Urging for more updates, then turning into a magical girl.

Inside the royal court of the magical kingdom.

This is the heart of the magical kingdom, solemn and majestic.

In a side room, Arc Moon sat quietly on a cushioned chair.

Although Arc Moon currently only holds "character cards," as a "flower" level magical girl, she still enjoys certain privileges.

According to the rules of the kingdom, only magical girls of the "Flower" rank are qualified to sit in the side hall to wait for the investiture ceremony. As for magical girls of the "Bud" rank and below, they will have to wait outside.

Arc Moon turned her head slightly and glanced around out of the corner of her eye.

The magical girls sitting in this side hall, just like her, all started at the "Flower" level. Some of them had even already earned "Flower Cards".

In reality, there aren't as many "Flower" level magical girls in both the magical realm and the material world combined, as one might imagine. And magical girls who can obtain "Hanafuda" (flower cards) are even rarer.

Once someone's strength reaches the "Flower" level, they're generally already somewhat familiar to the Supreme Scepter. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't face any obstacles if they wanted to request an audience with the Supreme Scepter.

Therefore, in this side hall where the top magical girls gathered, everyone was calm and composed, without the trepidation that lower-level magical girls felt when they first encountered a grand scene.

Everyone waited quietly, occasionally a few familiar magical girls huddled together and whispered a few words. After all, many of those present had been to the royal court before.

Arc Moon silently counted the number of people in the room in her mind.

About... twenty-five people...

Of course, these twenty-five people do not represent the total number of Flower-level magical girls from the "Two Worlds War" two years ago.

Many familiar faces from that war are now permanently etched on the battlefield. Those fallen comrades will, of course, never appear here again.

Besides those who died in battle, many others, though survivors of the war, suffered from severe PTSD due to witnessing the horrific deaths of their comrades. Weary of the nation's conflicts and unwilling to hear anything related to war, they simply declined the invitation to the medal ceremony.

Furthermore, magical girls who hold positions or are nominally affiliated with any of the five major academies, and who already possess flower cards (Hanafuda), are unlikely to participate in this award ceremony. If we also include those magical girls who have already retired, are uninterested in the ceremony, or were unable to attend due to injury or other reasons…

Of the Flower-level magical girls sitting here today, only these twenty-five remain.

However, what Arc Moon didn't know was that, in order to fully showcase the nation's "glorious victory" in the war at this grand ceremony, the royal court had significantly lowered the bar when issuing the invitations.

During that war, even magical girls like Arc Moon, who weren't particularly active, all received invitations to the investiture ceremony as long as they reached the Flower or Bud levels.

However, for most people, the ceremony is just a formality, a mere background event, and there are no real rewards.

Not long after, a magical girl with a high black ponytail and wearing the uniform of the Magic Academy slowly walked into the side hall.

"Everyone, I am the Selection Officer of the Demon Academy, codename Hazel Bell."

When the black-haired magical girl spoke, everyone in the side hall fell silent.

"You are all heroes who have shed blood for our country, so there's no need for such formalities."

Although Hazel spoke politely, all the magical girls present stood up in perfect unison and bowed slightly to her.

As a high-ranking position in the Magic Academy, the Director of the Selection Division was treated with at least outward respect and courtesy by everyone.

"Thank you all for taking the time to attend this award ceremony."

Hazel was clearly pleased with everyone's attitude. Then, she took out a piece of paper and began to read—

"Regarding the rewards that everyone can receive at tomorrow's ceremony, in order to avoid any confusion in the process, I need to inform everyone in advance."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the room tensed slightly. Everyone knew that the main event was about to begin.

"These are the magical girls who will be awarded 'Hanafuda' at tomorrow's grand ceremony—"

Zhen Hailing cleared her throat, glanced at everyone again, and then slowly read out three names.

As expected, the name did not include the character "弧月" (Hu Yue).

After the three names were announced, many magical girls present offered their heartfelt congratulations. These three were indeed true heroes who had distinguished themselves on the front lines, even saving countless lives of their comrades. Two of them had been genuinely wounded in the war, making their selection of the Hanafuda cards well-deserved.

"This list was jointly nominated by all the High Scepters. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Her Majesty the Queen will approve it today and officially award these three with floral medals at tomorrow's investiture ceremony."

Following that, Hazel Nami mentioned a number of awards that sounded like they were just there to fill space. However, by this point, no one was really listening to what she was saying. After all, the flower arrangements were the focus of the award ceremony.

In the end, Hazelnut offered her usual words of comfort:

"Of course, Her Majesty the Queen is merciful. At tomorrow's ceremony, Her Majesty may, depending on the circumstances, bestow additional floral tributes. So, those of you who didn't hear your names called, don't be discouraged. As long as you continue to serve the country loyally, there will always be an opportunity."

Arc Moon sat back down in her chair and sighed softly.

Before coming to the country, when she received the invitation, she did secretly fantasize about "it would be great if I could get a Hanafuda card." But when she actually heard that her name wasn't on the list, besides feeling disappointed, she felt more of a sense of relief, like "I knew it."

In the war between the two worlds, although she contributed, she didn't fight to the death most of the time. Compared to her colleagues who charged on the front lines and even risked their lives to fill the gaps in the battle... her own achievements were indeed not up to the level of a flower card player.

Oh well, if there are no flower cards, then there are no flower cards... After all, these are rewards given to the heroes.

Arc Moon quickly reassured herself and prepared to continue daydreaming and get through the boring schedule ahead.

Next up is the rehearsal for the medal-awarding ceremony... I guess I can just be casual then. I'm basically just part of the atmosphere team anyway... so being a little lazy shouldn't be a problem, right?

However, at that moment, someone slowly walked up to Arc Moon. Arc Moon looked up and saw that Hazel Sea Bell, who had just been speaking on the stage, had walked up to her.

"You're the magical girl from Enchanted Garden City, Crescent Moon, right?"

"Huh? Um... it's me." Arc Moon paused for a moment, then nodded.

Upon hearing the affirmative answer, Zhen Hailing turned slightly to the side, gesturing for Hu Yue to get up.

"Miss Crescent Moon, please come with me for a moment. Lord Azure Scepter... wishes to see you alone."