Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 130: Pursuit

The cobalt-blue magic trajectory suddenly streaked across the pitch-black night sky, hidden behind thick clouds, silently crossing over half the city.

Glancing at the phone screen between her fingers, the large “Missed Call” message made Veronica increasingly uneasy. She scowled, gritting her teeth, and kept accelerating her flight speed toward Hong Siyu’s apartment, relying on her memory.

She still couldn’t stay at home.

Because every time she tried to contact Hong Siyu by phone, she couldn’t get through.

Even though she knew that separating from the others now was probably playing into the enemy’s hands, and that the mysterious phone call could be a trap, her intuition told her that what was said on the phone was true.

The mention of “Veronica” and “Morning Glory”—Hong Siyu’s Magical Girl alias—immediately increased the credibility of the message. Moreover, it matched perfectly with Veronica’s own suspicions.

A retired Magical Girl almost never regains her magic; that’s an ironclad rule of the Magic Kingdom. And to see a fairy, one must possess more magic than an ordinary person.

So, it was absolutely impossible for Hong Siyu, a retired Magical Girl, to see Moko.

Given this, Veronica suddenly recalled the strange tone of Hong Siyu’s words when she left.

What did “It’s up to you, senior” really mean?

And even more importantly, why had she sent all three of the children to her house tonight? Was she preparing for something?

The emergence of one truth only raised more questions. Veronica felt as if her mind was overwhelmed with doubts, and even trying to organize her thoughts felt difficult.

To find answers to all of this, the most important thing she could do now was to find Hong Siyu.

That was why she had rushed to the apartment in the first place.

Following the familiar path, she flew to Hong Siyu’s apartment balcony, casually used her magic threads to undo the latch, and almost leapt into the apartment. Standing in the apartment, she called out:

“Hóng Sīyǔ!”

However, the empty apartment offered no response.

Veronica realized the worst-case scenario had truly come to pass.

Hong Siyu had left her apartment nearly an hour ago. If nothing unusual had happened, she should have returned by now. But if she wasn’t at home, she must have gone somewhere else.

Where could she have gone? Where would she go? And, no matter where she went, was this really her own decision?

With these questions in mind, Veronica turned on the lights in the apartment and began scanning the space, trying to find any trace of Hong Siyu.

The apartment wasn’t exactly tidy, but it wasn’t too messy either—aside from a blanket carelessly thrown on the bed and a trash can overflowing with garbage, everything else seemed somewhat organized.

Veronica squatted by the bed, opened the nightstand, and searched for a while. She only found some personal clothing and small items, but nothing of particular interest.

She turned around, opened the wardrobe, and found that the clothes had completely exceeded the wardrobe’s capacity, tumbling out as soon as the door opened. If she hadn’t reacted quickly, she might have been buried by the falling clothes.

She used magic threads to keep the clothes in place and continued searching through the wardrobe, but still found nothing.

She then moved to the open kitchen island, picked up an empty beer can from the counter, and noticed that the cans had been there for a long time. The dried-up insides indicated that they hadn’t been used in quite a while.

This seemed to suggest that Hong Siyu hadn’t returned to the apartment for several days.

Had she been staying at the secret base after work to train the new recruits? Or was there another reason?

The questions only multiplied as the investigation progressed. Veronica tried to find clues about Hong Siyu’s whereabouts in the apartment but came up empty.

At this point, her investigation had reached an impasse.

Helpless, she pulled out her phone again, opened her contacts, and felt that she should reach out to that unknown number, hoping they might provide more information.

She pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear, her gaze still scanning the room. But as her eyes passed over the balcony’s floor-to-ceiling windows, they suddenly froze, unable to look away.

—She saw a moth.

It wasn’t an ordinary insect, but one that was far larger than expected—almost as big as a basin.

The moth was quietly perched on the outside of the apartment’s balcony window, its wings hanging down naturally as it stood upright, seemingly watching the scene inside.

The reason she used the word “watching” was because Veronica felt a strong sense of being observed.

It felt as though she was being watched by an insect.

The phone on her ear still hadn’t connected, and Veronica stood there, holding her phone, staring intently at the moth outside.

“…sszzzz…”

Then, during this time, the familiar static noise suddenly came from the phone.

Despite the strange moth, Veronica’s priority was still finding Hong Siyu, so she quickly shifted her focus to the phone call, asking directly:

“Hello? Where is Hong Siyu?”

Every time she had received a mysterious call, it had cut off before any critical information was revealed. She wasn’t sure how long this call would last, so she wasted no time and went straight to the point.

“sszzzz… sszzzz…”

It seemed like the voice on the other end was responding to her question, with the noise becoming even more intense.

After a long period of indistinct noise, a much weaker voice finally emerged again: “It’s… very high…”

“Very high?” Veronica frowned and repeated.

“…She usually goes there…” The weak voice kept stuttering, the fragmented words continuing to reach Veronica’s ears.

She struggled to make sense of the words, trying to memorize them, but the voice kept getting quieter, until it became almost inaudible.

“Hello? I can’t hear you. Are you still there?” Veronica couldn’t help but confirm.

The other end only gave static.

“Hello?”

The static remained unchanged.

“Are you still there?”

—“Boom!”

Just as Veronica increased the phone’s volume, a deafening explosion sound suddenly blasted from the other side, causing a strong shockwave that nearly made her drop the phone.

Thankfully, her quick reflexes allowed her to use magic threads to catch the phone before it fell, but when she looked at the screen again, it showed that the call had ended.

Not believing it, Veronica dialed the number again, but after a short wait, the message came through that the number was “switched off,” leaving no further opportunity.

This time, her call with the unknown number had ended without a resolution.

Veronica stared blankly at the phone screen for a moment, then quickly turned her gaze back to the balcony windows. The huge moth was still perched there, extending its wings. Though it made no sound, its trembling antennae seemed to mock her, as if it were laughing.

The scene only made Veronica’s mood worse, and she had no intention of letting this strange creature get away. With that, she raised her hand and shot a magic beam.

The deep blue magic instantly pierced through the security glass of the window, enclosing the moth. But when the magic dissipated, she found that aside from the shattered glass, nothing else had been hit—the moth had vanished, like an illusion.

Veronica hurried forward, crouched down, and examined the broken window. After confirming there were no insect remains, her confusion deepened.

Had she just seen an illusion?

To verify, Veronica looked up toward the distance, trying to find any trace of the moth’s departure. But the darkened night sky was eerily quiet, with no flying objects in sight.

Standing on the balcony, Veronica tiptoed and squinted her eyes, scanning the area. It was nearly midnight in Fangting City, and aside from a few lights, there was nothing else to see. The roads were empty of cars and pedestrians, and the shops and tall buildings had mostly turned off their lights. In the desolate city, there was nothing else worth noticing.

However, as Veronica continued to look farther, a familiar silhouette of a building suddenly caught her eye.

At first, she didn’t recognize what it was, but once she realized, her gaze stopped sharply in that direction—because it dawned on her that it was the Countermeasure Bureau.

Hong Siyu’s apartment wasn’t far from the Fangting City Countermeasure Bureau—only a little over a kilometer away. She had probably chosen this location for convenience, to avoid commuting for work.

Perhaps she could go to the Countermeasure Bureau and ask? Veronica wondered. But at this hour, the management would have already gone home. Even if she went, what could she ask?

Moreover, from her current vantage point, the Countermeasure Bureau was shrouded in darkness, with not a single light shining through any window.

If there wasn’t even a hint of light, could the Bureau really be staffed?

This lead didn’t seem to be going anywhere, so Veronica sighed and was about to turn away. But just as she turned, her feet froze in place, and her eyes widened slowly.

How could there be no one at the Countermeasure Bureau?

As the last line of defense against magical threats in the city, the Bureau should have personnel stationed there at all times, even in the dead of night. Even if only a few departments or small teams were left on duty, it shouldn’t look like this—completely dark and empty.

Something’s wrong.

Veronica’s mind flashed back to her recent experience in Bo’an City. The memories, still fresh in her mind, were all too clear. She hadn’t forgotten what she encountered there.

The Bo’an City incident had eventually been linked to the Countermeasure Bureau, so what about Fangting City?

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the Bureau’s capabilities, but during the previous attack incidents, the Bureau had shown a lack of sensitivity to the situation.

And even without concrete evidence, she couldn’t shake the feeling:

—She might have to go to the Countermeasure Bureau now.