"It's so disgraceful, she's only lost, yet she cries . It's too shameful," Lin Xiaolu commented on Bai Ji, standing beside Emerald Sparrow as if she had forgotten about how just a week ago, she had locked herself in her room and wallowed in dejection all night after losing to Bai Ji.
Emerald Sparrow hadn't forgotten, but she wouldn't bring up such an embarrassing matter, so she simply explained in a neither hot nor cold tone, "It's not mainly because of the loss, but because she was ignored by the person she admires, and that's why she feels so aggrieved. It's not something I can't understand."
"Even if she was ignored, there's no reason to... in such a setting..."
Lin Xiaolu, probably because she had just gotten her revenge, spoke with much fervor, picking up where Emerald Sparrow left off, condescendingly wanting to criticize Bai Ji further. But soon, realizing what she was saying, she couldn't continue, "...You're right, I guess it's not something I can't understand."
"Are you a little happier now? You defeated an opponent you had lost to before," Emerald Sparrow asked.
Gazing at Bai Ji not far away, crying her heart out, Lin Xiaolu, who initially had a rather triumphant expression, for some reason seemed to weaken slightly. After a pause, she exhaled, "I suppose I'm happy? After all, she was so arrogant before..."
Emerald Sparrow couldn't help but turn her head and look seriously at her daughter beside her.
It had been several days since she had communicated with her, neither as Emerald Sparrow nor as Lin Yun.
Lin Xiaolu had just achieved a hard-won victory. Although there was tiredness in her expression from the fight, compared to the despondence of the previous days, she certainly looked much more spirited now.
The anxiety over not being able to awaken her magical gear, the panic of always being behind her teammates—while these feelings hadn't vanished entirely, at least they seemed to have faded temporarily from Lin Xiaolu.
But, for some reason, Emerald Sparrow felt that beneath these emotions, Lin Xiaolu still carried a strong sense of confusion.
This confusion hadn't diminished with the victory in the competition; instead, it had grown even more intense.
"...Emerald Sparrow, I did it. The things I've learned these days, the achievements of my practice, I've shown them all to you in the fight just now," Lin Xiaolu spoke after a long silence: "Although many things are still immature, I hope you saw them all."
"Yes, I know, thank you. I watched very closely," Emerald Sparrow replied softly: "You've made great progress, you performed very well in this fight."
"Really? That's good," Lin Xiaolu replied, seemingly relieved.
Then, as if she were struggling with herself again, after another brief pause, she asked, "So, may I ask then? Emerald Sparrow...what exactly do you think of me?"
This abrupt question left Emerald Sparrow somewhat puzzled: "I think you're doing very well."
Lin Xiaolu's voice suddenly rose by two decibels, "Really? You think...you think I'm doing very well? Then, where exactly am I doing well, well...good?"
For some reason, her rhythm of speech was completely off, some pronunciations weren't quite right, perhaps she had bitten her own tongue.
"Where am I doing well? Your control of magic power has indeed improved, the application and connection of basic skills are noticeably optimized; your judgment of the opponent's attacking intent is more accurate, you can now predict some attacking patterns; your movements in avoiding attacks have become more agile, no longer as forceful as before... All these are visible improvements," Emerald Sparrow enumerated Lin Xiaolu's recent battle performance, feeling quite gratified and moved even as she spoke these words of progress: "You've really worked hard, I'm very proud of you."
But who could have known that such precise and sincere praise from Emerald Sparrow would inexplicably make Lin Xiaolu feel dejected.
Had something gone wrong? Emerald Sparrow was momentarily perplexed.
But with Bai Ji's cries and Asou Haruka's troubled words of comfort as a backdrop, the team contest between Bai'an City and Fangting City also came to a complete close.
The overall score was 2 to 1, Fangting City 2 points, Bai'an City 1 point, with the final victory going to Fangting City.
The final point was earned by Bai Jingxuan.
The last competitor from Bai'an City, Mokuren, being the only magical girl in the team who hadn't mastered Turbidity and who was still at the bud level, was defeated in less than a minute by Bai Jingxuan's desperate fighting tactics and overwhelming magic power, lying on the ground, shakily raising a white flag.