The losers in daily youth have all become witches

"That's called being good at theoretical knowledge. That's what we magicians do." Li Mo said seriously, "As long as you don't touch girls, you can become a Grand Mage when you turn 35..."

"Is it just my imagination? That sounds kind of pathetic. Asakura-kun can't touch girls either?"

"I'm super awesome, so it doesn't matter."

"So you're going to hit on me? I remember there was a girl with blue hair who looked very smooth, a beautiful girl with long black hair who looked cool, and a soft and cute schoolgirl with teardrops who looked younger than her. Who is Asakura-san's target? Tell me and I can give you some advice... Wow!"

Before the girl could finish her joking words, Li Mo poked the dimple on her face, causing her to let out a pleasant scream.

"It's a pity that I had no plans to fall in love before college." Li Mo withdrew his fingers and said calmly.

"Waiting until college will be too late. Asakura-san doesn't want to reminisce about your youth as an adult, only to have every day be filled with the dull, cement-colored world, right? Time is short anyway, so why not seize the moment and enjoy your youthful hues?"

"Shouldn't it generally be 'rosy youth'?"

"Having said that, for boys, a flesh-colored peach is better, right? I can't actually practice with you, Asakura-san, but if it's just strategy advice, I'm quite confident." The girl gave a sly smile, a little like a fox about to steal a chicken. "So, who's your target?"

"You're busy, hurry up and change your clothes and come out."

Li Mo said this and left the warehouse of the garment store under the girl's angry eyes.

Just when the cool night breeze blew, he suddenly realized that Chao Yun Qianzao had been talking about love all the time, maybe just to force him to leave on his own initiative so that he could have a safe environment to change clothes.

"…It must be just an illusion."

That guy doesn't seem to be that scheming.

"What illusion?" Chihaya Asagumo, who had changed from casual clothes into a yukata, also walked out of the room and asked curiously while adjusting her clothes.

"You change clothes so quickly..." Li Mo said in surprise.

"It's easy to put on a yukata. Just take off all your clothes and put it on." The girl said with a mischievous smile, "And the etiquette of wearing a yukata is to wear nothing underneath~"

"Very good, you and Yanami will sit at the same table."

"Although I don't quite understand Asakura-san's judgment criteria, but this yukata feels a bit light and airy~" The girl said as she lifted the hem of the yukata, revealing her smooth white thighs, which unconsciously attracted Li Mo's gaze.

The hem of the dress continued to pull up, and just when Li Mo felt something was wrong and wanted to remind her, he saw gray fabric under the corner of the dress.

"What a shame! I'm not a traditional vacuum fan, but a believer in safety pants." The girl's smile became even more playful. "Are you disappointed, Asakura-san?"

"I don't care." Li Mo showed a gentleman's face.

"Then guess what's up there...Ah!"

Just as the girl was grabbing her clothes and was about to repeat the same trick, Li Mo decisively chopped her forehead with his hand knife. Although he didn't use much force, the girl narrowed her eyes and let out a cute scream.

dong dong dong.

There was a knock on the paper door not far away.

"My two guests, if you want to play, please go back to your rooms and don't use my warehouse as a brothel!" The proprietress's powerful voice came, and you couldn't tell that she was over sixty years old.

So, Chihaya Asagumo, who was covering her head and pretending to be pitiful to amuse Li Mo, blushed all of a sudden. She stood up hesitantly and said, "Um, Asakura-san, let's go out first."

Li Mo walked out of the room quickly without making any comment, and the girl followed closely behind him.

The proprietress watched the two people walk out one after another, and she deliberately stared at the hem of the girl's clothes behind her. After making sure there were no traces of blood or moisture, she nodded with satisfaction.

Noticing the proprietress's gaze, Chihaya Asagumo even walked more stiffly. She could only lower her head and quickly follow Li Mo out of the hot spring hotel.

"How are you feeling now?" Li Mo asked suddenly after walking out of the hotel.

"So Asakura-san can see that?"

"Joking around and talking about other topics can really help relax my tense mind a little."

"No wonder he is so indulgent towards a stranger like me." Chihaya Asagumo said softly.

"Are breast pads useful?" Li Mo asked.

"I'm a B now." The girl made a "yeah" sign to him.

"That's not what I'm asking..." Li Mo was embarrassed.

"It does seem a little easier, but I can't confirm if it's a psychological effect."

"There's no other way now. After all, it's impossible to find a flying knife, a steamroller, or a thousand clever hands."

"It feels like some strange noun has appeared..."

Note: Ten Thousand Tentacles is another name for Wilhelmina Carmel, from "Shakugan no Shana." Like Pad-chan, she's a maid. Back when Shana and Touhou were still popular, otaku joked about the "what kind of maid is she if she can't time-stop throwing knives and use ten thousand tentacles?" This is a really old-fashioned joke, so I'll explain it here.

Chapter 65: Paying the Price

Summer night, a man and a woman alone, in a grove, wearing thin clothes, and breathing in disorder.

Although it doesn't seem to be a tag that any serious work would have, this is actually the most serious moment for Li Mo throughout the evening.

Originally, the best place to solve the problem would definitely be the lakeside, where the view is broad and if something really happens, they can just jump into the lake. However, because a super-friendly relationship was happening there, he decisively took Chao Yun Qianzao to the woods in the opposite direction.

According to the previous survey of the confession location, there is an open space in the woods here, where some traces of camping can be seen. It is estimated that it was a camping site that was once connected to the hot spring hotel, but it was abandoned for various reasons. Now it is also a good place to solve problems.

As for why he had to find a place where few people go, it was naturally because Li Mo did not know how big a commotion it would cause to resolve the "debt" that was almost a curse on Chihaya Asagumo.

"I feel like it would be more fitting to have something like firework sticks at a time like this." Chihaya Asagumo's voice broke the tranquility of the summer night.

"We're not playing at the beach. Let's wait until summer vacation for that kind of romantic thing." Li Mo responded indifferently.

"Oh, is this a date invitation from Asakura-san? What a pity, I already have someone in my heart~" Chihaya Asagumo gave a charming and wicked smile.

"It's okay. I know a thing or two about computer parts."

"what?"

"I mean," Li Mo cleared his throat, "wait until you're not an old woman before you tell me."

"Is it really going to be like that..." Asagumo Chihaya couldn't laugh anymore.

"It's important to be prepared for the worst, so that whatever happens is at least better than you expected."

"...Well, no matter what, I have to thank you, Asakura-san. If it weren't for you, the situation would definitely be much worse. Now, at least the retribution won't affect others."

The girl slapped her cheeks vigorously, her expression becoming resolute. "I'm ready. Just tell me what to do next."

Li Mo took out the fruit knife that he had used before, saying, "Madam, you don't want Ayano Mitsuki's face to be scratched, do you?", and cut a small cut on the palm of his left hand. Blood slowly seeped out of the wound.

Then he handed the knife to the girl and stretched out his bloody hand towards her: "You can cut it too. It doesn't have to be too big, just enough to draw blood."

Chihaya Asagumo's expression became a little strange. Li Mo guessed that this guy probably wanted to ask him if he had any blood-borne diseases, but because it was too rude, he restrained himself from asking.

The girl also cut a cut on the palm of her hand, and then held Li Mo's hand.

As the blood of the two people mixed, an invisible magical bridge was established between them.

The magic in this world is an extraordinary power that is linked to vitality, spirit, and even the existence of the magician himself. From common sense, it cannot be "transferred".

But Li Mo is an exception.

Just like Emiya Ochirō's origin is a sword, Li Mo's essence is a battery of magic power.

He can obtain magic power from witches (maybe from demon men too, but he has never met one), but this acquisition is not gentle and is closer to 'stealing'.

Interestingly, as mentioned above, the magic in this world is closely related to the magician, so everyone's magic is different and has complex properties.

The magic power that can be seized by Li Mo and stored in his body will be purified and become something like 'no attributes' or 'universal attributes'.

After realizing this, Li Mo consciously tried to transfer his magic power to others. Although there would be some loss, the result can be said to be a success.

At this moment, Li Mo and Chihaya Asagumo established a connection and used this as an opportunity to share magic power.

By the way, it would actually be more efficient to cut your finger and let the girl suck and lick it to exchange magic power, but that would not only be inconvenient, but also look a bit too dirty, so Li Mo chose a more decent way.

"It's time to 'lend' the pocket watch to me." Li Mo felt the magic power in his body and said to the girl.

"How, how do I lend it to you?" The girl's voice sounded a little panicked. It was unclear whether it was because of the upcoming judgment of fate, or simply because she was shy about having her hand tightly held by Li Mo, a boy she had only known for less than two hours.

"Say it out loud, and keep telling yourself in your heart that you lent me the item." Li Mo instructed, "The belief in your heart is your magic...Okay, don't look at me like that, I haven't seen any weird animations...It's just that in most cases, before you master the spell, idealism is the best catalyst for unconscious magic."

"I understand." Chihaya Asagumo took a deep breath and then said loudly, "I'm here to lend my pocket watch to Takuma Asakura!"

Li Mo took out the moon watch with his right hand, and as expected, he vaguely felt that he had a certain degree of control over the pocket watch.

So he removed the seal of the magic spell [Scale] on the Moon Clock, and then pressed the button on the top of the pocket watch, completely ending the magic that the girl had been using until now.

The next moment, Li Mo felt the magic power in his body decrease sharply, as if someone was pulling his bones out of his body one by one.

"Gu..."

There was a strange emptiness in the pain.

Li Mo took the time to look at Chihaya Asagumo who was shaking hands with him.

"Woo..."

The girl's eyes were tightly closed, and her long eyelashes were trembling slightly. It was obvious that she was also in great pain.

In fact, in terms of the degree of pain, her condition should be worse than Li Mo's.

After all, Li Mo only had the magic power in his body drained away, while the girl's body was first filled with Li Mo's magic power and then drained away.

To make an analogy, the torture she endured was probably just one more step than Li Mo's, where a red-hot iron rod pierced her body. But even though she suffered such painful torture, the girl just gritted her teeth and didn't even let out a scream.

Soon, Li Mo realized something was wrong.

The flow rate of the magic pipeline that he and Chihaya Asagumo temporarily established was too small, and the speed at which the Moon Clock absorbed the girl's magic power had exceeded the flow rate, so the missing part had begun to be compensated by extracting the girl's "time".

Even though her own magic covered most of the expenses, Chihaya Asagumo wouldn't have to become a white-haired old lady. However, she might have skipped a few years or even more than ten years, and the girl would have gone from her prime youth to an older woman like Shizuka Hiratsuka...

In this case, I might as well force myself to pay more magic power. If the total amount of magic power collected remains unchanged, the amount of magic power that Chihaya Asagumo needs to collect will be reduced.

However, when Li Mo did this, the pocket watch in his hand seemed to come to life. It suddenly broke free from his palm and floated in the air. The space around the pocket watch seemed to be distorted by an unknown force, creating a strange scene.

"Blaze!" Li Mo couldn't help but swear.

The pocket watch, no, it should be said that the essence of the pocket watch is the curse living in the girl's body.

Went crazy.

Chapter 66: Give Me Your Hand

Have you heard of the Tyndall effect?

It was like the sunlight filtering through the slits in the curtains on a clear morning, creating a distinct grating of light in the dusty air; or like the car's high beams in the winter fog, a rare, clear golden beam piercing the milky white mist...

However, even though the conditions for the Tyndall effect were not present, the colors flowing around the pocket watch were transforming into several brilliant beams of light in a similar manner, radiating outwards.

Even without using the True Vision, as half-owner of the Moon Clock, Li Mo could still perceive that those beams of light were not real lasers or magic rays, but something that was materialized by the turbulence of time.

"【scale】--!"

Li Mo activated the magic spell on his left arm and put a layer of invisible scale armor on Chaoyun Chihaya.

As early as the beginning, the spell [Scale] had already proven that it had good resistance to the attacks of 'time'. Its only shortcoming was probably that it could only select one target each time it was activated.

When Li Mo was about to put on some armor for himself, the flowing light from his pocket watch flashed by.

The next moment, Li Mo felt his left hand lighten.

No, it wasn't his left hand that was injured lightly, but his left hand was cut off slightly above the elbow.

To be precise, it was not a physical cut. When the flash-like time turbulence swept across Li Mo's left arm, the thin part that was swept, less than one millimeter, was dragged into the 'other time'.

The body in "other time" naturally cannot be connected to the current body. Even if the body strength is far greater than steel and the defense is excellent, it is meaningless under this kind of time attack. The final external manifestation is that half of Li Mo's arm was instantly cut off by the light without any delay.

This also means that you can't get close to the pocket watch at will. Once you get close enough, you will be cut into several pieces by the surrounding time turbulence.

"Asakura-san..." Chihaya Asagumo held Li Mo's severed arm in disbelief. The still warm blood splattered on her face, causing the girl's expression to freeze. "Your hand..."

"Back off!" Li Moli shouted, "I'm fine!"

The spell is sensitive, which Li Mo knew when his own spell rebelled and took up residence in his arm. Therefore, the first target of the Moon Clock, or the spell in its essence, after it went out of control was undoubtedly the spell holder herself, Chihaya Asagumo.

If Li Mo had not acted decisively and put a layer of [Scales] on the girl, temporarily blocking Yue Shiji's ability to sense Asagumo Chihaya, it would probably not be his arm that was cut off, but the girl herself.

But the problem is that the curse [Scale] is now in danger - it's not that there is a problem with the defense, but the curse [Scale] is hosted on Li Mo's left arm. Now that his left arm is cut off, he has temporarily lost control of the [Scale].

So now it’s best for Chihaya Asagumo not to get close to the Moon Clock, at least until the Moon Clock stops running wild, the farther away the better.

There was a burning sensation in the broken arm, but thanks to the adrenaline, I couldn't feel the pain yet.

If [Scale] doesn't work, should I use [Snake] on the Moon Clock? Or worse, transform the temporal turbulence around it into a snake? Is that really possible? Or rather, with my magic power so low now, wouldn't using "time" as the target of my spell backfire due to insufficient magic power?

Maybe it was a side effect of excessive blood loss, but Li Mo felt that his brain functioning had become somewhat sluggish, and even his judgments were not as decisive as usual.