Having successfully retrieved the comic manuscript, Nangong Xiwang took out a wet wipe to clean her hands, walked out of a manga artist’s studio, and then checked the time on her phone.
“Hmm, still early~”
Usually, upon receiving a manuscript, she would always take it back to the magazine publisher no matter what.
But today, she had other plans. After collecting the manuscript, she was clocking out directly.
She was going to see Clara…
Her feelings towards this “girl” with a complicated background were equally complicated.
As a Hero, as a Magic Girl, Clara was the main culprit behind her demotion. Reporting her was the logical thing to do, and she shouldn’t have felt any psychological burden…
But as a professional manga editor, she felt sympathy for the hardworking yet unrecognized comic artist. Clara was a rare, uncut gem.
With careful polishing and guidance, she could definitely become an accomplished manga artist in the future.
These conflicting feelings tormented Nangong Xiwang, and she still hadn’t figured out what she should do…
Just thinking was meaningless.
She was determined to use her own eyes to reacquaint herself with Clara—was she a Hero? Or a spy for the Evil Organization? A simple, new Magic Girl and manga artist?
Or perhaps, all of this was her own misunderstanding, and Clara really was just lying low. Until she could figure this out, both she and the Blue Cavalier had chosen to wait and see.
‘I’m heading out to meet Clara now.’
Walking down the street, Nangong Xiwang sent this message to the Blue Cavalier, who quickly called back.
“Miss Kamui, please turn on your location. I will use the Hero Network to continuously monitor crimes around you. If any Mutants belonging to Naitemel are active, I will notify you immediately.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“…Your voice.”
“I’m not transformed right now.”
“It seems you are more mature than I imagined.”
“…Hmph. What about you? Why haven’t you gone to the Abyss to reset your state yet?”
The Blue Cavalier’s voice was still that of a young girl. Facing Nangong Xiwang’s question, she explained:
“I think this is a rare opportunity. Since I’ve been turned into this, I might as well find a way to make use of it. They say misfortune may be a blessing in disguise.”
“While the fans’ novelty hasn’t worn off, I plan to shoot a promotional video, some photos, and an MV to offset the negative feedback from this incident.”
“Hmph, playing with fire. Be careful you don’t get burned.”
Nangong Xiwang said this, but the Blue Cavalier replied unhurriedly:
“There’s still time. As long as I go to the Abyss for a rebirth before the mark is overwritten… Done. I’ve imported your location into my Hero Network app. Now, I can see the criminal incidents happening around you… There are three.”
“Three?”
Nangong Xiwang, walking the streets, looked around but didn’t see any signs of disturbance.
“But I don’t see anything?”
The Blue Cavalier explained:
“The range is larger than you think. Some criminal activities occur inside buildings. Aside from the perpetrators and Heroes on the scene, ordinary citizens might not even know what’s happening.”
“Criminal activities without witnesses… How does the Association know about them?”
Nangong Xiwang stumped the Blue Cavalier again, who could only guess:
“Perhaps… the Association has some mysterious magic or spells?”
“Magic is actually more scientific than you think… You can’t just attribute everything science can’t explain to magic.”
Nangong Xiwang entered the subway station and lowered her voice.
“But, commissions, accepting orders… it sounds like a ride-hailing service? No, more like food delivery? ‘The Hero you called is three hundred meters away, please hold on…’ Like that?”
Even though she was joking, Nangong Xiwang couldn’t bring herself to laugh.
Citizens issuing commissions, and Heroes accepting orders to complete them—while it sounded convenient, it somehow felt like the social status of Heroes had declined again.
The Hero Network.
If this thing really became widespread, Heroes would become a jack-of-all-trades profession, doing anything and everything.
Compared to scouring the streets for criminals and Mutants, this would make it easier for some Heroes to earn money.
People in danger could also be saved. It seemed like a win-win situation on the surface, yet Nangong Xiwang still felt a pang of melancholy inside…
Although her original intention was to make money, having entered this line of work, it would be a lie to say she didn’t have even a shred of a hero’s dream.
She got off work early, so she was lucky enough to get a seat.
She sat by the window, leaning against it, gazing down at the street scenes below from the elevated rail train.
The Blue Cavalier chose this moment to ask, “How did you meet Clara, Miss Kamui?”
Because she got demoted, drank heavily, got completely wasted, and was lying on the roadside like trash, only to be picked up and taken care of by Clara who happened to pass by…
Was that a reason she could say out loud herself?
In the end, she only replied:
“Hmph, a fateful encounter, I guess?”
Putting it that way sounded more poetic.
She didn’t want to say, and the Blue Cavalier didn’t press further, merely asking:
“Then, do you think Clara is being a Hero? Is she doing it voluntarily, or was she forced into becoming a Hero by someone?”
“Shouldn’t you be able to tell if it’s voluntary or forced?”
“Hmm, voluntary, I guess? Probably to make money…”
That kind of question was impossible to answer, so she changed her tune:
“I don’t know. How could I possibly have the answer to something like that?”
But one thing was certain: Clara definitely wasn’t well-off.
The awkwardness she showed when they had a meal together didn’t seem feigned. If she had money, she wouldn’t be living in a place like that…
The reasons she rented there were, on one hand, the cheap rent, and on the other, that area made it relatively easy to earn extra money.
Since she was moonlighting as a Hero, naturally she would go to areas with more criminal incidents. She wandered outside every night, hoping to catch one or two careless criminals in the act.
Although Nangong Xiwang herself lived in the Blue Court.
Clara’s reason for living there was clearly just because she was broke.
The subway in Central City was extremely fast, with the time spent stopped at stations often longer than the travel time.
As the train entered the suburban area, the prosperity faded away, revealing vast gray steel jungles of densely populated housing.
Nangong Xiwang stood up.
“Almost at my stop, I’m hanging up now.”
“Okay, keep your location on.”
Saying this, the Blue Cavalier hung up the phone first.
“This girl really is…”
Nangong Xiwang exited the subway station. Since she got off work early, she planned to go home first to drop off her bag, then bring Clara’s comic manuscript and storyboard with her edits.
But then someone bumped into her.
“Ah, sorry.”
It was a girl with a ponytail who looked quite energetic. She was looking at her phone and not the road, which was why she bumped right into Nangong Xiwang’s back.
“Huh?”
Nangong Xiwang felt she looked somewhat familiar, very familiar.
The other girl, however, pulled out a crumpled delivery slip and pointed to the sender’s address section, asking:
“Excuse me, do you know how to get to this address?”
“Go straight down this road, take a left at the third traffic light.”
Upon closer inspection, the address seemed to be Clara’s apartment building.
Since it wasn’t her own home, Nangong Xiwang wasn’t entirely sure.
“Oh, thanks!”
The girl thanked her and hurriedly crossed the street.
“Hey, wait—”
Nangong Xiwang wanted to call out to her, but the pedestrian light had already turned red.