Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

"Eh? No way."

Lin Xiaolu immediately expressed her disdain, "I just did it yesterday, isn't it your turn today? Don't try to drag me into this by switching concepts."

"Anyway, you're not doing anything, right?"

Xia Liang smiled slyly, "Consider it deepening the camaraderie between teammates."

"Who cares?"

Lin Xiaolu rolled her eyes at her, her whole body slumping into the backrest, and at the same time lifted her heels, showing her refusal to step down, "Instead of repeating meaningless chores, I'd rather have a Remnant Beast pop up now for me to fight."

"Fight a Remnant Beast?"

Xia Liang, as if hearing something amusing, revealed a cheerful smile mixed with innocence, "Without using white magic power, you wouldn't be able to beat even a slightly formidable Inchworm, right? After all, it's a seed-level creature."

"I, you!" Lin Xiaolu's heel, which had just been raised, slammed back onto the ground.

Just as the girls' everyday bickering was evolving into a meaningless argument, a noise from the entrance interrupted their conversation.

Bang!

The crisp sound of closing the door, like a signal, drew both girls' eyes toward the direction of the entrance.

If a person's ears could react to sounds, Lin Xiaolu's would have perked up by now. After all, she knew all too well what that sound of the door closing at this time could mean.

"Emerald Sparrow, you're back..."

Jumping up amidst Xia Liang's resigned gaze, Lin Xiaolu scurried to the door in slippers, ready to warmly welcome the other person, but upon seeing who was at the door, she closed her mouth with a perplexed expression.

Because standing there was not just Emerald Sparrow, but another figure as well.

It was a Magical Girl in purple and red attire, looking somewhat familiar, yet not quite placeable. If she had to say where she had seen such a figure, it would have been only in a mobile game she played recently.

But addressing someone she was seeing for the first time by a mobile game character's name sounded a bit like a child unable to distinguish fantasy from reality, so Lin Xiaolu wisely chose to stay silent.

This mixture of confusion, aloofness, and wariness was captured by Emerald Sparrow. She glanced at the Magical Girl, her lips parting slightly as if to speak, then hesitated, eventually closing her eyes as if making some decision, and finally spoke:

"Call over Bo Xue and Xiao Jin, and Moko as well, I want to introduce the new member to you all."

"...New member?"

Lin Xiaolu scrutinized the girl in the red dress, swallowing the words "She looks older than all of us" back down. In the end, she just snorted softly through her nose, filled with surprise and confusion as she left.

Before long, all the members of the secret base had gathered together.

"Let me introduce to you, this is a Magical Girl who has recently arrived in Fangting City. She will join our team as a non-resident member, and participate in certain battles alongside us," Emerald Sparrow declared, extending an arm toward the girl beside her, her face stern, her voice serious. "Compared to you all, she's somewhat of a senior, so you can ask her any questions you might have."

After speaking, seeing that no one else spoke up, she looked around at the girls' reactions, paused, and asked again, "Does anyone have any questions?"

Upon finishing her question, she saw Xia Liang raise her hand first, then nodded to allow her to ask.

"I don't get it! What does 'non-resident member' mean?"

After Emerald Sparrow gestured, Xia Liang lowered her hand, her expression serious, as if she was a diligent student, "Does that mean this senior won't be staying in Fangting City permanently?"

"No, she'll be in Fangting City, but not staying long at the secret base, nor will she join the regular patrols,"

Emerald Sparrow explained earnestly, "In short, once she joins our team, she'll only help out with important battles and training sessions, and will have other tasks the rest of the time."

"Is this senior from the Magic Kingdom?"

Bai Jingxuan followed up with her question, "She doesn't seem like a Magical Girl who was originally from Fangting City."

Emerald Sparrow weighed her words carefully, responding thoughtfully, "That question... kind of, and not really. She's actually more like me, originally a local from Fangting City, but then some things happened..."

"A friend of your mom?"

It seemed to take a moment for Bai Jingxuan to understand, then she nodded obediently, "Then I have nothing more to ask."

——"I have an objection! As a Seeder, I have an objection!"

However, it was at this moment that Moke spoke up, "Even though this is the Inspector's wish, the replacement of a Magical Girl in a city is supposed to be my task! I've never known about such a Magical Girl in Fangting City, and I haven't sensed her presence before! Suddenly, this person pops up and then claims to join our team or something, I just learned about this, it's against the rules!"

"I know this is sudden, but we can discuss the related procedures later."

Emerald Sparrow held her arms with a slightly helpless expression, "Anyway, today is just to introduce everyone and get to know each other, we'll discuss the specifics of the activities later."

"But we still have to know her background, right?"

Lin Xiaolu was the last one to speak, but her attitude was the sharpest and most direct: "Even if Emerald Sparrow introduced her, even if she's a senior, a stranger suddenly joining the team or something..."

Her voice became softer towards the end, but actually, everyone understood what she wanted to express.

In fact, the questions raised by Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan earlier were also subtly revealing this meaning.

Realizing this, even Emerald Sparrow could no longer maintain her stern expression and showed an "I knew this would happen" look of resignation, glancing at the girl beside her.

Their eyes met, seemingly completing some sort of communication incomprehensible to the girls, and after a moment, the unfamiliar girl spoke somewhat awkwardly:

"Um, because I was originally the Magical Girl of Fangting City... I just came back recently, no, I should say, returned to duty?"

"Originally from Fangting City?" Xia Liang seemed to understand somewhat, "Are you the senior who left Fangting City two years ago?"

"No, not that either..."

"Then which senior from when? Even earlier? Doesn't that mean you've already retired?"

Xia Liang tilted her head, "So, you mean to say, like the little senior, you came from Fangting but joined the Magic Kingdom and only recently came back due to a mission?"

"I didn't join the Magic Kingdom either."

Despite being questioned by a girl who seemed younger, she couldn't put on any airs of being older: "I actually retired before..."

"Retired!"

This time, it was everyone apart from Emerald Sparrow, including the Fairies, who let out exclamations of surprise.

Because everyone, even the Fairies, knew that Magical Girls who retire lose their powers and can no longer transform. The girl's statement was undeniably challenging their common sense and knowledge.

"You mean, you retired before but can now come back as a Magical Girl?"

Even the normally rational Xia Liang was taken aback for a moment: "How did you manage that? Are there some rules and regulations we haven't learned about? Or does the Magic Kingdom have some kind of privilege? No, why does it feel somewhat familiar..."

——"Stop guessing."

In the end, it was Emerald Sparrow who interrupted the girls' clamor, slightly resignedly saying: "Actually, you all know her. She's my junior, Magical Girl codenamed Chaoyan."

With these words, the clamor in the living room ceased instantly. The doubt among the girls was completely dispelled.

Then, as this doubt was resolved, what burst forth was an even more intense series of shocked exclamations.

"Is it Auntie Hong?" Bai Jingxuan's cry was the most direct.

"Ah, it's actually Hong... Sister." Xia Liang covered her mouth slightly but still remembered to use the proper form of address.

"It's that weird woman?" Moke said the most bluntly at this time.

The girls and the Fairies shouted out together, each expressing their surprise, yet, there was only one person who didn't speak.

That was Lin Xiaolu.

It was not because she was too shocked, or because she had an inkling of the truth beforehand, but because her focus had already drifted to something peculiar.

She noticed the cautious smile tinged with a certain emotion that Hong Siyu gave to Emerald Sparrow, and the helpless yet gentle look from Emerald Sparrow in return.

What is their relationship?
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More than the truth about Hong Siyu's identity, this question had firmly occupied her mind from the moment it arose, triggering an alarm bell in Lin Xiaolu's thoughts.