CHAPTER 1202: CHAPTER 1201: EVERYTHING I KNOW

For Fang Zheng, using "Ratziel" to investigate all of this is easy, but he wouldn’t do that. After all, Fang Zheng is not just an individual, he is the ruler of the Heavenly Dao Palace, and therefore in every world, when investigating every civilization and making decisions, he must have a set process, rather than just saying "according to Ratziel’s records, this is how it is, so we must do thus and so"...

The Heavenly Dao Palace has its own guidelines, objectives, and clear concepts.

For example, in the argument between Nanoha and Little Sakura, the issue wasn’t about right or wrong per se. As the saying goes, only children distinguish between right and wrong. For Fang Zheng, the real importance lies not in the motives or means, but in the results.

The desire for world peace could also bring about the destruction of humanity.

Conversely, an evil desire might become humanity’s only guarantee for survival.

Hence, Fang Zheng quite agrees with Shisei’s perspective. Whatever QB’s motives, it did not follow the rules of human civilized society, deceiving girls into signing a contract to become Magical Girls by hiding serious consequences. Not only that, its actions would eventually lead to the Magical Girls’ despair, twisting and transforming them into witches, causing serious harm to both human civilization and the Earth itself.

In this situation, discussing whether QB’s actions were correct is meaningless. What the Heavenly Dao Palace needs to do is protect the Earth and human civilization, and QB’s actions evidently threaten both. Therefore, it is an enemy of Fang Zheng and the Heavenly Dao Palace.

Philosophical questions don’t need to be considered so much.

Because it’s meaningless.

But what Fang Zheng didn’t expect was that at this time, Akemi Homura revealed some very important information.

"...Witch’s Night?"

"That’s right."

Facing the gazes of Fang Zheng and the other Magical Girls, Akemi Homura still nodded with a calm expression.

"It will appear soon, and if we cannot defeat the Witch’s Night, then humanity will be completely destroyed."

As she spoke, Akemi Homura took out a map, extending her hand to point on it.

"The Witch’s Night will roughly appear here, and then land."

"How do you know?"

Sakurazawa Kyoko curiously leaned her head out to glance at the map, then asked. Akemi Homura was silent for a while before answering.

"It’s statistics."

"Statistics?"

Hearing this, Anzu raised her eyebrows.

"I’ve never heard of the Witch’s Night appearing in this city before. Based on what, how was it calculated?"

"......."

However, this time Akemi Homura remained silent, her quiet reaction clearly irking Anzu.

"I say, QB is terrible, but keeping silent like this makes you no different from QB!"

".........."

This time, hearing Anzu’s words, Akemi Homura paused, and finally made a response.

"Even if I told you, it would be pointless and fruitless."

"How can this be called pointless!"

At this point, Anzu finally couldn’t help but slam her hand on the table and stand up.

"I say, you came here to find us, to find these people, to fight against the Witch’s Night together, right? Since that’s the case, then why not speak clearly? What else are you hiding from us? If you think it’s pointless, then why come here? Go fight alone then!"

"Waaaah..."

Seeing the argument behind her, Little Sakura and Illya were too scared to know what to say, while Nanoha frowned, looking at Anzu and then at Akemi Homura, before she picked up the Heart of the Rising Sun in her hand...

"Leave the blade... no, calm down, Nanoha."

Fate quickly and keenly grabbed Nanoha’s wrist.

"The teacher is here..."

"Ah, right."

Hearing Fate’s words, Nanoha seemed to realize as well, so she decisively put away the Heart of the Rising Sun — this made Fate and Little Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

However, Fang Zheng seemed to have no intention of intervening; he let Anzu argue with Akemi Homura without saying a word. In the end, they parted on bad terms. Akemi Homura left without explaining, and Anzu, displeased with Akemi Homura’s dilly-dallying nature, grumbled and left with Mami Tomoe.

As for Little Sakura and Fate — they were constantly keeping an eye on the Heart of the Rising Sun in Nanoha’s hand, not quite having the leisure to care about the argument.

No, one should say they were very concerned indeed because if something accidentally went wrong...

After Anzu and Mami Tomoe left the scene, Akemi Homura also left silently, leaving others looking at each other in confusion about what to do.

"What should we do now? Honest?"

"I’ll go and talk to Akemi Homura, you all keep an eye on the others, and that QB..."

"Eh? Didn’t Sister Anzu kill it before?"

"That thing isn’t so easy to kill."

Fang Zheng shook his head then looked at Shisei.

"QB’s soul fluctuations have been input to the terminal; from now on, it’s up to you. If you find QB and it seems to be behaving unusually, report immediately."

"Okay, Teacher."

After giving a few instructions, Fang Zheng left the warehouse. His original plan was to directly go to Akemi Homura’s home to find her, but to his surprise, upon stepping out of the terminal, he saw Akemi Homura’s silhouette.

"Hello."

Noticing Fang Zheng’s appearance, Akemi Homura nodded slightly with her distant expression.

"It seems you’re waiting here specifically for me?"

"That’s right."

Facing Fang Zheng’s question, Akemi Homura nodded again to confirm.

"I have something I’d like to discuss with Mr. Fang Zheng, please come with me."

Naturally, Fang Zheng wouldn’t refuse Akemi Homura’s invitation, so the two took the tram heading into the distance.

"Clang... clang..."

The rhythmic rumble of the tram resonated, lights flickering past the windows. At this moment, there were only a few people in the whole carriage, and Fang Zheng and Akemi Homura sat on the seats near the end, silently. After an unknown span of time, Akemi Homura broke the silence.

"Do you believe me, Mr. Fang Zheng?"

"Strictly speaking, I don’t particularly believe, but I also have no reason to disbelieve. As for whether the Witch’s Night will appear, we’ll know when the time comes."

Fang Zheng glanced at the window, then casually answered, while Akemi Homura looked up at him.

"Are you not curious how I know?"

"I can pretty much guess."

Fang Zheng looked at Akemi Homura.

"I can smell the scent of time on you... do I need to say more?"

"......"

Hearing this, Akemi Homura’s previously expressionless face showed surprise for the first time, her eyes wide open as she looked at Fang Zheng. After a long pause, Akemi Homura let out a wry smile.

"Yes... just as you said... in fact, I have faced the Witch’s Night multiple times. But despite repeated efforts, I couldn’t defeat it. I’ve shared the truth with other Magical Girls and hoped to unite everyone, but I always failed. Those who learned the truth either killed each other or succumbed to despair, and I couldn’t protect the ones I wanted to protect..."

At this, Akemi Homura opened up.

"I was once just an ordinary girl, with no talent for anything, frail and often sick, and my grades were poor too. After heart surgery, it took me a long time to recover. At the time, in the new school, I had nothing. However, one day I accidentally entered a witch’s barrier and was saved by two Magical Girls."

"Oh?"

Fang Zheng looked at her curiously, and Akemi Homura continued softly.

"You’ve met one of them, Mami Tomoe, and the other one... was Madoka Kaname, my best friend."