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

Page 196

Mayumi Haga wasn't lying. In this children's world that rejects tragedy, the speed at which souls dissipate is much slower, giving Mayumi time to save herself from calamity.

She also has containers; she can simply find a magic crystal in her backpack that can hold souls and temporarily store those wandering spirits.

She tossed the container to Calamity Mayumi: "You owe me a favor."

Text: 317. The Eccentric Mother

The moment Mayumi was summoned in that pitch-black parallel world, Mayumi Haga rushed forward, and the two of them fell into the shadows together.

Hitomi Tono was somewhat worried, but even if she wanted to help, she couldn't enter the closed shadow space, nor could she see what was happening inside.

Since things have come to this, let's just focus on doing our own thing first.

Tono Hitomi turned her gaze to the black wizard over there, who was still squinting as he observed the reaction of the shadow space, a thoughtful expression on his otherwise unremarkable face.

The latter was unaware that he had been targeted by the magical girl Crimson; as a researcher, his reaction speed was somewhat slow.

Hitomi Tono and Koma exchanged a glance.

While still pondering why the dark magic had such an effect, she was suddenly pinned to the ground by Tohno Hitomi, who had transformed, and the "jealous monster" who had betrayed her at some unknown time.

Dark Wizard: "...??? Hey! Jealous of you! Are you trying to betray that person? Damn it, I knew you were up to no good..."

The little bear, disguised as a jealous weirdo, kept a straight face and tried to extract more information from the black wizard.

"How could a weirdo like you possibly work obediently! I should have just rewritten your memories. The master is too soft-hearted and still believes you won't betray him..."

Okay, it seems the jealous weirdo has ulterior motives for joining the dark magic society.

After listening for a while, the little bear noticed the dark wizard's insults getting increasingly vulgar, so she casually used a silencing spell to mute him.

The battle of Mayumi Haga was also coming to an end. The shadow space was churning, a hand reached out first, and then a familiar figure crawled out from below.

Mayumi Haga tested the waters first, then grabbed the ground with both hands and, with a little effort, flipped herself out.

After she came out, she didn't immediately speak to the two people waiting upstairs, but turned her head and said, "Come out."

Then the Calamity Bow also poked its head out.

Because half of his face hadn't fully healed, Mayumi Haga was worried that he would frighten the two people above him, so she forcibly put a mask on him.

Although Mayumi's eyes were still lifeless, a glimmer of light had appeared in her golden pupils, which were usually bright. She was wearing the four-sleeved suit that Mayumi had temporarily modified, and she felt a little uncomfortable.

Because she didn't experience the reincarnation into the children's world, she only has white hair and golden eyes. However, with two extra arms, she won't be confused with others or Mayumi Haga.

Calamity Mayumi made no move to introduce herself, but simply stood silently to the side.

While Mayumi Haga wasn't exactly the type to enthusiastically introduce people, she carefully considered her words in the face of Tono Hitomi and Koma's curious gaze: "...This is, a temporary helper."

As fellow members of the [Haga Mayumi] group, the other party couldn't possibly be that bad.

After receiving a thorough treatment, Mayumi of Calamity temporarily regained her senses, and considering that Mayumi Haga helped her contain her friend's soul, she was willing to lend a hand before dissipating.

After the time she was summoned by magic ends, she still has to return to her own world and continue to face her own destiny.

After briefly introducing herself in the parallel world, Mayumi Haga asked Kuma, "So, Ms. Sugiyama and the others have been sent to another point in time?"

"Not only that, my eldest brother was also sent away by this despicable man," Little Bear whispered.

...In such cases, there is no need to use honorifics.

Haga Mayumi sighed.

Having gleaned information from the black wizard that several senior magicians had their own methods of returning, Mayumi Haga was no longer so worried.

And what is the Abyss Gentleman, who doesn't need to be worried about, doing now?

Returning to his dark past, the Abyss Gentleman had somewhat mixed feelings.

As a mature and reliable older brother, he deeply felt the changes he had experienced over the years—especially when facing the various bad habits of his younger self.

"Jack—! How many times have I told you to change into your pajamas and go to bed! You reek of alcohol, you're not allowed to lie down on the bed right now!"

The Abyss Gentleman spent the night cleaning the camp, tidying up the beer and beverage bottles that these weirdos had carelessly discarded, and trying to remember where to sell them for money.

Turning my head, I saw my younger self, reeking of alcohol, staggering upstairs to sleep without even taking off my coat.

High blood pressure!

My blood pressure is about to explode!

The Abyss Gentleman almost immediately turned red.

He used to call the other person Jack when he was younger, and he was a complete scoundrel and a brat.

He can't hold his liquor but tries to drink like others. He vomits after just two cans of beer. He never cleans the camp and litters everywhere. His personal habits are absolutely terrible!

Even my own younger siblings would obediently clean up their trash when they were little! Not to mention bottles and jars that could be sold for money...

……and many more.

How does Jack, who doesn't work, have the money to buy these things?

The Abyss Gentleman retrieved the relevant parts from his own memories, and the entire monster was struck dumb.

He was a fool when he was young; he stole these things directly from the store using magic and never paid for them!

Miracle City was more chaotic during this period than when he arrived.

The culprit is Jack, who leads a bunch of weirdos around causing trouble, going against magical girls, and never paying for his meals or purchases.

Although I haven't stolen anything expensive, nor have I taken anything beyond what's necessary, and I don't waste things... stealing is still a terrible behavior.

Thinking of this, the Abyss Gentleman stormed upstairs, barged into Jack's bedroom, and dragged him off the bed: "Where did you steal those things from?!"

Jack opened his sleepy eyes: "What are you doing... It's just two cans of beer. It's not like I took all the money."

"Come with me to apologize to the shopkeeper." The Abyss Gentleman's tone was cold and hard as he forcefully dragged Jack, who was much stronger than him, off the bed. "You stole something!"

Jack was puzzled by the attitude of this strange old woman he had just picked up and who seemed to have come from nowhere: "Why should I apologize? I can just ask him for it, and he'll give it to me anyway."

Jack's relationship with the shop owner wasn't actually that bad. If he really asked, the owner would give it to him, after all, there aren't any bad people in this world.

Besides, he's a bad guy, what can't he do? It's just two cans of beer, it's no big deal, right?

He had always lived like this, and the other oddballs didn't have any objections. It was this strange old woman who had just arrived who reacted so strongly.

Text: 318. I really didn't accomplish anything.

Jack stared at the Gentleman of the Abyss with his crimson snake eyes, genuinely puzzled.

The Abyss Gentleman took a deep breath, covered his face, and his motherly side kicked in.

Indeed... During this period, he lived alone without his desperate and eccentric older sister, and without reliable elders to guide him, he would indeed be a bit foolish.

If it were any other immature eccentric, the Gentleman of the Abyss wouldn't have reacted with such fury so quickly. He's long been a mature and reliable eccentric; his experience raising his younger siblings gives him ample patience when dealing with unruly children, and he'll gently guide them when they make mistakes.

The reason he was so angry was because he was himself.

Because he has thoroughly reflected on the foolishness of his youth, he feels such disappointment and frustration with Jack now.

The Abyss Gentleman is a kind-hearted and respectable eccentric, whose wisdom comes from the trials and tribulations of life.

Sometimes he thinks that if he had woken up sooner, his life might be different now.

His current poverty is often a way of atoning for, or rather, making amends for, the foolishness of his youth.

Knowing what kind of path a strange person without guidance would take, he worked hard to raise his younger siblings, and tried his best to manage the community of strange people and protect the weaker ones.

He has devoted so much energy to this that he has neglected his own needs; otherwise, with his abilities, he would have finished junior college long ago.

He was actually a little stunned when he saw Jack.

If I had woken up sooner, would I have been able to take a different path?

However, he was ultimately too impatient.

Jack wasn't listening to him right now, and he couldn't force his ideas onto him.

"Why that expression?" Jack got goosebumps when he saw the Abyss Gentleman suddenly stop what he was doing and look lost on the face.

He subconsciously rubbed his arms, but still sat up and carefully observed the expression on the face of the Gentleman of the Abyss.

In fact, after his older sister fell into a deep sleep, Jack had been living alone like this. He occupied an uninhabited house and made many friends to fill the emptiness of the house.

As a monster whose attribute is [Fear], and with the guidance of the former Despair Monster, he easily became a high-level and quite famous powerhouse.

Some time ago, his friend, the Prankster, was bullied by the city's leader of monsters, the Bandaged Monster. In a fit of anger, he led his men to beat up the Bandaged Monster and drive him out of the city.

And so he inexplicably became the leader of the oddballs in Miracle City.

Being surrounded by people is quite wonderful, a little blissful, and Jack doesn't dislike it.

He gained many friends as he wished, and the house became much more lively. This was the least lonely time of his life.

Jack didn't have any ambition to rule the world as a monster, nor did he seriously consider how to maintain a new world that belonged only to monsters... After all, he hadn't read any books, so his mind structure was actually quite simple.

He simply acts on instinct, living a life of seeking thrills, never considering the future, and indulging in pleasure.

The strange people around him all went along with him because he was powerful enough, and he never mistreated his friends. In this harmonious atmosphere, only the Abyss Gentleman in front of him would glare angrily at him for his self-degradation.

“If you steal once or twice now, that kind old man won’t do anything to you. But if you take it, and your cronies follow suit, have you ever thought about what will happen to the old man who relies on that convenience store for a living?” The Gentleman of the Abyss suppressed his anger and reasoned with Jack.

Jack's eyes widened; he really hadn't expected this.

Although he was a bit reckless, Jack was not inherently bad, otherwise he wouldn't have become the Gentleman of the Abyss he is today.

He stammered, "...Would...would that happen? Then I'll make it up to him when I have money in the future..."

"What compensation will you offer? You don't even have a decent job," the Abyss Gentleman said in a deep voice.

"You're so annoying! I'm Abyss Jack, what kind of money can't I make in the future?" Jack got a little annoyed by the continuous questioning.

The Abyss Gentleman crossed his arms and sneered, "All you can think of is collecting protection money, right?"

Actually, he remembers everything.

When he was young, he never considered other people's affairs; he only cared about his own happiness.

The old man who ran that small shop used to help him with meals, but after he became successful, the shop was robbed until the shelves were empty, leaving him heartbroken. After retiring from the life of crime, he went to apologize to the old man and spent a long time paying off the debts from back then.

The Abyss Gentleman is certainly not a greedy person, but among his subordinates are not only ambitious fools like the Prankster, but also former subordinates of the Bandaged Man, as well as guys with relatively low moral character.

Unless one explicitly forbids it, these subordinates will become a cancer in Miracle City.

After turning over a new leaf, the Gentleman of the Abyss spent a great deal of effort to clean up these problems. He certainly wouldn't maliciously harm the neighbors who watched him grow up, but now, his every move has unpredictable consequences.

The Abyss Gentleman was not called a "gentleman" when he lived alone, nor was he called a "gentleman" when he became one of the top monsters in Miracle City. On the contrary, when he was defeated by the magical girl, became destitute, and had to learn to raise a family of young monsters, he was still an unemployed street urchin, yet his character was recognized by everyone.

After he calmed down, he seized every minute to read during the gaps in his difficult life and realized how absurd he had been in the past, which led to his current state.

He is not particularly intelligent, nor is he as learned as others might imagine, but he draws wisdom from life.

"You should also think carefully about what you're going to do in the future," the Abyss Gentleman sighed. "You can still act like a tyrant now, but what happens after you're defeated by the magical girl? You have no education and no work experience, how are you going to survive?"

"...Enough with the nagging, I might not even lose." Jack appeared annoyed, but inwardly he was pounding with fear.

He initially didn't take the magical girls from Miracle City seriously, but now, it seems the magical girls, Crimson and the others, are getting stronger and stronger...

Enraged, he questioned the Gentleman of the Abyss: "After all that talk, didn't you also come to seek refuge with me? I don't see you've accomplished anything, so how dare you lecture me?"

The Abyss Gentleman's anger suddenly dissipated upon hearing these words.

He was a little conflicted, and his voice lowered: "Yes, I really didn't accomplish anything."

Text: 319. A Few People in the Future

Although to outsiders, the Abyss Gentleman is a strange man with a glorious past and still quite famous in the strange man circle, he knows very well that he can be said to have accomplished nothing.

He had no interest in fame within the eccentric community; instead, he wanted to go to school like an ordinary human.

If he could, he would prefer to earn a living through his knowledge and find a higher-paying job, rather than working three jobs to support his family as he is now.

The deeper desire is to acquire more knowledge.

He realized that his understanding was too narrow, that the world was much bigger than he had imagined when he was young, and that he had little interest in the truth of the universe, but was curious about what the world looked like.

He is usually busy working to survive and maintaining his eccentric activities to obtain magic power, so he has little time to read. He only knows the most basic characters, and reading is quite difficult for him.

If I can learn more, I will one day be able to find the answers to the many questions in my heart.

For example, he needs to extract human fear to transform it into magic. Is there a more efficient way?

He had worked in a haunted house, where he gained more and purer fear magic than before. Occasionally, when he passed by a movie theater, if a horror movie was playing, he could also gain a lot of magic.

He actually knew how he could acquire more magic power, and perhaps even make money through this method, but his limited education prevented him from implementing these ideas.

If you can write horror stories or draw comics to spread your fears, you can earn money and gain magic power at the same time, which is a win-win situation.