Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

"Your mother's health hasn't been very good lately. Why don't you go back and visit her sometime? Take the child you adopted with you too; she'll definitely like him." Shinta Sugiyama finally said the most important thing.

Sugiyama Rika's expression suddenly turned serious: "What exactly is wrong with Mom's health?"

"Ah, I ate too many glutinous rice balls the other day and I'm so full." Shinta Sugiyama's reason left everyone present speechless, both amused and exasperated.

It wasn't serious after all.

Sugiyama Rikatsu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Actually, there's another thing, which is my 30th wedding anniversary with your mom. I plan to invite more people to [Viya's account]."

The Viya is a luxury yacht. The Shanshan couple's 30th wedding anniversary celebration was quite a grand affair, and such an open display of affection is indeed rare.

They will also invite the world's greatest magician to perform. The woman known as the "Witch" looks about the same age as Rika Sugiyama... Oh right, she's also a high school classmate.

"You must come and play then." Sugiyama Arata's attitude towards Haga Mayumi and Tono Hitomi softened, and he invited the two children to come along with him with a smile.

There are no limits on the number of people you can bring when you play at your own venue. Sugiyama Rika can bring as many as she wants. The most important thing is Sugiyama Rika's attitude.

Seeing that her father had come to confront her at all costs, even if Sugiyama Rika was heartless, she couldn't refuse under her father's expectant gaze: "...Okay, okay, but let me make this clear, I don't want to go back to inherit the family business."

That statement sounds incredibly rude.

Megrana couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Huh? Is this ornament rolling its eyes?" Shinta Sugiyama was startled, but upon closer inspection, its expression didn't seem to have changed, so he must have just been seeing things.

Mayumi Haga calmly took Megaranie's head away: "She's actually voice-controlled, and she can even play music."

"Yes, she sings really well," Hitomi Tono quickly chimed in.

Arata Sugiyama became even more curious: "How exactly does it make sounds? It really looks like a real person."

Haha, who knows?

Megrana himself didn't know how he could sing when he only had a head left.

She just kept giving me that dead fish look.

This time, however, because she was in Mayumi Haga's arms, her change in expression went unnoticed by Arata Sugiyama.

.................................. .................................. .......................

While Mayumi Haga's house was bustling with activity, it was rather quiet and deserted when Little Bear returned home.

The abyss gentleman who always prepared breakfast at home and waited for everyone to get up was not there.

In fact, Little Bear searched every corner of the spiritual vein and even tried to communicate telepathically using all his magic, but he still couldn't find any trace of the Gentleman of the Abyss.

Perhaps, as the magician said, the Gentlemen of the Abyss have probably already disappeared from this world.

If you're lucky, you might be able to travel to another world; if you're unlucky, you'll simply vanish.

When the little bear returned home, all the fur on its face was soaked and stuck together.

Half of her body was soaked with tears.

Because the Abyss Gentleman actually risked his life for her sake, and it was for her sake that he disappeared and even lost his life...

It's all her fault.

I really don't know how to deal with their anger...

Just as she was thinking this, the little bear saw the anger waiting for her at the door.

The latter carefully clutched a letter that someone had left at his door, and wasn't too surprised to see that the Abyss Gentleman hadn't returned with the little bear.

He simply handed the already opened letter to the little bear with a solemn expression.

It says above:

If you want to know the location of the Strange Man of Fear, please hide your identity as the Strange Man and come to Viya's ship to help me with the performance.

— Respectfully submitted by the Void Magician.

Main text: Chapter 162 Awkwardness

As the weather gradually warms up, and people recover from the major events of the past, the city is not much different from usual.

People put on cooler summer clothes, and the asphalt roads seemed to boil, especially at noon, while cicadas gradually began to sing in the trees along the roadside.

The only one who seems to have changed is Mayumi Haga herself.

She found it hard to hide her changed eye color and pointed ears.

Since it's not a transformation type, if you want to change the ears back to their original form, you can only cut off some flesh. The same goes for the canines; unless you grind them down to their original shape.

Originally, Mayumi Haga intended to do this: to change her appearance back to normal through some physical means, and as for her eye color, she would simply inject a color-changing potion. However, this plan was suppressed by Rika Sugiyama and Megarane.

Sugiyama Rika, who had been staying home for a while, rushed over and grabbed Haga Mayumi's hand holding the knife: "No! It looks good just the way it is!"

The current version of Mayumi Haga certainly possesses a much more inhuman beauty than before.

Previously, Mayumi Haga always tried to hide herself in the crowd, never paying attention to her appearance and even deliberately making herself look drab. But in reality, she had a face that was absolutely impossible to ignore; the kind that would make anyone's heart race just by looking into it.

This might sound a bit abstract, but Mayumi Haga is indeed both "beautiful" and "handsome." With such an attractive appearance, she could easily attract attention with just a little dressing up. She might even be spotted by a talent scout on the street. She is a high school student whose style is quite different from that of ordinary people.

Well, not knowing how to dress up is one problem, but even if you dress up, using a gloomy expression to keep people at arm's length is another.

And after transforming into a dragon, Mayumi Haga's pointed ears, red eyes, and sharp teeth... no matter how you look at it...

...That's really it.

From Sugiyama Rika's own perspective, Mayumi Haga looks good and a little cute right now. When she has a serious expression, her red eyes are also very intimidating. Her canines look like a small animal, and her pointed ears are absolutely stunning... Anyway, Sugiyama Rika thinks Mayumi Haga is incredibly cute.

If Mayumi Haga were allowed to erase all these wonderful non-human qualities as she pleased, Rikka Sugiyama would definitely regret it so much that she wouldn't be able to sleep for three nights.

Mayumi's pointed ears are not only a miracle of the elves, but also a gift from heaven! This is an absolute bottom line that cannot be abandoned! We will protect them to the death!

Moreover, eliminating these features through physical means is painful and would damage the body, which Sugiyama Rikka absolutely would not allow.

Mayumi Haga, who was once again being disciplined by her guardian, remained silent for a moment: "...But this doesn't seem like human..."

"It's alright! Everyone is very receptive!" Sugiyama Rika didn't take it to heart at all.

Haga Mayumi was speechless.

Indeed, people in this world are quite accepting of any supernatural phenomenon. Even if she grew wings and a tail and walked down the street, people might still curiously come up to her and ask if her tail could carry a child.

The red eyes are even easier to explain; what eye color doesn't exist in this world?

It's quite common for teeth to be pointed; some people even grow shark teeth.

...So she really had no reason to stick to her plans.

Haga Mayumi: ...Forget it.

Anyway, none of my classmates seemed to have any doubts when I was in school, and they didn't even know why my popularity seemed to have increased. Oh well.

As long as it doesn't affect my life.

While it's said to not affect her life, Mayumi Haga actually has more acute senses and can often hear cars starting up a kilometer away.

Fortunately, her sleep quality has also improved. As long as she closes her eyes, clears her mind, and falls asleep to the sound of Megrana's songs, she can have a good night's sleep.

Recently, the relationship between Megragne and Sugiyama Rika has become closer. It is said that they gradually developed a mutual appreciation by harmonizing in the bathroom, but Mayumi Haga is not so interested in how the two of them were able to harmonize in the bathroom and the living room respectively.

The neighbors probably don't want that either.

With summer approaching, Mayumi Haga has another headache to worry about—

—She seems to have grown taller.

Yes, in this world, Mayumi Haga's body can continue to grow before reaching its peak. After her dragon transformation, her overly thin, underage body, which had become excessively thin due to not eating properly, was reshaped. Now, she has not only grown taller, but also shows signs of surpassing her height and build in her original world.

Putting everything else aside, at the very least, my underwear needs to be replaced.

This also meant she needed to buy new summer clothes.

Sugiyama Rika naturally wanted to go with her, but it was just too hot today. Meanwhile, her bathroom duo with Mograine planned to upload their first video to a video website today, and the two computer novices were working hard to figure it out.

Besides, Mayumi Haga isn't without friends.

When the topic of friends came up, Mayumi Haga's expression stiffened again.

Sugiyama Rika arranged for her to meet Tono Hitomi, hoping they could get along well, since they seemed to have fallen into a cold war atmosphere after resolving the previous calamity incident.

It was called a cold war, but in reality, it was just Mayumi Haga unilaterally refusing to have contact with Hitomi Tono.

She actually planned to give her relationship with Hitomi Tono a cold shoulder, since they had only had a relationship in the mental space before, and in reality, apart from kissing to replenish mana, they hadn't had any other intense contact.

Children of this age will probably gradually forget about being rejected.

Mayumi Haga was a little undecided.

Although her physical age in this world is similar to Tohno Hitomi's, the latter, both in her behavior and mental age, doesn't seem like someone of her generation. If it were Lania, whom she met at a similar age, Mayumi Haga could convince herself of a friend's physical needs, but Tohno Hitomi…

...Well, actually, it's just that the other person is still too young, and coupled with the uniqueness of this worldview, Mayumi Haga is very doubtful whether Hitomi Tono can understand what being with her means.

At least in the mental space, Tono Hitomi really startled her.

So it turns out that Xiaotong already knew those things and liked me to that extent... Thinking about it now, it's still a bit unbelievable.

Mayumi Haga felt she needed to calm down for a while longer. However, Rika Sugiyama was unaware of what had happened between the two, only that they had some minor, insignificant conflict.

So this unreliable guardian haphazardly planned a date for Mayumi Haga.

As Mayumi Haga stood in front of Hitomi Tono's house, waiting for her to come out and go shopping for clothes with her, her ears still drooped a little unnaturally.

Main Text: Chapter 163 I'll Tell You When I Hold Your Hand

Because her previous clothes didn't fit quite right, Mayumi Haga wore Sugiyama Rika's clothes today, and I helped her coordinate the outfit a little before she left.

Compared to Mayumi Haga's usual preference for a simple style, the clothes that Rika Sugiyama gave her were more about aesthetics than practicality: a striped shirt and fitted high-waisted pants. Because her five senses had been heightened recently, she also wore a black mask to cover her nose and reduce external odor interference. She was waiting at the door with a shoulder bag on her back.

Sugiyama Rika cast a spell on her non-prescription glasses that could modify her eye color, so that when Haga Mayumi wore the glasses, her eyes would still appear black, making her less noticeable.

Mayumi Haga usually just throws on a T-shirt when she goes out, but today her outfit was unusually heavy—even though it was just a mask, glasses, and a shoulder bag, she still felt it was much heavier than usual.

...Although the weight of the equipment on your body is much greater than these things when wearing a suit.

The black-haired girl leaned against the wall, seemingly lost in thought. Her long, fine black hair was casually tied into a small braid at the back of her head. Her eyes, behind her glasses, were gentle and calm. Compared to her usual casual style, she was dressed in neutral casual clothes more suitable for a date, making her look like someone waiting for a girlfriend to appear.

When Hitomi Tono went out, this is what Mayumi Haga saw.

The pink-haired high school student wearing a SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt opened the door, rubbed her eyes in surprise, looked at Mayumi Haga, then looked down at herself, before stepping back and closing the door.

Haga Mayumi: "Little...?"

She had just looked up to call Hitomi Tono over when the other person closed the door in her bewildered gaze. Before Mayumi Haga could figure out what this meant, she vaguely heard a flurry of activity before the closed door reopened.

Hitomi Tono, now dressed in a dress and sun hat, reappeared with a flushed face.

"No, I didn't mean I was just going to buy some things..." Hitomi Tohno stammered, "Why are you dressed so formally..."

It's more than just being solemn! Mayumi Haga's outfit looks like it's beyond her own aesthetic standards; she must have had someone else choose it for her.

This is just like a couple going on their first date...

This was actually their first date after they had that kind of relationship.

Previously, whether it was Hitomi Tono or Mayumi Haga, when they made plans to go out together, they were really just going out to run some errands and didn't seriously choose what to wear.

Hitomi Tono originally planned to dress a little more formally today, but then she thought that Mayumi might still come out in a T-shirt, so she might as well wear a T-shirt too.

As a result, she was overwhelmed by Mayumi Haga's beauty at the door. Realizing that her outfit would look out of place next to Mayumi, she quickly went home to change her clothes and awkwardly stood next to her.

...Ugh...I would never normally feel this strange.

Since her previous relationship with Mayumi Haga, Hitomi Tono can no longer use the same methods she used to have in this situation.

Originally, the innocent magical girl Crimson intended to forcefully take their relationship to the next level, but this was within reasonable limits; she couldn't just suddenly lock Mayumi in the basement and have them pledge their lives to each other.

She felt that starting with things like kissing, holding hands, and hugging was good, and if Mayumi resisted, she would be firmer and then slowly transition to a romantic relationship.

There's nothing that can be done about it. After all, despite her resolute words, Hitomi Tono is still just a seventeen-year-old girl at heart. This is evident in the fact that her mental space's theme is "first sexual experience" rather than something as explicit as Rania's; she's still quite cautious and conservative.

However, what happened in the mental space directly disrupted her plans, allowing her to experience the warmth of embracing Mayumi Haga ahead of time.

...Although such a scene actually has no impact on reality and can only be classified as an unhealthy type of dream, it was enough for Hitomi Tono to open the door to a new world.

It was precisely because of that incident that Tono Hitomi, who was originally able to get along naturally with Haga Mayumi, became awkward.

"I've never seen Mayumi wear this outfit before," Hitomi Tono said, trying to break the awkward silence.

Mayumi Haga is indeed very suitable for a neutral style. She has a slender waist, strong core strength, long and straight legs, and a great figure.

Because of her age, she still has a very youthful appearance.