Broken-Winged Butterfly stepped out of the banquet hall and reestablished contact with Manjusaka.
“Manjusaka, are you happy now? This flourishing age is exactly as you wished!”
“What are you talking about?”
Manjusaka’s voice sounded confused.
“I just reached some kind of agreement with Ellera. Isn’t this exactly the outcome you wanted? If you had this purpose, you could’ve just said it outright. Pretending not to know is a bit hypocritical.”
“… I never expected you’d sacrifice yourself to such an extent. I originally only hoped you could distract Ellera, that’s all.”
Shi Xi!
Broken-Winged Butterfly felt her blood boil—was this implying she was secretly hoping to be toyed with by Ellera!?
Thinking carefully, she realized she might have indeed been a bit reckless, even agreeing to that absurd threesome scenario.
Had her bottom line been reset last time to the point where a threesome seemed no big deal?
Broken-Winged Butterfly pressed her forehead and sighed.
Unknowingly, she’d been influenced by that fiery woman’s worldview.
“I only have two minutes. Did you find out anything during your contact with Ellera? Tell me quickly,” Manjusaka said.
“Not even a ‘thank you’?”
Broken-Winged Butterfly said that, then continued, “Do you know why Ellera specifically went to the Realm Sea to hunt the Dimensional Beasts?”
Naturally, Manjusaka wouldn’t say it outright.
“No idea.”
Actually, on the ship, Ellera had mentioned something about “social stability,” but that was just words to listen to—who would believe that?
Deserved to be disciplined.
“I asked her just now, and she said it was because of motherly love and responsibility. If you find that useful, then keep it.”
“Are you sure she was serious?”
“At least she wasn’t as frivolous as usual, and seemed a bit angry.”
“Well, that’s worth investigating.”
Manjusaka fell into a long silence.
Broken-Winged Butterfly knew she was deep in thought and didn’t interrupt.
After a few more seconds, Manjusaka finally spoke.
“There’s a rumor that Ellera has a daughter. She said she went deep into the Realm Sea out of motherly love and responsibility. Could it be that her daughter ran into some trouble in the Sea Boundary Tides?”
“Most likely,” Broken-Winged Butterfly shrugged.
As of now, the information, while somewhat substantial, didn’t seem all that useful.
However, for Manjusaka, it was enough to reveal some clues.
If her daughter died or was seriously injured by Dimensional Beasts, Ellera wouldn’t just kill a few peak Long-Class Dimensional Beasts and be done with it.
She probably wouldn’t come back without wiping out the entire Border Customs area.
In fact, Manjusaka had long since confirmed Ellera’s daughter was unharmed.
Because when Ellera went to the Realm Sea to hunt Dimensional Beasts, Manjusaka was present.
At that time, she hadn’t sensed the kind of furious, crazed grief from losing a family member.
Instead, Ellera’s mindset seemed mostly “playful.”
“So it’s just a minor injury?”
“Not exactly. If it were just a minor injury, there wouldn’t be a need to go deep into the Realm Sea for hunting. I lean toward believing her daughter is a Magical Girl.”
Broken-Winged Butterfly’s eyebrows twitched a few times.
“You usually think deeply, but this is a bit too far. What’s the reasoning?”
“No… it’s just a gut feeling. If her daughter is a Magical Girl and ran into trouble in the Sea Boundary Tides, it’s likely a psychological issue that’s greatly affected her. So Ellera, as a mother, would be helping her daughter relieve that pressure. That’s not unreasonable.”
It sounded plausible but still hard to fully accept.
Saying her daughter was a relevant staff member at Border Customs could also explain this, and it seemed more reasonable than claiming she was a Magical Girl.
“That’s different.”
Manjusaka frowned. While that could work too, something felt off.
Whether Ellera’s daughter was a Magical Girl or just a Border Customs staff member would fundamentally change Ellera’s actions.
Thinking deeper, if her daughter was only a regular member at Border Customs, would Ellera’s actions make any practical difference for her?
As an ordinary person, witnessing the Aurora Witch displaying overwhelming power would at most be impressive—nothing more.
But if her daughter was a Magical Girl, then the situation changed.
Seeing Manjusaka so tangled up, Broken-Winged Butterfly said, “I’m saying, if Ellera’s daughter really is a Magical Girl, and Ellera herself knows it, yet she still recklessly hunts Magical Girls, then isn’t she hopelessly twisted?”
“Isn’t she already?”
That retort left Broken-Winged Butterfly speechless.
Well, that’s true.
Broken-Winged Butterfly sighed helplessly.
Manjusaka kept arguing this point just to get her involved in the investigation.
“If her daughter is a Magical Girl, how are you going to confirm it?”
“Simple. Ellera went to the Border Customs near the Jiuming Sea, so her daughter is likely stationed around there. We just need to investigate the family backgrounds of the Magical Girls in that area to get close to the answer.”
“Wait, didn’t you forget? A Magical Girl’s true identity is their lifeline and must never be exposed—even the Shi Xi can’t know… wait, you don’t actually know, do you?”
Broken-Winged Butterfly became serious.
Manjusaka and Xing Yue’s positions among the Shi Xi were special; perhaps they could bypass this restriction to investigate.
***
That… didn’t feel good.
Their family backgrounds and social situations were completely transparent to these two?
Although both were trusted comrades, having only their information transparent felt a bit uncomfortable.
“No, I don’t know either,” Manjusaka answered decisively.
“Oh.”
Broken-Winged Butterfly replied flatly, not sure if she believed her, then asked, “So how will you verify your guess?”
“There’s a method I can try. I’ll use my authority to summon a few Magical Girls from that area whom I suspect might be involved. Then you’ll be responsible for observing Ellera’s reactions.”
Will that really work?
Broken-Winged Butterfly wanted to say.
It felt like a thankless task.
If the Border Customs near Jiuming Sea hadn’t recently been under less pressure, she wouldn’t have agreed to this.
“You’re here to investigate ‘that group,’ right? Spending so much effort on Ellera, no problem?”
“No, quite the opposite. Ellera is absolutely the key of all keys. She can’t escape the connection. She has Shen Xing Li Zi, and her strength means she’s always in the eye of the storm. She can’t avoid getting involved. Closely monitoring her will also bring us information about that group.”
After finishing, Manjusaka sounded a bit rushed.
“The Irregular Organization has moved. I have to follow up. Decide your next steps based on the situation.”
After she said this, Manjusaka’s voice faded from the ear.