Want to be human, but cube-like

Concealing her unease, the girl held the bright yellow gemstone and chose a relatively quiet street to walk down.

"Witches usually prefer quiet places. They will choose to set up barriers in places where there are few people. Once they are fixed in one place, they will not move until they are invaded."

Cupid was still diligently explaining the habits of witches to her.

"How does that witch harm ordinary people?"

It didn't sound like a dangerous creature that would actively harm humans, and Su Shi was somewhat curious.

"At night, the witch's subordinates, a kind of monster called a familiar, will come out of the witch's barrier to find lone humans. The worse a person's mental state and the greater their emotional fluctuations, the more likely they are to be chosen by the familiar."

"The chosen human will be marked with a curse called the Witch's Kiss by the familiar. This curse can bewitch the human's mind, causing them to fall into a negative state. Then, the familiar will use various methods to lead the bewitched human into the witch's barrier, and finally let the person die as the witch drains their life force."

It perfectly matches the stereotypical image of the evil monsters that magical girls fight in a little girl's imagination.

"And witches and familiars, along with all the effects they cause, are invisible to ordinary people without the necessary qualifications. Just like me, even if I cause interference, it will be regarded as a natural phenomenon."

As if showing it to Su Shi, Kyubey said and jumped onto the head of a middle-aged man who had just gotten off work. However, this action did not elicit any reaction from the man. Even with his hair messed up, the man only muttered something like "The wind is so strong" and casually brushed his hair aside.

"Therefore, witches are a dangerous existence that ordinary humans cannot fight against."

It draws this conclusion.

"Is this so..."

Watching Kyubey's demonstration, Su Shi could roughly imagine how humans were being harmed by witches, and she frowned.

"Om-!"

Just as the conversation between the human and the beast came to an end, the soul gem in Su Shi's palm suddenly flickered, and at the same moment, a faint ripple swept through her heart.

"It seems that a familiar has been wandering around here, so your Soul Gem was able to detect its magical aura."

Kyubey jumped off the man's head, hopped to Su Shi's side, looked up at her Soul Gem, and said.

"A familiar...! Is it nearby?"

Her expression visibly tense. Su Shi glanced at the faintly shimmering bright yellow light on the Soul Gem, then turned to look around.

"Not necessarily. It might just be a remnant of its magic. Su Shi, follow the scent and keep going. Maybe we can find the familiar."

Rejecting Su Shi's question, Kyubey suggested.

"It's also possible that we'll find the location of the witch's barrier directly."

It seemed completely unconcerned about the dangers facing Su Shi.

"..."

But Su Shi didn't have that inexplicable confidence in herself.

She hasn't even figured out how to fight yet.

But after remaining silent and hesitating for a long time, Su Shi sighed and chose to turn around and follow the faint clues that the Soul Gem was pointing her in.

……

"Mu?"

On the other side, shortly after Su Shi left.

The blue-haired girl, who was standing in front of the ring's gate and about to leave, suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Xiang...?"

She turned her head and blinked in surprise, her tone slightly bewildered.

Probably because they didn't expect to run into each other in a place like this.

"Why are you here?"

However, it was Xiangzi who asked the question first.

"...Today, I'm here for band practice."

Seemingly recalling the heavy atmosphere in the training room just now, Mu lowered his eyes and answered softly.

"Band...rehearsal?"

Confused, Xiangzi frowned, but then he remembered that Deng had just been here too.

Could it be that Crychic... is still active?

Her eyes widened, and she suddenly realized this. She hesitated for a moment, but didn't ask.

But clearly, several months ago, Mu had already told her that they hadn't been in contact anymore.

Only Nagasaki Motoyo continued to persistently send them messages.

but why……?

"Lights...are they here too?"

　Her expression suddenly tensed up, and Xiangzi looked towards the glass door of the ring behind Mu. She seemed about to dodge, but after scanning the area and not seeing any familiar figures, she relaxed a little.

"Everyone has already left."

Mu shook his head and replied.

"...It's not a good place to talk here, Mu. Let's find a place to sit down and have a proper talk."

Xiangzi breathed a slight sigh of relief upon learning that he wouldn't unexpectedly run into other members of Crychic.

"I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

She pursed her lips, a faint, calm smile playing on her lips, and looked at Mu, whose gaze was filled with surprise.

"Let's go..."

Xiangzi glanced back at the hamburger shop in the distance, hesitated for a moment, and then chose another one instead—a coffee shop that she used to go to with Mu and the others.

"Let's go with Yuzawa Cafe."

…………

P.S. I originally planned to only take one day off, but because I was too tired, I ended up slacking off for another day, hehe~

Volume 2: Chapter 208 The Familiar That Flew By

Under the moonlight, after dozens of days and nights, the graceful, snow-haired, red-eyed rabbit-eared girl once again appeared among the skyscrapers of Tokyo.

Having grown accustomed to the nearly doubled physical abilities gained under her monster form, Alex could no longer tolerate her previously slow pace when she needed to travel or fight.

Her monster form, combined with the special action of drawing her sword, allows her to leap and flash across the city using skyscrapers as leverage, and her movement speed is not much slower than flying in creative mode.

After all, flying requires avoiding obstacles. Without flying hundreds or thousands of meters in the air, it might not be as agile as her in a city full of buildings.

If you fly too high, the minimap won't be able to detect creatures on the ground.

A refreshing night breeze whistled past her cheeks; it was hard to tell whether she was moving through the air and causing the breeze to flow, or whether the cold wind was blowing her hair around her and making it messy.

Alex hadn't felt this relaxed, soaring through the city in a long time.

All her troubles and sorrows seemed to have been left far behind her, blocked by tall buildings and pushed away by fierce winds, never to come near her again, never to catch up with her pace.

Although it was just an illusion, it gave Alex a brief moment of relief.

a moment.

Alex, noticing a change on the minimap, suddenly changed direction. Before leaping onto the outer wall of a building, she gripped the dark red hilt of the Ruby sword and reversed the blade's direction.

"call out--!"

A sharp sound of a blade cutting through the air rang out, followed by a silvery-white light with a hint of dark purple, piercing the night sky.

"clatter."

As Alex fell silently and gracefully from the sky, she gently sheathed the ruby.

"Hey—!"

Along with the crisp sound of the sheath returning to its original sheath, there was a humming, tearing sound that seemed to cause even space itself to vibrate.

The familiar behind her, whose appearance, name, and even the suffix "duty" were not clearly seen, was torn to shreds by this dimensional slash and swept into the spherical spatial vortex, disappearing completely.

Since crafting the nameless Ruby sword and enchanting it on an anvil to become the cursed sword known as Ruby, Alex no longer needs to worry about weapon durability when going out and carry a bunch of katanas. As a result, her attack methods and damage have also increased significantly.

In addition, with her upgraded set of unenchanted Netherite armor, she could take down the Ender Dragon almost without taking any damage, even in most worlds.

Basically, it will no longer be possible to encounter combat situations that would be difficult for Alex.

Looking back, I found myself in a narrow alley, completely deserted.

It seems that this familiar was just amusing itself, and not performing its duties as a subordinate of the witch.

For example, capturing humans.

This is not uncommon. In Alex's view, witches and familiars are mostly just passive beings.

For example, when she went to subdue the banker witch, even though she invaded the witch's barrier and wandered around the familiars and witches, as long as she didn't attack them or touch the victims of the witch's kiss who were their prey, she wouldn't arouse their hostility.

In fact, this is much friendlier than Endermen, those creatures that will fight you to the death if they glare at you.

Unless the witch is so lifeless that she needs her familiars to hunt, under normal circumstances, these familiars running outside the witch's barrier are more like going out to play.

Alex sometimes encounters familiars in this state while patrolling outside.

Of course, just like those familiars who had already captured humans and were leading them back to the witch's barrier, she killed them on the spot.

Ultimately, the safety of familiars cannot be guaranteed. Who knows, she might turn around and the familiar might start hunting. Alex is not going to feel any inexplicable empathy for these familiars.

After a wall jump followed by a double jump, Alex casually leaped onto the roof of a flat building. She patted the ground at the edge of the roof, sat down, and took out a piece of strange meat sushi, which she then began to eat slowly.

She wasn't in a rush today.

Even if she went back at night, there was nothing to do. While working on the Sky Island, Alex would involuntarily think of her experiences with her mother. She would rather go back to her room to sleep and skip the night than stay alone on the Sky Island.

If Xiangzi were to stay with her, having someone to chat with would help distract her, but Xiangzi had to go to school the next day and couldn't stay with her for too long. Alex didn't want to trouble Xiangzi too much.

Anyway, Xiangzi knew Alex's abilities and wasn't worried about her encountering danger outside. Even if Alex came home a little late, nothing would happen.

With her slender legs swinging casually, Alex, with long rabbit ears drooping from her head, nibbled on the sushi in her hand like a little rabbit.

"Freedom..."

She gazed at the bustling streets in the distance, brightly lit as day, the dazzling neon lights reflecting vibrant colors in her blood-red eyes.

That color didn't belong to her.

An indescribable loneliness suddenly welled up in my heart.

Whenever Alex sees the bustling world around her, she always seems to sense that she is out of place.

Sometimes she feels an urge to join in, but she suppresses this urge under the weight of a sense of unease.

Before taking the initiative to do something for the first time, people always unconsciously have the desire to back down, and Alex, who is used to listening to the advice of those around her, has never crossed this boundary.

Just like when she first came into this world, she was afraid to leave the hamburger shop.

It was Xiangzi's appearance that made her take the first step.

That wasn't Alex's own choice; it was more a result of being forced into it, stemming from a habitual way of thinking that led her to make decisions based on external factors.

After that, it seemed that Xiangzi's influence was present in every choice she made in her life.

Previously, this responsibility was undertaken by her controller, Aine.

Unlike Ai-yin, Xiangzi makes choices for her while also giving her enough space to learn to take control of her own life.

Even today, Xiangzi tells her that she must learn to make her own decisions.

"It feels even harder to understand than mechanical power..."

Slowly leaning back, Alex lay on the ground, gazing at the small map before her, its image blurred against the neon-lit night sky, and muttering softly to herself.

Just then, a tiny red dot flashed past her eyes like an illusion.

"Ok?"

Alex, who had almost missed it, immediately straightened up and stood up in surprise.