Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 299

Little Su Shi rested her head on Aine's lap and slept soundly.

Aiyin gently stroked her hair, her mind wandering.

Since Xiangzi and the others left, almost every afternoon has been like this, and it is only at this time that Aine can feel that she is not entirely useless.

She lowered her eyes and gazed at Xiao Su Shi's sleeping face.

Even if it's just a meal replacement, even if this feeling isn't necessarily what she hoped for or what it truly is, Aine still hopes this moment can last a little longer...

If that's really the case, then that would be great.

Unfortunately, this brief dream soon came to an end.

The sound of something whistling through the air came from outside the garden. Ai Yin almost instinctively raised her hand and caught the flying arrow.

Xiao Su Shi felt a cold wind brush past and suddenly opened her eyes. In that instant, she saw Aine grab the hidden arrow.

"ah--!"

A scream shattered the tranquility of the afternoon.

The dreamlike tranquility of daily life has come to an end.

The Lost Tale: The Lost Child - Chapter 378: Escaping to the Ends of the Earth with You

Xiangzi knew that if she stayed in the starting point for too long, she would be discovered sooner or later. So before she left, she told Aiyin that if they encountered a strong enemy, she should take Xiaosushi, Yanhu and Linhai and run as far as she could.

To this end, Xiangzi drew a new place on the map and told Aiyin that if she was discovered, she should run there.

The small village on the map is the last barrier to a world of greed.

Because of the harsh terrain of the Greed World, unlike the Wrath World which has many dwarven ruins for gold panning, only a small number of people enter the World of Desire from the Greed World, and the number of people going to the Greed World is negligible.

This also resulted in the small village being remote and sparsely populated.

Run away.

Now is not the time to think about what the destination will look like.

When were they discovered, and who attacked them—the Empire, or Saint Seiya?

In the instant the dagger pierced through, Aine thought of many things, so many that the whole world seemed to stop.

The Soul Gem emerged from the ring, and the clothes on her body burst forth with dazzling light. A cherry blossom patterned katana, now much more delicate after adjustments, appeared in her hand.

Magical girls are born with their own weapons, but the weapons themselves are not permanently fixed in form; they can undergo subtle changes according to the magical girl's will.

The idea of ​​narrowing the blade and even shortening the cutting edge was told to her by Hailing.

At Xiangzi's request, this swordsman, who was far more powerful than Ai Yin, spent an entire night sharing his views on swords with Ai Yin.

Aiyin has benefited greatly from this.

Hailing said that the width of the blade largely determines the weight of the weapon. Aine's Monster Hunter-style katana has no problem dealing with large witches, and the heavy katana can inflict more damage on witches.

However, if the witch is petite, a wide and heavy blade will make it difficult to perform precise movements and will instead hinder the user.

If it's too light, it will be difficult to exert force, which can easily cause problems with force exertion.

The same issue applies to blade length: a blade that is too long will be severely restricted in a narrow space, while a blade that is too short will make it difficult to reach the opponent.

To find the most suitable length and weight, Hailin also helped Aine test for a period of time, and finally summarized two sets of blade shapes that could be used for her.

The first type is the greatsword that Aine often uses, similar to the one in Monster Hunter.

The second method involved Hailin not shaping Aine's sword into a samurai sword that she herself would use, but instead retaining the original blade length of the Ōdachi and simply reducing the width of the blade to lighten the weight.

Ai Yin is still a novice, and cutting off the length can easily cause misjudgment of distance, which can be fatal in a lightning-fast battle.

What was ultimately revealed was the grotesque katana in Aine's hand, resembling a clothesline pole with a blade nearly two meters long.

However, since she hadn't encountered many witches with small stature, Aine had never tried to put this theory into practice before; this was the first time.

Aine covered Xiaosushi's eyes with one hand, and raised her katana with the other, blocking the path of the dagger.

when--!

"Ah, my eyes!"

The bright light from the costume change affected the assassin's eyes, making it impossible for him to mount a second attack after his first attempt failed.

Because Aine covered Xiaosu's eyes beforehand, she was spared the stimulation of strong light.

Having failed in his first attack and unable to launch a second, the assassin instinctively tried to create distance and retreat out of Aine's attack range.

However, the two-meter-long blade left him nowhere to escape. The slender katana pierced the assassin's body the instant the bright light dissipated.

"Well--!"

The assassin in black stared wide-eyed as black blood trickled from beneath his mask.

Ai Yin kicked him in the stomach, and the slender blade was pulled out of his flesh with a "splatter" sound. Without the blade to stop the wound, black blood gushed out like a fountain.

Blood splattered on Aine, covering her exquisite magical girl outfit, making her look like someone in a game where the blood color had been censored, filled with a sense of violence and incongruity.

However, she protected Xiao Su Shi very well, preventing her from getting a single drop of blood on her.

"You pink-haired bastard! What happened?!" Little Su Shi cried out in terror in Aine's arms.

"The little master's worst fears have come true—"

Whoosh-!

The sound of a bowstring came from somewhere.

Upon hearing the sound, Ai Yin suddenly swung her nearly two-meter-long slender blade towards the direction from which the arrow had come. The arrow immediately split in two and landed behind her and Xiao Su Shi.

The shoulder, now split in two, continued its momentum. One half pierced deep into the wooden stake, while the other half plunged directly into the throat of the assassin who had been kicked away by Ai Yin, thus ending the already dying assassin's life.

Both arrows came from the same shadowy spot; Aine had already pinpointed his location.

In the instant she cleaved the arrow, Aine briefly left Xiaosu's side, her blade piercing the shadows.

Pfft——!

Aine felt the blade tip pierce the silicone sealant, then pushed it forward again, the blade tip penetrating the silicone sealant and further piercing into a soft, squishy object.

At the same time, just as Aine was leaving Xiaosushi.

Another figure emerged from the shadows and covered Xiao Su Shi's mouth from behind, seemingly trying to drag her into the shadows as well.

"Help—!" Xiao Su Shi's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, and she couldn't get a sound out.

brush--

Ai Yin reversed the direction of the blade inside the soft object, exerted force to the side, and with the help of magic, the white air blade cleaved out from the side like a hot knife through butter.

The white blade flash turned yellow in that instant.

Aine no longer needs to follow that fixed process to upgrade her air blade.

Using her left foot as a pivot, the girl holding the knife twisted her waist, transferring power from her feet all the way to her hand. The tip of the blade traced a faint path in the air as it slashed down behind her.

With a two-meter-long blade and coordinated movements of her entire body, Aine's attack radius is actually close to 3.5 meters, and at its limit, it can even reach 4 meters.

She took her first step, thrusting at the archer, but only moved two or three steps. She then turned and slashed back; the assassin who had kidnapped Xiao Su Shi was still within the exaggerated semi-circle of Aine's attack.

brush----!

The blade grazed Xiao Su Shi's head, taking away a few strands of her flying hair.

Xiao Su Shi felt the force binding her lighten.

"Don't turn around, it's disgusting!"

Ai Yin, holding a long sword with an eyeball still attached to it, covered Xiao Su Shi's eyes with one hand.

"—We need to prepare to escape, Su Shishi!" she said again.

"Run away?! Run away to where?!" Xiao Su Shi could see it again in an instant.

Ai Yin grabbed Xiao Su Shi's hand with the hand that was covering Xiao Su Shi's eyes, turned around in the dazzling afternoon sunlight, her long pink hair flying in the air as she shook her head.

"Escape to the ends of the earth!"

The Tale of the Lost: The Lost Child - Chapter 379 Flying to the Moon (Part 2)

The meeting point that Xiangzi gave was indeed located at the border between the world of desire and the world of greed, so there was nothing wrong with Aine's statement about "escaping to the end of this world".

However, when these words reached Xiao Su Shi's ears, they became...

"Let's elope!"

Hey! I never thought of that!

Xiao Su Shi shook off the strange thoughts in her mind and followed Aine back to the church.

Everything that just happened was completely silent. Lin Hai, who was still in the chapel for his daily prayers, didn't hear anything outside. So when he saw Ai Yin run in covered in blood, he was startled by her appearance, which looked like she had crawled out of hell.

Surprisingly, she quickly regained her composure.

"So you're about to escape?" The nun turned around and led them toward the kitchen, asking as they went, "Who are they, the Empire or Saint Hughia?"

“The Empire,” Xiao Su Shi said, “that kind of magic that allows them to infiltrate the shadows. They are the Regent’s intelligence organization, and also an assassination force.”

"Spells? Those things that jump out of the shadows are spells?" Ai Yin raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that mean they're all spellcasters?"

"No, they use spellcasting tools, which are prepared in advance by the spellcaster and contain the offerings of the spell. They can be used without possessing the characteristics of a spellcaster."

Ai-yin lowered her head and recalled for a moment.

She felt it too just now.

Because after the third assassin emerged from the shadows, he didn't do anything to Xiao Su Shi; he simply wanted to drag her into the shadows.

If it were Santo Sophia, they would probably have already used assassins.

Ayane suddenly felt a wave of fear.

If it were Saint Cecilia...did she just make a huge mistake?

Xiao Su Shi felt Aine's grip on her hand tighten a bit, and patted her lower back.

"Are we leaving now?"

“Okay.” Ai Yin came back to her senses and nodded. “Let’s go straight to the meeting point that our little master told us about. Lin Hai, call Yancao to come with us. We’ll leave right away.”

“No, I’m not leaving,” Lin Hai said.

"what?!"

"I am a nun, and I must live and die with the church."

"But if you get caught, that would be protecting heretics who kidnapped the Red Queen, and that's..."

“…Treason is a capital offense,” Xiao Su Shi continued, picking up where Aine left off.

“I and tobacco will be a burden to you.” Lin Hai shook his head again. “I will prepare a carriage for you. You two can escape without any burden.”

"how about you?!"

"I have a way to buy you some time," Lin Hai said with a light laugh, pushing up his glasses. "Don't worry, I've lived here much longer than you have, nothing will happen to me."

=========

After waiting for a long time without receiving any news from their comrades, the assassination squad lying in ambush outside was just about to make their move.

Two carriages rushed out of the church.

One car sped out of the church's back door, the other from the front, heading in two completely opposite directions. The wheels bounced on the cobblestones, flying past the assassins like the wind; one headed east, the other west, two diametrically opposed exits.

Each carriage had two passengers, one of whom matched the description of the target, making it impossible for the assassins to immediately determine which one was the real one.

They pulled on the reins, no longer concealing their identities. With a spur from their heels, they propelled their horses in two separate groups, each chasing after one of the two carriages.

One of the carriages raced across the open field, with assassins chasing desperately behind it.

In the passenger seat, Tobacco huddled up in a small ball, shivering. She was wearing a cloak, and because she was already thin, she looked about the same size as Xiao Su Shi when curled up.

"Hey, Lin Hai, what exactly do you want?!" Tobacco shouted at her in the wind.

"As bait," Lin Hai replied calmly.

The driver next to them was Lin Hai, who kept saying that he would be fine. The two of them took the initiative to act as bait to relieve some of the pressure on Ai Yin's side.