Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 320 I remembered everything

"Wein?"

Millie, who still remembered the name as Ritas's "younger sister," couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Using one's own child's name as the protagonist of a book is obviously not a common practice. However, it's not exactly a taboo.

So what really puzzled Millie was that the opening description of Wayne in the fairy tale was exactly the same as the description of Wayne by the goddess of the bath.
The problem is that one is a girl whom the goddess of the bathing goddess has personally seen in reality. The other is a character from a fairy tale.

Could it be that Wayne was always like this since she was a child, so the author, as her mother, found it interesting and wrote it into the book?

While Millie was puzzled, the goddess of the bath indeed wore an exceptionally solemn expression, her breathing becoming light as she intently and completely absorbed in turning the pages of the book, reading the story within.

It's called "The Dorothy Tales," but the entire book of fairy tales consists of only one continuous story.

Wayne is a very special girl who travels the world, fulfilling the wishes of various beings with strange abilities.

The first thing she encountered in the story was a "carrier pigeon".

The homing pigeon is confused about its own existence. Although it looks like a white dove, it doesn't think that's its true form and always wants to be someone else.

At first, Wayne was simply accompanying the carrier pigeon in its search for its true self.

Homing pigeons have a special ability. Whenever they see something they perceive as "themselves" during their journey, they can briefly transform into that thing's posture.

For example, a homing pigeon encounters a majestic lion. Suddenly, it realizes that the lion is its true self, and so it briefly transforms into the lion's form, galloping across the grasslands.

However, upon witnessing the brutal hunting prowess of other lions, the homing pigeons' "dream" shattered. So, they reverted to their original behavior.

Each time the homing pigeon transforms into something else and then back, a portion of its feathers will turn black.

Next, during Wayne and the carrier pigeon's journey, they encountered the Tin Man.

The story of the Tin Man is relatively simpler. The Tin Man believes he is a normal person, but the reason he is like this is because his "heart" has been lost somewhere.

Therefore, the Tin Man's purpose in traveling is to find his heart and become a real person again.

Next, the three encountered a unicorn.

The unicorn is a prince cursed by an evil witch. He must find an innocent maiden to become his queen in order to break the curse.

Finally, Wayne and her group, now a group of four, encountered the Black Cat.

The black cat felt a huge emptiness inside its body. It was always hungry and never felt full.

However, with Wayne's help, the black cat eventually discovered that what it lacked was not food, but intelligence and humanity.

So, to fill the void in her heart, the black cat became the last member of Wayne's travel group.

Thus began the long journey for the five individuals, each with their own agenda.
Finish.

"?"

Seeing that the fairy tale book had been turned to the last page, a question mark appeared on Millie's forehead.

Is this still the first part of the story?!

Moreover, with sales this poor, there's probably no hope for a sequel.
No, it has nothing to do with sales. It was banned because of plagiarism.

Perhaps due to preconceived notions, Millie revisited the fairy tale book and carefully savored its contents. She did indeed sense something amiss.

The most obvious examples are the carrier pigeon, the tin man, the unicorn, and the black cat, whose true wish is to "become human".

In reality, such repetition isn't a problem. However, Dolores deliberately added different reasons for each of the four people, which created a negative effect of intentionally emphasizing "there's actually no repetition."

Of course, children who are the audience for fairy tale books probably don't think that much about it.

Another possibility is that it might be because it hasn't reached its own dedicated chapter yet.

Aside from Wayne and the carrier pigeon, the other characters, aside from stating their "wishes," seem to be there just to fill space. They travel together, yet always remain detached from the events.

To be fair, Millie thinks this fairy tale, which only has the first half of the story, is actually above average. Even though the story framework and development are somewhat familiar, the presence of the quirky protagonist "Vayne" makes many ordinary things interesting.

Furthermore, Wayne's pattern of mechanically retrieving various items from her briefcase to solve cases can be seen as monotonous, but on the bright side, it's also a stable and distinctive approach.

However, the same problem remains.

The reason why "Dorothy's Bedtime Stories" is not allowed to be sold or circulated outside the country is not because the stories themselves are not interesting.

Is it plagiarism?
What books did they copy? Or rather, which books did they copy?

Millie thought to herself and picked up another fairy tale book that was lying nearby.

It was a book whose cover was covered with all sorts of elements. It was said to be a children's book that had been a bestseller in the Western Regions for a full fifty years.

It tells the story of a holy female knight.

When she was about to perish on the battlefield, she was rescued by a celestial horse. And this comrade-in-arms, who had worked seamlessly with her since that day, suddenly began to speak one day.

He was actually a prince from some country, but he was cursed.
This is the one!
So, was it the clever child in the orphanage who noticed, "Hmm? These two stories are so similar," and that's why he put the two books together?
In short, Millie kept scratching her head as she flipped through the book "Saint Marenu".

There is room for explanation regarding the similarities in the storylines.

The problem is that this Dolores seems a bit scatterbrained, copying many sentences verbatim. Especially the vocabulary used to describe the Pegasus's appearance, which is exactly the same as the description of unicorns in her book.

Even though unicorns don't have wings, they occasionally spread their wings and fly in Dorothy's books!
"."

Why don't you copy from another book!

To copy one of the most famous children's books in the West and then dare to sell it—is this some kind of social experiment or performance art?
And
How come this book, "Saint Marenu," is still a tragedy?!
He and the saintess exchanged feelings, so how did he end up being shot while shielding someone from arrows on the battlefield? Only in his dying moments did he finally transform back into a handsome prince for a few seconds?

Is it really appropriate to show children fairy tales like this?

Millie, feeling heartbroken after seeing the "genuine" product, closed the book, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

While Millie was being "manipulated" by the fairy tale, the Goddess of Bath had a slightly pale face and was deep in thought.

Her expression grew increasingly grave, and after a long while, she finally spoke slowly.
“I…I think I remember everything, Millie.”

"You really remember everything?"

Millie, who had initially thought that even if the goddess of the bath remembered something, she would still have to go through a "sleep" routine, confirmed with some surprise.

But it was at this moment that the goddess of the bath and Millie saw a “premonition” that filled them with utter despair.

"I feel like the sky is so red." Outside the orphanage, Xia Luoluo, tired from playing with the children, casually found a large rock to sit on, propped her chin up, and waited for the Bathing Goddess and Millie.

"They actually kept you waiting for so long!"

Meanwhile, beside Charlotte, Freud, still holding a parasol, was about to erupt.

Suddenly, the Bath Goddess and Millie scrambled out of the house in a panic, haphazardly launching what looked like signal flares into the sky.

Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo——

"Run! The monster that killed Butler Dino is coming!"

The goddess of the bath shouted at Charlotte and Freud.

After being trapped in this world, the first thing that appeared, like a coercive mechanism, was the shadow of black mist. It is the most terrifying nightmare that can never be dispelled from the heart of the Goddess of Bath.

Unlike the Black Mist Bird, which could barely put up a fight, the Shadow of the Black Mist, like the witches that appear after nightfall, is completely unreasonable. Even more terrifying is its ability to truly kill anything in this world, bringing an unchangeable and irreversible "fact" to this created world.

"Varied"

Unlike Xia Luoluo, who was still somewhat confused.

Freud, who had been on the battlefield for a long time, picked up Charlotte and joined the Bathing Goddess and Millie, and took large strides to escape from the orphanage.

Sure enough, the group hadn't escaped far when a figure shrouded in black mist appeared not far behind them and began to slowly pursue them.

Why are you coming over here? Wouldn't it be better if we ran separately?

Thinking that she and Millie still had one more chance to escape with the Golden Apple, and not wanting others to be killed and "preserved" as an irreversible fact, the Goddess of Bath didn't care about anything else and just shouted loudly.

Floyd merely lowered his eyelids, a hint of disdain on his face, and replied, seemingly unrelated to the question.

"Are you sure he's the Elson-style swordsman who attacked Dino?"

"You...you wouldn't be..."

Floyd stopped running away and then put Charlotte down.

"Protect Xia Luoluo."

"Uncle!" "Master Freud!"

Charlotte and Millie tried to stop them almost simultaneously, as if they were about to face Freud, the Shadow of the Black Mist.

Even the somewhat slow-witted Xia Luoluo could clearly see just how unbelievable the target currently chasing them was.

While they were fleeing at breakneck speed, the shadowy figure of the black mist simply strolled forward leisurely.

Every now and then, the shadowy figure in the black mist would casually swing his longsword. Then, with each strike, it seemed as if he had severed the distance between himself and his target, and his figure would instantly shift forward a great distance.

Therefore, after the Goddess of Bath and her group fled quickly for a while, they actually got closer and closer to the Shadow of Black Mist.

Without a doubt, this is a bizarre ability that could only exist in a created world. It is something that human beings cannot achieve or resist.

"You seem to be very outstanding in the new cohort."

Faced with the girls' attempts to persuade him to stay—some offensive, some pleading—Floyd, who appeared to be the only adult present, gently stroked Charlotte's head while looking at Millie.

"Since you will inevitably reach a higher level sooner or later, then remember this: no matter how fancy the techniques may seem on the surface, for a swordsman, the only reality is the moment when the blade strikes the opponent."

Signaling the three to continue their escape, Freud faced the shadow of the black mist and drew the two longswords from his waist.

The goddess of the bath and Millie exchanged a glance, both realizing they couldn't influence Freud's decision. So, dragging Charlotte, who was struggling to stop Freud, they continued their escape into the distance.

"Since he's some kind of 'Shadow Sword Saint,' perhaps..."

Helpless, the goddess of bathing could only console herself and those around her in this way.

It wouldn't be right to launch a reckless challenge that she seemed to have no chance of winning, just to prevent Freud from doing so. The Goddess of Bath simply charged headlong into the shadow of the black mist, sending herself to trigger the cycle of reincarnation first.

"."

In contrast to the noisy Charlotte, Millie remained silent, staring intently at the battlefield that was now in the distance. Finally, she simply stopped.

"Millie?"

"I want to witness it."

"Although I don't want to run away from others, I can't go all out when there are people around. So please bear with me a little longer."

On the desolate plains outside the fortress city, Floyd Elson, wielding two swords, faced off against the shadow of the black mist.

In the past, the shadow of the black mist, which had always ruthlessly and effortlessly cut off any obstacle it faced, stopped in its tracks when it faced Freud.

Clearly, he acknowledged the blond youth opposite him, who was holding a longsword in his right hand with the tip pointed at him, as his "opponent."

"Only when you get close can you sense your extraordinary aura. Who exactly are you? When did such a 'devilish' monster like you appear in the Elson Stream?"

In response to Freud's question, the Shadow of the Black Mist simply began to reverse the grip of his longsword as an "answer".

"Hmph, fine, I'll personally tear off your mask and see who you really are!"

Retracting the extended sword tip, Freud made a bizarre gesture by crossing the two swords in front of his chest, holding them upside down.

The next moment, the blades of two longswords rubbed against Freud's arm and slowly rose upwards.

Freud's right arm was fitted with a lightweight metal gauntlet. As he did so, the longsword in his left hand rubbed against the gauntlet, sparking brilliant flashes of light.

But his left arm was completely bare.

So, his right-hand sword sliced ​​through his own arm, staining the blade with bright red blood.

The left-hand sword, engulfed in flames, illuminated Freud's brilliant blond hair. Meanwhile, the right-hand sword, wreathed in flamboyant colors, reflected his somber face.

In an instant, the two swordsmen, who had already assumed their ready stances, stepped forward and launched a deadly slash that they had poured their hearts and souls into towards their opponent.

Sharp rays of light converge and bloom at the center.
boom!
far away.

The goddess of the bath, who was carrying Xia Luoluo away, heard a loud roar that did not sound like the sound of swords clashing.

Turning around, she saw a raging sea of ​​fire that seemed to set the entire plain ablaze.

(End of this chapter)