Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 292

"Chuhua?"

Xiangzi didn't even turn her head; she had already recognized who it was when she heard the footsteps.

"Why aren't you asleep so late?"

The girl with medium-length blonde hair finally came up from behind, brushed the hair behind her ear to reveal her fair neck, and sat down next to Xiangzi.

"You haven't slept either, so I'll keep you company."

"Thank you." Xiangzi turned his head and smiled at Chuhua.

"..." Chu Hua blushed and avoided Xiangzi's gaze. "It's nothing."

Xiangzi smiled, then closed his eyes again, leaning quietly against the back of the bench, tilting his head slightly towards Chuhua, as if hinting at something.

Without needing to exchange words, Chu Hua obediently moved her body a little closer to Xiang Zi, their left arms touching each other without any gap between them. Xiang Zi felt Chu Hua's touch and naturally rested his head on her shoulder, completely relaxing.

"call......"

Xiangzi let out a breath.

"I'm so tired."

"Did you manage to get anything out of that researcher?"

“You can’t use the word ‘pry’,” Xiangzi said, his lips forming a W shape. “I did have a friendly conversation with her, you know.”

"Really?" Chu Hua looked at him with suspicion.

“It’s true, absolutely true.” Xiangzi opened his eyes, grabbed Chu Hua’s hand, and pressed it to his forehead. “I just took a ton of notes, and my brain is still overheating. You can try it if you don’t believe me.”

Xiangzi's forehead felt cool and smooth, and she didn't have the feverish feeling she described.

On the contrary, this action caused Chu Hua's brain temperature to soar, almost to the point where a large cloud of steam would rise from the top of his head after a "whoosh" sound.

"I...I understand..." Chu Hua stammered, reluctant to say the words "let go".

"Hey."

Xiangzi lowered his hand, but still held onto Chuhua's hand, placing Chuhua's palm on his knee, their ten fingers intertwined and naturally clasped together.

“After wandering around here for several months, I finally have a clear goal.” Xiangzi opened his eyes and looked at the sky. “I plan to take Su Shi and Yan Ke back to the starting point, and then have everyone split up to find the remaining Holy Grail fragments.”

"Wouldn't it be unwise to disperse our fighting force?" Chu Hua said in a low voice.

"There's nothing I can do. I have a bad feeling about this." Xiangzi looked melancholy. "I just feel like we don't have much time left to waste."

"..."

Chu Hua remained strangely silent for a moment.

Although she had been inside the barrier for less than a week, which is less than seven hours in the real world, she still hadn't told Xiangzi about the things Miaomeng had mentioned to her before she entered the barrier.

Seven days have passed, and she still hasn't made up her mind.

In the real world, it is June 21st. The Witch's Night has started moving towards Japan from the central Pacific Ocean. The weather station has detected an abnormal cyclone in the central Pacific Ocean, accompanied by many other meteorological anomalies. It is predicted that the typhoon will form around June 27th and make landfall between June 29th and 30th.

If it were the current Witch's Night, it might be more than just a typhoon.

Moreover, regular contact has been received from Shinhama, suggesting that things are more complicated than expected and that he will be unable to extricate himself in the short term.

If the problems at Kamahama come together with the Witch's Night, they will become even worse than anticipated during the Nirvana Incubation period.

Add to that Su Shi's affairs... one thing after another piled up.

Chu Hua blinked and lowered her eyes.

It's only the 21st now, and there are still nearly ten cycles until Witch's Night arrives. They have plenty of time, so it's best not to cause Xiangzi any trouble at this stage...

However, Xiangzi clearly didn't think that way.

She noticed Chu Hua's unusual silence, blinked, and asked softly:

"Has something happened outside?"

“…No.” Chu Hua shook her head almost subconsciously.

"Do not lie to me."

Xiangzi squinted, turned his head from Chu Hua's shoulder, buried his nose between Chu Hua's necks, and sniffed gently.

"You smell like a liar."

The hot breath brushed against Chu Hua's neck, but couldn't dissipate because it was hidden by her hair. The overly intimate gesture and the words that directly exposed the clumsy lie made Chu Hua's face turn an unnatural blush, and she let out a soft hum.

"Um......"

"I was right, wasn't I?" Xiangzi squinted, looked up at Chuhua's eyes, and asked, "Why did you hide it from me?"

"...There's still plenty of time, and I don't want you to be distracted by this kind of thing."

"what's up?"

"..."

"Speak." The two were pressed tightly together, Xiangzi's tone leaving no room for argument, his breath brushing against Chuhua's skin. "Whether I'm distracted or not is my own decision, don't feel burdened."

“…Alright.” Chu Hua sighed and conceded. “There’s a problem with Shenbin. Things are probably getting out of hand. And…Witch’s Night has resumed operations. Things are a bit chaotic outside. Miao Meng…she says she can manage.”

Xiangzi's pupils shrank slightly for a moment, then gradually returned to normal.

She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, unsure whether it was for her unsettlingly accurate intuition or for the mountain of troubles piling up at once.

"......I see."

Xiangzi spoke softly, putting all his weight on Chuhua and lying softly in her arms, speaking in a light, almost coquettish tone.

"Let me rest for a bit before I get busy."

========

P.S.: I haven't been feeling well lately. I'll use up my sick leave tomorrow and take a day off so I can think of a way to optimize the outline later on.

The Lost Tale: The Lost Child - Chapter 370 Assassination

The next day, neither Xiangzi nor Chuhua mentioned their conversation from the previous day.

The two of them tacitly agreed to pretend that nothing had happened.

The gradually expanding team continued its journey, this time with the addition of a hairy... a researcher with messy hair, bringing the team to eight people.

The distance from the capital to the starting point was much farther than I had imagined. If I didn't stop, it would take a day and a half. The magical girls were fine, as they had enough stamina, but Xiao Su Shi and Yuecun Mao... Kamo might not be so lucky. If I took the two of them with me, the journey would probably take twice as long.

So Xiangzi simply spent a little money to buy a carriage ticket to the place where it all began.

The carriage wasn't supposed to carry that many people, but the eight girls had little luggage, their combined weight wasn't much, and under Xiangzi's pitiful pleading gaze, the driver frowned, said nothing, took the money, and gestured for them to get on.

Hey, being cute means you can do whatever you want.

With a carriage, the journey would be much faster. The driver said we could arrive by evening and wouldn't have to spend the night outside.

However, their carriage was full of people, which seemed to upset some of the other passengers who also wanted to ride. Some of them even tried to provoke Xiangzi and his group inside the carriage and make them get off.

After hurling insults for a while, no one got out of the carriage, so they turned their anger towards the driver. This incident delayed their departure for quite some time, and the driver was even forced to leave for a while, presumably to call the sheriff to handle the matter.

The problem was finally resolved, and the departure time was postponed.

But at least we can finally set off.

The coachman gently cracked his whip, and the carriage chugged off onto the road.

The scenery along the way soon turned into a vast green plain, and occasionally other carriages or pedestrians could be seen, either heading in the same direction or passing each other.

Surprisingly, there was no bumpy feeling under my buttocks.

Back in St. John's, the carriages she rode in were so bumpy they made you want to throw up your dinner, and now...

“The carriages produced in the imperial capital are all equipped with simple shock absorbers,” Tobacco explained. “They are modeled after dwarven technology, and because the parts are quite complicated, only carriages in the capital are equipped with them.”

"No wonder the tickets are so expensive." Xiangzi pursed his lips, rested his chin on his hand, and looked out the window.

The scenery outside the car changed accordingly.

The sun gradually moved from the east to its zenith, then slowly set, its sunlight gradually changing from a bleak white to a dazzling golden yellow.

It was almost evening, but it hadn't arrived yet.

Forget about whether she had arrived or not, she didn't even see the familiar road.

Xiangzi felt that something was not quite right.

She opened the map and glanced at it. If the carriage was moving at a normal speed, she should be able to see the familiar road even if she hadn't arrived yet.

It's worth noting that she and Aine had been active for almost a full cycle during this period, so they weren't unfamiliar with the path this generation had taken.

After spending so much time, I still haven't found the familiar road; something must be wrong...

“(Something's fishy, ​​we've been set up.)” Xiangzi said in his reading.

"Huh?"

Ai Yin, who had been looking drowsy, was jolted awake by Xiangzi's voice and exclaimed in surprise.

"what happened?!"

(Oh no, don't make a sound!)

The carriage suddenly stopped in the middle of the woods.

The sunlight reached its twilightest moment, and few rays could penetrate the layers of leaves to reach the depths of the grove. A rustling wind arose, and fallen leaves carpeted the ground.

The carriage abruptly stopped in the middle of the road and remained motionless.

"Ha, something's happened again." Li Xi sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Why have things been so unsettled these past few days?"

“We’ve probably never had a moment of peace,” Hailing said calmly.

Xiangzi quietly opened the car door and climbed onto the roof.

Sure enough, the driver was gone.

"Chuhua, Lixi, Hailing, the three of you get out of the car with me and stand guard." Xiangzi lay prone on the roof of the car, his eyes scanning the surrounding woods. "Aiyin, Mu, the two of you protect the people in the car."

Xiangzi frowned and sat down in the seat where the rickshaw driver had been sitting. The two horses had been released without anyone noticing. They were left isolated in the middle of the woods, as if trapped on a deserted island.

When did this happen?

The scene from that morning suddenly flashed into Xiangzi's mind.

Those troublemakers!

The rickshaw driver left for a while to deal with them and call the sheriff. During this time, Xiangzi had no idea what the sheriff had done. Could it be that the incident happened during that time?!

Was he switched out, or was he originally part of the ambush?

As the light gradually retreated to the west, the sky overhead turned a vibrant red, orange, and gold, the clouds appearing as if ablaze. Meanwhile, the forest floor and the ground below had already dimmed, the setting sun obscured by the trees, and even the few stray rays that managed to escape its shadow gradually disappeared.

Visibility is decreasing, and hidden threats seem to be lurking at any moment.

Although they had secured the carriage perfectly, Xiangzi was still very worried. The other party hadn't made a move yet; they must be a very patient person.

But should we try to outlast each other in terms of patience?

We can't afford to wait any longer. If the other side is stalling for time while waiting for reinforcements, then this delay will only make things worse.

Perhaps it was because the things he had been thinking about lately were too complicated, and the scenery of the woods in front of him was so repetitive that it became particularly dazzling under the twilight. As Xiangzi was pondering, he was momentarily distracted, and his pupils dilated slightly.

In that brief moment of distraction, a sudden gust of wind arose.

The sound of tree branches—the sound of clouds—the sound of grass—and the sound of some creature flapping its wings—everything swayed and trembled in the wind. A cloud of black mist gathered at Xiangzi's feet, and then—countless bats flew out of the black mist and carried Xiangzi into the sky!

"Xiao Xiang!"

Hearing the noise, Chu Hua immediately turned around.

At the same time, several dark figures appeared in mid-air without warning, their weapons aimed at Chu Hua, who had turned around to check on Xiangzi.

Dangdangdang——!

The battle began the moment the sunlight completely disappeared.

The flashing of swords and the sparks from their collisions provided brief illumination. Chu Hua's pupils dilated to the point where they could adapt to the darkness, gleaming faintly in the night.

Before her stood an assassin dressed in monk's robes and wearing a hood.

“Saint-Shuari?! =;陾〩玖器留揪,〥医珊捌”