Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl Chapter 130: Pursuit

The cobalt-blue magic trajectory suddenly streaked across the pitch-black night sky, hidden behind thick clouds, silently crossing over half the city.

Glancing at the phone screen between her fingers, the large “Missed Call” ssage made Veronica increasingly uneasy. She scowled, gritting her teeth, and kept accelerating her flight speed toward Hong Siyu’s apartnt, relying on her mory.

She still couldn’t stay at ho.

Because every ti she tried to contact Hong Siyu by phone, she couldn’t get through.

Even though she knew that separating from the others now was probably playing into the enemy’s hands, and that the mysterious phone call could be a trap, her intuition told her that what was said on the phone was true.

The ntion of “Veronica” and “Morning Glory”—Hong Siyu’s Magical Girl alias—imdiately increased the credibility of the ssage. Moreover, it matched perfectly with Veronica’s own suspicions.

A retired Magical Girl almost never regains her magic; that’s an ironclad rule of the Magic Kingdom. And to see a fairy, one must possess more magic than an ordinary person.

So, it was absolutely impossible for Hong Siyu, a retired Magical Girl, to see Moko.

Given this, Veronica suddenly recalled the strange tone of Hong Siyu’s words when she left.

Had she known sothing?

What did “It’s up to you, senior” really an?

And even more importantly, why had she sent all three of the children to her house tonight? Was she preparing for sothing?

The ergence of one truth only raised more questions. Veronica felt as if her mind was overwheld with doubts, and even trying to organize her thoughts felt difficult.

To find answers to all of this, the most important thing she could do now was to find Hong Siyu.

That was why she had rushed to the apartnt in the first place.

Following the familiar path, she flew to Hong Siyu’s apartnt balcony, casually used her magic threads to undo the latch, and almost leapt into the apartnt. Standing in the apartnt, she called out:

“Hóng Sīyǔ!”

However, the empty apartnt offered no response.

Veronica realized the worst-case scenario had truly co to pass.

Hong Siyu had left her apartnt nearly an hour ago. If nothing unusual had happened, she should have returned by now. But if she wasn’t at ho, she must have gone sowhere else.

Where could she have gone? Where would she go? And, no matter where she went, was this really her own decision?

With these questions in mind, Veronica turned on the lights in the apartnt and began scanning the space, trying to find any trace of Hong Siyu.

The apartnt wasn’t exactly tidy, but it wasn’t too ssy either—aside from a blanket carelessly thrown on the bed and a trash can overflowing with garbage, everything else seed sowhat organized.

Veronica squatted by the bed, opened the nightstand, and searched for a while. She only found so personal clothing and small items, but nothing of particular interest.

She turned around, opened the wardrobe, and found that the clothes had completely exceeded the wardrobe’s capacity, tumbling out as soon as the door opened. If she hadn’t reacted quickly, she might have been buried by the falling clothes.

She used magic threads to keep the clothes in place and continued searching through the wardrobe, but still found nothing.

She then moved to the open kitchen island, picked up an empty beer can from the counter, and noticed that the cans had been there for a long ti. The dried-up insides indicated that they hadn’t been used in quite a while.

This seed to suggest that Hong Siyu hadn’t returned to the apartnt for several days.

Had she been staying at the secret base after work to train the new recruits? Or was there another reason?

The questions only multiplied as the investigation progressed. Veronica tried to find clues about Hong Siyu’s whereabouts in the apartnt but ca up empty.

At this point, her investigation had reached an impasse.

Helpless, she pulled out her phone again, opened her contacts, and felt that she should reach out to that unknown number, hoping they might provide more information.

She pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear, her gaze still scanning the room. But as her eyes passed over the balcony’s floor-to-ceiling windows, they suddenly froze, unable to look away.

—She saw a moth.

It wasn’t an ordinary insect, but one that was far larger than expected—almost as big as a basin.

The moth was quietly perched on the outside of the apartnt’s balcony window, its wings hanging down naturally as it stood upright, seemingly watching the scene inside.

The reason she used the word “watching” was because Veronica felt a strong sense of being observed.

It felt as though she was being watched by an insect.

The phone on her ear still hadn’t connected, and Veronica stood there, holding her phone, staring intently at the moth outside.

“…sszzzz…”

Then, during this ti, the familiar static noise suddenly ca from the phone.

Despite the strange moth, Veronica’s priority was still finding Hong Siyu, so she quickly shifted her focus to the phone call, asking directly:

“Hello? Where is Hong Siyu?”

Every ti she had received a mysterious call, it had cut off before any critical information was revealed. She wasn’t sure how long this call would last, so she wasted no ti and went straight to the point.

“sszzzz… sszzzz…”

It seed like the voice on the other end was responding to her question, with the noise becoming even more intense.

After a long period of indistinct noise, a much weaker voice finally erged again: “It’s… very high…”

“Very high?” Veronica frowned and repeated.

“…She usually goes there…” The weak voice kept stuttering, the fragnted words continuing to reach Veronica’s ears.

She struggled to make sense of the words, trying to morize them, but the voice kept getting quieter, until it beca almost inaudible.

“Hello? I can’t hear you. Are you still there?” Veronica couldn’t help but confirm.

The other end only gave static.

“Hello?”

The static remained unchanged.

“Are you still there?”

—“Boom!”

Just as Veronica increased the phone’s volu, a deafening explosion sound suddenly blasted from the other side, causing a strong shockwave that nearly made her drop the phone.

Thankfully, her quick reflexes allowed her to use magic threads to catch the phone before it fell, but when she looked at the screen again, it showed that the call had ended.

Not believing it, Veronica dialed the number again, but after a short wait, the ssage ca through that the number was “switched off,” leaving no further opportunity.

This ti, her call with the unknown number had ended without a resolution.

Veronica stared blankly at the phone screen for a mont, then quickly turned her gaze back to the balcony windows. The huge moth was still perched there, extending its wings. Though it made no sound, its trembling antennae seed to mock her, as if it were laughing.

The scene only made Veronica’s mood worse, and she had no intention of letting this strange creature get away. With that, she raised her hand and shot a magic beam.

The deep blue magic instantly pierced through the security glass of the window, enclosing the moth. But when the magic dissipated, she found that aside from the shattered glass, nothing else had been hit—the moth had vanished, like an illusion.

Veronica hurried forward, crouched down, and examined the broken window. After confirming there were no insect remains, her confusion deepened.

Had she just seen an illusion?

To verify, Veronica looked up toward the distance, trying to find any trace of the moth’s departure. But the darkened night sky was eerily quiet, with no flying objects in sight.

Standing on the balcony, Veronica tiptoed and squinted her eyes, scanning the area. It was nearly midnight in Fangting City, and aside from a few lights, there was nothing else to see. The roads were empty of cars and pedestrians, and the shops and tall buildings had mostly turned off their lights. In the desolate city, there was nothing else worth noticing.

However, as Veronica continued to look farther, a familiar silhouette of a building suddenly caught her eye.

At first, she didn’t recognize what it was, but once she realized, her gaze stopped sharply in that direction—because it dawned on her that it was the Counterasure Bureau.

Hong Siyu’s apartnt wasn’t far from the Fangting City Counterasure Bureau—only a little over a kiloter away. She had probably chosen this location for convenience, to avoid commuting for work.

Perhaps she could go to the Counterasure Bureau and ask? Veronica wondered. But at this hour, the managent would have already gone ho. Even if she went, what could she ask?

Moreover, from her current vantage point, the Counterasure Bureau was shrouded in darkness, with not a single light shining through any window.

If there wasn’t even a hint of light, could the Bureau really be staffed?

This lead didn’t seem to be going anywhere, so Veronica sighed and was about to turn away. But just as she turned, her feet froze in place, and her eyes widened slowly.

How could there be no one at the Counterasure Bureau?

As the last line of defense against magical threats in the city, the Bureau should have personnel stationed there at all tis, even in the dead of night. Even if only a few departnts or small teams were left on duty, it shouldn’t look like this—completely dark and empty.

Sothing’s wrong.

Veronica’s mind flashed back to her recent experience in Bo’an City. The mories, still fresh in her mind, were all too clear. She hadn’t forgotten what she encountered there.

The Bo’an City incident had eventually been linked to the Counterasure Bureau, so what about Fangting City?

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the Bureau’s capabilities, but during the previous attack incidents, the Bureau had shown a lack of sensitivity to the situation.

And even without concrete evidence, she couldn’t shake the feeling:

—She might have to go to the Counterasure Bureau now.