Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 295

"Adding sugar makes it dessert! Like pudding!"

"Nonsense, pudding doesn't have such a rough texture!"

"Is this what you call getting along well?" Xiangzi glanced at Chuhua.

"Haha..." Chu Hua scratched his head, pretending not to hear.

The sun was shining brightly, and the carriage leisurely traveled along the country road. Xiangzi followed the map for half a day before finally finding the right road.

Along the country road, several deep ruts stretched leisurely into the distance. On both sides, besides the neatly arranged crops, there were also lush wild grasses. There were also a large number of wildflowers of various colors, scattered like stars, blooming in competition, their fragrance mixed with a hint of green, refreshing and delightful.

Since arriving in Fairy Tale Town, Chu Hua hadn't had a real chance to relax. The cycle of fighting, running away, traveling, fighting, running away, and traveling was endless. So, sitting on the roof of the carriage, she couldn't do anything. But just sitting there was quite nice, and she enjoyed the tranquility.

Most importantly, this was a rare moment of time for her and Xiangzi to be alone together.

"Chuhua, how much longer do you think we can be so carefree?" Xiangzi suddenly asked as they walked.

"Why are you suddenly asking this?" Chu Hua blinked.

"I feel like there's no time left," Xiangzi said calmly.

"Time flows much slower here than outside, so you don't need to be so tense." Chu Hua turned her head. "You always tend to be too tense."

"I know, I know, I shouldn't be so nervous," Xiangzi sighed, looking at the road ahead, "but I just can't relax."

"Who are you worried about?"

Everyone's worried; the bad feeling is so strong, it scares me.

Xiangzi gripped the reins of the carriage tightly.

“I’m worried about how Suze is doing now, I’m worried about whether Akari has done anything foolish, I’m worried about how the seniors on Kamibama’s side are doing, and... I’m worried about whether Meowmu can handle the affairs of the gathering by herself.”

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

"Ah sneeze——!"

Yutenji Wakame put her legs on the table and was stuffing a bag of potato chips into her mouth with a clattering sound when a sudden sneeze almost made her spray the chips all over the table.

Miaomeng pulled out a tissue to wipe her mouth, muttering about which idiot was cursing her, while opening the file she had just received on her computer and starting to process it.

Xiangzi was away for three or four days, and during that time, all the tasks of handling the gathering fell on Miaomeng's shoulders. She even had to suspend her own live stream for a while, throwing herself wholeheartedly, but unwillingly, into the work here.

Why work so hard when you don't even get paid?

Miao Meng gets so angry every time she thinks about the fact that she doesn't even have a salary.

But who told him to get himself entangled with Xiangzi?

Hey.

I don’t know if it’s always been like this or if it just started happening in the last few days, but the number of witch cases that Miaomeng has been handling has suddenly exploded.

Originally, if one or two out of a hundred rumors were true and related to witches, that would be considered a lot. But now, one-tenth or even more out of a hundred rumors are related to witches.

Moreover, according to informants from the police department and the media, they have recently encountered an increase in paranormal events.

In summary, there are now many more commissions that can be posted on the board, and the overall risk level has increased, with the percentage of safe commissions decreasing to the lowest point since the gathering was established.

This is not a good sign; the number of threatening witches is increasing.

With more witches, the number of magical girls will decrease. Whether they become witches or die before becoming witches, in the four or five days since Meowmu took over, two teams of MIA have already appeared among the magical girls registered at the gathering.

The two teams consisted of nearly ten people. Although the total number of magical girls in Reed Plains was large, it wasn't so large that the disappearance of ten people in just a few days could be treated as if nothing had happened.

Not to mention that some of these ten people might have turned into witches.

Just thinking about Miaomeng's molars makes me weak.

Thanks to these witches who have sprung up like mushrooms after rain and caused all sorts of trouble, society has been very restless since the beginning of this year, as if this already half-dead society is about to kick the bucket and die completely because of something.

The more oppressive the social atmosphere, the more repressed teenagers' psychology will become under the influence of the social atmosphere, and the higher the probability that these people will become witches after becoming magical girls.

Kyubey probably saw this "business opportunity," and recently more and more people have become magical girls. It's not just in the few days since Meowme took over, but has been going on since the beginning of this year. It's as if these guys knew something was going to happen and were making special preparations.

As for what happened...

Miaomeng felt the answer was already quite clear.

She temporarily closed the task assignment spreadsheet and casually opened a weather enthusiast forum.

The post that was pinned to the top of the homepage was published this morning.

[A terrifying nascent storm or a mutually destructive battle? Tropical Storm 91W is forming in the Northwest Pacific and is about to collide with Tropical Storm 90W.]

"Tsk tsk, the typhoon embryo has taken shape - O (two) 亻尔一彡O覇 (two) ah."

Miaomeng clicked her tongue and clicked on it again.

She couldn't understand anything about the predicted wind force of level 17 or higher, wind speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the warm waters of Okinawa providing energy for the typhoon, the way it absorbed nearby typhoon embryos to become stronger, or how it would become even stronger after completing eyewall replacement.

Meow Dream only knows one thing: Witch's Night is really coming.

Since Platinum Phosphoenix, who was originally responsible for surveying and calculating Witch Night's movements, went to Kamihama with the main force, no one in Reed Plains could observe Witch Night's movements. Meowmu could only judge Witch Night's actions through information from the Meteorological Agency.

Unsurprisingly, every landfall of Witch Night has been a massive natural disaster. The location of this typhoon embryo, number 91W, happens to be the same sea area where Witch Night previously lingered. If this typhoon embryo completes its formation, it will prove that Witch Night is about to transition from a stationary state to an active state.

Miaomeng grinded her molars and continued to slide the mouse down.

Let's move on to the latest post.

It's evening now, and ten hours have passed since the pinned post was published. Miaomeng clicks on the latest post, which was published two minutes ago.

[The strongest monster in history! Definitely slated for removal from the list!]

Then he took a breath.

[Typhoon 91W and 90W have merged and upgraded to a typhoon named "Kujira". The Japan Meteorological Agency predicts that the typhoon will further intensify into a super typhoon within one to two days. Its path is expected to pass over the entire territory of Japan, and it is expected to make landfall between the evening of June 28th and the early morning of June 29th.]

So fast? !

It's a few days faster than initially expected!

"Sitting in this seat hasn't brought me any good things, just one problem after another." Miao Meng wiped her face and closed the weather enthusiasts' forum. "I need to think of a way to tell Xiangzi and the others to hurry up. Do I have to go in myself? If I go in, who will be watching outside... watching... and so on?"

Miao Meng suddenly opened her eyes wide.

"Xiangzi wants me to keep an eye on... who was that guy again?"

=======

"call......"

The lamp, panting heavily, rested on its knees.

Looking up, I saw a mountain road stretching endlessly into the distance.

Deng's face was deathly pale. He leaned against the wall, wanting to sit down against the mountainside.

However, when she turned her head, she saw the bottomless abyss below her feet, and her legs became even weaker.

Let's wait until we find a safer place to rest.

They are now walking on the path that the Chimera has shown them, leading to the world of desire.

Without the bridges connecting the various basins, only rudimentary and dangerous mountain roads remained. Only now did Deng understand the true extent of the difficulty described in the ancient Chinese text in his textbook as "the road to Shu is hard."

However......

"Dengdeng is so slow." Lena squatted down beside her and poked her shoulder with a twig. "Lena has been waiting for a long time."

Compared to Deng, who was trembling with fear and whose legs felt weak with every step, Le Nai walked on the mountain path as if it were flat ground, and had already run back and forth several times.

"I... I... can't walk anymore..." Deng said, his face pale.

“There’s a temple up ahead where Dengdeng can rest for a while,” Lena said.

"A...temple?" Deng blinked. "How could there be such a place on a mountain?"

Lena shook her head, indicating that if you're asking me, who should I ask?

“Anyway, it’s much flatter there,” Lena said.

"..."

Deng swallowed hard and nodded.

"Okay, let's get there first and then talk about it."

The lamp had no idea that the temple it was about to arrive at was a forbidden place in the world of greed, known as the "Temple of the Sphinx".

The Tale of the Lost: The Lost Child: Chapter 374 Accelerated Montage - Part 1 (Two-in-One)

"Lust, pride, and greed—these three worlds have many traces of human activity, so the location of the Holy Grail fragments is relatively clear."

The tobacco-wielding girl, holding a pointer, pointed to the map nailed to the wooden board and explained to the magical girls gathered in a circle below.

The location is the church at the starting point.

Xiangzi and others are holding a pre-battle meeting before setting off.

Tobacco was telling everyone the information that she and Xiangzi had secretly discussed a few days ago.

"Before we get to that, we need to know one thing: 'Holy Grail fragments' is just a general term. In reality, the Holy Grail fragments scattered all over the world take on different forms. The one Your Majesty carries looks like a simple ceramic shard, while the Holy Grail fragments scattered around the world take on different forms depending on the 'wishes of the wishers'."

"The Arrogant World is an archipelago, and the fragment is located in 'Ecstasy City,' which is the 'public zone' of the Arrogant World. It is jointly governed by various city-states and adopts a rotation system. The city-states check and balance each other, and their diplomatic relations with the Empire are quite good. Therefore, even if the Empire wants to make a move, it will not touch the fragment of the Arrogant World first."

“The City of Ecstasy was built using special technology and is located underwater. It’s not an easy place to get to, so even if the Empire wants this fragment, it’s not easy for them to take action.”

"So the fragments of the Arrogant World are safe for now, is that what you mean?" Chu Hua asked.

"Yes."

"Then can we skip this part for now?" Chu Hua asked Xiangzi, casting a questioning glance at him. "After all, we don't have enough manpower."

"Well, that's what I was planning too," Xiangzi said. "Let's talk about the next place first, tobacco."

Tobacco nodded and continued:

"Next is the Greed World. The city-states in the Greed World are not as interconnected as those in the Pride World, and the fragments are not in human hands."

The focus of the teaching staff shifted to the complex and greedy world.

"Where is it?" Xiangzi tilted his head.

"In the hands of the monsters." Tobacco pointed to a mountain peak on the Greed World map.

The mountain peaks are also decorated with rectangular symbols representing buildings.

“Here, at the very top of the Greedy World, there is a temple of a goddess, where a sphinx named Sphinx guards the fragment of the Holy Grail,” Tobacco said. “It is said that the creature can speak human language, has self-awareness, and has agreed to voluntarily hand over the fragment of the Holy Grail in its possession, in exchange for ‘answering a few questions’.”

What happens if I don't answer correctly?

"Of course it will eat you."

=======

"first question."

The enormous monster occupied most of the temple's area, lying quietly in its lair, curiously watching the two intruders.

It has the body of a lion, and a pair of wings with peacock feathers growing from its back.

The Sphinx stretched its snake-like neck and approached Takamatsu.

"What kind of creature has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

Its head was much larger than a person, and the human-faced monster had snake-like eyes and neat, white teeth between its gaping lips.

When a face becomes larger than a person, the more human-like it looks, the more likely it is to evoke inner fear.

The light felt cold sweat break out as it stared at it.

Lena sat listlessly to the side, quietly watching the Sphinx with an uninterested expression on her face. She yawned and curled up into a small ball.

This is a classic question; you can answer it even without listening to the Sphinx's Heart Lamp.

She shivered and said tremblingly:

"A person...right?"

"Oh?" Sphinx laughed. "Are you sure?"

"As infants, they can't walk and can only crawl... As adults, they walk on two legs, and when they get old and can't walk anymore, they need a cane for assistance... Is that right...?"

That terrifying face, which looked like a fake human, became even more horrifying when it smiled.