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

Page 137

Mayumi Haga and Ayasa Terasaki, as the two more reliable people present, both had headaches to varying degrees.

“If that’s the case, then the so-called rescue operation needs to be modified,” Terasaki Ayasa continued.

Using the labyrinth fragments of Mayumi Haga and the spiritual vein passage opened by Rika Sugiyama, the group can enter the underworld at any time to search for the missing magical girl.

Then?

"Initial contact should involve trying to extract information, remaining vigilant, but not hesitant to show goodwill," said Ayasa Terasaki. "If it really is that guy promoting world integration, yet he shows resistance..."

"Let's implement some coercive measures." Mayumi Haga nodded, indicating her approval of Ayasa Terasaki's simple and direct plan.

"...No, you should first try to dissuade her, then ask her why she did it, understand her thoughts, comprehend but do not agree with her actions, and finally, if negotiations break down and there is no other way, choose to fight and bring her back."

Main Text: Chapter 216 Magical Girl Blue Star

Since Hanaya Rika rarely visits Miracle City, the three magical girls from the previous generation decided to find a place to catch up.

As a minor who cannot drink wheat juice, Mayumi Haga was excluded without exception.

Although she didn't have any particular interest in drinks like wheat juice, it still felt a bit strange to be treated like a child.

Well, after all, one's physical age won't change once they come into this world.

Moreover, she really shouldn't have been present in that kind of situation.

“The magical girls of the previous generation…” Takajo Yuri rested her chin on her hand, her tone tinged with nostalgia, “I grew up listening to their stories.”

Akari Arisu said, "We're basically all like that."

“Rika-nee is [Crimson], Aya-san is [Aster], and the one who just arrived today is [Kingfisher]... Wow, we should be all here except for [Blue Star]. I haven’t met any of the previous magical girls besides Rika-nee and Aya-san yet.” Tohno Hitomi’s words were filled with longing as she carefully counted the team members she remembered on her fingers.

Only Mayumi Haga, who had been led out by these three as soon as she stepped outside, frowned as she drank the iced Americano that someone had shoved into her mouth: "...Go see it if you want."

Those three are probably still lying drunk in Terasaki Ayasa's magic hospital.

She remembered that Sugiyama Rika had asked her for some otherworldly drinks to try, so she casually took out the rest from her backpack, only to find that this guy had immediately grabbed the Night Core Fruit...

After Mayumi Haga suffered a setback with Hitomi Tono, she realized that Night Core Fruit was actually not a very sweet fruit, but rather a strong liquor.

To prevent Sugiyama Rika and the other two from losing consciousness for three days, she specifically instructed them to remember to mix some drinks with their food.

Getting drunk was to be expected, but it's unclear how much he actually drank.

She had given instructions, so Sugiyama Rika shouldn't do anything reckless, right...?

Now that she thinks about it, Mayumi Haga suddenly feels a little uncertain.

And just as she had feared, things veered in a terrible direction. Within half an hour of her leaving, Sugiyama Rika had squeezed half a Nightstalk Fruit into Terasaki Ayasa's glass, and then squeezed half into her own glass as well.

As for the fragrance of the flower valley?

This person would get drunk from just one lick, so there's no need to use so much.

Unaware that Sugiyama Rika was wreaking havoc with Night Core Fruit, Haga Mayumi finally finished her iced Americano.

This stuff is both bitter and sour, which isn't to her liking, but drinking it isn't a problem for her at all.

The issue is--

Why was she summoned to the magical girl gathering?

Mayumi Haga expressed her incomprehension.

Currently seated in this café are Magical Girl Crimson, Magical Girl Iris, and Magical Girl Azure.

There's also Black, the magical girl they've chosen.

Mayumi Haga: "...You're not talking about me, are you?"

No, why is it in English when it comes to myself?

It doesn't sound like a magical girl, it sounds like a Kamen Rider.

"Huh? Mayumi doesn't like this codename? Then let's change it..." Tono Hitomi completely missed the point.

"The point is, I'm not a magical girl." Mayumi Haga had a bit of a headache. "Let's skip this topic."

Okay, even though Mayumi Haga isn't a magical girl, the magical girls still dragged her into their private little gatherings.

After all, Mayumi Haga has helped Miracle City so much that everyone already considers her a member of their team.

Hitomi Tono and the others also overheard someone muttering that the codenames of this generation of magical girls didn't sound quite uniform.

However, it doesn't matter if they're not neat; after all, each one has its own personality.

As junior colleagues, Hitomi Tono and the others, while seeking out Mayumi Haga to understand the situation, also wanted to have a simple meal together to reconnect with each other.

This is a more formal way of saying it.

I didn't really think that much about it. I just felt that since we were all friends, we should all go out and have fun together, and maybe chat about magical girls.

"A magical girl gathering... I've actually been wanting to try it out for a while." The one who said this was Arisu Juri, a magical girl from Strange City, and the only one among those present who had to rush back to the neighboring city before curfew.

At first, she had some reservations about Mayumi Haga, after all, she saw her trying to kill someone right away.

But now that I've been rescued, my feelings are somewhat complicated. My attitude is much better than before, and I can sit here peacefully and drink with everyone.

She was the only one there who ordered freshly squeezed orange juice.

She bit the straw and looked at the milk in Hitomi Tono's cup, feeling a little puzzled for some reason.

According to her investigation of the magical girl Crimson, she should like to drink orange juice, so could she have remembered it wrong?

Didn't this guy write in his elementary and middle school graduation yearbooks that his favorite drink was orange juice?

And why does he look at me with a strange gaze?

Arisu Akari felt a little uneasy under Tono Hitomi's surprised gaze: "W-Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just genuinely happy that you can still drink orange juice without any guilt..." Hitomi Tono said something inexplicable with a radiant smile.

What's wrong with you?

Akari Arisu couldn't understand it at all.

She wasn't very clear about Mayumi Haga's orange juice production rules, since she hadn't observed them carefully each time, and Mayumi Haga's juice yield had been quite restrained in recent times, so it hadn't really scared her.

She didn't witness the complete process of Mayumi Haga's flesh instantly turning into orange juice, and for a moment she couldn't connect the orange juice with the person sitting opposite her.

In fact, Arisu Akari thought this was some kind of magical ability, like being able to replace herself with an unknown orange liquid the instant she was hit.

Seeing that Hitomi Tono didn't seem inclined to explain, Akari Arisu skipped the topic.

They started talking about the previous generation of magical girls.

Actually, the previous generation of magical girls were quite famous, and their ages weren't that different from ours, so there are many people who have been paying attention to them since the previous generation of magical girls debuted.

The three magical girls knew all about their past stories, but Mayumi Haga, who was adopted by Rika Sugiyama, knew nothing about them.

I only recently learned that Sugiyama Rika's previous magical girl codename was "Red".

However, since she is from another world, it is understandable.

During their casual conversation, Mayumi Haga obtained a lot of useful information.

For example, former magical girl Aoi was a complete loner. At first, she didn't like to cooperate with Sugiyama Rika and the others, and they even became enemies for a time before they became partners she could entrust her back to.

However, she left Miracle City quickly after ending her magical girl career, and it is unknown whether she will return this time because of the missing fifth person.

Main Text: Chapter 217 The Gentleman of the Abyss

Whether the fifth magical girl, Blue Star, has returned or not, Abyss Gentleman doesn't know.

But seeing his arch-enemies from his era gathered together, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Although he had previously decided to retire from his life of crime and focus on being the eldest brother in the family, he is now forced to stand on the same side as the phantom thief.

Based on the former magical girl's current stance, he will also be classified as a villain in the upcoming actions.

Villains... I guess I'm already quite skilled at it.

However, what the Gentleman of the Abyss didn't expect was that the Phantom Thief, who was a magical girl before, had become even more extreme than himself.

The grotesque man in a tuxedo with a jet-black face sat on the billboard, looking down at the phantom thief below. The sky in the other world was a magnificent blood red, and the gale filled his collar, tearing open the once-neatly buttoned collar to reveal skin as black as oil.

After arriving in this world, the Abyss Gentleman erased the patterns on his face that could display his expressions, making it impossible to discern his emotional changes.

Its face has no other facial features, only a mouth, which opens and closes like a normal person when it speaks, giving it a somewhat eerie appearance.

The Gentleman of the Abyss looked down at the Phantom Thief Girl, who was observing the surge of magic below, and said calmly, "I thought you would feel some sense of crisis."

"A sense of crisis? I'm not nervous at all." The phantom thief was a little surprised. She turned around and looked at her temporary allies with her crimson eyes. "After all, as long as I stand here, none of them can do anything to me."

"They really have confidence," the Gentleman of the Abyss remarked.

Miss Phantom Thief replied, "It's not that I'm confident, it's just the truth."

She had no hope of winning against any of her former comrades.

However, no one's understanding of the inner world can match her level. As long as she utilizes these information gaps, coupled with the subsequent fusion of worlds, her chances of winning can reach over 90%.

Miss Phantom Thief doesn't really care about the current generation of magical girls.

For her, the only magical girl she needs to pay more attention to right now is Crimson; the other two are not worth mentioning.

After all, the previous generation of magical girls was actually stronger than this generation, since they were five who had undergone nearly ten years of training before graduating as magical girls.

Moreover, Miss Phantom Thief has already discovered the truth of the world.

She has no reason to lose.

"Gentleman of the Abyss, do you know? This world is actually one-sided and distorted." The phantom thief said in a low voice, but her voice was enough to reach the ears of the Gentleman of the Abyss, whose five senses were also beyond human comprehension.

A dark glint flashed in her eyes.

The Gentleman of the Abyss did not reply; his facial structure prevented anyone from noticing his emotional fluctuations.

The eccentric young man with a dark face quietly awaited the next insightful comment from the phantom thief.

The two men didn't look like good people at all, and in the desolate underworld where the sky was stained blood red, they looked even more like villainous bosses meeting.

“Our world used to be normal, completely different from what it is now,” said the phantom thief. “Until one day, the gods split the world in two.”

She placed her left hand over the back of her right hand, then separated them, one above the other.

"The surface world and the inner world," the Abyss Gentleman mused.

Miss Phantom Thief praised, "That's right. That's how it's divided. Beautiful and perfect things float on the surface, while garbage and sewage settle underneath. We're living in the world's garbage dump right now."

"Then why do you want to merge the two worlds?" the Abyss Gentleman asked casually.

“Because they are one.” The phantom thief’s tone was not easy. She said, “Don’t you think it’s strange to have only one side to the world? Just like the land beneath our feet.”

"But everyone seems to be living quite well." The Abyss Gentleman didn't think there was any need for fusion. A crack appeared on his right eye, and then an eye actually grew out of it.

His amber eyes stared intently at the obviously strange young thief in front of him, his tone nonchalant.

"Really?" The phantom thief laughed, meeting the eerie gaze. "But you're not doing very well, are you? Isn't a world where only beauty remains hell for you?"

"That's not quite right... Although our strength has indeed weakened somewhat, we are not weak monsters who cannot survive just because we are suppressed." The Abyss Gentleman closed that eye again, leaving only a mouth on his face once more.

However, what the phantom thief said was actually true.

If these two parts of the world could merge, the living space for monsters would be much wider.

"That's why I wanted to collaborate with you. It just so happens that you fell down because of the spiritual veins," the phantom thief said. "You've seen for yourself that those strange people you consider family haven't been doing very well since they left your protection."

It was just a flurry of activity.

The Gentleman of the Abyss didn't say anything; he remained silent, which the Phantom Thief took as tacit agreement.

"Gentleman of the Abyss, what happened to your dream when you were young? That dream of creating a world for monsters, has it just vanished like that?" The Phantom Thief noticed the Gentleman of the Abyss's wavering and chose to press her for answers.

The Gentleman of the Abyss waved his hand: "That was just an excuse I made up to kidnap people, not my true thoughts."

I thought the phantom thief would understand by now, but to my surprise, she just chuckled.

"Back then, I was all alone, so it didn't matter what happened, but what about now?"

The Gentleman of the Abyss listened patiently to what the other party had to say next.

Do you think your family's current living environment is comfortable? Isn't it because the world is too unfair that you have to live such a hard life?

The phantom thief spoke with utmost sincerity. Furthermore, her face didn't actually convey any cunning; her resemblance to Rika Sugiyama gave off an air of genuine honesty.

It seems they really are thinking of these weirdos like the Abyss Gentlemen.

The Gentleman of the Abyss added, "It's because I'm incompetent and haven't been able to provide a better life for my family."