Hearing Scarlet Moon mention the phone as an example, Mahiru, who was enjoying the massage, couldn’t help but tilt his head.
“This reminds me!”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t touched his phone once since he woke up and was put on trial by his sister.
As an internet-addicted youth who spent most of his time lurking in various anime and gaming groups, the importance of his phone went without saying.
If he didn’t touch his phone for two hours, he would practically die.
He needed to hurry into his groups and replenish the “culture” energy sent by his fellow idiots to maintain the essential elements required for his day.
Of course, more importantly, he wanted to share the joy of being served by a Magical Girl with his groups to gain some much-needed satisfaction.
Thinking of this, Mahiru intended to take out his phone and snap a few pictures of Scarlet Moon for his collection.
He subconsciously reached for his pants pocket, but after fumbling around for a while, he couldn’t find a trace of the phone.
Only then did he realize that he was currently wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt that barely covered the base of his thighs.
It didn’t even have pockets, so naturally, his phone wouldn’t be on him.
And what he had been wearing before was just a scrap of cloth that looked like a bedsheet, which certainly had no place for a phone either.
‘Wait a minute… does that mean since I turned into a Witch, I haven’t had my phone? Then where did it go?’
He tried to recall.
When was the last time he used it?
It seemed to be when he was accompanying Xiaoye to buy clothes at the Shopping Center.
After Xiaoye happily went to change, he sat on the sofa out of boredom and pulled out his phone to post a meme in a group.
Then, his attention was drawn to the Magical Girl anime playing on the big screen on the wall, and he watched half an episode with a group of little girls.
And after that, a Witch suddenly attacked.
To protect Xiaoye, he was bitten by the Witch…
Recalling the scene before his death, Mahiru couldn’t help but shudder.
He really didn’t want to experience that feeling a second time.
‘However, if I had known Xiaoye was a Magical Girl, I wouldn’t have needed to sacrifice myself to take a hit for her. She probably could have handled that thing on her own.’
‘No, I can’t be so sure. What if Xiaoye couldn’t beat that Witch even after transforming? Just now, Xiaoye had to use every bit of her strength and still couldn’t defeat that mutated Hajimi. In the end, it was me who stepped in to finish it off. If Xiaoye is only at that level, then she would have been in real danger if I hadn’t blocked that attack for her.’
‘Well, in any case, as long as Xiaoye is still alive and kicking by my side, I’m satisfied.’
‘By the way, wasn’t I thinking about my phone? How did my thoughts drift here?’
If he was swallowed in one bite by the Witch, his phone should have been swallowed along with him.
In other words, his phone should still be in that Witch’s stomach.
‘Huh? Wait, something feels a bit off.’
‘Shouldn’t I be in the Witch’s stomach? Though I’m probably nothing but a pile of residue by now.’
‘Then the question is, how did I get out of the Witch’s stomach, and how did I become like this?’
When Xiaoye was interrogating him earlier, she seemed to have said that he was the Witch that devoured her brother.
Why would she say that?
Shouldn’t the Witch that devoured him be that pitch-black creature?
It was completely different from his current appearance!
‘Could it be? Is the body I’m using now actually the body of the black Witch that devoured me?’
Thinking of this, Mahiru suddenly felt a wave of nausea.
He jerked his head to the side and let out a loud “Blegh!” as he vomited.
This startled Scarlet Moon, who was sitting on him and giving him a massage.
“Eh? Brother, what’s wrong? Did you eat something bad?”
But strangely, what Mahiru threw up wasn’t some disgusting food residue, but a brand new, smooth (Ad space for rent) phone.
“Eh? This… isn’t this my phone?”
Mahiru picked up the phone with a look of disbelief.
He successfully unlocked it with his fingerprint, the wallpaper was still his favorite March 7th, and the “study materials” inside were untouched.
There was no doubt; this was his phone.
But why was his phone in his stomach?
Could it be that his previous speculation was true?
Was he currently using the body of that Witch?
After that thing ate him, did it get food poisoning, allowing him to take over its body and eventually turn into this?
‘Then my original body…’
Thinking of this, Mahiru felt another wave of nausea.
After another bout of vomiting, a smooth cranium dropped onto the floor right in front of Mahiru and Scarlet Moon.
This scene terrified Scarlet Moon.
Like a startled deer, she hurriedly hid behind Mahiru.
“Brother, brother, brother…”
She kept repeating the word like a broken record.
“What… what is this? Don’t… don’t scare me!”
Seeing Scarlet Moon hiding behind him in fear, Mahiru couldn’t help but recall the times he used to play with his sister.
She still needed his protection, just like always.
But she didn’t seem to know that the brother protecting her right now might no longer be her brother.
He couldn’t stay by his sister’s side forever.
Sooner or later, Xiaoye would have to face the hardships of life alone.
She would have to learn to live bravely even if she were by herself and gradually adapt to a world without him.
In that case, it would be better for him to make Xiaoye accept the current reality sooner.
Thinking of this, Mahiru jumped off the sofa, picked up the skull that had fallen on the floor, and stroked it gently as if he were caring for his own child.
“Xiaoye, this is your brother. Your brother sacrificed his precious life to let yours continue. He is the brother you should be most proud of. And I… at best, I’m just a thief. I stole your brother’s memories, stole your brother’s ideals, and even this body was taken from the Witch that devoured your brother. Nothing belongs to me. Right now, I’m just like someone who received a Witch Experience Card. Once the card expires, everything I’ve experienced with you during this time will turn into nothing. It will all become meaningless, so…”
However, before Mahiru could finish, Scarlet Moon gave him a hard flick on the forehead.
“Ouch!”
“Brother, what are you rambling about? I don’t care if you’re a human or a Witch! As long as you still remember everything that happened between us and our original promise, then you are my brother. No matter what you turn into, even if you become a Goblin—no, let’s forget the Goblin part—anyway, don’t even think about pushing me away. I’m sticking with you for the rest of my life!”
“Xiaoye…”
Hearing her answer, Mahiru, who was crouching on the floor clutching his forehead, couldn’t help but shed a few tears of emotion.
“Alright, Brother, you should learn to accept all of this too. Don’t go crying and making a scene like a little child!”
“Eh? Am I making a scene? I’m clearly doing this for your sake!”
“Does this count as doing it for my sake? Your head is clearly full of yourself right now! Alright, Brother, stop thinking about those messy things. Hurry back and continue enjoying my massage! You still need to provide me with experience to level up later!”
“That’s what you’re really concerned about, isn’t it!”