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

The blue crystal head was ultimately not placed on the wall in Mayumi Haga's room. Instead, it was allowed to be placed in the living room, with the TV remote and the only drink in the house in front of it—the orange juice that had been poured out of the bottle but not finished.

Megarane could still move using her hair; after she took this form, her hair naturally gained the ability to move, similar to her hands and feet.

However, when Mayumi Haga cut it off, she also cut off her hair, which meant that this guy, who could have been a human-headed spider, could not use his hair to run from the bedroom to the room. At most, he could only press a remote control and then roll up the snacks next to him and stuff them into his mouth.

Mayumi Haga bought her a special cup and placed the nearly overflowing orange juice in front of her, hoping that this aquatic chieftain, who was quite idle at home, could help her use it up.

Now, strangely enough, food and drink no longer leak from her neck; instead, they mysteriously disappear down her throat. This means she truly has a bottomless stomach, but that doesn't mean she can be Mayumi Haga's garbage can or toilet.

“…If you can’t finish it, can’t you just throw it away?” Megranie’s face was almost orange from drinking, and she looked very distressed. “Or put it in your backpack…”

Mayumi Haga blinked: "It would be a waste to throw it away."

"Then what about putting it in your backpack?"

"It will affect the taste." Mayumi Haga was also a little troubled.

Unlike her home's magical refrigerator, which could store any type of food without it absorbing odors, her backpack required her to keep her suits and similar items in sealed bags to prevent them from acquiring unpleasant smells from the strongly scented materials.

"So you're just dumping everything on me..." Megragne said speechlessly, "Are you using me as a dumping ground?"

“If you don’t like it, then don’t drink it,” Mayumi Haga said, her words so straightforward that Megaran felt as if he had choked up.

Megrana gritted his teeth: "When you get back, remember to buy other drinks. Juice is for kids, I want alcohol! And dinner has to be better too! I want meat! Meat!!!!"

Mayumi Haga refused honestly: "I'm still a minor, I can't buy alcohol. Forget about the alcohol, I'll bring you a cola instead."

"You ate all the Night Core Fruits I gave you?" Megaran questioned.

Yuga Mayumi, without batting an eye, replied, "There aren't many left."

There are only about three hundred left; there really aren't many.

After instructing the head of the household to watch the house, Mayumi Haga stepped out of the house and saw Hitomi Tono waiting at the door for her to go to school together.

The world is still blindingly bright, but I seem to have gotten used to it a little.

Main Text: Chapter Ninety-One: Zero-Cost Water Demon Food

There was a hint of awe in Tono Hitomi's gaze as she looked at Haga Mayumi.

Last night, she encountered a very strange... lady? Or should I say a human head? at Mayumi Haga's house.

To be honest, Megaran's existence was beyond Hitomi Tohno's comprehension, but she still accepted it relatively well. After all, magic exists, Santa Claus is real, so what's wrong with having an extra talking head?

She recalled the claymation films she had seen, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Corpse Bride," and combined with the existence of Megaran, she gained a new understanding of this world.

However, the fact that the human head can talk is secondary.

More importantly, and what Hitomi Tohno was most curious about, was—

—What exactly is Mayumi's relationship with Miss Megragne?

She was very familiar with Mayumi, but she had never met her before.

Mayumi has too many secrets.

Although she was very curious about Miss Megraine's true identity, it was too late last night. After her father finished using the bathroom, he noticed that a pair of shoes was missing from the entryway, so he called to ask when she would be home.

In fact, if Hitomi Tono had properly arranged her shoes when she came home instead of leaving them lying around, her father wouldn't have noticed her missing shoes at a glance and realized that she had run out in the middle of the night.

Moreover, when the phone rang, her father was already downstairs at Mayumi's house, ready to bring his daughter, who was planning to sneak out and stay out all night, home.

Hitomi Tono had no choice but to go home.

She had actually considered staying at Mayumi's house for a couple of days, but considering that there was now a somewhat intimidating-looking Miss Megranée in Mayumi's household, she decided to wait a couple more days...

What's more, she can't transform right now, so she can't easily get home early in the morning to change into her uniform, and Mayumi's glider doesn't look like the type that can carry people...

In short, even after she had already gotten to Mayumi Haga's bedroom, Hitomi Tono had no choice but to obediently go home with her father.

This caused her to appear somewhat anxious and curious when she came to wait for Mayumi Haga to go to school together the next day.

She had been curious all night, waiting for Mayumi Haga to come and answer her questions.

"Mayumi!" Tono Hitomi's eyes lit up when she saw Mayumi Haga finally come downstairs. She waved her arms eagerly and ran towards her, "Over here, over here!"

Mayumi Haga saw the pink-haired idiot rushing towards her like a puppy separated from its owner for a night, almost jumping into her arms, her eyes shining: "Mayumi, I have so many questions to ask you!"

Actually, what Hitomi Tono initially wanted to ask was how Mayumi was feeling, but after seeing Mayumi Haga's face, which was rosier than usual, she silently filled in the answer to the question she was most concerned about.

Mayumi seemed to be in a good mood and was sleeping soundly.

She must have fallen asleep peacefully to Miss Megranée's singing.

"...But, Mayumi, what does Miss Megarane usually do when she stays at your house?" Hitomi Tohno was still curious. "Can I go see her after school? What kind of gift do you think I should bring... Will she become my friend?"

Come on, making friends with heads is super cool, okay?

Even magical girls can't resist this.

“In the past, she might have hidden in the water and snatched people to kill time,” Mayumi Haga said, as if making a lame joke, but her expression didn’t look like she was joking. “Now that all that’s left is her head, she can only watch TV.”

“…Huh?” Hitomi Tono was stunned.

What kind of hobby is this? Was Miss Megragne a staff member at a haunted house before? Did she specifically dress up as a kappa?

Mayumi Haga was simply stating the facts, completely oblivious to Hitomi Tono's stunned expression, and continued pondering the kind of gift Megaran would like: "As for a gift..."

Did Megrana say he wanted to eat meat?

“Let’s go to the market and buy some raw meat,” Mayumi Haga said. “She likes high-quality meat.”

High-quality meat... that's a bit of a dilemma.

After all, Hitomi Tono's allowance was almost gone.

And feeding raw meat... While there are indeed dishes like sashimi that don't need to be heated, why does Mayumi talk about it as if she's buying some raw meat and bones for her pet?

Hitomi Tono couldn't understand it.

Meanwhile, Mayumi Haga fell into deep thought.

In fact, what Megrana demanded was not so much meat as "blood food."

Even among the aquatic tribes, Mograne was one of the more bloodthirsty ones. At that time, Mayumi Haga saw that this aquatic tribe chief ate until his lips were bright red, making him both sexy and extremely dangerous.

Even in their current state, they seem unwilling to lower their standard of living.

If it's just high-grade meat bought from the market, although it's delicious enough, it still lacks a bit of flavor compared to the blood dishes that the other person usually enjoys.

Moreover, buying a lot of meat every day is indeed a huge expense.

Otherwise, we could just use the materials in the backpack to temporarily support Megaran.

Haga Mayumi thought, "Anyway, I can't possibly use it all up."

This is one of the reasons why she didn't just throw Megaranie's head into her backpack.

The other party is conscious and capable of movement; throwing her in would be like feeding her a buffet of Mayumi fragments. If she manages to ruin most of the materials, Mayumi Haga would truly find it unbearable.

After all, she can't collect materials as easily as before; she doesn't have the time, and she also has to consider the world's filter. Besides, the place she lives in is someone else's home, so she doesn't want to make a mess of herself everywhere.

In short, Megragne should stay outside the backpack for now.

Meanwhile, Miss Mogragne, who was watching a cooking show at home, sneezed: "Achoo?!"

Why am I still sneezing even though things have turned out like this?!

...Could it be that Mayumi is thinking of me?

Come to think of it, that guy looks way too thin now.

Megaran was actually somewhat dissatisfied with the taste of Mayumi Haga.

Both Mayumi Haga in her Guardian form and as a seventeen-year-old high school student, are rather thin. For Megaran, the best he could do is fatten her up a bit more so she'd look more appealing.

While Mayumi Haga was opening the refrigerator, she checked its contents and found that it was almost empty except for that damned orange juice.

That won't do; at this age, you need to eat more meat.

Anyway, that girl is easy to talk to. If she said she wanted to eat meat, she would bring some good meat home after school. Then I can just tell her to cook the meat and make sure she eats it.

Completely unaware that Mayumi Haga was planning to use the zero-cost Guardian Flesh and Blood to feed her, Megarane watched a food program while waiting for Mayumi Haga to get out of school.

Main text: Chapter Ninety-Two: About Home Visits

it's wired.

Despite still being a student and only having been away from school for a weekend, Mayumi Haga had the illusion that she hadn't been to school in a long time.

...It wasn't a misperception; she really hadn't been to school for a while.

Mayumi Haga realized this with a start.

Since the start of the battle for the Fire Seed, she was basically either on leave helping the magical girls with fieldwork or wandering around on patrol alone. After all, matters concerning calamities and the Fire Seed were more important, and since these things didn't happen on weekends, Mayumi Haga's life began to become unbalanced.

This caused her attendance rate to begin to approach that of the magical girls she knew.

This specifically refers to Yuri Takajo, who is also very busy. Hitomi Tono, because she can't transform recently, still went back to school last week.

However, even so, the attendance rate of Mayumi Haga and her two companions was still quite poor.

I saw my homeroom teacher's kind face again after a long time, but after class, we were all called to the office because of the attendance issue.

Mayumi Haga stood in the middle, facing her homeroom teacher's smiling face, with Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo cowering like quails beside her: "..."

This isn't right. She had been helping Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo cover for them, so why was she the one who got arrested?

Right, at least I helped cover for them before, but now the three of them hardly stay in the classroom. As soon as they sense something strange is causing trouble, they all come out... What else can they do but get caught?

"Yuhe, have you encountered any problems at home recently?" The homeroom teacher was an elderly woman in her fifties, always smiling, with gentle wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. "I'm very worried about you suddenly not coming to school."

Mayumi Haga stiffened her back: "...Yes, I've had some things going on at home lately."

It is indeed a family matter, but the teacher cannot know the specifics.

The kind-looking old lady wasn't angry; she just smiled and said, "Even so, the parents should still ask me for leave."

Parents...guardian Sugiyama Rikka? That person probably only spends about five minutes a day replying to phone messages, and doesn't even know Mayumi Haga's identity as a guardian, so it's definitely not something I can reveal to that person.

Next time, just use the new number and drink some voice-spoofing potion to ask the homeroom teacher for leave.

That's what Mayumi Haga thought.

The homeroom teacher didn't seem to intend to pursue the matter further. She then turned her attention to Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo, informing them that they would still need their parents' permission to request leave.

The two magical girls, who were keeping it a secret from their families, nodded nervously and eagerly.

Unlike their guardian, Ms. Sugiyama Rikka, who is often out of contact, their parents would actually know as soon as their homeroom teacher made a phone call.

The homeroom teacher was quite easygoing; after giving them a few words of advice, she seemed ready to let it go: "Don't do that again next time."

Hitomi Tono and Yuri Takajo visibly breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could even feel happy, they heard their homeroom teacher's voice: "By the way, Haga, do your parents have time lately?"

Haga Mayumi was stunned.

“You haven’t been doing very well lately. I’m planning to talk to your guardian to find out more about the situation,” the homeroom teacher said, a gentle and concerned smile on her face. Every strand of her white hair radiated the brilliance of a good teacher, and she looked much like a kind old lady. “I’m very worried about your condition.”

Mayumi Haga opened her mouth, unsure how to refuse.

Hitomi Tohno, remembering the situation at Mayumi Haga's house, hurriedly explained, "Um, teacher..."

"Teacher, I'm also going to visit Tono and Takajo's homes." The homeroom teacher patiently explained, "Our school organizes home visits every year around this time. Don't worry, I just want to get a little information and I won't complain about you to your parents."

That's absolutely true.

The new school term begins in early April each year, and in May, teachers plan to conduct home visits to students' families after school to understand their family conditions and atmosphere, in order to better understand and nurture the students.

When Sugiyama Rika entered high school last year, she was still in Miracle City due to some matters, so her homeroom teacher had already met her.

“…Ugh.” Tono Hitomi remembered this incident and knew that a home visit was unavoidable, and was immediately overwhelmed.

She wasn't actually that worried that the teacher would badmouth her to her parents, saying that she slept in class, skipped classes, and left early... Although these were indeed things to worry about, her homeroom teacher had always kept them confidential, so there was nothing to fear.

What she was most afraid of was that Mayumi Haga's family affairs would be discovered by her homeroom teacher.

After all, Megrana's head was still at home.

Moreover, it's also very troublesome not having a guardian in the family...

Mayumi Haga also realized this, and frowned as she returned to the classroom, seemingly quite troubled by the matter.

From today onwards, Mayumi Haga will not only have to pay attention to her attendance rate, but also begin preparing for the home visit by her homeroom teacher.

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

“A home visit?” Megrana was unfamiliar with the term. “Does it mean they’re coming to burn, kill, and loot your home?”