Just before dawn, the darkest hour.
A hundred miles away, the silhouette of Monan Fortress shimmered faintly beneath the snowy night.
As two streams of light faded, Silvia and Xia Naxin hovered in the air, gazing out at the southern border of the Distant Kingdom.
Silvia nestled into Xia Naxin’s embrace, her pink twin-tails fluttering in the wind. She tilted her small face upwards.
“Naxin, how should we get in?”
At her words, Xia Naxin tightened her arm around Silvia, a thoughtful expression on her face.
All this way, she had been pondering how to bring Silvia across the border.
After all, with Xia Naxin’s individual abilities, she could indeed cross borders freely with little effort.
However, that was only for herself. She couldn’t bring a living person into the Inner World.
Nevertheless, Xia Naxin gently pinched Silvia’s flushed cheek before speaking.
“Silvia, my idea is, why don’t you try being cute? Act all pitiful and try your luck outside the wall. I’m sure the kind border Magical Girls wouldn’t just ignore you.”
“Huh?”
Silvia’s red lips parted slightly, her violet eyes wide, a sight so adorable it instantly filled Xia Naxin with affection.
Silvia then looked towards the city wall.
“Can’t we just fly over? Or, what about parachuting in from the atmosphere?”
“Of course not.”
Xia Naxin’s hand rested on Silvia’s lower abdomen, and she pointed towards the shimmering spires of Monan Fortress.
“You lack the ability to conceal your magical fluctuations. If you cross the border rashly, the fortress’s spire lights will mark you as an ‘outsider’—an intruder.”
Upon hearing this.
Silvia’s heart-shaped tail, nestled on her lower back, swayed listlessly.
“So… I really have to act pathetic? Ugh, I don’t want to…”
Hearing her, Xia Naxin immediately scooped Silvia into a hug, twirled around, and laughed.
“Silvia, I’ve noticed that ever since you became smaller, you’ve seemed a little clumsy, haven’t you? How could I bear to let my most beloved woman act pitiful?”
Since the south isn’t ideal for entry, let’s try somewhere else—to Lingxi or Lingdong.
“Jiangdong? Oh…”
Silvia let out a soft sigh.
She recalled that as a child, her mothers had taken her to Jiangdong for a vacation.
She still remembered.
Her mothers’ gentle laughter, and… a tiny, dying fish she’d found on the shore, its belly turned upwards.
Silvia carefully cupped the little fish, reviving it with her overflowing magic.
Immediately, the small fish transformed into a mermaid girl.
However, she was timid; as soon as she recovered, she leaped back into the river. From dozens of meters away, she poked her head out, looking back at little Silvia on the shore.
She puffed out her cheeks, blew a few shimmering bubbles, then slapped the water with her tail, scrawling crooked words on the river’s surface.
“We’ll meet again if fate allows, surely.”
Then.
The little mermaid waved her tiny hand at Silvia on the shore, then dove headfirst into the glistening river water.
Leaving only ripples in her wake.
****
Since then.
Over a decade had passed, and Silvia wondered how that little fish was doing now.
Perhaps, by entering through the Jiangdong border this time, she might even encounter her again?
Since meeting that small fish in her childhood, she had never again encountered a mermaid.
Moreover, Silvia knew that the Azure Feather Kingdom did have Magical Girls from the mermaid race, though their numbers were unfortunately scarce.
Thus, she was very curious about this extraordinary race.
“Alright, then we’ll go to Jiangdong.”
Hearing her, Xia Naxin, doting on Silvia, gently said, “Hold on tight~”
Immediately, the two of them transformed into two streaks of light, speeding eastward.
Behind them, the dawn’s light gradually tore through the night sky, while their figures had long vanished into the snow-laden horizon.
****
The faint glow of dawn quietly illuminated Mount Chaoyang, painting the pillars of the hexagonal pavilion in a soft golden hue.
Qiye dozed lightly beside the stone chessboard, reeking of alcohol, her fingers, still clutching a chess piece, slightly curled.
She was still stubbornly waiting… for that unfinished game of chess.
Not long after,
streaks of blue and yellow light cut across the sky, descending upon the pavilion.
Weizhan’s hair was tousled and stood on end, her face pale, with lingering traces of tears.
Xincheng, meanwhile, rubbed her sleepy eyes, her yellow braid resembling a wilted sunflower.
Neither of them possessed their usual vibrant energy.
Because… Senior Silvia was gone. None of the three of them had gotten a good night’s sleep.
“Qiye?”
Weizhan stared at the empty sake bottle beside Qiye’s feet. Throughout the long night, how much had she drunk?
Hearing the call.
Qiye stretched and sat up, the morning light highlighting her profound weariness.
However, as her gaze met Weizhan’s and Xincheng’s expectant yet sorrowful expressions, she couldn’t help but clench her fists.
‘Should I tell them… that Senior Silvia has reverted to a woman and is on her way back home?’
‘But the photo Ling Cheyin sent felt like a searing branding iron, burning Qiye, making her afraid to reveal anything, lest her companions question her ‘source’…’
‘So, she had to keep it from them.’
****
“I finished my watch tonight; the day is yours now.”
Qiye forced a smile. After several days of inverted day-and-night patrols,
her physical exhaustion was far outweighed by the emptiness in her heart.
Days without Silvia were like a sky without the sun, dim and lifeless.
Even life itself had become dull and meaningless. It seemed even being a Magical Girl, protecting Tanhua City, had lost its purpose.
Looking back now, the days spent with Senior Silvia were the truly happy ones. After all, Silvia had already found a place deep within these three girls’ hearts.
****
Just then.
All three of their communicators buzzed simultaneously. Was it a message from the Tanhua City Magical Girl Association branch?
Weizhan pulled out her card, seeing their lock screen wallpaper was still a group photo of the three of them huddled in Silvia’s embrace.
The message displayed on it made her pupils contract.
[According to headquarters’ instructions, Tanhua City will be assigned a new Special Grade. The Three Primaries Squad is requested to report to the branch before 8 AM for reception. Acknowledgment is sufficient; no reply is needed.]
Weizhan’s phone clattered onto the stone table. There was no joy on her face; instead, she bit her lower lip.
“So… Senior Silvia was really removed from her post?”
The three of them couldn’t bear to part with Senior Silvia.
Wouldn’t that mean a new woman would replace Zhennu Yibai’s position, leading the Three Primaries Squad and protecting Tanhua City?
There was no other way; Tanhua City couldn’t be left without a Special Grade in charge.
Qiye glanced at the time. It was just past six in the morning, leaving nearly two hours.
However, in contrast to Weizhan’s and Xincheng’s displeasure turning into anger, Qiye’s expression was notably complex.
She knew perfectly well that Silvia was returning, yet she could only swallow this news whole.
Unless she posted the photo now.
‘But could that truly change the outcome of Senior Silvia being replaced?’
‘Would the Iris Feather Kingdom still accept her… a banished criminal?’
After all.
Senior Silvia had committed treason, betrayal, and sexual fraud… being sentenced to exile was already the best possible outcome.
“Don’t be so pessimistic~”
Then, Qiye forced a gentle smile, reaching out to wipe away the tears from Weizhan’s eyes.
“Maybe, if, perhaps… Senior Silvia will come back? You know, nothing is ever absolute.”
As she spoke, Qiye observed Weizhan’s and Xincheng’s reactions.
Indeed, upon hearing Qiye’s words, a spark of hope ignited in their eyes.
Even knowing it was unlikely, they still yearned for that day to come.
In the distance, Tanhua City remained shrouded in a thin mist.
The morning light pierced through the clouds, falling upon their tightly clasped hands, yet it couldn’t warm their now-chilled hearts.