Yuan pursed her lips.
She lowered her head, her pleading gaze shifting slightly to the side, only to see Semi lying quietly on the ground, as if dead, with no movement at all.
With a sigh in her heart, she had no choice but to organize her thoughts and speak haltingly, "Over here... things haven't been going smoothly because, according to my investigation, the Source of Beasts from the moth... is now controlled by Molu."
"As for Cornflower, although she is injured just like the reports indicated, there are veteran members of the Fangting City squad stationed here, ensuring her safety."
"That girl named Bai Jingxuan... she's also almost always at the secret base of the Fangting City Magical Girl squad, rarely showing up, and even when she does, she's always in the company of others, with no suitable opportunity to make a move."
She racked her brains to extract what could be considered "facts" from her mind, which she then composed into the above statement.
All these words were true, but they were not actually the reason why she hadn't succeeded; the only reason was that she was here "on vacation," not eager to resolve things early.
Luckily, the information Yuan managed to throw out seemed to have truly caught the girl's attention, especially the code name signifying the Research Institute's Gemstone Scepter.
It was also a piece of information Yuan had learned only during her recent challenge with Emerald Sparrow, and it was precisely because of this revelation that Yuan adopted a devil-may-care attitude and settled down in Fangting City for good.
After all, it might be acceptable for her to rob a nearly stocked Gemstone Scepter who was injured, but to go and rob a fully empowered reigning Gemstone Scepter? That was no joke.
Upon hearing this code name, the girl first froze briefly, then furrowed her brow, pouted her lips, and showed a clearly petulant expression. Even though she was angry, she still appeared somewhat endearing: "That bookworm is always annoyingly sharp when it comes to these matters."
"You said the Source of Beasts is controlled by Molu, to what extent? Has it already reached her personally, or is it merely held by those librarians who overstep boundaries everywhere? Has it been transported to their nation, or is it still in the physical realm?"
The girl's clear voice rang out, almost like reciting a poem, "So, since the Source of Beasts has reached her, has Cornflower actually made some kind of deal with her?"
Yuan appeared to answer honestly but carefully chose her words, "I had previously found Cornflower and asked her to hand over the Source of Beasts, but not only did other members of the Fangting City squad come to stop me, but during the process, I also learned that the Source of Beasts had been taken by Molu."
"I don't know when Molu came and made the deal with her, but it must have been completed when we were unaware." Feeling this wasn't enough to cover her shortcomings, she added another sentence.
"So you're saying you don't know the progress... but you're sure Molu took it? Could it be a deception to take advantage of you?" the girl asked.
"I can't sense any residual aura of the Source of Beasts on Cornflower, and there is no trace left in Ting City either; even if it's not Molu, it shouldn't be in this city anymore," Yuan reported truthfully.
"I haven't verified the reliability of this information yet; that's my mistake," she admitted her lapse in due diligence.
"That's alright, let's assume it's true, as it doesn't conflict with our original intent," the girl said, shaking her head gently.
"So, the remaining tasks are only to bring Cornflower and Bai Jingxuan back, and if those two tasks could be completed, their worth would be no less than a Source of Beasts. Do you have any leads?"
"This matter, because the old members of the Fangting City team are stationed there, is actually not that easy..."
Interrupting Yuan's evasive words, the girl looked curious, leaning slightly towards the mirror as she probed, "Twenty years ago, the Fangting City team was legendary because of Cornflower and Sakura, but now Cornflower is injured and Sakura is dead. The rest should pose no threat to you, right?"
"I have tried fighting them, but it seems that the injured Cornflower can recover some strength with the support of her teammates, and her teammates are also Flower-class..." Yuan's voice grew softer and softer.
"Yet, to you, that still counts for nothing, doesn't it?"
The girl suddenly smiled, her expression bright and pure, "You are my most trusted warrior. Even against Cornflower or a member of Sakura at their peak, you ought to be more than capable of a fight."
"...Yes." Yuan could only respond thus.
"If a head-on fight really seems too hard for you to win, then you could try using the people in the city, couldn't you? It's almost the so-called New Year in the Material World, and according to their customs, how about setting off some nice fireworks for them?"
Seeing that Yuan was reluctant to speak more, the girl went on in a coy, innocent voice, "A million people might affect the normal operation of the city, which would be inconvenient for the Angel Envoy to take over later... So how about one hundred thousand? That number should be enough to make them accept some unequal rules."
"...What do you mean?"
"Kill them." The girl's tone was flighty, as if she were discussing what to have for dinner.
Yuan fell silent once again.
Facing the leader of the Claw Mark, the former Gemstone Scepter—White Wolf, she found herself silent so frequently.
"Ah, why aren't you speaking?"
At Yuan's silence, White Wolf blinked, tilting her head somewhat puzzled, "Are you unhappy because I'm meddling too much with your mission? If that's the case, I'm sorry, I just hope you can solve your troubles quickly and return to our home. It's my fault for being so talkative, won't you stop being mad at me?"
"After all, it's a bit lonely being alone."
Her gaze upon Yuan was tender, and she smiled bashfully like a shy young girl, "How nice it would be if you could come back to keep me company sooner."
Yuan couldn't lift her head.
Even though she knew that if she looked up now, she would only see White Wolf's signature tender gaze, she still couldn't bring herself to lift her head.
All she could do was keep her head down, bowing deeply, as deeply as a subject before the emperor in the royal court.
Then, like a puppet, she squeezed the stiff words from her mouth.