Chapter 91: The Plan

“Jonathan! Lexus! How are you? I’m glad to hear that you’ve been freed.” My mother walked up and kissed Jonathan on the cheek. Then she turned to Lexus and did the same.

I felt a wave of strong revulsion at the scene unfolding before my eyes. For a moment, I doubted whether what I saw was real. I knew my mother was a bad person, but I never imagined she could stoop this low.

“Of course, Jennifer. There’s no way I’d be held accountable. I wasn’t even there. This was all a ploy from Zenith and Guardian Command. They were just jealous of our success,” Lexus said confidently.

Then he stepped closer to Jennifer and kissed her—on the lips this time. The sight sent a shudder down my spine. Jonathan plopped himself onto the sofa as Lexus took his seat.

“Jennifer, did you come here to play? We’re kind of busy right now.”

“Hm? You were proven innocent during the trial, right? What business are you so busy with?”

“While I may have been proven innocent, our company is tanking. The public and our employees don’t look favorably on us because of all the casualties we incurred in NewHill and NewLake.”

“Well, too bad. I just bought Newstar shares yesterday, since Shirayuki is on the rise. Osamu’s been giving me more allowance now that we have a new magical girl.”

“Ah yes, Black Lily, isn’t it? Could you tell me who she is?”

“No. I signed a magical geas with Kageyama and Osamu. I can’t reveal her identity. What, are you planning to recruit her? I’m afraid that’ll be difficult. I did try to persuade her, but she rejected me.”

“Well, she actually came by just a few minutes ago. You just missed her. She seemed interested in our company! She could use some manners, though,” Jonathan added.

“Eh? Really? That’s impossible,” Jennifer said.

“She didn’t say she would join. Hm… I’m not sure what she wanted.”

“She just wanted money and our stocks, brother.”

“Hah… I wish I were as ignorant as you, Jonathan. Well, never mind. Jennifer, my dear, any news from Shirayuki?”

“Well, you know how it is. They’re as boring as always. They bought some essence to give to Sapphire yesterday.”

I was glad Kageyama at least kept her in the dark. I would have never expected my own mother to betray Shirayuki like this. It was allowed to hold shares in multiple companies—even Kageyama and Father did the same—but they were loyal to Shirayuki. They didn’t disclose the company’s secrets like this.

“Ah… I heard Kageyama was reorganizing his staff. It’s as you said, Guardian Command has been quite insolent these days. They even assigned several officers to some distant oil rigs we own. I wonder why they’d even bother. Do they really have that much money?” Jennifer said. She then glanced at her watch.

“Ah, look at the time. I have an appointment in an hour. See you, darling.” Jennifer stood up, kissed Lexus on the cheek, and left, carrying her branded Shirayuki handbag with her.

“Why did she even come here?” Jonathan smirked. For once, I agreed with him.

“Who knows? She might be probing us. She’s a coward. She prepares several ships in case Shirayuki falls. Newstar is not an exception. She only started becoming more proactive and getting closer to us after NewMesa was destroyed, remember? She just wanted to see whether we’re worth investing in.”

“Alright. Now that she’s out of the way, what’s our plan?”

“Well, we’ll prepare the mass media and our guardians. Then, we catch them red-handed,” Lexus said. “Hm… I should call Ling Shi as well. He is the head of Enra now. If we can rope them into this, we could rise together.”

“Miss Yuri, we have arrived at our destination,” Sebastian said. Before I knew it, our seinjet had parked inside Enra’s headquarters. Unlike Jonathan’s driver, apparently our driver was faster and more efficient. I sighed.

“Felicia, I need to meet with Francesca. Can you record this? Don’t forget to separate the conversation Lexus had with my mother. I will send them to Kageyama later.”

“Roger, nyaa,” Felicia said while scratching her chin with her hind legs.

Francesca came out to meet me. After seeing my frowning face, she asked,

“Hm? What’s wrong? Ah… I’m sorry that I roped you into this, Lily.”

“No. It’s about a different matter. So, the operation will be conducted tonight, right?”

“Yes. Let me guide you to my office,” Francesca said.

As we went down from the parking lot to her office, I couldn't help but notice that none of the employees even greeted her. In fact, there were some whispers.

“Look, the daughter of an exile.”

“She’s a Magical Girl. That’s why she must be exempted.”

“My brother is in NewHill. I’m glad some executives are getting punished.”

"She might be nice, but her father? He was a crook."

I then turned to Francesca. It was similar to the NewMesa incident. During that incident, I remembered my father was also implicated. He was demoted and had to work as a warehouse manager for a while.

Luckily, we managed to save more than half of NewMesa’s residents, so the hatred was not so severe. I wonder if I would have faced the same fate with Francesca if NewMesa had fared worse. Well, unlike her, I had no desire to save my father, though. If Shirayuki went under, I would just work as a secretary somewhere or sleep in shelter houses. Am I an ungrateful child?

“Alright. Sorry for that. Um… it’s been getting a bit tense around here,” Francesca said.

“Well, it seemed it was a bit tense around you.”

“Yeah. My father made a mistake. I understand,” Francesca said.

“Did he understand that?” I asked. Francesca might be sorry—she had already begged countless people so her father would be spared. But I hadn't even met her father. In fact, I didn’t even remember Francesca's father asking for this. He is in jail and can't meet anyone, so it's understandable. I wonder whether Francesca had met him using her privilege as a magical girl and her family.

“Well, he should…” Francesca said. I raised an eyebrow. Zenith had screened all Guardians meticulously. So, she should have a good attitude, but from my experience, that screening didn’t include their parents or families. Otherwise, I would never have been chosen because of my mother's behavior.

“Well, so, what’s the plan?” I asked.

“Yes. The exilement will go as planned. But tonight, we will go to the Darkland. In the morning, the ship that will exile my parents will arrive. Then, we shall rescue my father, who has been dropped off by the exile ships in an abandoned port. Then we shall camp there for several days until another transport from Shirayuki moves everyone to Oil Rig 17 owned by Shirayuki.”

“I see.” I nodded at the plan.

To be honest, Guardian Command had put a lot of thought into this. Even if this plan were to leak, would we even be wrong? The exilement was carried out. Then they work in an offshore oil rig, so they are still technically in exile.

I knew we were simply abusing a loophole in the system. The Zenith didn’t work like we do. They didn’t make laws where something was forbidden. They wanted results.

The results—what we did—absolutely meant nothing. There would be nothing to gain or lose if we saved these exiles. So, the Zenith shouldn’t care.

However, we humans operate on different methods. We make laws, and we are not supposed to circumvent or find loopholes in them. Humans are vengeful creatures. If it were known that we saved the exiles, they would riot. If they did, Zenith would have no choice but to punish the exiles to calm the masses. The results would be different. That’s why this operation needs to stay clandestine.

“Here, tea for you. I need to thank you, Lily. You don’t need to do this, after all. I roped you into this. So, I am sorry. Once again, thank you. You are really kind, Lily. You would even help me—a person you don’t even know. I am a pink Magical Girl, yet even I pale in comparison to your compassion. How could we view Darks with such prejudice...”

I turned away, feeling ashamed and guilty. “It’s nothing. I’ve been to the Darklands, after all. This will be easy.”

I’m really sorry, Francesca. The truth is, I’m into this because I was paid 20,000 points by the Zenith. I am not kind. I repressed such guilt inside me and continued.

“Not everyone would go to the Darkland and camp there without protection, Lily. I haven’t even gone to the Darkland until I hit C-rank,” Francesca answered.

“Hm? But you’re an A-rank, right? How did you do it?”

“Well, levels are made from killing high-level Anathema. But ranks come from our powers, and your powers are mostly connected to your equipment, not levels. Vaults and skills are from points. If you sign some contracts and do quests, you could get to me in two or three years. Well, you’re already so fast though. You’ve only become an MG for less than two months, right? You’re already a D-rank. I am pink, so I have a bonus from points.”

As I was about to leave, a person came. He wore a tuxedo, elegant. But his eye glinted like a fox. When I heard who he was, it almost sent me into a shock that I almost spat my tea.

“Ah, Francesca! I’ve been trying to find you!” He said. I tilted my head, but when Francesca said his name, I widened my eyes.

“Ling Shi! What’s the matter?”

“Ah, is this about the plan?”

“You told him?” I glared at Francesca. I wasn’t angry, merely surprised at how loose her mouth was. Shining Arrow was similar, but she was just a clueless bakery girl. Francesca, as the daughter of a large corporation, should know better than to leak company secrets, even among coworkers.

“Ah, no. He didn’t know. Guardian Command said I should not tell anyone. We are technically working against the law, after all,” Freya said.

At least there was some shred of common sense within Freya. I hoped it would last. Only then did I realize that Ling Shi had overheard the entire talk.

“Well, I’m sorry to interrupt. But I changed my mind. I’ve decided to help you. Will you let me?”

I tilted my head. So he knew we were about to do something but didn't know the specifics? Well, Francesca must have asked him for help before and was rejected. That's why he knew we were up to something. I suppose everything could work if we put a geas. But I can't help but worry...

“But we already have plans… We can’t change that,” Francesca said.

“Well, in that case, please save Xinyuan as well. I owe you. If you ever need me to do anything, give me a call.”

“Yes. Thank you, Ling Shi. I thought you would be against us this whole time. I’m sorry that I doubted you. You’ve been kind to us in the past.”

“You must understand, Francesca. I did it to save the company. There’s no way I, the next successor of Enra, would openly support your father when he was so hated by even our employees. I need to do this if our company is to survive,” Ling Shi said.

“Thank you, Ling Shi. Your trust is what I need now. Please pray for my success.” Francesca stood up and hugged Ling Shi.

“Yes, my dear. I hope you succeed. Please find it in your heart to save other exiles too, alright?” Ling Shi hugged her back.

If I didn’t know he had a secret conversation with Lexus earlier, I might have even believed him.

As expected, all conglomerates are good liars. I thought I had a good façade, but apparently, I paled in comparison to Lexus and Ling Shi. Even Jonathan was better than me at acting.

I stood up, patted Francesca and Ling Shi’s backs, and planted mana eyes on them. In this world, I must not trust anybody. Not even a Magical Girl. All I can trust is my own power, granted by Zenith, and maybe Felicia.

No… Felicia belongs to Zenith. She might be taken anytime. There’s no telling when she might betray me as well.

Orange light shone on our back, cast by the setting sun. Looking at the orange glow, Francesca removed herself from Ling Shi’s embrace. She then wiped her tears and looked at me resolutely.

“Let’s go, Black Lily. Wish us luck, Ling Shi. I will definitely save everyone. They might have made a mistake, but they don’t deserve to die a cruel death in the Darklands.”

I didn’t even nod and merely followed behind her. Neither Ling Shi, me, Lexus, nor anyone cared about her and her father. We all had our own agenda.

Such realization filled me with sadness. Her resolve was futile. Her voice reached no one.