novellhall Chapter 96 Obstacles
Chapter 96 Obstacles
In an office within the Yuehua City Civil Defense Bureau branch, Ji Xia sat in front of her desk, rubbing her forehead. Even while working at the Civil Defense Bureau, she still needed to maintain this magical girl form.
Ji Xia took out her phone and glanced at the time—
There is still half an hour until the meeting with Lord Yuheng.
Although Yuheng's stationing in Yuehua City was kept relatively secret, Ji Xia, being a magical girl employee of the Civil Defense Bureau, was informed of it.
In reality, meeting with Yuheng wasn't particularly difficult for an internal magical girl employee like her, but it wasn't easy either.
There was something she needed to ask Yuheng in person.
*
Previously, the Civil Defense Bureau issued a notice regarding "maintaining neutrality towards Magical Girl Noah".
The general meaning of the notice is very clear:
Magical Girl Noah is a magical girl who traveled from the future. She is currently fighting against other magical girls from the future. No member of the Human Defense Bureau is allowed to provide assistance to either side. Violators will be imprisoned by Lord Tianquan in accordance with Article 22 of the Punishment Regulations (with the possibility of being killed).
In short, it's about remaining neutral.
Ji Xia was stunned when she saw the notice.
Is Noah a magical girl from the future?
Then, Ji Xia quickly found her younger brother and inquired about Noah's situation. Shen Zixin honestly admitted that Noah was a future magical girl.
Ji Xia didn't seem to care much about Noah's true identity. She didn't ask, and Shen Zixin didn't tell her either.
Noah is a magical girl in the future, so it doesn't seem to make much sense to worry about who her true form is. She's probably just a stranger anyway.
Then, Ji Xia also learned more inside information from Shen Zixin—it turned out that the future world used the threat of war to force the Civil Defense Bureau to make such a neutral decision.
Choosing neutrality, and avoiding dragging the entire era into an uncertain war, may be the "safest" option from the perspective of policymakers.
But this kind of prudence is meaningless to Ji Xia.
What she truly cared about was never "Noah" or "the future".
Instead, it was Shen Zixin, the family member who had grown up with her since childhood.
After learning about Noah's ordeal from Shen Zixin, Ji Xia had a premonition.
Knowing her brother's personality as she did, she knew he could never stay out of it.
As expected, he chose to stand with Noah and face the pursuers from the future together.
Even He Yuran, that child, made the same choice.
Honestly... one or two of them are all a handful.
Persuade him? No way. There's no way to change his mind with his personality.
Since that's the case, there's only one thing I can do—
—Stand by his side and face all of this with him.
This is her duty as the "older sister".
Therefore, Lu Yue found Noah and explained her thoughts to her, as well as her determination to stand with Noah.
She had assumed Noah would happily accept her kindness—
I disagree.
However, Noah flatly refused.
"Why?" Lu Yue asked incredulously. In this situation, more people meant more strength, so why would Noah refuse her help?
"You're the breadwinner of the family. Xiaoling is still in school, right? Shen Zixin won't graduate for another year. If you quit your job, will your family starve?" Noah asked this serious question.
"Don't worry about money. Even if you become a wild magical girl outside the system, as long as you hunt down monsters and sell the magical essence you recover... and... and sell some of my artificial Mystic Codes, the family's finances will still be fine."
"My forces are sufficient," Noah offered another reason, "so I don't need your help for the time being."
"Noah, I don't care if you die, but I'm helping you mainly for my brother's sake. Don't misunderstand!" Lu Yue was somewhat angry at Noah's words.
No matter how Lu Yue argued, Noah always managed to reject her with all sorts of ridiculous reasons.
The conversation ended unhappily.
Lu Yue was also puzzled as to why Noah was so adamant about not letting her join.
Is it because you don't want to get involved?
It doesn't seem like it. Noah values her younger brother more, and since he can join, why can't she?
However, when it comes to "helping," Noah can't stop someone from doing it if they want to.
So Lu Yue submitted her resignation directly to the human resources department.
When the time comes, she'll stay by her brother's side and protect him. Can Noah stop her then?
The resignation was submitted without any obstacles.
However, after waiting for half a month, there was still no progress.
Her resignation application was thus lost without a trace.
Every time I inquire, the answer is always the same: "The application has been accepted and please wait for approval."
Lu Yue seemed to realize that something... was hindering her.
This is why she insisted on seeing Yuheng.
*
"...That's all there is to it."
In Yuheng's office, Ji Xia recounted her ordeal in detail.
"My resignation has been rejected. No, it's not even 'rejected,' but rather it's been put on hold indefinitely. Lord Yuheng, I hope you will approve my application. I must leave the Civil Defense Bureau to protect the people most important to me."
Yuheng listened quietly to her story, her expression remaining unchanged throughout. Only after Ji Xia finished speaking did she slowly begin to speak—
"I understand. Go back and wait for news."
"Lord Yuheng!—" Ji Xia took a step forward, somewhat excitedly, "So why can't I resign?!"
"I'll look into this. You can go back now."
After Yuheng finished speaking, he looked at the computer on his desk and then ignored Ji Xia completely.
Seeing that Yuheng was so "direct" in telling her to leave, Ji Xia sighed and then left the office.
Although Yuheng appeared calm on the surface, he was experiencing a mix of emotions inside.
Previously, Noah had approached her and asked her to help with two things.
"Logically speaking, I shouldn't be able to offer you help right now..."
"These two things have nothing to do with me, so they don't count as helping 'me' or violating your agreement with the future."
"The first thing is about the three magical girls, Lingbo, Bi'an, and Huixiang. They plan to cancel their registration with the Civil Defense Bureau. Try to help them complete the procedures as quickly as possible."
"The second thing is that if Ji Xia, this magical girl, wants to resign from the Civil Defense Bureau, you must delay her resignation as much as possible and never approve it, so that she remains a member of the Civil Defense Bureau."
"Absolutely...we can't let her join my side."