Chapter 71: Expedition

“Lily, can I have a bit of your time?” Shining Arrow asked as we cruised across the vast ocean. While others chose to enjoy the liberating view of the darklands, a rare reprieve for those accustomed to cramped sanctuary cities like Eden. I decided to follow her into a quieter hallway.

“Sure,” I replied, curious about her tone.

Once we were alone, she began hesitantly. “Lily… I know you purposely switched your registration to be with Newstar…”

My heart skipped a beat at her words. I braced myself for a question or accusation, but instead, what followed caught me off guard—an apology.

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry,” she continued, her voice heavy with emotion. “I was supposed to be a leader, your senior. I wanted to make you feel welcome in the Guardians’ society. Knowing your real identity made me feel special, even arrogant, I suppose. I thought I mattered to you, but I’ve failed you twice.”

Silence filled the space between us. I felt a mix of confusion and unease. Why did she feel guilty? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Before I could reassure her, she pressed on.

“This PMC is yours, Lily. It would be meaningless if you left. If… if you didn’t want to see me again, I wouldn’t—” Her voice broke as tears welled in her eyes. She took a shaky breath and forced herself to continue. “I’m sorry… I just wanted to be closer to you. Maybe it would be better if I left instead. I wouldn’t mind. My only regret is that I thought we could get closer. You’ve always been my inspiration before I became a magical girl. That’s the truth.”

“Alice… stop jumping to conclusions,” I sighed, her vulnerability tugging at my heart. I glanced at Felicia, wondering if I should cancel the quest.

“You can tell her,” Felicia advised gently. “But she must swear on her soul gem to keep it a secret.”

“Thank you,” I whispered to Felicia, then turned back to Shining. “Alice, there’s something I need to tell you. Felicia?”

Felicia stepped forward and addressed her. “Magical Girl Shining Arrow, we would like to share confidential information with you. However, it requires you to swear on your soul gem and not divulge it to anyone. Do you agree?”

Shining’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked around nervously, then nodded with determination. “Yes, of course. I swear on my soul gem.”

The air around us seemed to shift as the promise was made.

“Alice, I was given a mission to spy on Newstar and Enra’s inner circle,” I explained, choosing my words carefully. “The Zenith wants to assess whether their punishment is appropriate or not. Felicia, please grant permission for her to see my quest details.”

“Roger, nyaa…” Felicia replied.

A glowing blue box appeared in front of Shining Arrow, displaying the quest details:

[Secret Quest! Enra and Newstar Investigation]

[Description: Investigate the inner workings of Enra and Newstar. The Zenith is curious about their operations to determine if they disobeyed the evacuation command intentionally or if it was purely a blunder. This quest is classified. If you accept, you must swear on your soul gem not to divulge the quest to anyone until it is complete.]

[Difficulty: Unknown]

[Reward: 20,000 Points]

Shining Arrow’s eyes widened as she stared at the screen in disbelief.

“Wait. How many zeroes are in there? Twen—” Her exclamation was abruptly cut off as Wan-nyan jumped and kicked her square in the face.

“Wan-nyan! Why did you hit me?” she groaned, rubbing her cheek.

“Did you remember the oath you made just a minute ago? You were about to break it,” Wan-nyan scolded, her tail flicking in annoyance.

“But look at the reward!” Alice pointed to the screen with a dramatic gesture. “I’ve never seen a reward this huge—not even for a Pink Magical Girl!”

“It is astounding,” Wan-nyan admitted, her tone calm but firm. “It’s an amount far beyond what an E-ranked Magical Girl would typically receive. But that’s how things are. The Zenith likely saw an opportunity when they realized Lily’s connection to Enra’s higher-ups. This quest probably entailed her identity as Yuri, too.”

“Ugh… so this is all because of connections? How unfair…” Alice’s words hit me like a cold wave. I suddenly realized that by accepting this commission, I had unknowingly leveraged my status as Shirayuki to secure the mission.

Felicia chimed in, breaking the uneasy silence. “The issue is human in nature. The Zenith needed someone who understands the context—someone who has lived through similar situations. While the Magical Girls themselves may not be at fault, we need to uncover the truth about their families and decision-makers. Even if there was no malice, that doesn’t mean their behavior is excusable.”

“We just need to ban their actions, right? Implement stricter safety measures so the next frontier project is better prepared. Why go through all this?” Shining muttered. I nodded at her surprisingly insightful comment.

“Hm… it’s more complicated than that,” Wan-nyan began. “The UNH has already implemented some bans and punishments, but what we’re really worried about is… their mindset? Their ideology? Their motives? Their vision? It’s hard to put it into words.”

“I think the Zenith simply wants to understand how Enra and Newstar operate—whether their practices are fundamentally good or bad,” I said, simplifying Wan-nyan’s explanation.

“I see! That makes sense. But why all the secrecy? I’ve never seen or even heard of a secret quest in all my time as a Magical Girl, and I’m your senior!” Shining said, pouting slightly.

“Well, that’s just how it is,” I replied. “So, I joined Freya’s team not because I hate you or anything—it’s simply part of the quest.”

“I see. Thank you, Lily! I feel so much better now.” Shining grinned and hugged me tightly before running off. Her ability to switch moods so quickly never ceased to amaze me.

A few moments later, we arrived at our destination. The land was barren and desolate. The sparse Anathema that appeared here and there were quickly dispatched by our snipers. Soldiers wasted no time, swiftly building ramparts and walls to establish a fort. Using our dimensional storage, the Magical Girls offloaded supplies in record time. Tents were erected, foldable walls were set up, and electric mini-excavators filled the walls with soil. Within two hours, the makeshift fort was sturdy and operational.

“Alright! We’ve deliberately left openings here and here in the walls. Let’s kite some Anathema!” Freya announced enthusiastically, rallying the troops.

I was genuinely impressed. The fort was constructed so efficiently that it only took three hours, and Felicia mentioned that the point investment for the walls was less than 200 points. It was a practical and effective setup for what lay ahead.

“The fort is ready now. Have you located any nests?”

“Team Five is on the way. Twenty targets incoming.”

“Ugh! They’re chasing us!”

“Stay calm. We’re in a jeep, and the MGs are here.”

Through the comms, I could hear the soldiers relaying their updates. Some of the scouts were clearly untrained, their panicked voices betraying their inexperience. Despite this, the plan was progressing. Many MGs had questioned why we needed to execute it this way, but with Freya—a rank A Magical Girl—endorsing the strategy, everyone complied.

“Shining, are you okay?” I whispered.

“Yes, we’re fine. Everything is under control. We found a small nest and are bringing fifteen Fomorian hounds to the base.”

The rumble of a jeep’s engine grew louder as it approached. Soldiers along the makeshift walls readied their weapons. The moment the jeep breached the fort’s perimeter, the soldiers began firing at the hounds and spiders pursuing it. Once the jeep was inside, chaos ensued as medics scrambled to find a stretcher.

“We’ve got wounded here!” A soldier shouted shouted. A blue-clad MG rushed over to assist.

“This isn’t looking good,” I muttered, shouldering my rifle. Freya’s expression turned grim.

“This is far from fine,” she replied. “There haven’t been any casualties yet, but this plan is flawed. Soldiers shouldn’t be tasked with kiting Anathema in the first place. Not all Anathema rely on melee attacks, and our jeeps can’t withstand their ranged strikes. Worse, we can’t afford for news to spread that our soldiers were wounded by mere hounds…”

“I agree. MGs should handle the kiting,” Gwen said over the comms. “We only need you, Freya, as the A-rank to guard the perimeter and a few other low-ranked MG as essence extractors. F-rank MGs would suffice for that. Alert the other squads—we’re changing the strategy.”

“Next wave incoming!” another voice announced.

I steadied my rifle, watching the jeep in the distance through the scope. MGs weren’t supposed to intervene here; our role was to support and extract. For now, all I could do was observe.

As before, the soldiers rained bullets on the advancing Anathema. And, as before, the Anathema corpses fell too far from the base. By the time our extractors arrived, much of their essence had already dissipated.

Gwen managed to hold the line and coordinate the shooting effectively. When the Anathema fell just before the walls, the MG extractors could reach the corpses in time. However, the soldiers were visibly displeased with the new orders, and several close calls required MGs to step in for their defense.

“Felicia, how are we doing?” I asked, perched on the wall. Thanks to my mana eyes, the darkness of the night posed no issue. With my personal jeep inside my storage, doing a night watch felt like the best use of my time.

“We’ve barely filled half a tube today,” Felicia reported. “This strategy is inefficient. It yields far less essence than sending an MG team to clear out even a low-level nest. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this plan. Human soldiers can’t match Anathema yet—they need proper armor, not just bullets. Honestly, you guys are too prideful, nyaaa.”

“Lily!” Shining wrapped her arms around me in a sudden hug from behind.

“Hello. Can’t sleep?” I asked.

“How can I sleep when my comrade isn’t? I’m still a leader, you know!” Shining puffed out her chest with a grin.

“I see.”

“We didn’t have the best start, did we?” she admitted.

“No. Our target was five tubes today, and we barely managed half.”

“Well, we’ll do better tomorrow!” Shining said confidently.

“We might have to take on kiting duty ourselves,” I suggested.

“That’s good! It was far too dangerous for our soldiers today. MGs have shield auras, but our soldiers don’t. A single shot to the head or heart could kill them.” Shining frowned. “I feel bad for them.”

“I see. Felicia thinks it’d be better if MGs handled the extraction ourselves,” I said.

“Well, I admit that might be more efficient, but we’ve already brought these people. We can’t let them sit idle at the base all day doing nothing,” Shining replied.

I sighed, turning my gaze to the distant sky. A sudden movement caught my eye. I immediately activated my mana eyes to scan the surroundings. Anathema, being mostly black, were hard to detect, but with my enhanced vision and night optics, I could see them.

“Felicia!” I called.

“Confirmed. Anathema attack detected. Headquarters is now at Red Alert,” Felicia announced.

An alarm blared, jolting the camp to life. Soldiers scrambled to their posts, clutching their weapons. Military-grade floodlights swept the surrounding terrain, searching for the advancing threat. I exchanged a glance with Shining, and we both readied our guns.

“Felicia, keep an eye out. Notify us and the others if you spot additional Anathema through our mana eyes.”

“Roger, nya!”

The night raid had begun.