Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

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Of course, this was also because there were still many things to do after coming out of the inner world, and they also had to prepare for the final exams, so the two of them went to their respective battlefields.

That's what they say, but actually it just means that after Mayumi Haga reveals her identity as a Guardian, she needs to work with Ayasa Terasaki and Rika Sugiyama to investigate the Otherworld.

And Tohno Hitomi is...

"Wa ...

That's right, Hitomi Tono is facing her upcoming final exams.

The trope of red-themed, dim-witted characters being bad at studying seems to be a common theme in magical girls. Despite putting in a lot of effort to learn, Hitomi Tono is still hovering on the edge of passing, and one wrong move could lead to her tragic fate of failing.

However, her homeroom teacher had given her a firm order: she had to balance her magical girl duties and studies, and if she couldn't manage both, she should focus more on improving herself. After all, being a magical girl wouldn't be a lifelong job, but studying was crucial to her future after retirement.

Yuri Takajo faces the same problem.

The two of them, with tears in their eyes, brought their study materials to the magic clinic. They had to hold a meeting about magical girls from the alternate world while also trying to solve the problems they didn't understand, since the final exams were next week...

The magical girl Azumi, who was also attending the meeting, couldn't stand it anymore. She just glanced over and realized that the two of them seemed to be doing even worse than she had imagined.

"...Don't you guys usually go to school?" Arisu Akari asked incredulously.

Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo lowered their heads in shame.

Seeing Tono Hitomi, whom she considered a rival, being so unmotivated, Arisu Akari was immediately furious: "As a magical girl, it's so embarrassing to be anxious about final exams. I think you should focus on your studies first, Crimson..."

As she spoke, Hitomi Tono lowered her head further and further.

"..." Arisu Akari quickly stopped talking, feeling a little panicked. Could it be that she had gone too far?

She immediately felt annoyed, realizing that she had often spoken without thinking. If Shen Hong really cared about her grades and she had made her feel depressed, she should at least apologize to her.

But, but, she has to apologize to that guy Crimson...

Arisu Akari was immediately conflicted. Just as she was hesitating whether to go up and apologize to Tono Hitomi, who was feeling down after being scolded by her, she suddenly heard Haga Mayumi's voice from behind.

The black-haired girl saw through Tono Hitomi's true nature at a glance and calmly said, "Don't overthink it, Hitomi just fell asleep while reading a book."

Main text: Chapter 209 Is Mayumi in love?

“I really misjudged you,” Terasaki Ayasa said to Haga Mayumi, who was sitting opposite her helping her organize the documents. “But your disguise skills are definitely better than these three kids.”

Terasaki Ayasa was extremely surprised when she learned that Haga Mayumi was the Guardian.

She wasn't entirely unaware that her newly-officially-officially-girlfriend, Sugiyama Rikka, had adopted a child. She was present when Mayumi Haga was tested for magical aptitude years ago.

Terasaki Ayasa knew Mayumi Haga, and what Mayumi Haga didn't know was that when her guardian, Sugiyama Rika, was unable to return, Terasaki Ayasa could actually attend all the occasions where Mayumi Haga needed her parents to be present.

But Mayumi Haga wasn't like Hitomi Tono; she was always a very easy-going child, so Ayasa Terasaki didn't have any more opportunities to meet with Mayumi Haga.

Unexpectedly, the two had actually communicated many times as a guardian and a doctor at a magic clinic.

Mayumi Haga didn't know how to respond to Ayasa Terasaki's words, but she could tell that the other woman seemed to just want to complain, so she didn't interrupt.

“You don’t need Rihua’s care at all. You’ve been taking care of that idiot all these years, haven’t you?” Terasaki Ayasa sighed.

She realized that Sugiyama Rika had not only picked up a visitor from another world, but hadn't even guessed the visitor's mental age.

Even though Mayumi Haga is clearly more stable and reliable than Rika Sugiyama, the latter still foolishly believes that she is taking care of a foster mother.

If Mayumi Haga hadn't truly been an upright and trustworthy person, that idiot Rika Sugiyama would have been completely fooled.

Yes, the moment Terasaki Ayasa learned of Haga Mayumi's true identity, her first concern was whether Sugiyama Rika knew about it.

That guy would be very sad if he found out he'd been scammed.

Fortunately, Sugiyama Rika's kindness and pure trust were not betrayed, but were received by someone who was qualified and willing to take on this kindness.

Despite the deception, Mayumi Haga is a good enough child... well, it seems she's older than me.

I don't know how much bigger it is.

Mayumi Haga's trajectory in this world is traceable; she's currently one or two months away from turning eighteen. However, her experiences in her original world seem less clear.

"Mayumi, how old were you originally?" Terasaki Ayasa asked Mayumi Haga, who was helping to organize the data.

Both Mayumi Haga's mental age and actual age are a mystery. She was slightly curious about which age group Mayumi Haga belonged to, so she asked directly.

She didn't lower her voice when she asked the question, so the magical girls next to her all perked up their ears and looked away from their books.

Knowing that she should and should respect the trust placed in her by the magicians, and that this wasn't a particularly strange or private matter, Mayumi Haga honestly replied, "I don't know."

“Who doesn’t know their own age?” Arisu Akari couldn’t help but interject.

The soul of Fuyun floated out from the pendant hanging on Mayumi Haga's chest. This senior was also a little curious about how long Mayumi Haga had lived after him before coming to this world.

She reminded Mayumi Haga, "When you came to Labyrinth Island, you must have been two or three hundred years old."

Yuga Mayumi had little sense of time, but vaguely remembered that this was indeed the case, and nodded honestly: "Yes."

"How much? Two hundred?" The way everyone looked at Yuga Mayumi suddenly took on a slightly condescending tone, as if they were looking at a centenarian.

But this is not Mayumi Haga's real age. After leaving Labyrinth Island, Mayumi Haga traveled alone for a long time.

She recalled carefully: "I rarely pay attention to the passage of time, but it should be two or three thousand. As for after the calamity devoured the world, I seem to have survived for a very long time..."

In fact, she had long forgotten that the time she had endured during the calamity had exceeded three thousand years, and might even have been tens of thousands of years.

However, in that state, her thoughts seemed to freeze with time, making it difficult for her to perceive time through her physical state. Her original memories were also somewhat confused, to the point that she lost a correct impression of her own age.

However, she certainly doesn't seem like someone who has lived that long.

Fu Yun has a lot to say about this: "This child has always been like this; it's just his personality."

Mayumi Haga's personality can be described as innocent and pure, or as stubborn and obstinate.

This guy also tries his best not to interact with people when he travels, and often hides in the deep mountains and forests for many years. His mental growth rate is far from the outrageous old monster that everyone thinks he is.

Even after many years, Mayumi Haga's stubborn temper remains the same.

Although she may grow in how she treats people, she is difficult to change due to external influences.

Therefore, no matter how much time has passed, in the eyes of seniors like Fukuun, Mayumi Haga is still a simple and adorable junior.

Perhaps it is precisely because of these qualities that she was able to become a guardian who persevered to the end.

Ayasa Terasaki commented, "I also have quite a few guys here who you can tell at a glance will be exactly the same in the future..."

She glanced at Sugiyama Satoka and Tono Hitomi, and both of them simultaneously revealed a clear look that was both confused and somewhat foolish.

Ah... so there are also people who never grow up in other worlds, that's great. I have a feeling that if this were a specialty of this world, it would raise my blood pressure.

Unaware of what Terasaki Ayasa was internally criticizing, Tono Hitomi chuckled and joined the conversation. Without thinking, she blurted out, "Actually, dating Mayumi feels like dating a long-lived spirit in a game!"

The room fell silent as soon as she said those words.

After everyone understood what Hitomi Tono was saying, those who were unaware of the ambiguous relationship between Hitomi Tono and Mayumi Haga turned their attention to her.

Yuri Takajo thought that Hitomi Tono and Mayumi Haga were just in the ambiguous stage of their relationship, but she didn't expect that the two of them had already progressed to an open and honest relationship: "...Hitomi? With Mayumi? Has it already come to this?"

"Huh? Magical girls can't fall in love!" This was Arisu Akari, a true magical girl, who was utterly shocked. "Isn't this supposed to be a pure, intense, almost heavy, and indispensable friendship?!"

What nonsense is this guy spouting? There's no such thing as pure friendship that's just trying to cover up something.

There was another silence because there were too many things Akari Arisu said that were hard to understand.

Finally, Ulzana, who had just been woken up by Lady Floating Cloud inside the Guardian Core and only heard the last sentence, didn't react yet: "Mayumi is in love? Is it Lania? Or is it that guy who chased Mayumi all the way back then, or is it... I knew Mayumi would definitely have to pay back her past romantic debts..."

Ulzana mumbled a string of names in a daze, only to realize that this didn't seem to be Mayumi Haga's house, and that she was surrounded by strangers.

Now, it was Haga Mayumi's turn to be stared at by everyone's shocked gazes for no apparent reason.

Haga Mayumi:...?

She couldn't quite remember what she was doing.

Main Text: Chapter 210 Mayumi and Lania

When Mayumi Haga talked to the long-lost Rania in her dream about being tortured during the day, she was still a little depressed: "I don't remember any of the names that Senior Urzana mentioned."

She heard the sound of teeth grinding, as if their back teeth were about to break, but when she looked down, Rania's expression remained the familiar one of keen interest.

The white-haired, red-eyed shrike rested his chin on his hand, inquiring with great interest about what was happening outside, even urging Mayumi Haga to explain in more detail: "And then?"

In Mayumi Haga's dream space, Lania recreated the scene as the wizard village where she and Mayumi Haga used to chat, the courtyard of her own house.

The sun was shining brightly today. She and Mayumi Haga sat under the eaves. The shrike, with small bells tied to its bare feet that jingled with the slightest movement, lay lazily on Mayumi Haga's lap.

A plate of fruit and tea was placed to the side. She picked up a fruit and put it in her mouth, chewing it gently. The sound of her chewing was transmitted to Mayumi Haga's thigh.

When she heard something that interested her, Rania looked up and asked questions repeatedly.

Mayumi Haga did not answer immediately.

In this space, her appearance is no different from that outside. Although the passage of time is not obvious on her, she has indeed changed a lot compared to when she first met Lania.

From the initial image of a naive guardian with black hair and golden eyes to his current appearance.

Although she doesn't seem to have aged much, she has indeed undergone tremendous changes.

Turning back, Rania was still the same as before.

The young wizard was frozen at the age when Mayumi Haga met him due to her death. She looked back and saw him, remembering what her senior Urzana had just said.

She didn't answer the questions others were asking her out of curiosity, nor did she give Rania an answer here.

When Urzana talked about people whose names she still remembered but who didn't realize had feelings for her, the only one she noticed was Rania's name.

“Ulzana-senpai mentioned you.” Mayumi Haga lowered her head and met Rania’s gaze.

Saying such things made her somewhat embarrassed, but after starting to face herself, she realized that she could no longer gloss over these things as she had done before.

Lania was her best friend from her childhood.

This is her own opinion.

But Ulzana said that Rania likes her...? What is this...?

Recalling the absurdity of the mental space after her dragon transformation, Mayumi Haga's ingrained beliefs were finally shaken to the point of collapse.

So she was shocked and confused: "Really?"

Lania: "..."

Lania: "…………Tsk."

Lania: "...You...I really am..."

Damn it, we've already done it, what kind of stupid nonsense is this guy spouting here!

The short-tempered wizard immediately exploded: "What nonsense are you spouting! What kind of question is this! What kind of question is this!"

She was practically jumping up and down, yelling, grabbing Mayumi Haga's collar, and screaming incredulously at her: "Do friends have sex? Do they?"

"...No?" Mayumi Haga hesitated for a long time before carefully changing her answer, but her words still clearly carried a hint of doubt.

...Uh, really not?

In this regard, Mayumi Haga, who had been corrupted by Ms. Fukumo, seriously considered the matter.

"Absolutely not!" Rania couldn't take it anymore. She gritted her teeth. "I thought you'd become a womanizer... Turns out you never realized! What am I then, your 'best friend' for endless sex?"

Mayumi Haga swallowed hard. It was the first time she had faced such a scene, and she was somewhat at a loss.

What should I say to quell Rania's anger...?

But then again, it seems like last time I was forced into it...

It seems to have happened more than once.

These words were clearly not something you could say directly to the furious Rania, otherwise her anger would likely turn into embarrassment immediately, something the proud little bird couldn't handle.

Just as Mayumi Haga was thinking about how to tactfully put her words into words, Rania suddenly sighed.

In this respect, she is much smarter than Mayumi Haga.

When she first realized that "Haga Mayumi didn't think of her as someone in a romantic way at all," she was indeed a little angry.

But upon closer reflection, I realized I never had a chance to express these feelings to Mayumi Haga. Even until my death, we remained just friends, with absolutely no hint of anything more.

The good thing about Hitomi Tono is that she's a living person.

A living person can always express their feelings of liking someone with warmth and sincerity, while she can only appear in memories most of the time.

While the living can't beat the dead, that only applies if they're on the same playing field. Otherwise, the former is a pursuer, and the latter is a deceased friend—how can you compare them?

Fortunately, she was able to see Mayumi Haga again.

Lania is not the type to be passive or uncompetitive; on the contrary, she is assertive and stubborn, and she will not easily give up on what she has decided on unless absolutely necessary.