Chapter 90: Newstar

“Here we are—Newstar,” Jonathan said.

“Welcome to Newstar, Miss Lily!” a receptionist greeted us with a wide, practiced smile. She stood up from her chair and began leading us down the corridor.

I tilted my head. At Shirayuki, a receptionist was expected to stay glued to her chair at all times in case someone arrived. If someone needed to be guided, another employee would be summoned. Seeing the reception desk completely empty filled me with unease.

But such thoughts were quickly swept aside when I saw the warm welcome that awaited me—several Guardians and high-ranking officers standing in what looked more like a luxurious lounge than a meeting room. The space was lined with couches and filled with snacks and refreshments laid out on low tables.

“Yo! Welcome, Lily. What do you want? We’ve got cakes, nuts, and cookies or would you prefer fruits?” A red-uniformed Guardian waved me over casually.

I sat down without thinking, drawn in by the casual energy. That’s when I realized—this entire setting was staged. The laid-back attitude, the Guardians casually tossing peanuts at each other and munching snacks—it was engineered. It didn’t make you feel pressured or scrutinized. It made you feel... welcomed.

“Thank you.” I picked up a small tart and took a bite. “So this is Newstar…”

As I subtly reached out to plant a few of my mana eyes—one on the sofa, another on the floor—Felicia’s voice echoed in my mind.

“Be careful. You’re dealing with Guardians here. Some of them are C and B rank.”

“Hm? Didn’t you say my mana eyes are perfectly hidden? That even familiars couldn’t sense them?” I replied.

“Correct. But that doesn’t mean there are no skills or tools that can detect them.”

“Why would they have such devices here?”

“We don’t know. I’m just warning you— your mana eyes are not as invisible as you think.”

“I see.” I nodded slightly and pulled back from placing them carelessly. I slipped one between the folds of the sofa and another near the Wi-Fi router on the windowsill.

“So, you’re Black Lily, right? I’ve heard so much about you! I thought you were contracted to the Shirayuki company.”

“Well, Guardians are forbidden from making exclusive contracts, right? Shirayuki and I have worked together in the past, but I didn’t sign anything exclusive.”

“Well, it’s certainly frowned upon for Guardians to be shackled. However, I don’t see an exclusive contract as a shackle—it simply means Newstar values us,” a green Magical Guardian said.

“I’m so excited to meet a Black MG! It would be wonderful to have one in our company! Are you going to sign a contract with us?” a pink Guardian asked. He looked like a knight—the armor and poise were convincing—but the pink ruined the whole look a bit. What a shame.

“Yeah! Black MGs are rare! I think Enra has one, but we’ve never seen him.”

“We’ve also had contracts with Blacks in the past, but they were like ghosts. We never saw them again after signing.”

As they continued talking about Magical Guardians of Dark origin, I was reminded of Slifer. If that’s how most dark MGs behave, I could understand why no one ever saw them.

“I wonder if they’ve ever met Slifer,” I muttered.

“Slifer doesn’t have any records of accepting contracts,” Felicia replied. “She didn’t even appear anywhere outside promotional exams and usurpation. She’s listed as a Guardian under Guardian Command. Ah—and she was also registered in the Agneya exploration, in the Darklands.”

“She was there?”

“She should’ve been. Though, knowing her behavior, she probably didn’t show herself.”

I remembered how Slifer had used her invisibility even within Guardian Command. Now I understood exactly what Felicia meant.

“Well, I’m not planning on any exclusive contracts yet,” I answered. “But I’d love to see how Newstar operates. I’m also planning to visit Enra after this.”

I paused, then decided to test the waters. “By the way, what do you all think about the recent happenings? Erm… I’m sorry it came to this, but don’t you think the exiles should’ve been forgiven?”

I thought they would agree. I thought they would support the idea, and then we could warm up to each other. But their words surprised me.

“Of course it’s all their fault. Countless people died because of these executives' blunders. They deserved to be exiled. Especially that Enra CEO. Instead of exilement, should he be decapitated instead?” one MG said.

I blinked in surprise at the answer. Weren’t they trying to promote the idea that all of this was a mistake? Why were they condemning the executives now?

I turned my head toward Jonathan. His handsome face was scrunched, and he clapped his hands gently, motioning as if he were begging. It was all silent, of course—no one else knew the context. I was shocked. Among those who were exiled, there were executives from Newstar too. Yet they had abandoned them heartlessly.

I was revulsed. How could they say this? They were so two-faced that I lost my words.

“Well, in that case, thank you for welcoming me. I’m currently registered with Guardian Command. If you have any commissions, I’ll consider them. By the way, are you Jonathan’s brother?”

“Yes. I’m Jonathan’s brother—Lexus. Nice to meet you, Black Lily.”

“I saw you on the news. I’m sorry that Newstar had to be incriminated as well. If only you had been awake—you must have organized things better than Francesca’s father in Newhill.”

“Certainly so. It’s a shame that I’m merely human. I needed rest. If I’d been awake, I would’ve ordered them to save the MGs first. We’re in a state of war. Each one of them is worth more than a thousand human lives,” Lexus said.

I clenched my teeth. Cold fury blazed within my heart.

But using the facade I’d trained in since birth, I smiled and replied, “Of course, Mr. Lexus. I’ll be on my way then.”

I reached out my hand for a handshake. As he took it, I slipped one of my mana eyes into the cuff of his expensive tuxedo.

“Yes. Are you on your way to Shirayuki?”

“I’m on my way to Enra. I promised to meet with Francesca there.”

“Well, what a shame about Francesca. She was a good kid. But her father certainly blundered with his decisions. He was too soft. Now he has to bear the consequences. I hope she can learn from this experience,” Lexus said.

“I’ll be on my way, then,” I said.

Then, I left the building.

“Arrgh! What a shameless bastard,” a clone muttered inside my mind.

I wholeheartedly agreed. I didn’t even have the strength left to be angry. I merely picked up my phone and called Sebastian to pick me up.

“Oh yeah... I have to speak to Freya and visit Enra. Hah… I’d rather kill twenty thousand hounds than do this…” I moaned.

“There are hard caps when killing a large number of low-level Anathema with area magic,” Felicia said. “And killing twenty thousand hounds with melee attacks will cause them to avoid you.”

“Eh?”

“Some Anathema have the ability to command their brethren. If they see many low-level Anathema die in one place, they’ll try to divert their soldiers elsewhere,” Felicia explained.

“You didn’t need to tell me that,” I sighed, fiddling with my phone. “I was only joking… No—thanks for the info. I didn’t know that.”

I exhaled deeply. “Now, let’s go to Enra.”

I dialed. “Hello? Freya? Are you free?”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“I was thinking of visiting Enra today. Can you lead me?”

“Ugh… is this the time? Well… fine. I can’t say no to you, Lily,” Freya replied. “I’ll wait for you in front of the buildings, okay?”

I felt a bit guilty. I knew I would be going there to spy. I was taking advantage of her kindness. But in the end…

I need to know the truth. I need to know whether Enra and Newstar are on the side of humanity.

I then messaged Jonathan, telling him that I didn’t know the pickup location yet. However, I also noted that I’d tell him once I got the pickup place from Francesca tomorrow.

“The seinjet has arrived. I took the liberty of surveying the camera for you,” Felicia reported.

Sebastian soon arrived in his seinjet. As I stepped inside, he handed me my black card.

“Miss Black Lily, Felicia informed me that you left your debit card at the restaurant. So, I took the liberty of retrieving it for you. Here it is,” Sebastian said.

“Thank you.”

I could feel my face heating up in shame—I had completely forgotten about my credit card. With Felicia’s prompting, I began reviewing the spycam footage.

“All right! Great job, everyone!” Lexus cheered enthusiastically.

“Will we get a Black to join us? Our company’s tanking right now, isn’t it?” one magical girl asked.

“That’s not our business. Our business is killing Anathema. Just let the moms and dads handle the stocks,” another MG said dismissively as she walked out. She didn’t seem interested in company politics, stock prices, or reputation.

Lexus pressed on.

“Well, we messed up—that’s true. But we can recover from this. Just put your faith in me. I haven’t disappointed any of you, right?” He smiled. “Even without Black Lily, our company will pull through. But you guys wanted new friends, didn’t you? So I invited him through Jonathan!”

“Yay!” another MG cheered.

Most of the magical girls were teenagers. They didn’t want to deal with complicated stuff like stock crashes or public image. To them, everything seemed like it was going smoothly.

Then, several middle-aged men and women entered the room. From their interactions and how close they were to the Guardians, I could tell they were their parents.

“Well, let’s go. Want to head to the theme park? Or would you like to play that game I bought for you?” one parent offered warmly.

Suddenly, a yellow Guardian turned to the mana eye hidden in the wall and shouted,

“Well, well! Our Black Lily left us something! Look—she left a spycam here!”

“Huh? Really? I didn’t see anything.”

“It was cleverly cloaked. Look here.”

Yellow Bee then attacked it with some sort of skill. My mana eyes—small glass bead-like constructs—were revealed. The magical girls gathered around, their faces lighting up with excitement as they saw my unique skill.

“Hello! Is this your skill? I’m so jealous! Hey, Black Lily! Come over! Let me borrow one of your spycams! I’m gonna put it in the girls’ restroom!” a red MG shouted.

“That’s a crime, you idiot!” another female MG yelled, throwing an aluminum bowl at the insolent red one.

I thought they’d turn hostile since I spied on them… but they didn’t. I felt a wave of relief… and something else—something warm. I felt kind of happy.

However, I noticed Lexus’ once-relaxed expression suddenly tense.

“They’re a fun bunch,” I said. “Too bad I can’t speak through my mana eyes.”

“If you level up and hit another milestone—say, at level 50—you’ll unlock new skills,” Felicia said.

“Did he notice the ones I slipped on the sofa and Lexus’ cuffs?” I asked.

“It doesn’t seem so. Maybe he only enhanced his eyes to detect mana constructs. If he didn’t see it, he wouldn’t know. He didn’t seem to sense the mana signal,” Felicia answered. “I found his files. He’s Magical Guardian Yellow Bee. A C-rank Guardian.”

“Well, they’re leaving the room now,” I said.

Lexus and Jonathan exited while some magical girls remained, still playing. I couldn’t help but feel disgusted. They were pampered. They were spoiled. They were so… naive.

But deep down, I felt envy. I wondered… if Shirayuki had been like them, would my father and mother have pampered me like that?

“Apparently, they didn’t want to destroy your mana construct. They treated it as if you were really there,” Felicia said.

“If they knew it was there, they’d just need to attack it with magical force, right? That MG—Yellow Bee—should be able to do it, shouldn’t he?”

“Yes. Your mana eyes are fragile. If they’re discovered, they’re easy to destroy. I suspect those MGs didn’t realize we were hostile. They probably thought we were just playing pranks or spying for fun,” Felicia said.

“It’s good they didn’t notice the one on Lexus’ cuff. Should I cut the mana flow?”

“It’s up to you. Ah—let me pull up a monitor. The mana eye on Lexus’ cuff caught some interesting footage,” Felicia said.

“Damn! That was dangerous. I didn’t know Black Lily was so cautious of us. She actually planted a spycam in our meeting room!” a voice exclaimed.

“Wow. Guardians really are something. That thing was completely invisible until Yellow Bee used his magic.”

“Did she plant anything on you? We need to check the car! You talked in the car, remember? You rode with her for thirty minutes!”

“Of course not! I just met Black Lily today. All we did was shake hands. She couldn’t have planted anything in that time, right?” Jonathan replied, patting himself down and checking his pockets.

I tensed. I thought my mana eye was about to be discovered—but they didn’t find it.

My mana constructs were weightless. They didn’t know it could be attached anywhere—like inside a cuff or on the back of a pocket.

“Good. Well, it doesn’t matter. Even if she found out something, the worst she can do is withhold the pickup location. Damn it—if she weren’t a magical girl, I’d have her thrown in jail!” Lexus groaned.

He then stormed off toward his office.

And I was surprised—yet again—by who was waiting there.

My mother.

Jennifer.