Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

"Hey, I just started playing, and I'm only level two. This game is so hard to level up, it's so different from other games."

—"It's supposedly a game adapted from tabletop role-playing games, so the pace is relatively slow..."

......

Bang Chi, Bang Chi, Bang Chi.

As Xiangzi listened to the sound of the wheels rolling over the gaps between the rails, he also overheard every word of the high school girls chatting animatedly nearby.

"Alas, indulging in frivolous pursuits leads to the loss of one's ambition." Xiangzi shook his head and sighed.

"Where did you come from, old lady? You won't even let people play games." Delete squatted down beside her, elegantly licking his paws like a cat.

"Where did you come from, Natsume Soseki? Cats can't talk." Xiangzi said sarcastically while looking at her phone.

“I wasn’t a cat to begin with.” Delete grinned like the Cheshire Cat, his grin sly and mischievous. “But you are quite poor, though.”

Xiangzi rolled his eyes at it.

She put away her phone, just as the train pulled into the station. She stood up, patted her skirt, and with her proud swan neck held high, walked among the playful high school girls.

"Sorry... I'm blocking the way." Xiangzi bowed slightly and gave a greeting.

A low pressure swept through the carriage, and the high school girls who had been excitedly discussing their new game instinctively made way for her.

It wasn't until Xiangzi stepped off the train and the doors separated her from the female high school students that they belatedly realized what had happened.

"Such a powerful aura, is that the legendary young lady...?"

"Judging from their school uniforms, they should be from the same school as us."

"Does our school have any princess-like girls like that? Speaking of which, I wonder if you've heard the story of the piano music that drifted from the brass band during what should have been a quiet time of day..."

The girls' conversation quickly drifted to the distant horizon, and the train slowly pulled away from the station, revealing Xiangzi's figure, which had been hidden by the carriages.

She stood on the platform and let out a long sigh.

"Why are you sighing again? Are you really getting old?" Delete scratched his neck with his hind paws and looked up.

"I got off at the wrong stop," Xiangzi said casually.

......

Well then, getting off here is closer to Tsuki no Mori.

Xiangzi called Mu to ask if she was still at school. The answer was yes, which made things easier.

......

So, a dozen minutes later, the two were sitting in the coffee shop, facing each other.

It seems like it's been a while since the two of them have spent time like this.

Xiangzi took a sip of black tea and thought to himself.

Mu lowered her head, sucking on the straw, and silently drank the juice in her glass. Her eyes were fixed on the tablecloth, as if she was thinking about something.

Xiangzi recognized Mu's eyes; this look meant he had something to say.

"What's wrong?" Xiangzi asked first.

“Xiang has been asking about Su Shi lately…” Mu finally raised his head and looked at Xiangzi, “…never asked about Su Shi.”

Xiangzi sensed that Mu was feeling very down, but... why?

"Su Shi? What happened to Su Shi?" Xiangzi blinked.

"That day in the park, Xiang... don't you remember?" Mu asked weakly.

“That day at the park? Wait, ouch…” Xiangzi suddenly covered his head.

She remembered the park, and she also remembered seeing Su Shi.

And after that?

Oh no, I don't remember this.

"I remember taking medication before leaving home that day. That kind of medication makes me hyperactive..." Xiangzi rubbed his throbbing head and asked in a low voice, "Did I say anything that day?"

The red pills, those stimulants, leave you with a headache for a while after the effects wear off, like a hangover... or maybe you'll even black out?

What did you say?

The memory is hazy, but it's not that it doesn't exist; Xiangzi vaguely remembers the scene from that day.

She remembered what Su Shi said when she grabbed her hand, then what she said in return, and finally, she left...

I really can't remember.

Some time had passed, and she even began to doubt whether she had actually met Su Shi that day. The last time she remembered them meeting was when Su Shi cornered her at the school gate.

"Xiang." Mu looked at her and asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

"I just can't remember." Xiangzi frowned, sighed, and shook his head. "I... I didn't do anything stupid, did I?"

"Xiangba..."

"Would I tell her that the witch was actually a magical girl?" Xiangzi's heart skipped a beat.

Mu silently shook his head.

Xiangzi was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Xiang said that Su Shi doesn't really care about Crychic. Su Shi just wants someone to play house with her..." Mu took a sip of juice and said softly, "In that case..."

Mu was merely stating what she had said, but Xiangzi felt she was hurling insults.

"..."

Xiangzi covered his forehead, feeling like a heartless woman who wouldn't pay him back afterward.

"Isn't that even worse...? Is she alright?"

This sentence is very similar.

How could it have turned out like this...?

Xiangzi covered his face and slumped into the chair in despair.

“Su Shi seems to be fine,” Mu said. “She’s back to school while we were at sea.”

"That's good....."

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"Feel sorry."

“It’s not Xiang’s fault.” Mu looked at the table. “It’s my fault. I insisted on bringing her... to see Xiang.”

The Lost Story: The Lost Child - Chapter 270 So easy to handle!

"It's not Xiang's fault, it's my fault. I insisted on bringing her... to see Xiang."

Mu stared at the table, his eyes becoming unfocused.

"There's no need to assign blame for this kind of thing."

Xiangzi's fingers gripped the handle of the teacup, hesitating to lift it. She lowered her head, her eyes fixed on her reflection in the tea, her expression complex.

"If I really said those things, Su Shi couldn't possibly be unaffected."

“Then what should we do… I…” Mu paused, “We don’t know where Su Shi lives either.”

"let me see."

Xiangzi put down his teacup and pinched the bridge of his nose.

She quickly racked her brains, trying to think of any clues that might be possible based on Su Shi's usual way of doing things...

correct.

An exclamation mark appeared above Xiangzi's head.

“Last week, her new teammates rode on the String with us, which means that the hunting activities that Suze carried out this week may have been completed through RiNG’s recruitment board.”

Su Shi's magic meant she couldn't fight alone; without any teammates, her only option was the recruitment board at the gathering.

In addition to recruiting permanent teams, there are also many temporary teams that are formed based on commissions.

It's convenient, but compared to a fixed team, the biggest problem is that it's very unstable.

"Xiang means we can find it at the gathering?"

"Yes."

“But…” Mu turned her head away, looking somewhat embarrassed, “We’re not…”

The actual person in charge of the gathering was Minato Yukina. Having a conflict with Yukina is equivalent to having a conflict with the entire gathering, the kind of conflict that makes it difficult to even enter through the main gate.

"Let me ask Kasumi-senpai." Shoko sighed and took out her phone. "If we can't go through the front door, we can always go through the back door."

[Toyokawa Shoko]: Kasumi-senpai, I have something I want to ask you.

[Kasumi Toyama]: Sho, I need to talk to you about something.

The two messages appeared almost simultaneously.

Xiangzi held his phone, his lips twitching uncontrollably.

Is it really that much of a coincidence?

=============

After a brief blackout, the scene transitions directly to the next one, where Xiangzi and He Mu are sitting in a family restaurant near RiNG, but what awaits them is not just Kasumi Toyama.

And then there's Minato Yuki.

**!

"A trap, Kasumi-senpai."

Xiangzi gripped the plastic cup, coldly staring at Kasumi Toyama, who sat opposite him with a forced smile.

"Sorry, sorry, it's on me tonight." Kasumi scanned the order code with her phone and scratched her head.

"Is this something that can be solved by treating someone to a meal?" Xiangzi's eyebrows twitched, and he glanced at Yukina, who was sitting on the inner side of the room, out of the corner of his eye.

She just sat there without saying a word, holding a cup of hot water in her hands, emanating an invisible pressure.

Xiangzi met her gaze under pressure. Her eyes, which were similar in color to Xiangzi's, seemed like a bottomless well, and Xiangzi couldn't discern her emotions at all.

Xiangzi was unsure.

What exactly does Yuuki want to do?

Mu held Xiangzi's hand under the table, and Xiangzi realized that his palms were covered in sweat.

Xiangzi pulled his hand away, patted Mu's leg to tell her not to worry, and placed his hands on the table, supporting his chin to make himself look calmer and more imposing.

Just as an owl spreads its feathers when it senses a threat, Xiangzi is also engaging in some kind of protest.

She is not afraid of Yuki.

Come at me if you need anything, I, Toyokawa Shoko, have never been afraid of you.

"Yuki-senpai."

Yuki ignored her, her eyes seemingly looking elsewhere.

Xiangzi turned around and glanced at the television.

—"Negotiations between Country A and Country B have broken down, and the country has once again entered a state of war. Rumors circulate that Country A has carried out an inhumane massacre somewhere. To address this, our program has invited a professor from XX University specializing in international relations to explain..."

Is she watching TV?

"Waiter, could you please change our table?" Xiangzi waved and said.

Nourishes—

The TV station was changed to another one.

—"Today's Topic in Reed Plains..."

“…Yuki-senpai?” Shoko turned around and called out again.

This time, Yukina finally turned her attention to Shoko.