Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

"(To the dormitory, keep going up to the very top.)"

"(Okay, I'll be right there.)"

......

Following Mu's instructions, Xiangzi spent a long time searching for a way in the student dormitory area, winding his way up to the top floor of the tower.

No, from the outside, this isn't even the top floor; it's only halfway up at most.

“I’ve observed this tower from above, and the barrier between the middle and upper levels is right here,” Chu Hua said. “The upper level is completely enclosed, with no footholds at all, and the path is completely blocked. After going around in circles and coming back here, I felt that this wall was particularly strange.”

As Xiangzi stared at the empty wall in front of him, the feeling of anxiety in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

"But neither I nor Mu could find anything out. I feel that only Xiao Xiang knows."

Xiangzi swallowed hard.

Indeed, since she was the only one among everyone who cast the spell, naturally only she could detect the magical traces on the wall.

"This is... a spell, a spell used as an illusion."

Xiangzi stepped forward and placed her hand on the wall. With a simple application of her magic, she located the offering behind the door.

This is a constant, pre-made spell.

All you need to do is destroy the emblem that replaces the gestures and incantations. However, both the emblem and the offering are behind the door. Otherwise, you could just destroy the door itself.

However, Xiangzi didn't want to do that.

It wouldn't be good if the door broke and an alarm went off. She couldn't unlock the door by squeezing through the crack, but someone could.

"Mu, please help me." Xiangzi looked at Mu with pleading eyes.

"How to do it."

"so."

Xiangzi took Mu's hand and led her to the wall.

"Can you feel it? The gap here. Go through it and destroy what's behind it... Tell me what's behind it, and then follow my instructions." Xiangzi held Mu's hand and taught her step by step how to break the spell on the wall.

The two were very close, and Mu would occasionally glance at Xiangzi's focused face, but it didn't affect her work.

She hadn't spent time alone with Xiangzi in a long time.

She really liked the feeling of being so close together like this.

......

Soon, the magic behind the wall was completed, and a large door appeared in front of the three.

An old, dilapidated gate came into view.

Xiangzi looked at it, swallowed hard, and finally placed his hand on the black iron plate and pushed it with all his might.

At that moment, Xiangzi had no idea.

Sometimes, not knowing something makes you happier than knowing it.

If she didn't know.

Maybe then he wouldn't have done that kind of thing.

The Lost Tale: The Lost Child - Chapter 408 The Upper Level of the Monastery

squeak-

Xiangzi pushed open the rusty iron gate and stepped into a hidden space inside the monastery.

As soon as I pushed open the door, a damp, musty smell hit me. Chu Hua had said that the upper floors were completely enclosed and there was no way to get in from the balcony or anything like that, so it must have been a long time since the sun had come out before Xiangzi opened this hidden door.

Xiangzi pinched his nose and went inside.

She paused for a moment before taking that step.

Do we really want to go in?

A voice inside me was telling her that.

Xiangzi gritted his teeth and finally took a step.

=========

Da da da.

The sound of girls' footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell.

Aine turned around and glanced at her companions behind her to see if they had caught up.

“The monsters on the road have all been cleared away,” Ai Yin said. “Little Master and the others must be ahead of us.”

"Wow, that was fast." Deng, carrying Xiao Su Shi on his back, took a slight breath. "We're still too slow."

The lamp protected Xiao Su Shi well, preventing her from getting hurt at all, but the journey was too tiring, far exceeding what a child like Xiao Su Shi could handle.

Deng simply carried her on his back.

The little guy, already exhausted, fell asleep after walking only a few steps.

“She’s already come up once, she’ll be quick.” Li Xi shrugged, looking back at the panting Deng, “Do you want me to carry you for a while?”

The lamp shook its head.

"No need. If we encounter monsters on the way, we'll need Lixi's fighting power even more."

“Now that Xiangzi has cleared out all the monsters on the road, we don’t need to be so careful. Instead, catching up with Xiangzi is more important.” Li Xi stretched out her hand, her purple slanted eyes looking into the lamp’s eyes, which made her look particularly imposing. “Let me carry her.”

“…I understand.” Lamp smiled helplessly. “Captain.”

"—!"

Lixi's face flushed red again.

"I already said that I only became the team leader because none of you were willing to... It wasn't my own choice."

With a flushed face, she carried the still fast-sleeping Xiao Su Shi on her back.

"Alright, alright, can we speed things up a bit now?"

"Mm." Deng nodded and followed the footsteps in front.

=======

After walking up a few floors, Xiangzi passed several dilapidated rooms. He wanted to go in and take a look, but the doors to these rooms were blocked from the back by clutter, so he couldn't get in.

Even if they get in, they probably won't find anything useful.

Squeak-!

The wooden floorboards emitted a tremendous wail.

Chu Hua lifted her foot and moved it off the broken wooden plank.

"What exactly is this place used for?"

She looked at the hole she had just created in the floor and picked up a piece of damp wood.

Wood becomes brittle because it rots and molds.

The pit below looks like it still has a shallow layer of water, so there must be a water source somewhere to make it like this.

"Everything is damp. Even if it has been closed for a long time, it shouldn't be like this."

"Who knows?" Xiangzi shrugged and continued walking. "Maybe we'll find out why if we go up two more floors."

After walking up two more floors, there seemed to be a hidden living area. The rooms that had been blocked by clutter that I had just passed were probably dormitories.

Why are the people living here separated from the student dormitories?

The more I think about it, the stranger it gets.

What is this place actually used for? Is it related to Xiaosushi's nightmares?

With these questions in mind, Xiangzi continued his exploration.

The dilapidated staircase, the crumbling walls and doors, the windows nailed shut with iron plates, letting in no light at all, and the dripping sound of water.

Nightmare... If Xiao Su Shi had seen such a scene in her childhood, it wouldn't be surprising if she had considered it a nightmare.

However, Xiangzi felt that Xiaosushi's nightmare had nothing to do with what she was seeing now, or rather, it was more accurate to say that it had nothing to do with this dilapidated state.

It must be because of something else.

"Xiao Xiang, there's a room here you can go in."

"Let me see."

Xiangzi pushed open the door that Chuhua had pointed out and stepped into the pitch-black space.

With a snap, she illuminated her surroundings with her Fire Cotton.

This spell, which allows the user to float automatically, will not move unless it detects a hostile creature, making it ideal for lighting.

The firelight illuminated the room, and Xiangzi looked around.

This was a research lab. Various research instruments were laid out on the table, along with neatly labeled small boxes on the shelves. The research instruments, which had been there for who knows how many years, looked fragile and could break at the slightest touch. Xiangzi didn't dare touch them. She walked to the shelf and pulled out a small box.

The label read "Tracking System," and the box contained offerings. Xiangzi opened several other small boxes, and the contents were all similar; the entire shelf was filled with offerings.

"Is this a laboratory for magic research?" Xiangzi murmured, turning his gaze to another table that looked like a writing desk.

There should have been a tattered notebook on the table, but it's now in Mu's hands.

"Xiang, take a look at this," Mu said, handing the notebook to Xiangzi.

Xiangzi flipped through it briefly and found that it was a notebook for making pre-made spells. It recorded in detail what shape the offerings needed to be carved and what patterns needed to be engraved on them to replace the incantations and gestures for different pre-made spells.

The entire lab is filled with these things; there's nothing particularly noteworthy about them.

Xiangzi explored several other research rooms on this floor. In addition to the research room for pre-made spells, there was another research room for studying the magical synergies between different offerings.

Once you get to the upper floors, the atmosphere of daily life diminishes considerably; it's mostly filled with research labs like these.

Everything seems normal up to this point; there's nothing particularly unusual about it.

But Xiangzi always felt uneasy.

She looked up at the ceiling.

What awaits her up there...?

The sound of rushing water kept coming down from above.

Xiangzi mustered all his strength and carefully walked toward the direction from which the sound of water came.

The reason for the dampness was that the bathroom faucet was broken and had been leaking for a long time. It had become a trickle of water that kept flowing out.

"Phew, it was just a leak after all."

Was this a false alarm? I was actually terrified by something like this.

One strange factor has been ruled out, but many questions remain.

Xiangzi carefully controlled the floating fireflies around him, making sure they didn't burn anything, and continued upwards along the stairs.

however--

As she walked up to the next level, the Fire Cotton suddenly flew upwards uncontrollably.

boom.

A small explosion sounded above Xiangzi's head.

Paji.

A lump of silvery-white object landed in front of her.

The first unidentified object that fell seemed to have flipped a switch, and clumps of silvery-white objects began to fall from the ceiling one after another.

"Well---"

Snap, snap, snap.

One after another, the mercury-like soft-bodied creatures raised their heads and stared in Xiangzi's direction with their empty eyes.