare curve graced Lina’s lips as she placed the recipe book back in its spot.
The light softened the glow in her blood-red eyes.
Perhaps, after shedding the aura of a magical girl, Silvia was merely an ordinary person who would research recipes for her juniors, harboring gentleness and consideration.
This discovery, surprisingly, sparked an unfamiliar sense of concern in Lina for her ‘master’ who had yet to return.
So, where exactly had this guy gone?
****
Concurrently, in Plum Blossom City, amidst a heavy snowfall, a dimly lit conference hall buzzed with an atmosphere far more chilling than the blizzard outside.
On the rectangular conference table lay designation plates for a multitude of Transcendent-Grade Magical Girls, each emitting a cold sheen.
At the head of the table, Vice President Kloxia rested her head on her hand, propped on the table.
Her emerald pupils reflected dozens of holographic projections suspended in the air.
She listened to the ‘arguments’ of the various female projections before her.
Only a few individuals were present in person; most had joined via remote projection for the resolution meeting on ‘how to deal with Zhennu Yibai’.
“He must be executed!”
At that moment, a brown-haired figure slammed the table, causing her projection to waver slightly.
“A man disguised as a magical girl, even rising to Transcendent-Grade… Seriously, how many years has this been going on? It’s an utter trampling of the Iriswing Kingdom’s laws! He must have knowingly broken the law, there’s no doubt about it. If he isn’t tried and executed, who will obey the gender prohibition in the future?”
“A hasty execution would only trigger a larger public outcry… While information is currently suppressed, it can’t withstand local word-of-mouth and will eventually spread.”
Across from her, a dark-blue figure retorted, the suspended wheel behind her flickering with her rising emotions.
“Zhennu Yibai has protected Dahlia City for nearly ten years. If the public’s faith collapses, the Witch Faction will undoubtedly intervene, and the southern defense line could be jeopardized. Therefore, life imprisonment is a compromise, until gender-transformation magic matures…”
“Achievements are achievements, and laws are laws…”
A third projection lit up, revealing a golden-haired figure in a latex suit, clutching her twin ponytails.
“In my opinion, banishment is best. Just ensure he never steps foot into the Iriswing Kingdom again. This would both preserve his life and appease public anger. The Iriswing Kingdom has no need for a deceiver.”
The clamor of arguments filled the entire conference hall.
Above, the conference room dome projected Zhennu Yibai’s dossier, alternating between images of his ten years of meritorious service protecting Dahlia City and his current disgraced imprisonment.
At this point, as a technician input commands, the dome lit up once more, and the display updated.
The first image was footage uploaded by Le Feiying, replaying her confrontation with Zhennu Yibai.
[Tendency to harm the public – used binding magic on at least two hundred people, attempted to destroy evidence, causing property damage to citizens…]
Text annotations flickered at the edge of the screen.
Seeing this, Kloxia’s brow furrowed slightly.
She waved her hand, and the scene switched to another set of images.
In the emergency footage retrieved from the cloud drive, a snow cocoon descended from the sky, its impact crushing the street and killing several unfortunate passersby.
There was Silvia’s grotesque expression as he choked a woman during an emotional outburst, contrasted with his later trembling, contradictory attempts to cast healing magic.
Afterward, the phones of the people he had frozen with magic were still recording unfinished footage.
“Madam Vice President, these images are sufficient to prove his dangerousness.”
The technician’s voice echoed from the corner.
“The public’s uploaded footage has been synchronously analyzed, greatly completing the chain of evidence.”
Kloxia remained silent, fast-forwarding through the footage.
She paused when it showed him being backstabbed by the Great Witch Ling Qinghe.
“Archive these materials… And, have we found out what exactly happened that night?”
Kloxia inquired, looking in a specific direction.
Immediately, a female technician approached with a tablet, presenting her with the information from that day: Mimic Beast Gigalizard Shark attack, Three Colors Squad, Little Witch Aisi Aimu, Zhennu Yibai, city reconstruction.
These pieces of information linked together.
In the holographic projection, the scene of Silvia being backstabbed by the Great Witch Ling Qinghe continued to play out in Kloxia’s eyes.
“Now, connect to the Dahlia City branch, transfer to the Three Colors Squad…”
She spoke, tapping her fingertips on the conference table.
At her words, the ‘contending’ figures fell silent, switching to mental communication.
The technician immediately complied, ‘shooting’ the call request thousands of miles away.
****
Deep in the night, in an apartment building in Dahlia City.
Qiye, wrapped in a bath towel, was curled up on the sofa, her hair still damp from her shower.
Throughout the day, she and her teammates had scoured Dahlia City, yet Silvia-senpai was nowhere to be found.
Their whereabouts remained unknown.
Qiye held her phone, looking at the 99+ messages she had sent to Silvia and the countless unanswered calls she had made.
A hollow feeling settled in her heart, regret and apprehension slowly surfacing.
“Silvia-senpai, what happened to you…?”
Qiye had a premonition that something ominous had occurred. Could her senpai really have been captured?
Had he fallen into the hands of the Witch Faction?
If so, she would be the one who propelled her senpai’s disappearance.
That night, she had activated the magic-blocking device.
After it was deactivated, she had intended to follow Ling Cheyin to the scene.
However, the little witch had refused, citing that her presence was unsuitable for retrieving the Dark Ring.
Before leaving, Ling Cheyin had even overpowered her, treating her like an ‘object’, confining her on the mountain and stripping her clothes.
When Ling Cheyin returned, Qiye eagerly asked, ‘How is Silvia-senpai doing?’
Yet, Ling Cheyin looked hesitant, even with a hint of ‘disdain’, and said:
“You’ll know eventually… Now isn’t the time. Go home and get some good sleep ♥”
She didn’t give Qiye a chance to press further, instead taking her down the mountain and making her drive herself home.
****
Just then, the communicator emitted a piercing buzz.
It displayed the emergency identifier of the Dahlia City Magical Girl Association branch.
“Huh~ The Vice President wants to speak personally?!”
Xincheng, having just emerged from the bathroom completely naked, covered her mouth in surprise.
“Mhm, hurry and put on some clothes, don’t be naked…”
“Oh, right.”
Weizhan also picked up her nightgown and put it on, asking as she dressed:
“Hey~ Do you think this means the association headquarters has found out senpai’s whereabouts?”
“I hope so…”
Qiye murmured.
****
A moment later, as the holographic cube lit up, Kloxia’s serene face appeared in the center of the living room.
Her conference table and nameplates were faintly visible in the background.
Kloxia’s gaze swept over the slightly flustered expressions of the Three Colors Squad.
“Hello, could you tell me in detail what happened on the day Zhennu Yibai disappeared?”
“Mhm…”
So, the three of them organized their thoughts, realizing they were giving a statement.
They began their narration from when they met Silvia on Chaoyang Mountain that morning.
Qiye’s account continued, describing their afternoon date with Silvia.
“After leaving the dumpling restaurant, I felt unwell, so I drove home first. Weizhan and Xincheng continued shopping with Silvia.”
At this point, Qiye looked at Weizhan and Xincheng, signaling that it was their turn.
Thereupon, Weizhan and Xincheng, blushing, recounted the tipsy games they played with Silvia at the pub during their shopping trip, kissing and kissing…
And senpai’s ‘punishment’ reward to them, foot-licking ♥… and Weizhan’s ‘♥ proposal ♥’ mini-game.
Hearing this, Qiye puffed out her cheeks and let out a soft huff.
‘Oh, they actually did all that with senpai while I wasn’t there…’
****
“At that time, an anomaly occurred… A full five Mimic Beast Goshawks appeared.”
Weizhan’s voice involuntarily rose.
“Silvia-senpai told us to evacuate the public, and he ascended alone to face them. But not long after…”
Her voice trailed off.
Xincheng continued the story:
“We lost our connection to magic. I suspect the magic-blocking device was activated. It was a conspiracy targeting Silvia-senpai.”
“By the time the device deactivated, Silvia-senpai was already gone.”
****
Hearing this, Kloxia’s pupils constricted slightly. She brought up the Dahlia City map, marking the location of Acacia Plaza.
Then, simulating the ten-mile radius magic-blocking barrier that had covered the area at the time, combined with Lingguang Yixian’s position, she calculated several possible locations for the magic-blocking devices.
“I understand.”
Kloxia withdrew her gaze.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
Before ending the call, she suddenly added:
“Do not leave Dahlia City for the time being; there may be further questioning… Rest assured, Zhennu Yibai will be fine.”
As the holographic display vanished, the three of them exchanged glances, unable to glean any useful information from the Vice President.
****
At this moment, the Magical Girl Association’s Network Technology Department was operating at high speed.
Countless firewalls were erected, blocking all videos and information concerning Zhennu Yibai.
On this silent, snowy night, the truth about Zhennu Yibai had yet to be further exposed.