Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 609

Where is this place?

Her consciousness was still in a hazy, confused state; she wasn't fully awake. However, she could feel her head resting on something soft.

So comfortable.

So reassuring.

This feeling of being surrounded by gentleness...

"Mu, are you awake?"

A familiar voice suddenly appeared directly above her head, and then the ceiling, which was already half-covered by the soft, mysterious object, was filled with another face. A pair of bright golden eyes looked at her with delight, and Mu could even clearly see her own face reflected in those eyes.

My face is normal, fair and clean.

Why would I think that? My face shouldn't be normal... Ah... I think I remember now, shouldn't I have already... died... No, not dead, shouldn't I have already... merged with that monster?

Why can she still see her own face? What... happened?

"Mu?"

Since Mu didn't respond for a long time, the owner of the voice asked again.

"How are you."

That voice, that face... is it Xiang?

Mu's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Xiang?!"

She suddenly sat up, forgetting that half of her head was still covered by something soft and fluffy, and buried her head in Xiangzi's soft embrace.

Xiangzi took the opportunity to hug Mu and gently stroked down the lines of her back.

"...Am I... hallucinating?" Mu lay dazed in Xiangzi's arms. "Am I... dreaming?"

Or has she actually succumbed? Completely absorbed, synchronized with them? Is all of this just the most beautiful dream that the collective consciousness wants her to see?

“It’s not an illusion, nor are we being absorbed. You’re looking at me, the real me.” Xiangzi lowered his eyes and said softly, “We’re inside a diving sphere that’s rising to the surface. We’ll be on the surface soon.”

"what......."

Mu didn't know what to say, and opened her mouth blankly. But soon, that joyful expression, as if she had been saved, immediately dimmed.

The fact that he was still alive meant that Xiang had saved him. In that situation, how much risk did she take to save him? What difficulties and obstacles did she overcome?

The thought of this made Mu feel guilty.

"Xiang." Her voice became very soft.

"Ok?"

"Why did you come to save me?" Mu asked, head bowed. "You could have taken Chao Yin-Yang with you."

She lowered her head, looking at her hands, which had recovered completely. Then she raised her head, her gaze drifting to the black box that Xiangzi had placed to the side, and then back to Xiangzi.

“Only if Xiang obtains the transcendental causality will there be a chance to change the world,” Mu said. “Even if I die, as long as Xiang can obtain the transcendental causality… I… will come back.”

Xiangzi roughly understood what she meant.

The purpose of this trip is to obtain supercausality and use it to continue their unfinished work. If Xiangzi truly succeeds, finds the perfect solution to the problem, and creates a completely new world, then all those who were lost and sacrificed will return. At that time, Mu will be one of them. Therefore, there is no need to gamble so heavily on her temporary sacrifice.

That's what Mu wanted to express.

"You think that, compared to causality, causality is more important?" Xiangzi's voice suddenly dropped several octaves. "Is that what you're trying to say?"

"..." Mu turned her head to the side, "It's not worth taking such a big risk for me—"

Snapped.

"--have to."

A light slap landed on Mu's face, plunging the atmosphere, which had just begun to lighten, back into a deep slump.

Mu saw Xiangzi glaring at him angrily.

Although it didn't hurt, Mu was still...indescribably surprised.

"I won't allow you to say such things, desuwa!" Xiangzi's face flushed with anger. "I don't want to give up on anyone anymore, and I especially don't want to hear you say things like that—things that belittle yourself, and even more so, belittle me. Do you think I went through so much trouble to rescue you? How much determination did it take for me to—"

She grabbed Mu's shoulder and took a breath.

"If I can't even save you, how can I change the world? If I can't even save you, what's the difference between me and Toyokawa Shoko, who cried while clutching her notebook?"

She suddenly hugged Mu tightly and pulled her into her arms.

“I’m different now, Mu,” Xiangzi said. “I won’t let you down again, and I won’t give up on anyone again.”

"..." Mu, at a loss, put her hand on Xiangzi's waist. "I'm sorry."

"Feel sorry.......

"Feel sorry......."

She held Xiangzi in her arms, repeating the same phrase over and over, her voice growing softer and softer.

Xiangzi felt the person in his arms trembling slightly, and then a few seconds later, he felt a wet sensation on his shoulder.

"Say what you want to say, but don't say anything you don't mean," Xiangzi whispered in her ear. "You're actually happy that I came to save you, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Mu burst into tears.

"Xiang...it really is you...I'm not dreaming...I really am not dreaming...That's wonderful..."

"Yes," Xiangzi said softly, "It's not a dream, that's great."

"I thought... I'd never see you again..." Mutsu's voice was heavy with sobs. "I thought... you'd never come back..."

She held Xiangzi tightly, like a child afraid of being separated from his mother.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Xiangzi smiled helplessly and ruffled her hair. "Why have you suddenly become like a child?"

"Because... I miss you so much."

"I miss you too," Xiangzi said.

The feeling of surfacing suddenly stopped, and outside light shone in, causing the capsule to sway. Through the transparent glass of the hatch, they could see that half of them were already on the surface, the capsule rocking with the waves. The sun had just risen above the water, its rays shining unreservedly onto the sea and into the narrow diving pod.

Somewhere on the sea, a small fishing boat can be vaguely seen, and someone on board seems to be waving and shouting in this direction.

"We've reached the water."

Xiangzi ruffled Mu's hair, opened the emergency exit directly above his head, reached out to Mu, and revealed a smile brighter than the rising sun.

"We go home."

The Tale of Transcendence: Stars and Us - Chapter 820 Drinking

Miao Meng and the others had gone to the surface of the sea a long time ago, retrieved the fishing boat that had docked earlier, and had been patrolling the nearby waters, waiting for Xiangzi to bring Mu to the surface.

Xiangzi was lucky; he had just surfaced above the water when he came into the sight of the fishing boat. It was sunrise, and from the top of the floating diving ball, he could see the fishing boat slowly approaching under the sunrise.

When the fishing boat came to a stop, Xiangzi jumped onto the boat first, turned around, and stretched his hand down.

"Mu?"

Mu was still staring blankly in the direction of the sun, or more accurately, staring blankly at Xiangzi's figure under the sun. Under the sunlight, Xiangzi's face became hazy, and his golden eyes shone slightly. Mu was so engrossed in looking at him that he forgot he was still on the diving ball.

However, Xiangzi was unaware of this; she was still wondering why Mu hadn't reacted.

"Ah." Mu finally came to her senses, her eyes darting away as she grasped Xiangzi's hand. "Come on, I'm coming."

The moment she stepped onto the boat, a burst of fireworks erupted around her, and confetti flew out of the paper cannons, showering her head.

Hailing and Miaomeng, holding firecrackers they'd somehow found, looked at her with smiles.

"Welcome back." Hailing clapped her hands. "And Xiangzi too."

"Welcome back, Mutsuko~ and congratulations on the successful completion of this operation." Meow Dream's lips formed a W shape, but her eyes smiled gently. "It's time to go home."

Looking at the smiling faces on everyone's faces, Mu revealed what was perhaps the most radiant smile of her life.

"I am back."

====================

Back at the shelter, Xiangzi handed the black box to Del and began separating the super-causality from the city lord's will. Since this time the super-causality was being combined with a human, whose consciousness was several times, even dozens of times, more complex than that of a beast, it naturally took much longer than the previous time.

So Xiangzi temporarily returned to a state of having nothing to do.

Miao Meng finally got the vacation she wanted, spending all her time in the tavern, and even inviting Xiangzi to drink with her.

Xiangzi politely declined (was it really a polite refusal?) several times, saying that he had things to do and was busy. In the end, he went to accompany Mu, walking around the city with her, chatting, and looking at the scenery.

The two of them never had many topics to talk about, but they both enjoyed the feeling of being together quietly.

A few days passed peacefully and uneventfully, but Xiangzi couldn't resist Miaomeng's enthusiasm (after all, she had come to his door), so he accompanied her to a tavern.

This little bar is decorated almost exactly like the one in the basement back then, except the bartender is no longer the same person.

While drinking, Miaomeng told Xiangzi that the bartender died on the eve of the shelter's completion, sacrificing his life to save a child, who is now the shop manager.

She takes special care of this bar, even visiting it during the day when it's deserted.

Is this your way of showing care?

Xiangzi rolled his eyes.

However, despite what Miao Meng said, it was clear from the snippets of conversation and banter between her and the new bartender that Miao Meng had indeed been taking care of her since she was a child, and that this bar was built by Miao Meng in memory of someone.

So actually, Meow Dream is the boss.

"Sigh...that's all in the past." Miaomeng, slightly drunk, put her arm around Xiangzi's shoulder. "Speaking of the past..."

"It's still morning desuwa." Xiangzi took a sip of tea. "Are you sure it's okay for you to drink like this?"

She didn't know that Miaomeng not only smoked but also drank heavily, but she never expected that after thirty years, not only would things not have changed, but they would have become even more outrageous.

"I... I know what I'm doing..." Meow Dream chuckled. "It's only when... nobody's watching me that I... hiccup..."

"Sigh." Xiangzi rubbed his forehead and sighed helplessly.

"...On another note," Miaomeng said, shaking her head, "we were just talking about... that kind of thing, right?"

"What kind of problem?" Xiangzi raised an eyebrow.

She couldn't quite understand what the drunkard was saying. It made no sense at all.

“…It’s all in the past,” Miaomeng said. “I suddenly remembered…it was…back then…”

"then?"

"That...bad, the one that almost sank our hometown...you know it, right?"

"I've heard of it." Xiangzi nodded.

I heard it was an extremely fierce battle, in which all the predecessors lost their lives, in order to give us the opportunity to defeat the enemy.

That's what everyone says.

"W-what? I've heard of that?!" Miao Meng suddenly raised her voice, "You were clearly there back then!"

"You're way too drunk." Xiangzi forced a smile. "There are still a few customers in the shop."

She glanced around; everyone was focused on drinking their sorrows or chatting quietly, pretending she hadn't misread anything.

"I, I'm not drunk!" Miaomeng hugged Xiangzi's neck tightly.

A pungent smell of alcohol assaulted Xiangzi's senses, causing her to furrow her brow.

"I was there!" Meow Dream suddenly became very excited. "I—I clearly—saw you! I saw you! You were fighting alongside the Protagonists, and after they all sacrificed themselves, you were the one who delivered the final blow to that giant—you saved everyone before it destroyed us all—I saw you then...I thought you would come back soon...but why...why did we have to wait so long..."

Miao Meng's voice choked up, and she buried her face in her arms and cried.

"Hey, hey..." Xiangzi patted her back helplessly, "Are you alright?"

"No! I'm not drunk!"

"Aren't you going to do anything about her?" Xiangzi turned his head helplessly and looked to the bartender for help.

"Actually, she rarely gets drunk when she's drinking alone; she only gets like this when she's happy." The new bartender put her hands together and gave Xiangzi an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but can we just let her be a little willful when she's happy?"

"That's true." Xiangzi sighed helplessly. "Let her have some fun."

So Xiangzi sat in his chair with a drunkard, who looked like a koala, slung over his shoulder, and finished his hot tea.