Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 117: Lair

At this moment, Veronica finally understood what the sense of unease she had been feeling all this time really was.

The faint sense of crisis that had lingered in her mind ever since entering the Countermeasure Bureau; the alienation brought by the surroundings; and the familiar yet weak feeling of nausea. These sensory impressions mixed together, blending into the sense of discomfort in her heart, warning her of the abnormality of the place.

After seeing this scene, Veronica now had a vague idea of what this space truly was.

However, in order to confirm her suspicion, she needed to do one more thing—return to the office where she had previously discovered the Ravager.

With that thought in mind, Veronica immediately gathered her magic, supporting her body as she floated up and flew in the direction her memory recalled.

She accelerated down the corridor, the scenery flashing by in her peripheral vision, just as she had seen before, with no changes at all. But now that she had her answer, she was no longer confused.

Ignoring any potential disturbances along the way, Veronica flew directly to the office where she had previously discovered the Ravager, then thrust her hand forward and forcefully pushed the door open.

As the door opened, what Veronica saw was simply an extremely ordinary office.

There were no corpses, no blood, no ashes left by the Ravager—only the bright white lights like those in any other room, along with various office supplies casually arranged.

All traces had disappeared, and the clues she had discovered earlier were gone as if they had never existed.

However, upon seeing this scene, a faint gleam flashed in Veronica's eyes.

The reason was simple: this was the answer she had been looking for.

"I see," she murmured softly.

Looking at the situation before her, Veronica did not step further inside but spoke with absolute certainty, "This is indeed a 'Nest.'"

The "Nest" she referred to was the signature ability of a Pupa-stage Ravager.

As a symbol of the Pupa-stage Ravager, the "Nest" commonly manifests as a distorted version of the original space—a labyrinth of overlapping and nested spaces.

The scenery inside a "Nest" is not born from nothing but is a product of intercepting and mimicking the surrounding space based on its location, then replicating, proliferating, and distorting these elements.

If a Ravager's nest were in an area beyond the city, like a barren wasteland, the "Nest" would manifest as an endless wasteland; if it were in a lake, it would form an endless, directionless ocean that could never reach the surface.

Veronica had seen such instances more than once, with the most recent one occurring just a few months ago.

At that time, Veronica had discovered a Pupa-stage Ravager deep underground in Fangting City. The place where it nested was the city's sewer system, so its "Nest" took the form of overlapping and crisscrossing sewer pipes.

Back then, just like now, Veronica had entered the "Nest" while investigating Ravager leads, only to find herself sucked into a maze.

From this experience, Veronica was able to understand everything she encountered after entering the Countermeasure Bureau—because this was not the real Countermeasure Bureau, but a Ravager's nest simulated to look like it.

The structure of this "Nest" involved copying and extending the first floor of the Countermeasure Bureau in Bo'an City, stitching together numerous spaces similar to the "First Floor," eventually forming a complete "Nest."

Veronica wasn't trapped in an impassable Countermeasure Bureau. Instead, there were countless "First Floors" surrounding her. Although these "First Floors" were identical in structure and replicated all the inanimate objects perfectly, they could never replicate living creatures.

So, naturally, there would be no corpses or blood in the office because the "First Floor" the victims had encountered was not in the same space as Veronica.

She had come here to confirm this point.

However, as she solved this mystery, another problem arose.

That was, this Pupa-stage Ravager was definitely unusual. If it were a typical Pupa-stage Ravager, it would not be capable of doing something like this.

Ordinary Ravager "Nests" only mimic the basic elements of the surrounding space, much like a chameleon’s camouflage, to hide the "Nest" and make it less obvious. Thus, a Ravager's "Nest" is usually just a rough imitation of the original space.

But this space, which had perfectly copied the entire first floor of the Countermeasure Bureau without any mistakes, was beyond the intellect of a typical Ravager.

With the intelligence of a Pupa-stage Ravager, it would be impossible for it to understand the purpose of the furnishings and how to meticulously carve each detail in a human structure.

This also explained why this Ravager could set its "Nest" right next to the Countermeasure Bureau without any information reaching the Magical Girls—because this was no ordinary Ravager nesting incident.

With the answer in her mind, Veronica knew exactly what she needed to do now. Without a doubt, she had to find the owner of this "Nest" and kill the Ravager.

As for how to find it, Veronica’s plan was simple—release her magic perception and move in the direction with the strongest response.

In the "Nest," the concepts of space and time were blurred, so even Veronica wasn’t sure how long it took after she started searching.

Clearing her mind and dispelling distractions, Veronica maintained her most alert state to ensure she could detect any abnormal magical fluctuations.

Just when she was about to expand her perception range again, a very weak magical fluctuation appeared within her sensing area.

This faint fluctuation was like a candle that might go out at any moment—still burning but flickering uncertainly. If not for Veronica’s constant focus, she might have subconsciously ignored it.

When she stopped to confirm, she realized that the fluctuation wasn’t far from where she was.

Without hesitation, Veronica headed in the direction of the magical fluctuation.

She passed through multiple stairwells and several "First Floors" before finally locating her target: a young girl sitting against a wall in an empty office.

More precisely, it was a Magical Girl. Veronica could see the gem in her hand, shaped like an unopened flower bud.

That was an unblossomed Heartstone Flower, so she was likely a Bud-tier Magical Girl.

The girl appeared to be about 18 years old, at the age where youthful innocence gradually fades, and she begins to mature. From this, Veronica could tell she was an experienced Magical Girl who had served for many years.

However, her current state wasn’t quite right. She had completely reverted to her human form, and blood was steadily soaking her forehead. Even her transformation state could not be maintained, indicating that her magic had run dry.

Veronica crouched down, checking for a pulse by her nose. After confirming she was still breathing, she immediately pressed the Heartstone Gem in the girl’s hand and began infusing her magic into it.

As the deep blue magic poured into the girl’s hand, the Heartstone Gem gradually lit up with a dark brown glow before shining brightly once again.

With the revival of the Heartstone Gem and the replenishment of magic, the girl slowly regained consciousness, her eyes opening from the void. Then, she made eye contact with Veronica, who was half-crouched.

The girl seemed momentarily stunned before suddenly jumping back in shock. But she had evidently forgotten she was in the corner, and with a loud "thud," the back of her head struck the wall.

The sharp dull pain quickly brought the girl back to her senses. She clutched the back of her head in pain and, after a moment, looked up and gave Veronica an awkward smile.

"Uh, sorry... may I ask, who are you?"

"Well, I was the one who saved you earlier, so I think I should be the one asking you that."

Releasing the Heartstone Gem from the girl’s hand, Veronica stood up again.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I?" The girl looked at Veronica, her expression stiffening slightly, then she awkwardly raised her tone, trying to deflect the question. "I don't know what you're talking about."

But as soon as she finished speaking, she noticed Veronica’s gaze was focused on her left hand. Slightly tilting her head, she saw the Heartstone Bud glimmering in her hand, and immediately realized she had just told a very poor lie.

After a brief, awkward silence, the girl awkwardly smiled again before honestly answering, "My alias is Lamp. I'm a local Magical Girl from Bo'an City."

She didn’t try to hide her identity because she could tell that the girl in front of her, dressed in a dark blue dress, was also a Magical Girl. Since Veronica had chosen to save her, she likely wasn’t a bad person.

Having explained her identity, the girl then looked at Veronica, hoping for a corresponding answer.

What she didn’t know was that Veronica had already anticipated her response.

"I’m an inspector sent by the Investigation Bureau to Bo'an City."

Veronica explained succinctly, "I came here to find the missing investigation team in Bo'an City and have already contacted the local Magical Girl Squad. They told me that a missing member named 'Lamp'—is that you?"

Lamp was momentarily stunned. "The local Magical Girl Squad, you mean..."

"There’s a Magical Girl named White Aster and a Seeder named Polly. Before I came here, they asked me to find you."

In order to gain the trust of the Magical Girl in front of her as quickly as possible, Veronica spoke freely, "I just happened to arrive here, and I didn’t expect to find you here."

"Ah! So that’s how it is!"

Upon hearing the news of her companions, the girl visibly became more energized. "Have you seen White Aster and the others? How are they... cough cough!"

Apparently, due to her over-excitement, a violent movement triggered her unhealed injuries, causing her to cough violently.

Veronica quickly pressed her shoulder, pushing her gently back to the wall.

"They’re safe for now. The only problem is that everyone is worried about your safety."

She shook her head, providing an update on the Bo'an City Squad’s situation before bringing the conversation back on track, asking Lamp, "So, can you tell me what happened to you before you arrived here? Why did you collapse? Have you seen anything about the Cat Tail Squad?"