Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

“At that time, I thought that if I just support you and keep going, then we can be considered to have ‘walked together’. I don’t need to appear in your world, it’s enough for me to just stay by your side quietly.”

Mio stroked her face, saying with rapture.

"Ah~ I was so naive back then, thinking that as long as I gave my all, it would be enough, and I wouldn't even care if I turned into bubbles and disappeared at sea."

"..."

Hatsuka understood Mio's thoughts.

She understood perfectly.

At handshake events, she has seen countless people who think the same way. They idolize her, placing heavy hopes on her.

These people who arbitrarily place expectations on themselves are humble, yet domineering.

They were so humble that it seemed they didn't care what happened to them as long as Chu Hua was doing well.

They were also so domineering that they wouldn't allow Chu Hua to do anything beyond their expectations—not his hobbies, interpersonal relationships, or private life.

Chu Hua finished her skirt. Liao Mio 2II1⊙ (8) Er Quan never expected that Mio would be one of the members of this group.

No, Mio isn't part of this group; she really did have a promise with her. And she had no idea what Mio had done... No, she'd completely gotten herself involved.

No matter how pitiful someone may be, that is no excuse for committing such atrocities.

She wouldn't sympathize with Mio or condone her atrocities because of these things.

“But this isn’t the story of the Little Mermaid, it’s the story of the Sea Witch.” Chu Hua’s voice was hoarse as she looked up. “What happened in between?”

"Do you want to hear it?" Mio asked curiously.

"Don't you want to talk?" Chu Hua replied sarcastically.

"Tch..." Mio rarely got a word in edgewise from Hatsuka, and she pouted, "Did you learn that from her?"

"Who?"

“Of course it’s Toyokawa Shoko,” Mio said. “Although I wouldn’t say I hate her, I do dislike her. She always acts so innocent and pure, so pretentious and disgusting.”

“However, she really has nothing to do with the story that follows.” Mio raised her eyes and looked at Hatsuka. “Actually, you also have nothing to do with the story that follows. You two… are just a part of a fairy tale to me, and as I get older, you become more and more distant.”

Mio paused, a hint of melancholy in her half-closed eyes.

"As we grow up, the magic of fairy tales disappears, and more and more of the reality comes into play."

Chu Hua suddenly realized that ever since Mio started talking about her online fandom (of herself), she hadn't mentioned her parents at all.

The little princess's father is a tyrant, and her mother cries every day.

To see the prince, she traded her singing voice for human legs from a witch, and walked ashore.

Then......

And then what happened?

"I actually left the island for a period of time."

Mio said.

"I want to go to a big city, to the reed fields, to find you."

She lay down on the table, her eyes glazed over.

"However, the furthest I went was to the main island of Ryukyu, and then I came back."

Mio's voice became very soft, so soft that it seemed weightless.

"Chuhua, I've been deceived."

Her voice was tinged with sobs and became somewhat broken.

"The wish I made to Cupid was simply to 'leave this island'... I thought that once I left, it would be easy to go anywhere, including to find you."

The little princess struggled to reach the shore, having already endured much hardship before reuniting with the prince.

The Lost Tale: A Boy's Spirit: Chapter 258 Polly Wants a Cookie

As for me, I've never been outside and have never seen anything.

Holding a beat-up cell phone to surf the internet and watching a broken TV at home, one thinks they know a lot about the world.

When I met Kyubey, it told me that I could leave this place if I made a wish, but the price would be to become a magical girl and take on the mission of fighting witches.

Kewpie, the incubator, that white doll, we've actually seen him before, I don't know if you remember him.

Because I had seen it before, I quickly believed what it said when I saw it again.

"Do you want to leave here, Yaeyama Mio?"

"I want to leave here and see the outside world."

"Then let's wish to become a magical girl."

Does this sound familiar? It probably asked you the same question before.

Hmm... I was trapped by the witch for a long time back then, so my wish was, "Whatever happens, I don't want things to stay the way they are now." In other words, I hoped that the current situation would change, just like mine, right?

Anyway, they were all tricked into making a meaningless wish.

After all, the more casually you make a wish, the more likely you are to despair when you discover the truth, and the more likely you are to have thoughts like, "I can't even be a human being because of a worthless wish; why wasn't I more careful when I made the wish; if only I hadn't made the wish at all."

Anyway, I made a wish and became a magical girl.

Then the wish came true in an unexpected way.

I discovered an underwater cave, and thanks to my magical girl physique, exploring it on my own was completely safe. A few days later, I became a guide for the research team, earning enough money to support myself on my own, and then boarded the research team's departing ship to the main island.

That period coincided with your rise to fame. You were preparing to go to the Reed Plain, and I really wanted to go there to find you and give you a surprise.

The main island is my first step. In my plan, there are eight more steps: two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. I want to visit all the places I've bookmarked on SNS. Going to the Reed Plain to find you is just one of those steps.

To my surprise, all the plans ended up being useless, and my travel plans stopped at the very first step.

The main island isn't a big city, but it's the largest city in the Ryukyu region, so it's perfectly normal for witches to appear there.

On the main island, I defeated the witch for the first time.

Then it failed.

run away.

I don't know if that guy was eventually taken care of by other magical girls, but I failed and ended up in a sorry state, losing my wallet and all my luggage.

I lost my wallet and luggage, and my magic was almost gone, so I wandered the streets for a whole day.

Then......

......

......

......

The terrain of the barrier is mostly composed of canyons, and the wind seems to use the canyons as flutes, playing mournful tunes.

The wind was whistling.

Chu Hua felt cold, felt despair, and felt nauseous.

"When I woke up, I found myself in a local hotel," Mio said with a soft laugh, resting her chin on her hands.

A gust of wind blew by.

The wind blurred Mio's voice.

By the time Chu Hua understood what she was saying, she had already missed a part of what she was saying.

"—There's a military base right next door, so it's not surprising that something like this would happen, I just didn't know it. Because the social media I browse is all positive, fulfilling, and happy, big data wouldn't push these bad things to me."

“In my memory, a soldier took out his pistol... I think it was a Colt or something, a gun that only special forces have. He showed it to me and said: This is a gun, a symbol of status, a power that you are not worthy of.”

Mio said with a smile.

"He shoved the gun barrel into my mouth, over and over again, and made me lick it."

So disgusting.

But compared to being disgusting...

Chu Hua found herself with tears streaming down her face, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

How could she say something like that with a smile?

Even if she's a witch.

Mio, like herself, was only sixteen years old.

The wind howled, its sound more mournful than the cries of countless wronged souls.

Mio propped herself up and walked to Hatsuka's side.

“At first, I broke down, so much so that I killed them all. They said I didn’t deserve power, but actually I was far more powerful than them.” Mio paused, lifted Chu Hua’s chin, and looked at Chu Hua’s expression with satisfaction. “After I came to my senses, I realized that I had caused a huge disaster.”

“If I kill someone, the whole world will not let me go. They will definitely tear up the entire island. I can’t go to the airport, I can’t go to the dock, I have nowhere to escape.”

"Did you... manage to escape in the end...?"

Chu Hua no longer had the strength to suppress her emotions. Even though it was Mio who was telling the story and experiencing it, it was Chu Hua who was crying uncontrollably.

Tears streamed down my face.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, patter-patter.

"Yes, I escaped... I waited for my father's ship in a secluded little port known only to a few locals."

Mio said.

“I’ve been away from home for three days. They must have searched all the surrounding islands by now.”

"There's still hope! That's great..."

"Okay?"

Mio tilted her head and looked coldly at Hatsuka.

"I hadn't become a witch yet back then. Guess why I crossed that last line?"

The cold gaze froze Chu Hua's tears. She choked back her sobs in terror, staring at Mio's expressionless face.

"You probably don't know why the atmosphere at my house is so awful, do you?" Mio asked.

"Why?" Chu Hua asked, following her lead.

"Because my father suspected that I was not his biological son."

"what?"

“It’s because my mother had the same experience. She went to the main island to buy some supplies and ran into soldiers on leave…” She shrugged. “You can probably guess what happened next.”

"My mother was also there when my father picked me up, and the news of the dead person had spread throughout the entire sea area. They risked their lives to save me."

"But the first thing he did on the ship was hit me."

Mio gently touched her cheek, as if it was still sore.

"He hit her so hard, that was the hardest he'd ever hit her. Mom tried to stop him, but he just turned around and started hitting her, yelling and cursing at her all the time."

She took a deep breath.

The story has come to an end.

"At that time, I thought, let's just end it here."

The Soul Gem shattered, and the Seed of Lamentation blossomed into an unexpected flower.

Then... it all ended.

Mio snapped her fingers.

Chu Hua suddenly felt that what had been suppressing her had disappeared. Bsk's madness surged up, and the wolf head that Mio had twisted off regenerated in the blink of an eye, biting Chu Hua's head in its mouth.

“I hate this world, I hate everything about it, those bastard soldiers, my parents, Xiangzi, you, and me.”

In the end, the little princess used the knife given to her by the witch to kill everyone she knew: her father, mother, prince, princess, and the old witch who had taken her voice... and forever cursed the land and the sea, becoming the most hateful and despicable witch in the world.

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