Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 368 Useful Methods

"Even if Xiao Li may have many reasons, I don't want to accept this kind of overprotection at all! Since we were stranded in this world together, we should join hands and use our respective strengths to break through the status quo."

The goddess of bathing continued speaking, placing her hand on her chest.

"We have proven ourselves to be neither hopeless cases nor incorrigible obstacles. Compared to when we first entered this world, both I and..."

The goddess of the bath turned her gaze to Millie.

"Or perhaps Millie, or maybe..."

She then looked at Xia Luoluo.
"Uh, they've grown a lot already!"

"Hey! You're including me in that too!"

Charlotte protested angrily.

"Anyway, we're not 'incapable,' so why did that guy exclude us at the last minute? It's like he's the only one who's leveled up and entered a higher realm, handling everything from his superior position? We need to make him rely on us more!"

"I don't think he's particularly dependent on us. Although he hasn't said many things out loud, he's indirectly manipulated us to do a lot of things for him, hasn't he?"

Although she had been somewhat persuaded, Xia Luoluo still disagreed.

"That level of dependence isn't really dependence. If you have a piece on the chessboard that can only move in a straight line, and you let it move in a straight line to capture the opponent's piece, how can that be considered dependence? That's just using it. True dependence is when you genuinely let go of that piece that could only move in a straight line. Then suddenly that piece can move horizontally and diagonally, instantly taking down the opponent's 'king'!"

"What kind of game is this where the rules are so arbitrary!"

“You’re right, there’s no game with rules that are so arbitrary. But isn’t that exactly what it is? We need to make Xiao Li understand that this world isn’t a chessboard, he’s not a player, and we’re not pieces!”

"."

Hearing the words of the Bathing Goddess, Xia Luoluo remained silent for a moment, then slowly revealed a smile that seemed to be barely suppressing a laugh.

Your logic is a complete mess.

Charlotte sighed, feeling that Tass must have changed a bit over the years.

Otherwise, faced with such a strange person as the Goddess of Bathing, the old Ritas, while not necessarily going to hit her, would definitely not have gotten along with her amicably.

"Fine! I'm really not happy about that guy putting on a protector's face towards me. So, I agree to your proposal!"

"Whoa whoa."

After gaining Xia Luoluo's approval, the Bathing Goddess and Xia Luoluo both turned their gaze towards Millie.

Millie simply shrugged slightly in response to their gazes.

"I've always been fine with whatever happened from the beginning."

Millie gently scratched her cheek and continued,
"But it's true, just as Sister Yu said. I'm very unwilling to end it this way."

Millie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Although entering this world wasn't our choice, I believe the people we meet and the things we experience here are neither false nor futile. Including the 'memory scenes' we witness, I want everything to have its corresponding meaning! Therefore, I agree with Sister Yu's proposal!"

"Oh! Hmm, is it just my imagination? I feel like you explain things much better than I do. Oh well, let's not worry about the details. Well then, let's get ready and set off!"

The goddess of bathing raised her clenched fist with her right hand, but then lowered it as if she had thought of something.

"Oh, right, let's make this clear beforehand. Although we're going to help Xiao Li on our own, we don't want to cause him any trouble. So, we must observe thoroughly in the safest place before taking any action. Remember, without the Golden Apple, we can no longer revive him!"

"Hmm." "Do you need to tell me that?"

"Let's try again. Let's go!"

"Oh!"

As the goddess of the bath raised her fist, Millie went back and watered the "Livis Flower," after which the three of them left the safe zone together.

And then today
“Woooaaaaaaaaaah!”

Surrounded and pursued by a group of blood-red humanoid figures, Millie, her face dark, carried the bath goddess, whose face was ashen, and fled at top speed.

Isn't this a little different from what we agreed on?
Millie, who felt like she was constantly in danger after leaving the safe zone, cried out in her heart, "Forget about helping Ritas."

"Has this attracted so many again?"

At the agreed meeting point, Charlotte, who had previously split up, waved her arm and cast an ice elemental spell that was just right to counter the blood-red humanoid, saving Millie and the Bathing Goddess.

"Phew, I'm saved! Oh, I'm so sorry, Lady Charlotte. I looked down on you before. You're the real star of our team!"

Just as the still-shaken goddess of the bath was wailing and trying to grab Xia Luoluo's leg, she saw the black-haired girl who had also been saved by Xia Luoluo.

"Huh? Wayne?"

Faced with Wayne, who resembled the image in her memory but was much younger, the Goddess of Bath reacted in a similar way to Charlotte before.

In a corner of the outer city of the fortress, the Bathing Goddess, Charlotte, and Millie encounter Wayne, who is heading to the tower.

"I don't know if it will work, but anyway, I've tied you up!"

In a relatively intact low-rise building, the goddess of the bath tore off a piece of fabric from her clothes and used it to bandage some of Viin's more noticeable wounds.

"Thank you."

Although she longed to continue to the tower without stopping, Wayne's physical condition simply wouldn't allow it, and she could only let the three of them make the arrangements.

Faced with three strangers who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, Wayne should have been extremely uneasy. However, perhaps it was the faces of Charlotte and the Bathing Goddess that gave Wayne a sense of familiarity. Or perhaps, those memories that "shouldn't belong to her" were mixed with some impressions of Charlotte. Therefore, apart from still being extremely anxious inside, Wayne's emotions remained relatively stable.

"You are Wayne."

Millie looked at Wayne with a complicated expression.

Based on the information they currently have, Wayne is undoubtedly the "culprit".

So even knowing that she might be influenced by the Wanderers and was somewhat powerless to control her own destiny, Millie had never been immune to negative feelings towards Wayne in the past.

However, after actually meeting her, seeing Wayne so quiet and well-behaved despite her injuries, Millie simply couldn't bring herself to blame or question her.

"I see. Our age standard is based on her."

Looking at Wayne, who had shrunk considerably, the Bathing Goddess understood why she and Millie had always appeared to be around ten years old.

However, it can only be said that there are some mysteries in the world that, even if solved, will not yield any results.

The three women—the Bathing Goddess, Millie, and Charlotte—huddled together and whispered something to each other.

If they had met Wayne when they first entered this world, they would have been overjoyed.

On one hand, Wayne might be able to unravel the mysteries that were once shrouded in mist for them. On the other hand, Wayne is also a being from the real world, a potential "companion."

But now, the entire fairytale world is beginning to crumble. Wayne herself seems to possess no power, and the witch who guarded her area has been banished. Therefore, they are somewhat unsure how to face this "bedtime reading."

After discussing it for a while, the three of them asked Wayne questions.

As for questions that directly address the essence of the world, Wayne was essentially clueless. She simply answered questions about things within this world, as if she were a character born into it.

"Hmm." "Uh-huh." "Mmm."

The three, who had essentially failed to gather any information, looked at each other in bewilderment.

Although they all had some doubts, wondering if the little guy was pretending, the three of them looked at each other and none of them could bring themselves to do anything like interrogating Wayne.

As for whether Wayne was truly an "NPC" born from this world, the three of them never doubted it. Because, at this stage, there were no longer any NPCs in this fortress city.

"So, you're planning to go to that tower. And there's someone on that tower who can 'save' you?"

Charlotte repeated what Wayne had said earlier. Wayne nodded.

Although her explanations were somewhat rambling and confusing, Wayne at least clearly stated her purpose.

"For example, if I could, I would also like to go and save my mother."

What happened to your mother?

Seeing Wei Yin's timid appearance, the Bathing Goddess, who had discovered how badly Wei Yin's injuries were when she was bandaging her wounds, asked with some heartache.

"She...she's being attacked by her brother—no, it's someone pretending to be her brother. Mom...she's being attacked by that guy named Ritas!"

"Eh--?"

The three, including the goddess of bathing, couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief.

"What is that guy, Xiao Li, doing?!"

"Calm down, Sister Yu. Didn't she say she was an imposter?"

Millie reminded her, and then, as if suddenly remembering something, she raised her hand and unconsciously bit her fingers a few times with a serious expression.

Although they still didn't quite understand what was going on, they did know that according to the "settings," Ritas should be Wayne's older brother.

"The one on that tower is your real brother. That means!"

Charlotte, combining this with Wayne's previous purpose, seemed to have connected everything at once. Meanwhile, the Bathing Goddess and Millie also realized almost simultaneously who the person in the tower truly was.

On the one hand, there aren't many people left in this world. On the other hand, people who can incite so much hatred are quite rare.

No wonder, these monsters created by the red rain were attacking the tower like madmen.
"No. What if Little Li is on that tower!"

"Oops!"

Upon understanding this, the expressions of the Bath Goddess and Millie immediately turned ugly.

"What's wrong with you?"

Xia Luoluo, who had previously separated from the two, asked in confusion.

"Yes, that's right, we saw it."

"Teacher Cortés, the 'Tin Man,' is approaching the tower!"

"Aha!?"

In an instant, Xia Luoluo also realized the seriousness of the situation.

With Viyn by their side, the four of them sped along, circling the outer city before arriving at the other side of the fortress city.

"This is really true."

"So what exactly happened to that guy, Kurt?!"

Gazing at the distant scenery, the four men wore extremely solemn expressions.

It was as if a black hole was gradually approaching.

Cortrienne wantonly destroyed everything she could see, turning the destroyed parts into pitch-black nothingness.

At this point, the goddess of the bath and the others could no longer understand what Cortriene was doing. However, they knew that if Cortriene continued to walk this way, something terrible would definitely happen.

"."

Millie took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and seemed to be making some decisions in her mind.

"Miss Wayne, could you tell me exactly where your mother encountered danger?"

When Millie asked her question softly, Wayne simply pursed her lips tightly.

“I can’t guarantee that I can save her. But if Miss Wayne is willing to trust me, I will do my best to try to accomplish this.”

Millie spoke earnestly with a sincere gaze, as if making a promise to Wayne.

"'believe'."

Vivian moved her lips, repeating the word softly, as if she had struggled with it for a long time, before tremblingly raising her hand and pointing in the direction she had come from.

Thank you for trusting me.

As Millie spoke, she moved a few steps to the side, then opened her arms and hugged the Bath Goddess from the front.

"Huh? Huh? Well, while I'm happy about Millie's feelings, but... isn't this a bit inappropriate—"

While the Bath Goddess was feeling good about herself, Millie had already picked her up and carried her on her shoulder.

"What are you doing, Millie?!"

"Don't be nervous, Sister Yu. I just think that since there's a proven, easy-to-use, and simple method, why not try it one more time?"

Outside the fortress city.

After the "Wind Spirit Domain", the plain looked as if it had been hit by a meteorite.

Inside the largest pit, Little Ritas stood up with a gloomy face.

He looked somewhat disheveled, with half of his body missing and the other side covered in wounds.

However, as the surrounding magical particles gathered, they filled the remains of the body by forming magic crystals, and quickly healed the wounds all over the body.

Little Ritas is now "completely unharmed".

The distant fallen leaves were swept up by the breeze and drifted over, swirling around Little Ritas several times before forming a dark green robe.

"As you said, my lack of combat experience was a huge weakness. But fortunately, that weakness has been somewhat filled now."

Little Ritas was lifted up by the whirlwind and brought to the side of the largest crater on the plain. Looking at Sophia lying there, barely alive, he said this...
"In that case, why don't you help me fill in some more gaps? For example, let me give up, because I feel it's a waste for someone to die before they can reach their full potential, and I can't bear to end their naivety."

Muttering to himself mercilessly, Little Ritas casually waved his hand, conjuring a sharp blade made of the surrounding sand, which hung directly above Sophia like the blade of a guillotine.

"Whoa! Come here! Ugh, I'm sorry, don't come any closer! You, you come here—!!!"

Just as the deadly blade was about to fall, a continuous and irrational shout swept from afar toward Little Ritas's location, growing ever closer.

In an instant, as a bolt of lightning swept past the area beside Little Ritas, the sound was stretched into a trembling, shrill, comical form.

"."

Hearing that familiar voice, Little Ritas frowned deeply.

Before he could even confirm what it was that passed by.

A sharp glint flashed from afar.

As the sharp light dissipated, a figure carrying a sharp blade, always moving slowly forward, appeared in Little Ritas's field of vision.

(End of this chapter)