Regarding this, Xia Liang simply shook her head, "I just suddenly felt like coming to see."
"I don't know, do I have to have a purpose?"
"...Not necessarily."
Xia Liang's somewhat elusive attitude left Emerald Sparrow a bit puzzled, but as usual, she pulled out another chair from beside her desk: "Sit down."
This chair was originally used for study sessions, but ever since the Bai'an City team arrived, there had been more occasions to entertain guests, so it had been nearly a week since the last meeting.
Without a word, Xia Liang took the chair, sat down beside the table, and then just silently looked at Emerald Sparrow, making the atmosphere suddenly rather awkward.
"Doesn't the junior need to continue working?"
After a while, she spoke, "Don't mind me, you can just continue doing your own thing."
"...How could I possibly focus on work with someone staring at me the whole time."
Emerald Sparrow tapped her fingers on the teacup, her eyelids drooping: "It's so late, don't you need to sleep?"
"I'm not sleepy yet."
With both hands propping her cheeks, Xia Liang muttered softly, "On the other hand, junior, 'I am very tired' seems to be written all over your face."
Emerald Sparrow subconsciously touched her own face, but as a Magical Girl, she wouldn't have real sweat, so what she felt was still smooth skin: "I don't think it's that bad yet."
"The number of times you've sighed has also increased lately, you seem to be in a bad mood."
Emerald Sparrow couldn't deny the situation Xia Liang had pointed out: "Thanks for your concern, but rest assured, I'm actually not that down, many times it's just a subconscious reaction."
Suddenly, the room fell silent again.
One was looking at the other, and the other slightly bowed her head; neither was doing anything, yet both remained silent.
"Is everything okay with Xiaolu? I've seen her sneaking off to meet Miss Asou for several days," Xia Liang suddenly asked after a few minutes, "You should know about it, right, junior?"
"There's no problem, I've discussed it with Asou."
Gazing at her teacup, looking at the blurred reflection on the ceramic surface, Emerald Sparrow softly said, "In this matter, I indeed need to learn to let go, not to hold on too tightly."
"What about Bai Jingxuan? Suddenly having her compete with other Magical Girls, her magic equipment isn't really suitable for one-on-one combat."
"Bai Jingxuan... don't worry about her strength, just focus on her performance," Emerald Sparrow stated calmly.
"I always feel like you're secretly giving Bai Jingxuan a leg up?"
"...That's not true."
"Then, why are you so confident in her abilities?"
"It's just that I've exchanged some thoughts with her and discovered some special talents, you'll all know about it soon enough," Emerald Sparrow vaguely responded.
"Hmm? Oh." Knowing that Emerald Sparrow was just being evasive, Xia Liang replied noncommittally.
The tapping on the teacup continued, but its rhythm was erratic. The bare trees outside swayed slightly in the cold wind, making a faint rustling noise.
Xia Liang still propped up her cheeks, a faint smile on her face as she looked at Emerald Sparrow, then asked softly:
The tapping of fingers on the teacup paused.
The wall clock kept ticking clearly, yet in the air that seemed to have frozen, it felt somewhat out of place.
Finally, Emerald Sparrow moved her gaze away from the tabletop.
Now, she had to face the girl in front of her.