strictlysupreme Chapter 990 The Last Routine 169
Chapter 990 The Last Routine 169
Chapter 990 The Last Routine 169
"You two calm down! I know what happened, and Kobayashi didn't mean any harm..." Darkness pulled the two apart and said to the little red demon girl beside him, "Right, Megumin?"
"Hey, I got it... Hehe, hahaha!"
"Megumin?"
For some reason, she suddenly laughed. This, in turn, made Kobayashi panic. Could it be that the shock was too great, causing her to lose her mind? But Kobayashi hadn't done anything too outrageous, and he had been helping her solve the problems in the Crimson Demon Village.
"No, it's nothing." Huihui smiled brightly and explained, "Thank you, I feel more energetic now. Knowing the reason means we're one step closer to solving the problem."
"Y-yes..." Seeing Megumin's reaction, Aqua didn't want to argue with Kobayashi anymore, but she still scolded him, "Kobayashi, you made Megumin feel so bad, you have to apologize in a big way later!"
"What kind of grand apology is this?" Xiaolin rolled her eyes in exasperation. This silly goddess seemed to have said something without thinking, just blurting it out in a moment of impulse. But she couldn't argue with her now, so she could only agree.
"Yes, yes, I understand," Kobayashi said somewhat perfunctorily, then changed the subject, saying, "If we want a clue to the problem, let's go check out those ruins. If the Jizo statue hasn't moved yet, there should be a way—"
"Waaaaahh ...
Suddenly, a scream rang out from afar. This alerted everyone, and Huihui was the first to react. She looked around in slight panic and exclaimed, "That voice... is that Xiaomi?!"
Come to think of it, I found myself near Huihui's house without even realizing it. Was it because I come here often that I subconsciously ended up here? Huihui didn't hesitate at all and turned to run towards her house.
"Xiaomi, what happened...?!"
She rushed home and questioned her younger sister, but Xiao Mi looked at her older sister with a puzzled expression and asked, "What's wrong, sisters?"
"Oh, it seems like nothing's wrong," Aqua said, somewhat relieved.
"I was worried because I heard screams."
Darkness also quickly checked on her condition. The Scarlet Devil Village had undergone a sudden change, and Megumin had suffered a great blow. If her sister were to also have an accident, she would definitely panic.
"Hmm, nothing's wrong with me," Xiaomi said calmly, then urged everyone to leave, saying, "More than this, I want to study. You guys go over there."
"...Huh!!!?" xN
Huihui, Darkness, and Aqua stared in astonishment at Xiaomi's words, completely shocked that she would say such a thing.
Huihui stared at her younger sister in disbelief, her eyes wide as she asked, "What did you just say, Xiaomi? Studying?! By the way, where did your cape go?!"
A strong sense of unease arose within her, and she prayed that her younger sister wouldn't say anything hurtful like the True Crimson Demon.
Aqua pointed at her in surprise and said, "Ah, there really isn't the one I always wear...!"
Everyone looked at Xiaomi expectantly, but things didn't go as planned; what they least wanted to happen was exactly what happened. Xiaomi calmly said, "I put it away because I found it in the way. Studying is more important than that. I want to become a businesswoman, and then slowly become a tycoon."
"A businessman? A tycoon?! Wait, what happened..."
Huihui was completely at a loss.
It was something so simple to see, yet she just couldn't understand it... no, perhaps she simply didn't want to think about it.
Darkness quickly spoke up, asking, "I... I mean, Xiaomi, do you know what a tycoon is like?"
"I have a lot of money!"
Xiaomi gave that answer as a matter of course.
It was this answer that made Aqua feel uneasy. She asked curiously, "I think it's a bit too early for someone of Xiaomi's age to say these things. What's going on?"
"...Hey, is this really Xiaomi?" Kobayashi also felt a strong sense of unease. He said in a low voice, "Seriously, Huihui's family is too serious!"
Huihui's house used to be extremely dilapidated, with almost nothing that could be considered good or decent. However, all of that has disappeared, and even the dilapidated parts have been repaired, making it look no different from an ordinary family's house!
"Although I don't know what your parents said to you, I can't accept it, sister!" Huihui said earnestly, as if she couldn't accept her younger sister's change: "Xiao Mi is going to enter the Red Prison and become an amazing Grand Magus!"
It's like a sitcom where a gang leader hopes his kids won't study hard and go to university, but instead become petty thugs like him. But now, whether it's Kobayashi, Megumin, Darkness, or Aqua, no one can laugh at all.
Even Xiaomi spoke up seriously, saying, "Sister, let's forget about this kind of dead-end career. Besides, there's no longer a school with the name 'Red Prison'."
"What did you say……?!"
Huihui immediately covered her mouth, looking at Xiaomi who was refuting her in disbelief. Her younger sister had never said anything like that before, and she had always taken her as her role model and aimed to become a Grand Magus!
Xiaomi, however, spoke as if she were a younger sister who would never again take her older sister as a role model, saying, "Sister, you should also learn some magic that is more practical than explosion magic. Okay, I'm going over there to study now."
As if she were doing it for Huihui's own good, Xiaomi persuaded her like this, and then she walked to the side and began to study seriously.
"How could this be, Xiaomi...!" Huihui asked helplessly, almost at a loss for what to do, "You're lying, right? Tell me, it's true...!! Xiaomi!!!"
Unfortunately, no matter how much she called out, Xiaomi didn't stop at all, nor did she turn around and tell her that she was joking, like Huihui did.
Now everyone knew what was going on. This serious demeanor, combined with the screams just now, confirmed that he was a true Crimson Demon.
Darkness said, somewhat unwillingly and helplessly, "Did they get hit when they were out of our sight...?"
“Jizo…” Aqua said with a headache and fear, “If we don’t think of a solution soon, things will get really bad.”
If we don't take more action, all the Crimson Demons might fall victim to it, and right now it seems that only Megumin is an unaffected Crimson Demon.
"Ah, although I asked Chris for help, let's hurry up and investigate the ruins."
Xiaolin felt that they couldn't delay any longer.
The longer it drags on, the worse it will be for them. Even if they manage to defeat Jizo, these true Crimson Demons might not revert to their original forms.
"I want to stay here."
"Megumin?"
"I can't leave my sister in that condition alone at home."
"Indeed."
Kobayashi rubbed his head in exasperation. Megumin and Mimi were very close, and now that Mimi was in this state, how could he just leave her like that? After thinking for a moment, he said to the others, "In that case, let's leave the ruins to Darkness and Aqua, okay? Megumin and I will stay in the village."
"Xiao Lin...!"
Huihui looked at him with emotion.
“After all, who knows what you might do if you’re alone? You might be the only one left in the Crimson Demon Clan. If you get caught in the trap, I’ll be in a real bind. Besides, there are so many True Crimson Demons; someone has to keep an eye on them. And…” Kobayashi pursed his lips, saying with a mix of helplessness and embarrassment, “This is a seed I planted; I can’t just run away from it.”
“Okay, I understand!” Aqua readily agreed. After all, she knew it was dangerous to leave Megumin alone here, and those True Crimson Demons needed someone to keep an eye on them. Kobayashi was undoubtedly the best candidate. However, she still said with some concern, “There is some very annoying magical energy accumulating here. You two need to be careful.”
"Then let's go."
Darkness and Aqua then left. Neither of them had been injured in the previous ruins, so they figured they'd be fine this time too. And if Aqua could find the Jizo statue, she could definitely purify it on the spot, maybe even restoring the Crimson Demons to their original state? Kobayashi sincerely prayed.
……
this day.
Xiaomi was strolling around the village when she ran into Dongdonggu, who was coming towards her. Dongdonggu asked, "Xiaomi, are you hungry?"
“…It smells so sweet.” Xiaomi sniffed and said with shining eyes.
“That’s right, that’s right!” Dongdonggu explained with a smile, “Recently, the ladies in the village opened a kitchen, and it seems they made some baked goods today, so I asked for some.”
She took out a piece of cake from behind her and handed it to Xiaomi, gesturing for her to accept it. However, after thinking for a moment, Xiaomi shook her head and said, "But I've already gotten the necessary nutrition, so I don't need any more."
“Is that so…” Dongdonggu nodded.
Meanwhile, Huihui, who was hiding to the side watching the two interact, said with some heartache and sadness, "Ah, just watching this is so annoying. Xiaomi doesn't even glance at the delicious snacks!"
"It's not just Xiaomi, everyone else has changed a lot too..." Kobayashi pointed to the True Crimson Demon Clan walking in the distance and said, "That NEET... Midori Hanaya Zai has started working too, right?"
"I remember... he worked at the coffee shop owned by Tao Lao, studying for the civil service exam while working there." Huihui then looked at the beautiful red demon who was helping to wipe the table and said, "Tao Lao, too, he liked fortune-telling so much, yet he quit so easily..."
Speaking of why I quit, if I remember correctly, the divination by Tao Lao was very accurate, wasn't it? This kind of divination can definitely bring me great improvement, right? Did I really have to open a coffee shop and do such a practical job?
As Kobayashi wondered what was going on, he heard the voice of a tourist not far away. The tourist said to his companion with some excitement, "Wow, the old fortune-telling shop is really interesting! Where should we go next?"
"We're tired from seeing so much, let's go to the public bathhouse." The female companion accompanying us said with a smile, "The men's and women's bathhouses are well separated, which is very convenient."
What? The mixed-gender hot springs are actually separated? This is so unlike the Crimson Demon Clan!
"Wait a minute, are you going to the public bathhouse?" Just as the two were about to leave, Youyou's clan chief father suddenly appeared and said to them, "Then, it'll be closer if you go through Crimson Demon Alley."
"They've become quite skilled at guiding tourists too..."
Xiaolin made a slight complaint.
The Crimson Demons weren't ignoring tourists before; it's just that their obscure and difficult-to-understand language left tourists confused about which way to go. Now, their concise explanations have satisfied the tourists.
Everything is getting better.
"Waaah, this...this isn't the Crimson Demon Clan!" Megumin clearly didn't want to accept this proper Crimson Demon Clan. She sobbed and grabbed Kobayashi's hand, saying, "Isn't there any way, Kobayashi!"
"We've searched everywhere, but still no clues." Kobayashi shook his head helplessly and sighed, "Now, we can only wait for Chris and the others' investigation results."
The former principal of the Red Prison had said that the changes in the Crimson Village started from a certain place, and Kobayashi followed his words and searched around for something unusual, but he really didn't know anything about the Crimson Village, and Megumin didn't know where the changes were either. The two of them could do nothing but wait.
"Wait?" Huihui was a little unhappy. She pouted and complained, "Is this someone else's problem? It's all because Xiaolin made a strange wish that things turned out like this!"
"I know! That's why you're only investigating now, right?!"
Kobayashi, who was being blamed, had no way to refute the criticism.
"No, you don't know!" Huihui seemed determined to hold this matter accountable, snorting and complaining, "Besides, Xiaolin, you're just too careless!"
"I already told you I know, right?!" Kobayashi was also a little angry. He clenched his fist and retorted, "Besides, in the end, it's because you Crimson Demon Clan keep doing things that are completely out of your minds, isn't it?!"
"What did you say?! You said 'there's something wrong with your head,' I can't pretend I didn't hear that!" Huihui retorted excitedly.
"What?! Speaking of the exploded girl with a screw loose in Axel's head, that's Megumin, isn't it?!"
Kobayashi, too, showed no intention of admitting his mistake. Instead, he seemed to be venting his resentment by recalling why he had made that wish in the first place, and he argued with Huihui as if he were releasing all his pent-up anger.
Although the two argued because the investigation made no progress, the Crimson Demon Village continued to promote the tourism industry during this period. Thanks to the great mage's excellent conditions and the slogan of reformation, the Crimson Demon Clan became a tourist hotspot for a time.
(End of this chapter)