Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 53 The Flower Falling Ceremony

Tuesday, cloudy.

A thin layer of gray hung over Qixin District, obscuring the light, as if the sky itself knew what day it was and was deliberately suppressing its emotions.

The ceremony began at 9:00 AM, with entry at 10:00 AM, and took place at Wanghe Hall on the south side of the Qixin main campus.

A giant auditorium that is rarely visited, with gray tiles and white walls, and a corner of wooden eaves protruding out, appears particularly ancient in the modern campus of Qixin, as if it is a piece of old time that has been deliberately left in place and is unwilling to be erased by the times.

There aren't many reasons for using it, but today's "Falling Flower Ceremony" is one of them.

Xia Zhi informed Gu Bai that he would arrive later. When he arrived at 9:40, most of the students had already entered Wanghe Hall.

At the entrance stood two arched flower arches made of fresh flowers. Pure white chrysanthemums and plain-colored lilies intertwined and overlapped, with a trace of lingering dampness still clinging to the edges of the petals. They must have been delivered that morning and tied into the shape with plain white silk strips.

The etiquette ladies, dressed in formal attire, had their long hair tied up with a black ribbon about an inch wide, hanging down their shoulders. They stood silently, their backs straight, their expressions uniformly solemn.

Upon seeing Gu Bai, Xia Zhi stepped forward.

Her steps were extremely light, almost inaudible, as she took a plain corsage from the tray, pinned it to his left lapel, paused for a moment on his fabric with her fingertips, and then took a half step back.

Gu Bai looked down and saw a small, not fully bloomed white flower.

The flower buds were tightly curled up, like a young girl in the prime of her life, about to bloom.

Fallen flowers return to the earth...

Gu Bai sighed, said nothing, and turned to walk into the inner hall.

The interior hall has a simple fan-shaped layout, with rows of wooden benches and a passageway in the center. Every three steps on either side, there is a white gauze lantern that is not lit, casting a soft, pale white light on the ground. At the end of the passageway is a dark wooden altar.

A row of crystal coffins were placed on top, but they were not shown. One could roughly guess the reason: after being attacked by a strange beast, it was only a pipe dream to leave with a complete corpse.

Xia Zhi led Gu Bai to sit in the back row, placing him in a position where he could observe the entire scene.

The young woman remained dignified as she sat down, knees together, hands resting lightly on her knees, waiting for the performance to begin.

Gu Bai continued to look forward, and the most eye-catching thing was naturally the row on the stage.

There were five positions, which should be the people in charge of Qi Xin's external affairs, but Gu Bai only recognized three of them. He glanced silently at Xia Zhi beside him.

Xia Zhi understood, lowered her voice to a level just loud enough for the two of them to hear, and answered in a low voice in turn:

"From left to right: Vice Director Zhang, Magical Girl of the Heart, Magical Girl of the Weft, Magical Girl of the Flame, and Magical Girl Zhenyue."

"The overall leader of the Prayer Academy is the Magical Girl of the Weft, while the Magical Girl of the Flame is the dean in charge of the two academies."

"Um."

Gu Bai went through the names in his mind, his gaze not lingering for long, slowly moving downwards.

Tao Zhuo and Dong Chun sat in the first row below the stage, but no seats were reserved for Xia Zhi in the front row, so it seemed that she planned to sit next to them.

Tao Zhuo was unusually serious, unlike her usual slouching manner in the consultation room. Her signature long, peach-pink hair was neatly braided and tied behind her head.

Dong Chun stood with her back straight and her chin slightly tucked in, looking directly at the stage. She was always this serious.

10 o'clock sharp.

The bell tolled heavily, and the hall fell silent instantly.

The magical girl stood up, raised her hand to her chest and bowed slightly, greeting the guests in turn.

She wore a light gray uniform, her hair color similar to her clothes. A very thin silver warp and weft thread was embroidered on the collar, one horizontal and one vertical, intersecting to form a knot. She was not tall, but the moment she stood up, a certain weight gently settled down, and the entire hall became quieter.

The voice that opened was soft, and each word was spoken very slowly:

"Everyone—"

"Some outstanding magical girls have left us forever in their fight against calamity."

The moment the voice fell, some of the girls in the hall sighed.

The magical girl maintained the same speaking speed, enunciating each word clearly:

"Twenty-seven of them, ranging from two-star to five-star, the youngest of whom is just thirteen years old this year; the oldest is no more than twenty years old. They had a wide range of choices in their lives, but in the end, they chose to give everything for humanity."

She slowly raised her hand, palm facing upward.

A fine thread extended from her fingertips, moving silently through the air, passing around each crystal coffin in front of the altar. The golden thread gently touched the corner of each coffin's robe, as if holding twenty-seven invisible hands.

"Today, we bid farewell to these magical girls who protected peace and stability in the human world."

Goodnight, my dear child.

"You have made indelible contributions to the stability of the human world."

May you rest in peace.

She withdrew her hand, and the gold thread scattered into dust, slowly settling on the row of plain silk.

The first part of the ceremony thus came to an end.

The room remained quiet, without applause, only the faintest, barely suppressed breathing could be heard from certain corners.

Gu Bai turned his head and glanced at the girl beside him, who was sobbing softly.

They were a few low-level magical girls, who looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old. Their shoulders trembled slightly, and they covered their mouths, afraid to make a sound.

These people are genuinely crying for magical girls.

Although we don't know each other.

Perhaps it was because twenty-seven seniors were sent away in such an embarrassing way.

Perhaps the number twenty-seven is large enough that their future might lie beneath that row of plain silk.

The fluctuations in the disaster-stricken areas are becoming more and more frequent, and the peaceful days of the past seem to have disappeared.

So, for whom are they crying?

Is it a senior colleague? Or perhaps a future version of yourself lying inside?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Gu Bai withdrew his gaze, and according to the established procedure, the next segment would be given by the Magical Girl of the Heart.

Although Qi Xin is inhuman in many ways, they also understand where the power of the 'heart' comes from. In addition to the large one-time compensation, the families of the fallen magical girls will also receive Qi Xin's care for the next forty years.

But those are for the living.

What about the dead? Perhaps, soon no one will care anymore.

Just then, a girl from the back of the hall quickly walked to Xia Zhi's side, bent down and whispered something.

Gu Bai then inquired.

Xia Zhi frowned and replied:

"Another incident has occurred in the disaster zone. The high school magical girls are here today, so all the duty shifts have been suspended. Originally, university magical girls were scheduled to be on duty, but it seems that we are short-handed now."

"Do you need any help?"

"If possible, that would be great. I'll send you a message on my phone."

After Xia Zhi finished speaking softly, she got up and led Gu Bai toward the side door. Their steps were not flustered at all. The two passed between the pillars and quietly left the hall.

The sky outside was still gray, and the wind had gotten a bit chilly.

Gu Bai took out his phone.

The notification from the Qixin APP arrived at this moment.

The notification bar was filled with a few "ding-ding" sounds.

[Combat Support - Emergency Dispatch]

[Abnormal magical fluctuations detected in Calamity Zone 018, suspected to indicate the simultaneous appearance of multiple strange beasts]

Gu Bai swiped down the notification.

At the top of the dispatch list was his own name, and the person on duty at the scene right now was... Magical Girl Qiu Ji.

The flower-falling ceremony is not yet over, but more trivial matters have already piled up.

Looking at Xia Zhi's worried face, Gu Bai finally decided, "Xia Zhi, send me a few more messages. I checked them before leaving this morning, and they say it's auspicious for fighting monsters, but inauspicious for investing."

"Thank you, thank you very much." Xia Zhi bowed deeply and watched Gu Bai leave.