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

Page 188

Chapter 300. The Resurgence of the Dark Magic Society

Something feels off about the prankster's magic.

The Gentleman of the Abyss was somewhat worried.

As an oddball specializing in negative emotions, he is more acutely aware of the emotional fluctuations contained within magic. Although very subtle, these fluctuations still occur subtly depending on one's state of mind when using magic.

There is a saying that magic is the power of the heart, therefore, eccentric characters with strong emotions are more likely to get closer to the origin of magic.

The Abyss Gentleman's abilities and experience are among the best of all the strange people, which makes him more able to detect anomalies.

It's impossible for a prankster to use such a "perfect" field magic.

The Gentleman of the Abyss knew very well.

The festival was an extremely important event for both the Prankster and the Orange Juice Man, and it was impossible for them to remain completely unmoved during it.

Even outside of festivals, magic can change.

But the area magic in the sky has not changed in any way due to emotional fluctuations, even after so much time has passed.

The flow rate, direction, and shape changes of the magic all operate like a machine program, emotionless, maintaining a perfect state.

This is a magical state that only exists in theory, but now it has appeared in reality.

and……

The strangest thing is that after being invited to the festival, the Abyss Gentleman did not meet with the two old acquaintances who invited him.

Normally, he should have met Anna and Jeffrey after arriving in Strange City, but due to recent jealousy at home, he and Little Sadness were a little late and arrived in Strange City just in time.

After arriving in Strange City, both the Prankster and the Orange Juice Monster were busy with festival preparations, so the Abyss Gentleman planned to meet with them after he had a little more free time.

I never expected that this busy period would last until now.

The Gentleman of the Abyss then realized that he had not seen the two of them at all.

Using tracking magic now is useless; the tracking ray can't find its target at all and just keeps spinning in place.

Since things have come to this, let's go and discuss it with other people.

The Gentleman of the Abyss is not a stale eccentric; rather, compared to other eccentrics, he understands better the importance of seeking help when necessary.

The sad little bear next to him was still a bit confused: "Big brother, what happened?"

She followed the Abyss Gentleman around, and vaguely realized that something was wrong here.

However, given her limited experience, she still couldn't fully understand what had happened.

"Anna and Jeffrey haven't shown their faces for so long, something might have happened to them."

In the past, the Abyss Gentleman would never have told Little Sadness these things; he would have given his little sister some pocket money to buy her some snacks and let her play.

However, he now realizes that it's time for him to change his self-perception.

Look at Rika Sugiyama and the others; they've all become seniors, and the magical girls who followed have all grown up. I'm, after all, a weirdo from the same era as the magical girl Akane and the others; it's time for the younger generation to stand on their own.

So when Sad Bear asked, the Abyss Gentleman abandoned his usual protective stance and explained the current situation to him.

Sad Bear also realized that the two strange people had not appeared in the two days since he arrived in Strange City.

Guided by her elder brother, she carefully sensed the field magic in the sky and discovered that there was indeed something unusual.

Turning his head, he met the Abyss Gentleman's inexplicably gratified face—his expression was completely unreadable, but he could sense the elder brother's relief from the other's nod.

“Little Sadness, go check on the situation at the field magic area. As for me,” the Abyss Gentleman assigned her homework, “I’ll go ask an old friend.”

Sad Bear nodded, and although he was a little unsure, he immediately got to work.

The match was still going on, but the three former magical girls who were waiting in the players' lounge of Mayumi Haga had already lost their focus on the game.

Since Hoshino Yui mentioned Hanaya Rika, they started chatting about it.

Sugiyama Rika hugged the bag of potato chips, stuffing it full of chips, and listened intently to Terasaki Ayasa and Hoshino Yui talking.

“Rika has always been so careless, but thankfully she contracted with Lily, so raising her like a pet isn’t a problem.” When talking about Jewel Beasts, Terasaki Ayasa had quite a few complaints about her former contract partner, “Lena was difficult to deal with most of the time.”

The gem beast Lena, which she had contracted, possessed intelligence and independence far exceeding that of other gem beasts. It was clever, ambitious, and somewhat competitive.

However, Terasaki Ayasa is not a very ambitious person. She initially chose to become a magical girl simply because she found magic interesting and it also made it easier for her to be lazy.

She and Lena were basically bickering every day.

After the contract expired, Terasaki Ayasa found the snake too noisy and terminated the contract. Later, the snake angrily said with tears in its eyes that it wanted to find a partner a hundred times stronger than her, but she didn't really take it seriously.

We haven't seen any new purple-themed magical girls yet, and we don't know where that talkative snake went. Maybe it's run out of magic and turned back into a gem.

Sugiyama Rika and Hoshino Yui: ...What a cold woman.

Seeing the incredulous looks in their eyes, Terasaki Ayasa did not offer any explanation.

Hoshino Yui was a little worried: "Please keep an eye on Lena's whereabouts as well."

Compared to other gem beasts, the Wisdom Serpent Lena is actually a bit more special.

The Lena can be considered an encyclopedia of magic in the world, and it even contains many forbidden spells that are now classified as black magic.

For a mage who frequently deals with dark magic societies, Hoshino Yui's DNA stirred.

"If we end up wandering around and get targeted by a dark magic society, things will get really complicated." Hoshino Yui had a headache just thinking about those persistent guys. "They seem to have become more active lately."

She had a tragic relationship with a black magic society when she was a child, a dark history that she still cannot ignore, and she was even beaten up by Sugiyama Rika because of it.

This left Hoshino Yui with a deep-seated fear of black magic societies.

There will always be those who attempt to revive forbidden magic, raising the banner of dark magic and attracting some muddle-headed magicians to join them; they can never be completely eradicated.

"Ten years ago it was human alchemy, what's the theme this time?" Sugiyama Rika asked curiously.

Black magic encompasses a wide range of topics, but generally, each generation of leaders of black magic societies will only choose one as their primary research focus.

Hoshino Yui wasn't quite sure either: "I've only heard a few rumors, it seems to be a project related to weirdos."

As they were talking, there was a knock on the door of the lounge.

The three of them were startled and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Chapter 301. Eccentrics and Ambition

Sad Bear took a quick look at the weather.

Because of the upcoming festival, the organizers used magic to temporarily change the weather before the festival began, resulting in several consecutive sunny days.

That magical teru teru bozu (Japanese teru bozu doll) is still hanging in the sky.

Because her brother asked her to scout out the Rainbow Track, she changed into human form and set off. Her monster form was more conspicuous and would attract unnecessary attention.

While she was quite curious about who Mayumi Haga would ask to complete the borrowing race, the task the Gentleman of the Abyss had given her was more important.

Since the Abyss Gentleman returned from the Otherworld, her stress has been greatly reduced.

Originally, he was to handle the strange affairs of Miracle City. Although most of them were trivial matters, Little Bear really had no experience in dealing with these kinds of things, so he had a headache for a while.

Now that his older brother has returned, Little Bear can fully return to the carefree state of being protected by a capable elder.

However, for her own sake, she no longer wants to live unconsciously under the protection of the Abyss Gentlemen as she used to.

Little Bear once thought there was nothing the Abyss Gentleman couldn't handle—being defeated by a magical girl didn't count, because neither of them really got serious—but now she realizes that the Abyss Gentleman can't just keep working like this forever.

Although the older brother seemed to enjoy the heavy and trivial housework, Little Bear had previously seen him secretly flipping through his textbooks.

Furthermore, considering the fact that the Abyss Gentleman places high hopes on his studies, it is clear that he has a thirst for knowledge.

Moreover, my brother has clearly suffered a lot because of me lately, and his magic power has shrunk a bit. He can't keep working like this.

Thinking about it carefully, the magical girls of the same era as his brother have all handed over their missions to their successors, so there's no reason for his brother to be a weirdo babysitter for the rest of his life.

Echoing the thought of the sad little bear, the jealous weirdo, who hadn't replied to her family's messages for a long time, finally took the initiative to contact her family two days before she and the Abyss Gentleman set off for Weird City.

The series of eccentric characters with negative emotions are not limited to just "fear," "sadness," and "anger." In fact, several of their siblings are traveling outside.

The jealous guy doesn't actually have a good relationship with his family. According to his older brother, his jealous behavior and personality are very similar to his younger self.

By this time, the Gentleman of the Abyss had already chosen to retire from his life of crime after having younger siblings, and to live a quiet and devoted life as a good older brother.

Jealousy Monster was also raised by the Gentleman of the Abyss. Born in Miracle City during a peaceful period, she initially knew nothing about the outside world, but as her magic and form gradually stabilized, she developed the ambition to become a monster.

The Abyss Gentleman doesn't actually object to his younger siblings wanting to pursue better opportunities, even if they cause trouble like he did when he was young.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that unambitious oddballs like Angry and Sadness, who are content to stay quietly in their small, cheap apartments, are the minority.

The Abyss Gentleman was also reckless and willful in his youth. Although his style of doing things has changed drastically now, his past experiences are not entirely a dark history for him.

He first experienced the passion and indulgence of being a quirky and unconventional person, and only after feeling the emptiness after everything came to an end was he filled with the warmth of his family.

If everyone, whether human or freak, were born in their perfect form and lived the same life for decades to come, wouldn't that be incredibly boring?

Therefore, the Abyss Gentleman does not prevent his younger siblings from leaving home during their rebellious phase. He only hopes that they can occasionally send some news back home to let him know they are safe while they are out adventuring.

Of course, the jealous weirdo felt it was lame to report home that he was safe like a good boy, so he hadn't sent any messages home for the past six months.

When the Abyss Gentleman received the magical letter sent home by the other party, he still managed to shed a good tear.

Sad Bear still remembers how the Abyss Gentleman was moved to tears when he saw the words in the Jealous Monster's letter: "Big brother, please get me some food and magic potions and put them in the secret room at sewer #3 so the magical girl won't find them."

"Look at Little Sadness, she's jealous of her, she seems to be acting a bit strange now." While wrapping rice balls, Abyss Gentleman's tears of relief fell onto the rice balls. "She's even learned to make secret contacts."

Little Bear: "...Big brother, don't put so much salt in the rice ball."

“Sorry, little sad, big brother didn’t say it was wrong for you and Yuhe to stick together. We can be whatever weirdos we want, as long as we’re happy,” Abyss Gentleman said, then sighed, “But isn’t hiding in the sewers a bit too dirty? I’ll bring a blanket from home.”

Finally, the Abyss Gentleman packed large and small bags from home, from rice balls to pillows, blankets, shoes, shampoo, shower gel... and even some snacks to relieve boredom.

Little Bear couldn't help but feel that the Abyss Gentleman was a bit like an old mother packing things for her child who was going out to play.

However, her older brother, the Gentleman of the Abyss, had always been like this since he was a child, so she was somewhat used to it.

Speaking of which, it seems like that jealous weirdo is up to something big.

……and many more.

The little bear realized something was wrong.

The troublemaker who seems most likely to cause trouble... is right in front of us?

She walked along the deserted streets toward the sea, and suddenly stopped when she realized that the most suspicious, ambitious, and likely troublemaker at the Strange City Festival was the Jealous Strange Man.

Yes, yes.

The latest suspicious person, isn't that my own second sister?

Sad Bear almost forgot that her home was also a breeding ground for villains. Lately, she's been spending a lot of time playing with magical girls and Mayumi Haga, and the magical girls don't even treat her like a weirdo.

As for Mayumi, whether someone is strange or not makes no difference to her.

The little bear, realizing what was happening, immediately stopped in its tracks.

The streets were deserted, and the afternoon sunlight was exceptionally strong; turning around, one could see that everything was scorched white by the sun.

Although the venue was cleared for the competition and it wasn't surprising that no one was there, Little Bear had stopped sensing the magic monitoring system running at some point.

Given the doctor's magical abilities, the magic monitoring system wouldn't be hacked so easily.

That leaves only two possibilities: either they did their utmost to create an unstable shielding barrier here, or they tampered with themselves, causing themselves to fall into a hallucination.

Considering the magnitude of the action required for the former, which couldn't possibly be accomplished silently in an instant, the little bear knew it was definitely the latter.

"Did they start scheming from the moment Big Brother brought the food?" Little Bear muttered.

Text: 302. The Jealous Eccentric

Just as the little bear realized there was something wrong with him, the surrounding scenery began to distort. Accompanied by a crisp cracking sound, after a brief moment of disorientation, the little bear's eyes cleared again.

The violet eyes lit up with magic, and the little bear quickly found the unusual thing stuck to its body.

She reached behind her and grabbed the tiny, almost weightless voodoo doll stuck to her back. Its body was made of straw, its hair of tangled threads, and its eyes were buttons.

Similar to her choice of a teddy bear as her physical form after her birth, the Jealous Monster also chose an inanimate object as her physical form to carry out her activities.

But the jealous freak's choice is even more sinister.

She chose a voodoo doll made of straw. When he was little, Little Bear was even frightened by this older sister.

Later, as the magic developed and took shape, the Jealous Monster's appearance became less bizarre and more and more like a human.

Little Bear met this woman a couple of days ago, and she has become very different from the woman he remembered.

Aside from his right eye still being a black button, the Jealous Monster now looks almost like a human.