Before she could make up her mind, Lin Xiaolu, left aside and forced to listen in confusion, finally found an opportunity to speak, hesitantly raising her hand:
"Um, Excuse me, are you Emerald Sparrow... senior?"
Emerald Sparrow turned to look at her, her expression somewhat inexplicable: "Just call me Emerald Sparrow."
"Then... Emerald Sparrow?" Lin Xiaolu tentatively called out.
Emerald Sparrow slightly arched an eyebrow, clearly not too pleased with Lin Xiaolu's reaction, but she didn't delve into it, instead steering the conversation back on track: "If you have any questions, just ask quickly, you don't need so many formalities."
With some hesitation, Lin Xiaolu took a deep breath, her eyes drifting momentarily before closing, her hands clenched in front of her chest:
"I think it's amazing!"
"Huh?" Emerald Sparrow was taken aback.
"I mean, you said to watch your battle, and now I feel amazing, really excited! No, I am moved!"
After voicing what was in her heart, Lin Xiaolu seemed to discard all her reservations, speaking faster and faster: "Even now, my heart still hasn't stopped pounding, my pulse is racing!"
"Since I was very young, I have always loved Magical Girl anime. I thought the Magical Girls in the animations were cute and powerful, able to do many things that I dream of doing but can't achieve, they're really radiant!"
"Wanting to change myself, wanting to forget the things I hate, wanting to fly out of a suffocating life, so when I found out I could become a Magical Girl, I was really happy, I felt like all my dreams could finally come true!"
At this point, she finally paused, her speech slowing: "But, after becoming a Magical Girl, I discovered that nothing changed apart from having to fight disgusting monsters all the time, I still hated everything around me, I even began to hate myself."
"However, just now, when I was about to be killed by that Remnant Beast, thinking I was about to leave this hateful world, you appeared, Emerald Sparrow!"
"Your battle, it was so cool! So graceful! Just like the Magical Girl in the animations appeared right in front of my eyes, just like a fantasy character became real, so truly, I was really moved!"
Lin Xiaolu's stream of heartfelt exclamations touched Emerald Sparrow.
Because she never knew, that this is what her daughter had been thinking.
Yes, her own daughter.
Emerald Sparrow was Lin Yun.
She had driven dozens of kilometers from home to the park in order to save her daughter from the Remnant Beasts, and after 19 years, she transformed into a Magical Girl once again as Lin Yun.
She hadn't immediately revealed her identity to her daughter, instead putting on airs as a "Patrol Envoy", deliberately adopting an aggressive tone to talk, just to intimidate the Seeder called "Mork", to obtain information from it easier.
But what she hadn't expected was that although she had managed to intimidate the Seeder, she had gleaned no new information.
Apart from realizing that Mork was a dud and that the situation in Fangting City wasn't optimistic, she didn't acquire any new information.
Instead, it was her daughter Lin Xiaolu's words that caught Lin Yun by surprise.
"And besides the fighting, the weapons also have style!"
During Emerald Sparrow's silence, Lin Xiaolu continued to gush unabated, her eyes alight, as if there were stars twinkling in them: "They're very imposing. They make one feel reassured and secure!"
"You're really cute, small and adorable!"
"Your outfit is also very pretty!"
"Even the way you talk is cool!"
This string of compliments, some bordering on cheesy, increasingly flustered Emerald Sparrow. Although her face retained its cool composure, the corners of her mouth began to twitch involuntarily.
Lin Xiaolu had unleashed a barrage of praise until finally, she bowed deeply:
"Therefore, I want to become a Magical Girl like you, to become the ideal version of myself. Could you teach me!"
This sentiment dealt a tremendous blow to Emerald Sparrow.
She couldn't help but ponder why things had turned out this way.
From the moment Lin Xiaolu was born, their relationship as father and daughter had already lasted fourteen years, but in all those years combined, she had never heard so much praise from her daughter. Especially the phrase "I want to become like you," not even during the most harmonious periods had Lin Xiaolu ever said such thing to her.
Yet it was that very sentiment, so moving to her, that now put her on the spot.
Could she reveal the truth at such a moment when her portrayal as "Emerald Sparrow" had gained her daughter's approval and aspiration?
If her daughter knew that this "Emerald Sparrow" who had descended from the sky, whom she so admired, was actually her annoying dad, wouldn't she be disappointed?
She might even hate her more, making it even harder for them to communicate in the future.
As these thoughts sprang up in her mind, her vision blurred momentarily to see Mork again approaching with tears streaming down, pleading with an expression of utter distress: "Honorable Patrol Envoy—"
"Emerald Sparrow senior!"
Lin Xiaolu also looked over with stars in her eyes.
Both the Fairy and her daughter looked at her with imploring eyes, their pitiful faces crowding into view, and Emerald Sparrow felt her thoughts becoming increasingly muddled.
Adding to that was Lin Xiaolu's earlier praise, which had moved her deeply, used to the long-term chill in their relationship, and now less rational thoughts began to push to the forefront of her mind.
Emerald Sparrow, under these circumstances, made a promise that her former self would never have agreed to.