Unlimited Ambition

"Damn it..." Sayaka's tone was still very unwilling, but it seemed she had decided to listen to me and retreat for the time being.

However, at this moment, just as mentioned before, another unexpected event occurred—no, or rather, it shouldn't be called an unexpected event, but rather something that was bound to happen.

Kyoko, whom I had originally called over to lend a hand in case of any unexpected events, finally couldn't sit still any longer after waiting for a long time and seeing a witch appear. She crossed the barrier and came here. Holding her spear horizontally, she assumed a fighting stance.

“Well then, since you’re leaving, I’ll take care of things here.” Kyoko didn’t treat herself like an outsider at all—and in a sense, she really was. But her attitude naturally made Sayaka feel a competitive urge to compete with her.

"No need—I can manage on my own." Sayaka didn't want to leave anymore. She drew her sword and charged forward, completely disregarding any questions of strength or whether she could win. She rushed towards the shadowy witch at top speed, thrusting her sword straight at the witch's chest—and was immediately lashed away by a tentacle that appeared abruptly, like a tree root. The immense force pierced through Sayaka's chest in an instant; if it weren't for the special constitution of a magical girl, this single blow would have been enough to kill her.

"Apricot—hurry up and go help!" I said immediately.

"Tch. What a nuisance." At this moment, Kyoko couldn't care less about jealousy or anything like that. After complaining, she leaped up, her spear extending considerably, then lashed out like a whip, striking the witch directly. The witch cried out in pain, retracting several tentacles that had been chasing Sayaka. This relieved Sayaka from her predicament.

However, just as Kyoko was about to overtake Sayaka and press her advantage, she saw a glint of cold light flashing towards her. Kyoko quickly raised her gun to block, and looking over, she saw that it was Sayaka who had intervened earlier.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?!" Seeing Sayaka attack her for no reason, Kyoko immediately got angry and questioned her loudly.

"I've already said, this is my prey, and anyone who tries to take it from me is my enemy!" Sayaka said firmly.

“Idiot, utterly nonsensical!” Kyoko exclaimed. She then snorted coldly, turned to leave—but ultimately turned back, watching Sayaka nervously. She seemed still intending to help her if needed.

"Sayaka, don't do anything reckless!" I shouted behind Sayaka.

Of course, I know this is completely useless; Sayaka won't listen at all—she's the kind of girl who's easily driven to extremes. Like now, my calling Kyoko over just in case will definitely be misinterpreted by her as distrust or underestimating her abilities. So, to prove herself, she has to fight. If she doesn't fight, she'll have nothing left.

Because, like Kyoko, Sayaka had nothing left but me.

"That's it. A great script, isn't it?" I said, feigning concern while inwardly chuckling to myself.

So, it's only at times like these, when girls are bravely striving for their ideals and hopes, that they truly shine.

I continued yelling, completely ignoring Sayaka's urge to escape faster. Of course, Sayaka didn't take my words to heart at all.

It's like he's gone mad.

Madly, seemingly oblivious to pain, she relentlessly hacked and slashed at the witch, completely disregarding her own techniques. Even with her neck tightly strangled, unable to breathe, and her limbs twisted and deformed by the tentacles, emitting cracking sounds of bones breaking, Sayaka still didn't stop, continuing her relentless hacking. If this scene were witnessed by others, I think most would sympathize with the witch, not Sayaka.

So, when I felt it was about time, I prepared to run forward, but Kyoko stopped me.

"Don't go over there," Kyoko said.

"Why?!" I asked, surprised and slightly angry.

"..."

"It's dangerous." Kyoko paused, seemingly considering how to phrase it. Or rather, who was in danger.

However, I still pushed Kyoko aside and ran over—at the same time, the entire barrier shattered. The witch was brutally murdered by Sayaka. Sayaka, as if having exhausted all her strength, collapsed to the ground…

Chapter Thirty is such a pity.

With a jingle, the entire barrier vanished instantly, and a Seed of Sorrow fell to the ground. Sayaka picked it up, turned her head forty-five degrees to look at Kyoko, and tossed the Seed of Sorrow to her, landing it right at her feet.

"You want this, don't you? Here you go." Saya said to Kyoko with a condescending attitude, then added with a smirk, "The reason I fight is because of someone more important..."

Immediately after saying those ridiculously pretentious words, Sayaka seemed to lose all strength and collapsed to the ground.

I ran over and gently, as if I were holding a fragile object, lifted Sayaka up. Then, little by little, I picked her up: "Idiot, why were you pushing yourself so hard?"

Of course, Sayaka had no intention of answering my question. She simply reached out with difficulty, wrapped her arms around my neck, and then looked straight at me.

It's like saying: Praise me. Just praise me.

such.

“Well done, Sayaka.”

So I praised her.

Sayaka nodded with satisfaction, then slowly closed her eyes.

—Don't misunderstand, I just used too much force earlier and I'm a little exhausted now.

"I'm sorry this time." Only then did I raise my head and look at Kyoko with some apology.

"Hmph!" However, Kyoko was still very angry and didn't seem to want to forgive me at all. After snorting, she turned away and ignored me.

"...I'm sorry." Although Sayaka is still alive, she suffered severe injuries from her reckless battle with the witch. If she doesn't receive immediate treatment, she'll be in grave danger. Therefore, there's no time to explain to Kyoko.

I gave Kyoko a slightly apologetic smile—of course, Kyoko, with her back to me, couldn't see it. Then I left with Sayaka in my arms—or at least that's how it appeared.

"Damn it...damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it...that guy, he has to be eliminated." At this moment, Kyoko seemed to have broken down. Then she chuckled loudly. She sheathed her spear and returned to her usual short outfit. Then, as if trying her best to suppress her laughter, she chuckled softly, completely ignoring the Seed of Sorrow at her feet, and simply left.

"...If that's the case, then it really is..." At this moment, I shook my head, picked up the two seeds of sorrow that neither of the girls wanted and put them away. This time, I really would go.

Two days later, Sayaka slowly woke up and saw me sitting in the chair next to her, looking much more haggard, and dozing off. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

Back then, she also took care of that person day and night like this—by the way, what was that guy's name again?

Sayaka has forgotten.

Sayaka tried moving her body a bit and was surprised to find that she felt absolutely no pain. She then looked at her hands and saw that there were no scrapes, bruises, or other injuries.

"Could it be that I slept for a long time?" Sayaka wondered, then glanced at the calendar next to her.

"It's still July, which means it won't be long." Sayaka relaxed a little.

Immediately afterwards, I also "woke up".

Immediately afterwards, Sayaka finally couldn't contain her desire and hugged me tightly, bursting into tears.

"Okay, okay, it's alright now." I gently patted Sayaka's back to comfort her.

"No, that's not how it is!" Sayaka protested fiercely.

"...What exactly happened?" I looked at her with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Kiss me," Sayaka said, then closed her eyes.

"..."

So I gently kissed Sayaka's forehead. It was like the kind of kiss a close elder gives to a lovely younger person.

"Alright, take a good rest. Maybe I've been pushing you too hard lately... Let's take a short break." I said to Sayaka, who looked a little disappointed.

"Hmm." Sayaka hesitated, but ultimately said nothing. She looked at me expectantly and said, "I'll go make you something to eat," before leaving. Then she pulled the blanket over her head and started crying.

After that, Sayaka never mentioned anything like a confession again. She returned to her usual slightly silly and cheerful self. Then, Sayaka and I, who had already taken two days off, went to school together. In fact, because of this incident, rumors started spreading that Sayaka and I were dating, even though we both denied it.

"No, just a close friend of the opposite sex." - by me.

"If only that were true." - Sayaka

This somewhat ambiguous response not only failed to stop the spread of rumors, but in a sense, it actually fueled them. I've heard at least a dozen or twenty different versions. It seems the students at this terrible school really enjoy these terrible rumors.

Madoka, who had spent the most time with Sayaka, naturally sensed the change in Sayaka's demeanor. It seemed she hadn't even noticed it herself. Everything she said was related to me. Even when Madoka tried to change the subject, she'd steer it back to me within three sentences, like a girl experiencing her first love, showing off her boyfriend.

"...Um, are you two really not dating?" Xiaoyuan expressed extreme doubt about this.

"Hahaha... I've already told you, we're just very, very close friends of the opposite sex. There's absolutely no dating. Of course, who knows how things will develop in the future." Sayaka spoke as if she were answering a reporter's question about a movie star with a scandal. This attitude made Madoka slightly uneasy.

No, I should say I'm very uneasy.

During this period, I, Sayaka's live-in boyfriend (from Madoka and other bystanders' perspectives), frequently appeared late at night when Madoka couldn't sleep and was worried about Sayaka or other things, chatting with her and occasionally jokingly saying things like, "Madoka, why don't you sign a contract with me and become a magical girl too?" But Madoka didn't take it seriously.

"So, Madoka, your talent is outstanding, and you will definitely become a very powerful magical girl."

"So, Madoka, if it were you, you would definitely defeat the enemy very easily."

"So, Madoka, don't you really have any wishes or anything that you want to fulfill?"

"..."

"What a pity."

Chapter Thirty-One: World Peace

Just as Xiaoyuan was reminiscing about last night, when she was complaining to Wright about how she and that green-haired guy hadn't spoken for a while and wanted her to reconcile with Sayaka—and then she realized I seemed to be lost in thought, and upon closer inspection, she discovered that I had been staring at her the whole time.

Finally, it seemed like Wright asked, "Are you sure there's nothing you really want to achieve?" Then Madoka laughed and half-jokingly said, "I really don't have anything. If I did, would world peace count?"

Then, Wright looked at Madoka very seriously and said, "If it's Madoka, maybe she'll have a chance to make this wish come true."

"Huh?!" Xiaoyuan was stunned for a moment because she had just said it casually and did not expect to get such a reply.

"Wright...are you kidding me?" Xiaoyuan asked.

"No," I replied seriously, "Because, Xiaoyuan, your talent is the strongest I've ever seen. If you're willing to sign a contract with me, becoming a god isn't impossible."

"Seriously, becoming a god or something..." Xiaoyuan still looked incredulous: "Even if you try so hard to please me, it won't do me any good..."

"No, it's not that I'm trying to please you, Xiaoyuan. It's that you really have the potential. Once you sign a contract with me, world peace or conquering the world will be a piece of cake for you."

“…I’ve never had any outstanding talents since I was a child, how could this be?” Xiaoyuan finally began to believe my explanation, although she still seemed to find it somewhat hard to understand.

"You're asking me? I don't know either. If we could figure out your promising method, Sayaka, Kyoko, and I wouldn't have to risk our lives fighting monsters like this. If you just take action, you could definitely take care of it in no time."

"Fighting monsters..." At this point, Madoka became very disappointed and worried: "Is Sayaka really alright?"

"Sayaka is trying her best too. But her strength alone is ultimately too little. In addition, for some reason, she and the other magical girl, Kyoko, don't get along very well. So the two of them can't cooperate properly. Kyoko is at least an experienced one, so she's not a problem. But as for Sayaka..."

"What?! Does this mean Sayaka will die like Mami-senpai?!" Madoka was very agitated after hearing this.

"...I will do my best to prevent that from happening," I replied to Xiaoyuan. But my hesitant tone made Xiaoyuan even more uneasy...

"Can I sit here?"

The sound brought Xiaoyuan back to reality from her fantasy world. Turning around, she saw me standing next to her with a smile, holding a bento box in my hand.

Xiaoyuan was just thinking about me when she saw me in person. She felt a little embarrassed. Plus, she's the kind of person who can't hide anything on her mind, so she blushed immediately.

"Of course you can." Before Xiaoyuan could reply, Sayaka, who was sitting opposite her, patted the empty seat next to her, gesturing for me to sit down. So, I smiled and nodded to Sayaka, and then sat down next to her.

"What were you talking about that made you so happy?" I asked.

"Hahaha...it's nothing, just some boring stuff," Sayaka said insincerely. To be honest, while she was a bit dim-witted, her ability to lie through her teeth was remarkably high. If it were anyone else, they might have been fooled. However...

"Actually, Sayaka was talking to me about you just now, Wright." Madoka gritted her teeth, deciding to help her friend break the ice, and said it directly.

“…Madoka?!” Sayaka called out her best friend’s name, half complaining and half happy. Then she turned to me, her eyes sparkling.

"Is that so?" I chuckled lightly, unconcerned. "Hurry up and eat, it'll get cold soon."

"Ah...oh." Madoka realized she had been a little rash. She then lowered her head and started eating. Sayaka also lowered her head and ate without saying a word.