Type-Moon, I'm a magician, is that true?

She might have ten thousand considerations to use as excuses, but these were not what Qingzi wanted to hear.

Do you want to keep silent?

When conflicts arose in the past, Youzhu and Qingzi did the same thing, letting time bury the conflict.

With Qingzi's pragmatic personality, she would give up the useless cold war in about a month and focus on other things in front of her.

So this time...

"There are beads."

The slightly fluctuating voice of her roommate brought Youzhu back to her consciousness, and she looked up at Qingzi.

Those sky-blue eyes stared at him, and his fierce self-esteem seemed to be solidified into solid cold iron.

Needless to say, it was Qingzi's implementation of her own will.

She argued: "I would rather die from involvement than become a protected person."

Aozaki Aoko is the wind that always rushes forward, and she will never accept confinement in the name of protection.

“…” For some reason, Youzhu remembered the strange person she met today.

Without greetings and without knowing etiquette, they live in society without seeing the restraints of civilization.

Respond to questions directly, don't beat around the bush, and give direct answers. You will feel relaxed when interacting with such people.

Being with him is like looking at a lake; your own reflection is reflected in the water, while the lake itself exists only on its own.

Then perhaps... should I also face Aoko's will?

"Ugh."

'This battle must have left such a deep impression on me that I've been affected,' Youzhu thought with a sigh.

"But only this once." The girl looked up at Aoko.

"I'm sorry, Qingzi. It's my negligence."

In a calm and light tone, Youzhu expressed her thoughts frankly.

"I'll pay attention next time."

"..."

The scene suddenly became quiet. Aozaki Aoko stared at Youzhu in shock, leaning back slightly with an expression of disbelief.

"Aoko." Youzhu frowned seriously. She had a premonition of what her roommate's reaction would be.

Aozaki Aoko is a lively and unrestrained person, and the virtues of a lady have never been related to her.

And the result was just as Youzhu expected.

"Impossible!! That cold, silent, heartless witch is actually going to apologize!?"

With a swish, a beautiful body jumped up from the sofa, and Qingzi couldn't help but express her surprise.

"Is it Poly pretending? Am I still dreaming? Or is this the worst kind of hypnosis!"

The noisy sound echoed throughout the living room, shattering the warm and peaceful atmosphere in the mansion.

Jiuyuan Temple Youzhu closed her eyes indifferently, and the only tenderness in her heart was frozen and sank into the bottom of her heart.

"Fairy tale monster." The cold witch called out to her familiar.

"Wait, wait! Why are you coming towards me? Arizuki, stop...ah!"

The energetic screams spread far away, startling a large number of birds in the forest, who chirped and flew away from the mansion.

So, the rumors circulating in Misaki Town are not completely nonsense.

-----------------

The noisy offensive and defensive battle came to an end, and the two beautiful girls sat down again and peacefully reviewed the battle with Youzhu.

"It's a Dead Apostle! I've heard of them, but I've never seen one in person."

Qingzi sat cross-legged on the sofa with a cup of boiled water in her hand, while Youzhu opposite her was sipping black tea.

The difference in drinks was probably the price she paid for her actions just now.

"Well, if Qingzi faced him, she probably wouldn't survive more than a minute. Their compatibility is too bad. The basic techniques you're good at are as ridiculous as a sandbag."

Youzhu closed his eyes and swallowed a mouthful of tea, while not forgetting to mock Qingzi.

Qingzi was not to be outdone. She smoothed her hair and retorted, "What? In a battle, I still have the confidence that I can fight Youzhu to a draw."

"I admit it." Youzhu did not refute.

If it is a limited encounter battle, it is indeed possible that he will be defeated by Qingzi. This is a fact.

Aozaki Aoko is a genius in combat. She is very good at magic that can be performed by simply flowing magic power. In this respect, Arizuma is completely defeated.

In other words, Aoko is an unparalleled quick shooter. Her magic activation speed and control of the battlefield are excellent.

It's not something a frail puppeteer like Youzhu can compare to.

But this power has its limit, that is when the opponent is still within the normal human range.

"Aoko, you will never be able to defeat a Dead Apostle." As Aoko's magic teacher, Yuzu made a declaration.

"You lack a decisive, high-powered spell. Your damage isn't as fast as the recovery of a Dead Apostle's. Your support magic is a complete mess, completely useless. Even your much-vaunted reflexes have been completely suppressed."

"In short, the other party is basically your complete superior. Aoko, you can't find a breakthrough."

Qingzi, who knew Youzhu's character well, also became serious after hearing this.

"Such a tough enemy, indeed, as you said, I can't find a way to win."

"Even if the magic bullets are fired at a very high speed, if they can't achieve results in one strike, then they're useless attacks. From this perspective, I still have a long way to go."

Qingzi sighed helplessly.

After talking for a long time, she could only come to the conclusion that she was very weak, which made her feel a little heavy.

But after Youzhu finished telling what happened tonight, she suddenly tilted her head, as if she had thought of some blind spot.

She opened her mouth and swallowed back her doubts several times, but finally couldn't help but let them out.

"Qingzi, do you know that you can see eyes of death?"

"Well, what what?" Perhaps it was because he rarely heard Youzhu asking him questions, a sense of pride and mission drove Qingzi to take it seriously.

"It's... a kind of magical eye. It seems like it can tell when someone will die or something with just one glance."

"Isn't this a myth?" Qingzi recalled for a while and found a similar description in his mind.

"Myth?" Youzhu asked doubtfully.

"That's right, a myth. Youzhu, you rarely read mythological stories, right? After all, she is a witch in a fairy tale." Qingzi stood up from the sofa and teased with a smile.

"Legend has it that in Celtic mythology there is a demon king named Balor. His eyes contain infinite power and will bring death to all beings he sees."

"The eyes that can see death usually refer to this."

"It's actually a relic left over from the Age of Gods..." Youzhu murmured in a low voice, finding it very hard to believe.

Her curiosity about Aiwen grew stronger, revealing a childlike curiosity.

On the other side, Qingzi seemed to have discovered something and showed a disdainful look as if he was enjoying the show.

She asked in a vague tone, "Alas, Youzhu, it seems that you are hiding something from me."

"What is it? Did you encounter someone with a demonic eye similar to Balor's?"

"Well, it's nothing, just some trivial things that don't need to be mentioned."

Youzhu coughed softly, then quickly stood up and left the living room to go to the west wing where her room was.

"Anyway, a lot happened today, and I'm very tired, so I'm going to rest first."

"Aoko, don't forget to turn off the lights."

"Hey~~ Tell me."

Youzhu ignored Qingzi's gossipy questions behind her, pursed her lips and walked away quickly.

I'm afraid today's dream will be a beautiful dream that matches the moonlit night.

Chapter 4: Facing Death (k)

At 6:01 in the morning, Aiwen opened his eyes on time and faced the blurry world again.

Everything in front of me seemed as illusory as smoke, and the scenery I saw was full of vague blocks of colors.

All the information transmitted by the eyes is like that transmitted through extremely blurry frosted glass, so people can only make out the rough outlines.

There are no clear lines, and the edges of the realm are like a fuzzy ball of thread. Observation itself is inaccurate, and judgment has lost its standards.

Aiwen now lives in such a world.

Vision is the most widely used information-receiving organ of humans and the benchmark of existence. Human cognition of the world is extremely dependent on this pair of complex yet tiny glass spheres.

Human beings' five senses receive external stimuli and transform them into nutrients for the growth of their own personality. Life is the perception that flashes in the collision with all things.

Therefore, humans without the five senses are simply a collection of flesh. If any one of the senses is lost, the definition of all things will become unclear.

Touch, vision, hearing, smell, taste.

Vision problems, which rank second in importance, basically represent that the owner has deviated from the "right path" of ordinary people.

To sum up, Aiwen knows that his current understanding of the world is biased, but he has no choice.

"After all, compared to a world full of death, it's more comfortable to live in a vague and isolated world."

He was quite happy as he finished his morning wash with stream water and lit the remaining fire in the stone stove.

No, perhaps he was thankful that he could still control the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

"Ever since I saw that red shadow, my eyes have become like this."

While putting some average quality old rice into the pot, Aiwen thought about what happened a month ago.

It was a few days after I inherited the magic seal from my teacher who picked up my cloak. The weather was gloomy and rainy, which made people feel cold to the heart.

Out of respect for my teacher, I took on the engraving and the burden that came with it.

Although the teacher warned him not to take this inheritance too seriously before he left, Aiwen still planned to fulfill his obligations as a successor.

He activated the Magic Seal, learned the truth of the secret, and then—he forgot.

"What happened?" Aiwen wondered.

To this day he still can't remember what he did. It's as if that moment had disappeared from the world and could not be found anywhere.

But one thing happened that was irreversible.

He saw a red shadow.

The red shadow has never left me since that day, as if it has really replaced my own shadow.

Anyone who sees that shadow will understand the truth it represents.

dead.

death.

The fate of death.

That is [Red Death].

That shadow is death itself, the afterimage of the future that is chasing after oneself from among the many thoughts.

Thinking of this, Aiwen looked up at his shoulder, where the red shadow was clenching tightly, and the pain of death was lingering in his body.

Drowned by water, burned by fire; pierced by iron, corroded by poison; malignant growth, self-eating within the body...