Investigating the case of Wange Yue’s murder was so tricky precisely because it was just too bizarre.
If it had been done through ordinary means, there’s no way Wange Yue could have vanished from her room without a trace.
What’s more, an ordinary person wouldn’t have the power to kill an S-rank Magical Girl.
If it was magic, then there should’ve been at least some sign of magical energy at the scene.
Besides, considering Wange Yue was quite strong and there was no sign of a struggle in her room, The Association guessed the culprit must’ve been someone familiar— someone Wange Yue wouldn’t be on guard against, who caught her off guard and ambushed her.
That’s why Silver Bell and Qiuli, the only two who visited Wange Yue that day, became prime suspects.
Not to mention, Qiuli had that unsavory background as a Corpse Collector. But unfortunately, there wasn’t any real evidence.
On the surface, the Tianqi Church also refused to let The Association investigate, so the matter just fizzled out.
Right now, the cause of Wange Yue’s death is unknown, and her whereabouts are still a mystery.
There are two main reasons people believe she’s been killed— first, the bloodstains found in her room, and second, several hours after she lost contact, the Cheng Lü that enveloped the whole of North Blossom City disappeared.
That alone was proof enough that Wange Yue, who maintained the Cheng Lü, had most likely met with misfortune.
“But the problem is, how could Wange Yue possibly vanish from her room into thin air?”
Xiaoxi pulled out photos of the crime scene—Wange Yue’s room—for the Astrologer to see.
“After fighting Jingtong that day, I suddenly realized this possibility: what if it was the Divine Summon Order’s doing, and that Jingtong used spatial magic to abduct Wange Yue? Wouldn’t that explain everything?”
Jingtong’s ability uses mirrors as a medium. Knowing this, Xiaoxi quickly found what she was looking for in Wange Yue’s room.
Xiaoxi pointed to a spot in the photo, “Look here—”
Wange Yue’s room was sparsely furnished. Xiaoxi’s focus landed on the large, full-length mirror in the corner.
As long as there’s a mirror as the medium, Jingtong could pull people into her spatial barrier, right?
Xiaoxi hadn’t dared draw a conclusion before because she’d thought the Divine Summon Order came to North Blossom City targeting Ye Xinglan, but that premise was wrong.
Now, since the Astrologer said the Divine Summon Order had infiltrated North Blossom City long before them, that changed everything.
Thinking about it carefully, weren’t the recent disappearances of those weirdos and Wange Yue’s case pretty similar?
Both happened in enclosed spaces with no surveillance, with people vanishing without a trace—and no magical energy detected at the time.
“This explains why The Association didn’t find any magic residue at the scene when Wange Yue vanished—Jingtong’s ability really leaves almost nothing behind. And in this latest disappearance, they barely even noticed her, right?”
The Astrologer nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense. Even if you went back later to investigate, any magical traces would have long since faded.”
Judging by how strong Jingtong was in actual combat, if she ambushed Wange Yue and carried her away, it wasn’t impossible. The blood in the room was probably from the moment she was attacked.
If you look at it that way, the timing, the method, and all the other details line up. It was the Divine Summon Order that had snuck into North Blossom City and ambushed Wange Yue.
“So, let me join the operation against the Divine Summon Order. That way, I can investigate Wange Yue’s case too, right?”
The Astrologer pondered a moment, then nodded slowly. “Alright, what you say makes sense. As it happens, Silver Bell is in charge of the operation against the Divine Summon Order. You can also take the chance to check if she’s the culprit.”
Xiaoxi blinked in surprise. Why still investigate Silver Bell? Surely, in this case, Silver Bell can be ruled out already?
Honestly, she’d never suspected her old teammate from the start—getting Silver Bell to do this would be even harder than getting her to sing in front of everyone during a team-building KTV night.
Thinking back to those KTV nights, the people least willing to sing were always Muxingge and Silver Bell.
The former always said, “I don’t want to keep working during my break,” while the latter would shrink into a corner and act like a turtle.
“Still, an investigation is necessary. Looking into Silver Bell isn’t to confirm she’s guilty, but to prove her innocence,” the Astrologer said quietly.
“Once we prove that no one from The Association is at fault, the Tianqi Church’s excuse for keeping us out will fall apart. Then, we’ll be able to dig into what the church is really hiding.”
That’s right—the Tianqi Church had refused The Association’s involvement with the hardline excuse, “The real culprit might be someone from The Association, so you can’t be trusted.”
Xiaoxi recalled what Qiuli had said the other day; it seemed The Association also suspected the Tianqi Church was up to something.
“It’s settled, then. Don’t tell Xinglan about this.”
Since the Divine Summon Order was involved, Xiaoxi couldn’t just sit on the sidelines. But she didn’t want her own little girlfriend dragged into it, either. If Ye Xinglan found out, she’d definitely kick up a fuss wanting to join in, so it was better to keep it from her.
“Oh, Astrologer ma’am, are you sure you want Silver Bell on this case? If you know her situation, you must realize that Jingtong’s ability…kind of counters Silver Bell.”
The Astrologer let out a sigh.
“I know. But the Silverflame Dragon Princess is the strongest force in North Blossom City right now. For something related to the Divine Summon Order, if I don’t send this S-rank Magical Girl, who else can I send?”
“You don’t need to worry too much. The Great Chaos Era ended so long ago—your old friends have grown, at least a little, don’t you think?”
…Do they?
Xiaoxi thought about her recent encounter with Silver Bell. It was hard to say if the girl had really improved at all.
At that moment, Silver Bell, curled up in her room while finishing a character’s side quest, snapped a screenshot of a special CG with a loud “click,” took off her headphones, and stretched with a big yawn.
Suddenly, she thought of something. On a whim, she pressed her ear to the wall. She couldn’t even explain why she was so interested, but the room next door was oddly quiet tonight.
Well, thinking about it, reality isn’t a romance game. There’s no way someone could trigger a special CG every day, right?
In reality, there’s no such thing as a tireless ox—doing it every day would be exhausting.
On the other side, after finishing the call, Xiaoxi let out a long sigh, got up, and went into the bedroom, planning to sleep with her little rich girl.
Come on, she was just using that as an excuse to get away from Ye Xinglan and have a private chat with the Astrologer.
How could she really bear to leave Ye Xinglan alone to sleep on the sofa?
Before long, a deliberately hushed voice came from the bedroom.
“Ah, sorry, Xinglan, did I wake you by moving around too much?”
“Wuwu, baby, I knew you couldn’t bear to leave me sleeping alone…”
“…Don’t start groping me the moment you open your eyes! Hurry up and go to sleep! If you keep messing around, you’ll be sleeping on the sofa tonight! Are you never tired or what?”
The next second, Xiaoxi’s voice suddenly went up a notch.