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

Most of the time, when Sugiyama Rika returns home, she sees Haga Mayumi looking even thinner than before.

She could tell at a glance that the child hadn't been eating properly while she was away.

Then, just like today, she cooked a large table of dishes and watched Mayumi Haga eat them.

Only after the child had regained his rosy complexion did he feel at ease to continue his journey.

However, this time she returned not just for Mayumi Haga.

As a former magical girl and now a traveling mage, Sugiyama Rika has access to more information channels than the magical girls stationed here.

If nothing unexpected happens, there will be a large-scale monster tide next.

Even just dealing with Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo is quite difficult.

Compared to humans who possess a certain level of intelligence, monsters are less intelligent and act solely on the instinct for destruction. They become troublesome when their numbers are large.

Because there are only two magical girls active in this city, two fists can't fight four hands, let alone two people dealing with such a large number of monsters.

Sugiyama Rika returned this time for two reasons: first, to give Tono Hitomi and Takajo Yuri special training; and second, to find some helpers along the way so that they could safely get through the monster tide.

There's no need to tell Mayumi about these things.

Sugiyama Rika rested her chin on her hand, watching with a smile as Haga Mayumi, who always had a serious expression, ate spicy curry.

Her usually pale face was flushed red from the spiciness, and the physiological tears from the spiciness also wet her eyelashes. Her thin lips were tightly pursed, revealing a soft and moist crimson color.

Yet, she stubbornly endured it, even as her ears and neck turned red from the spiciness, she still forced herself to remain calm and stuff the food into her mouth.

Ugh, this makes me look like a bad guy bullying a child.

Haha, that's me.

After enjoying the beautiful scenery, Sugiyama Rika took away the half-eaten spicy curry in front of Haga Mayumi and replaced it with another plate with a milder flavor, and also poured her a glass of iced milk.

She said helplessly, "If you can't handle spicy food, just say so. I'm not going to force you to eat it."

“…It’s delicious.” After wiping her face in a disheveled state, Mayumi Haga said in a low voice, “And it’s edible.”

"I can eat, but you prefer sweet food, don't you?"

“I have no preference,” Mayumi Haga replied.

She can eat anything when she's alone. She eats quickly and doesn't need any seasoning, and most of the time she doesn't even need to cook.

So she's not used to heavily seasoned food, but that's all she's used to. If she just wants to fill her stomach, she'll eat anything.

Although spiciness is a form of pain, Mayumi Haga is not afraid of pain, but this kind of pain is still too unfamiliar to her.

It will take some time to get used to.

More importantly than that... the guardian must have something important to say when they come back this time, right?

Mayumi Haga noticed the barely perceptible fatigue in Rika Sugiyama's eyes.

My guardian, who usually comes home cheerful and energetic, seemed rather anxious this time, probably because he had something important to attend to.

She really couldn't ask about magical girls directly.

Let's observe and see.

While pondering, Mayumi Haga ate the food in front of her.

Hmm, it tastes good and saves a lot of eating time.

She kept her honest opinions to herself, and when asked about Sugiyama Rika's high expectations, her response was:

"good to eat."

The guardian immediately beamed with joy.

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

night.

Watching Mayumi Haga return to her room, Rika Sugiyama withdrew her gaze and began contacting Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo.

Although she no longer had the help of the Jewel Beast, Sugiyama Rika's magic and experience accumulated over the past ten years were still impressive. She could extend her telepathic communication to a wider range, summoning both magical girls who were about to rest.

"[Are you all still awake? I'm waiting for you at the clock tower in the northwest.]" Sugiyama Rika said. "[I have something very important to discuss! Hurry up and get out of here, don't sleep anymore.]"

[Huh?! Rihanna-nee, when did you get back?] Tono Hitomi was very surprised.

[Received, Ms. Sugiyama.] Yuri Takajo's reply was rather brief. Judging from the magical fluctuations that Rika Sugiyama sensed, she was probably still in battle and had no time to chat.

When Sugiyama Rika used flight magic to leave, she didn't realize there was another person in their chat channel.

Mayumi Haga, who was planning to go to bed early because of the full moon tonight, was awakened by her guardian's incredibly loud telepathic conversation: ...

She silently opened her eyes in the darkness and sat up in bed.

In the pitch black, the guardian's fingertips touched her weapon.

The exceptionally bright moonlight shone into the room through the gaps in the curtains that had been blown open by the wind.

The projection returned, and the shadows of the past once again enveloped the black-haired girl.

The white-haired guardian looked up at the full moon, suppressing his inner unease.

Main text: Chapter Eight What is it?

Although magical users can communicate through telepathic magic, Sugiyama Rika's act of summoning the two magical girls seems redundant. However, this former magical girl can be said to be the mentor of Tono Hitomi and Takajo Yuri, and it is normal for them to meet up after not seeing each other for a long time.

After all, the last time they met was two years ago, and at that time, Hitomi Tono was quite short... Although she is not much taller now, she is almost ten centimeters taller than before.

It wasn't just to meet her successors, or rather, her students. Rika Sugiyama also had important magical items to pass on to these two magical girls.

Therefore, going out to meet is necessary.

This also relieved Mayumi Haga.

After all, compared to the volume of his two friends' telepathic conversations, his guardian always liked to turn the telepathic communication on very loudly.

Mayumi Haga strongly suspected that if her eardrums could detect the frequency of telepathic communication, they would definitely be shattered.

The sleepiness that Sugiyama Rika had finally managed to cultivate was completely dispelled by her shout, and Haga Mayumi reluctantly got up.

The guardian's return at this time must mean something urgent. And it's something that Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo can't handle together.

Since I can't sleep anyway, I might as well go and listen to it myself.

Intelligence is extremely important; we can't be completely ignorant.

Mayumi Haga projected the Guardian's form onto herself, quietly opened the window, and leaped down.

Here, it is necessary to explain one thing.

Ms. Mayumi Haga does not use magic, so she cannot fly in the air like a magical girl using flight magic.

In other words, she cannot fly.

But in her world, guardians like her have another tool that allows them to lift their feet off the ground.

It looks like flying, but it's not flying; it should be called gliding.

It was an exceptionally sturdy paraglider.

Made from the scales shed by a wise dragon untouched by calamity, and the bones of an eight-eyed mountain god. Extremely lightweight, usable in extreme temperatures, and possessing a degree of self-repairing ability.

It looks like a triangular glider, but it doesn't have the size of a modern paraglider. It's about half a person's height, making it look rather small.

Thanks to the blessings of dragon scales and mountain god bones, this somewhat unscientific size allows for normal gliding, with a speed slightly faster than ordinary paragliders.

I don't usually know where to store it, but I can unfold it immediately when I need to use it.

When she had just learned to use a paraglider for aerial movement, Mayumi Haga was resurrected many times due to problems such as falling from heights and hitting obstacles when she was exhausted.

For beginners, this is undoubtedly a very dangerous and difficult-to-control item.

Through years of practice, the paraglider has become like the wings she was born with, in the hands of Mayumi Haga.

The hooded guardian figure swept across the sky, her hands gripping the paraglider tightly, casting a shadow beneath her.

Passersby seemed to sense the wind and looked up to see a dark shadow, resembling both a bat and a bird, hovering in the night sky, spreading its wings and heading towards the highest clock tower.

The passerby shook his head, thinking it was just his imagination, and walked away.

That must be a bird.

How could it be a person?

Meanwhile, the three had successfully met on the clock tower.

The flight magic used by magic users is just that unreasonable.

As long as there are no obstacles in front and the body can withstand it, theoretically, every corner of the city can be reached within half a minute.

It can even take less time.

As long as your magic power keeps up with the output, and you use a little bit of speed-up techniques.

Tonight happens to be a full moon night, and the magical elements floating in the air are quite active, which makes the three magic users feel in excellent condition.

Of course, the weirdos were quite active, but they could only be beaten down as usual.

With a gratified smile, Sugiyama Rika saw that her two successors had grown considerably.

Hitomi Tono has grown taller, and the fluctuations of her magical energy are more stable than before, indicating that she has worked hard to improve her control.

That's fine, since the seal I placed on the other party can only last for a few years.

Hitomi Tono – The magical girl Crimson's innate magical power is terrifyingly large, and it is even increasing at an exaggerated rate every year. In order for her to use magic normally, Rika Sugiyama had no choice but to seal a portion of her magical power.

While having more magic power is indeed an advantage when magic cannons clash, an unstable and massive amount of magic power will only affect Hitomi Tohno's magic learning.

Another student, Yuri Takajo, has also made great progress. The number of magical firearms she can now condense is astonishing, and her teamwork with Hitomi Tono is quite impressive.

Although both students have made considerable progress, it is still far from enough.

After informing the two magical girls about the monster tide, Sugiyama Rika reiterated the danger of this monster tide: "This is the largest monster riot in ten years. Preliminary estimates suggest that the number of monsters will be in the five digits or more."

A look of seriousness and worry appeared on Takajo Yuri's face.

She was more composed. Compared to Tono Hitomi, who hadn't yet grasped what a five-figure monster meant, Takajo Yuri had already realized that this was an event that neither she nor Tono Hitomi could handle.

After thinking for a moment, Hitomi Tono gave up on the calculation.

Anyway, all I need to do is try my best to eliminate the monsters.

"Tens of thousands of monsters... how can we control the damage they cause?" Yuri Takajo was very worried.

If it were just four or five ordinary strange people or monsters, she and Hitomi Tohno could handle it with a little extra effort. But with tens of thousands of monsters, they simply couldn't be in two places at once.

Even if it's eradicated very quickly, it will still take some time.

Yuri Takajo couldn't even imagine the kind of destruction the monsters could cause during this time.

“I will raise the mirror barrier, and then…who?!” Just as Sugiyama Rika was about to explain her plan, she sensed an unusual aura and turned around abruptly.

Through the openwork window of the clock tower, she could only see the dark corner of the other person's clothes disappear from the corner of the windowsill.

Is someone eavesdropping?

Sugiyama Rika's body reacted before her mind. She immediately rushed out, only to see an unfamiliar paraglider gradually disappearing into the night sky, with a figure vaguely hanging behind it.

—Paragliding?

Instinctively chasing after it, Sugiyama Rika appeared next to the paraglider with the strange patterns in the blink of an eye.

However, what was hanging from that paraglider was not a person.

It looked like a mummy, but the surface wrapped in strips of cloth was wet and sticky, dripping with some kind of foul-smelling dark liquid.

……What's this?

Sugiyama Rikka extended her hand.

It's a mannequin that Ms. Mayumi put in her backpack!

Although it was once a real person, it is now defined as a mannequin used to distract others.

Main text: Chapter Nine: Orange Juice with Pulpy Meat

Reflexively, Sugiyama Rika reached out her hand towards the unknown humanoid object.

At that moment, she suddenly realized something.

This object, which resembles a human in shape but is casually wrapped in coarse yellow cloth strips, is covered with a rather ominous-looking secretion.