Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 592

Is thirty years really that long?

And neither Aine nor Suze looks any different. But thinking about it, it makes sense; after all, they are magical girls, their appearances don't age. The young mother who came with them earlier is definitely younger than them.

I don't think I'm qualified to say such things.

However, judging from Su Shi's reaction, it really has been thirty years. She still finds it hard to accept that in the blink of an eye, a full 10,957 sunrises and sunsets have been cut from her life.

I have no idea what happened in between, what I missed, or what I was absent from.

Suddenly, even the chance to make amends for past mistakes disappeared.

Xiangzi stared at the ceiling, his attention starting to wander again.

Su Shi cried on his chest for a while, until the footsteps from the other corridor gradually approached. Su Shi jumped up as if she had been electrocuted, shrank to the side and tidied her tear-stained face and messy clothes.

"Little Master, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I'll take you to the lab now." Ai Yin walked over casually, not even noticing the little bit of flaxen hair peeking out from behind the wall.

It wasn't until she walked up to Xiangzi and felt a chill behind her that she belatedly realized what was happening, and like a broken gear, she turned her head with a clattering sound.

"Su Shishi, so you were here all along."

"Why am I not here? I'm here because of you." Su Shi crossed her arms. "The bombing just ended, and you're already 'patrolling' on the ground? Are you crazy? You're lucky you didn't run into any agents. What if you'd encountered scouts dropped from the air? It's not like we haven't encountered this kind of thing before."

She had only heard that Aine had returned to the base and was rushing over, so meeting Xiangzi was completely unexpected.

"I was just thinking I might be able to snag some bargains or something... Look, we've got something, haven't we?" Ai Yin scratched her head, but her eyes avoided Su Shi's gaze. "I brought back a few people. That mother was originally in charge of planting. You always say the fields need more people to tend them, so this is perfect..."

"Let's keep things separate." Su Shi grabbed Ai Yin's ear without any mercy. "Your behavior is dangerous and selfish. If something happens and you don't come back, won't we be looking for you for the rest of our lives? You're so old, can't you stop acting like a child and think before you act..."

"Okay, okay, I know! I know! I won't do it again next time!"

"How many 'next times' have there been already?!"

"I know I was wrong!"

"Is this how you admit your mistake? Put away your smug fangs, or I'll pull them out sooner or later."

"Is this something I can do just because I want to? Su Shishi, you're too cruel!"

Help me, little master!

Xiangzi saw Aiyin lip-reading and calling for help to her.

"Ahem—" Xiangzi cleared his throat, indicating his presence.

"Ah!" Su Shi's face flushed red instantly. "I, I didn't mean to forget you, Xiao, Xiao Xiang."

"Being able to forget me means you're doing pretty well."

"No, no, there isn't any..."

"So, where are you planning to take me?" Xiangzi patted Aiyin on the shoulder and winked at her with his right eye. "I have a full thirty years of blank memories."

That's all the help I can give you.

Aiyin returned a grateful look.

"I'll take you to the lab right away, little master." Ai Yin said like a loyal henchman. "I just notified the lab that someone is waiting for you there."

"Then I'll be going now." Xiangzi turned around and looked at Su Shi. "I'm so happy to see that you're alright."

“…Hmm.” Su Shi blushed and nodded. “I’ll go help the mother and daughter with their accommodation arrangements. Ai Yin, you can take Xiao Xiang downstairs first.”

"Understood!" Comrade Aiyin saluted.

================

"Speaking of which, Su Shishi's eyes are a little red. What happened just now?"

On the way to the laboratory, Ai-yin suddenly asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Xiangzi said calmly. "I think it's better if you don't know."

For some reason, Xiangzi felt that what had just happened was somewhat immoral, especially when he was facing Aine.

Is this appropriate?

"Oh, never mind then." Ai Yin shrugged indifferently. "Anyway, she still loves to cry. It's normal for her to be emotional when she sees that her little master is still alive."

Didn't you guess it all?

"How much longer until we get to the lab?" Xiangzi asked.

“It’s very far,” Aine said. “This area is just the outer area of ​​the assembly hall. It’s used to check outsiders and serve as the first line of defense. The next level down is the residential area of ​​the assembly hall, and the next level down is the experimental area.”

Aiyin led Xiangzi down the stairs.

"A meeting place? The Reed Plains Magical Girls' Gathering?"

“Yes, it was you, Master, who showed me around the meeting place back then,” Ai Yin said with a grin. “Now it’s my turn.”

She stopped in front of a heavy iron gate, took out her ID, and completed the first step of verification, followed by palm print and iris scan verification.

Then, the light above the gate turned green.

"The real assembly hall begins behind the door."

Chi-

A pressure relief valve sounded.

Ai Yin bent down, assuming a "please come in" gesture.

"Little Master, welcome to the New Reed Plains Magical Girl Gathering."

The Tale of Transcendence: Stars and Us: Chapter 795 The Shelter

Behind the iron gate, Xiangzi was greeted by unexpected sunlight.

Saying it's sunlight isn't quite accurate. Upon closer inspection, the sky is actually composed of projected panels pieced together. These panels project clouds and the sky, as well as the sunset that dyes the clouds red, making this underground shelter seem no different from anything on the surface.

The moment Xiangzi stepped off the plane, the virtual sky began to spread from the farthest point, gradually replacing the sunset scenery with night.

Xiangzi stood on the top of the stairs behind the iron valve, looked down at the bottom of the stairs.

A wide staircase, several tens of meters long, extends down to the plaza below, a vast space filled with the bustling sounds of people.

What Xiangzi saw gave him the feeling of a vibrant rural town.

It's huge, much bigger than she imagined.

"Isn't it spectacular? This level covers two square kilometers." Ai Yin's voice came from below. "Little Master, this way."

Aiyin stood at the bottom of the stairs and waved to Xiangzi.

"We need to go through the living area and take the stairs on the other side to go down."

"Is it that troublesome?" Xiangzi followed her. "It looks like we have a long way to go."

“This design can hinder enemy invasion. The experimental area at the bottom is the most important. All our means of resistance are concentrated there.” Ai Yin suddenly lowered her voice and leaned close to Xiangzi’s ear. “But I’ll let you in on a secret. There is actually a secret passage there that leads directly to the surface.”

"You wouldn't happen to be...?"

"Shh—" Ai Yin raised her index finger and put it to her lips. "It's a secret."

Xiangzi smiled helplessly and nodded.

"Let me continue. We are currently in a market area, which is located in the very center of the entire market. It's convenient to go anywhere, so naturally, the stalls are concentrated here as well."

In the center of the market is a fountain, and in the middle of the fountain is a statue.

Xiangzi walked to the foot of the statue, looked up, and gazed at the statue, which appeared slightly blurred in the night. He felt that it looked very familiar.

“This statue, uh…” she twitched the corner of her mouth.

"It was made to commemorate our little master's 'sacrifice,' and it was decided by a unanimous vote." Aine put her hands behind her back. "Well, although it's probably not really necessary now."

"...Haha." Xiangzi wiped the sweat from his forehead, lowered his head, and continued walking forward with Aine.

"Don't worry, ordinary people won't recognize you." Ai Yin casually put her hands behind her head. "Most of the people living here were born during the war. Anyone who can recognize you is already an old guy over forty."

"What exactly happened while I was gone?" Xiangzi followed Aiyin through the streets, across the asphalt road, and deeper into the city. "When was this place built?"

“It was built more than 20 years ago, when the war started,” Ai Yin said. “It was funded by Senior Genjuro and built using the highest architectural standards in the world at the time, so that it could become a refuge in case of any major event.”

She shrugged.

"Later, sure enough, something terrible happened."

"Then, where are they?" Xiangzi asked. "Are they waiting for me downstairs?"

To everyone's surprise, Ai-yin shook her head.

“They all sacrificed themselves for that great cause.” Aine lowered her eyes, her mood visibly somber. “Without them, Reed Plain would be sunk in the Mariana Trench by now.”

“Mujica and MyGO are in charge here now,” Aine said. “By the way, the remaining magical girls from Mitakihara and Kamihama have also gathered here. This is the last remaining force of this country.”

"..." Xiangzi took a deep breath, trying to suppress his restless emotions.

In the blink of an eye, the changes have been tremendous.

It was so big that she found it a little hard to accept.

"Well, it's been a long time for me too." Aine curled the corners of her lips. "It's all in the past."

She opened her arms and spun around.

"Little Master, look, this place has now become our paradise. No matter how dilapidated the outside world is, everyone can live here without any worries."

"I am already very satisfied."

Xiangzi nodded silently.

To be honest, what Aine said was nothing more than a few words to him. And they sounded like accusations. But when Aine recounted this past, it took on a completely different meaning in Xiangzi's ears.

—If you had succeeded back then, wouldn't things be different now?

If I had succeeded back then.

After waking up, she thought about this possibility countless times, and even now, she is still thinking about how to go back to thirty years ago.

It's all my fault.

Therefore, she could not accept the existence of this shelter, nor could she accept the existence of this "future thirty years from now." She preferred that it was just a dream she had after the time machine malfunctioned.

But she couldn't bring herself to ask, "Is this enough?" So even though she felt extremely uncomfortable with the current situation, she wouldn't vent it on Aine.

They remained silent for the rest of the journey. Xiangzi observed the city as he went, and before he knew it, he had reached the end of the road.

Street vendors, farmers, restaurant owners, students returning home from school, people exercising... Xiangzi followed behind Aiyin, encountering all sorts of people along the way.

They are all ordinary people, all of them were born into this underground wonder, and their life trajectories are no different from those of people who used to live in small cities.

For them, this underground paradise is their whole world.

Perhaps, after a while, we'll see stories of children, curious about "what the outside world is like," sneaking out on adventures.

Perhaps it has already happened.

Xiangzi glanced at Aiyin.

"Achoo." Ai Yin rubbed her nose. "It sounds like someone is cursing at me."

She took out her ID card and opened the door to the next floor.

Continuing down, the style changes completely from the residential area, becoming very impersonal, with cold corridors, cold light bulbs, and cold automatic doors.

Aine led her to a sealed door.

“I no longer have access here,” Ai Yin said. “She’s waiting for you inside.”

"Who?"

She said, "You'll find out when you go in."

"..."

squeak--

The access control light turned green and opened automatically without anyone touching it. Ai Yin waved to Xiangzi, who nodded back and then turned and went inside.

After passing through a partition door, Xiangzi entered a dark room.

There was only a desk lamp on the desk, and no other light source. The room was filled with papers and clutter. There seemed to be a person huddled in the shadows next to the desk lamp, deliberately hiding there so that Xiangzi wouldn't see them.

"Why are you acting so mysterious?" Xiangzi said irritably to the white fur ball huddled in the shadows. "Are you afraid I'll come after you?"