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

"Just watch as I devour everyone's dreams! Hehehehehehe—"

When the shrill laugh rang out, there was no one left in front of the Dream-Eating Clown. It seems Hitomi Tohno realized the problem and quickly fled while the strange man was talking animatedly, seeking a solution.

She pierced through the fog constructed by the dream-devouring clown, only to feel raindrops pattering against her face. Looking around, she saw only an endless plain, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the city she lived in.

As a magical girl who had already clashed with the Dream-Eating Clown a dozen or twenty times, Hitomi Tohno naturally knew how to break the deadlock. However, the scenery in front of her was too unfamiliar, and she couldn't find her way, leaving her somewhat bewildered.

In short, find someone first.

Based on the scope of the Dream Clown's dream magic, the people in the dream should all be students from the same school who were pulled in by the Dream Clown, so Mayumi Haga should also be among them.

"If I can find Mayumi, she will definitely help me even if she has forgotten who I am," Tono Hitomi was very confident.

If Mayumi is around when you can't transform, things become much simpler.

Although Mayumi Haga has always been a tragic character who is "a friend of a magical girl who gets caught up in an accident," and seems to be as useless yet inexplicably crucial as Krillin, who is used to help Goku unleash his full power, if you disregard the magical elements, Mayumi Haga is the most reliable partner who can bring people a sense of security.

After all, he is the person with the highest combat strength under normal circumstances, and also has some fighting skills.

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

The little snake felt extremely humiliated.

If it weren't for the fact that I hadn't yet signed a contract with Kagura Yu and established a channel to share magical power with her, I would never have ended up in this situation.

Dragged into the dream world by the strange creature, and forcibly separated from her intended partner Kagura Yu because she possessed independent consciousness, the little snake, with little ability to move, could only curl up under a rock in a corner of the dream world.

The rain caused the little snake's body temperature to drop lower and lower; even though it was in a dream, it became increasingly drowsy.

How annoying... It feels like I've gone back to when I was first born with consciousness.

All the other cute gem monsters have found partners, but this one, because it's not pretty enough, hasn't been able to find a girl willing to sign a contract with it.

It's obvious that its own scales are the most beautiful, and its own brain is the most intelligent.

The little snake is proud and doesn't want to choose a mediocre character without magical talent as a partner; it refuses to compromise.

Damn it... this feels awful...

It was curled up in its dream, completely unaware that amidst the cacophony of rain, another sound seemed to be emerging.

The black-haired girl, dressed in distinctive light-colored clothing but not in the Guardian's Set, carrying a one-handed sword, shield, and bow and arrow, stood before the rock.

She didn't use an umbrella, but simply pulled up her hood. Rainwater seeped in through her collar, soaking her completely, and her hair clung tightly to her pale skin.

His expression didn't seem as gloomy and taciturn as usual; rather, there was still a hint of youthful naiveté in his eyes that had disappeared after his youth, and he was simply expressing curiosity.

Having just finished being taught by her senior and embarking on a journey alone, nineteen-year-old guardian Mayumi Haga found a beautiful little snake by the roadside.

She wore a look of what seemed like surprise, for she had never seen a snake with scales like purple gemstones before. This little snake, once it grew larger, could become valuable material, an adornment for a handy weapon, or part of a rare potion.

So she picked up the frozen snake from the ground, dried it with a towel, and put it in her bosom.

Text: Chapter 37 Mayumi Haga·Traveler Limited Edition

Hitomi Tono has been walking in this dream for almost a day and a night.

In fact, she didn't quite know how long she had walked; she only knew that she had walked along the dirt road on the plain for a long time.

The sky in her dream soon cleared, and the two moons rose and set on the horizon, but she still couldn't see any signs of human habitation.

"Waaah... I'm starving..." Although she rationally knew that she should have only spent a few minutes in the dream and that the passage of time was just a rule of the dream, hunger and exhaustion still made Tono Hitomi's steps weak and powerless.

My stomach was growling loudly, my throat felt like it was on fire, and my legs felt like they were made of lead... If I didn't find someone soon, I might be trapped in this dream, unable to move!

No……

Knowing she was facing a major crisis, but unable to use her magic and therefore helpless, Hitomi Tohno silently shed tears of sorrow.

Are we really going to have to wait for Lily and Sister Rika to come to our rescue?

It's one way, but...

Hitomi Tono rarely encounters this situation, and she wants to handle it herself.

Waaaaah, where are you, Mayumi...?

Hitomi Tono let out such a mournful cry from the bottom of her heart. She was actually just a hair's breadth away from fainting. Her vision was blurry, and she was about to faint from heatstroke.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" A voice as beautiful as heavenly music came from not far away. Tono Hitomi forced herself to look over, and her eyes lit up when she saw Mayumi Haga's face.

The visitor was Mayumi Haga, dressed as a traveler.

Not only had he changed into local clothes, but he also seemed more mature than the Mayumi I knew. There was a faint scar at the corner of his eye, and he was looking at me with a familiar yet unfamiliar gaze, filled with concern.

Tohno Hitomi practically clung to the traveler Haga Mayumi's leg and wailed, "Waaah—Mayumi—it really is Mayumi—"

Unlike the adorable bear who often sheds tears, Hitomi Tono is usually carefree, but when she cries, she does so with great force.

Moreover, his emotions came and went quickly. In no time, the idiot pink-haired girl's spirits were replenished by "finding the real bow and absorbing its energy," and she even became frighteningly radiant.

The person who was found, Mayumi Haga, looked completely bewildered: "...Who are you?"

She truly appears to have forgotten all memories of the magical girl world, existing only as a dream NPC. Upon seeing Hitomi Tohno, she comes to help her due to her false memories.

Taking out medicine, water, and food from her backpack, the traveler named Mayumi Haga gently instructed, "When traveling long distances, remember to bring enough food and water. Here's a heat-relieving medicine... What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Before she could finish speaking, Mayumi Haga noticed that Hitomi Tono was staring at her with a shocked and bewildered expression, which puzzled her.

Hitomi Tono was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth, staring blankly at Mayumi Haga, whose expression was a million times gentler than usual, feeling a little flattered: "N-nothing, it's just that you seem like my friend..."

What memories did this dream world instill in Mayumi?

He actually smiled! And he genuinely cared about this complete stranger he was meeting for the first time! His expression was so gentle; he was already beautiful, but now it felt like he was radiating a holy light...

I really want to make Mayumi's current personality semi-permanent.

If this can make Mayumi smile more and not be so dull.

"I was just traveling through this place, and I don't think I've met you before." Mayumi Haga was taken aback, then said helplessly, "Does your friend really look that much like me?"

Instead of becoming a dark and gloomy person, Mayumi Haga has an introverted personality, is quite calm and reliable, and people can't help but be attracted by her gentle light.

Like the handsome and powerful knight in the story, sharp as a drawn sword, yet able to relax and be considerate when dealing with others.

"Um, where are you going to travel next?" Tono Hitomi finally regained some strength and stood up, grabbing Mayumi Haga's outstretched hand. She asked directly.

If Mayumi is the "Traveler" in this dream, then it would be much safer for her to go with Mayumi than to go alone. Moreover, given that there is only one path in this dream world, her destination and Mayumi's destination should be the same.

When Tohno Hitomi wasn't looking, Mayumi Haga slightly shifted her gaze, seemingly deep in thought.

Then, she replied gently, "I've heard that there's a village at the end of this road called the Village of Wizards. I plan to go there to seek the results of a divination and broaden my horizons."

The Wizard's Village...? That must be the important setting of this dream.

Because the main content of a dream is focused on the dreamer, if it is a dream with a plot, the NPCs in the dream will all move towards the center of the dream.

Now, Mayumi is also an NPC, and she will also follow the rules of the dream to go to the center of the dream. You just need to follow her.

"I'm also interested in the Wizard's Village. Can I go with you?" Hitomi Tohno pleaded with the traveler before her. "I don't know where to go right now..."

If they had stayed where they were, without Mayumi Haga's rescue, Hitomi Tono might have actually "starved to death" in this dream, becoming an unidentified object lying by the roadside.

What she didn't know was that this dream would end in death.

Mayumi Haga knew this and couldn't bear to leave Hitomi Tono just by the roadside. After considering it for a moment, she agreed to take Hitomi Tono with her.

However, she still had to remind Tono Hitomi, who didn't seem like a well-behaved person, "This road isn't safe. Stay close to me and don't run around if you encounter any danger."

Hitomi Tono didn't encounter any danger when she was alone, but things changed a lot when she was with Mayumi Haga.

One after another, unknown and ferocious monsters sprang out, brandishing their weapons menacingly, while occasional stray arrows flew from not far away... If it weren't for Haga Mayumi, Tono Hitomi might have been killed by the dream right here.

She listened to Mayumi Haga and stood obediently behind her, watching as she easily defeated the troublesome monsters.

Amazing... In the blink of an eye, all those monsters fell down.

Mayumi Haga originally intended to process the materials on the spot, but when she noticed Hitomi Tono staring at her with a bright look, she paused her outstretched hand.

She stopped looking at the monster corpses and didn't give Tono Hitomi a chance to examine them closely. She whispered, "There are a lot of monsters here," and hurriedly led Tono Hitomi on their journey.

On the third day of the dream, the two arrived at the Wizard's Village.

Main text: Chapter Thirty-Eight - It Just Happened at This Moment

Forest Station.

When traveling, you may encounter sudden downpours. You may travel for a long time without seeing any houses, but fortunately there are rest stops along the road for travelers to rest.

Inside the inn, dream NPCs with the faces of high school students are gathered around a stove, drying their clothes.

Suddenly, the curtain at the door was lifted by a stranger. Dampness and cold wind rushed in, and the two travelers, feeling the chill, stepped into the inn.

The innkeeper, who was dozing off at the front desk, looked up and noticed the two travelers who seemed rather unusual.

She glanced lazily at Mayumi Haga, then greeted her in a middle-aged man's tone, "Oh, guests, please make yourselves at home."

To be honest, it's quite incongruous for a high school girl to have such a lazy, middle-aged look on her face, but in this dream, everyone except Hitomi Tono is oblivious to it.

Hitomi Tono recognized the shop owner as the captain of the school's volleyball club. After the match before the dream descended, she was happily planning to go on a date with her boyfriend.

Apart from the traveler Mayumi Haga, Hitomi Tono finally saw the others who had been pulled into the dream together.

She breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed she had made the right choice.

Mayumi Haga had already taken off her rain-soaked coat and hung it aside. She found two clean towels somewhere and, after Hitomi Tono took off her waterproof cloak, she stuffed the other one into Hitomi's arms: "Dry yourself off a bit."

Because she left the cloak to Tohno Hitomi, Mayumi Haga was soaked to the bone. However, as a traveler, she was used to this situation and quickly tidied herself up, changing into dry clothes in a cubicle at the inn.

On the contrary, Hitomi Tono was still wearing her school uniform and had no clothes to change into. Fortunately, the waterproof cloak was Mayumi Haga's size, which could almost cover her entire body, so she was not in as bad shape as Mayumi Haga.

While Mayumi Haga was changing clothes, Hitomi Tono was waiting in the lobby. She was enthusiastically pulled over by the dream NPCs of the volleyball club members to warm themselves by the fire. Perhaps because she looked young and even younger than the NPCs, they started chatting with her.

Hitomi Tono, who is being amused by her peers who treat her like a child: ?

This dream is just too fantastical...

When Mayumi Haga came out, the NPC tourists were already pulling Hitomi Tono along, singing at the top of their lungs. She paused as she walked downstairs, and looking at the familiar smiles on the faces of the strangers by the fireplace, she couldn't help but chuckle.

In her memory, the tribe living near the forest inn was fond of singing and drinking.

When this inn still existed, every time she stayed here, she would see a lively scene of people singing and dancing together, and they would also invite her to drink.

Those people who always stay by the stove are actually elderly men and women in their fifties and sixties who don't like staying at home and prefer to come here to chat.

The boss wasn't the captain of a volleyball team; he was a retired guard from the neighborhood. He had overworked himself in his youth, damaging his health, and now that he was older, he lacked energy and would buy medicinal herbs with me.

At nineteen, I traveled through the forest inn to the wizard's village not out of curiosity, but because I wanted to visit a seriously ill friend and bring back the herbs I had gathered.

The wizard named Lania will die of illness in a year.

Even back then, the wizard, who always seemed unhappy, showed signs of physical decline, and in his letters he would complain that he would cough incessantly whenever it rained.

Therefore, Mayumi Haga was concerned about the other person's health and rushed over after finding the precious herbs.

In her memory, she was turned away by Lania during this visit for some reason. Lania even set a ban on her entering the Wizarding Village for a year, until Lania passed away and was buried, at which point she was allowed to take a look.

Perhaps in this dream, she can still talk to Rania, who has the face of a stranger.

Perhaps the key to deciphering this dream lies in Rania within the dream itself.

Mayumi Haga was conscious; she knew she was in a dream called "the past" and clearly remembered what would happen next. Because of this, she needed to follow her memories through the unfolding events, identify the key points that had influenced her, and find a way to escape.

If it isn't found in time, who knows where this dream will ultimately lead... In fact, no matter what path it takes, it will eventually lead to the same ending.

Her gaze fell on Hitomi Tono, her eyes deep and intense.

Unlike ordinary people who are turned into dream NPCs, Hitomi Tono, as a magical girl, is an "outsider" who does not belong to this dream world and is able to retain her memories here.

Therefore, Mayumi Haga cannot reveal her identity as a guardian, nor can she allow the other party to be harmed here. Knowing what she will encounter next, Mayumi Haga must send Hitomi Tohno and the dream NPCs out before the calamity in the dream descends, before the beautiful dream turns into a nightmare.

At least, take one last look.

Thinking this, Mayumi Haga walked down the wooden stairs, where the people had already taken out their instruments and surrounded the bewildered Hitomi Tono, starting to sing.

"Mayumi!" Tohno Hitomi noticed Mayumi Haga approaching and immediately looked like she had found a savior. "I'm here..."

Her words suddenly stopped.

She stared in disbelief as Mayumi Haga opened her backpack and took out an... accordion?

I hadn't noticed before, how did that thing fit into such a small backpack?

Then, Mayumi Haga calmly joined the ensemble, her melodious accordion playing along with the singing, creating a beautiful melody, just like when they had played together a thousand times before.

The black-haired traveler's eyes held a joyful smile, a smile of cheerfulness and delight she had never seen before.

People, dressed in thick, warm clothes, sat around the fireplace laughing and chatting warmly and sincerely. The music woke up a cat that was taking a nap by the fireplace. It just lazily opened its eyes, wagged its tail, closed its eyes again, and continued to purr.