Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

Chapter 37: 34 Chapter Claw Mark

The elderly director looked to be about sixty years old, with deep-set features, bright eyes, and a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and on her cheeks, yet her expression was stern yet pleasant.

She was clad in a dark brown woolen coat, her graying blonde hair neatly combed back, giving her a capable appearance, as she watched Lin Yun with a smile.

A Westerner?

Lin Yun had his suspicions, but he didn't voice them. Instead, he nodded calmly in greeting, "Hello, Director, may I ask how I should address you?"

"Just call me Mosi, titles are nothing but a formality," she said evenly.

"Please take a seat, I believe we will have much to discuss," the woman continued, her tone gentle.

Lin Yun followed her lead and sat down in the chair in front of the desk, exhaling softly, then looked up and said, "I am here today not for any other reason, but to find the truth."

"The Abnormal Strategy Bureau has many truths unknown to the public, which one do you need?"

Mosi gestured with one hand, inviting him to speak further, "Perhaps, we could start with discussing your situation?"

"My situation should be well-known to your agency, and I'd rather not go into tedious detail," Lin Yun said.

Lin Yun nodded, deliberately making his tone a bit more tense before getting straight to the point, "At the funeral two years ago, I encountered a young woman who told me that my wife was actually a Magical Girl."

"Afterwards, I began to sort through my wife's belongings and found a secret diary among them, which indeed recorded her experiences as a Magical Girl. Moreover, according to the diary, she had become aware of some hidden dangers shortly before she died."

This statement was thirty percent truth and seventy percent fiction; only the information he knew was true, while the way he obtained it was completely fabricated. To avoid arousing suspicion, Lin Yun did his best to ensure his words and actions were consistent, maintaining eye contact with Mosi to emphasize the sincerity in his speech.

"I am just an ordinary man, unable to do much in the face of such extraordinary beings, and can only treat it as bad luck, even though I know there was another reason for her death, I'm powerless to investigate. The least I could do was to follow her last wishes and raise our child well."

He stared intently into Mosi's eyes, "However... as you already know, I accidentally discovered that even my child has become a Magical Girl."

"My wife died because she was a Magical Girl, what about my child? I cannot predict what might happen to her next; if she too, were to encounter an accident... I'm sorry, just the thought of such a future makes me feel suffocated."

"So I must ask you, I feel I have the right to know, who is the murderer? And can you protect my daughter?"

After finishing saying this, he took a deep breath and looked down, "I apologize if I appeared a bit agitated."

He didn't expect to deceive the other party solely with lies, so most of his words were his true feelings. The only difference was that the real him did not believe the Abnormal Strategy Bureau could protect his daughter; he had already chosen to take matters into his own hands.

"...I am very sorry to have you revisit such painful memories," Mosi said, closing her eyes after hearing his story, then after a moment of thought, she spoke again.

"As for the murderer you mentioned, who killed your wife, that is actually why I wanted to meet with you alone, Mr. Lin Yun, the husband of Mrs. Sakura," she said.

"Why?" Lin Yun sensed something significant in her words.

With her eyes still closed, Mosi's expression grew more serious, "Because this is merely a guess of mine that I prefer not to disclose in public. To the outside world, especially within the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, what I am about to say is very much against our tenets and philosophy."

"You mean?" Lin Yun's gaze sharpened.

Opening her eyes, Mosi's hands that lay on the table interlocked, "…Mr. Lin Yun, do you think that all the Magical Girls in this world represent justice, fighting to protect the people?"

"…Isn't that the case?"

Her words made Lin Yun startle, his heart rising with some caution, "Without magical girls stepping up, ordinary people would never have such an easy life."

Though he retorted orally, he had another answer in his heart to Mosi's question. It's just that "Lin Yun" had no reason to know it.

"I do wish that were the case, and that's exactly why the Abnormal Strategy Bureau was established, but evidently, that's not the case."

Mosi, having no doubt, stood looking at Lin Yun, "Magical girls fight to protect, mainly due to the emotional bias brought about by their genuine social relations, but more importantly, due to the management and constraints from the Magic Kingdom side. In reality, if a magical girl abandons morality and conscience, and dares to confront the kingdom, it's entirely feasible for her to inflict this harmful power on humans, or even on their comrades."

"...Unbelievable," Lin Yun echoed that sentiment.

"Yes, unbelievable, but plausible."

Mosi nodded, "That's also why among magical girls, there would be rebels, and even defectors."

"Escaping the constraints of the Magic Kingdom, using this power for evil deeds, harming others, seizing power, committing misdeeds without any scruples, such magical girls do exist."

"In recent years, an even larger group of such magical girls has gathered together, secretly opposing the kingdom while brewing conspiracies for certain goals. They even, for some unknown reason, walk with Remnant Beasts, being just as... no, they are even more dangerous, existence to be avoided at all costs."

"Based on their certain characteristics, and as they refer to themselves, this group of defector magical girls is known as 'Claw Mark'."

It was this statement that shocked Lin Yun deep down.

Mosi's earlier comments were actually known to him; indeed, there were defector magical girls in the Magic Kingdom. But as far as he knew, such magical girls would be marked as wanted by the kingdom, with most being pursued and captured by investigators, and few successfully defecting.

That there would be enough defectors to form an organization and even walk with Remnant Beasts was something unheard of. "Claw Mark" was a term he had never encountered. He had never known such a group existed.

Therefore, he showed appropriate confusion and further inquired, "My wife's diary never mentioned this name."

Mosi shook her head, "That's because their emergence is a recent affair, and even I found out by a series of coincidences. It's normal that Ms. Sakura's earlier diaries don't contain any records of it."

"You are suggesting, my wife's death could likely..." Lin Yun furrowed his brow.

"I suspect Ms. Sakura's death is related to Claw Mark, as according to her contact, Ms. Sakura was a powerful magical girl who had been in combat for many years. Theoretically, if a Remnant Beast appeared that even she could not defeat, then such a beast would have already destroyed Fangting City by now."

Lin Yun could not be clearer about what Mosi was speaking of.

As a powerful magical girl, An Ya easily dealt with ordinary Remnant Beasts, often taking them on solo; otherwise, she couldn't have so effortlessly been stationed in Fangting City for over twenty years.

And the current strange happenings in Fangting City, if indeed wrought by this group known as "Claw Mark," would all make sense.

Yet, he still had some unclear matters, like right now.

"So, why are you telling me all this?"

Looking at Mosi, Lin Yun slowly asked, "If speaking of these things truly presents a risk, why then tell me, a mere ordinary person?"

"...I've said it, we will have much to discuss. Because, seeing you, I can't help but be reminded of my former self."

Mosi's expression remained kind, but his words carried an indescribable solitude:

"My daughter, while she was still alive, was also a magical girl."