Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 9: After the Fierce Battle

After the battle, the Ravager’s frenzied roars and the explosive clash of magic finally faded.

The wetlands park, deep into the night, returned to its natural stillness.

The lingering magical fluctuations and smoke dispersed, leaving behind nothing but the monster’s remains among the trees.

A mysterious girl, clad in deep blue, retracted the intricate magical threads that had surrounded her moments before. The small pair of scissors in her hand transformed back into a magic wand. With a few light steps, she landed beside the creature’s remains and reached towards its neck, retrieving an object resembling a brooch.

In that instant, tiny specks of starlight emerged from the Ravager’s body, gathering toward the brooch.

Not far away, Lin Xiaolu observed the scene and quickly realized what the girl was doing.

She was collecting the Echo of the Ravager.

The so-called “Echo” was the collective term for the remnants of a defeated Ravager’s magic and soul fragments.

When a Magical Girl defeated a Ravager, she would extract its Echo and hand it over to a Seeder. The Seeder would then send the Echo back to the Magic Kingdom, where it would be assessed to determine the Magical Girl’s contribution. Based on the Echo’s strength, the Kingdom would grant the corresponding rewards.

This was the standard reward system between Magical Girls and the Magic Kingdom.

And right now, even though Lin Xiaolu had been the first to discover the Ravager and initiate the battle, there was no doubt that the one who had ultimately struck the decisive blow was this mysterious Magical Girl.

Naturally, the Echo belonged to her.

Lin Xiaolu gathered her courage and stepped closer, approaching the mysterious girl.

She wasn’t concerned about the Echo—she had something else she wanted to say.

But before she could even open her mouth, the mysterious girl spoke first.

“You’re a rookie, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Uh… yeah.”

Caught off guard, Lin Xiaolu instinctively responded before quickly remembering what she had wanted to say.

“Um, thank you for helping me—”

“Where’s your Seeder?”

The mysterious girl’s rapid-fire questioning cut her off, giving her no chance to continue.

“It never told you not to take on Ravagers above your level alone?”

“What about your teammates? Did you not notify them before heading out?”

The string of sharp questions made Lin Xiaolu’s head spin.

“Seeder? Teammates? I’m by myself…”

“Ha?”

The mysterious girl’s gaze lowered, her expression filled with disbelief.

“You’re alone? Wait, aren’t you Fangting City’s Magical Girl?”

Lin Xiaolu hesitated before answering, “Uh… yeah, that’s right. Is something wrong?”

The mysterious girl didn’t respond.

Or rather, her focus was no longer on Lin Xiaolu.

Instead, her sharp gaze locked onto the pink, cat-like fairy—Moke—who had been trying to shrink into the background, attempting to avoid attention.

“Hey, you over there—the fairy. Are you this kid’s Seeder?”

Moke had been hiding behind Lin Xiaolu the entire time, avoiding the mysterious girl’s stare. But now that it had been directly addressed, it had no choice but to come forward reluctantly.

“Uh… hello?”

“That’s not a ‘hello’ kind of situation!”

The mysterious girl planted her hands on her hips, her tone aggressive.

“I have a whole list of questions for you. Why is this city—why is Fangting City—in this state?”

She pointed at Lin Xiaolu, who stood awkwardly beside her.

“A city this large, and the only Magical Girl here is a complete rookie who doesn’t even know how to summon her Magical Armor?”

“This girl has probably fought fewer than five battles. In other cities, someone like her wouldn’t even be allowed to fight alone—she’d be under the supervision of a Leaf-tier Magical Girl at the very least. And yet, you let her fight solo against a Ravager like this? Were you trying to get her killed?”

Moke frantically shook its head. “No, no! I never wanted Xiaolu to get hurt!”

Lin Xiaolu quickly defended Moke as well. “It’s not Moke’s fault! I insisted on coming here tonight!”

“Then why?”

The mysterious girl folded her arms, clearly intent on getting to the bottom of this.

“What happened to the other Magical Girls of Fangting City?”

“…I don’t know.”

“What?”

Moke’s voice had dropped to barely a whisper, its expression guilty.

“I… I don’t know…”

“What are you saying? I don’t understand.”

The mysterious girl’s expression remained unreadable.

“A Seeder doesn’t know where the Magical Girls of its own city are?”

“…Yeah.”

“But you personally signed contracts with them.”

“…Uh…”

“And every single one of them should be registered with the Magic Kingdom.”

“Uh… I mean… I don’t have to tell you that, right?”

Moke’s nervousness was painfully obvious, but it still tried to sound firm.

“I am a Seeder, but I don’t have an obligation to share classified information with an outsider Magical Girl, do I?”

Hearing this, the mysterious girl slowly nodded.

“You have a point. Keeping information confidential is indeed an important quality for a competent Seeder.”

Moke, thinking she had backed off, sighed in relief.

But before it could fully exhale, the girl’s next words froze it in place.

“Then what if I told you I’m an Inspector?”

“L-Liar! You’re trying to trick me!”

The pink fairy immediately panicked, flailing its paws wildly.

“Y-you-you-you’re not really an I-I-Inspector, are you?!”

Squatting beside them, Lin Xiaolu clicked her tongue in amusement.

“Moke, you’re shaking like you just got electrocuted.”

The mysterious girl gave Moke a suspicious look before reaching into her collar and pulling out a badge.

With a soft tap, a brilliant magic circuit activated, revealing its intricate design.

The badge had a deep blue background, engraved with a delicate floral pattern.

On the left side, faint Favore script inscribed a name, though her finger partially obscured it.

Near the bottom, a golden crown icon gleamed, next to the number 41076 in elegant script.

She flashed the badge briefly before tucking it away.

“I assume you heard me earlier, but I’ll introduce myself properly.”

Her cool gaze swept over the Magical Girl and the fairy. With a slight tilt of her head, she spoke with composed confidence.

“I’m a Magic Kingdom Inspector, a Magical Girl with Flower Card certification number 41076. You may call me Veronica. I am currently stationed here to investigate the anomalies in Fangting City. I expect your full cooperation.”

Moke’s eyes widened.

“…Ah?”

“Ahhhh? Ahhhhhhhh?!”

Completely overwhelmed, the pink fairy could only let out strangled cries of disbelief.

Finally, in a dazed mumble, it muttered, “Meow meow meow? Meow meow meow. Meow meow meow meow!”

Lin Xiaolu stared at it in shock.

“Moke’s lost its mind!”

But Veronica… was actually Lin Yun.

After driving over fifty kilometers to reach the park, Lin Yun had transformed into a Magical Girl for the first time in nineteen years—all to save his daughter from the Ravager’s grasp.

He had no intention of revealing his identity to her just yet.

Instead, he deliberately maintained his Inspector persona, adopting a sharp, interrogative tone—partly to intimidate Moke into spilling information.

But to his dismay, Moke barely knew anything useful.

And then… his daughter’s words caught him completely off guard.

“I want to be a Magical Girl like you! Please, teach me!”

The words hit Lin Yun like a bolt of lightning.

His daughter, admiring him?

For the first time in fourteen years—she wanted to be like him?

Would she still feel the same if she knew the truth?

If she found out that Veronica… was actually the father she despised?

Faced with Moke’s pleading eyes and Lin Xiaolu’s starry gaze, Lin Yun felt his brain short-circuit.

And then, before he could stop himself—

“…Alright.”

He agreed.