Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 510

"Goodnight." The lamp waved to it.

Delete closed the window and disappeared into the night.

Can I still become a magical girl?

Even without any wishes, just being able to become a magical girl...

Clutching his laptop, Deng huddled in his chair, gazing at the warm yellow lamp, contemplating as he ended his somewhat absurd day.

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

"Oh, Hai Zi."

Rewind a little earlier, after Hailing saw Lixi and her group off, Miaomeng emerged from the shadows around the corner.

"I didn't expect to run into someone I know."

She put her arm around Hailing's shoulder.

"Tell me, what would she think if she knew that the four-armed, four-legged monster was you?"

The Tale of Reincarnation: Bonds - Chapter 675 Sense of Belonging

"Tell me, what would she think if she knew that the four-armed, four-legged monster was you?"

Miaomeng put her arm around Hailing's shoulder and smiled teasingly.

"What are you talking about?" Hailing slapped away Miaomeng's hand from her shoulder and frowned. "That thing is not me. I don't believe I will become like this in the future."

“Who knows?” Miao Meng shrugged. “I never imagined I would become a part of Xiangzi.”

“Well, things aren’t going as you wish now.” Hailing glanced at her.

"The process was quite tortuous." Miao Meng curled the corners of her mouth, as if showing off. "What, are you envious?"

"......"

Hailing remained silent, turned around, and walked towards the path leading up the mountain.

Miao Meng stood with her hands on her hips, watching Hai Ling's departing figure, and sighed.

"Okay, I was wrong." She followed Hai Ling's footsteps. "If you don't like it, I won't say things like that again."

"Actually, I—"

Hailing suddenly stopped, turned her head, and looked into Miaomeng's eyes. In that instant, a flood of thoughts seemed to rush through her mind.

Miaomeng saw it, but she couldn't understand it.

"Actually?" Miao Meng put her hands behind her back and tilted her head. "Actually what?"

“I am indeed a little envious.” Hailing started walking again, going up the moss-covered stairs step by step. “You remember everything, but I know nothing.”

“Xiangzi told you everything, didn’t she?” Miaomeng said. “She told you about reincarnation, Nirvana, and familiars every time.”

A dozen days ago, Hailing was suddenly summoned by Xiangzi to the underground bar where Miaomeng often frequented, and then Xiangzi told her a lot of things as if he were pouring water.

Yes, just tell her.

The rest of the people listened from the sidelines.

Everyone else except her had personally experienced and witnessed the "future," but she herself knew nothing about it.

“Every single time,” Hailing said.

This kind of thing must have happened many times before.

"Mmm." Meow Dream nodded.

"In other words, I had heard the same thing many, many times before this time."

"more or less."

“But I don’t remember anything,” Hailing said. “I have no memory of it at all, as if none of these things ever happened.”

“It’s true that many things haven’t happened for you,” Miao Meng said helplessly. “After all, the process of each reincarnation is not necessarily the same, and Xiangzi is always trying to avoid some bad things from happening.”

“That’s the problem.” Hailing’s eyes weren’t on Miaomeng, but on the road ahead. “I didn’t really go through it all with you.”

"How could that be? We've fought side by side for so long."

“But that’s not me. As far as I remember, that’s not me.” Hailing’s voice sounded a little strange. “I’ve been excluded, you understand?”

“I thought I would have a place to belong without reservation, but this place has excluded me.”

"..." Miao Meng fell silent, but she didn't seem surprised.

It was as if she already knew what Hailing was going to say.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve heard me say something like this, is it?” Hailing asked.

“…Yes.” Miaomeng nodded. “Every time, you ask the same question.”

Hailing disliked this feeling, as if she had been seen through.

It's not the kind of look where a single glance can perfectly capture your demeanor, subtle movements, and micro-expressions, as if your entire body has been X-rayed. Rather, it's something else entirely, like you're acting according to a script, while the person opposite you has already read the script beforehand... like they've already seen the spoilers.

She believed that the first reason was due to her insufficient cultivation, and it was understandable that she was being manipulated. However, she felt that her fate was no longer in her own hands.

"So what else will I ask?" Hai Ling raised her eyebrows, her tone noticeably raised. "You probably already know, right? You know what I'm thinking right now."

Meow Dream knew very well that Hailing only exhibited such fluctuations when she was angry.

“You might ask why you’re excluded,” Miao Meng said softly. “Why can’t you be ‘part’ of Xiangzi, like us?”

Only by becoming a part of Xiangzi can one retain their memories in the cycle of reincarnation.

“Then what is the answer?” Hailing sighed softly. “You’ve answered that many times already, so you must have a reason that I can accept, right?”

“Theoretically speaking, I could use some vague explanations to gloss over it,” Miao Meng said. “Xiangzi made her own choice without our knowledge. Although the result wasn’t too bad, we are now locked in a cage called ‘Xiangzi’, and so on, to make you feel disgusted about this matter. That’s how Xiangzi asked me to explain it. She wanted you to sever ties with her, but I think that’s pure bullshit.”

Miaomeng said a lot in one breath, but Hailing was already used to Miaomeng's style of saying a lot in one go.

“Actually,” she countered.

"I think it's better to tell the truth, even though what's said above is also true."

"What is the truth?"

“Xiangzi has a heavy burden. If there’s another familiar, she’ll probably collapse.” Miaomeng sighed helplessly. “She doesn’t want me to tell you. Although she doesn’t actually want to tell anyone anything, she just wants to keep it to herself.”

"...It's definitely more effective than making excuses." Hai Ling nodded knowingly, her emotions calming down.

"Right? I already told her."

There's no way to deal with it, and if that's the case, Hailing won't force it.

But this was a place she had finally found where she could stay.

"I don't know where she learned this personality from, she just can't change it."

Some things are ingrained in your bones.

Hai Ling shook her head helplessly. She was actually used to Xiangzi's incorrigible nature, and he was much, much better than before.

"Oh, right, there's one more question."

"Hmm?" Meow Dream blinked.

Then, Hailing stopped at the last step of the stairs. Behind her was a gloomy temple, with the words "Hachiman Shrine" inscribed on a stone pillar beside it.

She gestured with her thumb towards the broken door behind her.

"We're here today to take it down, right?"

"Timoris of the Bremen Orchestra is also my future self."

The Tale of Reincarnation: Bonds - Chapter 676: Why is the butt gone again?

"Why are you suddenly asking this question?" Miaomeng blinked. "Didn't we already know everything before we set off?"

“That’s what they say.” Hailing turned around and looked at the dilapidated wooden door behind her. “But this is, after all, ‘me’.”

"Didn't you just deny it?"

“I have to admit the truth, whether I want to or not.” Hai Ling put one hand on the scabbard and let out a long breath. “Were all the previous cycles of reincarnations also 'myself' that I ended with my own hands?”

Just imagine, imagine every previous reincarnation, that you had to draw your sword against T亻尔伊删焐企（九）VI陕貳imoris, which is the so-called "future self".

She gripped the knife handle tightly.

Is this considered suicide in some sense?

One day in the future, I will go back to the past and be killed by my past self.

"No, that's not the case."

Miaomeng's answer interrupted Hailing's mental preparation. She patted the stone tablet engraved with the words "Hachiman-gu Shrine," and felt the sticky, slippery texture of the moss on it, revealing a somewhat disgusted expression.

"Actually, this is the first time this guy has appeared. I've never seen him in any of the previous cycles," Miaomeng said.

"what?"

Miaomeng's answer completely surprised Hailing.

She felt like she had been deceived.

"Then how did you come to the conclusion that it is Timoris?!" Hailing raised her eyebrows, her expression slightly crumbling. "And you said it so confidently, about the future 'me', I almost believed it."

“That’s a fact.” Miaomeng shrugged. “Do you think it has absolutely nothing to do with you? So many similarities, it’s just a coincidence?”

Why are you asking me this question?

"Actually, besides Timoris, this familiar group called 'Bremen Band' seems to be Nirvana's familiars, but they are not on the same side as Nirvana and have other purposes."

“They have only appeared twice in so many cycles.” Miao Meng stretched and leaned against the door, holding up two fingers. “I didn’t see them with my own eyes the first time; only Muko and Hatsuko encountered them. The second time was this time. They are variables that appeared suddenly, and Xiangzi takes them very seriously.”

"Is that why they sent the two of us over immediately?"

"Hmm." Meow Dream didn't deny it. "Timoris is the one who has shown the most clues, so he's easier to locate. As for the rest, I'm still looking."

"Sigh." Hai Ling sighed, placing her hand on the door panel. "I understand."

Are they variables within the cycle of reincarnation?

squeak-

The dilapidated wooden door was pushed open with a thud, revealing a whole open space behind it.

The open space was much larger than I had imagined, with no trees to obstruct the view, and I could see the clear night sky just by looking up. The moon was slightly elongated, like a pure white lotus seed, surrounded by a hazy white halo, its light illuminating the entire open space.

Even the monster, which had its back to them and was gnawing on something, could see everything clearly.

No, it's not accurate to say which side of the two-sided monster is facing away and which side is back to back. The female Noh mask opened its eyes, and a pair of long, narrow, jet-black eyes stared straight at Hailin.

It grabbed the longbow beside it, drew back the bowstring, and shot an arrow in the direction of Hailing.

With a whoosh, Hailing turned her head, and an arrow the size of a siege crossbow bolt pierced through the stone tablet behind her that read "Hachiman-gu Shrine".

Pebbles were scattered all over the ground, and the Oni-men who was eating something stopped what it was doing and threw the thing in its hand aside.

The object in its hand was clearly heavy; it made a dull thud when it hit the ground and created a sizable crater.

Only then could Hailing and Miaomeng see clearly what it was eating.

The witch, shaped like a train engine, lay on the ground, looking like she was on her deathbed.

【（＃￥……！（＃@））】

The demon opened its mouth and made abstract and indistinct sounds.

【! (&...!##%!#】

“It’s talking,” Hailing said. “Can you understand it?”

“Hmm, this is a bit difficult for me, after all, even from the perspective of witch script, the words are not very clear.” Miao Meng raised her eyebrows. “I can understand a little bit, it seems to be looking for something, but not finding it.”

Her gaze fell on the birthday train lying to the side, which was slowly turning into points of light and disappearing.

This witch who was targeted by Timoris is truly pitiful. It seems that what Timoris is looking for has nothing to do with her at all; she just targeted the wrong person.

But it's really brutal.

Miaomeng looked at the disappearing witch's corpse. Before it died, it had been ravaged by Timoris, like a broken toy train, with not a single piece of it intact.