Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 10: Doubt

"Alright, I understand the situation now. We'll contact the branches in other cities and see if we can get the Magi-Kingdom informed through their Seeders."

Listening to the voice coming through his phone, Lin Yun stared blankly out the window, took a deep breath, and sighed helplessly.

"Alright, thanks. Sorry to trouble you."

It was the morning of the next day, and he was in his office.

He was on a call with Hong Siyu.

The sudden incident from the previous night had disrupted his sleep, leaving him groggy and sluggish.

But he had no time to rest. Aside from the mountain of work his company had dumped on him first thing in the morning, he had a whole list of issues to discuss with the Paranormal Affairs Bureau regarding last night’s encounter at the Wetland Park.

To ensure his daughter's safety, he had secretly participated in the battle under the identity of the Magical Girl "Delphinium" and successfully drove the enemy away. But the incident was far from over. No matter how he looked at it, there was clearly a hidden hand manipulating everything from the shadows.

In the end, he identified four key mysteries.

First, the timing of the Ravager's appearance and the fact that he couldn't reach Hong Siyu.

His communication with the Bureau wasn’t official—he relied entirely on his personal connection with Hong Siyu to exchange information. But last night, that connection had been cut off.

According to Hong Siyu, she hadn't just missed his calls—there was no record of them at all. Not even a single missed call notification. It was as if Lin Yun had never dialed her number in the first place.

But that was impossible. He distinctly remembered trying to call her the moment he realized his daughter was missing. Yet, the call had never gone through.

Second, the mysterious warning he received earlier that day.

That number was now unreachable—every attempt to call back resulted in a "number out of service" message.

The caller had appeared abruptly, given him critical information, and then vanished just as suddenly. Why?

Third, the strange magical barrier at the scene.

This wasn’t a technique that a Ravager should be capable of—not at the level of a Caterpillar, at least. Yet, Lin Xiaolu and he had only encountered one Ravager at the scene. Meaning, at least one more enemy had been hiding in the shadows.

But that hidden enemy never showed themselves—not even when the Ravager was defeated.

What was their goal?

And lastly, what the Seeder named Moko had said—

Before its arrival, Fangting City had neither Seeders nor Magical Girls.

That was a massive red flag.

And yet, there wasn’t just a lack of clues—there wasn’t even a place to start looking. It was a complete black box.

These four mysteries could very well be part of a larger conspiracy involving Lin Xiaolu, making them impossible for him to ignore.

But the missing pieces were simply too many. With the current information, he couldn’t piece together the truth.

And his already sleep-deprived brain was starting to throb from the effort.

"So, how does it feel to be back in action?"

Hong Siyu’s voice pulled him back to reality.

Lowering his phone slightly, Lin Yun took a moment to think before giving a straightforward answer.

"Pretty awful."

It was awful. His magic had declined, his skills were rusty, and the situation in Fangting City worried him.

Most importantly, the outcome of this mission was nothing like what he had planned.

His initial goal had been simple—rescue his daughter.

But once he’d succeeded in that, he started thinking—maybe he could use his disguise to intimidate the Seeder and fish for some intel. Get enough information first, then later reveal his identity to his daughter for a perfect, heartwarming reunion.

Yet in the end, he barely got any useful intel, he didn’t reveal his identity, and on top of that, he accidentally agreed to Moko and Lin Xiaolu’s request.

Now, he was stuck playing the ridiculous role of a "mysterious senior" while secretly training his own daughter.

Sure, this setup would allow him to interact with her more.

But this wasn’t how he wanted to do it.

Then he remembered Lin Xiaolu's heartfelt confession to Delphinium last night—

If he revealed his true identity now, things between them would get very awkward.

So in the end, he kept the truth to himself.

Just thinking about the identity charade he’d have to keep playing made him press his fingers to his temples.

"Awful, huh? That’s a very you response."

Hong Siyu chuckled on the other end.

"Come on, don't be so hard on yourself. You’re a middle-aged man now—you should know when to accept reality."

"Can I hang up now?" Lin Yun replied with a deadpan tone.

Hong Siyu burst out laughing.

"Haha! Relax, I was just messing with you. What, you embarrassed?"

Just then, the office door swung open.

A scruffy-looking man stepped in, raising his eyebrows when he saw Lin Yun still on the phone.

With an exaggerated expression, he pointed at his mouth, then at the door—Want me to leave?

Lin Yun shook his head, then spoke into the phone.

"That's it for now. We'll talk later."

Ignoring Hong Siyu’s protests, he decisively ended the call.

With the conversation over, he let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Not bad, not bad."

A thick stack of documents landed on his desk with a thud.

The scruffy man, wearing a mischievous smirk, sauntered forward.

"I could hear a woman’s voice. Finally thinking about moving on and finding someone new?"

Lin Yun twitched the corner of his mouth in exasperation.

"Which ear of yours heard that conversation as flirting?"

"Left one."

The man shrugged indifferently.

"Anyway, just sign this for me."

His name was Liu Guanshan, head of the External Affairs Department.

He and Lin Yun were on the same level in the company, and they’d known each other since their days as low-level employees. Over the years, they’d built a decent rapport—close enough to grab drinks now and then.

Which was why conversations between them were casual, and even jokes about things like "widower talk" weren’t taken too seriously.

Lin Yun pulled a pen from the holder, flipping through the document as he spoke.

"Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't dare. Things are already tense enough with my daughter. If I told her I was planning to find her a stepmother, she’d probably riot and take the house down with her."

Of course, that was just something he said.

The real reason was that he simply didn’t want to.

But openly admitting that would sound a bit too pathetic, and he had no interest in being pitied at work.

"Still fighting? Just throw some extra allowance her way. That usually fixes things."

Liu Guanshan plopped himself onto the edge of the desk.

"My kid's the same way. Give 'em a little bonus and they stop complaining."

"I told you already—money’s not the issue here."

Lin Yun signed the last page and continued,

"If I had any idea what she was actually thinking, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad in the first place."

"Want a smoke?" Liu Guanshan fished out a cigarette pack.

"After I finish signing."

"Hey, the guys at Hengyun wrapped up early. We’re grabbing dinner tonight. You in?"

"Nah, I’m heading home to spend time with my kid."

"Damn, you’re that much of a family man?"

"Just take it that way."

Lin Yun’s tone was light, but inside, he felt a complicated sense of irony.

He was going to spend time with his daughter.

But not as her father.

Her becoming a Magical Girl was now an unchangeable fact. No matter how much he disliked it, he had no choice but to move forward.

And the next step in that process was clear—

—He had to become a proper mentor and train his own daughter in combat.