Chapter 32: Wrong

“Everything comes down to one problem.”

Wen Yaquan tapped her temple. “Your massive memory gap. Also, I researched that nursing home.”

“It’s listed publicly but restricted—only for high-ranking families, with a backdoor link.” She pointed upward. “You woke up unscathed, left right away, and fought an Earth Demon Worm in a normal body. That’s not just your magical girl past; their top-tier care helped.”

“Your husband… well, well, well…”

Jiang Lingwei’s face darkened. Wen Yaquan waved her hands. “You get so mad! I won’t mention him. But, hey, don’t glare—I need to reference him.”

“Call him ‘that person,’” Jiang Lingwei said, stone-faced.

Praising him annoyed her; bashing him felt worse since she’d had his child. Better to skip it, like Voldemort.

This mood made “that person” her stand-in term.

“Anyway, ‘that person’ had enough pull to keep you supported there for free,” Wen Yaquan said. “Your daughter’s magical girl status doesn’t explain it.”

“I checked. Months ago, before she was a magical girl, your file was top secret. It only became ‘Magical Girl Family Member’ after her registration, tied to benefits.”

Wen Yaquan took a breath. “I’ve only seen this with the mysterious ‘first generation.’”

“Huh?” Jiang Lingwei leaned in. “You can’t find them either?”

“Nothing.” Wen Yaquan shook her head, disdainful. “The ‘first generation’s’ data isn’t ours. Probably guarded by fairies.”

“Let’s focus on my memory.” Jiang Lingwei knew her timeline didn’t match the public “first generation,” ruling out direct links.

The hospital timing was too convenient, sparking suspicions.

She sat back. “If I recover my memories, it’s all solved.”

“Easy enough,” Wen Yaquan said, tilting her head. “You’ve ‘deleted’ memories, right? But it’s a ‘seal,’ not erasure, yeah?”

“Ever think your memory loss is a sealed spell?”

“If so, you could unseal it yourself. Worst case, like me, overuse it to boost your magic and unlock it.”

“…”

Jiang Lingwei stared blankly.

Five seconds later—

“Right!” She shot up. “Why didn’t I think of a memory erasure spell?”

“I’ll try now…”

She touched her transformation device’s cracked gem, paused, then sat down. “No, I can’t use magic.”

“Huh?” Wen Yaquan’s eyes widened. “Why? You don’t need to transform.”

“Yeah…” Jiang Lingwei held up the device. “But I’ve got no magic in my body. I can’t cast on myself…”

“And memory erasure only works on normal people, not magical girls,” Wen Yaquan finished. “How’s that possible? No magic at all? What happened?”

“Don’t put it like that.” Jiang Lingwei couldn’t explain.

The old fairy’s teaching was shaky—Wen Yaquan’s tenth wipe proved it only sealed memories.

“Let’s drop my issues. It’s not a big deal. I’ll find another magical girl to unseal it.”

With public magical girls and Wen Yaquan’s network, it seemed simple.

“They can’t,” Wen Yaquan said flatly.

“Why?” Jiang Lingwei was shocked. It wasn’t hard magic; most magical girls would help.

“I mean, they can’t,” Wen Yaquan stressed. “Literally.”

“I can teach them,” Jiang Lingwei insisted.

“No, Little Aurora, you’re not getting it.” Wen Yaquan activated a hibernation-chamber-like device.

“It’s 2032. Things have changed.”

“…”

As Jiang Lingwei sat silent, Wen Yaquan input parameters, saying, “The old fairy taught me magic theory. I can’t use it, but I know it.”

“I tried teaching modern magical girls—impossible. Their essence and fairy contracts have changed.”

“Today’s magical girls aren’t like us.”

Jiang Lingwei stood. “How?”

“Magical girls have talents,” Wen Yaquan said.

“Yeah.” Jiang Lingwei nodded.

“Modern ones too, but their talents are different.”

“What’s yours?” Wen Yaquan asked.

“Healing, Light Magic Affinity, Auxiliary Amplification,” Jiang Lingwei said instantly.

“Exactly. You, our peers—the real—” Wen Yaquan’s voice grew heavy, “the real first generation, were like that.”

“Now, talents are specific ‘abilities’ or ‘techniques.’”

Hands in her coat pockets, her eyes lonely, she said, “We’re outdated. New kids are different.”

“Uh…” Jiang Lingwei’s face grew serious. After a long pause, she said, “I don’t get it.”

Smack.

Wen Yaquan slapped her forehead. “Ruined the mood! I knew you’d miss it. Simply put—”

“How’d you fix something?”

“Repair magic,” Jiang Lingwei said, shrugging. “Not the Twin Towers, though—I can’t.”

“That’s it. Modern magical girls don’t do repair magic. They can’t learn it. The Administration finds a girl with repair talent instead.”

“That’s the era—so magical girls went public, despite the fallout.”

“It’s less magic, more like superpowers under magic’s influence. That’s the idea.”

She opened the device’s lid. “You’ll get it. Lie down. I’ll check your body. Why didn’t you mention your normal state’s off?”

“Uh-huh.” Jiang Lingwei slipped off her shoes and climbed in, trusting Wen Yaquan despite the device’s mystery.

“Now that you mention it, something’s wrong.”

Before the lid closed, she looked at Wen Yaquan. “The demons… they’re too weak.”

“Uh?” Wen Yaquan’s face showed surprise at Jiang Lingwei’s serious tone.

Ding-ling-ling~

Lin Yu entered Yaoguang Coffee, petting Hei Dou.

She trudged upstairs, expecting her mom’s anime binge.

At the third-floor door, key in hand, she froze.

Voices.

Her mom, excited: “Let’s see if you’re developing normally!”

“No way!”

“Be good! (Shock) Put this on!”

“No! Sister Quan, no spicy stuff! Sister Quan, don’t…”

Lin Yu: “????”

Her key hovered, hand frozen.