Chapter 43: The Spring of Seoul (Misnamed)

Lu Xin traveled by spatial leaps, moving seamlessly from Tongzhou City, a major inland hub, to the outskirts of the capital.
Strangely, no local defense alarms were triggered as she passed through cities along the way.

Lu Xin knew why.
When she called to demand answers, someone higher up likely knew her intentions—perhaps even intending to shake up the Ministry of Natural Resources themselves.
Thus, they gave her a green light, ensuring no alarms were set off.

Though leaping through space to confront someone while bypassing alarms smacked of abusing power, in a way, her actions were a plea for justice on behalf of the people.

The Ministry of Natural Resources—those incompetent freeloaders—had let a Tier-Seven magical beast slip through, a creature with exceptional physical prowess and immunity to most magical attacks.
It was unthinkable what else they might let escape in the future.

Since the start of the year, magical beasts had been escaping nature reserves sporadically across the country.
Initially thought to be isolated incidents, it turned out they’d caused a massive blunder.
Not only had Lu Yue been injured, but Lu Ming had died once because of it.

Thinking of this, Lu Xin’s fists clenched tighter.

She walked calmly along the capital’s central avenue toward the inner ring.
But to make trouble for the Ministry, she couldn’t rely on herself alone—she needed backup.

As Lu Xin strode down the sidewalk, passersby steered clear of her menacing aura, wary of provoking the fierce-looking woman.

Though she traveled on foot, with a Tier-Seven · Swiftness spell boosting her, she reached the Magic Affairs Department’s inner-ring building from the suburbs in under ten minutes.

Pushing through the doors, Lu Xin found the lobby bustling with staff, clearly gathered to make a good impression on the new minister expected that afternoon.

Nodding in satisfaction, Lu Xin cleared her throat and spoke:

“Everyone, I’m your new superior, Tier-Eight Grand Mage Lu Xin.”

“Though today isn’t my official start date, I’m here with a purpose—or rather, a request.”

“Where’s the captain of the emergency response team?” Lu Xin scanned the crowded room.

“Here!” a robust voice boomed from the crowd.
The room fell silent, parting to reveal a path.

Thud! Thud!

A towering, iron-like man marched forward in precise steps, saluting Lu Xin loudly:

“Magic Affairs Department Combat Cadre Training Class, 12th Cohort, Iverson Jogue, reporting to Instructor Lu!”

“Well done! Full of spirit!”

Lu Xin responded with equal volume, confirming the man was one of her former students before clapping his shoulder heavily.

Iverson Jogue, one of Lu Xin’s prized pupils, practiced the rare Central Republic transcendent system—Warrior.
Now a Tier-Seven Warrior, his rank was simply denoted by tier, as the Republic hadn’t formalized warrior titles.

“Not bad, my star student,” Lu Xin nodded approvingly.

“But you know my identity is classified within the department.
Do you realize the mistake you’ve made?!” she roared.

“I know, Instructor!” Iverson replied loudly, eyes straight ahead.

“Do you know what punishment you deserve?!”

“Please punish me, Instructor!”

“Hah! Not only will I not punish you, I’m going to reward you!”

With that, Lu Xin tossed a storage ring to Iverson.
He caught the flipping ring with swift precision.

Probing its contents with his mental energy, Iverson found an abundance of items—too vast to call merely substantial.
After a moment’s thought, realizing what Instructor Lu intended, he moved to return the ring.

“Instructor! I can’t accept this!”

Lu Xin pushed the ring back, her eyes meeting his as she said:

“This isn’t just for you…”

She paused, sweeping her arm toward the crowd, and continued:

“It’s for everyone here.”

The crowd erupted in cheers.

“The Minister’s too generous!”

“Minister, I love you!”

“Understood, Minister!” Iverson saluted again, pulling a few emergency response team members to set up long tables.
He then emptied the storage ring’s contents onto them:

High-grade alchemical potions for cultivation, top-quality beast cores, and numerous alchemical weapons—enough for everyone.

Seeing this, the crowd realized the new minister’s words were no empty promise, erupting in even louder cheers than before.

Unlike other ministers who started with three fires, their minister was giving out money and gifts!

Even a few shy-looking magical girls in the back, initially hesitant, eagerly ran to Lu Xin, each conjuring a magical flower and pinning it to her head—a tradition where magical girls honored respected seniors with such flowers.

Lu Xin’s lips curved into a satisfied smile.
Back in the day, she’d given plenty of magical flowers to Corona, Scarlet, and Abyss.

What a memorable time, Lu Xin thought, unable to resist patting the head of the pink-haired, petite magical girl before her.
The girl cooperated, keeping still, while the two other short magical girls—one red-haired, one white-haired—leaned in for pats too.

“Alright, alright, everyone gets a turn,” Lu Xin chuckled, conjuring finely crafted hair accessories and handing them to the girls.

These were trinkets she’d made as Alice Phil in her spare time, inscribed with spells and arrays that genuinely aided in combat.

“What’s your codename, little one?” Lu Xin asked, her bearded face grinning like a shady uncle trying to lure a child.

“I’m Rose, Minister, and I’m in high school—not a kid,” the pink-haired magical girl, Rose, said with an awkward smile.

“Good, good, good,” Lu Xin laughed off.

“And what are your codenames?” she asked the other two.

“I’m Moonflower,” the white-haired girl nodded.

“I’m Rosa,” the red-haired girl bowed.

“We’re three sisters,” the trio said in unison.

“Very nice, very nice. Where’s your captain?” Lu Xin asked.

“Before you arrived, the captain said she was taking some seniors to block a door,” Rosa stepped forward to answer.

“Where?” Lu Xin was curious.
The magical girl squad’s captain knew she was coming yet wasn’t waiting—what was she up to?

“The Ministry of Natural Resources.”

“Your captain’s got the right idea,” Lu Xin said, pleased with the captain’s initiative.

“So, I think everyone understands why I’m here,” Lu Xin said, addressing the crowd again.

“That’s right—I’m here to make trouble for the Ministry of Natural Resources.”

“You’ve all heard about the beast escape incidents across the country this past year, making life hell for our colleagues.
Yesterday…”

“Those freeloaders let a Tier-Seven magical beast slip through, injuring two rookie magical girls at the Tongzhou City Bureau in Inner Plains Province, where I’m currently stationed, and nearly killing their mentor.”

“If another magical girl hadn’t been absent, we might’ve had another casualty.”

“When I called their minister this afternoon to demand answers, he said, ‘So what?’” Lu Xin’s face darkened.

“He said, ‘What about it?’”

Her words ignited the crowd’s fury.

“So, I hope you’ll help me—help the injured, help our colleagues across the country who’ve been cleaning up their mess—demand justice!”

“Lend me your strength!” Lu Xin clasped her fists, bowing to the crowd.

“Loyalty!” Iverson, standing beside her after distributing the supplies, stomped and roared.

“Loyalty!” The crowd echoed, their voices staggered but powerful.

“Excellent. Let’s move out—don’t keep the magical girls blocking the door waiting!”

“Move out!” Lu Xin commanded.

“Loyalty!”