97 – Hnnyuaaat!
“Child.”
“…!”
“Listen to my words.”
A chilling and eerie voice, filled with reverence, pierced Lian’s mind.
“Ugh…”
As soon as he recognized that voice, he felt as if his whole body was contorting. There was no pain, which made it even more uncomfortable. It felt as if his body was trembling like jelly or twisting like twisted dough.
At the same time, an indefinite and distant fear, as if thrown into the depths of the universe, tightened Lian’s breath.
A nauseating dizziness that couldn’t be categorically described made a mess of her mind.
“It’s agonizing.”
Such thoughts came to mind, frighteningly.
“Jaa… aaah?!”
The distant voice that caused discomfort made a deflated balloon-like sound and shrunk.
“What, what is this!?”
The voice that had felt imposing and terrifying transformed into an unbearably cute and childish voice, calming the unrest in her mind.
Lian opened her tightly shut eyes and looked towards the direction where the sound came from. There, floating in mid-air, was a cute creature the size of a human head.
With a round face, a chubby body, eyes like chocolate balls, and a mouth resembling the number three.
“Uh… A magical girl mascot?”
The creature in front of her looked like the mascots that magical girls carry around. It had a bewildered expression on its face. It raised its small and stubby hand, gently touching its squishy cheek, and spoke.
“How did I, the great one, become such a weirdo!”
Even though it seemed quite angry, its appearance was still adorable. Without a word, Lian quickly reached out and grabbed it. Its cute face was squished like a dumpling under her clumsy touch.
“Eh?”
The creature, resembling a mascot, made a sound as if it hadn’t imagined being grabbed so roughly. Lian, without stopping her touch, shook it vigorously and said.
“You’re the one who dragged me here, right?”
“Eh, uwoah… Gu, goodooh…”
Because its face was being squished all over, the creature’s words came out all jumbled. But Lian didn’t stop her touch.
“These mascot-like creatures need to be properly subdued to make them listen.”
That’s right. In the world of comedy, there were… magical girls! Magical girls in the world of comedy could be anyone, whether they were socially awkward individuals, middle-aged men, or even grandmothers.
The problem was that the people who became magical girls didn’t become one because they wanted to.
There were beings called mascots who created black corporations, deceiving others with their cute appearances and making fraudulent contracts. In other words, magical girls were the victims, and the mascots were swindlers who preyed on innocent people.
Rian had encountered the mascot scam several times.
He witnessed a guy who smoked cigarettes in a secluded place, demanding his subordinates in a deep voice, suddenly speaking in a cute voice to a pretty woman, saying, “Won’t you become a magical girl? Let’s protect the world together!”
If the guy had a rough appearance, the pretty lady would have slowly distanced herself, but he had a cute appearance that easily broke down the woman’s guard.
Rian immediately rushed over and kicked the chirpy mascot with a swift motion. The pretty lady was surprised and worried about the scammer, but when Rian showed her a wanted poster that he had taken off a utility pole, she understood that he was a dangerous swindler and thanked him in surprise.
Since that day, Rian had been targeted by the crazy chirpy mascot.
The chirpy mascot, who held a fairly high position, wanted to turn Rian into a cute and adorable girl and chased after him like a madman.
Seduction, threats, kidnappings, and so on.
Overcoming all sorts of dangers, Rian discovered the mascot’s weakness. Mascots were weak against violent physical contact. If you pet their backs randomly or knead them like dough, they would melt away and wag their tails.
After learning that fact, whenever Rian encountered a mascot, he first subdued them by showering them with physical affection, making them melt and wag their tails, before engaging in conversation.
The reason he started petting the creature in front of him as soon as he saw it was also because of this.
“Uh-hee-hee, noo-araaah, hnyu-uuu…”
The creature let out a cute breath, hnyu-uuu, and gradually started to shrink. Its round eyes half-closed, and its mouth, shaped like a triangle, hung open.
Finally, Rian stopped his hand and spoke.
“Why did you bring me here? Where is this place? And who are you?”
As he asked his questions one after another, the creature that had been shrinking suddenly perked up and found its round shape again. The eyebrows attached to its chocolate ball-like eyes formed a diagonal line, giving it a confident expression.
“Hmph, why should I tell you that?”
With its chubby legs wiggling and kicking as if delivering a kick, and its lips pouting, Rian firmly made up his mind.
“I tried not to use that technique…”
When Lian made a decision and was about to execute it, the being stared directly into Lian’s eyes.
“Even though the traces of Hamulina have been severed from this human, and even the foolish traces of the god remain, I tried to turn his mind upside down… How did I end up like this?”
The being was a superior of Hamulina, who had hidden deep within Lian’s mind and was swallowed up. They perceived the passage of time very slowly, so they had no doubts about Hamulina being absent for three years.
But disappearing completely was a different matter. They were loyal followers of “that person,” so they were beings who could not die or be killed lightly.
In such a situation, it was only natural for their superior, who seemed to have been erased like an eraser, to be confused.
“Even if my body has become like this, the abilities I received from ‘that person’ remain the same! I don’t know how my body ended up like this… but I can find out by turning my mind upside down!”
The being stared deeply into Lian’s eyes, which were called the window of communication with the soul, with an exaggerated expression. Their status was far higher, so just facing their soul would drive the other person insane.
If that happened, Lian would naturally come under their control, and they would be able to get rid of this ridiculous state. Moreover, Lian would be able to know in detail what kind of power they possessed.
“Heh, heh, now… show me your soul.”
As their chocolate-ball-like pupils twinkled, the being looked beyond Lian’s eyes. And…
“…?”
Nothing could be seen.
“This can’t be happening?”
In order to peer into the soul, one must first look into the spiritual world, the bridge between the body and the soul. However, that connection point, the “spiritual world,” was nothing but darkness, completely empty.
“I couldn’t even observe a mere human’s spiritual world?”
Her pride was hurt, and she activated her powers strongly. As a result, something started to become visible in the darkness, as if her eyes were getting used to it.
“Heh, as expected, something as insignificant as a human’s spiritual world—”
As she arrogantly sneered inwardly, she discovered the symbol ▉ in the darkness.
▉ looked at her…
“Tingly, tingly.”
“Ha-ah…! hahahahaha!”
As the wind mercilessly tickled Lian’s soft body, her abilities were canceled and the breath that had been pushed all the way to the tip of her nose returned. Unaware of this, Lian continued to move her hands diligently, trying to capture the mascot.
Before she could even feel relieved for surviving a situation that was about to vanish, the overwhelming itchiness that poured down was unbearable. She wriggled her body, tears streaming down her face.
“You still won’t talk? You won’t tell me?”
“Heh, hehehehe! Stop, stop! Euhyahyup!”
She struck Lian’s hand with her soft, pudgy hand, tears streaming down her face. But Lian quickly realized that it was not yet time.
Only when the creature’s breath seemed to be on the verge of suffocation did Lian stop the cruel tickling.
“Hee… heeii…”
The creature gasped for breath in Lian’s hand. As time passed and it found some stability, it rolled its eyes and started sweating cold sweat.
Lian finally thought that the mascot had reached a state where it could communicate, but the reason she started to notice Lian’s intentions was because of the ＜ ＞ she had encountered in Lian’s mental world.
“What was that just now? It felt like I was facing that person.”
Unconsciously, she lightly shook her head at the unpleasant thought that came to her mind.
“Ugh… Now I understand why Hamulina suddenly disappeared. It’s because of that monster-like thing from earlier.”
As she trembled in fear, Lian asked with a willing expression.
“I’ll ask again. Where is this place? Who are you? Why did you bring me here?”
“Uhh…”
She could no longer ignore Lian’s words. She was scared of those piercing eyes staring at her and her body trembled uncontrollably.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Well, the truth is…”
Never mind then haahha