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

[As expected, this is Mayumi's hometown; everyone here knows her.] [Does that mean her identity will be exposed soon?] [She'll be exposed in a dream?] [Everyone outside is silent now; the unlucky ones caught up in this must have been sent away by the dream's master.] Because this nightmare originated from Mayumi Haga's deepest obsession, even the clown frog dream, as the instigator, couldn't forcibly end this lingering dream. Therefore, Mayumi Haga herself could only send the children out to the world one by one.

This way, one won't suffer too much of a mental shock in the dream.

Hitomi Tono, who secretly sneaked into the wizard village and was captured by the guards and locked in this small room, was the last one.

When Mayumi Haga opened the door, she was facing Hitomi Tono, a white-haired, golden-eyed guardian.

Tono Hitomi looked at the familiar yet scarred face and took a deep breath.

In her heart, she had already connected all of this.

In this dream world, all the children's characters who are forced to become NPCs can only move within a fixed area of ​​activity.

In this dream, very few people are able to move freely.

Apart from herself, who was not assimilated by this dream, only Mayumi Haga remained.

Hitomi Tono knows that she is an idiot most of the time, but even an idiot has the intuition to be an idiot.

Mayumi always wore a smile I'd never seen before.

This must be Mayumi's hometown, the place she always longed for but could never return to.

Your favorite, best friend has a past that you don't know about.

Even without asking directly, Hitomi Tono knew.

She's an intuitive idiot, but her emotional intelligence isn't low either. She knows that for Mayumi Haga, having her wounds reopened is a very presumptuous thing.

Moreover, this is Mayumi's most vulnerable and undefended dream world.

I am a despicable thief who has spied on the other's painful memories. Everything I know in this dream is Mayumi's secret, and I cannot take it out like this.

Therefore, Hitomi Tono will not ask rashly, lest she push her friend further and further away.

She felt a pang of sadness when she saw Mayumi Haga's scarred face.

Then, the guardian lady, who wanted to send Hitomi Tono out of this dream, took a long stride and almost knelt down, holding Hitomi Tono, who had mistakenly entered the dream, in her arms, maintaining an intimate distance that was close enough to send both of them out of the dream.

The Guardian gently pressed Hitomi Tono's head down, burying it in the crook of her neck.

She could smell the reassuring, familiar scent emanating from the other person, see the fine veins on the side of the Guardian's neck, and feel the warmth of a human being.

...That's enough.

Hitomi Tono thought.

My selfish voyeurism towards Mayumi is enough.

Bonus Chapter 18. The Orange Juice Explosion (Prelude)

Although she didn't expose Mayumi Haga's secret to her face, after learning that her childhood friend Mayumi Haga was the always cold-faced Guardian, Hitomi Tohno unconsciously began to pay more attention to her.

Furthermore, she began to seriously consider how to confess to Mayumi Haga that she was the magical girl Crimson.

Hitomi Tono's thought process goes like this: since she accidentally learned Mayumi Haga's secret, she should share her secret with Mayumi; that would be fair.

And, thinking about it carefully, doing this would also bring me closer to Mayumi... To be honest, looking back, I realized that neglecting Mayumi all this time was indeed a terrible thing to do.

Although Hitomi Tono herself did not intentionally neglect Mayumi Haga, objectively, because she had to perform as the magical girl Crimson, she was inevitably forced to reduce the time she spent with her friends.

More importantly, she's reached that age...

. ...

[The child has finally grown up, so gratifying!] [It's Hitomi who's the first to realize it, oh my god!] [In Mayumi's eyes, Hitomi is still a child, so even after spending so much time together, she hasn't developed any other thoughts.] [Mayumi doesn't seem like the type to fall in love.] [Therefore, let our orthodox red-themed protagonist, who's all for kids, win her over!]

[That's more like it!] [A gloomy, heavy, and awkward type like Mayumi needs an outgoing, cheerful, and sunny person to be direct and straightforward!]

[Mistake, that's how it should be, that's what I want to see] When Hitomi Tono transformed into the magical girl Crimson and flew to Mayumi Haga's room window in the middle of the night to start knocking on the window, the comments section was already filled with jubilation.

Needless to say, this is what a young couple's date looks like!

Magical Girl Crimson knocked on Mayumi Haga's window for ages before a helpless Mayumi opened it, revealing a bright, puppy-like smile as if inviting a friend out: "Mayumi!"

"【The person who had been trying to hide their identity suddenly showed up to play with me in the middle of the night. I'm Mayumi, so it's hard not to be suspicious.】【Mayumi is not infected either.】【It's already painful enough to fall asleep to Mahou Touhou every night, and now the person in question is directly bothering me. Who can stand this?】【I'm dying of laughter. Hitomi's expression is exactly like a puppy's.】 Looking at her silly childhood friend's enthusiastic face, Mayumi, who had already changed into her pajamas and was about to go to sleep, could only sigh in her heart and then accept the invitation to the date.

[Just spoil her!] [It seems Mayumi is the type who can't do anything with Hitomi at all.] [What will happen when we get to bed? If Hitomi smiles at Mayumi a few times, won't she just give in?] [Hey, you know what, you really don't know.] [Netizens are really...] "Want to go out and play with me?" Hitomi Tono's eyes sparkled as she extended her right hand, clad in a white fingerless glove, to Mayumi Haga, extending an invitation. "This is a special invitation from the magical girl Crimson!"

"After becoming a magical girl, Hitomi Tohno's favorite thing is flying."

Whether it's day or night, everything seen from the sky is beautiful and lovely.

All the happy things in Tono Hitomi's excited heart at this moment, she wanted to share with the always gloomy Haga Mayumi.

She's a good girl who shares what she likes with her friends; she's a pure child.

A rare look of confusion appeared on Mayumi Haga's face, but perhaps because the person in front of her was Hitomi Tono, whom she knew very well, she nodded.

Joy welled up in Tono Hitomi's heart. She used her magical costume cloak to restrain Haga Mayumi and took off with great enthusiasm.

While taking off, she excitedly shared her experience with another magical girl.

Magical Girl Iris, who is also a classmate: [?]

"Is it okay to bring Mayumi out like this?" "It's fine!"

I think we should confess to Mayumi!

[I'm not talking about your identity being exposed... Have you forgotten that Mayumi has a heart condition...?]

Tono Hitomi's brain went blank for a moment, then she cried out in panic, frantically untying the small cloak covering Mayumi Haga as she asked in a flustered voice, "Mayumi, are you alright?"

Will it scare you?

"!I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry—" [What an idiot!] [The heart problem was only discovered recently, right?] [Didn't Rihanna notice it after adopting her for so long?] [Maybe it was only discovered after she used the Guardian's power again.] [Speaking of which, Mayumi's complexion does look unhealthy. Could it be a side effect of using that power?] The viewers in the live chat mostly followed Tohno Hitomi's perspective and didn't have a deep understanding of Mayumi Haga's true abilities, so they could only make superficial guesses.

Just as the comments section was filled with discussions about Mayumi Haga's physical condition, a sudden change occurred.

Above the clouds, under the bright moonlight, a huge, deformed figure appeared.

The enormous fantastical creature—or should be called Dragon One—had dull scales, covered in large patches of blackish-red slime, with countless blood-red eyes growing from its body, and countless insects crawling swarming between its scales.

Its enormous form splits the sky in two, casting a shadow on the ground that can swallow up all light.

It's like a wooden ship sailing on the sea that has caught fire that can't be extinguished.

As Hitomi Tono was stunned, the giant dragon emitted an ear-piercing, mournful roar and charged towards her and Mayumi Haga.

How disgusting... How disgusting... Subconsciously, Hitomi Tono raised a defensive spell in front of her, and a magic shield shaped like flower petals unfolded in front of her.

But this is not a solution; one's own shield may not be able to withstand the impact of this behemoth in front of them.

She first needed to put Mayumi Haga, who had come out with her, in a safe place, and then find others to help her deal with the situation. Magical Girl Crimson was not alone; she had trustworthy companions who were also patrolling at night.

With such a commotion here, Magical Girl Iris will definitely come and take a look.

However, something unexpected happened to Hitomi Tono.

As soon as the dragon approached, the magic shield began to make a sound as if it were about to shatter, as if some substance attached to the dragon was spreading outwards and affecting the shield.

Worse.

Mayumi Haga, who was in his arms, took the initiative to break free from the small cloak that Hitomi Tono had tightly wrapped around her for her safety.

Bonus Chapter 19: Orange Juice Explosion (Part 2)

[Isn't this supposed to be a beautiful everyday life?] [I suddenly feel like something's not quite right... It's like this kind of plot where the protagonist reveals their identity.]

It felt like a flag... [I understand...] The audience belatedly felt a sense of foreboding.

A plot like this: you're about to confess your secret to someone, but then you suddenly encounter an enemy...

The current Tono Hitomi and Haga Mayumi are like old generals on a stage covered with flags.

[Could this battle be the one where Hitomi lost her real bow...? After all, this dragon looks really exaggerated.] [Judging by the time, it seems like it's about time?] [No! No! Let me see a little more of this sweet couple's story!] [Ghost Story: Progress Bar] Only then did the viewers realize that the progress bar for this episode was less than a quarter full.

It seems that only the combat phase remains.

Strictly speaking, this is the first time that Mayumi Haga, as the guardian, and Hitomi Tono, who has transformed into the magical girl Crimson, have fought side by side.

Within the mirrored space created by the doctor, the two were able to fight without restraint.

In particular, Hitomi Tono unleashed a berserk fighting power quite befitting a red-themed character.

Because Mayumi Haga deliberately broke free of Hitomi Tono's small cloak, wanting to take the initiative to fight the giant dragon corrupted by the calamity, she was seriously injured because the calamity targeted her. Witnessing this shocking incident, Hitomi Tono almost lost her mind.

Fortunately, Mayumi Haga crawled out of the building and ruins in time and used a soft-tipped arrow to awaken Hitomi Tono's consciousness, preventing the latter from wasting her magic power.

After all, as a classic character who buries children, one cannot expect Hitomi Tono to remember how to use magic efficiently when she goes berserk.

Most of the time, Hitomi Tohno's high output is achieved by relying on her total magical power, which is beyond that of ordinary people.

However, dealing with this giant dragon would only exhaust Hitomi Tono's tactics, so Mayumi Haga called a halt to her actions.

The two worked together: Mayumi Haga was responsible for harassing the dragon with explosive arrows, while Hitomi Tono was charging up her magic power and launching a full-force attack on the dragon's most vulnerable eye.

Behind her, the magic circle, which is normally about three meters in diameter, is now expanding outwards.

It almost completely obscured the sky, and the boundaries of the circular lines gradually blurred and merged into the night sky.

As she clasped her hands together, the boxing gloves snapped shut, deformed, and deployed as thrusters to cushion the recoil.

At the tip of her fingertips, the bright red magic had now condensed into a dark, blackish-red, crackling with arcs of electricity.

She closed one eye and took aim at that moment.

And then—launch!

A magical cannonball, powerful enough to completely tear apart this reflected space, roared out and accurately struck the Calamity Dragon's left eye socket! It then plummeted towards the ground.

But that alone is not enough.

The regenerative ability of the Calamity Dragon far exceeded their imagination. Even if the dragon's head was pierced again and again, and its brain matter evaporated, the dense worms would fill in the missing body parts completely in a very short time. If it was just this kind of attack, it would only accelerate the speed at which the Calamity eroded the dragon.

Therefore, we must find another way.

It was at this moment that Mayumi Haga made a serious request that startled everyone present: "Crimson, provide me with magic power."

Tono Hitomi: "..." Tono Sho: "...Tono Hitomi: "..."

...

...Under this direct verbal assault, the magical girl Crimson's brain completely shut down.

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