Unlimited Ambition

After that, Xiaoyuan decisively asked to go home with me after school so she and Sayaka could have a "good" talk. And I agreed. Anyway, nothing serious will happen, right?

So, by this time, the school bell had been ringing for a long time. But with a good friend, class was completely irrelevant. That's what the little round-faced girl thought.

Sayaka's perspective.

Because they couldn't find Kamijou the Second—and Sayaka, in a fit of pique, didn't want to go to his house—the anticipated happy chat between the two of them was completely out of the question.

So, it's a tragedy.

Sayaka was swaying alone on a swing in the park for stray dogs, while next to her was a blue-haired boy dressed as a butler, who looked equally lost and dejected, in a similar situation to her.

We are both wanderers in this world, why should we need to have known each other before?

Sayaka was on the verge of tears.

Finally, when it was almost time to get out of school, Sayaka jumped off the swing with a sigh of relief, then went to the vending machine and ordered a can of coffee—after hesitating for a moment, she ordered another can.

"I don't know what trouble you've run into, but good luck." Sayaka handed the coffee to the debtor butler, then turned and left.

"So, he's not back yet?" Sayaka looked at the empty room, slightly lost in thought.

"He's not here either... Maybe he thinks I'm with Kyosuke, so he wants to give me more time. He's such a nice person..." Sayaka, misunderstanding my motives, suddenly lay down on the living room sofa and didn't want to get up.

At this moment, Xiaoyuan and I are heading towards my home together—but a slightly unusual situation has arisen.

"Huh? These people seem a bit strange..." Xiaoyuan said.

In fact, these people, who looked completely like zombies with vacant eyes and stiff movements, were beyond description.

"Oh no—these people have been seduced by the witch. If this continues, things will get really bad!" I said urgently.

"What, a witch?"

"That's right! Witches—if they were monsters, they would prefer to hunt humans in a more violent and direct way. But witches hide in barriers, use magic to lure humans in, control their minds, and then make them kill themselves!"

"How could they do this? This is absolutely outrageous!" the round-faced girl exclaimed. "Isn't there any way to stop them?"

"I'll contact Sayaka now. Otherwise, it's best not to make any rash moves," I said.

"Sayaka, Sayaka, did you hear that? There's an emergency! A witch has taken control of hundreds of people and is heading towards an abandoned warehouse. It looks like she's going to kill them all. Please come quickly!"

At that moment, Sayaka, who was dozing off on the sofa, suddenly woke up.

"Is that so, Wright—I understand, wait a minute."

Then he immediately ran out the door.

Tell me the directions.

"Twelve degrees due north, about one kilometer from my house," I told her.

"understood."

Upon hearing the confirmed number, Sayaka quickly transformed into a magical girl, leaping onto the building in a few bounds. She then used the North Star in the sky to determine her direction and began sprinting at a speed of forty kilometers per hour.

I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's fine. Now we just need to wait for Sayaka to arrive," I said to Madoka.

"But—shouldn't we go and see? Maybe something will happen," Xiaoyuan said hesitantly.

Chapter Sixteen: Round Faces Inherently Possess Motherly Attributes

And so, Little Round Face and I followed behind a group of guys who looked like zombies.

Sayaka is indeed a little slow.

But in a way, this is also an opportunity for me to get along well with Xiaoyuan and such.

"So, if something really happens and Sayaka doesn't get here in time, then Madoka, could you make a contract with me and become a magical girl?" I asked.

"Hmm, this..." Xiaoyuan hesitated slightly, seemingly not wanting it.

In other words, you don't want to sign a contract with me yet? I'm a little disappointed.

At this point, thanks to Homura Akemi's continuous efforts, Madoka had accumulated a considerable amount of causality. If she were to sign a contract with me, she might even become the new supreme god of this plane.

Originally, I didn't have any particular interest in the dimensional power of this plane. However, plans can change quickly. If I could pull off a heist here and earn some extra income... it's not something I can't rule out.

Therefore, it's important to build a good relationship with Xiaoyuan beforehand.

The crowd continued moving forward. Xiaoyuan seemed a little scared, looking left and right as if trying to find someone she could rely on.

So at this point, it's probably better to hold her hand. Girls can't refuse in this situation. Xiaoyuan didn't resist at all and let me hold her hand.

However, at this moment, Xiaoyuan suddenly discovered another person she knew.

Hitomi, is that her name? She was originally one of the three friends who went to and from school with Madoka and Sayaka. In at least 90% of the hundreds of time loops I've experienced, Sayaka was NTR'd by her, causing her personality to become twisted and ultimately leading to her tragic transformation into a witch. You could say that while it was unintentional—she was also one of the contributing factors to this tragedy.

That's it. Thank you!

I silently thanked this guy in my heart, because if it weren't for him, how could I have taken advantage of the situation and snatched Sayaka away?

"Ah, Madoka... and Light here too." At this moment, Hitomi seemed to recognize the two of us as well. But because of the witch, her voice was so faint and ethereal, like a murmur in her sleep.

Although Little Round Face already knew that this girl was being controlled by the witch, she still held onto a sliver of hope because she could still respond to her.

"Renmei, where are you going?" Xiaoyuan asked.

"We're going to a world without war, pain, disease, hunger, or worries. Madoka and Wright, let's go together!"

...So what you're talking about is actually heaven, right? Inviting others to go to heaven with you, is that really okay?

Xiaoyuan wasn't stupid; she could tell that what Renmei was saying was very abnormal. So she panicked immediately.

"Hitomi—don't go!" These words escaped her lips as she grabbed Hitomi's arm. However, Hitomi, who had reverted to her zombie-like state, didn't react at all. Her body reacted with full force, easily shaking Madoka off. I also released my grip without a sound, and Madoka fell to the ground.

In that case, I, as the male protagonist, should run over and help her up, right?

However, before I could put my idea into action, Xiaoyuan immediately got up.

"Everyone! Wake up! You've been controlled by the witch!!" Xiaoyuan shouted with all her might, her eyes tightly shut.

Of course, nobody paid any attention to her.

But Xiaoyuan still didn't give up. She ran over to everyone, tugging at their clothes and arms, pleading in a tearful voice, "Please wake up! You've been controlled by a witch—you'll die! Please, please wake up!"

...Although I wrote and directed most of this scene, I was still a little moved by Xiaoyuan's unexpected performance.

Although she's quite timid, Xiaoyuan's performance in crucial moments is still remarkable. Or rather, it's precisely because she seems so timid on ordinary days that her actions in critical situations are all the more touching.

She has the qualities of a Mother Teresa. And unlike those who claim to be Mother Teresa but actually have a crotch injury, Madoka is a genuine biological mother. Especially if Madoka becomes a true dimensional god after signing a contract with me—in that case, Madoka would be a genuine Mother Teresa.

God loves the world. There is a divine presence three feet above your head.

I'm a little bit captivated by her.

And so, without realizing it, Xiaoyuan and I—along with hundreds of other zombies, men, women, and children—arrived at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The people stopped, closed the door, and began to complain.

"Someone like me, who can't even run a small factory well, what's the point of living..."

"My husband is having an affair."

"The child is disobedient..."

"I've fallen for my friend's boyfriend, what should I do?"

Such things.

Then, someone brought over several bottles of what appeared to be cleaning agents or something similar.

"So, Xiaoyuan, if you mix these things together, it'll be terrible! If you ignite it, it'll explode!" After seeing the packaging of those bottles, Xiaoyuan immediately remembered the life hacks her mother had told her. Then, seeing someone walking by with a lighter, laughing and chuckling, she recklessly rammed into him, knocking him aside. She then grabbed a bucket of various detergents and other condiments, ran to the window, smashed the glass, and threw it out.

However, after that, all the zombie-like people turned around at the same time, their eyes shining like a pack of wolves that had found food, and pounced on Xiaoyuan.

"Ah!" At this moment, Xiaoyuan was truly terrified and closed her eyes, ready to wait for death.

"If not now, when?" So, after watching the fight from the sidelines for a long time, I immediately made my move, quickly running to Xiaoyuan's side, grabbing her, and running towards the iron gate. The zombie-like people chased after us—although they were zombies, they were quite fast, following behind Xiaoyuan and me, looking like they could catch us if they went any faster.

However, in the end, Xiaoyuan and I managed to run into the room next door, slammed the door shut, and quickly bolted it. We were safe for the time being...

Chapter Seventeen: The Half-baked Swordsman Who Fell From the Sky

It's safe for now, yes, it's safe. I gently patted the back of the little round-faced girl who was sobbing to comfort her: "Don't worry, Sayaka will be here in a little while. We'll be fine."

However, after hearing what I said, the little girl with the round face cried even harder, which made me very embarrassed.

To be honest, I genuinely wanted to comfort her, not scare her or take advantage of her—I think you'll believe me if I say that… right?

At this point, the guys outside seemed to have changed their target from mass suicide to killing the two of us. The sounds of them breaking down the door grew louder and louder; it sounded like they'd found some kind of fire axe, so the wooden door would probably break down soon.

"It's too slow, Sayaka! Hurry up! The situation is really bad!" I finally couldn't help but contact Sayaka.

"Just a few more minutes, we'll be there soon." Sayaka, who was speeding along the highway, quickened her pace again upon hearing this. Her speed increased even more.

"Damn it, in a few minutes, in a few minutes Little Round Face and I are going to kill you, you bastard!" I said angrily.

At that moment, the dilapidated wooden door was finally chopped through with an axe. Led by a burly man wielding a fire axe, hundreds of men, women, and children, transformed into grotesque figures, approached me and Little Round Face with their grotesque laughter.

"...Is this the end?"

However, immediately afterward, the surrounding environment changed completely. The middle-aged men and women with very explicit expressions disappeared, and the surroundings transformed back into a scene resembling a watercolor or crayon drawing.

In contrast, there are many televisions.

There were so many different types of televisions, big and small, LCD and diode, color and black and white—yet they were all showing only one scene: the scene from a few days ago when Mami's head was bitten off by the witch.

"It seems we've entered the witch's barrier," I sighed softly and said.

"Anyway, we're safe for now." Her round face looked silly and innocent, making you want to pinch her cheeks.

"Is it safe?" I shook my head with a wry smile. "Honestly, I'd rather face those controlled humans in the real world."

"Huh?!"

The little round-faced girl only made a slight "Eh?" sound. Then she was flung away by a strange force and disappeared.

Did they separate us? Really. Speaking of which, this girl must be one of the magical girls I made a contract with before.

She was a former magical girl. Because she watched too much TV, she was exposed to too much radiation. Afterwards, she transformed into a witch.

Kidding.

"What do you want to tell me? Hmm? Why did I betray you? What are you talking about? I've never betrayed anyone. Everything I've said, everything I've said, has been the truth. As for how you interpret it, that's your own business... Hmm... Heh heh heh... I'm sorry, I have no interest in playing with expired products. Well then, it's about time..."