Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

Emerald Sparrow lifted the dagger in silence, and the man shrank back his head, "I get it! I'll talk! Don't do it!"

Seeing Emerald Sparrow lower her hand, he sighed with relief and continued to explain, "The three ranks are arranged from lowest to highest. The lowest level is the Ash Army, followed by Ash Guards, and the upper echelons are the Ash Envoys."

"The Ash Soldiers in front of the courtyard are just ordinary members without their own codenames, only numbers. For example, among my subordinates, the combat-specialized Ash Soldiers are prefixed with 'Soldier Spider,' followed by a number, like Soldier Spider One, Soldier Spider Two..."

"While the Ash Guards in front of the hall get their own codenames and, as middle-level personnel, have authority over some Ash Soldiers."

"The Ash Envoys before the king are people closest to the core of power and synonyms for formidable strength, often controlling an entire area."

"An entire area?"

His words made Emerald Sparrow realize something, and she continued to press, "Does the Southeast Donghua Region count as one area?"

"Yes, it certainly does," the man codenamed Spider chuckled, "But how many areas there are exactly, I don't know; that's not something for us Ash Guards to know."

"So who is the leader of Black Ash Dawn in this area?" Emerald Sparrow stared into his eyes.

"I don't know," Spider said, smiling.

A flash of cold light, and another wound appeared in his abdomen.

"Ah!"

He cried out in pain again, but this time, unlike before, he didn't confess truthfully but said with a face full of cold sweat, "I... can't say."

"Can't say?"

Emerald Sparrow frowned slightly, "Maybe my next cut should be in a more painful spot, to help you remember?"

"It's not... memory, it's that I... can't say it, it's impossible," Spider said in fits and starts, his face turning red. "I can't tell the Magical Girl his name; it's his command, and I can't disobey."

"Disobey an order from your superiors and you die; refuse to answer my questions here and you also die; which do you think is a little better?"

Emerald Sparrow asked calmly, "Perhaps you can describe the price of defying orders for me, and I'll try to make it a bit more excessive than your superiors would."

"I've told you... we can't defy superiors," Spider continued gasping, "Just like low-tier beasts can't defy high-tier beasts; it's a hierarchy of life, a ladder that cannot be overstepped."

"What you mean is that the commands of your superiors are absolute, irrespective of your will?"

Emerald Sparrow raised an eyebrow, "Similar to Remnant Beasts? Have you really come to think of yourselves as Remnant Beasts?"

"Think of? The power of beasts has always been our ladder of progression; what's wrong with climbing a path of strength belonging to humans?"

After the pain, Spider's voice gradually calmed down, "You Magical Girls will never understand."

"I have no intention of understanding the thoughts of monsters; I just want to know what you've done."

Unmoved, Emerald Sparrow continued, "Keep going, make your purpose clear. What exactly is 'gathering life-force'?"

"It's, feeding the beasts."

Spider's gaze drifted upward, watching the struggle against the lantern lights where the Spider Remnant Beast was clearly at a disadvantage, and a shadow crossed his eyes. "Beasts can devour all life that possesses Magic Power, even the dullest commoners with their faint Magic Power. Although it's nearly nothing, it adds up over time."

"And if you want to increase efficiency, then you should seek out more powerful food, like other beasts, like a Fairy's magical source, like..."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Emerald Sparrow's neckline, looking at her Heart's Gem that appeared and disappeared at her throat, swallowing saliva, "Your source of Magic Power."

Emerald Sparrow was silent for a long time.

She stared at Spider for a long while before speaking again, "You truly are a bunch of animals."

What Spider said wasn't hard to understand. In other words, their "nourishment" was essentially all life that possessed Magic Power. Whether it be humans, Fairies, Magical Girls, or even other Remnant Beasts eating their own kind, it was an existing fact.

"This is the truth of this world."

Spider said casually, "Without the power to protect oneself, one will eventually be consumed."

"Were all the Magical Girl disappearance cases in the Donghua Region these past two years your doing?"

Emerald Sparrow clutched the dagger firmly, "What about the investigation team that came to Bai'an City before? Where are they now?"

"All us? Who knows, but for Bai'an City, it should all be my work, I guess," Spider said, still looking up at the sky with a smirk on his lips. "It's just a pity I couldn't capture the few new Magical Girls here. I had just trapped that nuisance of a Lei-grade when you arrived; otherwise, once I killed her, all the Heart's Gems in this city would have belonged to me."

"You won't have that chance anymore."

Emerald Sparrow spoke coldly, "Tell me where the investigation team is, and I will grant you a swift end."

"Investigation team? Ah, you're still talking about the few foolish Magical Girls who came to interrogate me the other day. Their whereabouts?"

Spider's eyes shifted and gradually focused on Emerald Sparrow's face, "You've been asking about them from the start, why? Do colleagues from the Investigation Bureau really matter that much to you, Cornflower?"

Emerald Sparrow's breathing faltered.

Although his words were a question, he wasn't actually inquiring from Emerald Sparrow; when he said the codename "Cornflower," it was with an unequivocal certainty.

The Lantern had called out to Emerald Sparrow before, so he had reason to know the codename "Emerald Sparrow." But the codename "Cornflower" had never been mentioned in front of this man.

It was possible that the Cat Tail Squad had mentioned this codename before, but why; for what reason would they bring up their own in front of this man?