Chapter 63: Familiar Faces

“Who’s this young lady? I don’t think we’ve met,” Xiao Xuan said, feigning puzzlement while scratching his head, his eyes glinting with confusion.

Of course, Xiao Xuan knew exactly who the red-haired, golden-eyed magical girl was.
A month ago, he’d received a confidential notice about Xiao Yan becoming a magical girl.

But Jin Yan was too careless, unaware she was still in her transformed state.
To spare his clumsy daughter’s dignity, Xiao Xuan played dumb.

“Eh? Dad?” Jin Yan’s eyes drooped, on the verge of tears.

She knew her father, often away for work, rarely came home.
Seeing Xiao Xuan at the training field, she hadn’t thought twice before rushing out to greet him.

Abyss, noticing Jin Yan’s dash, paused her guidance of Polaris and followed her out.
She saw Jin Yan calling a middle-aged stranger “Dad.”

Quickly piecing things together, Abyss realized Jin Yan had forgotten she was transformed, blurting out her real identity.

Good thing that man’s actually her father, or she’d be in bigger trouble.

Polaris and Flash, who were practicing in the training field, exchanged a glance and followed to see the commotion, only to find Jin Yan calling the stranger “Dad.”

Flash, observing the scene, glanced at Lu Xin and Abyss before focusing on Jin Yan.

Abyss pulled Jin Yan back gently, whispering, “Jin Yan, have you forgotten you’re still transformed?”

At Abyss’s reminder, Jin Yan’s eyes widened in realization.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” she said, then, in front of everyone, reverted to her normal self—a lively high schooler with red-tipped hair, Xiao Yan.

Abyss, seeing her warning backfire, covered her eyes, unable to watch Xiao Yan’s awkward predicament.

Xiao Xuan sighed inwardly at his daughter’s blunder.
Dropping his confused act, he said, “Yan Yan, when did you become a magical girl?”

“A month ago… wait, what?!” Xiao Yan gasped, realizing she’d just exposed herself to her father.
Panicking, she transformed back into Jin Yan, stepping back to shield Abyss.

“Dad… I mean, Uncle, what were you saying?” Jin Yan stammered, desperately trying to cover her slip-up.

“Hahaha!” Xiao Xuan burst out laughing at her antics.

“Alright, Xiao Yan, I know you’re a magical girl. No need to pretend,” he said.

Jin Yan gave an awkward laugh, her toes digging into the floor in embarrassment.

“Okay, okay,” Lu Xin interjected, smoothing things over.
“Stop teasing your daughter.”

He turned to the rookie magical girls.
“I brought this gentleman here today so you could meet him.”

“This is Xiao Xuan, the next director of the Tongzhou City Magic Affairs Bureau, formerly from White Tower,” Lu Xin announced.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Xiao Xuan,” he greeted the magical girls.

“Besides them, there’s another teacher who isn’t here, but I’ve already informed her about you,” Lu Xin told Xiao Xuan.

“Who might that be?” Xiao Xuan asked, surprised.
With Abyss, a Tier-Seven magical girl, as their teacher, another instructor was unexpected.

“Magical Girl Yuehua,” Lu Xin said slowly.

Magical Girl Yuehua?
Xiao Xuan’s pupils contracted.
He knew the weight of that name—Corona’s perfect partner, the Merciless Moon, the Beast Grinder.

Such a fierce woman… magical girl, making a comeback after seventeen years in a small place like Inner Plains Province?

Seeing Xiao Xuan’s stunned silence, Lu Xin lowered his voice to a magical whisper only they could hear.
“Yuehua’s my wife, assigned by me. And Polaris is my daughter, so you’d better make things easy for her, Little Xuan.”

What? Yuehua’s Lu Xin’s wife?

Xiao Xuan stared at Lu Xin, from his bearded face to his… well, lower half, struggling to comprehend how this seemingly sleazy man won over a legend like Yuehua.

No wonder she vanished for seventeen years—she was playing housewife and raising a kid.

Xiao Xuan exhaled, then, in a normal voice, Lu Xin said, “Didn’t expect your daughter to be so pretty, Little Xuan.”
He clapped Xiao Xuan’s shoulder.

Snapping back, Xiao Xuan called out to Jin Yan, “Yan Yan, come say hello to Uncle Lu.”

Jin Yan, visibly shy, bowed to Lu Xin.
“Hello, Uncle Lu.”

“Good kid,” Lu Xin said, pleased.

Polaris, standing beside Flash, watched Jin Yan and her father with envy.
Jin Yan’s dad was the next director, while her own was just a novelist.
A wave of inferiority hit her, but memories of her father’s kindness softened the sting.

If Jin Yan’s dad is the next director, doesn’t that mean…

Polaris began daydreaming about a bright future.

But where would Director Lu go after stepping down?
She grew curious.

Before she could ask, someone beat her to it.

“Director Lu, where will you be heading next?” Abyss asked.

As Lu Xin had been her superior and facilitated her advisory role in the Equipment Department—thanks in part to her mentor—Abyss wanted to know more, hoping to repay his support.

With his meeting with Corona that evening on the horizon, Lu Xin saw no point in hiding his plans.
After tonight, he might finally hold his head high again.

“I’ll be taking the role of Minister of the Magic Affairs Department, your director’s boss,” Lu Xin said.

“Congratulations, Minister Lu!” Abyss said politely.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Lu Xin said modestly.
“I’ll be counting on you all to keep protecting the public.”
He bowed slightly to the magical girls.

“It’s our duty,” Abyss replied, echoed by the others behind her.

Having introduced Xiao Xuan to the magical girls, Lu Xin didn’t linger.
“Let’s head to the other floors,” he said to Xiao Xuan.

To the girls, he added, “I’m taking Director Xiao to see the rest of the bureau. Keep practicing.”

“Safe travels, Minister Lu and Director Xiao,” the girls chorused.