Chapter 38: A High Price

After leaving the Professor’s office, Lu Ren returned to his dormitory, savoring this precious time to rest.

In the blink of an eye, it was Saturday morning.

As usual, Lu Ren left the school to buy breakfast and took a walk to get some exercise.

“Oh! It’s been ages since I’ve seen you humans playing basketball in person! Hurry over and let me watch!”

Pandora was perched on his shoulder, excitedly shouting toward the students on the court.

“I’m going to buy breakfast, no time to watch others play basketball. Why don’t you stay here and watch by yourself?” Lu Ren said helplessly.

“Eh, then forget it. I don’t want to waste time here. I just wanted to come out with you to bask in the sun and see what might happen.” Pandora quickly changed her tone.

“Bask in the sun… can’t you do that on the balcony?” Lu Ren asked.

“That’s different! The sun on the balcony isn’t big enough! And the space to move is too small!”

“What kind of weird logic is that?” Lu Ren twitched the corner of his mouth. “Fine, as long as you’re happy.”

Lu Ren didn’t know what had gotten into Pandora today. She was so enthusiastic early in the morning about going out with him, even saying she had a premonition that something very important would happen to her today.

When asked what would happen, Pandora stammered and couldn’t answer, only saying it was important and that she had to stick with him today no matter what.

Lu Ren didn’t even know how to respond.

This one was acting just like a mystic who didn’t speak human language, and her reason for going out made no sense—pure subjective imagination.

Really, what era was this? Still playing the traditional mystic?

A smart mystic would have already started livestreaming, pretending to be clueless on camera to scam donations.

After inwardly grumbling about Pandora, Lu Ren stretched and continued walking toward the school gate.

A dozen minutes later, Lu Ren arrived at the school gate, took out his Campus Card, and tapped it to go through.

The Sauce Pancake shop wasn’t far away, and Lu Ren already saw his breakfast beckoning to him.

Thinking of the crispy, sweet, and spicy pancakes, Lu Ren quickened his pace with a happy mood, crossing two cement roads to reach the shop.

At the shop entrance, Lu Ren looked at the food behind the plastic shield and spoke.

“Boss, two Sauce Pancakes—one with extra sauce, one with added Garlic Chili Sauce—and a Potato Spring Roll.”

“Got it! Anything else?” The shop owner asked cheerfully.

“No, that’s all.”

Lu Ren answered casually, then suddenly realized something, looked up at the shop owner, blinked, and froze in place.

“…Huh?”

“What’s up, kid? Something strange?”

The shop owner looked at Lu Ren with a puzzled expression, not understanding why he suddenly wore that bewildered look.

Lu Ren stared at the very familiar face and spoke calmly, but his mind was buzzing, and he didn’t know how to respond.

This shop owner had a good memory; last week when Lu Ren came, he even joked with him.

Unless the owner was half-asleep, he couldn’t not recognize Lu Ren.

Unless…

Suddenly, Lu Ren recalled what Pandora had told him yesterday.

So that’s it—this must be the other part of the Price.

To verify his guess, Lu Ren kept his tone as calm as possible and asked the shop owner.

“How’s your pancake? It’s my first time buying here, haven’t tried the taste yet.”

“Don’t worry, everything is made fresh daily, guaranteed tasty! If you’re unsure, you can try a piece first. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy!”

The shop owner didn’t realize anything strange in Lu Ren’s words and continued boasting about his skills.

“No need, my roommate specifically asked me to buy from your shop by name, so I trust him.”

After hearing the shop owner’s reply, Lu Ren’s right hand unconsciously grasped his collar, and his voice trembled slightly.

“Haha! Your roommate has good taste! Knows which place around here is best.” The shop owner laughed as he packed Lu Ren’s breakfast into a white plastic bag. “Here you go, kid, your breakfast.”

“Thanks.”

Lu Ren took the plastic bag, pulled out his phone, paid, and then turned to head back toward the school gate.

Walking on the cement ground, Lu Ren still couldn’t forget the shop owner’s strange behavior earlier. Swallowing hard, he fell into a state of confusion.

He wanted to take a bite of his breakfast to ease the awkwardness, but looking at the vividly colored Sauce Pancake in his hand, Lu Ren realized he didn’t have any appetite at all.

Near the school gate, Pandora slowly spoke and asked Lu Ren.

“…You’ve noticed, haven’t you?”

“This is the other part of the Price you mentioned, right?” Lu Ren’s voice was somewhat low.

“Yeah, judging from what happened to you yesterday, I already know what price you paid.” Pandora replied.

“You tell me, so I can prepare myself mentally.”

Blazing Flame nodded, already bracing herself inside.

“…It’s Existence. The price you paid is that others forget your existence. The reason why you keep the Magic Girl appearance after transformation ends is that your original existence has been forgotten by others. The identity of Blazing Flame fills that gap.”

Pandora looked at Lu Ren and slowly explained.

Although he had been expecting it, Lu Ren still couldn’t help but sigh when he heard Pandora’s answer and asked.

“Why?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Since I chose to gain this new power, shouldn’t I be the one to pay the price? Why is it others who pay it instead?” Lu Ren clenched his teeth, confused.

“The Price is like that.” Pandora’s tone was flat. “There’s never been a rule saying the original owner has to pay. The Price is always paid by exchanging what the original owner treasures most.”

“An exchange, huh? Well, that’s a fair trade, then.” Lu Ren closed his eyes, snorted coldly, and slowly exhaled.

“Also, I have to remind you: the power you gain through paying the Price has a limit.”

Pandora looked down at Lu Ren’s helpless expression and added.

“…Limit?”

Lu Ren stopped walking, suddenly feeling a very bad premonition.

“If— I mean if one day in the future, everyone forgets you, then you will completely vanish from this world.”

“Whether as Magical Girl Scorching Flame or as Lu Ren the human, you will disappear from this world without anyone remembering you.”

Listening to Pandora, Lu Ren opened his mouth but suddenly forced a smile and laughed.

“That’s impossible. I just have to walk around every day, make myself familiar. How could everyone forget me? Even if they do, I can just meet them again and it’s no big deal.”

“You’re too naive, Blazing Flame.”

Pandora mercilessly shattered Blazing Flame’s fantasy.

“As long as someone forgets you, they will never be able to remember your existence again.”

“Even if you spend twenty-four hours a day with them, they won’t remember you.”

“The Price you paid is more expensive than you think.”