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

Before her death, Lania had already sensed the impending calamity and entrusted the important gift meant for Lady Mayumi to her guards.

But for some reason, the gift that was supposed to be there disappeared, and Lady Mayumi Haga did not arrive as promised.

The NPCs in the dream world have completely lost their memories of the calamity and have no ability to deal with it. They can only prepare to defend their homeland and wait for the last hope to arrive.

Now, a suspicious-looking child has come to the village, saying she's looking for someone. Perhaps it's her accomplice who stole Rania's belongings.

How could these people do such a thing!

Kagura Yu, playing the role of a servant, was furious. She gritted her teeth and even wanted to draw her long sword and behead the thief in front of her right now, but a strong sense of resistance made her very conflicted.

I don't know why, but I can't bring myself to hurt the child in front of me.

never mind!

In any case, the calamity will break through the barrier of the Wizard's Village, and it's only a matter of time before everyone dies; no one will survive.

Everyone has to die.

“Your friend did something stupid,” said the guard, Kagura Yu. Her angry expression was somewhat distracting at the moment, but Tono Hitomi could still hear the anger in her voice. “Everyone will be killed by his stupidity.”

Hitomi Tono: ...Huh? Did Mayumi do it?

She was still out of it, after all, the people she knew really pulled her out of the story, but she still caught a strong sense of unease spreading through her.

No.

This emotion is more poignant, bitter, and pungent than mere unease; it is more profound and intense, and filled with a tremendous sense of loss.

That emotion, called "despair," was spreading among these guards.

Before the room had completely fallen silent, excited voices could be heard outside: "It's the Guardian!"

"The Guardian has arrived!"

"She's finally here!"

The guard's voice was filled with barely concealed excitement, tinged with the relief of having grasped a lifeline.

Then, the sounds, which should have grown louder, disappeared one by one.

But the people inside didn't notice anything strange. The guards looked at each other, no longer caring about the captured thief, and hurriedly got up and ran towards the waiting guardian.

For a moment, only Hitomi Tono was left in the room.

—Guardians?

Is it the guardian lady I know?

Why did the other person appear in this dream?

Or is it just like everyone else, a role played by someone else...?

Ultimately, Hitomi Tono still can't be 100% sure whose dream this is.

She had very little information at her disposal, and for the first time in her life, her magic was restricted, preventing her from moving freely. Even relying on her usual combat experience, she was still unable to withstand the siege in the dream... This passive situation was a first for a children's protagonist.

But Hitomi Tono's intuition was very accurate.

So far, all the NPCs in the dream have their own activity range, living peacefully and not exceeding that range.

Even the wizard Rania from the wizarding village was the same; she didn't step out of here even once.

In other words, very few people can move freely in this dream world, so few that...

...Aside from myself, who wasn't assimilated by this dream, that leaves only Mayumi.

Moreover, this major incident occurred while Mayumi was acting alone.

Perhaps the best skill of an idiot is intuition. Tono Hitomi vaguely guessed that the protagonist of this dream was likely her childhood friend. Even if Haga Mayumi was not the owner of the dream, she must be a major character here.

After realizing that this dream was closely related to Mayumi Haga, Hitomi Tono fell silent, which was unusual for her.

She looked out the window at the gloomy sky, her tuft of hair drooping listlessly.

Dreams are generally a mixture of memories and subconscious thoughts, and to some extent, they can reflect the personality of the dreamer.

Thinking back on the journey, although Mayumi Haga always smiled at her, she still didn't tell Hitomi Tono anything, and subconsciously chose to keep it a secret.

What is Mayumi's secret...?

Hitomi Tono wanted to know.

That feeling of desperately wanting to know but not knowing where to start is like trying to suck up the last pearl when drinking bubble tea. You can only watch the delicious pearls settle at the bottom of the cup, feeling as uncomfortable as frog eggs squeezing out of your cup.

But even friends should have their own secrets, right?

Just like how she never told Mayumi that she was a magical girl, it's perfectly normal for Mayumi to have things she keeps from herself.

It's not uncommon for once close friends to drift apart as they each develop secrets, have fewer and fewer things to talk about, and ultimately fail to connect.

only……

Does Hitomi Tono really want this to happen?

She realized she didn't know much about Mayumi.

They practically grew up together... no, to be honest, she's only known Mayumi for six years, and she had no idea about the eleven years of Mayumi's life before that.

Mayumi never talked to her about the past.

But in this dreamlike fantasy, Mayumi laughs, joins the banquet with great enthusiasm, and shows a somewhat lonely and nostalgic expression.

That was a side of Tono Hitomi that she didn't know.

Even this dream was completely unfamiliar, lacking any elements that Hitomi Tono was familiar with.

Is this the place where Mayumi used to live...?

Or is this place very important to her? Perhaps it's a story from a storybook that left a deep impression on Mayumi?

Hitomi Tono knew nothing.

She hated the feeling of being excluded from her important friends; she hated it terribly.

Magical girls are straightforward and willful, and Magical Girl Crimson is no exception.

She didn't want to drift further away from Mayumi... No, it wasn't just about maintaining the friendship; her heart told her she wanted to take it a step further.

I want to get closer to Mayumi, and I want to know everything about Mayumi.

Magic is the power of the heart, and Hitomi Tohno was told this from the very beginning: to trust your heart and not suppress it.

So, when the Guardian pushed open the door and entered, Hitomi Tono looked at the scarred face of the other person, whose features were still recognizable as those of her friend, and took a deep breath.

Such similar faces, almost identical temperaments, and like Mayumi, she blends in naturally within this dream...

"Guardian, you're Mayumi's older sister, right?!" she then exclaimed loudly.

The guardian's left hand, which was about to send the last person out of the dream, froze almost imperceptibly.

Haga Mayumi:?

Main text: Chapter Forty-Four: Disposable Props

……real or fake?

Even with the facts almost laid bare before her, can Xiaotong's thought process still twist like this?

Mayumi Haga had already prepared to go outside and find another excuse to fob off Hitomi Tono, but the other woman had already come up with a reason why the Guardian would appear here, which made her brain freeze for a moment.

However, now is not the time to discuss these things.

Haga Mayumi thought.

She had just sent everyone out of the dream, and only Tono Hitomi, who was still conscious, was a bit difficult to deal with... After all, she would have to figure out how to explain things after they got out.

Hitomi Tono's reaction was indeed beyond her expectations.

With hell looming behind her, Mayumi Haga had no time to hesitate.

The tall guardian lady took a long stride and almost knelt down, embracing the magical girl who had mistakenly entered the dream and enclosing her within a dream magic range large enough to send them both away.

She didn't notice the surprise that appeared on Tono Hitomi's face when she suddenly hugged him.

Mayumi Haga simply looked up at the last view outside the window.

Because of her smaller size, Hitomi's head could only be buried in the crook of her neck by being held down by her left hand. Hitomi could still feel the mixed scent of blood, sweat, and grass remaining on the Guardian's body. Hitomi could see the fine veins on the side of the Guardian's neck and could feel the faint heat emanating from her.

If the other party were to speak at this moment, at this distance, the half of my body that is in contact with the Guardian should be able to feel the vibration, and it should be very itchy.

Hitomi Tono didn't find the Guardian's scent unpleasant, but the armor was a bit uncomfortable, and the hand pressing on the back of her head was a bit too hard, making it impossible for her to lift her head.

Her eyes widened, then she realized something and her expression quickly calmed down.

Only her ears started to turn red.

Whether it's Mayumi, whom I knew, or the current Guardian, they're all the same.

He's handsome yet gentle, and makes people feel at ease.

But this sadness and heaviness was an insurmountable barrier, a defining characteristic of the other person... She felt afraid and wanted to back down, forcibly swallowing back the words that were about to come out.

Despite her usual carefree and fearless nature, Tono Hitomi realized that she couldn't casually expose the calm that the other person had worked so hard to maintain.

If the truth is revealed rashly, the relationship may head down a path that is difficult to repair.

Before she could finish this series of thoughts, Hitomi Tono's intuition made her hastily change the subject of her words and swallow them back down.

It can't be at this time.

This is the dream world where the other person is most vulnerable and least guarded.

I am a despicable thief who has spied on the other person's painful memories, and I cannot take anything I know in this dream with me.

She felt ashamed and her face flushed, but she still tried hard to see the Guardian's expression clearly. So, just as she was about to be sent out of the dream, she finally raised her head.

In Tono Hitomi's view, the other person's eyes were slightly lowered, and their face had actually recovered to about 70-80%, so it was already recognizable.

Miss Guardian gazed intently and greedily at the remaining glimpses of scenery outside the window. Her profile was sharp and clean, but the calmness beneath the surface revealed a weary and wounded soul.

Even though her eyes were still dry and her expression was as calm as ever, Hitomi Tono felt that she was about to cry.

She and the Guardian seemed to be in a movie theater. The terrible movie about the end of the world on the screen had reached its finale, and everyone else had left early, leaving only the two of them at the end.

She stayed because of the guardian lady, and when she turned her head to look, she saw the other person silently shedding tears in the flickering light of the movie theater.

Why is that?

Perhaps because, to other viewers, it was just a nonsensical and terrible movie, and therefore very boring.

But for Miss Guardian, this isn't a movie.

Imprinting that quiet yet sorrowful face into her mind, Hitomi Tono's consciousness faded into a pale void.

She was eventually led out of the dream by the Guardian.

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

Mayumi Haga opened her eyes.

When she was pulled into the dream, she was lying on the table, her head pressing against her arm, which was inevitably a little sore. So she raised her arm to relieve the pain and found that she was holding a quiet, shrinking black round crystal in her palm.

Having been pulled into a dream by the Dream-Eating Clown for too long, it was already late when she opened her eyes.

She still held the core of the Dream-Eating Clown's monster body, and having gained partial control over the dream world, she was the first to wake up.

The students who were also drawn into the dream should still be some time away from waking up, but Hitomi Tono might wake up even sooner.

As Mayumi Haga pondered, she unconsciously pursed her lips, her expression becoming even more displeased, which terrified the now-core Dream Clown.

Before Mayumi Haga could speak first, the Dream-Eating Clown could only quietly play the role of a monster core that had lost its ability to move, not daring to disturb the other party's thoughts.

This person is a good person, but they are really fierce...

Even the Dream-Eating Clown isn't a weirdo who can't distinguish between good and bad.

At least he knew that in that situation, if they didn't abandon their physical bodies, neither of them might be able to run very far.

The monster's body can be discarded; as long as the core is not damaged, nothing else matters.

In his dream, he was very grateful to Mayumi Haga for saving him. After returning to reality, even though he knew that she was his benefactor, he still couldn't help but worry about his future.

Is this how it's supposed to become a useful magical item...?

The Dream Clown knew that the other party could use the monster's unique magic by manipulating the monster's core. But it seemed that the ability could not be used without the core.

Therefore, I can't help but worry about my future.