Book 2: Chapter 164: Defense Plan
Vol 2 Chapter 164: Defense Plan
For the sake of concealment, after Veronica successfully infiltrated this branch office under the cover of the main office's staff, their next task wasn't to immediately hold a meeting. Instead, the main office employees went out to socialize with the branch office staff for further exchanges. As for Veronica, she remained hidden in this office.
Only after both sides had fully settled in and ensured no one would disturb them did everyone return to the office, drawing the curtains and turning on the chandelier. Veronica took her position at the head of the room and began discussions about security arrangements for the examination site.
The examination consisted of two parts: written tests and practical combat, with four subjects in the written portion and four stages in the practical. The written tests would be held inside the Silver Gallery in the academy district, using its classrooms and auditoriums as examination halls. Security for this portion was relatively straightforward: with the Silver Gallery's fixed entry and exit points, it would be easy to guard. They just needed to seal the entrances in advance, conduct thorough sweeps of the school interior to eliminate all potential hazards, and strictly screen external entrants to ensure all examinees matched their admission ticket information, thus minimizing the chance of outsiders infiltrating.
Of course, as an extra precaution, almost all proctors at the examination site would be highly experienced veteran Magical Girls. These included not only the Silver Gallery's regular faculty but also combat-oriented Magical Girls from the Examination Court of the Magical Affairs Court, plus external support dispatched by the Investigation Court. Some proctors would monitor internal examinees while guarding against potential external attacks.
And this was merely the standard security measures that should have been implemented for the examination.
After receiving news about Black Ember Dawn and Claw Marks infiltrating Rune Norrey, according to Folding Crane Orchid's report to Veronica, there were already at least seven Flower Card Magical Girls listed among the available security personnel.
These seven Flower Cards consisted of two Directors of Permanent Education Selection from the Magical Affairs Court, three Knowledge Administrators from the Research Court, one Inspector Envoy from the Investigation Court's external support, and Veronica herself.
To be honest, in Veronica's memory, even during the Garden Defense battle years ago, there were probably only about this many Flower Cards present.
Throughout the entire magic nation, despite thousands of years of accumulation, there were currently only slightly over a hundred Flower Cards recorded as still living. Although many were lost during the Inter-Realm War, the nation unusually awarded more Flower Cards after the war to maintain their combat strength, so the current number was historically quite high. Among Magical Girls, those who could reach Flower rank were already rare among the rare. Among those Flower ranks, only a few could awaken Grand Blooming and become what people called "Strong Flowers." Then, only the most outstanding "Strong Flowers" who had rendered sufficient service to the nation could become the one-in-ten-thousand Flower Cards.
Flower rank, Strong Flower, Flower Card. After these three layers of selection, even though the finally selected Flower Card Magical Girls could obtain lifespans far exceeding ordinary people's, their numbers were destined to remain small.
A hundred Flower Cards were responsible for the security of the vast magic nation while also undertaking field missions, providing some support to the material world and even the Boundary, and maintaining the power operations of the nation's Five Courts. Each Flower Card was an invaluable pillar to the magic nation, and it would be an absolute waste of resources to have multiple Flower Cards assigned to the same mission under normal circumstances.
Yet now, gathered in Rune Norrey solely to ensure the safe conduct of the "qualification certification," there were a full seven Flower Cards.
Without exaggeration, if even a Monarch-class Remnant Beast appeared in Rune Norrey now, it wouldn't survive five minutes after showing itself.
And this was just the "conventional" combat force. During the examination, there would also be the Scepter of Gems Emerald stationed in the city, other Scepters accompanying the Queen, even the palace guards and garden keepers attending the ceremony with the Queen...
And the Queen of the magic nation herself - the ruler who had sat firmly on the throne for thousands of years, referred to only as "Her Majesty" by countless high-ranking Magical Girls.
Considering all this, in terms of the examination site's security, Veronica didn't really need to worry much about enemies causing damage.
Rather, if any enemy could actually inflict harm under such defenses, it would already constitute a crisis for the entire magic nation, not just an examination issue. If there were enemies even the Queen and Scepters couldn't stop... leaving aside whether such beings existed, even if they did, Veronica probably couldn't do anything about them.
In that case, it would be more practical to focus on actual problems.
Veronica had no doubt that if flaws emerged in her defense plan, the most serious consequence wouldn't be potential damage from enemies, but the Queen's thunderous wrath upon finding her ceremony disrupted - wrath that would be evenly distributed among everyone present.
Because under the Queen's anger, enemies might not even get a chance to execute their plans before being captured on the spot. Then would come the security head facing questioning from the Royal Court alone...
And at that point, the interest group formed by Emerald, the Magical Affairs Court, and Veronica probably wouldn't escape unscathed.
Therefore, the security task before Veronica wasn't just "stopping enemies" but "stopping enemies before the Queen notices." This was far more difficult than ordinary defense missions.
Because no party in the interest group could accept the possibility of "the matter reaching the Queen's attention." What they had to do was extinguish all sparks before the Queen noticed, then use related evidence afterward to claim credit from the Royal Court.
Achieving this goal would be relatively easy during the written examination. However, once the practical examination began, the difficulty would increase exponentially.
The reason was simple: the practical examination's four stages corresponded to four different venues. Two were in the academy district, one in the Emerald District, and one actually in the forest outside Rune Norrey.
While the academy and Emerald District venues could potentially be cordoned off for military-style management, the forest outside the city - originally planned for the "simulated Great Beast Disaster" examination - became a standard hot potato.
The reasons were obvious: too vast an area to seal off, overly complex magical fluctuations, even numerous Remnant Beasts making preemptive clearing difficult. Even using the Research Court's latest technology to deploy large-scale defensive and alarm spells, such extensive spells could hardly achieve sufficient precision. They might stop mindless Remnant Beasts, but against Black Ember Dawn's senior magic users and Claw Marks' Magical Girls with their possible countermeasures, it would be like trying to make bricks without straw.
Moreover, Veronica needed to impose further restrictions: not only detecting infiltrators promptly but also identifying them quickly. If they turned out to be Mohe or Tulip and others, she would personally handle them...
"To be honest, Lady Cornflower."
After hearing Veronica's thoughts, Folding Crane Orchid blinked blankly: "I think your requirements might be somewhat unrealistic."
"...I know."
Halfway through this discussion, Veronica realized how unreasonable her earlier ideas were, making her uncharacteristically lack confidence: "That's why I need to discuss this with you all."
"I understand your feelings, my lady. Although I no longer feel such strong identification with 'comrades from the city defense forces,' I still retain some camaraderie. If possible, I wouldn't want to kill them without understanding the situation."
Folding Crane Orchid nodded: "But if mercy toward others leads to my own destruction, I can hardly afford such boundless compassion. In my view, the best way to leave these old comrades a way out isn't leaving them openings at the scene, but finding them now to dissuade them from coming."
"I've already tried."
Veronica sighed: "But they've completely hidden themselves now. We can't find them at all - even your informants have lost track of them."
"We shouldn't give up on this effort."
Folding Crane Orchid looked thoughtful: "Perhaps intensifying search efforts now to find them beforehand would be better."
"I have no objections - in fact, I've wanted to do this long ago... but what about your credit-seeking mission?"
Veronica looked at her suspiciously: "You were the ones who initially set the bait to lure them in. Now if I have you find and dissuade them, wouldn't that make all your efforts wasted?"
"This is no problem at all, because your will is our guiding direction. Had we known earlier about your mercy toward former companions, we wouldn't have made such plans from the start."
Folding Crane Orchid smiled, making a gesture before bowing neatly with the other main office staff: "And now, if we can use this matter to earn your trust, that would benefit us more than achieving our original purpose."
"...Thank you. I owe you one."
Veronica exhaled deeply: "If we can find them beforehand, that would naturally be for the best. But I think we should also prepare for both possibilities, since they might not comply with our wishes."
"No thanks needed - this is our duty."
Folding Crane Orchid's smile grew more sincere as she continued: "As for the defense plan... if you truly insist on implementing it this way, then I'm afraid you'll have quite strenuous days ahead until the examination. Because such plans can't rely on armchair strategies - we'll need to contact the Research Court for on-site customized spell modifications, coordinate with the Examination and Investigation Courts to examine sentry distributions in detail. Finally, as the ultimate executor, you'll need to participate in many rehearsals to ensure everything goes smoothly... You understand we can't allow the plan to fail."
"I understand. Since this is my personal request, I can't let personal needs hinder the team."
Veronica also adopted a serious expression: "So this is actually my request - please help me achieve it. As for me, no matter how many rehearsals it takes, I'll continue until we can accomplish the task. If I can't meet the requirements, or if forcing this backdoor would jeopardize the defense plan, please inform me - I'll abandon it."
"Thank you for your understanding."
Folding Crane Orchid smiled, straightening up to signal others. Soon, she took a thick stack of documents from a staff member and placed them on the table before Veronica: "Then without delay, here are floor plans of the examination venues, personnel lists, hardware inventories... Let's start calibrating the plan step by step from these."
What she didn't say aloud - nor needed to - was that this would undoubtedly be an extremely complex undertaking.
Veronica knew this well and was fully prepared.
However, when Folding Crane Orchid produced these documents to commence the work, Veronica realized a previously overlooked fact that led her to consider another matter:
—If this work would continue until the examination began, then for the next half month... did that mean she'd have to hide in that suitcase every single day?