Within the council chambers of the Magical Girl Association’s headquarters in Plum Blossom City. This particular deliberation, centering on the contentious issue of ‘how to deal with Zhennu Yibai’, had already stretched on for nearly two days.
The assembly of Transcendent-Grade Magical Girls present, hotly debating from either side of the grand table, had ultimately settled upon only three potential courses of action.
One proposal called for the execution of Zhennu Yibai.
The second suggested a life sentence, allowing for a chance at rehabilitation once gender-reassignment magic had fully matured.
The third option was banishment: exiling them to another nation, thereby ensuring Zhennu Yibai would never again set foot within the Iriswing Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Kloxia, occupying the main seat, rested her chin in her hand, idly twirling the hairpin nestled within her azure locks.
‘Continuing this endless debate will lead nowhere,’ she mused.
The cacophony of voices rose and fell around her: ‘We must make an example of them to uphold the dignity of the law!’ ‘Gender deception is unforgivable!’ ‘Wait until gender-reassignment magic matures!’
Her fingertips unconsciously tapped against the armrest of her opulent chair.
After a moment, Kloxia could no longer suppress her impatience, finally bringing up her communication interface to send a text message.
[Ah, perhaps we should activate the public referendum system? Let the entire populace decide. (Attached rules: The voting power of magical girls at different ranks will vary significantly, far exceeding that of ordinary citizens. For instance, a single High-Grade Magical Girl will cast ten votes, whereas a regular citizen only gets one.)]
No sooner had the message been sent than Kloxia’s private channel flashed with a new notification.
Upon checking, she was surprised to find a message from none other than the President herself!
The text was concise and to the point: ‘I sense the Oath Beast has awakened. Go check on her.’
Seeing this, Kloxia’s fingertips paused mid-air, yet she ultimately decided to reply with a touch of warmth and playful affection.
‘When will you return home? I miss you terribly… and there’s still no news in my belly~’
However, the President’s reply came swiftly: ‘I’ll definitely be back before the Lily Festival… Things are quite busy here in the Eastern World.’
A short while later, Kloxia rose and made her way down a corridor, leaving the still-arguing holographic projections to their ceaseless debate.
Before long, she arrived at the Oath Sanctuary, where a colossal altar stood prominently.
Upon it, a swollen, expectant flower bud pulsed with an imminent unfurling.
Its surface shimmered with a mother-of-pearl luminescence, while beneath its intricate patterns, faint starlight glimmered through.
With a soft, almost imperceptible hum, the petals unfurled in wave-like layers.
Revealed within was a vibrant young woman with multi-colored hair, dressed in floral garments. She rose from the bud, stretching languidly, and rubbed her mismatched, heterochromatic eyes.
Still hazy with lingering sleep, she murmured,
‘How long has this deity slumbered…’
Just then, Jialian noticed the azure-haired woman approaching from the corridor—it was none other than Vice-President Kloxia.
Upon seeing Kloxia, Jialian, the Oath Beast, waved a hand and winked playfully before pouncing to the altar’s edge, her multi-colored hair cascading like a waterfall.
‘Oh my, little Kloxia, it’s been so long! You’ve grown so much!’
Kloxia, in turn, spoke with utmost reverence.
‘Esteemed Lily Flower Goddess, you have been slumbering for twenty years…’
Hearing this, Jialian swayed her long sleeves.
‘Twenty years, you say? That’s not so bad. Tell me, how has the Iriswing Kingdom fared these past two decades?’
‘The situation is excellent. Under the secondary Oath Beasts you created, an ever-increasing number of individuals are signing contracts to become Magical Girls…’
Jialian listened as Kloxia reported on the rising numbers of Magical Girls and the data concerning new magical black technology research and development.
She nodded repeatedly, her jewel-encrusted sleeves swaying, seemingly pleased with the orderly state of affairs.
‘However…’
At this point, Kloxia paused, her voice trailing off.
‘However, what?’
Kloxia then proceeded to recount the recent affair involving Zhennu Yibai, also known as Silvia, to the Lily Flower Goddess.
‘Zhennu Yibai is, in fact, male, and stands accused of gender deception to serve as a Transcendent-Grade Magical Girl.’
She did not forget to add,
‘To think a man not only disguised himself as a woman but also ascended to the rank of Transcendent-Grade Magical Girl… This incident is bound to stir up immense public outcry.’
The Lily Flower Goddess, however, seemed lost in thought, as if on the verge of recalling something important, yet ultimately failing to grasp it.
She murmured the name ‘Silvia’ aloud, then suddenly let out a soft ‘Oh!’
‘I remember now… that little girl. Yes, I recall her… Hmm, this deity even praised her magical power level once.’
However,
Kloxia interjected, a note of confusion in her voice,
‘But isn’t he a man?’
The Lily Flower Goddess merely shook her head, stating, ‘Gender is but a superficial manifestation of magic… Her soul is, unequivocally, female.’
Jialian did not dwell further on the topic.
Instead, she pressed on, asking, ‘What is her current situation?’
Kloxia replied,
‘She is currently incarcerated, awaiting judgment… Whether it will be execution, indefinite imprisonment, or exile remains unknown.’
Jialian raised a hand to halt Kloxia, her heterochromatic eyes blazing with starlight. She conjured a celestial map from the empty air, countless points of light shimmering amidst the threads of fate.
‘Do not execute her, nor banish her… A tribulation awaits her in her destiny, and by my reckoning, it is fast approaching…’
After a moment of contemplation,
the Lily Flower Goddess imparted one final piece of advice to Kloxia.
‘Should you encounter any difficulties, simply assign her to atone for her misdeeds and earn merit through service…’
Having spoken,
the Lily Flower Goddess plucked a few more stamens. With a gentle scattering motion, she conjured several adorable flower sprites into existence.
They materialized from a burst of golden light, fluttering their wings as they spiraled through the Sanctuary.
These were the secondary Oath Beasts, which she created in batches upon each awakening to replenish their numbers and expend her energy.
‘Very well, this deity grows weary once more.’
Jialian reclined back into the flower bud, its petals slowly beginning to close, her voice growing faint and indistinct.
‘This child… possessed immense magical power at birth~ After all, she is the daughter of those two…’
Immediately after,
the Lily Flower Goddess drifted back into slumber, the flower bud once again enveloping her. When she would next awaken, however, remained a mystery.
As the last wisp of starlight receded into the bud, the entire Sanctuary fell into profound silence.
****
The very fount of magic within the Iriswing Kingdom originated from Jialian, the one who called herself the Lily Flower Goddess.
A millennium ago, she had bestowed her divine power upon twelve founding magical girls, granting them protective abilities.
However, times had changed. Through generations of extraordinary births,
for the past seven or eight generations, individuals had been able to inherit innate magical power from their maternal lineage, effectively receiving their mothers’ magic through bloodline.
These girls, possessing inherited magical power, no longer required significant assistance from the Oath Beasts.
At most, during magical power assessments, the secondary Oath Beasts—the adorable flower sprites Jialian effortlessly conjured—would provide a gentle nudge to ‘awaken’ their potential.
Consequently, the Oath Beasts were rarely seen in everyday life.
For ordinary mortals, however,
the prospect of forging a contract with a secondary Oath Beast to gain power was an almost insurmountable challenge.
The association’s stringent new regulations acted as an impassable chasm, barring the vast majority of aspirants.
Only girls who met the exacting standards were deemed worthy of becoming Magical Girls.
They were either born with the aptitude or meticulously selected after passing through rigorous layers of assessment, elimination, and screening.
****
Kloxia gazed at the Lily Flower Goddess, now once again immersed in slumber, then thoughtfully touched the communicator behind her ear.
‘It seems… the disposition plan for Silvia can finally be decided…’